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Chapter Text

Chapter 1 The First Battle part 1

In a living room stood a boy with blue hair and blue eyes which were currently closed. He had on a red under with a cyan jacket, blue jeans and blue shoes. The boy, Aichi took a deep breath as he waited in suspense. Next to the boy near his leg was a small white creature with a green bowl-like thing on its head covering its red eyes on the bowl were two red fin-like things. In front of him was a woman frowning with blue hair and green eyes wearing an apron looking over a paper intently. Off to the side was a little girl with red hair and blue eyes. She had a pink shirt and a black skirt.

“What do I do? He’s passed everything flawlessly and even actually learned to take care of himself. Well I’m glad about that, but I'm running out of things to stop him. I have to think of something I can’t let him become a Pokémon trainer.”, the woman thought.

“You have passed everything.”, the woman said as Aichi’s expression brighted along with the small creature smiling as well.

“But, there’s one last thing.”, the woman said pointing her finger at the boy.

“What do I have to do?”, Aichi asked determinedly.

“You have to win a Pokémon battle.”, the woman replied.

“Okay. We can do this Ahmes then finally we’ll begin our Pokémon adventure!”, Aichi cheered excitedly and the creature, Ahmes the Ralts looked happy as well.

The boy and the creature hurried out the door as the little girl sighed.

“You really don’t want Aichi to become a trainer don’t you mom?”, the little girl asked.

The woman sighed.

“It’s just too dangerous.”, the woman replied.

“But, don’t most people let their kids become trainers when they're ten? Aichi’s fourteen and well he’s slightly less hopeless than before.”, the little girl asked.

The woman looked at the door.

“It’s not about that…”, she thought.

Aichi and Ralts searched throughout the small town for trainers to battle. They walked past two boys with grey jumpsuits one with spiky black hair and the other with brown hair.

“A-ah M-Morikawa would you…”, Aichi stuttered.

“Huh? What do you want shrimp?”, Morikawa asked.

“W-would you please battle me…”, Aichi asked, shaking a bit nervously.

“Pfft! Haha haha! Izaki, did you hear him?”, Morikawa questioned while laughing uncontrollably.

“Hahaha! Is he serious?”, Izaki questioned also laughing hard at the blue haired boy’s expense.

“Uh...yes…”, Aichi answered sweating nervously.

The two boys laughed even harder at his response. The boy looked down a bit saddened.

“Besides, who would wanna battle a weirdo who talks to Pokémon like you?”, Morikawa questioned.

“Ralts. Ralts. (You know that’s not true Aichi.)”, Ahmes said with Aichi being the only one not just hearing the Pokémon say it’s name.

Aichi looked down at Ralts, still a bit sad, smiling a bit at Ralts encouragement.

“Man, he’s still acting like he can understand them.”, Izaki said.

“Besides I don’t have any time for a small fry like you. I’m going to battle the wandering dragon master. Then, everyone will know Katsumi Morikawa is the most powerful trainer!”, Morikawa said.

Aichi looked on as the two boys walked away and he sighed.

“We’ll just have to try someone else.”, Aichi said.

Ahmes nodded in response.

They scurried throughout the town asking any trainer they could getting a similar response. Some time passed Aichi walked with Ahmes sulking as Ahmes patted his leg.

The boy and Pokémon flinched as they saw a vortex of fire in the distance. Out from the fire a large purple dinosaur-like Pokémon, Nidoking was flung colliding against a wall scorched. Aichi without thinking ran towards the Pokémon worried about the condition it was in. Ralts chases the boy as fast as it could lagging behind a bit. Aichi crouched in front of the Nidoking looking over its burns. The dinosaur-like Pokémon was winching in pain.

“Are you alright?”, Aichi asked.

“Nidoking. (No.)”, Nidoking said.

Aichi looked over as heard loud flapping wings. In the air was an orange reptile resembling a western dragon. The insides of its wings were blue and it had green eyes. The end of its tail had a flame. As it puffed it a few bits of fire came out of it. It completely ignored Aichi it’s eyes were trained solely on the Nidoking. Aichi sweated nervously eyeing the flying Pokémon.

“A Charizard.”, Aichi gulped.

Aichi stepped in front of the injured Pokémon.

“That’s enough you’ve beaten it down enough.”, Aichi said looking at the Charizard.

Charizard finally noticed the boy looking amused. Though, when it met Aichi’s eyes it couldn’t help but flinch. It’s instincts were telling it to back off it didn’t know why, but it had a feeling this boy was dangerous.

“Hmph. You're interrupting our battle.”, a new voice said.

Aichi broke his gaze with Charizard looking towards the source of the voice. It was a teen with spiky brown hair and green eyes. He wore a navy jacket and a red shirt with jeans. He had some Poké balls hanging from his belt. Next to the teen was a blond teen with a blue blazer with a red jacket underneath.

“What are you doing here, Aichi?!”, Morikawa questioned off to the side.

“It’s hurt enough. Recall it back.”, Aichi said.

“Grr! Who do you think you are? Get up, Nidoking crush that jerk’s overgrown lizard!”, Morikawa said angrily.

Nidoking struggled to try and get up but it fell down.

“Get up! You have to beat that jerk!”, Morikawa ordered angrily.

“Return it to its Poké ball it can’t fight.”, Aichi ordered.

“You can’t tell me what to-“, Morikawa said, stopping as caught a glimpse of Aichi’s eyes. Aichi’s eyes were flashing rainbow colors moving in a spiral motion. Morikawa jumped a bit in fear seeing them doing as Aichi said, raising his Poké ball to recall Nidoking.

Ahmes sweated nervously looking over to its master who it had finally caught up to.

“Ralts! Ralts! (Please calm down Aichi!)”, Ahmes said nervously.

Aichi blinked as his eyes returned to normal. He looked over to Ralts a bit confused.

“What happened?”, Aichi asked.

He looked at Morikawa and then the brunette remembered getting involved.

“Who’s this?”, the blond asked.

“You live in this town and yet you haven’t heard of him. He’s that weirdo who talks to Pokémon. Sendou Aichi.”, Izaki explained.

“Sendou Aichi...”, the brunette murmured looking over noticing the Ralts beside Aichi.

“It’s that kid.”, he thought.

Ahmes looked at the brunette recognizing him.

“Ralts…(That’s…)”, Ahmes said.

Aichi’s eyes widened in realization, also recognizing the brunette.

“You...your…”, Aichi trailed off.

“Can’t anyone talk to their Pokémon?”, the blond questioned.

“It’s different with him, it's like he can actually understand what they're saying.”, Izaki replied.

“Really?”, the blond questioned shocked.

The brunette’s eyes widened a bit hearing their eyes before glaring at Aichi who flinched.

“Just like him…”, the brunette mumbled.

“Your…”, Aichi trailed off.

“Hmph I guess that loser gave up.”, the brunette said referring to Morikawa.

“Loser! I’m not a loser!”, Morikawa denied.

“Losers forfeit.”, the brunette said.

“He had to his Pokémon was in critical condition.”, Aichi said.

“Fine then go Nido-“, Morikawa was saying as was cut off.

“No! Nidoking can’t fight anymore if you push it any harder it could die.”, Aichi replied.

“Then, I’ll just catch another one!”, Morikawa said as the air around them became very oppressive and cold.

“No. You. Won’t.”, Aichi said sternly, glaring at Morikawa emphasizing every word as his eyes flashed with the rainbow spiral again. They could swear that there was a faint blue aura around him not unlike a psychic Pokémon.

“If you want to battle someone, battle me.”, Aichi said as everyone minus him and the brunette gasped.

The brunette focused on the younger boy who turned towards him who’s eyes returned back to normal as soon as they changed. As Aichi snapped back he suddenly realized what he said the aura disappearing as well.

“Ah! Why did I say that? His Pokémon is fully evolved.”, Aichi thought.

“Ralts. (I’ll fight him.)”, Ahmes said looking towards Aichi.

“Are you sure?”, Aichi asked.

“Ralts. (Yes.)”, Ahmes answered nodding.

“How are you gonna battle him? You only got one Pokémon and he has six.”, Morikawa revealed.

“Then, I’ll just use one to give you a fighting chance.”, the brunette said.

“How usually sweet of you Kai.”, the blond said.

“Shut up, Miwa.”, Kai replied.

“Okay...then I guess...l-let’s do this Ahmes!”, Aichi said nervously with all trace of his earlier assertiveness disappearing without a trace.

“Ralts! (Yes, my vanguard!)”, Ahmes said as jumped in front of Aichi.

“This is gonna be hilarious.”, Miwa commented.

Charizard descended to the ground facing Ahmes. The two Pokémon stared each other down.

“Ralts. Ralts. (You’ve gotten big Overlord.)”, Ahmes said.

“Char char charizard. (You still look as small as ever.)”, the Charizard, Overlord replied.

“Ralts. Ralts. Ralts. (We may be old friends but I won’t hold back.”, Ahmes said.

“Charizard! (I wouldn’t settle for less!)”, Overlord replied.

“Let’s go Overlord. Flamethrower!”, Kai ordered.

The dragon obeyed shooting a vortex of fire from its mouth at the small Pokémon.

“Ah! That’s the move he got me with!”, Morikawa said.

“This match is over.”, Izaki said.

The fire dispersed with the Ralts nowhere to be seen. Aichi sweated a bit from the intense heat of Kai’s Charizard. Despite the fact he wasn’t even that close to the blast he felt like he was being cooked alive.

“Ahmes use confusion.”, Aichi said despite the fact the Ralts was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s already gone ma-“, Morikawa was cut off as psychic energy hit Overlord.

“What?”, Kai questioned, a bit surprised as Ahmes appeared after shooting the blast.

“Oh, I see. Before the blast hit he used confusion and double team. That’s why Overlord missed.”, Kai thought as Overlord swiped at Ahmes wildly.

“He’s still using double team too. I have to get Overlord to snap out of its confusion.”, Kai thought.

Ahmes used growl on Overlord debuffing the larger Pokémon more. Overlord snarled swiping at Ahmes with its tail and claws unable to hit the small Pokémon as it jumped around him.

“So, that’s what he’s aiming for. His Pokémon is too weak to defeat Charizard head to head so he’s trying to close that gap with debuffs and status effects. This battle may be more interesting than I thought.”, Kai thought, cracking a smile.

“Woah, he’s actually standing a chance against a Charizard with a stage one Pokémon?!”, Morikawa gasped in disbelief as Izaki looked aghast as well.

“Well, to be fair that Ralts is a pretty small target for Kai’s Charizard to hit especially when it’s confused.”, Miwa replied.

“I need to get one of those!”, Morikawa said.

“I don’t think it would be that simple. Besides that Ralts it’s like it knows what Overlord is gonna do before it does it.”, Miwa replied.

“Well, isn’t Ralts a psychic type maybe it’s reading his Charizard’s mind?”, Izaki guessed.

“I don’t think that’s it. That Ralts seems familiar and that name Ahmes it can’t be a coincidence.”, Miwa thought.

“Use psybeam.”, Aichi said as Ahmes hit Overlord with another psychic well beam.

“Charizard!(Ahmes!)”, Overlord growled angrily cloaking itself in fire charging at Ahmes.

Ahmes was sent careening a bit to the ground hurt though thankfully it didn’t take the full brunt of the attack.

“Ahmes!”, Aichi gasped, reaching for his Poké ball.

“Ralts! Ralts! Ralts! (I got this Aichi! Remember we just have to win one battle!)”, Ahmes said.

“But, Ahmes-“, Aichi said before he suddenly gasped seeing Ahmes start to glow and change shape.

“No way!”, Morikawa gasped.

“It’s evolving.”, Miwa said.

The glowing stopped revealing Ahmes had became a bit taller it white part tapering off to a skirt at the bottom. It grew thin green legs. Its green bowl-like head became more like hair and it no longer covered its red eyes.

“Kirlia! Kirlia! (I’m not finished yet Overlord!)”, Ahmes said now a Kirlia.

“Woah maybe we can do this.”, Aichi thought before smiling.

“What are you smiling about?”, Kai questioned.

“Hehe. I have always wanted the chance to battle you Kai.”, Aichi revealed shocking everyone minus Kai and the Pokémon.

“Do you guys know each other?”, Miwa asked.

“Heh. You were that kid with scuff marks over his face aren’t you?”, Kai asked smiling.

“That’s right Kai and your the one who gave me the ability to stand before you today. You see Kai’s the one who gave me Ahmes.”, Aichi replied as Miwa, Morikawa and Izaki gawked in shock.

“I see.”, Kai replied.

“That explains it that is the same Ralts well now Kirlia. The one that originally belonged to Ibuki then Kai.”, Miwa said.

Ahmes took a fighting stance and Overlord extended its wings letting out a loud roar.

To be continued…

Fun fact: Blaster Blade is the name of the sword his real name is Ahmes.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 The First Battle part 2

Aichi’s Current Team
Level 20 Ahmes (Kirlia) psychic/fairy
Moves:
Growl
Double team
Confusion
Psybeam

“Ahmes use confusion.”, Aichi commanded.

“Char! Char! (You won’t get me this time Ahmes!)”, Overlord roared as it took flight.

A blue aura surrounded Ahmes as it levitated up using its psychic powers then shooting a wave of psychic energy towards the Charizard. The Charizard dodged the blast, but it turned out to be a fake out as a psybeam came at it.

“Charizard use flamethrower.”, Kai commanded as Charizard spun while breathing fire from its mouth scorching anything in its path.

Ahmes dove out of the way of the scorching heat using it as a cover for it to shoot another confusion.

“Cha!(Gah!)”, Overlord spat as it was hit with another confusion starting to feel even more worn out as the battle went on.

Something flew at the enraged Overlord who swiped at it thinking it was Ahmes; it turned out to be a rock that was hurled with its psychic energy. Overlord growled as more rocks were sent at it, cutting it.

“That’s not good. Overlord is very weak to rock attacks.”, Kai thought.

Overlord continued to angrily hit the rocks in its confusion only dealing more damage to itself. In the barrage of rocks was Ahmes rushing forward towards Overlord using its psychic energy.

“Watch out, Overlord!”, Kai warned.

“Go, Ahmes!”, Aichi cheered as Ahmes shot right into the dragon’s stomach knocking the wind out of it.

“No way!”, Morikawa gasped as the massive Pokémon crashed into the ground.

“Did he actually do it?”, Izaki questioned in shock.

The smoke started to clear as everyone looked on sweating nervously minus Kai and Ahmes. Ahmes stared intently at the smoke and Kai’s eyes were closed.

Overlord laid flat on the ground knocked out cold. Everyone minus Kai and Ahmes mouths were agape in disbelief.

“We did it...WE DID IT!”, Aichi cheered, raising his hands in the air as Kai silently recalled Overlord.

“Hmph. I guess you did. Let’s go Miwa.”, Kai replied simply walking away coolly with Miwa following behind.

“Wait up, Kai!”, Miwa said as he followed Kai.

Aichi smiled brightly as he watched on.

“U-Umm I would like to battle you again someday if that’s alright.”, Aichi said.

“We’ll see…if our paths cross again.”, Kai replied simply.

“They definitely will become a great Pokémon trainer like you. The very best like no one ever was!”, Aichi replied.

Kai smirked at the answer, not saying anything more.

Later…

“Mom! Mom! I actually did it I won!”, Aichi said as he ran to the house smiling alongside Ahmes.

“Woah, Ahmes evolved it looks really cute now.”, the little girl said.

The woman, Aichi’s mom, has a bitter smile knowing she could no longer stop him now. She had simply been delaying the inevitable.

“I don’t know what I expected he is his...my son after all.”, Aichi’s mom thought.

They then prepared for Aichi’s journey, having one last lunch together before sending him off.

“Well, see you soon! I’ll make sure to call.”, Aichi told his mother.

“You better.You and Ahmes stay safe alright.”, his mom told him.

“We will.”, Aichi replied.

“Well, at least I won’t have to wake you up everyday.”, the little girl commented.

“Hehe. Bye Emi.”, Aichi waved goodbye as he departed with Ahmes.

“Please dear Arceus don’t let him find Aichi.”, Aichi’s mom thought as she watched her son leave.

“Goodbye Sanctuary town.”, Aichi thought as he looked back on the town once more before departing.

And thus began the story of the greatest Pokémon master to ever live…

“Okay, so the closest gym should be in Megacolony town. It shouldn’t take too long.”, Aich thought.

Aichi walked alongside Ahmes taking in some of the scenery watching many Pokémon scurry about.

“I have a few Poké balls on me you think I should catch something?”, Aichi asked.

“Kirlia. Kirlia.Kirlia. Kirlia. (It wouldn’t hurt. It may be best to just in case something happens.)”, Ahmes replied.

“Well, the first gym is bug so it would probably be best to find something super effective against it.”, Aichi said as he looked around.

“Caterpies...Weedles...a Fletchling! That could be good!”, Aichi said as he laid his sights on a small grey and orange Pokémon.

“It evolves into a fire type right?”, Aichi asked.

“Kirlia. (Yes)”, Ahmes answered as it stood before the bird.

The Fletchling backed away nervously seeing the unfamiliar Pokémon before letting out a cry. Then suddenly a massive orange and grey bird, a Talonflame appeared.

“Oh crap!”, Aichi squeaked as Ahmes doved out of the way of a flamethrower.

“Kirlia. Kir-(That’s not to b-)”, Ahmes suddenly cut off gasping as an entire flock of Talonflames and Fletchlings appeared.

Aichi and Ahmes screamed comedically as the ran away from the maelstrom of flames shot at them by the angry Pokémon.

“Hot! Hot! Hot! We gotta go faster!”, Aichi said as the heels of his shoes were singed.

“Assista Eevee use psychic.”, a female voice said as some of the bird Pokémon were sent away the others fled.

Aichi looked over to see his savior. It was a teenage girl with long lavender hair and blue-ish green eyes. She wore a white shirt and a blue vest with white jeans. She had a belt with some Poké balls. On her shoulder was a purple cat-like Pokémon with a red orb on its forehead and a tail that split into two. It was a Espeon. By her was an older man with green hair and glasses that covered his eyes. He had on a zipped up green jacket.

“Thank you.”, Aichi said, bowing to the two with Ahmes.

“It’s nothing, are you alright?”, the man asked as Aichi came back up, meeting the man face to face.

The man gasped and the girl looked eyes widened a bit as they saw Aichi. Aichi raised his eyebrow in confusion at the reaction.

“Is something wrong?”, Aichi asked.

“A-Ah it’s nothing you just look a bit like someone I used to know.”, the man answered.

“Ah okay...Umm my name is Sendou Aichi and this is Ahmes.”, Aichi introduced motioning towards himself then Ahmes.

“Oh my name is Nitta Shin and this is my niece Tokura Misaki.”, Shin introduced himself and the girl.

“Nice to meet you.”, Aichi replied.

“Umm...this may sound weird but does the name Gin mean anything to you?”, Shin asked.

“Gin? No, should it?”, Aichi questioned confusedly, raising his eyebrow.

“It’s nothing. Uh, so are you on your way to Megacolony town as well?”, Shin asked.

“Yeah, I’m going there to have my first gym battle.”, Aichi replied.

“We should go there together then.”, Shin suggested.

“Okay.”, Aichi agreed as he set off with the two.

He couldn’t help but look at Misaki curiously as she hadn’t said a peep.

In Megacolony town…

“Gosh, you're so worthless Kishida!”, a teen obscured in shadow said as he kicked the wall where a teen with long silver hair, orange eyes and glasses was pinned.

“P-please give me a second chance I’ll get the Pokémon your after just please don’t take away my position as gym leader.”, Kishida groveled.

“Fine. But, if you fail well you know what happens to losers in Team Asteroid.”, the obscured teen threatened.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: The Rockruff Caper

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 The Rockruff Caper
Aichi’s Current Team
Level 21 Ahmes (Kirlia) psychic/fairy
Moves:
Growl
Double team
Confusion
Psybeam

Somewhere...

A small light blue dog-like Pokémon with green eyes and rocks in its fur ran as it was pursued.

With our heroes...

They had been traveling for a while, ran into a few bug catchers and were getting close to Megacolony town. Shin frowned as he reminisced about a few days ago. He was waiting in front of a rather large building when he was approached by a woman with long flowing pink hair and green eyes. She wore a black suit with grey pants.

“Shinemon we have to talk.”, the mysterious woman said.

In reality…

Shin sneaked a glance at Aichi.

“It can’t be a coincidence can it. Everything that’s going on and him here. Can he be trusted? He seems genuinely clueless about everything either that or he's the best liar ever.”, Shin though.

Aichi walked on followed by Ahmes feeling awkward with the oppressive silence.

“Uhh…”, Aichi looked between his companions trailing off as he tried to think of something to break up the awkward silence.

“So, uh why are you guys heading to Megacolony town?”, Aichi asked.

“Well...uh…”, Shin mumbled, taken off guard a bit.

“We have business there.”, Misaki answered.

“Okay, what kind of business?”, Aichi questioned as Misaki sent a glare at him making him pipe up.

“W-well, if y-you don’t want to say it that’s fine!”, Aichi stuttered nervously.

Aichi then looked down towards Ahmes to talk to him before realizing these people don’t know he could understand Pokémon.

“Maybe I shouldn’t.”, Aichi thought.

“Kirlia. Kirlia.(It won’t be too long now.)”, Ahmes said.

“Yeah, I guess so…”, Aichi replied sighing, not noticing the looks he was getting from the other two.

Aichi then suddenly realized what he did.

“Ah...I was just talking to myself haha…”, Aichi said awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head.

Aichi squirmed really hoping they reached Megacolony town soon. His eyes brightened as he saw the sign before he suddenly stopped as he really took the town in. The town seemed a bit run down and full of grifey. People in black jumpsuits with a single A in red on it sulked around. There were some Pokémon in tight cages and others that were battling while chained. The sight made Aichi’s blood boil. His eyes flashed with a rainbow spiral as a murky blue aura appeared around him. Misaki and Shin gasped in shock seeing the sudden change in their companion stepping back.

“Kirlia!(Aichi, snap out of it!)”, Ahmes pleaded worriedly.

Aichi closed his eyes, shaking his head as he returned to normal.

“This isn’t right.”, Aichi said glaring at their surroundings.

“It’s not. Kishida must be doing a lousy job as a gym leader if he let his town get like this.”, Misaki agreed, glaring.

“Where’s his gym?”, Aichi asked with there still being traces of anger left.

Misaki pointed Aichi in the direction of the gym.

“Let’s do this, Ahmes.”, Aichi said.

“Kirlia. Kirlia. (Yes, my vanguard.)”, Ahmes said following after his trainer a bit weary.

“We’re going there too.”, Shin said as him and Misaki caught up to Aichi.

Aichi finally stopped before a green building that had spider-web like designs. Aichi walked through the automatic doors to see some sort of web maze. There was a long drop with what looked like a crappy cushion at the bottom. On some platforms in the maze we’re trainers with the same uniform as the hooligans outside. At the end there was Kishida on the chair wearing a blue shirt and black pants.

“Oh another trainer? You’ll have to get through my maze before you can face me.”, Kishida said.

“Is that fall even safe?”, Shin questioned.

“Definitely not.”, Misaki answered.

But, Aichi’s attention was not on any of that; it was focused squarely towards the negligent gym leader who had let his town be overrun by hooligans.

“That’s a scary glare you got there.”, Kishida said a bit nervously.

“Why are you letting this stuff happen to Megacolony town?”, Aichi questioned the gym leader.

“What stuff? You’ve gotta be more specific than that.”, Kishida questioned.

“Why are there Pokémon fighting in chains and crammed into changes?”, Aichi asked.

“What? You must be new, you see Pokémon are meant to battle and they are their trainer’s slaves. It only makes sense that they are treated appropriately.”, Kishida answered every word made Aichi feel uncomfortable.

“Pokémon are trainer's friends not slaves.”, Aichi rebuffed.

“Yeah. Yeah. That’s just the marketing. They say that stuff to get little kids like you to become trainers.”, Kishida replied dismissively.

“Then, let’s see who’s more of a trainer then.”, Aichi said as Kishida jumped realizing he was suddenly in front of him the rainbow spiral eyes and the aura had reappeared.

Ahmes floated over to his master's side standing in front of Kishida.

“H-how did he?”, Misaki questioned nervously.

Shin looked on with a serious expression.

“Ah! How did you just skip past my whole thing?!”, Kishida questioned terrifiedly.

“Are we going to battle or not?”, Aichi questioned his voice, seeming a bit deeper.

“F-fine! G-go Heracross!”, Kishida said as he threw a Poké ball revealing a bipedal blue beetle with gold eyes.

“Bad move. Ahmes use confusion .”, Aichi said with a smirk.

Ahmes sent a wave of psychic energy at Heracross faster than it could respond, knocking it out instantly.

“L-ledyba!”, Kishida desperately threw out another Pokémon which looked like a ladybug.

“Psybeam.”, Aichi said simply as Ahmes shot a psychic beam instantly defeating Ledyba.

“Y-you just got lucky!Grr!”, Kishida said as he ran.

“You forgot the badge.”, Aichi reminded.

Misaki cut off Kishida trying to get through the door.

“You!”, Kishida gasped.

“You know the league has been growing very concerned about your negligence. It seems you can’t even get the basics of your job right.”, Misaki chided.

“Hmm? The league?”, Aichi questioned returned to normal again.

“I probably should have told you this but Misaki is the psychic type gym leader of the region.”, Shin explained, causing Aichi to gasp in shock.

“I don’t need to follow those stupid rules! All of my mistakes will be forgiven as long as I get that Pokémon for master Ren!”, Kishida said before signaling his goons to attack.

The trainers on the platforms all threw out their bug Pokémon to distract them while Kishida slipped away. He went up to a few of the hooligans.

“Have you found the Rockruff?”, Kishida asked.

“Some of my guys have been chasing that mutt all day.”, the hooligan responded.

“Perfect, lead me to them fast!”, Kishida commanded.

Our hero’s were surrounded as Misaki threw out a Poké ball revealing a bipedal yellow fox Pokémon with a wand-like stick.

“Delphox use mystic fire!”, Misaki commanded as Delphox shot fire from its wand defeating the bug Pokémon.

Aichi walked along the edge slowly avoiding the fire.

“What’s taking you so long you got across it instantly before?”, Misaki questioned.

“I did? When did I do that?”, Aichi questioned genuinely shocked.

“Don’t you remember? You got over instantly almost like you teleported and defeated Kishida.”, Shin questioned.

“Huh? I did all that?”, Aichi questioned as Shin and Misaki looked at each other.

Aichi tried to think back but it made his head feel fuzzy.

“My head is feeling fuzzy again…”, Aichi mumbled.

“Does it happen often?”, Shin asked.

“It used to not happen at all then I don’t know out of nowhere it started happening and it’s getting more frequent.”, Aichi explained.

With Kishida…
He arrived to the hooligans pursuing Rockruff.

“Perfect ivs and it’s a shiny bagging this will definitely let me keep my job!”, Kishida said as he scrambled after the Rockruff who ran away frightened.

“I’m not in my gym now so prepare to face my ultimate Pokémon!”, Kishida said as he threw out a Poké ball revealing a massive reddish-purple centipede Pokémon.

Tears stung the Rockruff’s eyes as it was cornered by the massive Pokémon. It barked at it as it got closer.

With our heroes…

“I know that all might sound a bit weird. I’m...a bit weird I understand Pokémon and lose consciousness sometimes. It’s understandable if you don’t trust me.”, Aichi said.

“I trust you. How can I not when you're so honest? Well...this one not the scary one who battled Kishida.”, Shin said.

“Scary?”, Aichi questioned confusedly not remembering.

“Hurry up you two we need to find this jerk!”, Misaki ordered as the two flinched.

“Y-Yes!”, the both stuttered.

They ran out of the gym as Misaki grabbed a hooligan by the collar demanding to know where Kishida is. In the background Aichi and Shin trembled in fear.

“He’s on route 3!”, the hooligan confesses as they head out to route 3.

With Kishida…

The Rockruff was severely injured struggling to move.

“Come on. Stupid Pokémon don’t make this harder on yourself I have already wasted 10 Poké balls on you. If you don’t go in this next one I’ll have to kill you.”, Kishida threatened.

He jumped in shock as a blue aura surrounded the Rockruff and it was levitated away.

“Who dares?!”, Kishida growled jumping as he saw Aichi, Misaki, and Shin.

The Rockruff landed in Aichi’s arms; it had been Ahmes who used its psychic powers to save Rockruff.

“If you intend to get in my way then you’ll feel the full wrath of Team Asteroid!”, Kishida said, gesturing his goons to attack but none responded.

“They’ve already been defeated.”, Misaki said coolly.

“Are you alright?”, Aichi asked the Rockruff before searching his bag for a potion.

“R-Ro(N-No)”, Rockruff said weakly.

Aichi sprayed the potion on the Rockruff’s wounds making it feel a bit better.

“It’s gotta be alright now. I won’t let him hurt you more.”, Aichi told Rockruff.

Ahmes took a fighting stance in front of Aichi facing the enemy Pokémon.

“Grr! Scoliopede use steamroller!”, Kishida ordered.

“Ahmes! Double team!”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes weaved past the bigger Pokémon.

“Venoshock!”, Kishida screamed in frustration as Scoliopede shot poison at Ahmes.

“Double team!”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes was able to dodge the attack again.

“Now, use confusion!”, Aichi commanded as Ahmes shot a wave of psychic energy at the enemy Pokémon.

“Rockruff. (As if this human really cares.)”, Rockruff thinks before having flashes to countless instances of people pretending to be nice just to lure it in and catch it.

“Rockruff. Rockr-(He may be he help now b-)”, Rockruff was cut off gasping as Scoliopede went straight for it ignoring Ahmes attacks.

“Steamroll!”, Kishida said with a sinister smile as Aichi covered Rockruff.

Before Scoliopede could turn them into paste it was held back by the combined psychic energy of Ahmes and Assista Eevee.

“Rockruff? (You could have died?)”, Rockruff questioned.

Aichi smiled at Rockruff.

“Until I met Ahmes I had no friends. Ahmes saved me from leading a sad life. The least I can do is save any Pokémon I can that includes you.”, Aichi said as Rockruff gasped, realizing he understood it.

Flashback
A young Aichi walked along the street wearing a blue shirt, black shorts and a backpack. He had scuff marks and a bandage on his face. He looked down sadly walking back home. Tears were stinging his eyes and he was recently used as a punching bag by the local bullies again.

He stopped when felt someone wipe away his tears. It was Ahmes as Ralts with him was a younger version of Kai.

“Ralts! (Don’t be sad!)”, Ahmes said, wiping away his tears.

Kai looked equally stunned by the Pokémon’s action before smiling.

“Ahmes seems to have really taken a liking to you.”, Kai said laughing a bit.

“O-oh this is your Pokémon?”, Aichi asked.

“Yeah, but I think it should stay with you now it seems like you need it a bit more.”, Kai said.

“T-there’s no way I c-“, Aichi stuttered.

“It’s fine I got other Pokémon. Besides I have a feeling that together the two of you will be able to get real strong.”, the young Kai replied, patting Aichi’s back.

Flashback end

Aichi raised his head glaring at Kishida.

“And I won’t let anyone mistreat their Pokémon like you and those other guys have been doing!”, Aichi said determinedly.

“You think you can defeat Team Asteroid?”, Kishida laughed.

“I will. Starting with you.”, Aichi said, facing Kishida.

“Assista Eevee use psychic!”, Misaki commanded.

“Ahmes use psybeam.”, Aichi commanded.

The psychic attacks bombarded the Scoliopede at the same time causing it to fall to the ground fainting.

“No, that’s impossible! This is not going according to plan!”, Kishida growled as Misaki walked out and punched him, knocking him out cold.

Aichi, Shin, and Rockruff quivered in fear before the might of Misaki. Shin called the police to get all the Team Asteroid members.

“Is there a Pokémon center nearby?”, Aichi asked one of the police timidly still holding Rockruff in his arms.

“Yeah, there should be one here.”, the officer said, leading Aichi to the center.

Aichi walked in and there was a nurse Jenny behind the counter.

“Is your Pokémon alright?”, she asked, rushing up to check up on it.

“Oh, it’s not mine it’s a wild one. It was being pursued by those Team Asteroid grunts.”, Aichi replied.

Aichi looked down as his hands felt a bit wet and he saw Rockruff licking him. Their eyes met and it was giving him puppy dog eyes.

“W-what’s wrong?!”, Aichi asked completely taken in by the puppy dog eyes.

Ahmes sweat dropped at this.

“Rockruff. Rockruff. (I wanna be your Pokémon.)”, Rockruff answered.

“Alright, but you should get patched up first.”, Aichi said before giving it to the confused nurse.

“Rockruff. Rockruff. (Okay. By the way my name is Wingal.)”, Rockruff agreed, having completely bewitched Aichi with its cuteness.

Later…

Aichi met back up with Shin and Misaki in front of the Pokémon center.

“So, what are you gonna do now?”, Aichi asked with Rockruff snuggled in his arms.

“I guess we’ll go back to the gym.”, Misaki said.

“I think you two should travel together at least till you get to the gym.”, Shin suggested.

“Why?”, Misaki questioned.

“I have to meet her and well someone needs to watch him. He himself might not be dangerous, but his power is and it seems to take complete control.”, Shin whispered.

“Fine, but only until we get back to the gym.”, Misaki agreed as Shin walked off.

“Your leaving?”, Aichi asked.

“Yeah. I still got something to do. I’ll see you two later.”, Shin said waving goodbye.

“Bye Shin”, they said.

“Is Rockruff staying with you?”, Misaki asked.

“Yeah. It’s name is Wingal and it said it wanted to join my team”, Aichi answered.

Misaki sweat dropped as it looked at the pup all snuggled up in Aichi’s arms looking comfy.

“Uh huh.”, she said simply.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: The Showdown at the Dark Gym

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 The Showdown at the Dark Gym
Aichi’s Current Team
Level 24 Ahmes (Kirlia) psychic/fairy
Moves:
Charm
Double team
Confusion
Psybeam

Level 20 Wingal (Rockruff) rock
Moves:
Double team
Bite
Rock throw
Sand attack

“Wingal use rock throw!”, Aichi commanded, defeating the last trainer before the next town.

“Darn it!”, the trainer yelled.

“Uh...sorry we need the experience.”, Aichi apologized as they passed the trainer.

“I wouldn’t exactly say that. If anything you're a bit over leveled.”, Misaki said, sweat dropping.

“Hehe. Well, I have had Ahmes for awhile and Wingal is pretty strong.”, Aichi replied laughing a bit.

They made it to Nubatama town. It definitely looked a lot better than Megacolony town. There were a few buildings as well as adults going about their jobs and kids battling. Some kids and teens were crowded around. Aichi and Misaki decided to see what’s going on.

“Go Kaiser! Use dark pulse!”, A kid commanded.

A small blue almost cocoon-like Pokémon with red eyes shot a wave of darkness. It was a Pupitar. It effortlessly defeated the enemy Fletchider who fell from the sky.

“No way I lost to a little kid!?”, the older trainer said.

“Oh yeah! I’m the best!”, the kid gloated.

The kid had spiky black hair and a ponytail. He had fiery orange eyes wearing an orange shirt with a red vest and black shorts.

“Man that’s 10 wins in a row against senior trainers.”, someone commented.

“Woah. Is he for real?”, Aichi questioned amazed.

“Oh, I’m for real. You could say I’m the real genuine automobile!”, the kid boasted.

“I think you mean the genuine article.”, Misaki corrected sweat dropping.

“Would you battle me?”, Aichi asked timidly.

The kid narrowed his eyes, sizing up Aichi.

“Nah! You're weak, I'm strong.”, the kid said.

“But we haven’t even battled?”, Aichi questioned.

“I can always tell who’s strong and you're not it.”, the kid said.

“Well...I only have one gym badge.”, Aichi admitted as the kid laughed uncontrollably.

“Really?! You were trying to challenge the great Kamui with only one badge?”, the kid Kamui questioned laughing.

“Kirlia. Kirlia. Kirlia. (Let’s see if he still thinks that after we beat the gym.)”, Ahmes said.

“Right. Then, what about after I defeat this city’s gym then will you battle me?”, Aichi asked.

“I guess i’ll give you a chance to embarrass yourself if you can do that. Also, word of advice you're gonna need more than two Pokémon to battle me noob.”, Kamui replied.

“Alright then.”, Aichi agreed nodding.

“Rockruff. Rockruff. Rockruff. Rockruff.(There should be some strong Pokémon on the next route. I heard there’s a Golisopod there.)”, Wingal told Aichi.

“That should be good.”, Aichi replied, setting off as Kamui and a few others sweat dropped while Misaki face palmed.

“Was that kid talking to his Rockruff?”, Kamui questioned.

In the next route there was a big lake and some trees. Aichi, Ahmes, and Wingal split up to search. They searched from head to toe finding Crabrawlers and Araquanids, but no Golisopod.

“Rockruff? Rockruff? Rockruff? (That’s so weird there was a bunch of Wimpod here before?)”, Wingal questioned, looking around sweating a bit nervously.

“Riolu! Riolu! (Heh! More humans here to ruin things!)”, a small blue bipedal jackal-like Pokemon said appearing.

“Woah. That’s a Riolu, it's a fighting type right? It would be really good against the next gym.”, Aichi asked.

“Kirlia. Kirlia. (Yes they are.)”, Ahmes said.

Ahmes and Wingal jumped in front of Aichi standing before the Riolu.

“That’s strange, Riolus aren’t natives in this route.”, Misaki commented.

“Okay, Ahmes use confusion.”, Aichi commanded.

Ahmes shot a wave of psychic energy at Riolu who copied it.

“What? But that’s a psychic move?”, Aichi gasped.

“It must be using copycat.”, Misaki informed.

“So, it can copy our moves?”, Aichi questioned, looking at Misaki and back to Riolu.

Riolu then shot a palm shaped energy wave at Ahmes.

“Double team!”, Aichi commanded as Ahmes was able to dodge out of the way.

Riolu then copied it again moving even faster then Ahmes. Riolu aimed a punch straight at Ahmes. Ahmes blocked being knocked back a bit.

“Psybeam!”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes finally had Riolu where it wanted it shooting the beam at it too close for it to dodge.

Riolu was knocked back a bit falling on its knee.

“Riolu! Riolu! (Dang it! I’m still not strong enough!)”, Riolu cursed, looking towards Aichi and Ahmes.

“Kirlia. Kirlia. (You can always join us.)”, Ahmes suggested holding out a hand to Riolu who swiped it away.

“Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! (As if! This isn’t over human!)”, Riolu said before escaping.

They tried to chase the Pokémon but it got away. They suddenly noticed a rustling in the bushes thinking it was Riolu and moved them. They found a flat small silver and purple Pokémon with gold eyes trying to scamper away from them.

“There’s a Wimpod. That’s Golisopod’s pre evolution right?”, Aichi questioned.

“Rockruff. (Yeah.)”, Wingal answered.

“Do you know where a Golisopod is little guy?”, Aichi asked the Wimpod.

“W-Wimpod! Wimpod! (Y-you won’t capture me too human!)”, Wimpod squealed squirming, hitting Aichi with its small tail.

They all sweat dropped at Wimpod’s attack.

“It’s using struggle bug.”, Misaki explained.

“I just wanna know where a Golisopod is.”, Aichi assured the tiny bug Pokémon.

“Wimpod...Wimpod…(There’s no Golisopod here...anymore…)”, Wimpod said as they gasped.

“Huh, what happened?”, Aichi asked concerned.

“Wimpod. Wimpod. Wimpod. Wimpod...Wimpod(A bunch of humans came and caught us in mass including my dad. There used to be a bunch of us here but..not anymore.)”, Wimpod revealed.

Aichi, Ahmes, and Wingal gasped in shock.

“Umm...what is it saying?”, Misaki asked, coughing awkwardly.

“Oh, yeah you can’t...Umm...Apparently there were a bunch of Wimpod here, but it seems like they’ve been caught in mass.”, Aichi explained.

“Mass catching? That’s banned here. How would anyone get away with catching enough of a species to almost completely its population. The ecosystem in this route must be suffering.”, Misaki replied.

“Wimpod. Wimpod. Wimpod. Wimpod. Wimpod. Wimpod. Wimpod!(Yeah my dad the Golisopod you spoke of used to keep the balance here between us and the Krabrawlers. But, with him all of my friends that escaped have gotten eaten. And they get me soon too!)”, Wimpod revealed before breaking into tears.

Aichi looked at the Wimpod speechless and a bit sad.

“Rockruff? Rockruff? Rockruff? (Were they guys in black with a A on their clothes?”, Wingal asked.

“Wimpod? Wimpod? (How did you know?)”, Wimpod asked.

“You wanna help us defeat them? Their name is Team Asteroid.”, Aichi asked.

“Wimpod? Wimpod? (Those are the guys who took my daddy?)”, Wimpod asked.

Aichi nodded.

“Wimpod.Wimpod. Wimpod? Wimpod? (I don’t have anything left here. If I join you I can get strong like my daddy?)”, Wimpod asked.

“Definitely. And we’ll beat the guys who took him.”, Aichi assured him nodding.

“Wimpod. Wimpod. (Okay then I’ll join you.)”, Wimpod agreed jumping into his arms,

“Welcome to the team!”, Aichi greeted getting a Poké ball catching Wimpod then letting it out,

“Wimpod. Wimpod.(My name is Llew.)”, Llew introduced.

“Okay! Let’s go for that gym!”, Aichi said smiling as the Pokémon followed him.

“What am I gonna do with this kid?”, Misaki sighed smiling following after.

Later...

They arrived in front of a Japanese style building walking into the doors.

There seemed to be strange shifting mats with trainers on some non moving one.

“This is Mark’s gym.”, Misaki thought, seeing a man with a red samurai helmet and a black ninja suit.

“This is the gym of me, Ninja Master M! If you wanna get through to me trainer you’ll have to go through the ordeal of the ninja master.”, Ninja Master M said.

“Woah! Gah!”, Aichi stumbled falling over as the mats turned around.

Misaki sweat dropped, turning away pretending like she didn’t know him.

“Okay, I’ll recall you guys for a bit as I try to get through this.”, Aichi told his Pokémon returning them to their Poké balls.

“Gah!”, Aichi continued to stumble in the shifting mats accidentally falling onto one of the non moving parts with the trainer.

Aichi clung onto the mat on all fours pushing himself up.

“Okay, let's go! Llew!”, Aichi said, throwing out a Poké ball with Llew emerging.

“Ninja art of summoning! Zorua! Now use bite!”, the ninja trainer said.

The black fox-like Pokémon clamped down hard on Llew but it wasn’t very effective due to its hard shell.

“Llew use struggle bug.”, Aichi commanded and Llew’s shaking made the Zorua fly off it into the shifting mats.

The Zorua stumbled on the mats trying to launch itself back at Llew, missing countless times. Any time it got close it was sent flying with struggle bug. Ninja Master M whistled impressed.

“He’s using his surroundings to his advantage and making the most of a normally feeble Pokémon. Is this really the same Aichi?”, Ninja Master M thought.

Aichi used a similar tactic to trip up the other ninja trainers as well using the Pokémon’s own strength against them to force them onto the mats and wear them down.

“Wimpod! Wimpod! Wimpod! Wimpod! (Wow! I never thought I could do something like that. Trainers really are amazing!)”, Llew cheered, jumping into the air with Aichi.

“We did it Wimpod now that just leaves the Ninja Master. He’s already got our strategy down so I’ll have to switch you out here.”, Aichi told Llew, recalling him and grabbing a different Poké ball.

Aichi looked intently at the Ninja Master who readied his own Poké ball as well.

“You’ve done well to make it here, Sendou Aichi.”, the Ninja Master said.

“So...You really are Mr. Mark?”, Aichi asked as the two looked surprised.

“Gah! What? No! No! No! What gave you that idea?”, the Ninja Master denied.

“It’s just...you look a lot like my history teacher.”, Aichi explained.

“J-just a coincidence I assure you! Anyway time to battle!”, the Ninja Master replied, changing the subject.

“Let’s go, Wingal!”, Aichi called out, throwing out Wingal.

“Ninja art of summoning! Frogadier!”, the Ninja Master called out.

Aichi raised his eyebrow in confusion as Wingal looked a bit nervous at the type disadvantage.

“Use rock throw.”, Aichi commanded.

“Rockruff? (Why?)”, Wingal questioned.

“Trust me.”, Aichi replied.

Wingal reluctantly threw rocks from its fur coat at the Frogadier, surprisingly doing some real damage on the water type. After the attack hit it’s form faded away revealing a Zorua.

“Rockruff?! (How did he know?!)”, Wingal questioned.

“You saw through my Pokémon’s transformation technique?”, the Ninja Master gasped.

“Now, while it’s down use double team a few times then bite.”, Aichi commanded.

As the Zorua was down Wingal used double team. As soon as it got up Wingal tackled it with blinding speed biting it. And just like that the Zorua was dealt with.

“You really do have a Frogadier don’t you? That’s why Zorua became Frogadier.”, Aichi asked as the Ninja Master gasped completely found out.

“It wasn’t that hard to figure out when your other trainers used Zorua.”, Misaki said as the Ninja Master sulked a bit.

“I thought I was being clever...Ah-Anyway! Go, Frogadier for real this time!”, the Ninja Master said.

“Use double team.”, Aichi commanded.

“Use smoke screen Frogadier!”, the Ninja Master commanded as smoke filled the field.

“Oh no!”, Aichi gasped.

“Haha! Your speed won’t matter when you can’t see!”, the Ninja Master said.

“Wingal use rock throw on the ground.”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal shot rocks from within the smoke causing it to start to clear.

“Oh no you don’t! Frogadier use water pulse!”, the Ninja Master ordered.

“Watch out, Wingal!”, Aichi warned.

Wingal was able to escape the full brunt of the torrent of water but it still took damage.

“Wingal use sand attack.”, Aichi commanded.

Wingal crushed the rocks into launching it at Frogadier temporarily blinding it.

“It seems you are trying to get an edge using blinding as well though it won’t be enough! Frogadier, water pulse!”, the Ninja Master said.

Not being able to see spun around shooting out water.

“Jump Wingal and keep using sand attack.”, Aichi commanded, pointing to where he wanted Wingal to jump.

Frogadier tried to clear it’s eyes but it’s sight only got worse as it hands stuck to it.

“Gah?! Because of the water and sand attacks Frogadier has been covered in wet sand!”, the Ninja Master gasped.

“He can’t see or move because he’s stuck now go Wingal! Use bite!”, Aichi commanded.

Wingal bit down on the amphibian Pokémon multiple times. It was unable to take much more fainting.

“That was amazing! Great job, my boy! Even with the type disadvantage you found a way to win! I am happy to present you with the Shinobi badge.”, the Ninja Master said.

“I-it was nothing. You should bring your Pokémon to the Pokémon center, especially Frogadier.”, Aichi replied, taking the badge.

“Don’t worry I will.”, the Ninja Master said, patting Aichi on the back while laughing hardily.

Aichi stood across from Kamui with a crowd watching.

“I’ve got the Shinobi badge!”, Aichi said, holding out the badge for Kamui to see.

Kamui just smirked with his hands on his hips.

“Looks like you got your pass to get mutt clipped!”, Kamui replied.

“It’s your butt kicked.”, Misaki corrected as Kamui sweat dropped.

“Anyway…”, Kamui trailed off.

“Let’s battle!”, the two said in unison holding up their Poké balls.

Elsewhere…

“Kishida has failed us.”, a shadowed man said from behind a chair where a teen sat.

“Which one is Kishida?”, the teen questioned.

“The one after the shiny Rockruff.”, the man answered.

“Aww! I really wanted that blue puppy.”, the teen pouted.

“Apparently he was defeated by the psychic gym leader Tokura Misaki and some kid named Sendou Aichi.”, the man said before handing the teen a picture of the two taken without them noticing.

A sinister smile crept onto the teen’s face as he looked at the picture.

“Ooh. Maybe that Kashida wasn’t completely worthless after all…”, the teen said gleefully.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: Kamui, The Grade School Whirlwind

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 Kamui, The Grade School Whirlwind

Aichi’s Current Team
Level 26 Ahmes (Kirlia) psychic/fairy
Moves:
Charm
Double team
Confusion
Psybeam

Level 22 Wingal (Rockruff) rock
Moves:
Double team
Bite
Rock throw
Sand attack

Level 28 Llew (Wimpod) bug/water
Moves:
Struggle bug
Sand attack
Defense curl

It was later after defeating Mark and a day before battling Kamui.

“You know you can get a Dawn Stone here for Ahmes.”, the Ninja Master told him.

“So, you are Mr. Mark.”, Aichi replied, sweat dropping.

“No! I’m Ninja Master M!”, the Ninja Master denied.

“You saw my Kirlia but how did you know it’s name was Ahmes?”, Aichi questioned.

“Because I’m a ninja!”, the Ninja Master replied.

“Uh huh.”, Aichi replied, sweat dropping.

Him and Misaki left to go to the Poké mart in town. Misaki sat down at a table getting some coffee while Aichi bought a dusk stone.

“It’s break time.”, Misaki said as she sit down.

Aichi brought out Ahmes and his other Pokémon holding the stone before it.

“Before you do that you should use this.”, Misaki suggested handing him a disk.

“What’s this?”, Aichi asked.

“It’s the ™ future sight, the only way you can get a Gallade with one is to evolve it from a Kirlia with one.”, Misaki explained.

“Thank you Misaki! You didn’t have to do this.”, Aichi thanked her, giving her a bright smile.

“I-It’s...just so I don’t have to keep saving you.”, Misaki replied looking away.

Aichi touched Ahmes with the ™ causing all its knowledge to flow into it. Then he held out the dawn stone for Ahmes. Ahmes touched the stone and started glowing like before. Ahmes grew twice as big, no longer having a skirt. It’s arms now had blades and it’s head resembled a knight helmet. Ahmes now Gallade bowed before his master like a knight.

Level 26 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fairy
Moves:
Slash
Double team
Psybeam
Future Sight

“Wimpod! Wimpod! (Wow! Ahmes looks so cool now!)”, Llew gushed.

“Rockruff! Rockruff! (I can’t wait till I evolve!)”, Wingal commented.

“What a show off…”, Misaki commented, sweat dropping at the melodramatic Pokémon.

Later…

A man with spiky blond hair and a goatee walked in watching the fight next to Misaki.

“So, you're going to watch Mark?”, Misaki asked.

“Yep, after all what kinda teacher would I be if I just left without seeing my student’s progress.”, Mark said.

“Let’s battle!”, the two said in unison holding up their Poké balls.

“Go! Mr. Invincible!”, Kamui said, throwing out Machamp.

“Go! Ahmes!”, Aichi said, throwing out his newly evolved Pokémon.

“Woah, he has a Gallade!”, an onlooker gasped.

“So, you evolved that girly Kirlia of yours huh?”, Kamui asked.

“I did now let’s go! Ahmes! Use Future Sight!”, Aichi commanded.

“Use vital throw!”, Kamui commanded as Mr.Invincible tried to grab Ahmes.

Ahmes swiftly dodged already seeing it coming.

“Ahmes use psybeam!”, Aichi commanded.

After guiding past all the Machamp’s blows Ahmes got in close shooting a beam of energy at Mr.Invincible point blank. Mr.Invincible was sent back trying to regain its bearings.

“Use knockoff, Machamp!”, Kamui ordered.

Mr.Invincible tried to hit Ahmes again but was dodged again. Ahmes shot another blast knocking out Machamp cold.

“Man, Ahmes has really gotten strong from evolving!”, Mark commented amazed.

“Grr! Go Tough Boy!”, Kamui called out, throwing out a Rhyhorn.

“Ahmes use psybeam!”, Aichi ordered.

“Tough Boy use drill run!”, Kamui ordered.

Ahmes easily avoided Rhyhorn shooting a beam of psychic energy at it.

“Now, use slash!”, Aichi ordered.

As Rhyhorn was being knocked back Ahmes slashed it as hard as it could flipping it over.

“Crap!”, Kamui cursed as Ahmes continued to slash the stuck Tough Boy.

“Woah! This guy’s actually winning.”, one of the spectators commented.

“That Gallade is so awesome!”, another commented.

“Go! Shout!”, Kamui called out, throwing out a Vigoroth.

“Shout use slash!”, Kamui ordered.

“Ahmes use slash!”, Aichi ordered.

The two Pokémon became deadlocked. It was Ahmes’s blades vs Shout’s claws. Various slashes rang out as the two Pokémon clashed. Ahmes sweeped the Vigoroth’s legs causing it to fall before delivering a final slash onto Shout.

“How the heck is this happening? This guy only has two badges yet he’s beating me this badly?”, Kamui thought.

“Fine then! Go, Kaiser! Use earthquake!”, Kamui said, throwing out his Pupitar who used it’s might to shake the ground causing Ahmes to stumble.

Ahmes’s leg got caught in a fissure created by Kaiser.

“Now, use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as Kaiser shot a wave of darkness at Ahmes.

“Ahmes use future sight! Then psybeam to free yourself!”, Aichi commanded.

“Too late! Crunch!”, Kamui declared.

Kaiser bit down on Ahmes before it could use psybeam and shook the ground.

“Now, time to deliver the finishing blow! Dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as Ahmes was then blasted by a wave of darkness.

Ahmes fell to the ground knocked out.

“That’s not good.”, Mark commented.

“I know Aichi has nothing to take out that Pupitar.”, Misaki replied.

“What do I do? I don’t have anything super effective against that Pupitar. I won’t be able to trip him up with Llew his guard is already up that leaves…”, Aichi thought trailing off.

“Go! Wingal!”, Aichi decided.

“Sand attack is useless with earthquake.”, Aichi thought.

“Is that really all you got to fight my Kaiser! Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui commanded.

Kaiser shot a wave of darkness at Wingal who dodged out of the way. It continued to run around as Kaiser fired on it.

“How annoying, use earthquake, Kaiser!”, Kamui commanded as the ground started to shake once more.

“Wingal jump and use rock throw!”, Aichi commanded.

Wingal jumped as soon as the ground started shaking and shot rocks from its mane at Kaiser however they only bounced off.

“Bite?”, Aichi said.

Wingal landed on Kaiser trying to bite through it’s hard shell, but it was too tough.

“It’s useless you can’t pierce my Kaiser’s shell!”, Kamui gloated.

“He’s lost.”, Misaki thought knowing Aichi had no out for Kaiser.

“Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as Wingal was sent flying after being blasted point blank by the dark pulse.

“Wingal!”, Aichi cried out, reaching out for Wingal, catching it in his arms.

“Rockruff! Rockruff.. (Hehe! That guy’s real tough…)”, Wingal said.

“Don’t worry you’ll be fine.”, Aichi said as he recalled Wingal.

“Well, where’s your next Pokémon? Don’t tell me you still only have two.”, Kamui taunted.

Aichi looked up to face Kamui with a serious expression. Tension built up with the crowd practically squirming to know what happens next.

“Even now he hasn’t given up. Knowing he has no chance. You have really changed Aichi.”, Mark thought.

“Go! Llew!”, Aichi said, throwing out Wimpod.

Everyone was silent, some gawking in surprise at Aichi’s final Pokémon.

“This is my last resort. The ultimate technique passed down from bug catchers for generations.”, Aichi thought the dramatic tension was increasing.

“Llew use defense curl and don’t stop!”, Aichi ordered.

“W-what!?”, Kamui gasped in shock.

He was expecting a big and bad final mon, but instead it was a small feeble bug Pokémon that was curling itself into a ball. Everyone minus Aichi, Llew, and Misaki couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably. Misaki sweat dropped looking at the battle.

“Wow, you really are lame. It’s time to end this I guess. Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui replied.

Kaiser shot waves of darkness at the stationary bug Pokémon. Llew didn’t budge as Kamui order Kaiser to shoot it more.

“Dang it! Earthquake! This has got to get you.”, Kamui said as Kaiser shook the ground again.

Llew in its ball shape bounced around. Llew collided against various surfaces as some of the onlookers took cover for the deadly bug ball. By sheer chance Llew bounced at the exact right spot colliding against Kaiser with all it's built up kinetic energy. Turning it’s ultimate defense into the ultimate offense. Colliding with a Pokémon with an enhanced shell instantly knocked out Kaiser. Afterwards its shell was very scrapped up.

Kamui’s and Misaki’s mouth was agape in pure disbelief.

“That’s impossible.”, Misaki thought.

“Aichi has the luck of Giratina…”, Mark commented, laughing a bit.

“Wimpod! Wimpod! Wimpod! (Bow before the myth! The legend! Llew!)”, gloated jumping into the air cheering.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”, Kamui gasped incredulously.

“Holy Arceus...it actually worked!?”, Aichi gasped equally surprised.

“You didn’t plan this?”, Kamui asked, his eye twitching in annoyance.

Aichi shook his head no as Kamui felt like fainting himself. Mark laughed uncontrollably at the situation.

“I-I can’t breathe! Hehe! Haha!”, Mark laughed, falling over.

“Buster, fry that bug! Flame charge!”, Kamui ordered angrily after throwing out a Combusken.

Llew fell over fainting. It had already gone past its limits not to faint after colliding with Kaiser.

“I guess I lose then. You did a great job Llew.”, Aichi said sighing, recalling the Pokémon.

“Looks like Kamui really is the strongest!”, a onlooker commented.

“That was way too close. If this Aichi guy had a proper team he could be trouble. Maybe, if I travel with him a bit I can get strong enough to beat Gouki.”, Kamui thought.

“Well, looks like I won.”, Kamui said.

“Oh, right I have to give money when I lose.”, Aichi realized.

“Nah! don’t need your money. I think I’d like to travel with you. I had you pegged wrong, you're actually a pretty strong guy.”, Kamui said, putting his hand on Aichi’s shoulder.

“I’m not really that strong I just got a bit lucky.”, Aichi admitted.

“Well, we gotta heal up our Pokémon don’t we?”, Kamui said.

“Yeah, that’s right!”, Aichi replied.

“Then, let’s go!”, Kamui declared, leading the way.

Next Chapter: Ghost Town

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 Ghost Town
Aichi’s current team:

Level 30 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Slash
Double team
Psybeam
Future Sight

Level 22 Wingal (Rockruff) rock
Moves:
Double team
Bite
Rock throw
Sand attack

Level 28 Llew (Wimpod) water/bug
Moves:
Struggle bug
Sand attack
Defense curl

At the Pokémon center, Aichi, Kamui, and Misaki sat down.

“Are you sure about joining us, Kamui?”, Aichi questioned.

“Of course! You seem pretty cool and we’re both trainers going for the Kakusa league.”, Kamui replied.

Aichi leaned into the table holding up his face with his hand. He closed his eyes for a moment, frowning as thought back to something.

Flashback

It had been not long after he had gotten Wingal to the Pokémon center. Kishida had just been handcuffed by the police and Aichi had walked up to him. Kishida flinched, his face twisting into terror at the sight of the boy. Aichi held up his hand to say something as Kishida scrambled away.

“T-take me away from that monster!”, Kishida begged the officer who raised their eyebrow in confusion.

“I-I just wanted to ask why you did all that stuff.”, Aichi blurted out.

Kishida hid behind the officer looking over their shoulder at Aichi cautiously.

“As if that’s it!”, Kishida replied.

Aichi cocked his head in confusion.

“Why are you so scared of me?”, Aichi asked, genuinely confused.

“D-don’t play dumb!”, Kishida replied.

“I’m not playing though…”, Aichi trailed off.

“You have those frightening powers just like-“, Kishida was saying before putting his hand over his mouth to shut himself up.

“Frightening powers? Wait...from the way you're talking that suggests...I’m not the only one like this?!”, Aichi concluded.

“O-oh God I’m so dead I said too much…”, Kishida said full of fear.

“Sorry I didn’t know you would get in trouble for me asking.”, Aichi apologized.

Kishida's fear shifted to confusion at his behavior.

“Are you the same kid?”, Kishida questioned, genuinely confused.

“Yeah, Sendou Aichi.”, Aichi replied.

“You don’t like have some sort of evil twin or something?”, Kishida asked.

“No.”, Aichi replied.

“Then, what the heck happened to that monster I battled?!”, Kishida questioned.

“Are you talking about Misaki? I know she can be a bit scary, but I wouldn’t say she’s a monster.”, Aichi replied.

“N-no don’t you remember when we battled in the gym?”, Kishida questioned.

“No.”, Aichi replied.

He had remembered what Shin had said happened, but he didn’t actually remember doing the stuff he said. He said he was like a completely different person, beating down Kishida’s Pokémon mercilessly and enjoying his fear. That didn’t sound like him. Sure he didn’t like the things people did sometimes, but he’d never hate someone enough to act like that. At least...he doesn’t think so.

“Time to go.”, the officer said, finally taking Kishida away.

“W-wait! I don’t know why you did the things you did, but I have a feeling you wouldn’t have done them normally. I-I hope that you’ll be fine.”, Aichi said in parting as Kishida looked back at him for a moment before turning back not saying a word.

Flashback end

“What happened to me back at Megacolony town? I had blanked out like that a few times before. Whenever I do the people around me become scared of me. Why is this happening? Why did it start happening? Is...is it really safe for me to be traveling with people knowing I could suddenly change?”, Aichi thought.

“Is something wrong Aichi?”, Kamui questioned.

Misaki looked at Aichi having a very good idea of what Aichi was thinking.

“I d-dunno.”, Aichi blurted out, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“I’m not even sure I can trust myself...maybe this was all a mistake...maybe I should have never left Sanctuary town...”, Aichi thought.

“Aichi…”, Misaki trailed off reaching out as Aichi walked away.

“Was it something I said?”, Kamui questioned.

“No...it’s just something that has been bothering him since the last town.”, Misaki said following after Aichi.

Aichi walked outside taking a deep breath. He heard the door behind him open with Misaki walking out.

“It’s about what happened when you fought Kishida right?”, Misaki asked, standing beside the blue haired boy.

“Yeah...it just crossed my mind...what if that happens again? What if when we’re traveling I just change into someone else and something happens? I’m just...scared.”, Aichi replied.

“You said it started happening a bit ago even before your adventure. It will keep happening regardless.”, Misaki replied, as Aichi lowered his head.

“Yeah…”, Aichi replied.

“Even if I did go back I don’t want Mom or Emi to deal with an evil me. And I can’t just sit by knowing some evil team is messing with the region.”, Aichi continued.

“Then, let’s keep traveling together...at least till we get to the gym. The power you displayed seemed to be psychic in nature. I am a master of the psychic type, I might have no experience teaching a human, but it can’t be that different right?”, Misaki replied.

“M-Misaki your really doing too much for me...I-I don’t even know what I do to-“, Aichi stuttered.

Misaki looked away crossing her arms, blushing lightly.

“I’m just doing this for me not for you. A berserk psychic would just be inconvenient to deal with.”, Misaki replied.

“Really thank you...though do you think it would be safe for Kamui to join us?”, Aichi asked.

“That’s for you to decide he asked you.”, Misaki said, as Aichi looked to the door before walking back in.

Aichi sat down before Kamui took a deep breath as Kamui looked at him, still confused about his reaction before.

“There’s something you have to know before joining us. I don’t know if you would believe it, but I think you have the right to know…”, Aichi trailed off then explaining the strange powers he had and what happened against Kishida.

Kamui swear dropped taking the story in as Aichi sat there waiting for his response.

“I know how it sounds, but it’s the-“, Aichi was saying before he was cut off.

“You're telling me you have the same crazy powers that guy has?!”, Kamui blurted out as Aichi and Misaki looked shocked.

“That guy? Who’s that guy?”, Aichi questioned.

“Well, it’s part of the reason I’m here…”, Kamui trailed off before.

Flashback

“Is that all you got? How boring. Gym leaders are supposed to be led by the strong who weed out all the weak trainers.”, a rather tall teen taunted.

He had a black long leather jacket with a red A on one of the pockets. Underneath he had on a red shirt and wore long black pants. His hair was long and red with matching red eyes. This was the man in question.

In front of him was a tan teen. He had black hair and red eyes. He had a red bandanna on his head. He wore a brown vest with an orange shirt underneath and white pants. This teen was the 4th gym leader Gouki Daimonji. He was on the ground a bit hurt pushing himself up.

“Gouki!/Brother!”, Kamui gasped along with some others in bandanas and a small girl.

One of the ones with a bandanna was tall and lanky with purple hair. He wore a white shirt and had a orange piece of cloth wrapped around him in his shoulders. This was Hiroshi. The other was shorter and more tan with blue hair. He wore a lined blue shirt. This was Kaoru. The little girl was blond with her hair in a ponytail. She had light green eyes and wore a pink blouse with a red vest. This girl was Nagisa, Gouki’s little sister.

“Grr! No! A gym leader is meant to lead an example for trainers to follow!”, Gouki disagreed.

He clutched his fists as he looked up towards the teen who gave him a condescending smile.

“So, you want them to follow weakness then? That may have been what your old champion wanted, but I won’t allow such weakness. Weakness is a sin.”, the red haired teen questioned.

“That’s not the point! That’s why we just use one type of Pokémon we’re simply supposed to be tests for the young trainers to get stronger! We can’t just use our full power, they're just kids.”, Gouki argued.

“If they lose they were never meant to win in the first place. You should show no mercy to such weaklings.”, the red haired teen said.

“No! I refuse! And I won’t let you mess up Grandblue city like you have with so many other cities and towns!”, Gouki refused.

“Oh, so my power hasn’t scared you into submission? Then, I’ll have to use another method.”, the red haired teen said as in his eyes appeared a familiar rainbow spiral along with a red aura.

“Gah!”, Gouki cried out in pain.

“Are you alright captain?!”, Kaoru asked.

Gouki got up and turned to face them. Holding up a Poké ball.

“I-I’ve gotta...erase the weak.”, he said in almost a trancelike state.

Nagisa looked scared as Kamui got in front of her.

“No way! I don’t know what you did to Gouki, but I won’t let you do what you did to my hometown here!”, Kamui declared raising his Poké ball.

Flashback end

“But...I stood no chance. It was nothing like my gym battle with Gouki before he showed no mercy and completely creamed me.”, Kamui explained.

“N-no way!”, Aichi gasped as Misaki narrowed her eyes.

“It’s true. I didn’t know that’s how he’s been doing it, but it’s been happening all over the region. It all started after that guy became champion Suzugamori Ren. That’s why I set off with Shin to stop him and his evil team from taking over the whole region.”, Misaki explained.

“Suzugamori…”, Aichi muttered he didn’t know why, but he felt like he'd heard that name before.

“Now that I think of it, aren't you the psychic type gym leader? You're the one right after Gouki right?”, Kamui questioned.

“Yes.”, Misaki answered.

“Hehe! Yeah, I never got the chance to challenge you with all this stuff going on. After that happened I left to get as strong as possible. I briefly stopped by your gym, but you weren’t there. Well, I guess I know why now.”, Kamui said.

“Now that I think of it, aren't there like other psychics outside this region? Are they anywhere near as strong as this Ren guy?”, Aichi questioned.

“No, to do something like controlling someone his psychic power would have to be on the level of a Pokémon. Most psychics at best would be able to levitate stuff, but not something as crazy as that. I don’t know if your powers are on par with him since I only really saw it briefly.”, Misaki explained.

“I can’t even control mine…”, Aichi replied.

“Well, even if you don’t now you can always learn. Not to mention, we got our Pokémon we just have to get strong enough to take down that jerk!”, Kamui replied.

“Yeah...Yeah! We’re going to take down Team Asteroid together!”, Aichi agreed.

“Together!”, said Kamui then placed his hand in the middle of the table. “Together!”, said Aichi placed his hand on top. The two looked at Misaki who then put her hand down. “Together I guess.”, Misaki said.

“Your Pokémon are healed.”, Nurse Joy said, giving them their Poké balls.

They grabbed their Poké balls, reattaching them to their belts.

“Alright, let’s go!”, Kamui said, lifting his fists in the air running out of the Pokémon center followed by Aichi and Misaki.

The three set off to the next town. Unknown to them they were being watched by the Riolu from before.

“Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. (Hmph. As if they can. Stupid humans.)”, Riolu said before taking off.

Aichi and Kamui effortlessly took down all the trainers on their way.

“Wingal use rock throw!”, Aichi ordered.

“Buster use flame charge!”, Kamui ordered,

Wingal and Buster jumped at the same time launching their individual attacks at different Pokémon.

Eventually as they got closer to the town a eerie fog rolled in. It was getting hard for them to see. It seems like day had instantly changed to night as they entered.

“Misaki? Kamui?”, Aichi called out as Wingal had jumped onto Aichi’s shoulder.

The mist was getting so thick everything appeared white. He heard no response.

With Kamui…

“Aichi! Misaki! Where’d you guys go? Dang, it’s getting real spooky. Buster use flame charge to light things up.”, Kamui ordered.

Buster complied, creating some fire in its hands. They could make out some silhouettes in the fog. They walked up to the silhouettes that revealed strange floating black creatures with red eyes holding...human faces. They were Yamasks. In that moment Kamui felt like peeing his pants.

“Yamask? Yamask? (Huh, he has a human face on his face?)”, A Yamask said.

“Yamask! Yamask! (We need a face! A face!)”, another Yamask said as Buster looked panicked motioning Kamui to hightail it out of there.

Kamui and Buster started screaming and running as they were chased by the Yamasks.

With Misaki…

Misaki shivered as she felt an eerie chill.

“Where did those two go?”, she questioned, looking around.

She really started to shiver as she kept walking.

“Why the heck is it so cold all of the sudden?”, Misaki questioned, finally pulling out Delphox’s Poké ball, unable to take the cold anymore before bumping into something.

“What the heck?”, Misaki questioned, barely able to see.

Whatever it was, it was very cold so cold that she was stuck. She managed to press the button on the Poké ball throwing out Delphox. The fire at the end of Delphox’s stick was able to illuminate what Misaki was stuck to. It was someone frozen alive and turned into an ice sculpture. Misaki paled and Delphox gasped seeing the frozen person.

“M-mystic fire! Use mystic fire! Just enough to melt the ice!”, Misaki commanded.

Delphox obeyed, shooting fire from it’s stick in between Misaki and the sculpture.

“Hot! Hot!”, Misaki hissed.

She blew on her hand to cool it down a bit. The person was still frozen though a bit of water now leaked down from the statue where the attack was fired. Misaki looked around realizing there was more than one ice sculpture; there were several people frozen alive.

“A-ah crap!”, Misaki said looking around the ice sculptures with Delphox nervously trying to keep her nerves in check to see if Aichi or Kamui had been frozen as well.

“Frostlass? (Huh, don’t you wanna say with me?)”, a white Pokémon with a body like a yukata said.

“It’s a Frostlass, but could one Pokémon really do all of this?”, Misaki questioned.

“Frostlass. (Stay with me.)”, Frostlass said, preparing a ice attack.

“Amaterasu use Mystical Fire!”, Misaki ordered.

With Aichi…

Aichi walked around with Wingal on his shoulder looking around for Misaki and Kamui.

“Guys where are you?”, Aichi called out.

“Rockruff?! Rockruff?! (Hey, where are you guys?!)”, Wingal called out.

Aichi was barely able to make out a silhouette of what seemed to be a little girl holding a balloon.

“Hey, are you alright? Have you been separated from your parents because of this fog?”, Aichi asked.

The girl didn’t respond. Aichi raised his eyebrow a bit confused.

“Oh, maybe she’s scared?”, Aichi thought.

He looked over to see her face to face. He jumped as she had short red hair like his sister, but had purple eyes instead of blue.

“Will you help me find my brother?”, the little girl asked shakily.

Those words struck a chord with Aichi who put his hand over his heart thinking of his own little sister.

“She seemed fine when I called her so...why do I feel like this?”, Aichi thought.

“Of course, I’ll help you find your brother. I’m actually looking for a few people myself right now. Maybe, we can find them together?”, Aichi agreed, holding the girl's hand to help her fear.

Aichi’s eyes widened a bit when he touched her hand.

“Rockruff? (Is something wrong?)”, Wingal asked.

Aichi looked to the girl wondering if it was just his imagination.

“Thank you, mister. Do you mind if I call you brother?”, she asked.

“Yeah...yeah…”, Aichi replied, raising his eyebrow in confusion at the sensation he was feeling when he touched her hand.

“Why does her hand feel like string? Is it just because of the balloon she’s holding? No. No. That’s not it I don’t feel a hand at all.”, Aichi thought as Wingal looked up to the balloon the girl was holding.

It was really hard to make out the details due to the fog. Wingal sniffed the balloon with confusion.

“Rockruff? Rockruff?! (Why does the balloon smell like...a Pokémon?!)”, Wingal questioned before realizing something.

Aichi flinched, realizing the implications of what Wingal was saying.

“Then...that means this balloon is no balloon it’s-“, Aichi was saying looking up at the balloon before being interrupted.

“My brother didn’t want to float like me. Will you float brother?”, the girl asked as Aichi felt his feet lifting off the air.

“A Driftblum! W-Wingal use rock-”, Aichi gasped in fear as him and Wingal were lifted into the air continuously going higher and higher.

“N-No! Don’t use it! Don’t use it!”, Aichi said.

They quickly went above the fog and Aichi could clearly make out the purple balloon Pokémon. He could also see that it no longer appeared to be night like in the fog and it was actually more around dusk.

“Driftblum. (You’ll float too.)”, Driftblum said.

Aichi then saw the girl from before floating before him, but he now noticed she was transparent.

“Will you float with us brother?”, the girl asked.

“G-g-ghost!”, Aichi gasped.

“Rockruff! Rockruff! (Don’t look down!)”, Wingal said as it clutched onto Aichi’s jacket for dear life shaking like a leaf.

Aichi looked white as a sheet when more ghost kids appeared to chanting “you’ll float too”.

“Ah!!! How did it know I hate that movie!”, Aichi said shakily.

“Driftblum. Driftblum? (Of course I know. How else could I feed on your fear?)”, Driftblum said.

“D-Driftblum’s actually feed on fear?! Ahh!!!”, Aichi screamed, feeling like he was close to fainting as Driftblum laughed maniacally.

Elsewhere…

In a dark castle-like building cloaked men watched the three’s encounters with the ghost type Pokémon. Beside them was a short teen with short white hair and purple eyes. He wore a white dress shirt with a red A and a black tie. He had his hands in his pockets.

“Hmph. Why the heck is Ren so interested in this little twerp?”, the teen questioned.

“Should we stop the Drifblum? The other two don’t matter, but you said master Ren was interested in that blue haired boy.”, one of the cloaked figures asked.

“Whatever, just let the blubbering baby drop. He doesn’t seem too special.”, the teen said as he put out his thumb before turning it down.

With Misaki...

The mist on the ground started to clear up a bit. Misaki walked around with a few unfrozen people after knocking out the Frostlass and battling a few more along with Snowrunts. She could see Kamui who seemed to be in front of some fainted Yamasks. He had out Buster, Kaiser, Shout, Tough Boy, and Mr.Invincible.

“Ah, Misaki!? You were this close?”, Kamui questioned running up to Misaki.

The fog hadn’t completely evacuated, but it was much easier to see than before. They stopped as they heard screaming in the distance. They looked up paling to see a Driftblum taking someone away though they couldn’t get a good look at it.

With Aichi…

“Rockruff! Rockruff! (Please don’t faint, Aichi!)”, Wingal begged as Aichi continued to scream.

“We’re gonna die!”, Aichi panicked tears stinging his cheeks.

“Don’t worry brother you’ll become a ghost like us and you’ll float.”, the little ghost girl assured, which did absolutely nothing to stop Aichi’s screaming.

“Drifblum. (Time to float.)”, Driftblum said as Aichi even paler.

Aichi and Wingal screamed as Driftblum let go of them and they fell. Driftblum looked down at its two latest victims before looking up jumping shock.

“Huh? That’s strange. That was a bit too fast for how high up we are.”, Drifblum questioned as it saw Aichi floating with Wingal desperately clinging onto him.

Aichi’s head was down and his eyes shadowed.

“Drifblum. Drifblum. Drif-(Well, looks like we have a new kid n-)”, Drifblum was saying before being cut off.

“Oh...is that so?”, Aichi questioned his tone having completely changed, sounding deeper.

The ghost kids and Drifblum looked at Aichi in shock, suddenly realizing he wasn’t transparent. He hadn’t become a ghost yet he was floating in mid-air. Aichi looked up smirking, revealing a rainbow spiral in his eyes. A murky dark blue aura was surrounding him as well. The air around them felt heavy. Like they were suffocating even though they didn’t need to breathe.

Elsewhere…

“A-ah shit!”, the teen cursed, jumping suddenly understanding his master’s fascination.

The hooded men looked scared as well by this turn of events.

With Aichi...

“R-Rockruff? (A-Aichi?)”, Wingal questioned in shock.

Drifblum backed up nervously this kind of thing obviously never happening to it before.

“Now, answer me this. Do ghosts like you feel fear? Because if you do you're about to have a lot of it.”, Aichi taunted, pointing at Drifblum.

“So, you're a psychic huh? It’s the first time I picked up one of those. Not that it matters much after all psychic moves aren’t effective on ghost ty-“, Drifblum said before being cut off by a wave of psychic energy blowing it out of the sky.

“Who decided that?”, Aichi said as he descended down to where Drifblum fell.

Drifblum struggled to get up extremely injured.

“H-how?!”, Drifblum questioned shaking in fear.

“You know normally I wouldn’t like to hurt Pokémon this badly, but for...a true monster like you I’ll make an exception. You're already dead anyway.”, Aichi said, preparing to attack Drifblum again.

“R-Rockruff! (S-stop! Aichi!)”, Wingal yelled.

“Why?”, Aichi questioned with a snarl causing Wingal to flinch.

“Rockruff? Rockruff? Rockruff! Rockruff! (What’s going on with you? You're not normally like this! You're a kind person even to monsters like Drifblum!”, Wingal said with tears in its eyes looking at Aichi.

Aichi froze when hearing Wingal’s words. The rainbow spiral flashed in and out of his eyes.

“I-I!”, Aichi stuttered as he clutched his head screaming in pain.

It seemed like he was trying to fight something inside him. The aura seemed to flare up the more he tried to fight it.

“Don’t fight it! Embrace it!”, a voice in his head that sounded strangely similar to his own said as Aichi continued to struggle.

“N-no!”, Aichi refused screaming.

Misaki and Kamui finally made it over to Aichi seeing what’s happening.

“Aichi!”, they called out, running to him only to be knocked back by an invisible force.

“Just be quiet you! You always get us into these situations by doing things your way! It’s about time I-”, Aichi said seemingly arguing with himself.

“I-Is he being possessed?!”, Kamui questioned.

“Aichi you can’t let your power control you! You have to control it!”, Misaki shouted.

“M-Misaki I-I-Ahhh!!! It's...it's really hard!”, Aichi screamed as the dark aura around him seemed to get stronger not wanting to be contained anymore.

“If only Ahmes were here. I-I need to get his Poké ball. Crap! My body won’t listen to me!”, Aichi thought.

“You can do this Aichi! Remember we promised to defeat team Asteroid together!”, Kamui said, hoping to get through to him.

“Rockruff! Rockruff! Rockruff! (I know the person who saved me is stronger than this! You have to fight it!)”, Wingal said.

Aichi felt tears stinging his eyes as he tried to fight it. His power just wouldn’t listen to him.

“R-Rockruff! Rockruff! Rockruff! (I’ll become stronger so you’ll never have to be like this again! Please Aichi!)”, Wingal pleaded.

“M-Misaki! Kamui! Wingal!”, Aichi thought as he felt his consciousness becoming heavy.

He was about to change again and he wasn’t sure if he’d turn back this time. He felt flashes coming to him.

“Wimpod! Wimpod! Wimpod! Wimpod! (Wow! I never thought I could do something like that. Trainers really are amazing!)”, Llew cheered, jumping into the air with Aichi.

“Ralts! (Don’t be sad!)”, Ahmes said, wiping away his tears.

“It’s fine I got other Pokémon. Besides I have a feeling that together the two of you will be able to get real strong.”, the young Kai replied, patting Aichi’s back.

“U-Umm I would like to battle you again someday if that’s alright.”, Aichi said.

“We’ll see…if our paths cross again.”, Kai replied simply.

“They definitely will become a great Pokémon trainer like you. The very best like no one ever was!”, Aichi replied.

“Llew...Ahmes...K-Kai! I-I don’t know if we’ll get to have that battle.”, Aichi thought.

As everything seemed to fade Aichi heard a loud roar.

“You can’t be lost here, you still have so much left to do.”, a voice said that sounded strangely familiar to him, but he couldn’t remember where.

Aichi felt himself start to relax and gain more consciousness. The dark aura evaporated from around him and he collapsed completely drained. He felt arms catch him as he fainted.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: The Grueling Battle

Chapter Text

Chapter 7 The Grueling Battle

Level 30 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Slash
Double team
Psybeam
Future Sight

Level 24 Wingal (Rockruff) rock
Moves:
Double team
Bite
Rock tomb
Sand attack

Level 28 Llew (Wimpod) water/bug
Moves:
Struggle bug
Sand attack
Defense curl

A rainbow aura surrounded Aichi as he started to relax before collapsing completely. Misaki and Kamui ran up to Aichi catching him before he could fall onto the ground.

“Is he gonna be alright?”, Kamui asked concerningly.

Misaki held Aichi sitting him up against a rock. Wingal whimpered as it got into Aichi’s licking him rather than cuddling to avoid scratching Aichi with the sharp rocks in its maine.

“I don’t know. His situation is...unlike any I’ve seen before. It was almost like his own power was trying to take control over him.”, Misaki answered.

“Hopefully it hasn’t.”, Kamui said.

“Yeah…”, Misaki replied.

Some people walked up to them as they sat there.

“Thank you very much for saving us.”, one of the people said.

“It’s nothing. Besides gym leaders are supposed to do that.”, Misaki answered.

The people suddenly jumped back in fear at what Misaki said. Misaki and Kamui looked at the people in confusion.

“Y-your a gym leader?!”, one of the people questioned shakily pointing at Misaki.

“Yeah…?”, Misaki answered, confused by their reaction.

“S-she could be in league with Kurosawa!”, someone said.

“Kurosawa...Wait we’re in...Oh my Arceus! I hardly recognized this place in this state. We’re in Kagero town aren’t we? Where is he? What happened here?”, Misaki questioned.

The people looked down, having a distrustful look on their faces. A boy with red hair and purple eyes like the ghost girl walked up a bit nervous.

“Everything used to be fine here. Kurosawa was a great gym leader, a bit weird but good. He kept the ghost Pokémon in control, but one day out of nowhere he changed…”, the boy started as Misaki and Kamui gasped.

“He suddenly said this town is for the ghosts. All those who are weak will be weeded out and become ghosts. Then only strong will be left. It was so horrible m-my poor sister...she wasn’t as lucky as me.”, the boy said.

He looked over to Drifblum all beaten up struggling to move.

“I’m glad my sister has been avenged.”, he said.

“T-this is so-Ahhh!!! What’s with those Team Asteroid jerks?! They just take away everything from so many people. If we didn’t come when we did more people would be dead! Why? Why? Why are they doing this?”, Kamui asked as he broke into tears unable to contain it anymore.

“Kamui…”, Misaki said, patting Kamui’s back.

“I-I remember coming by here just a few days ago and it was fine. Now, that poor girl ah! I remember her. She was so nice, wasn't her name Ime?”, Kamui continued.

“T-that’s right, that was my sister Ime.”, the boy said looking down.

Misaki tightened her fist till they shook.

“That’s it! I’m crushing those jerks! Just point me to where they are!”, Misaki said angrily.

“Here.”, the white haired teen from before said alongside the cloaked men.

The people instantly cowered in fear at their presence.

“You!”, Kamui growled pointing at the white haired teen.

“Me.”, the white haired teen replied.

“You're the jerk who screwed up my hometown! And the reason Reiji and Eiji quit being trainers!”, Kamui said.

“Who were they? Huh, probably some small fries not worth remembering.”, the white hair teen taunted.

Riolu looked out from behind the rocks gripping its paws tightly. He looked over to the white haired teen, Drifblum, and then the unconscious Aichi.

“That kid. What’s with him? I can’t get a read on what kind of person he is at all. His aura seems to go from relaxing to terrifying at the drop of a hat.”, Riolu thought, looking down to Wingal glaring at the white haired teen standing in front of his unconscious master to protect him.

“Even when his aura became terrifying they stood by him...is this friendship?”, Riolu thought, it didn’t know why, but it felt compelled to jump in to fight.

Was it seeing this genuine display of bond from people who didn’t even know each other that long? Perhaps Wingal’s willingness to protect his master? Or the horrendous atrocities committed by Team Asteroid? Riolu wasn’t sure, but he felt like he must fight now.

“Let’s go, Buster! It’s time to get revenge on this jerk!”, Kamui said as Buster got into a fighting stance.

The white haired teen smiled smugly.

“You think you can actually defeat me? One of the admins of Team Asteroid? Me Yahagi Kyou!”, Kyou questioned grabbing a Poké ball from his belt.

Misaki threw out Assista Eevee who got into a fighting stance.

“Che! Those lame Pokémon are all you got? Besides I’m not interested in you dweebs. I’m interested in that guy!”, Kyou said pointing at the unconscious Aichi, causing Wingal to growl at him.

“What do you want with Aichi?”, Kamui questioned.

“I wanna find out the secret to that power, so I can have it for myself.”, Kyou explained.

“Are you crazy!? Did you see what it did to him?”, Misaki questioned.

“Heh! Maybe, some weakling like him couldn’t control it. But, I can handle it! But, first I’m gonna have to get you two out of the way.”, Kyou said before throwing out a Hawlucha.

“Sky Diver use sky attack!”, Kyou commanded as the bird-like Pokémon dove onto Buster.

Kamui gasped as Buster was knocked out instantly.

“Oh my Arceus! Your Pokémon is so weak!”, Kyou laughed as Misaki tensed.

“Goon 1, goon 2, goon 3 destroy these weaklings, they're a waste of my time.”, Kyou ordered as the hooded figures stepped in front of Misaki and Kamui, blocking them from interfering.

They threw out their respective Pokémon a Mimikyu, Lantern, and Gengar.

“Kurosawa?”, the boy questioned.

Misaki recognized the one with green hair as Kurosawa.

“Kurosawa! You gotta snap out of this! Do you know what you're doing?! So, many innocent people of your town have gotten hurt.”, Misaki said.

“They were weak. They suffered because they must. Weakness is a sin.”, Kurosawa said in a trancelike state.

“You can’t beat all three of us Misaki especially since we have the type advantage here.”, another one of the cloaked figures said.

“Grr! She’s not alone she’s got me! Go, Kaiser!”, Kamui said, bringing out his Pupitar.

With Aichi…

“Now, all I gotta do is bring in this twerp to be dissected then I can find out the secret to that power.”, Kyou said with Sky Diver beside him walking up to Aichi.

Wingal growled at Kyou as he neared.

“Heh! Oh, look a weak Pokémon that was so useless it couldn’t even do its job.”, Kyou taunted.

Riolu finally jumped out beside Wingal hearing those words.

“Rockruff!? (It’s you!?)”, Wingal questioned, seeing Riolu take a fighting stance beside him.

“Hehe! A Riolu. Reminds me of the weak one I used to have before I replaced it with Sky Diver!”, Kyou said as Riolu tensed.

“These two weaklings honestly think they can win? End them Sky Diver!”, Kyou ordered as the Hawlucha dived towards the two with a kick.

Riolu jumped out of the way, but Wingal stayed because it was aimed towards Aichi. Wingal coughed out hard as it was blown back by Sky Diver. Riolu looked towards Wingal gasping as Wingal coughed up blood.

“Super effective. I knew you wouldn’t allow Sky Diver to hurt your poor trainer there now your done.”, Kyou said.

“R-Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! (Y-You bastard! Aura! Aura! Aura! Aura!)”, Riolu roared in rage recklessly punching Sky Diver.

“Hehe! It even does that stupid punch barrage like my old one. And just like that worthless piece of trash you're about to get released, but instead from this life! Go, Sky Diver! Sky attack!”, Kyou ordered.

Riolu coughed up blood like Wingal falling over.

“And that’s all she wrote.”, Kyou said as he went over to grab Aichi.

As he did boulders and other rocks were hurled at him. Sky Diver jumped in the way kicking and punching the rocks. A few of the rock fragments cut Kyou who cursed. He looked over to see Wingal barley standing.

“You little shit! You cut my beautiful face! Prepare to die!”, Kyou said enraged.

“Rockruff! Rockruff! (I don’t care if you kill me! But I won’t let you bastards take him!)”, Wingal howled.

Riolu looked over to Wingal barely conscious.

“Rockruff! Rockruff! Rockruff! Rockruff! Rockruff! (I may be weak! Fuck I’m so weak Aichi almost died! But even so I’ll protect him! Because he’s the best human I’ve ever met!)”, Wingal yelled before it started to glow.

“What!?”, Kyou gasped, being briefly blinded by the light as well as Sky Diver.

Wingal grew larger and was now a dark blue color; its maine was much larger and curved. It more resembled a wolf than a puppy now. It has a long white tail and the rocks one it’s maine had sharpened. It let out a loud howl. It’s green eyes glowed red upon seeing Kyou.

Level 25 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Rock tomb
Sand attack

“Even if you’ve evolved you still can’t defeat Sky Diver!”, Kyou said.

“Grrr! Lycanroc! Lycanroc! (Grrr! Then, I’ll just defeat you!)”, Wingal growled as it launched itself at the cocky Kyou and Hawlucha.

It clawed Kyou as Sky Diver jumped in front.

With Misaki and Kamui…

“Assista Eevee use future sight then use dazzling gleam!”, Misaki ordered.

The Espeon weaved through the ghost Pokémon moves. It emitted a powerful pink flash blowing back the ghost Pokémon.

“Now, go Kaiser! Dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as Kaiser shot waves of darkness at the ghost Pokémon while they were mid air.

“This isn’t over Mimikyu use play rough!”, Kurosawa commanded as Assista Eevee intercepted the attack.

“Not so fast! Assista Eevee use shadow ball!”, Misaki ordered as Assista Eevee flung the shadow ball at Mimikyu mid attack.

“Darn! How can she be so strong!?”, one of the cloaked figures said.

“I’ve got this, go save Aichi!”, Misaki ordered Kamui.

“I can’t just leave you!”, Kamui replied.

“Go!”, Misaki said forcefully as Kamui flinched in terror complying.

With Aichi…

“Kill it! Sky Diver! Kill it!”, Kyou ordered as he felt blood drip from his chest from Wingal’s claws.

Sky Diver wasn’t as hurt standing in front of Kyou before launching itself at Wingal again.

“Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as the wave of darkness set Sky Diver off course crashing into a rock.

“Fucking uselessness! Piece of shit!”, Kyou cursed.

He jumped as Wingal growled, baring its teeth at the defenseless Kyou.

Somewhere…

Aichi found himself waking up in a strange void. He looked around confused vaguely remembering what happened. He covered his eyes as a brilliant light appeared. It was like the sun.

“Sendou Aichi. I have tried all I could, but it looks like it is becoming impossible to suppress your power any longer. You must tame it and awaken quickly.”, a voice told him from the light.

He could tell something there, but due to the blinding light he couldn’t tell what it was.

“How do I do that?”, Aichi asked covering his eyes.

“You’ll have to find a way. There’s no way you can defeat Suzagamori Ren without using them.”, the voice replied.

“Who are you? Are you Arceus?”, Aichi asked.

The voice seemed to chuckle a bit at that.

“No. I’m not that important, you can simply see me as a guardian. You are not ready to know who I am yet. You will when you're ready.”, the voice answered.

“When will I know that?”, Aichi asked.

“You’ll know eventually...now awaken Sendou Aichi. You're needed.”, the voice commanded as suddenly the light spread across the entire void.

With Aichi…

Aichi’s eyes fluttered open as he looked around confused. His head was throbbing and he still felt drained. His eyes landed on Wingal; it took him a few seconds to recognize it as Wingal now in its newly evolved state.

“Wingal…?”, Aichi muttered.

Wingal blinked it’s eyes returned to green as it’s ears perked up hearing Aichi’s voice instantly running over to him.

“Aichi!”, Kamui called out running over to him.

“W-what happened? When did Wingal evolve?”, Aichi questioned, his words seemed to slur a bit, not really fully conscious yet.

Aichi reached out his hand to pat Wingal on the head.

“I-I dunno what happened, but it looks like you’ve been through a lot you’ve done a really good j-job. I-I’ve gotta return you to your Poké ball you look really hurt.”, Aichi continued.

“Lycanroc! (I can keep on fighting!)”, Wingal replied.

“A-Aren’t exhausted by now? I know I am, you shouldn’t push yourself too much. I don’t want you to get t-too hurt.”, Aichi replied.

“L-Lycanroc. (A-alright.)”, Wingal agreed as the adrenaline it felt started wearing off.

Aichi pulled out Wingal’s Poké ball recalling it. Aichi stumbled as he tried to get up. Kamui caught him helping him stand up.

“T-thanks Kamui.”, Aichi said.

“You can’t talk about pushing yourself too hard.”, Kamui said as Aichi chuckled.

“Your right.”, Aichi agreed, smiling.

“You!”, Kyou growled stumbling covered in scratches from Wingal’s attacks.

“Who are you?”, Aichi asked.

“That’s it, Sky Diver, get your ass up and end this fool!”, Kyou said pointing at Aichi.

Aichi grabbed a Poké ball throwing out Ahmes.

“G-Gallade?! Gallade!? (A-Aichi, are you alright?! What happened!?)”, Ahmes asked full of worry, holding Aichi.

“I-I’m fine. Use future sight then psybeam.”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes effortlessly dodged Sky Diver’s flying attack, holding Aichi bridal style as it weaves through Hawlucha's blows. It held out one hand briefly launching a psychic beam towards Sky Diver while mid flight. Sky Diver growled going for Ahmes again, but it’s speed was irrelevant to seeing the future. Ahmes shot a few more beams at Sky Diver as it jumped along cradling Aichi.

“Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as Sky Diver got close to hitting Ahmes.

“You cheap bastard!”, Kyou cursed.

“All’s fair in dove and for!”, Kamui declared.

“I-It’s love and war.”, Aichi corrected.

Kamui laughed embarrassingly as Kyou fumed.

“How could these little trash weaklings push me like this!?”, Kyou yelled.

Ahmes noticed Riolu on the ground picking him up as well.

“W-what happened to you?”, Aichi asked.

“Riolu? Riolu? (Oh, so you're finally awake?)”, Riolu questioned as it coughed.

“We gotta get you healed up. I’ve got some potions in my bag.”, Aichi said.

Ahmes set the two down as it delivered a final psybeam at Sky Diver. Aichi reached into his bag pulling out a potion. He sprayed it onto Riolu’s injuries.

“Riolu? Riolu? (Why are you helping me?)”, Riolu questioned.

“Because you're hurt.”, Aichi answered simply.

Kyou went to grab his other Poké balls, but Ahmes held him in place using its psychic energy.

“Riolu. Riolu. (You say that as if it’s so simple.)”, Riolu replied.

“Isn’t it? Whether it’s a person or a Pokémon shouldn’t we help each other?”, Aichi questioned.

Kamui sat next to Aichi a bit confused, not understanding what Riolu was saying.

Riolu turned away; it couldn’t withstand his aura. It was far more disturbing than the terrifying one from before. It was so positive and comforting. It gravitated Riolu towards him and made it want to protect him and serve him with every fiber of his being. It was the aura of a king.

“Can such an aura really exist?”, Riolu thought.

It looked to Kyou. It remembered when it used to serve him. It was so bright eyed and hopeful then. But, then he was abandoned for being too weak. Not being able to evolve. Riolu had earnestly tried as hard as it could for it’s master, but it couldn’t manage it. It didn’t know why. He couldn’t think of what made Kyou change so much. What made him completely abandon bonding with his Pokémon for pure power. After it was abandoned Riolu wandered with its heart gradually growing colder and colder with each passing day. Only pursuing strength like it’s former master to prove it's not worthless.

Aichi smiled brightly as Riolu fully recovered. He seemed genuinely relieved. Riolu squirmed as it felt a warm feeling in its chest. It tried to look away; it didn’t want to meet Aichi’s eyes. It stopped reading his aura because he didn’t want to become completely consumed by his mere presence.

“Don’t worry you’ll be alright. After everything is cleaned up here it should be safe for you.”, Aichi said his voice was soft and warm the complete opposite of how it was when his power consumed him.

Riolu felt like it was melting from his overwhelming radiance. It had to leave before it swore it’s eternal allegiance. Riolu jumped out of Aichi’s arms needing to get away.

“R-Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! (I-I told myself I’d never serve a stupid human again!)”, Riolu thought but it’s legs felt like they were stuck in cement.

“W-wait Riolu! It isn’t safe, there's a bunch of homicidal ghosts here!”, Aichi called out, reaching towards Riolu.

Ahmes looked back towards Riolu. It took all of Riolu’s willpower to not jump into Aichi’s arms right now.

“R-Riolu…(F-fuck…)”, Riolu said shakily.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 8 End of the Nightmare

Level 32 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Slash
Double team
Psybeam
Future Sight

Level 26 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Rock tomb
Sand attack

Level 28 Llew (Wimpod) water/bug
Moves:
Struggle bug
Sand attack
Defense curl

“You! Pieces of shit! Let go of me so I get out the rest of my Pokémon to destroy you!”, Kyou growled still being restrained by Ahmes.

“Maybe if you calm down a bit.”, Aichi suggested sweat dropping.

He had absolutely no idea why this guy was so mad at him and attacked him. He noticed the red A on his clothes realizing he must be a part of Team Asteroid.

“Yeah...let’s not do that. We should probably call the police so this lowlife can rot in jail.”, Kamui suggested.

Riolu looked over to Kyou. It was hard to believe just a few years ago he was a wide eyed hopeful trainer. He wasn’t perfect of course, a bit too arrogant for his own good, but he wasn’t bad. Now, he was a complete maniac. Riolu hopes to maybe one day return and bring him back to how he was, but felt he was already lost.

“Oh, wait I forgot Misaki! She’s fighting those goons and Kurosawa all alone!”, Kamui shouted.

“W-what?! Okay let’s go then take him with us Ahmes.”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes nodded, lifting Kyou up into the air with its powers.

Aichi and Kamui eventually made it to Misaki gawking in shock as they saw various ghost Pokémon littering the ground knocked out.

“What the hell is Misaki? Does she have powers too?”, Kamui questioned shakily.

“Not that I know of…”, Aichi trailed off sweat dropping as they made their way over to Misaki.

Misaki had sat down clearly exhausted. Assista Eevee was next to her sleeping like a cat. The robed men were knocked out. One started to wake up groaning while holding his head.

“What happened?”, Kurosawa groaned.

He seemed to be back to normal; they didn’t quite know why though. They explained to him everything that happened until now and he looked horrified.

“W-what I just let the ghost Pokémon have their way with everyone? Oh, Arceus! What was I thinking?”, Kurosawa questioned.

“It seems like you were under some sort of control. One likely inflicted by Suzugamori Ren.”, Misaki explained.

“I’m so sorry really… I don’t know how, but I’ve gotta fix this...”, he apologized sounding very disheartened looking to the surviving townsfolk and the destroyed town.

“I know it might not mean much, but it’s alright you weren’t yourself.”, Aichi said as Kurosawa turned his attention to him and Kamui.

“Thank you truly. You two are really brave kids. I think you should take this.”, Kurosawa said handing Aichi the ghoul badge.

“Why are you giving this to me when we didn’t even battle?”, Aichi questioned.

“If you were able to take down that Kyou guy you're more than ready to have this badge. Besides I don’t think I’ll have much time for battling. We've gotta rebuild everything.”, Kurosawa replied.

“You want help?”, Aichi asked as Kurosawa chuckled, patting his head.

“You’ve done more than enough kid. We can handle this. After all, you three plan to take down Suzugamori Ren and Team Asteroid right?”, Kurosawa replied.

“Yeah...I just really feel bad that we couldn’t have gotten here sooner...”, Aichi said as he looked over to the citizens.

Aichi looked surprised as the boy from before walked over to him sheepishly.

“T-thank you mister, for avenging my sister.”, the boy said bowing , making Aichi really flustered.

“You don’t need to bow it’s fine...Wait that ghost I met...that was your sister?”, Aichi replied.

The boy got up to face Aichi.

“Y-you saw her!”, he gasped.

“Y-yeah...I don’t know where she went so many things happened at once. Maybe she was able to move on. That would be nice.”, Aichi replied.

“Yeah...I hope so. I bet she’s in Heaven now.”, the kid said, tearing up.

Aichi patted his head.

“Don’t worry it will all be alright.”, Aichi assured.

Later…

Aichi, Misaki, and Kamui prepared to leave after the cops came to pick up Kyou.

“R-Riolu! (W-wait)”, Riolu said, stopping the three.

Aichi looked back to Riolu raising his eyebrow.

“Is something wrong?”, Aichi asked.

“R-R-Riolu! Riolu! (I-I please let my join you Sendou Aichi!)”, Riolu said as Aichi’s eyes widened in shock.

“I thought you didn’t like humans?”, Aichi questioned, cocking his head genuinely confused.

“Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu…Riolu! Riolu! (I didn’t. I had all, but lost my faith in humans...and friendship, but you have reinvigorated it! Please allow me to join your team!)”, Riolu begged bowing.

“Of course you can. You don’t have to beg me though. Welcome to the team! Uh...do you have a name?”, Aichi asked as he approached Riolu and Kamui and Misaki looked on clueless.

“Riolu. Riolu. (My name is Gancelot.)”, Gancelot answered.

“Okay, nice to formally meet you, Gancelot.”, Aichi said holding out a Poké ball.

Gancelot touched the ball entering in.

“Did you just talk another Pokémon into joining your team?”, Misaki questioned exasperated.

“Yeah…”, Aichi chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“That’s pretty cool. You're like a Pokémon whisperer. Can all psychics do that?”, Kamui questioned.

“Not that I’ve heard of.”, Misaki answered.

Aichi was about to go back with the others before he saw the ghost girl waving in the distance.

“Thank you for freeing us.”, Ime smiled brightly.

Aichi smiled, waving back as Misaki and Kamui looked at him like he was crazy.

“What are you waving at?”, Kamui questioned.

“It’s nothing…”, Aichi said smiling knowing the souls of Drifblum’s victims were now free.

Somewhere…

Ren sat in a chair clapping as he was watching a screen displaying our heroes. It cut off as he stopped smiling.

“Very impressive 003v...or should I say Sendou Aichi. I can’t wait till we meet again.”, Ren said smiling sinisterly.

“What should we do about Kyou?”, A rather tall young man with purple hair and a beard wearing a green suit with a red A said.

“Who?”, Ren questioned as the man sweat dropped.

“Never mind…”, the man said.

With Aichi…

“There’s a city between here and Grandblue city. It doesn’t have a gym. We should rest up there and stock up on some potions before having to face Gouki.”, Misaki said.

Kamui looked down at the mention of Gouki.

“It will be fine Kamui. This time you have us.”, Aichi assured, smiling.

“Thanks, Aichi.”, Kamui said with a small smile.

Note: So, I ended up writing today because I could find nothing on YouTube to watch and my break between classes today is rather long. This is more of a shorter chapter to rap up the whole Kagero town mini arc.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9 The City of God, Gold Maine City
Level 32 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Slash
Double team
Psybeam
Future Sight

Level 26 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Rock tomb
Sand attack

Level 28 Llew (Wimpod) water/bug
Moves:
Struggle bug
Sand attack
Defense curl

Level 30 Gancelot (Riolu) fighting
Moves:
Copy cat
Reversal
Force palm
Quick attack

It was nighttime, Aichi, Misaki, and Kamui felt like collapsing as they finally saw the next city in the distance. It’s buildings were tall and illuminated a golden glow. An ordinate golden wall surrounded the city. We’re the wall peaked there was a translucent psychic dome covering over the top which was hardly visible from where they were standing. Special elite trainers and officers stood guard at the entry point.

Aichi perked up as it suddenly hit him where they were going.

“This is the capital city...Gold Maine isn’t it?”, Aichi asked.

“Yeah...huff...that’s it. Haven’t you been here before?”, Misaki questioned as Aichi shook his head.

“I’ve spent my entire life in Sanctuary town.”, Aichi answered.

“So you're a bumpkin?”, Misaki questioned as Aichi looked embarrassed.

“Yeah...my mom is rather protective of me. That’s why I started my journey so late.”, Aichi explained.

“That’s...crazy! You live in Kakusa yet you’ve never been here?!”, Kamui questioned incredulously.

“I know I’m a small town bumpkin.”, Aichi said chuckling.

One of the elite guards came up to them.

“What is your business in the holy city? You're not a part of Team Asteroid are you?”, the guard questioned cautiously.

“As if we’d be one of those losers. Do you see a stupid red A on us anywhere?”, Kamui replied as Misaki elbowed him, coughing awkwardly.

“We're here to rest and stock up on supplies. Will probably only stay for a day or two before we set off to Grandblue city. We’re going there to eliminate the threat of Team Asteroid there.”, Misaki explained.

The guard nodded.

“You are Tokura Misaki, correct? The psychic gym leader word has spread here you and a few others have been fighting off Team Asteroid.”, the guard replied.

“Yes, these two have been helping me. The blue haired boy is Sendou Aichi and the spiky haired one is Katsuragi Kamui.”, Misaki explained.

“Alright. You three may enter.”, the guard finally said.

Aichi looked around nervously as he walked through the gate a bit intimidated. As soon as he got through though that uneasiness melted away and shifted to wonder as he got a better look at the city. The buildings seemed to be a strange mix of traditional and borderline futuristic. Various people and Pokémon wandered throughout the city. The bits of greenery there were breathtaking. In the very center of the city was a large gold statue of Arceus. At the statue various people in religious clothing prayed before their god.

Aichi felt his jaw drop taking in the sight as Misaki dragged him to the nearest hotel.

“Come on, bumpkin we need to sleep some time today.”, Misaki said.

Aichi felt captivated looking over at everything he could with wonder. They eventually stopped before a grand building that had the words PSY on the top.

“Is this the hotel?”, Aichi asked.

“It’s more than just a normal hotel. Well...hehe you’ll see.”, Kamui replied.

“It’s so big…”, Aichi trailed off in awe as they walked in.

The inside of the hotel somehow felt even more overwhelming. It was massive. There was an arcade, a battle arena, a mall, restaurants, saunas, a full water park and much much more. Like the city various people and Pokémon were littered about taking part in various activities. Aichi stood there frozen in amazement as Misaki checked them in.

“We’re in room Q4. You boys can go wander around if you want, I'm going to sleep.”, Misaki told them holding the key in her hands.

“Why is there a letter in front of it.”, Aichi questioned.

“Each room division goes from A-Z with 20 floors in each.”, Misaki explained as Aichi felt like he was gonna faint.

“H-how big is this place?!”, Aichi questioned.

“Let’s go, Aichi!”, Kamui said as he wrapped his arm around Aichi’s leading him around.

“We should go to the Pokémon center first wherever it is.”, Aichi suggested.

“Good idea! I almost forgot we never got to heal up from Kagero Town.”, Kamui said as they made their way to the center.

Like every Pokémon center it had a nurse Joy who they gave their Pokémon to heal. Aichi and Kamui sat down by a table looking at everything around them trying to decide what to do. They received a little beeper that will tell them when their Pokémon are healed.

“We can go to the hot springs. That would feel really good right now and it would relieve some of our sleepiness so we can do more stuff.”, Kamui suggested.

“That sounds good...I’ve never been to a hot springs.”, Aichi replied.

“You're such a bumpkin Aichi.”, Kamui replied chuckling.

“I know.”, Aichi replied chuckling.

They went over to the boys side of the hot springs area.

“Oh, wait I don’t have any trunks?!”, Aichi realized.

“It’s fine you can rent some here. I don’t have trunks either.”, Kamui replied.

“This place has everything doesn’t it?”, Aichi questioned.

The two of them rented a pair of trunks to wear. Then they put their bags away in lockers to keep them safe. In the hot springs there was a giant statue of Kyogure. Kamui didn’t linger on the scenery too long, jumping straight into the water making a loud splash. Aichi covered his face, sweat dropping at his friend. Kamui smiled deviously from the water splashing some at Aichi.

“Ah! Haha! Kamui! Stop!”, Aichi laughed as he walked into the water.

Aichi sank into where only his head was visible. He had a very content smile. The water felt very good. It made him completely forget about the complete horror movie of a day he had earlier.

“You're just sitting there Aichi.”, Kamui said.

“The water feels really good…”, Aichi purred as Kamui sweat dropped.

“He almost sounds like a Pokémon...hehe that would explain how he can understand them.”, Kamui thought.

“Man...we should have brought our Pokémon here. They'd love this.”, Aichi said.

“Oh, trust me they're not missing out, they're probably having the time of their lives at that Pokémon center.”, Kamui replied.

“But it’s...Wait...don’t tell me it’s more than a Pokémon center.”, Aichi replied.

Meanwhile with the Pokémon…

“Gallade. Gallade. (Ah. This is so nice.)”, Ahmes said as it was being massaged.

Wingal was being scrubbed in a bath with other dog-like Pokémon like Growlithe, Granbull, Houndour, and Lillipup.

Gancelot looked a little nervous as the attendants gave him a facial.

“Riolu? Riolu? (I wonder if I can eat these cucumbers?)”, Gancelot thought.

Llew swam around in the pool they had with other water type Pokémon like Magikarp, Lapras, Tirtouga, and many more.

“Wimpod! Wimpod! Wimpod! (Man you were around in ancient times that’s so cool!)”, Llew replied to the Tirtouga.

With Aichi…

“Come on, Aichi don’t be so lame and just sit there.”, Kamui said splashing Aichi again trying to goad him.

“K-Kamui! Ah why not?”, Aichi relented splashing back.

When the water hit Kamui it made one side of his spiky hair partially flop down a bit. Aichi grinned thinking it looked funny.

“That’s a good look for you.”, Aichi said.

Kamui didn’t look amused, having the wet hair slap him in the face.

“This ain’t over Aichi...this is only the beginning!”, Kamui said pointing at Aichi before splashing him back, Aichi chuckled in response.

And thus they ended up in a little splash war. After a while they got bored and left the hot springs.

“Ah! That was so nice!”, Aichi said as he and Kamui came out of the hot springs back in their normal clothes.

He definitely felt much more awake now then before. He looked down at his little beeper seeing that their Pokémon were ready.

“How about after we get our Pokémon we have a rematch? Their battle area is pretty sweet! You can win points there to get tms and rare candies.”, Kamui suggested.

“I won’t lose this time.”, Aichi replied with a smile.

“We’ll see about that! I am THE great Kamui after all.”, Kamui taunted.

They made it to the Pokémon center getting their Pokémon. They went over to the battle area next much like everything else it was huge, but even it was packed to the brim with multiple battles going on. There were some counters with some tms and rare candies being sold. There were also some spectating spots. Aichi looked around for some open spot for them to battle. Something caught his attention, a familiar heat. One that far exceeded the heat from the flames of the other trainers. Aichi walked over to where it was not sure if it was what he thought it was. Kamui followed behind him looking around. Aichi stopped causing Kamui to bump into him.

“Ah! Sorry, Kamui.”, Aichi apologized, helping him up.

“What made you stop?”, Kamui asked.

Kamui looked over to where Aichi pointed. It was a trainer, a teen a bit older than the two of them. He had spiky brown hair and green eyes. He wore a navy jacket and a red shirt with jeans. He had some Poké balls hanging from his belt. It was Kai along with Overlord and Miwa.

“Do you know him?”, Kamui asked.

“Yeah, his name is Kai. It’s a bit of a long story though...it’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other.”, Aichi explained.

The battle had just ended with Kai’s victory. He turned from the battle just then, noticing Aichi and Kamui watching.

“H-hey Kai.”, Aichi greeted awkwardly, flashing him a smile.

“Long time no see Aichi.”, Miwa greeted waving at him.

“This is...my friend Kamui.”, Aichi introduced pointing at Kamui.

“So, you seem pretty strong Kai! Let’s see how strong!”, Kamui challenged, causing Aichi to gasp in shock.

“Hmph. Fine, I’ll fight you little boy.”, Kai agreed.

“Don’t worry we can battle after I crush this guy.”, Kamui told Aichi.

“You sure are confident.”, Kai replied.

Aichi stood by Miwa as they watched on.

“So, how’s becoming a Pokémon master going?”, Miwa asked.

“Pretty good I guess. I have three gym badges now and four Pokémon.”, Aichi replied sheepishly.

“Ah, cool! What have you caught? Wait...it would probably be cooler to have them revealed in battle.”, Miwa replied.

“I guess so.”, Aichi replied.

“Go, Tough Boy!”, Kamui said, throwing out his Rhyhorn.

“Go, Dragon Dancer!”, Kai said as he threw out a Kommo-o.

“Woah...Kai has a dragon type?”, Aichi questioned.

“More than one. He really likes dragons.”, Miwa whispered to him.

“Use clanging scales Dragon Dancer!”, Kai commanded.

“I’m not about to lose to some stupid scales! Tough Boy use bulldoze!”, Kamui commanded.

Rhyhorn charged at the dancing dragon only to be pushed back by the vibrations of its clanging scales.

“Now, use close combat!”, Kai commanded as Kamui paled.

“He knows a move that high level?”, Kamui questioned.

“It makes sense doesn’t it? Dragon type Pokémon need to get to super high levels to evolve to their final evolutions.”, Miwa explained.

Dragon Dancer wasted no time sending a flurry of punches and kicks at Tough Boy. It was far too much for the Rhyhorn to take getting knocked out as a result. Kamui snickered as he grabbed his next Poké ball.

“Okay...you caught me off guard there. Time to get serious! Go, Buster!”, Kamui replied, throwing out his Combusken.

“Che! Is that all you got? Go, Vortex!”, Kai said, recalling Dragon Dancer and throwing out a Salamence.

“Two dragons!”, Kamui gasped.

“Vortex use outrage!”, Kai commanded as Vortex let out a loud roar.

It dove at Buster at blinding speed taking down the opposing Pokémon before it could even react.

“Crap! That’s gotta last for a bit too! Go, Shout!”, Kamui said, throwing out his Vigaroth.

Kamui flinched as Shout was instantly sent flying before it could even get an order. Aichi and Kamui gawked in shock at the turn of events.

“Mr.Invincible!”, Kamui said, throwing out Machoke.

A loud thud rang as Mr.Invincible hit the floor.

“Kaiser!”, Kamui said, throwing out his Pupitar.

It survived a hit from the Salamence just barely.

“Use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as Kaiser shot a wave of darkness at Vortex.

Vortex just flew through it like it was a minor inconvenience. It beat down on Kaiser violently and Kamui had to recall Kaiser as it fainted.

“Darn it! How could I lose so badly?”, Kamui questioned.

“Wow...Kai really held back against me didn’t he?”, Aichi questioned laughing nervously.

He had thought of challenging Kai himself, but he wasn’t so sure that was such a good idea after the one sided massacre he just experienced. Though, he’d like to show how much he’s improved to Kai. He wanted to but couldn’t bring himself to imagining his own Pokémon going through the same beating.

“Maybe I should...but they’ll get massacred...I won’t know till I try.”, Aichi thought.

“You have something to say?”, Kai asked, noticing Aichi’s hesitation.

Aichi tried to think of what to say, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“Hello everybody!”

Their attention as well as many others was caught by three girls standing on a stage. One was rather short with red hair and blue eyes. One was very tall with short light blue hair and blue eyes. One was in between the two with flowing blonde hair and piercing green eyes.

“It’s Ultra Rare!”, someone said.

“Tomorrow, at 12:00am a gold challenge will be held in this fighting area.”, the blue haired one said.

“And the prize is the egg of a super rare and powerful Pokémon.”, the red haired one said.

“So, make sure to bring your A game if you wanna win it.”, the blonde one said.

“This is my chance!”, Aichi thought smiling.

“The one to win it will be-“, Aichi was saying.

“Me!”, Aichi and Kamui said in almost perfect unison.

“Hehe! Nice try, that is my chance to get a strong final team member to crush that jerk!”, Kamui said.

“You're just going to have to beat me then Kamui. Because I’m not passing up this chance.”, Aichi replied.

“You think the rare Pokémon is a dragon Kai?”, Miwa questioned with a knowing smirk.

“Whether it is or not. I’m here to fight the strongest trainers I can. I'd assume the strongest would be there.”, Kai replied.

“Alright! Well, then I guess I should battle then a bit to get tms and rare candies to power up my Pokémon. We’ll face each other in the gold challenge Kai and it will be epic.”, Aichi said.

“Keep dreaming.” , Kai replied only firing up Aichi more.

Aichi pulled out a Poké ball looking for someone to battle.

“Let’s go!”, he said.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 10 Burning Fight!
Level 32 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Slash
Double team
Psybeam
Future Sight

Level 26 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Rock tomb
Sand attack

Level 28 Llew (Wimpod) water/bug
Moves:
Struggle bug
Sand attack
Defense curl

Level 30 Gancelot (Riolu) fighting
Moves:
Copy cat
Reversal
Force palm
Quick attack

“Ah, I probably should have explained how these work first. While, making a battle between two specific people can be done there is also a gauntlet mode. This has you fight a bunch of random trainers proportional to their points. For every trainer you beat you get six points.”, Kamui explained.

“Alright...now how do I do that?”, Aichi questioned.

“Ah, you press this button here.”, Miwa said pointing to a button near the field on some sort of platform.

After Aichi pressed it for a minute nothing happened and then someone walked over.

“Heh, I’m facing a little kid?”, his opponent complained.

Aichi looked on determined, shaking a bit.

“Fine, I’ll end this quickly. Go, Gyarados!”, His opponent said.

“Okay...let’s go...Ahmes!”, Aichi decided to throw out his Gallade.

“Woah, Ahmes became a Gallade! Isn’t that cool Kai?”, Miwa said to Kai, nudging him a bit.

Kai said nothing in response and Miwa simply had a coy smile.

“Ahmes use future sight then psybeam.”, Aichi ordered.

“Gyarados use dragon rage!”, his opponent ordered as Gyarados sent a blue beam of energy at Ahmes.

Ahmes saw it coming running towards the beam while charging up its psybeam. It made its psybeam into a ball shape using it to glide on the dragon rage up to Gyarados. As soon as it was close Ahmes did a flip launching the beam at Gyarados point blank catching it off guard and stunning it. Miwa whistled impressed as Kamui gawked.

“H-how?!”, his opponent gasped, caught off guard.

“That was so cool! I need to try that with one of my Pokémon!”, Kamui commented.

“Now, Ahmes use slash!”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes slashed Gyarados in the face multiple times with its blades.

Ahmes then delivered a crushing kick to Gyarados while mid air knocking it out.

“Che! I may have underestimated you before, but I’m not holding back this time!”, his opponent said.

“Go, Raichu!”, his opponent said, throwing out his next Pokémon.

“Go, Wingal!”, Aichi said, recalling Ahmes throwing out Wingal.

“Woah, you got a shiny!? Cool.”, Miwa commented.

“Raichu use thunder!”, his opponent ordered.

As bolts lightning were shot at Wingal.

“Wingal use rock tomb.”, Aichi commanded.

Wingal hurled several boulders at the Raichu blocking out it’s electricity.

“Run along the rocks and use crush claw!”, Aichi commanded as Wingal jumped from rock to rock at blinding speed.

“Raichu use quick attack!”, his opponent ordered as Raichu went for a punch.

Wingal launched itself at Raichu, but turned out to be a fake out as it bounced up causing the punch to miss. It jumped off the rock overhead. While, Wingal distracted the Raichu some of the rocks hit it. Raichu tried to dodge ending up getting tripped up. Wingal launches itself at the distracted Raichu using a claw attack. It made Raichu fall to the ground allowing the rest of the rocks to hit it. Raichu ended up fainting.

“Nice, Aichi!”, Kamui congratulated.

“Grr! You think I’m done go Houndoom?!”, his opponent said angrily, throwing out his next Pokémon ignoring the type disadvantage.

The two canine Pokémon walked in a circle sizing each other up.

“Hmph. That guy’s not very good.”, Kai commented coldly.

“You wanna say that to my face jerk!”, Aichi's opponent growled.

“Heh! If you can’t even beat him, you're no match for me.”, Kai replied smugly.

Aichi’s fists shook as he listened.

“I’ll get you to take me seriously Kai.”, Aichi thought.

“Gah! Houndoom use flamethrower!”, Aichi’s opponent ordered angrily.

“Wingal use rock tomb!”, Aichi commanded in response.

Wingal hurled rocks and boulders at Houndoom covering the flame.

“As if I’d fall for the same trick twice! Houndoom jump on the rocks and use crunch.”, his opponent commanded.

“Wingal weave and use sand attack!”, Aichi ordered.

“Are you seriously using that stupid beginner move?”, his opponent questioned.

Wingal launched more boulders using them to draw Houndoom’s attention. It used the rock as cover before springing out and launching sand into Houndoom’s eyes. His opponent was practically fuming in rage.

“Use flamethrower! Beat that stupid puppy!”, his opponent ordered as Houndoom fired flames from its mouth wildly.

Aichi and the others backed up a bit from the scorching heat.

“This guy is seriously reckless. Have his Pokémon shoot fire recklessly in a crowded space.”, Kai commented.

“Wingal use rock tomb! Stop the fire!”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal launched a rock that landed straight in Houndoom’s mouth piping up the flames. It then launched boulders at it once more while it was still blinded.

“No!!! How could I lose!”, his opponent gasped as Aichi suddenly got six points.

“That means I won right?”, Aichi questioned as Kamui nodded.

Some of security came to apprehend his opponent for his reckless tactics that could have burned someone. And as everyone knows if you're burned by a Houndoom it never goes away.

“Okay, I got this!”, Aichi said.

“There’s a little mini healer here so you can heal your Pokémon before the next battle. I already used it to heal mine.”, Kamui informed.

Aichi quickly healed up his Pokémon as his next opponent came.

“Let’s see who can get the most points Aichi.”, Kamui suggested.

“Well, I already have a head start, you better get started quick.”, Aichi replied as the two separated to fight their battles.

They had various different battles against different trainers…

One battle...

“Go, Gancelot use force palm!”, Aichi ordered as Gancleot shot a palm sized wave of energy sending his opponent’s Sawk back flying.

Another battle…

Llew and a Pangoro dramatically stared each other down. Pangoro readied itself to prepare a devastating attack.

“Llew use defense curl and roll.”, Aichi ordered as Llew curled into a ball and rolled forward.

It was surprisingly fast and neither the Pokémon nor trainer was expecting it. It ended up sweeping the Pokémon off its feet causing it to fall. Pangoro tried to attack a few more times, but kept getting tripped up. Not to mention, it couldn’t do much damage due to Llew’s increasing defense. Eventually, the Pangoro was defeated and Llew jumped up into the air happily.

“Wimpod! Win-(Yeah, bow before the myth! The legend!-), Llew said.

Aichi flinched as Llew started glowing with the light of evolution. It got much bigger and became growing two legs to stand on. It had massive claws and it’s shell was like armor.

“Golisopod! (Llew!)”, Llew roared dramatically as Aichi sweat dropped a bit.

“Now, your finally a Golisopod like your dad.”, Aichi said as he rubbed the back of his head.

“I know. I look so cool!”, Llew said happily his tone definitely did not match it’s new intimidating appearance.

Later...

Aichi looked up to see his next opponent. It was the blonde girl from before wearing some sort of white suit lined with black.

“You're my next opponent.”, Aichi said as he got up with a determined gaze.

“Yeah. You know that determined gaze of yours is a bit refreshing. It’s nice to fight a guy who’s a hopeless fanboy.”, the blonde said.

“Are you famous? ”, Aichi asked.

“You don’t know who I am?”, the blonde questioned shocked.

“Sorry no.”, Aichi answered.

“That’s for the best. I’m tired of fighting fanboys anyway. You better give me your best. Maybe if you win I’ll tell you my name?”, the blonde said.

“Alright.”, Aichi agreed, recalling Gancelot since his opponent had already seen it.

“Go, Nemain!”, the blonde called out as she threw out a Pyroar.

“Go, Wingal!”, Aichi called out, throwing out Wingal.

“Interesting a shiny…”, the blonde commented.

Wingal and Nemain sized each other up.

“Wingal use rock tomb.”, Aichi ordered.

“Heh! You may have the type advantage here, but I don’t intend on losing. Nemain used echoed voice.”, the blonde ordered.

Nemain’s roar shattered the rocks that Wingal had launched at it. Aichi and Wingal sweated nervously at the sight.

“Pyroar! Pyroar! Pyroar! (You're going to need more than that to beat me!)”, Nemain said.

“Nemain use headbutt!”, the blonde ordered.

“Wingal use crush claw!”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal clawed the Pyroar as it charged, but that didn’t stop its headbutt. Wingal was sent back a bit. Both Pokémon had a little bit of damage.

“Wingal use sand attack!”, Aichi commanded as Wingal swept sand into Nemain’s eyes.

“Pyroar! Pyroar! (I don’t need to see you to beat you!)”, Nemain roared cockily.

Aichi sweated nervously in response. The blonde took note of Aichi’s reactions.

“Nemain use fire fang!”, the blonde ordered as Wingal tried to dodge, but Nemain could still sniff it out following after Wingal.

“What the heck?!”, Aichi gasped in shock.

“Those kinds of tricks may work in the little leagues, but not on someone on my level.”, the blonde taunted smirking.

“She’s strong...but so am I!”, Aichi thought, sweating nervously, raising his fist in determination.

“Let’s go Wingal! Use rock tomb!”, Aichi commanded.

“You should already know that’s useless! Use echo voice!”, the blonde commanded.

The rocks sent at Nemain we’re shattered once more, but it was only a diversion. Wingal jumped onto Nemain’s back.

“Wingal use crush claw!”, Aichi commanded as Wingal swiped at Nemain again.

Nemain let out another echoed voice roar causing Wingal to cover its ears that were now blaring with pain. It fell off Nemain as it turned to it having regained its vision.

“Nemain use headbutt!”, the blonde ordered.

Nemain headbutted Wingal in the stomach while it was mid air knocking the air out of it. Wingal struggled to get up as it was head butted once more. Nemain braced itself for a final headbutt knockout blow.

“Wingal use rock tomb.”, Aichi commanded.

While, Nemain was mid attack Wingal hurled rocks at its head knocking it out. Aichi raised up his fist in victory, but then Wingal fainted soon after.

“You did good buddy.”, Aichi said as he recalled Wingal.

“So, you were able to beat one of my Pokémon that’s more than I can say for most of these chumps.”, the blonde commented as she recalled Nemain.

“Go, Llew!”, Aichi said as he threw out the newly evolved Llew.

“Go, Bridgette!”, the blond said as she threw out a Volcarona.

“Llew use first impression.”, Aichi commanded.

The blonde was a bit taken aback that the bulky bug Pokémon was able to move so fast it almost seemed to appear in front of Bridgette. It then struck Bridgette with one of its claws doing a surprising amount of damage.

“Bridgette use absorb!”, the blonde ordered as Bridgette drained some of Llew’s strength making it a bit wobbly.

“Llew use sucker punch!”, Aichi ordered.

Thankfully, Llew had leveled up an extra level in his last battle so it was able to evolve then learn this move. Llew threw a devastating right hook at Bridgette while it was draining it. Bridgette hit the ground struggling to get up draining Llew more to help.

“Llew use sucker punch!”, Aichi ordered as Llew delivered another punch, knocking out Bridgette.

“Impressive. Let’s go, Ashlei!”, the blonde complimented before throwing out a Gardevior.

“A Gardevior…”, Aichi murmured.

“Ashlei use magical leaf!”, the blonde ordered as Ashlei shot sharp leaves at the drained Llew.

Llew stumbles still standing after the barrage.

“Your Golisopod’s pretty tough even after being drained by Bridgette it still seems to have some fight left.”, the blonde commented.

“Llew’s always had a very good defense.”, Aichi replied.

“Let’s see if it can take this! Thunderbolt!”, the blonde ordered as Aichi paled.

“C-Crap! Llew dodge!”, Aichi ordered not wanting it to take another super effective attack.

Llew was able to avoid a direct hit, but it was still quite a bit damaged.

“Llew use sucker punch and don’t stop.”, Aichi commanded knowing that was the only thing he could do right now.

First impression only works when going first and with Ashlei’s psychic powers it could easily avoid its defense curl. Llew sent a sluggish barrage of punches at Ashlei it did decent damage, but not enough.

“Ashlei use thunderbolt once more!”, the blonde ordered.

Llew couldn’t avoid it this time taking the full hit being knocked out.

“You did really great Llew. Okay, let’s go Ahmes!”, Aichi said as he threw out Ahmes next.

The two alternative evolutions confronted each other taking fighting stances.

“Isn’t this funny? Two alternate evolutions during it out. Looks like we’ll have to see which is stronger.”, the blonde commented.

“We will. Ahmes use future sight!”, Aichi commanded.

The blonde’s eyes widened a bit surprised his Gallade knew that move.

“Alright...Ashlei throw some shadow balls!”, the blonde commanded.

Ahmes dodged out of the way of the multiple orbs coming it’s way. In response Ashlei launched more.

“Ahmes use swords dance!”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes danced along dodging the blows.

“Now use slash!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes slashed at Ashlei multiple times. It almost got hit by a shadow ball it launched point blank. The ball barely scraped it as it hit Ashlei then with a wave of psychic energy. A stray shadow ball hit it after its future sight ended. Both of the Pokémon were getting up after being knocked down.

“Ahmes use slash!”, Aichi ordered.

“Ashlei use dazzling gleam.”, the blonde order as Ahmes got in range.

Ahmes was sent back by a flash of pink light.

“Ahmes use psybeam!”, Aichi ordered.

“Ashlei use psychic!”, the blonde ordered.

The two psychic attacks clashed with great intensity.

“You should know when it comes to special attacks Gardevior is superior to Gallade.”, the blonde said.

“I know.”, Aichi said, smirking.

The blonde raised her eyebrow in confusion. During the clash Ahmes dashed quickly heading towards Ashlei before it or her master could react.

“Ahmes use slash!”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes struck down Ashlei.

“Looks like Gallade wins, but not for long. Go, Garmore!”, the blonde said as she threw out a Mightyena.

“Ahmes use slash!”, Aichi ordered.

“Garmore use crunch!”, the blonde ordered.

Garmore was able to bite Ahmes, but it left it open for Ahmes to slash it. Ahmes slashed it again when it charged it again.

“Garmore use dark pulse!”, the blonde ordered as Garmore shot a wave of darkness at Ahmes while it was slashing.

Ahmes was knocked out by the point blank dark pulse. Aichi sweated nervously as he was down to one Pokémon.

“Good job Ahmes. Alright! It’s all or nothing! Let’s go, Gancelot!”, Aichi called out, throwing out his final Pokémon.

“Garmore use thunder fang!”, the blonde ordered as Garmore charged at Gancelot.

“Gancelot use force palm!”, Aichi ordered.

Garmore was hit by a palm shaped wave of energy. It tried to launch itself again and Gancelot kept shooting the energy waves to keep it at bay.

“Garmore use dark pulse!”, the blonde ordered as Garmore shot a wave of darkness at Gancelot.

“Gancelot dodge and use copycat!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot evaded the blast and shot it’s own blast at Garmore mid attack. Garmore was sent back a bit and struggled to stand from its accumulated injuries.

“Gancelot use force palm.”, Aichi ordered as Gancelot sent the final blast knocking out Garmore.

“Well, I still have one left.”, the blonde informed.

“Hehe! This is my last one.”, Aichi replied.

“Then, this is the final battle. Let’s go, Salome!”, the blonde said, throwing out a Sirfetch’d.

“Salome use close combat!”, the blonde said as Aichi paled.

“Gancelot you can’t let that hit you! Use force palm.”, Aichi warned.

Gancelot sent the palm shaped waves, but Salome cut them down with its leek. It closed in on Gancelot launching a merciless assault. Gancelot wasn’t even given a chance to react as it was beaten down. Gancelot struggled to get up and fight, but one final blow knocked it out.

“Looks like I lose.”, Aichi sighed.

“Well the tournament is tomorrow you’ll have a second chance to fight me again. Maybe, you’ll win then and learn my name.”, the blonde said.

After the fight Aichi was about to recall Gancelot stopping when he noticed it slumped.

“What’s wrong Gancelot?”, Aichi questioned a bit concerned.

“Riolu? Riolu? (Your not going to abandon me?)”, Gancelot questioned.

“Why would I do that?!”, Aichi questioned shocked.

“Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu.(Because I lost. Because I was too weak.)”, Gancelot answered.

“What’s wrong with that? Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. You just gotta get stronger after that. I don’t know what your previous trainer was like, but I’m not gonna drop you just because you lost.”, Aichi said as bent down and patted Gancelot’s head.

Tears stung Gancelot’s eyes which it wiped away, nodding at Aichi.

“It’s gotta be alright. I’m gotta heal you guys up.”, Aichi said as he recalled Gancelot.

He met back up with Kamui before the points exchange.

“So, how much did you get?”, Kamui asked.

“120.”, Aichi answered.

“A-Ah cool…”, Kamui replied coughing awkwardly.

“I guess he didn’t get as much.”, Aichi thought.

Aichi bought a few tms he got stone edge, solar blade, play rough, close combat and blizzard.

“You’ve got quite the haul there.”, Miwa said as he walked in with Kai.

“Yeah, I ended up battling quite a lot today...now that I think of it, what time is it?”, Aichi asked.

“10:00.”, Miwa answered.

“Ah! We gotta get to sleep for the tournament tomorrow! See you later Kai! Miwa!”, Aichi waved goodbye with Kamui as they left.

Miwa waves back to them.

They made it to the room with their spare keys. Misaki was knocked out asleep and they didn’t dare wake her. Aichi taught his Pokémon the tms as quietly as possible and got into his pajamas. There were only two beds so him and Kamui had to share. Aichi had a hard time falling asleep. His thoughts suddenly drifted to earlier to the day with the ghost girl. Aichi got out of bed deciding to call his mom just to check up on things. She was actually still awake as he thought. He was already pretty familiar with her sleeping habits and knew she’d be up. He told her all about what happened in Kagero town and going to Gold Maine city. Though, he did exclude the outbursts of his powers, but to be fair he didn’t really remember it anyway.

“I can’t believe something so crazy went on in Kagero town. I knew this adventure would be dangerous that Team Asteroid...their big trouble you should avoid them. It’s a relief you’ve made it to Gold Maine, it should be safe there. I don’t even think they can infiltrate that city.”, his mom said.

“Yeah...that whole thing was crazy. I can’t believe I met a ghost. Team Asteroid is dangerous, but that’s exactly why they need to be taken down. I don’t want you or Emi to be endangered because of them. ”, Aichi replied.

“Just leave it to the adults. I’m sure they can handle it they already sent that Misaki girl after all.”, his mom replied.

“Also...I-I do you know anything about...why I may have powers…”, Aichi mumbled out.

His mom was silent for a while.

“Why are you asking about that now you’ve always been able to talk to Pokémon.”, she finally replied.

“That’s...not what I mean. I didn’t mention it because I can’t remember it well, but apparently I have these psychic powers. Every time they activate I barely remember anything.”, Aichi clarified.

His mom was silent again though he felt like he knew why this time. Call it a six sense or something. But, he could feel it. She knew. She definitely knew.

“...yes...it’s a long story. I don’t have the time to tell you it now. I will when we meet again. I don’t think I can hide it from you anymore anyway.”, she replied.

“Okay. Bye mom. See you soon. Love you.”, Aichi replied.

“You too baby…”, she replied.

Aichi dropped himself onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. He had a lot of things to think about. He now understood why his mom acted so weird about him.

“Having a hard time sleeping?”, Kamui asked, turning over in the bed.

“Yeah…I just...have a lot of things on my mind.”, Aichi replied.

“I was meaning to ask earlier but why did you hesitate when calling me your friend earlier?”, Kamui asked.

“I didn’t know if you thought of me like one. I-I’ve never had a friend before so I didn’t know how to tell. Well…a human one at least.”, Aichi answered.

“You really haven’t had any human friends before?”, Kamui questioned genuinely surprised.

“No. Back in Sanctuary town most people thought I was weird because I could understand Pokémon. I was picked on quite a lot especially when I was little.”, Aichi replied.

“That’s crazy. You're a really cool guy. I don’t get why they didn’t want to be friends with you. Sure, you're a bit different but you're really nice.”, Kamui replied.

“You think so?”, Aichi questioned.

“I know so. I definitely consider you a friend and Misaki probably does too.”, Kamui replied.

Aichi smiled a bit as his response before frowning.

“Even...though sometimes I lose control?”, Aichi questioned.

“Even then and I’ll be there to help you.”, Kamui replied.

“Thanks Kamui.”, Aichi replied.

“Don’t mention it.”, Kamui replied.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 11 The Gold Challenge

Note: Riolu can’t learn close combat until it becomes Lucario. Please leave replies.

Level 35 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 31 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 31 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 32 Gancelot (Riolu) fighting
Moves:
Copycat
Stone edge
Force palm
Quick attack

“Ladies and gentlemen my name is MC Mia and welcome to the Gold Challenge!”, a man with brown hair wearing glasses and a red suit said.

“Why did we come here Esuka?”, Shin questioned sitting at a table across from the woman with long flowing pink hair from his flashback before.

Esuka took a sip of coffee and had her butler by her side. There was actually another person at the table sitting down; it was Mark. Esuka looked over from their table which overlooked the spot where the Gold Challenge took place.

“We’ve been able to take out quite a bit of the areas Team Asteroid have taken so far, but for Grandblue City it won’t be so easy. Unlike the towns we liberated it's a very major spot in the region where most trade takes place it's only second to Gold Maine City. Because of it will be way more fortified than any of the taken over towns especially since they’d be on high alert now due to all the ground they’ve lost. You guys are strong, but we’ll be facing an army so we’ll need more people. Kakusa’s strongest trainers gather here for the Gold Challenge if we're looking for strong help it makes sense to look here.”, Esuka explained.

“I see.”, Shin said as he looked over to where all the competitors had gathered.

His eyes widened as he noticed Aichi and Misaki there.

“So Aichi's competing it will be interesting to see how he’s grown since my gym.”, Mark commented.

“He went to your gym?”, Shin questioned, turning his attention to Mark.

“Yeah, he did really well. He was able to really make good use of the Pokémon available to him. He’s really grown in such a short time. Just a few days ago when he was my student he was a nervous wreck.”, Mark replied.

“You knew about him?!”, Shin gasped, getting up in Mark’s face a bit.

“Yeah. Hehe, it’s a really funny story I ran into her first then I decided to become a teacher there to look over him.”, Mark explained.

“Her...you don’t mean…”, Shin trailed off.

“Yeah, it’s her it's been forever since I had seen her after well...everything that happened. She’s been really protective of Aichi over these years. She tried to keep him out of all this, but she came to the realization she was delaying the inevitable. After my battle with Aichi I went down to Sanctuary town where she is and we talked.”, Mark explained.

“So then he really is…”, Shin trailed off.

“Yes, he’s Gin’s son.”, Mark confirmed.

Shin sighed looking over to Aichi for a moment.

“That explains a lot. I thought he looked like him.”, Shin replied.

“Yeah, he really does though he has Shizuka’s coloring.”, Mark replied chuckling.

“It’s kind of ironic don’t you think? That it’s his little rag tag group that has taken out a bit of Team Asteroid.”, Esuka commented.

“Definitely. If things had just gone a little different then he’d be the one we’d be fighting.”, Shin said.

With Aichi…

“You sure about just watching Misaki?”, Aichi asked.

“Yeah, besides I already have a full team. I’m not very interested in competing for some egg I’d have to raise. Being a gym leader is enough of a hassle. I don’t want to tack on taking care of a baby on top of that. I just watch and then when it’s over we can go.”, Misaki explained.

“I guess it’s just you and me then Aichi!”, Kamui said.

“Yeah, the other trainers won’t know what hit them!”, Aichi replied.

“For this Gold Challenge it will be a battle royale. You’ll choose two Pokémon for this portion to use. For every Pokémon you knock out you’ll get a point and for every loss you’ll lose a point. The 4 trainers with the highest number of points after an hour will have a four way battle against one another with their full teams. As for important rules to know any moves that change the weather are not allowed neither is the use of earthquake.”, MC Mia explained.

“Dang.”, Kamui said, snapping his fingers.

“Only two huh...which two should I choose? I guess it would be best to choose two who type cover each other. In that case the best two to go with would probably be Ahmes and Llew or Ahmes and Wingal. Both Llew and Wingal have moves to deal with dragon types which will be really useful against Kai and they both resist Overlord. It’s a tough choice…”, Aichi thought.

He looked over to Kamui who had already chosen his two Pokémon. Some others around them seemed fairly confident as well.

“Okay, I’ll go with Ahmes and Wingal. That's probably the best choice. Llew doesn’t have anything to cover against flying type.”, Aichi thought, finally deciding.

Misaki walked off to spectate as the event was about to begin.

“Now, on my mark! 3! 2! 1! Start!”, MC Mia said before people started throwing out their Pokémon.

Aichi threw out Ahmes and Wingal to his side.

“We’ve gotta take out as many as the other Pokémon as possible.”, Aichi told them.

“Gallade! (Yes, my vanguard!)”, Ahmes replied.

“Lycanroc! Lycanroc! (They won’t know what hit them!)”, Wingal replied.

“Ahmes use future sight and then swords dance until an opposing Pokémon comes your way. Then use solar blade if the opposing Pokémon resists it then close combat. Wingal use stone edge on any Pokémon Ahmes misses.”, Aichi commanded.

Ahmes and Wingal nodded. Ahmes saw into the future before starting its swords dance. Wingal stood guard preparing for any possible attacks. They didn’t have to wait long as they were jumped by several Pokémon Milotic, Metagross, Empeon, Tucannon and several others. Ahmes weaved through, clashing blade to fin with Empeon it used its second blade to get a hit on it. The Empeon stumbled back taking a lot of damage from the blow. Before it could react Ahmes threw another swipe. Wingal hurled sharped stones at the various Pokémon that tried to go for Ahmes while it was fighting Empeon. Wingal was able to nail the Tucannon hard, knocking it out of the sky before it could launch its devastating beak blast at Ahmes. Using the launched rocks as a platform it leaped across them at blinding speed landing on top of the hovering Metagross.

“Wingal use bite.”, Aichi ordered, which did surprisingly well on the metal Pokémon due to its weakness.

The Metagross shaked itself trying to hurl Wingal off it. In response Wingal dug into the steel type Pokémon harder. Metagross growled in pain about to use psychic to get rid of Wingal. Ahmes launched a psychic blast at Metagross its future sights’s attack finally kicking in. Wingal jumped off the Metagross as it was sent flying.

“Ahmes use solar blade! Wingal use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes and Wingal launched their respective attacks knocking out the Metagross.

With Kamui…

He had out Buster and Kaiser. Buster was having a intense clash with a Infernape. It seemed like it was going to be overwhelmed before it started evolving.

“Oh, yeah!”, Kamui cheered as Buster became Blazekin.

“Now, time to make use of that ™! Buster use flame crash!”, Kamui ordered.

Buster cloaked itself in fire charging at the before slamming itself on it.

“Then brave bird!”, Kamui commanded.

Buster launched itself into the air again before slamming into the Infernape knocking it out. The ground shook as a massive Druddigon flew down. Buster braced itself as the Druddigon let out a loud roar. Kaiser came in next to Kamui after defeating a different Pokémon.

“This is our practice for that jerk, Kai! Kaiser use outrage!”, Kamui ordered.

Kaiser went into an all out assault of the dragon Pokémon completely berserk. It was about to use superpower on Kaiser before it was completely toppled. Kamui raised his fist in the air in victory now confident he could beat Kai.

With Kai…

Kai had out Overlord and Dragon Dancer. Dragon Dancer let out a flurry of punches completely knocking out an opposing Onix. Overlord stood back to back with Kai. Overlord shot a flamethrower at a bunch of Pokémon completely knocking them out in one fell swoop.

“Hmph...What weaklings. This is really the best this region has to offer?”, Kai said in a disappointed tone.

With Misaki…

She was standing beside Miwa as they looked onto the fights.

“That Kai guy is really strong.”, Misaki commented.

“You think you could take him, Miss gym leader?”, Miwa questioned.

“Call me that again and you’ll never walk again.”, Misaki threatened menacingly.

“Ah! Yes mam!”, Miwa shrieking in terror.

“Aichi and Kamui are gonna have their work cut out for them with someone at his level in this. Though...Aichi’s been able to create a miracle before.”, Misaki thought.

With Shin, Mark, and Esuka…

“Woah, Aichi’s really kicking butt out there! It’s a shame little Misaki didn’t enter. It would be cool to see her battle.”, Mark commented.

“Reminds you of old times doesn’t it? When you were young trainers like them.”, Esuka commented.

“You're making me feel old!”, Shin replied indignantly.

Shin turned his attention back to the battles.

“It really is crazy though. Just the other day Misaki saved him now he’s battling all these Pokémon so easily.”, Shin commented.

“It’s a bit scary isn’t it? His growth potential. He only should have 3 badges considering what’s going on in Grandblue city right now, yet he’s battling all these more experienced trainers.”, Esuka replied.

“It would be if he was like Ren, but Aichi’s a good kid. If anything he might be our hope to finally topple Team Asteroid once and for all.”, Mark replied.

With Aichi…

Ahmes and Wingal were a bit hurt, but still standing strong. Ahmes laid down big damage at close range while Wingal mostly handled the long range which was Aichi’s plan.

“So, we meet again.”, the blonde from before smirked.

By her side was Ashlei and Nemain who seemed to have a bit of damage as well. Aichi and his Pokémon braced themselves coming face to face with the blonde again. A battle was about to erupt before the bell rung singling the end of this portion of the challenge.

“Okay, our top four competitors are...Katsuragi Kamui!”, MC Mia said, causing Kamui to cheer.

Aichi sweated nervously hoping for his name to get called next.

“Kourin!”, MC Mia called out.

“Well the Purlone is out of the bag I guess.”, the blonde, Kourin said as she turned her attention back to Aichi for a moment.

“Even still…”, Aichi trailed off turning his attention to Kourin.

“Toshiki Kai!”, MC Mia called out.

The tension soared through the roof as the participants anxiously awaited hearing the final name.

“And for our final member of the top four...Sendou Aichi!”, MC Mia said.

“I intend to beat you.”, Aichi finished, smiling towards Kourin.

“Good.”, Kourin replied.

The four of them healed their Pokémon and walked up to the stage by his side was Kourin and on the other side was Kamui and Kai. Aichi and Kamui looked determined both having something to prove. Kourin smirked while Kai looked bored.

“Aichi…”, Kai thought, narrowing his eyes.

Kai’s gaze met Aichi’s determined one.

“3! 2! 1! Battle!”, MC Mia said.

Aichi grabbed a Poké ball already knowing what he was going to throw out first. The four of them all threw out their Pokémon simultaneously Llew, Bridgette, Mr.Invincible which was now a Machamp, and Vortex.

“Llew use first impression.”, Aichi commanded.

“Bridgette use absorb.”, Kourin commanded.

“Mr.Invincible use strength.”, Kamui commanded.

“Vortex use outrage.”, Kai commanded.

The three Pokémon attention was turned to the rampaging dragon all deciding to attack it. Llew landed the first blow with its claws catching Vortex off guard. Bridgette drained its strength and then Mr.Invincible punched the weakened Vortex. Vortex roared in rage sending Mr.Invincible back and slammed it hard with its tail. It blasted at Llew and Bridgette with a hyper beam.

“That rampaging dragon is the biggest threat here.”, Kourin acknowledged, sweating nervously as Bridgette fell from the sky knocked out.

“Yeah, we’re going to have to take that thing out before it faints all our Pokémon.”, Kamui replied.

Mr.Invincible struggled to get up from the rubble. The smoke faded away to reveal Llew had blocked with its arms crossed in front of it. It had taken a bit of damage, but not as much as the others.

“Go, Salome!”, Kourin called out, throwing out her Sirfetched.

“Llew use blizzard!”, Aichi commanded as Llew shot a storm of ice at Vortex.

“Vortex use flamethrower!”, Kai commanded.

The icy storm and the fire clashed as the area shook a bit from the power.

“Llew use sucker punch!”, Aichi ordered as Llew moved out of the way launching itself at punching the dragon in the face stopping its fire breath.

Llew went out on a full assault against the dragon launching multiple punches.

“Vortex use thunder fang!”, Kai commanded.

Vortex bit Llew’s arm causing it to let out a pained cry.

“Llew use blizzard!”, Aichi commanded.

In its other hand Llew shot a storm of ice and Vortex point blank sending it back. Vortex crashed to the ground, knocked out. Llew stood above the dragon triumphantly.

“Well then. You were able to beat Vortex, though you needed help. A truly strong trainer is one who can stand on his own. Go, Nehalem!”, Kai said, throwing out a Dragonite.

“Then, I’ll fight you alone.”, Aichi replied, as Kourin and Kamui gasped in shock.

“Hey! Hey! You're not the only one who wants to beat that jerk!”, Kamui protested.

“Weren’t you going to defeat me?”, Kourin questioned.

Aichi looked back and something about him felt a bit different. Kamui sweated nervously hoping he wasn’t out of control again.

“I’ll defeat him first then you.”, Aichi said his voice sounded a bit deeper but not as deep as when he was berserk.

“Fine, just don’t lose before you face me.”, Kourin agreed.

“I won’t.”, Aichi replied.

“You really think someone as weak as you can beat me?”, Kai questioned.

“I won’t know till I try and this time Kai don’t go easy on me.”, Aichi said pointing towards Kai.

“We’ll see then...”, Kai replied.

Llew and Nehalem faced each other.

“Looks like our battle royale is becoming two separate battles.”, MC Mia commented.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 12 Breakthrough The Limit!

Level 38 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 35 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 32 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 32 Gancelot (Riolu) fighting
Moves:
Copycat
Stone edge
Force palm
Quick attack

“That you're completely out of your league. Nehalem use thunder punch!”, Kai finished.

“Llew use sucker punch!”, Aichi ordered.

Nehalem punched Llew with a fist coated in electricity. Llew threw its own punch as well and they both ended up delivering a punch to each other in the face. Llew ended up falling to the ground fainting. Aichi recalled Llew.

“It’s not over, go Wingal!”, Aichi called out, throwing out his next Pokémon.

“Nehalem use aqua tail!”, Kai ordered as Nehalem swiped its tail at Wingal coated in water.

Wingal dodged out of the way from Dragonite’s tail. Dragonite flew after Wingal trying to get a hit on it with its tail.

“Wingal use stone edge.”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal sent sharp rocks as Nehalem chased it down. It may be strong, but it's way slower than Wingal. Nehalem tried to dodge out of the way, but one of the rocks cut one of its wings. Nehalem started to fall as more rocks cut it. Nehalem crossed its arms to block and tried to right itself struggling due to its injured wing.

“Nehalem use hyper beam!”, Kai ordered.

Nehalem looked towards Wingal as it fell, sending a blast of energy from its mouth towards it. Wingal jumped out of the way of the blast. Nehalem loudly crashed to the ground. Nehalem struggled to get up from the ground. Kai looked towards Nehalem then to Aichi.

“Is this you right now?...Is he really like Ren?”, Kai thought, noticing the change in vibe Aichi gave off.

“You should recall your Pokémon.”, Aichi said, pointing to Nehalem.

Kai’s eyes widened a bit in surprise remembering him saying the same thing to Morikawa. Nehalem fell down, knocked out as it tried to get up. The air around them was tense as Kai prepared to throw out his next Pokémon.

With Shin, Mark, and Esuka…

“I can’t believe it! He really beat a Dragonite!?”, Mark gasped.

“This feeling...it’s a little like when he battled Kishida, but not the same.”, Shin commented.

It was strange his aura felt as intimidating as then, but it didn’t hold any malice like before. Aichi was simply focused and determined to defeat Kai.

Somewhere else…

From another room in the hotel a boy with silver hair and gold eyes with a white suit watching from a screen. By him was the blue and red haired girls who were with Kourin. There was a faint rainbow aura around the silver haired boy and a glow in his eyes.

“It’s working.”, the silver haired boy said.

With Aichi…

Kai threw out his next Pokémon Dragon Dancer.

“Dragon dancer use close combat!”, Kai ordered as Dragon Dancer charged towards Wingal.

“Wingal dodge!”, Aichi commanded.

Wingal narrowly escaped the dragon’s blows, some scrapping it. Wingal jumped onto Dragon Dancer’s arm running up it.

“Wingal use play rough.”, Aichi commanded as Jai looked a bit surprised and alarmed knowing that Dragon Dancer was 4x weak to fairy type.

“Dragon Dancer stop him! Use clanging scales!”, Kai ordered.

It was too late however as Wingal gained a pink glow as it bit and clawed Dragon Dancer. Dragon Dancer stumbled back before throwing one last punch towards Wingal while it was off guard sending it flying. After that Dragon Dancer crashed to the ground fainting. Wingal was moderately hurt but not too much because it didn’t receive Dragon Dancer’s full assault.

“Go, Berserker! Use outrage!”, Kai called out, throwing out Druddigon.

Aichi sweated nervously as Kai called out for that devastating move again.

“Wingal dodge. Don’t let him hit you. Use stone edge to keep it at bay if you need to. And if you get the opportunity use play rough.”, Aichi commanded as Wingal nodded.

Berserker launched itself at Wingal, attacking wildly. Suddenly Berserker was hit with a wave of psychic energy. Aichi and Kai looked over to the source, seeing Ashlei who standed over a fainted Shout.

“Don’t forget this is a battle royale. After I'm done with this kid I’m going to battle you whether you have finished your battle with him or not. I wouldn’t waste this chance if I were you.”, Kourin said.

Aichi sighed looking a bit conflicted, not really wanting the help. Preferring to battle Kai alone however he couldn’t undo the damage done to Berserker.

“Wingal use play rough.”, Aichi commanded.

With Kamui…

He was down two Pokémon and so was Kourin. The next Pokémon he threw out was Kaiser.

“Don’t you dare count me out! Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered.

Ashlei blocked the attack.

“Now, stone edge!”, Kamui ordered as Kaiser hurled sharp rocks at Ashlei.

“Ashlei use dazzling gleam.”, Kourin ordered.

Ashlei was illuminated by pink light which harmed Kaiser.

“Don’t give up Kaiser keep on pushing!”, Kamui ordered.

Kaiser continued to fire the rocks as Ashlei’s glow grew more intense. The two Pokémon ended up falling to the ground knocked out.

“Go, Tough Boy!”, Kamui called out.

“Go, Salome!”, Kourin called out.

“Oh, crap! Ah, Tough Boy use drill run!”, Kamui ordered.

Tough Boy crashed into Salome rotating its body like a drill. Salome tried to swipe it with its leek, but it didn’t stop the attack. Salome ended up pretty hurt from the attack using its leak as support. Kourin snickered trying to think of what to do.

“That’s what happens when you count out the great Kamui!”, Kamui said pointing at Kourin.

With Aichi…

Berserker was knocked out by the play rough, but Wingal fainted as well.

“Go, Descendant!”, Kai called out, throwing out a Duraludon.

“Go, Gancelot!”, Aichi called out.

“Descendant use outrage!”, Kai ordered.

“Gancelot run and use force palm to keep it at bay.”, Aichi ordered.

Descendant ran towards Gancelot who shot it with palm shaped energy blasts. Aichi frowned as Descendant eventually got knocked out.

“He’s onto me.”, Kai thought, smirking.

He threw out his final Pokémon Overlord who let out a loud roar.

“Gancelot use stone edge.”, Aichi ordered.

“Well, since he already knows there’s no use in hiding it.”, Kai thought.

“Overlord use flamethrower.”, Kai ordered.

Overlord shot flames from its mouth focused towards Gancelot ignoring the rocks. The rocks cut up Overlord and Gancelot dodged away from the flames.

“Char! Char! Charizard! (This is boring you know what!)”, Overlord said seemingly intentionally getting hit by rocks Gancelot hurled.

It almost dramatically fell to the ground sticking out its tongue for good measure.

“Charizard. (Oh, look I have fainted.)”, Overlord said.

Aichi crosses his arms with the cutest pout. It was very obvious to Kai he had caught on and was very angry with him.

“You weren’t taking me seriously at all.”, Aichi said, a bit hurt.

“Don’t blame me. As if I could go all out on someone who doesn’t even have 8 gym badges. I’m not that ruthless.”, Kai replied.

“You think I’m weak. If I get all 8 gym badges will you battle me seriously?”, Aichi asked.

“Hehe. We’ll have to see. When you're strong enough then I’ll go all out.”, Kai replied, walking away.

“I’ll get stronger Kai. You’ll see.”, Aichi said, slumping afterwards.

He looked over to where Kamui and Kourin were. His battle with Kai had led him to be a bit far away from them.

“Let’s go Gancelot.”, Aichi ordered as Gancelot followed him towards the two.

“Riolu? Riolu? (Aichi are you alright?)”, Gancelot asked.

“Fine. My confidence is just a bit…”, Aichi trailed off.

“Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. (You're a good trainer Aichi, you just have less experience than someone like Kai. We’ll battle him again when we’re stronger and it will be a real battle.)”, Gancelot assured.

“Thanks Gancelot.”, Aichi replied, genuinely thankful, giving Gancelot a bright smile.

With Kamui…

“Salome use close combat.”, Kourin commanded.

Salome pushed itself launching a crushing assault onto Tough Boy making it faint.

“You're my last hope! Go, Buster!”, Kamui commanded, throwing out his last Pokémon.

As he did so Aichi and Gancelot finally arrived back to where they were in the massive arena.

“No way, did you beat Kai?!”, Kamui gasped, sweating nervously a bit.

Aichi said nothing in response.

With Misaki and Miwa…

“Come on, man that was a bit harsh. He seems more down than he would if you actually went all out.”, Miwa said to Kai.

“It would have been worse if I did. Besides this ‘challenge’ has been boring me anyway.”, Kai replied.

Misaki looked over to Aichi a bit concerned that despite ‘winning’ he seemed pretty down in the dumps.

“Aichi…”, Misaki thought.

With Aichi…

“Gancelot use force palm on both of them.”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot shot its palm shaped energy blasts at the two Pokémon. Buster dodged, but Salome who was already worse for wear ended up getting knocked out.

“Looks like you're ready to fight. Go, Garmore!”, Kourin called out, throwing out her final Pokémon.

“ Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. (Just like how I was. Aichi has something to prove. I won’t let him down.)”, Gancelot thought.

Gancelot knew why Aichi wanted him to attack both Pokémon. He wanted to prove to Kai his strength by beating both of them simultaneously.

“You wanna fight both of us, Aichi? Buster use flame crash.”, Kamui said.

Blazekin launched itself at Gancelot coated in flames.

“Gancelot use stone edge.”, Aichi ordered as Kamui paled.

Blazekin was bombarded by sharp rocks Gancelot sent at it. It was unable to dodge due to being mid air.

“Garmore use fire fang.”, Kourin ordered.

Garmore charged towards Gancelot to bite it.

“Gancelot use force palm.”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot prepared to shoot Garmore before they were both hit by a flame crash.

“Don’t forget about me!”, Kamui interjected.

“Gancelot jump back and use stone edge again.”, Aichi commanded.

“Buster use brave bird.”, Kamui commanded.

Buster slammed into Gancelot causing it to fly back again. Gancelot struggled to get up facing Buster. While it was distracted Garmore bit down on Buster giving Gancelot time to recover.

“Riolu! Riolu! (I won’t lose! For him!)”, Gancelot thought.

Flashback
After the fight Aichi was about to recall Gancelot stopping when he noticed it slumped.

“What’s wrong Gancelot?”, Aichi questioned a bit concerned.

“Riolu? Riolu? (Your not going to abandon me?)”, Gancelot questioned.

“Why would I do that?!”, Aichi questioned shocked.

“Riolu. Riolu. Riolu. Riolu.(Because I lost. Because I was too weak.)”, Gancelot answered.

“What’s wrong with that? Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. You just gotta get stronger after that. I don’t know what your previous trainer was like, but I’m not gonna drop you just because you lost.”, Aichi said as bent down and patted Gancelot’s head.

Tears stung Gancelot’s eyes which it wiped away, nodding at Aichi.

“It’s gotta be alright. I’m gotta heal you guys up.”, Aichi said as he recalled Gancelot.
Flashback end

“Riolu! Riolu! (I’ll go even further beyond!)”, Gancelot roared as it glowed with the light of evolution.

Riolu became double its previous size. It grew yellow fur on its chest and a metal spike over its heart. It grew spikes on the back of its hands and its ears grew longer.

“L-Lucario?!?”, Aichi gasped in shock seeing Gancelot evolve.

Kamui and Kourin looked stunned as well. Though, Kamui ended up smirking after getting over his shock.

“That’s no big deal. If anything that’s good because Gancelot is weak to Buster now. Buster use flame crash!”, Kamui said.

Gancelot effortlessly dodged out of the way. Gancelot put its hands close together charging up a beam attack as it evaded Buster. Buster launched itself at Gancelot to try and body slam it again, but Gancelot jumped. It used the blast it was charging up to glide onto Buster’s fire covered back. Adding even more fuel to it blast and launching itself behind Buster.

“This is!?”, Aichi gasped.

“Lucario! (Aura sphere!)”, Gancelot yelled out as it blasted Buster from behind.

Buster crashed to the ground, knocked out.

“Looks like I lost. Good job Aichi. Darn, that stunt with Gancelot was really cool!.”, Kamui said.

“Now, it’s just you and me.”, Kourin said,

Aichi and Gancelot faced Kourin and Garmore.

“Garmore use fire fang!”, Kourin ordered as Garmore launched itself at Gancelot.

“Gancelot use aura sphere.”, Aichi commanded.

Gancelot put its hands close to each other forming a blast. Garmore neared it as Gancelot waited till it was right in front of it launching the attack point blank. Garmore collapsed to the ground unable to take the blast.

“Our winner is Sendou Aichi!”, MC Mia said as the crowd watching roared in excitement at having a winner.

Somewhere…

“You mind giving it to him for me Suiko? I’m worried he may recognize me.”, the silver haired boy asked.

“I don’t mind at all master Takuto.”, the blue haired girl Suiko said.

With Aichi…

Aichi stood on the stage a bit nervous as Suiko came out with some people pulling a cart with a sheet draped over it. The sheet was taken off to reveal three eggs.

“You may choose one of these three rare Pokémon eggs. These eggs were randomized among the many rare Pokémon eggs we have in the care of Golds Maine’s Pokémon preserve.”, Suiko informed him.

“So, I’ve gotta pick one huh? So...which one do I choose?”, Aichi pondered looking over the three eggs.

They all looked identical so that didn’t make the choice any easier. They seemed to be in some cases that both protected them and kept them warm. He didn’t notice, but the rainbow spiral flashed in his eyes. He pointed to the one on the right. Aichi blinked suddenly realizing what happened.

“Why did I pick that one?”, Aichi wondered.

“Maybe it was intuition? Or fate?”, Suiko replied, handing the egg in its case to Aichi.

“Fate…”, Aichi murmured, raising his eyebrow.

“You're welcome to stop by back at PSY sweets anytime.”, Suiko whispered in his ear as he blushed at her being so close.

“U-uh thank you.”, Aichi replied shakily waving goodbye before leaving.

Kourin walked up next to Suiko crossing her arms.

“So, did you have fun?”, Suiko asked quietly.

“Fun? I was just doing what master Takuto had asked of me.”, Kourin replied quietly looking away.

“Uh huh.”, Suiko replied with a knowing look.

“W-What’s with that look!?!?”, Kourin replied.

“Tsundere.”, the red haired girl quietly said walking in.

“Shut up, Rekka.”, Kourin replied quietly.

“Goodbye, Kourin!”, Aichi said a bit further away with a bright smile waving at Kourin.

Kourin had a light blush waving back to Aichi.

Later…

Aichi, Misaki, and Kamui stood together with all their stuff ready. They made sure to stock up on plenty of potions, revives, and other items. They prepared to leave as Esuka stood in their way.

“Esuka?!”, Misaki gasped, surprised to see Esuka and Shin.

Kai was actually tagging along too with Miwa.

“Hi Shin. Hi Mr. Mark. What’s going on?”, Aichi asked.

“We are about to reclaim Grandblue city and we need your help.”, Esuka said.

Aichi, Misaki, and Kamui gasped in shock.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 13 Siege On Grandblue City Part 1

Level 38 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 36 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 33 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 34 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Aura sphere
Quick attack

Level 0 ??? (Egg) ???
Moves:
???

“I’ll do it.”, Aichi agreed.

“Me too.”, Kamui agreed.

“We were going to do that anyway. Though, I didn’t expect we’d get all this help.”, Misaki said.

“Wait. Why’s Miwa going? Does he even have any Pokémon?”, Kamui asked.

“Of course I do. I just like watching battles mostly.”, Miwa replied.

“What about that Kourin girl?”, Mark asked.

“She said she’d catch up to us.”, Esuka replied.

Aichi turned to Shin as he seemed like he really wanted to tell him something.

“Is something wrong?”, Aichi asked, holding the egg in its container he had recently acquired close to his chest.

Shin was quiet and practically squirming trying to get the words out. Aichi raised his eyebrow in confusion.

“Come on. Shin! Just tell him! Fuck! How much he looks like Gin really doesn’t help either…”, Shin thought.

Misaki had a feeling she knew what Shin wanted to say. She looked at Aichi thinking about how he would take the revelation himself. Kamui and Miwa looked rather confused at the situation and Kai had the same blank face as usual. Mark and Esuka looked tense knowing what he wanted to say. Esuka was about to say it before Shin finally got the words out.

“A-Aichi there’s something you really should know about your father…”, Shin finally said.

Aichi looked beyond shocked at the mention of his father.

“My father?”, Aichi questioned.

“Do you know him?”, Esuka asked.

Aichi shook his head no much to the surprise of many of those there.

“No. I’ve never met him. I don’t even know his name or his face. Mom never talks about him.”, Aichi admitted.

Kamui and Miwa gawked in pure shock.

“I-I knew your dad…”, Shin revealed.

Aichi’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Okay?”, Aichi replied confusedly.

“H-He is the leader of Team Asteroid.”, Shin replied.

“W-what!?”, Aichi gasped in shock.

Even Kai looked visibly surprised to hear that.

“W-Wait are you saying that Ren guy is my dad?”, Aichi questioned.

“No. Not him. The Team Asteroid you have been fighting so far is only the Kakusa branch. Ren is the leader of that branch Team Asteroid is much bigger. He’s the man who has taken over most of the world. His name is Gin Galliard. He’s at the very top, the true boss.”, Shin explained.

Aichi looked like he was close to fainting. Misaki steadied him when he stumbled.

“You're t-telling me...my dad is a super villain!?”, Aichi questioned.

“I had a feeling that would come as a big shock.”, Shin said.

“Yeah, it’s best to build up to telling him the rest in baby steps.”, Esuka agreed.

“Are you okay Aichi?”, Kamui asked, putting his hand on Aichi's shoulder.

Misaki held Aichi’s hand as he looked very pale. Aichi froze his mind trying to process what he had been told.

“B-but my last name is Sendou!”, Aichi finally said shakily.

“Yes. It is Shizuka changed her’s and your surname to Sendou after well...it's a long story and you already look like your going to faint.”, Shin replied holding up his hands.

“T-there’s more!?”, Aichi questioned.

“Do you need to lie down man?”, Miwa asked concernedly.

Aichi tried to calm down and get his breathing steady again. Many of the others looked surprised when Kai walked over to him.

“It doesn’t matter who your father is. You're not him.”, Kai said simply.

Aichi looked up to Kai still trying to calm his breathing.

“...Your right.”, Aichi replied, taking a deep breath before finally calming down.

Mark couldn’t help, but smile at how closely Misaki and Kamui held Aichi. And at the interjections of Kai and Miwa.

“You have good friends Aichi. Something like that won’t matter to them. We thought it would be better if you found out sooner than later.”, Mark said.

“Friends…”, Aichi murmured.

“Yep, your my buddy.”, Kamui said, as he wrapped his arm around Aichi’s shoulder.

“Yeah.”, Misaki admitted sounding surprisingly timid.

“What’s with that?”, Kamui questioned.

“I-I’m not good at mushy stuff!”, Misaki admitted embarrassingly.

“Of course. Also, I wouldn’t feel too bad about it. Kai’s just as socially awkward as you. Don’t worry buddy Kai may act cold, but he does really care about you.”, Miwa said, as if it was obvious.

Miwa jumped as he received angry glares from both Misaki and Kai. Aichi put his hand to his chest which felt very warm and fuzzy from hearing them.

“I like this feeling. Is this what having lots of friends is like? It feels nice having more friends.”, Aichi thought, with a warm smile on his face.

It made him feel very reassured like everything would be alright. Aichi finally got up standing tall with this warm feeling still in chest. Misaki and Kamui got up with him looking at him.

“Okay. Let’s not waste any more time. We’ve got to get rid of Team Asteroid and free Grandblue city along with Kamui’s friends.”, Aichi said determinedly.

They felt a wave was over them. It’s like his voice gave of a certain pressure pushing them forward. They felt like they could do this. They could beat Team Asteroid. Shin couldn’t help, but look towards Aichi, stunned.

“He has an almost unnatural level of charisma just like him. He is definitely his son...but even then they’re not the same. After all, he’s not an egomaniacal maniac like Gin.”, Shin thought, sweat dropping.

They sent off to Grandblue city to finally topple Team Asteroid’s control over it.

In Grandblue city…

In his seat sat Ren Suzugamori smirking at what he saw. He had his head resting on his fist. The man in the green suit from before stood beside him along with a teenage girl with long blue hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue suit with a red A and a skirt.

“I can’t wait to bring him to our side.”, Ren said.

Later close to Grandblue city…

The group overlooked Grandblue city in the distance. It looked a little worse for wear, unlike Megacolony town. On top of the highest building a massive red A was spray painted on top of it. Apparently there were others storming Grandblue city but in different areas. Aichi had put his egg with its container in his bag. They had out all their Pokémon. Miwa had a Goodra, Drampa, Flygon, and Noivern. Mark had a Greninja, Zoroark, Sheninja, Blastoise, Zangoose, and Absol. Esuka had her own Delphox, a Lopunny, Lapras, Nidoqueen, Vespaqueen, and a Salazzle. Shin had a Umbreon, Mareep, Tyrantrum, Metagross, Golurk, and even Cobalion! The rest of Misaki’s team that hadn’t been seen yet was Alakazam, Metagross, Gardevior, and Hatterene. Everyone besides Shin, Mark, and Esuka couldn’t help, but be shocked to see Cobalion.

“I-isn’t that a legendary Pokémon?!”, Aichi gasped.

“It is. Pretty cool huh?”, Shin replied.

“H-how did you catch it?!”, Kamui asked, stunned.

“Long story. Besides we don’t have much time to waste.”, Shin replied.

They marched on towards Grandblue city and many Team Asteroid grunts awaited them. Aichi walked with Ahmes, Wingal, Llew, and Gancelot by his side. On his sides were Misaki and Kamui with their Pokémon. Kai was in the air with Miwa. Kai flew on Overlord while Miwa flew on his Flygon. Shin rode on the shoulder of Golurk flying into the sky.

“Let’s go old buddy. Valkriyan.”, Shin said as he flew towards the grunts.

“Dynamic punch!”, Shin ordered.

As Valkriyan got close to the ground it delivered a powerful punch shaking the ground around them. The ones on the ground covered their eyes from the dust that flew from the impact.

“Oh my Arceus!”, Aichi gasped completely stunned as he removed his arm from in front of his eyes.

The grunts in front of them were completely defeated. Both them and their Pokémon were knocked out instantly from the impact and were blown away from the impact zone. In the impact zone was a massive crater that Aichi couldn’t even see the bottom of. The ground around them still trembled a bit slightly. Aichi trembled a bit. Everyone besides the adults couldn’t help, but gawk.

“S-someone can really get this powerful?! This is…”, Aichi thought, shaking.

“I’m glad that guy is on our side.”, Kamui commented and Aichi nodded in agreement.

“We have a long way to go.”, Aichi said, amazed.

“Gallade! Gallade! (Let’s go forth then, my vanguard!)”, Ahmes said.

“Yeah, I can only hope to reach that level through battling. This isn’t just any battle though it’s the battle to defeat Team Asteroid.”, Aichi replied.

They made it into the city where Team Asteroid grunts awaited them with countless Pokémon.

“I’ll deal with these guys, you and Kamui should go fight Gouki.”, Misaki said, going in front of them and looking back towards them.

“We can’t just leave you!”, Kamui replied.

“I’ll be fine besides you gotta save your friends right? And Aichi will be with you to help you.”, Misaki replied.

“Be careful.”, Aichi said.

“I will.”, Misaki said smiling.

Aichi and Kamui looked back to Misaki one last time before Kamui led him towards the gym.

“Let’s go, you jerks. Assista Eevee use psychic! Amaterasu use mystic fire! Tom use psychic! Guardian use meteor mash! Sakuya use moonblast! Coco use psychic!”, Misaki ordered as her Pokémon launched their attacks forward.

“Burn everything in this world with your apocalyptic fire! Overlord use fire blast!”, Kai ordered in the air as Overlord launched fire in the shape of the kanji for fire down on the Team Asteroid grunts.

From the sky he could see various other trainers with their Pokémon likely the other help that was mentioned taking on the Team Asteroid grunts. Kai looked over towards the tallest building determined to battle who he believed to be inside. Miwa followed behind him on his Flygon.

Later…

Aichi and Kamui stood before a gym styled like a building from the old west. Waves were painted on its sides. They walked in to see Gouki standing there with his arms crossed smirking. By his side was Hiroshi, Kaoru, and Nagisa.

“Guys!”, Kamui called out, going towards them.

They looked surprised as Hiroshi, Kaoru, and Nagisa blocked his path.

“You're not going anywhere my beloved Kamui. I have waited for the chance to bring you back.”, Nagisa said.

“There’s no time for this Nagisa! You know what happened to Gouki!”, Kamui replied.

Gouki grinned down at Kamui.

“They know and now you’ll join us too, Kamui.”, Gouki said, as Aichi and Kamui jumped in shock.

“Oh no.”, Aichi said.

“Not you guys too!”, Kamui cried.

“Kamui…”, Aichi trailed off, looking at Kamui before walking in front of him.

His Pokémon entered fighting stances.

“Aichi?”,, Kamui said.

“I’ll battle them. It must be hard for you to battle your friends like this. So, I’ll fight them.”, Aichi told him.

“No, we’ll do this together, Aichi.”, Kamui said, as he came to Aichi’s side.

Kamui’s Pokémon entered fighting stances as well as Hiroshi, Kaoru, and Nagisa threw out their Pokémon. Hiroshi and Kaoru had Golisopods and Floatzels. Nagisa had a Primarina, Kingdra, and Quagsire. The battlefield soon erupted into chaos. Llew growled facing the Golisopods.

“Golisopod! Golisopod?! (Were you the ones who took them?!)” Llew growled as Ahmes walked to his side putting its hand on Llew’s shoulder.

“Gallade. Gallade. (Calm down it will be alright.)”, Ahmes said.

“Ahmes use solar blade. Llew...you don’t have to fight them if you don’t want to.”, Aichi said.

Ahmes rushes at the Golisopods swiping at them with its blades.

“Golisopod. Golisopod! (No, it’s fine Aichi. I’ll fight!)”, Llew said as it rushed into help Ahmes sending a barrage of punches at one of the Golisopods.

“Hehehaha! Did you really just tell your Pokémon not to fight? That’s what Pokémon are made for! I wonder why Master Ren is so interested in such a softy!”, Gouki laughed.

Wingal placed itself protectively in front of Aichi hearing that. It remembered when Kyou tried to take him. Gancelot stood by Aichi’s side shooting aura spheres and Wingal shot sharp rock at the Floatzels as they tried to get near Aichi.

“Ren is interested in me?”, Aichi questioned, sweating nervously.

“Very much so he has ordered all of us to bring you to him!”, Gouki replied.

“Not on my watch! I won’t let Team Asteroid take Aichi too!”, Kamui said.

“Don’t take your eyes off me Kamui, Primarina use sparkling aria!”, Nagisa ordered.

Primarina started to sing, causing bubbles to appear that burnt Kamui’s Pokémon on touch.

“Darn it, Kaiser use earthquake!”, Kamui commanded as the building shook.

Ahmes used its psychic powers to float Kamui’s, the rest of Aichi’s Pokémon, Aichi , and Kamui into the air.

“Hey that’s not fair! Kaboom!”, Kaoru yelled as he shook.

“Ahmes use swords dance! Wingal use stone edge! Llew use blizzard! Gancelot use aura sphere!”, Aichi commanded as his Pokémon threw out their ranged attacks and Ahmes buffed itself.

“Kaiser use dark pulse! Buster use flame charge! Mr.Invincible use strength! Tough boy use rock blast! Shout use fury swipes!”, Kamui ordered.

“I won’t lose like this! Primarina use sparkling aria! Kingdra use bubble beam! Quagsire use muddy water!”, Nagisa ordered, but was in vain as her Pokémon were outgunned.

All of Nagisa, Hiroshi, and Kaoru’s Pokémon fainted.

“No way!!!”, Hiroshi screamed.

Aichi and Kamui gasped as Nagisa and Kaoru screamed too falling over.

“Are they alright?”, Aichi questioned, as they were put back on the ground.

“Guys!”, Kamui screamed, running over to them.

They seemed to just be knocked out.

“Heh! They were weak, that's why they're like this now!”, Gouki said.

“How can you say that!? They're your friends! Nagisa’s your beloved sister remember!?”, Kamui raged raising up his fist with tears in his eyes.

“Blood or not doesn’t matter! Weakness is a sin!”, Gouki replied.

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter!? Friends and family are important! Can’t you see what you're doing!?”, Aichi yelled in disbelief starting to feel angered.

A dark blue aura flashed around him.

“Ha! The words of a softie! You wanna fight me boy?! You really think a softie like you can defeat a pirate?!”, Gouki replied.

Aichi’s eyes were shadowed. He tightened his fists looking over to Kamui. Kamui looked beyond worried for his friends, his eyes were full of tears. Kamui started to feel nervous as the air around him became heavy. He almost forgot to breathe as he shook.

“This feeling…”, Kamui thought, looking towards Aichi.

“Of course. I’ll crush you.”, Aichi replied pointing towards Gouki. He looked up towards Gouki revealing the rainbow spirals in his eyes.

The tone of Aichi’s voice made Kamui’s hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“Oh shit.”, Kamui cursed.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 14 Siege On Grandblue City Part 2

Aichi’s current team

Level 38 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 36 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 33 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 34 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Aura sphere
Quick attack

Level 0 ??? (Egg) ???
Moves:
???

Misaki was exhausted; she had taken down quite a few grunts so far. She sat down for a moment to use some potions on her exhausted Pokémon. She jumped as a blast suddenly came her way only to be swiped away by a Delphox that wasn’t her own.

“You alright Misaki? You can’t let your guard down here.”, Esuka said appearing.

“Thanks.”, Misaki replied, still breathing a bit heavily.

“Where did Sendou and Katsuragi go off to?”, Esuka asked.

“I told them to go to the gym. After they beat Gouki and return him to normal we’ll have some more help.”, Misaki explained.

“I see. Though, fighting all these opponents by yourself is a bit reckless.”, Esuka replied.

“I can take them. I’m not a little kid anymore.”, Misaki replied.

“Hehe! I guess not you’ve really grown since last time I saw you. Oh, how time flies.”, Esuka said.

A blast hit Esuka’s way but was intercepted by a shadow ball from Misaki’s Gardevior, Sakuya.

“And you were talking to me about letting my guard down.”, Misaki replied.

“Touché.”, Esuka replied.

With Kai and Miwa…

They had arrived at the building and were currently going through it.

“Overlord use flamethrower!”, Kai ordered.

“Dauntless use hyper beam!”, Miwa ordered.

Their steeds shot their respective attacks at the grunts below them with the rest of their Pokémon dealing with the stragglers.

“We’re getting close.”, Kai said.

“Shouldn’t we have waited for the others before going to the boss?”, Miwa questioned.

“They’ll just get in my way.”, Kai replied.

“You are so full of it.”, Miwa laughed.

“I’ll be the one to defeat Ren! Aichi doesn’t need to get involved in this. This is my fight.”, Kai thought.

They stopped in front of a door. Kai opened it seeing Ren and his cohorts inside. Ren was smirking as he watched the screen before turning his attention to Kai.

“Kai, I see you’ve finally come to face me.”, Ren said.

“I’m going to beat you Ren and turn you back to the way you used to be!”, Kai replied as Miwa gasped in surprise.

“How do you two know each other?”, Miwa asked.

“Oh, me and Kai go way back. Right Kai?”, Ren replied as Kai glared at him.

The blue haired girl got in front of Ren.

“You don’t need to waste your time on him Master Ren. I your assassin can deal with him.”, the girl said.

“It’s fine, Asuka. Besides I have been wanting to finally show Kai just how powerful I have become. What I need you and Tetsu to do is to bring Aichi to me. I have a feeling that worthless pirate won’t be able to get the job done.”, Ren replied.

“Yes! I won’t fail you.”, Asuka replied, bowing to Ren.

“What do you want with Aichi!?”, Kai growled.

“Heh! That should be obvious Kai. You know why I want him. Because, he has the same powers I do and with him at our side Team Asteroid will become unstoppable.”, Ren revealed.

“I won’t let that happen!”, Kai replied, angrily.

With Aichi and Kamui…

“Go, Frank! Shade! Nightmist!” ,Gouki said, throwing out a Feraligatr, Golisopod, and Floatzel.

Aichi just smirked, not seeming very threatened.

“Ahmes use solar blade. Wingal use crush claw. Llew use first impression. Gancelot use aura sphere.”, Aichi calmly commanded.

His Pokémon sweated nervously a bit distressed at their master’s current state, but obeyed.

“Frank use crunch! Shade use razor shell! Nightmist use aqua jet!”, Gouki commanded.

“Llew get that Feraligatr. Gancelot shoot the Floatzel out of the sky.”, Aichi ordered.

Llew did as he said swiping at Frank before it could hit Ahmes. Ahmes finished off Frank with its solar blade. Gancelot sweated nervously, trembling a bit at Aichi’s aura right now. Gancelot aimed its aura sphere at Nightmist sending it careening of course and dispelling the water around it.

“Now, get it Wingal.”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal shook a bit before jumping to claw Nightmist as it fell. Shade tried to interfere with a razor shell, but Gancelot shot it down with an aura sphere.

“Now, finish it off.”, Aichi commanded.

Llew delivered consecutive sucker punches to Shade knocking it out.

“Good.”, Aichi said, as Gouki fainted like the others.

Even though he seemed happy his Pokémon couldn’t help, but shake in fear as well as Kamui’s. It was a primal fear. They could feel the overwhelming, suffocating power leaking out of him. Along with the sinister vibe the power gave off.

“G-Golisopod? (I-Is everything alright Aichi?)”, Llew asked, never experiencing Aichi in this state before.

“Of course I’m alright we’ve won.”, Aichi replied.

They felt a wave wash over them which just made them nod and agree.

“A-Aichi! You’ve gotta snap out of it!”, Kamui said.

Aichi turned to Kamui with a smile. Kamui felt himself freeze; it was a bit softer, more normal than the sinister smirk yet, somehow far more disturbing. Especially paired with the unnatural menacing glow of the rainbow spiral that flashed in his eyes. When it wasn’t there he could see the darkness clouding Aichi’s eyes and his mind. Kamui sweated nervously, shaking in fear, but stood up to face him all the same.

“The real you is counting on me to turn you back! Come on, Aichi you can-“, Kamui was cut off, as the rainbow spiral appeared back in Aichi’s eyes.

“Kamui, I’m fine. You won’t turn me back. I’m better this way don’t you agree?”, Aichi commanded.

Kamui froze feeling the same wave wash over him.

“Yeah...Yeah, of course, Aichi!”, Kamui replied, a bit trancelike.

“And if anyone tries to turn me back you will stop them.”, Aichi added.

“Whatever you say, Aichi.”, Kamui replied.

“Gallade! Gallade! Gallade! Gallade? Gallade? (Aichi, you can’t let that power consume you! Don’t you see what you're doing?)”, Ahmes said.

Aichi turned to Ahmes with a smirk.

“You will no longer stop me, Ahmes. I am your new master and you will all obey me without question.”, Aichi commanded.

His Pokémon flinched feeling the order wash over them. Compelling them to obey. He started laughing maniacally as the murky blue aura surrounded him.

“Good. Hehehaha! Finally! I told you I would take control, Aichi. Now...what should I do first?Oh, wait I’ve gotta get my badge.”, Aichi said to himself; strangely talking in the third person.

With Kai and Ren…

“W-what the heck!?”, Kai gasped, seeing the screen showing what happened in the water gym.

Kai and Miwa were completely stunned.

“It’s about time. I’m surprised it took so long to take over him.”, Ren said as they turned to him.

“What did you do to him?!”, Kai questioned.

“It’s not what I did. It’s how he was made.”, Ren replied.

“Made?! What do you mean made?”, Kai questioned, in confusion.

“As I said Aichi is just like me. He was created to fulfill Team Asteroid’s goal of world domination.”, Ren revealed as the two gasped.

“What the heck are you talking about? You can’t make someone!”, Miwa denied.

“Team Asteroid’s science is the greatest in the world. Team Asteroid’s top scientists made both of us. Is it even that crazy considering Mewtwo exists? But, Aichi ended up disappearing. We now know from monitoring you guys who took him.”, Ren explained.

“Why did he change?”, Kai asked.

“As I was saying it’s a part of how he was programmed. I don’t know all the specific science mumbo jumbo involved. We don’t know for sure how, but something seems to have been suppressing it.”, Ren explained.

“Is that what happened to you? Your brain is being messed with?”, Kai asked, as Ren laughed.

“Does it matter? All that matters is that I’m now the strongest trainer alive! And I’m going to finally prove it to you Kai!”, Ren said as he held out a Poké ball in front of Kai.

“Fine, then after I beat you and return you to your senses then I’ll do the same to Aichi!”, Kai replied.

With Shin and Mark…

They had regrouped with Misaki and Esuka along with several other trainers.

“It looks like there all down now all we have to do is regroup and storm the base.”, Mark said.

They looked over as Aichi and Kamui walked over to them with their Pokémon and Hiroshi, Kaoru, Nagisa, and Gouki following. Shin, Mark, Esuka, and Misaki couldn’t help, but freeze when they saw Aichi. Something felt very off about him. He walked very casually with his hands in his pockets without a care in the world. The smirk on his face felt eerily familiar to them. The menacing yet alluring vibe as well. It felt like the person they considered the devil. Their instincts were screaming at them to get away at all costs.

“T-this feeling! It’s just like Gin!”, Shin thought, and coupled with the resemblance it felt like Gin was there with them.

Shin stepped back bracing himself.

“What’s wrong guys? We got Kamui’s friends back.”, Aichi asked, his voice sounding seemingly normal.

They sweated nervously now feeling a bit unsure. They were sure of what they felt, but in an instance they suddenly felt doubt. Misaki walked up to them to see what’s going on.

“Nothings wrong. Is everything alright with Aichi, Kamui?”, Misaki asked.

“Yeah, he’s fine. Why?”, Kamui asked.

“He just seems…”, Misaki trailed off, looking over to Aichi unsure.

“I’m perfectly fine, Misaki. I understand your worry, but I really am.”, Aichi assured.

For some reason Misaki felt all her doubts completely disappear at Aichi’s assurance. Shin squirmed, having a horrible feeling in his chest he couldn’t shake. He knew he was lying, but despite it they all felt tempted to agree with him. Cobalion went beside Shin thinking the same thing. It could sense the menacing aura around Aichi no matter how much he tried to hide it.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 15 Siege On Grandblue City Part 3
Aichi’s current team
Level 38 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 36 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 34 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 34 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Aura sphere
Quick attack

Level 0 ??? (Egg) ???
Moves:
???

“Go, Fullbau! Phantom Blaster! Nevan! Rugos! Mordred Phantom! Junos!”, Ren called out, throwing out a Lycanroc midnight, Hydreigon, Zoroark, Bisharp, shiny Aegislash, and a shiny Gallade.

Each of their Pokémon started down one another intensely. Overlord at Junos. Vortex at Phantom Blaster. Dragonite at Mordred Phantom. Berserker at Fullbau. Descendant at Rugos. And Dragon Dancer at Nevan.

The energy around them only became more intense as the two revealed a black and red bracelet respectively with a rainbow colored stone; a mega bracelet. They touched the stones as they glowed. Junos and Overlord glowed revealing new forms.

Overlord’s scales became black with a light blue underbelly. The fire on its tail became blue and it had the same blue fire coming out of the sides of its mouth.

Junos had gained a cape and its blades became bigger. Also, the fin on its head curved.

With Aichi...

“No, he’s not fine, Misaki .”, Shin said, as Aichi frowned.

“I am fine, Shin.”, Aichi insisted, his eyes flashing with a rainbow spiral.

“No, your not.”, Shin insisted, as Aichi looked visibly surprised.

They knew very well what Aichi was and prepared for something like this happening.

“The only assurance I received from this. Is that the Aichi who saved that Rockruff is the real Aichi. After seeing you pretend to be him I’m sure that his feelings were genuine.”, Shin told him, as Aichi narrowed his eyes, not amused.

“Fine. That’s a relief anyway, just pretending to be him makes me sick.”, Aichi replied, his voice returning to the deeper tone.

“Aichi!”, Misaki called out, very concernedly.

“Don’t call me by that name. I’m 003v, a perfect life form created by Team Asteroid.”, Aichi or 003v said, with annoyance.

“I knew Gin was a bastard, but even I didn’t think he’d put programming in his own son’s head.”, Mark growled, very upset.

“Just what kind of monster is Gin Galliard?! It doesn’t matter if he made or not no parent should do that to their kid.”, Misaki thought, sweating nervously.

Her fist shook furious at the idea her friend was being used like this.

“That explains what was happening with him before in Kagero town and Megacolony town. Psychic powers don’t do that his powers activating are the trigger for it not the cause. It’s likely in case he ever tried to rebel against them. That probably didn’t want a Mewtwo situation on their hands.”, Misaki said.

“You're definitely smart, Misaki, but knowing that now doesn’t matter! I’m going to fulfill my mission and none of you are going to stop me!”, 003v replied.

“Aichi you can’t let them control you like this! You're trying to st-“, Misaki was saying as she was cut off.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Aichi says he’s alright so he’s alright.”, Kamui cut off going in front of 003v who smirked.

“Didn’t you hear what we’ve been talking about? That’s not Aichi!”, Misaki replied.

“Aichi says he’s Aichi so he’s Aichi.”, Kamui replied.

“Misaki, he has the exact same powers as Ren.”, Esuka told her.

Misaki gasped, realizing what’s going on. As if 003v knew what she was thinking he tapped Kamui’s shoulder. Kamui turned to 003v.

“Stop them.”, 003v ordered simply.

They paled as Kamui, Gouki, Nagisa, Kaoru, and Hiroshi went up to face them. They reluctantly prepared to battle against them.

“Kamui I don’t wanna do this, but it looks like I’m going to have to beat some reason into you!”, Misaki said holding up a fist and Kamui shivered in fear a bit.

“I don’t know what’s running through your mind, but I won’t let you attack Aichi!”, Kamui replied.

Misaki’s Pokémon walked to behind her looking all menacing as Kamui sweated nervously.

“Shin, let me take him.”, Mark asked, when Shin was about to go up to face him.

“Are you sure? You know him more than me besides if his power is anything like the others it would be like fighting a legendary Pokémon.”, Shin replied.

“No, that’s why I’ve gotta do this. Because I’ve grown to know him more I’ll do it. I’m not going to let that bastard take away anyone else I care about.”, Mark replied.

Shin nodded in understanding. They tried to make it through, but Frank and Mr.Invincible blocked their path.

“Uranus use sacred sword!”, Shin ordered as Cobalion swiped at the two Pokémon with its horns making them faint instantly.

Mark took this opportunity to get through over to 003v. 003v didn’t seem very alarmed by this judging by his amused smile.

“Aichi, you have always been so shy and timid. I was surprised to hear about all the amazing things you have done.”, Mark thought.

Flashback

They were in a classroom Mark was teaching while many of the other students didn’t pay much attention.

“Answer me this, Aichi Sendou!”, Mark said pointing to Aichi who nervously got up from his desk.

Aichi had on a closed up grey uniform with grey pants and had his red under underneath.

“Man, he chose Shychi Aichi “,“He chose the quietest kid in class.”, “We’re going to be here all afternoon.”, some of the students commented.

“What would you do if you were transported to the Warring Regions period?”, Mark asked.

“I-I guess...I guess I’d make sure I always had an escape plan.”, Aichi answered as all the other students broke into laughter.

“Man he’s such a coward.”, “No wonder why everyone picks on him.”, “Man o man you're hilarious.”, some of the students commented.

“Well, it’s not a bad plan if all you're trying to do is survive. But, how about imagining yourself with a bit bigger role to play.”, Mark defended.

Aichi blushed embarrassingly just sitting back down to his desk.

Flashback end

“I didn’t expect for you to come fight me, Mr.Mark. You already lost to that weakling Aichi.”, 003v said.

“He’s not weak. He’s far stronger than you’ll ever be.”, Mark replied.

“Really now? We’ll see about that.”, 003v replied.

003v’s balked his hands into fists. Mark flinched as a dark blue aura surrounded 003v. The feeling it gave of was suffocating and it seemed boundless. It overflowed with no discernible limit. Mark sweated nervously it felt like he was choking just from the feeling it gave off.

“You're trembling already? I haven’t even done anything yet.”, 003v said, menacingly.

With Misaki…

Misaki’s Pokemon releases blasts of psychic energy at Kamui’s remaining Pokémon which should have been a complete massacre especially with the type advantage. However, somehow his Pokémon withstood it and were pushing back against it. This was not the only bizarre thing Gouki, Nagisa, Hiroshi, and Kaoru were holding off the other trainers with them. Esuka sees Misaki struggling and decides to join in.

“Isabelle use mystic fire! Lopunny use close combat! Lapras use hydro pump! Nidoqueen use superpower! Vespiqueen use giga impact! Salazzle use overheat!”, Esuka commanded as the attacks crashed into Kamui’s Pokémon which were surprisingly still standing, but pushed back.

They noticed a dark blue aura around Kamui’s Pokémon which was likely the cause.

“Crap! We’ll just have to push harder! Go, full power guys!”, Misaki yelled, putting her fist forward.

They were finally able break through the attacks knocking out Kamui’s Pokémon.

With Mark...

“F-fuck it’s hard to believe all of this is coming from Aichi. How could such power be exuded by such a small boy? I don’t know anything about that sciency program nonsense, but right now he’s so different it’s like borderline possession. Even still I won’t give up not just for Aichi, but for Shizuka too.”, Mark thought.

Flashback

After Mark’s battle against Aichi he went back down to Sanctuary town. He couldn’t help, but be surprised Shizuka actually allowed him to become a trainer. She had been so adamant for years about him never getting involved.

He stopped by Aichi's house to see Shizuka tending to the garden.

“Oh hi, Mark did you go by the gym?”, Shizuka greeted looking up from the plants she was attending.

“Yeah, I did. I’m surprised you actually allowed Aichi to become a trainer. I just battled him.”, Mark replied.

Shizuka looked down, sighing.

“I really hoped that Aichi would be safe from him if he just kept his head down. But, Team Asteroid has made its way here even in the Kakusa region. It seems like anywhere isn’t safe from his grip. I think maybe I’m just delaying the inevitable...he was born to battle and with them running amuck I doubt I get him to keep his head down.”, Shizuka said.

“Of course, he couldn’t stay still with Team Asteroid running amuck. You raised him right after all there’s no way he could just keep his head down and ignore it.”, Mark replied, with a smile.

Shizuka had a bitter smile.

“I don’t know what to do. I just really... don’t want Gin to get his hands on him. Who knows what he’d do to him. He’s my baby and I don’t want him to get hurt.”, Shizuka replied.

“Don’t worry Aichi will be fine. Misaki’s actually traveling with him ,besides I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him. I promise.”, Mark replied.

“I hope so.”, Shizuka replied.

Flashback end

Mark shivered at the thought of how Shizuka would react to seeing him like this. She’d kill him for sure for letting this happen.

His Greninja, Zoroark, Sheninja, Blastoise, Zangoose, and Absol got into fighting stances. Ahmes, Wingal, Llew and Gancelot got into fighting stances as well. Aichi’s Pokémon now had a similar dark blue aura around them and their eyes glowed.

“He’s even controlling Aichi’s Pokémon?!”, Mark gasped.

“Now, show no mercy and tear those weaklings apart.”, 003v commanded.

“Void Master use water shuriken! Chigasumi use night slash! Double use phantom force! Ronin use hydro pump! Anbu use close combat! Stealth use sucker punch!”, Mark ordered.

Ahmes used its psychic energy to stop the shuriken mid air. Wingal hurled sharped rocks at his Pokémon along with Gancelot gunning them down with aura spheres. While his Pokémon were distracted trying to dodge Llew delivered sucker punches to his Pokémon doing a surprising amount of damage.

“How? Aichi’s Pokémon weren’t this strong before.”, Mark questioned.

With Shin…

He went over to help the trainers struggling against Gouki, Nagisa, Hiroshi, and Kaoru. He gasped in shock to see all the trainers had been defeated and knocked out cold. They were down to one Pokémon each. Gouki had Nightmist, Nagisa had Primarina, Kaoru had Floatzel, and Kaoru had Golisopod.

“Let’s go! Giant automation of the distant past, Valkriyan! Use thunderbolt!”, Shin commanded.

Valkriyan held up its fists it’s body crackled with electricity shooting off multiple bolts at the water Pokémon. His opponents gasped in shock as their Pokémon were instantly defeated.

With Mark...

“Of course, they're stronger under my control. I'm far superior to that weakling in every way! That fool doesn’t even know how to use his powers, but I do!”, 003v gloated.

Mark gasped as despite the type advantage the rocks did heavy damage to his Pokémon along with the aura spheres.

“Just give up! You can’t defeat me! No human can!”, 003v taunted laughing maniacally as he did, as Mark sweated nervously.

“Aichi. Don’t do this, you don’t want to lose everything you have gained over the last couple of days. The bonds you have made with people and Pokémon alike!”, Mark said, 003v froze for a moment before shaking it off.

He could swear he saw Aichi for a moment.

“Shut up, weakling human! I don’t need any pathetic bonds when I have ultimate power!”, 003v replied, angrily.

“Really you don't? You looked really relieved when you realized how much your friends care about you. You looked truly happy with them. You had been virtually alone for a long time with just Ahmes. I know because I saw how you were and I know you wouldn’t want to go back to that.”, Mark replied as 003v growled.

“Argh! Shut up! Shut up! I won’t let you argh! Or him s-stop me!”, 003v replied in pain, clutching his head.

“And with them at your side you finally gained confidence in yourself and have done amazing things. You liberated Megacolony town and freed the people of Kagero from a living nightmare. You did that and you can beat this too!”, Mark continued, as 003v sweated.

“No! Fuck your stupid mushy friendship crap an-“, 003v was saying raising up one of his arms hoisting up Mark with psychic energy.

“I know Shizuka would be really proud of the hero you’ve become.”, Mark finished, as soon as he did he was dropped to the ground falling on his butt.

003v screamed in pain clutching his head as the dark aura around him grew even more massive. Mark backed up a bit nervously as the aura got even bigger. The entire city and more shook at the power released.

“Holy crap! At this rate everything will be reduced to-“, Mark was thinking as the rubbing started to ease.

He looked over to 003v noticing his arms hanging loosely to his sides and his head was down. His shoulders seemed relaxed and he was surrounded by a rainbow aura. Mark ran to catch him as he fell over unconscious. He held him tightly as 003v breathed softly.

Everything seemed fine now, but then Tetsu and Asuka appeared. Their Pokémon were mostly exhausted at this point and their army almost completely gone. Shin and Esuka were the only ones with Pokémon still left with some juice. Misaki’s had fainted after defeating Kamui’s. Aichi’s Pokémon had also fallen unconscious after being released from 003v’s control. It was the same for Kamui and the others. Asuka smirked smugly at the scene.

“Wow, nice job you guys did most of our work for us. Or I guess the thanks should go to 003v. He got you guys to fight each other for us.”, Asuka said looking over to Aichi unconscious in Mark’s arms.

Mark tightened his grip around Aichi and Misaki got in front of him looking Asuka in the eye.

“We won’t let you take Aichi!”, Misaki said as Asuka smirked.

“You must be mistaken 003v belongs with us. I would have thought that little scuffle would have made it clear.”, Tetsu said coldy.

“The only thing that’s clear to us from that scuffle is that Team Asteroid can’t be allowed to have him!”, Shin said.

“And what are you gonna do? Your Pokémon are exhausted. The few you still have and we have full healthy teams. Just give up.”, Asuka replied, raising up a Poké ball.

They sweated nervously knowing they were right. This was going to be very close. They jumped upon hearing a loud roar in the distance he looked over to the source and their jaws dropped.

It was a big white lion-like Pokémon. It’s mane was shaped like the sun. The top half of its face had a constantly changing landscape and its eyes were blue. Around each of its legs were orange bands. It was Solgaleo. Riding on top of the legendary Pokémon was Kourin, Suiko, and Rekka.

“Just give up huh? I’d say the same to you.”, Kourin said on top of Solgaleo.

“Solgaleo that’s…”, Tetsu trailed off.

Before they could do anything they were bound by psychic energy. Solgaleo looked down at them it’s eyes glowing and surrounded by a rainbow aura.

“What the distortion world! We can’t move!”, Asuka said, trying her best to move.

Solgaleo ran over to in front of Aichi. It lowered itself down as Kourin, Suiko, and Rekka got off.

“You guys have Solgaleo?!”, Misaki gasped.

“No, we are merely his servants.”, Suiko replied.

Kourin went over to Aichi to check on him.

“He’s just unconscious.”, Mark told her.

“Man, you look really worried there, Kourin. Almost like you like him.”, Rekka teased, as Kourin blushed embarrassedly.

“Shut up Rekka! I’m just making sure he’s alright.”, Kourin denied.

“It’s best to have Aichi be with Solgaleo in this state.”, Kourin told them.

“Why is that?”, Misaki questioned.

“Solgaleo was assigned by Arceus to be Aichi’s guardian.”, Suiko revealed as they gasped in shock.

“Solgaleo is the one who stopped him from blowing this place sky high. And from stopping him from being completely taken over in Kagero town.”, Rekka revealed.

“Wait, their right that aura that Solgaleo is giving off is the same one that surrounded Aichi.”, Mark said.

“Are we sure about this?”, Shin questioned.

“We can trust them. The legendaries hate Team Asteroid especially because they have been hunting them besides. I suspect that Solgaleo was the culprit of taking Aichi away from Team Asteroid in the first place.”, Esuka replied.

“Your right. Solgaleo was the one who aided Aichi’s mother, Shizuka in taking him away from Team Asteroid. And as you may have realized Solgaleo has also been suppressing the malicious programming put into Aichi’s mind.”, Suiko replied.

“We’re not gonna steal him away. We’re just having Solgaleo guard him in his vulnerable state right now.”, Rekka said.

They all looked at each other deciding to trust in them. Solgaleo still sat down near Aichi. Kourin put Aichi onto Solgaleo’s back. As she did the rainbow aura surrounded Aichi again keeping him safely on as Solgaleo stood up again. Aichi wrapped his arms around Solgaleo seeming much more comfortable in his sleep. He was snuggling up with the legendary like a little cub.

“So...soft.”, Aichi murmured in sleep.

They couldn’t help, but blush a little at the adorable smile on Aichi’s face. It made their entire battle against 003v felt like a terrible nightmare rather than reality.

“He looks comfy.”, Rekka chuckled.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 16 Siege On Grandblue City Final Part

Aichi’s current team
Level 38 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 36 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 34 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 34 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Aura sphere
Quick attack

Level 0 ??? (Egg) ???
Moves:
???

“Junos use stone edge.”, Ren ordered.

“Overlord use fire blast.”, Kai ordered.

Junos charged at Overlord shooting sharp rocks at it. Overlord shot a blast of fire at the rocks shaped like the kanji for fire. The rocks were nearly incinerated before suddenly being surrounded by psychic energy making the change course to avoid the flames and hit Overlord.

“Tch!”, Kai snickered as smoke enveloped the arena from the crash.

His Pokémon were still raging against Ren’s in the smoke.

“Overlord use flare blitz!”, Kai ordered.

Overlord engulfed itself in blue flames spinning around quickly in a circle dispelling the smoke and creating a tornado of flames. Some of their Pokémon were caught in the raging tornado fainting instantly. It was Rugos and Descendant that fainted. The others were a bit injured. Mordred Phantom was able to avoid fainting by protecting itself with its shield. Nehalem, Vortex, Berserker, and Dragon Dancer went to Overlord’s side reviving from the outrage. Phantom Blaster, Nevan, and Fullbau went to Junos’s side.

“Phantom Blaster use outrage.”, Ren commanded as Phantom Blaster quickly dove towards Nehalem who was too slow to respond to the vicious assault it unleashed and fainted.

Vortex charged after Phantom Blaster enraged. Phantom Blaster took advantage of this opening beating it down mercilessly. Vortex fought back savagely clashing with the dark dragon. Overlord knocked out Mordred Phantom with a fire blast.

“Dragon Dancer use close combat!”, Kai ordered as Dragon Dancer charged at Nevan with blinding speed.

Dragon Dancer punched and kicked Nevan without mercy, beating down and making it faint. Phantom Blaster and Vortex launched dragon breaths at each other causing both of them to faint. Berserker charged forward to take out Fullbau with outrage. Fullbau outsped the bigger jumping on its back and biting down hard on the dragon who tried to throw it off. As it tried Fullbau launched sharp rocks at Berserker. Overlord and Dragon Dancer ran in to help, but Junos blocked their path. Junos shot sharp rocks at the two. Dragon Dancer chopped and punched at some of them and Overlord shot flames at them. But, the rocks kept randomly changing directions and avoided most of their attacks due to Junos’s psychic powers.

“Fullbau use outrage.”, Ren ordered as Kai glared.

Fullbau clawed and punched on Berserker while it was on top of it. Berserker ended up collapsing to the ground. Junos moved out of the way as Fullbau then launched itself at Overlord and Dragon Dancer.

“Overlord use dragon pulse!”, Kai ordered, as Overlord send a blue wave of energy at Fullbau while it was midair.

Fullbau ignored the pain continuing forward slashing with its claws. Dragon Dancer got in front of Overlord taking the blows and trapping Fullbau in a hold.

“Kommo-o! (Do it!)”, Dragon Dancer commanded.

“Charizard. Charizard. Charizard. (Your sacrifice will not be in vain my comrade.)”, Overlord said as it shot the blue energy from its mouth engulfing both Fullbau and Dragon Dancer.

Both Fullbau and Dragon Dancer fainted and were recalled by their trainers. Ren smirked not seeming worried at all that he was down to only one Pokémon.

“You really are strong Kai. This battle has reminded me of old times.”, Ren said.

“Once I beat you it will fully go back to old times!”, Kai declared.

“Kai, he’s really serious right now. This is between the two of them. I have no place to interfere.”, Miwa thought, watching on from the sidelines.

Junos and Overlord circled each other.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (Both you and your trainer are truly foolish if you think you can defeat us.)”, Junos said.

“Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! (Same to you Junos! We have waited a long time for this and we won’t lose!)”, Overlord replied.

“You two will lose just like before.”, Ren replied smirking.

Kai narrowed his eyes as he remembered back when he first met Ren.

Flashback

It was back when he was first taking on the Kakusa league. He was a bit younger then he was taking on another trainer as a young Ren and Tetsu watched in the crowd. Ren looked amazed as Overlord who at this time was Charmeleon knocked out his opponent’s last Pokémon.

“Wow, this guy is really strong Tetsu we should get him to join Team Asteroid!”, Ren suggested.

Tetsu followed after Ren who excitedly rushed forward towards Kai. Some of the people nervously moved away as Ren approached him.

“Who are you?”, Kai asked.

“I’m Suzugamori Ren and this is Shinjou Tetsu.”, Ren introduced the two of them.

“You seem pretty strong. What’s your name?”, Tetsu asked Kai.

“You know my name its Ren.”, Ren replied as Tetsu sweat dropped.

“Not you dummy. That guy!”, Tetsu replied pointing at Kai.

“I don’t think his name would be ‘that guy’.”, Ren replied cluelessly.

Kai couldn’t help, but sweat drop when hearing the two.

“...My name is Toshiki Kai.”, Kai answered as his eye twitched.

“Charmeleon? Charmeleon? (That Ren guy is kinda slow isn’t he?)”, Overlord questioned.

“I’m not slow, see.”, Ren replied before running around to prove it to Overlord.

Overlord gasped in shock confused with how the kid understood him. Kai noticed Overlord’s reaction.

“Who said you were slow?”, Kai asked confusedly.

“Your Charmeleon did.”, Ren said, stopping and pointing to Overlord.

“How can you tell it’s a Pokémon?”, Kai questioned.

“Ren’s a bit weird. He’s able to understand Pokémon.”, Tetsu told him.

“No way.”, Kai replied.

“Well of course I can. I’m part Pokémon after all.”, Ren stated as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Part Pokémon huh? More like crazy.”, Kai replied skeptically.

“Watch this.”, Ren told him as he caused Kai to levitate before putting him down.

“You're a psychic?”, Kai questioned.

“Psychic type.”, Ren replied as Kai sweat dropped.

“What do you guys want with me anyway?”, Kai asked.

“We want you to join Asteroid!”, Ren answered.

“What?! Like the evil team?”, Kai questioned.

“I wouldn’t say evil. Though, my dad’s kinda a stick in the mud he’s all serious. Like stop goofing off Ren think about world domination or whatever blah blah blah. When I'm the boss I’m gonna make Team Asteroid a fun team. So, wanna join?”, Ren replied, holding his hand out to Kai with a big dopey smile on his face.

Kai felt like face palming as he looked at Ren. Even to this day not sure why he ever said yes. But, for a while it was a bit fun at worst, Ren had them pull silly pranks on people.

Flashback end

“It doesn’t matter how strong you think you are I’m going to defeat you.”, Kai replied, determinedly.

Junos and Overlord went back into fighting stances.

With Aichi…

“Why do I feel wet?”, Aichi thought confused.

He cracked open his eyes confused as he looked around. It seemed like it was some sort of lab. There were people in lab coats operating various machines. One of them stood out a bit who was standing next to a person with a black suit with a red A. He couldn’t get a good look at the man with the suit. It seemed as if something was obscuring his features from his sight. The man in a lab coat had long dark green hair and purple eyes. Underneath his lab coat he had a grey dress shirt with a red tie. He was smiling as he held out a clipboard. Aichi tried to say something but realized there was some sort of breathing mask on his face.

“What’s going on?”, he thought, confused and growing worried, especially seeing the man who seemed to be a part of Team Asteroid.

“Subject 003v. The human to Pokémon ratio in his dna is perfect. As well the programming has been perfectly calibrated to account for his power. As for his power he is far stronger than our previous two successes in project Psyqualia.”, the man in a lab coat said.

“Pokémon dna? Programming? Are they talking about me?”, Aichi thought, confused and growing increasingly worried as the man in a suit approached him.

His body wouldn’t move as if he was merely observing what was going on. The man in a suit put his hand out touching the glass as it suddenly hit Aichi. He was in a tube!

“003v is the one who will fulfill our ambition. The perfect life form who will allow us to finally take over the world and defeat that infernal god, Arceus. You understand right my son?”, the man in a suit said, he seemed to be smirking though he wasn’t sure how he could tell since he couldn’t see his face.

Aichi felt his blood run cold realizing who this man was. He was Gin Galliard, his father who Shin had told him about.

“What’s going on? Defeating Arceus? Taking over the world? Why am I in a tube?! And the way they're talking it’s like I’m-“, Aichi thought, before coming to a chilling realization.

He was created as a weapon in lab. He wasn’t even fully human…

“Oh my Arceus…”, Aichi thought as his heart sank.

He would break into tears if he could. As he panicked he suddenly felt a relaxing feeling wash over him again like at Kagero town.

Aichi’s eyes cracked open as he noticed he was on something moving. He was laying on something incredibly soft and his arms were wrapped around it. Aichi blinked as his brain booted up.

“Was that a dream? It felt so real like it really happened.”, Aichi thought.

“Looks like you woke him up.”, Rekka said as Kourin and Misaki went over to him.

He got up adjusting himself and realized it was a Pokémon he was on. But, it wasn’t just any Pokémon it was the legendary Pokémon, Solgaleo, the beast that devours the Sun. Aichi’s eyes widened upon this realization.

Earlier while Aichi was asleep…

Back at the place they were before Solgaleo walked towards the building mounted by the still sleeping Aichi. Asuka screamed a bit as she and Tetsu were lifted in the air behind Solgaleo.

“Where is Solgaleo going?”, Shin asked.

“We have to defeat Suzugamori Ren remember? Solgaleo is going to defeat him. Don’t worry he has a protective barrier over Aichi and is very strong.”, Suiko replied.

“Someone’s gotta stay to watch over everyone else. I guess I’ll do it.”, Mark volunteered.

“I will as well. Shinemon, Misaki go with Sendou and Solgaleo.”, Esuka said.

They both nodded as they went into the building with Ultra Rare following Solgaleo. Various passed out Team Asteroid grunts and their Pokémon littered the ground who they tried to avoid.

“So, how did Solgaleo get involved with Arceus? Aren’t him and Lunala from a different world?”, Misaki questioned.

“They were originally however the two of them grew fond of this world and decided to stay and protect it. Then, Team Asteroid attacked trying to take over the world and capturing legendaries to do it. The legendaries though normally divided were united by this common threat. After all, if Team Asteroid wins they’ll all be captured. Arceus brought them all together and devised a plan to defeat Team Asteroid. I don’t really know the full details myself, but part of that plan was taking Aichi away for him which Solgaleo was tasked to do. They had tried it before with the others before him, but none of them came back; only Solgaleo was successful.”, Kourin explained.

“I guess we have Solgaleo to thank for us having Aichi now. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he had failed too. He’d probably be like Ren right now. You said there were others as in plural. Are there more people who were created by Team Asteroid besides Aichi and Ren?”, Misaki replied.

“Yes, from what I know there’s two others. I don’t know as much about them. They’re in other regions.”, Kourin answered.

“It’s so messed up... I can’t help, but wonder if maybe they're doing what they are against their will like Aichi was.”, Misaki replied as Kourin frowned looking over at Aichi.

“Yeah...”, Kourin replied, sounding a little worried.

“Worried about your boyfriend Kourin?”, Rekka teased.

“Shut up, Rekka! He’s not my boyfriend!”, Kourin replied angrily.

They jumped as they noticed Aichi starting to stir from his slumber surrounded by the rainbow aura.

“Looks like you woke him up.”, Rekka said as Kourin and Misaki went over to him.

Aichi adjusted himself in more of a riding position now before he flinched likely due to the realization he was riding on a legendary. Aichi stumbled a bit effortlessly righted by Solgaleo using its psychic powers. Aichi got into a more steady position riding on in.

“Aichi are you alright? Are you back to normal?”, Misaki asked.

“W-why am I on a legendary?! What happened?”, Aichi questioned, very confused.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”, Shin asked.

Aichi narrowed his eyes as he tried to think back.

“I-I think I was in Gouki’s gym. I was with Kamui. His friends were being controlled. We beat them then we were about to face Gouki then...everything blanks out! I can’t remember what happened! W-Where’s Kamui?! Don’t tell me I...”, Aichi answered, growing increasingly panicked.

“Calm down, Kamui’s fine. I’ll explain, but you're not going to like it.”, Shin replied, as Aichi looked at him nervously nodding.

Shin told him about everything that happened and their fight with 003v. Aichi looked extremely pale as Shin told him.

“Aichi it wasn’t your fault you weren’t even yourself!”, Shin assured as Aichi closed his eyes, sweating.

“It’s just like my dream. When I was asleep I had this weird dream that I was in a tube in a lab. There were Team Asteroid people there. They called me 003v and they were saying all this weird stuff like I’m part Pokémon and I was made to...”, Aichi explained, looking like he was going to fall unconscious again.

“You are Sendou Aichi not 003v. That’s why you were given a human name by Shizuka to symbolize you are no longer Team Asteroid’s weapon. You are your own person. It will be difficult, but you can eventually overcome the malicious programming Team Asteroid placed in your brain.”, Solgaleo said as everyone jumped.

Solgaleo’s mouth didn’t move, instead they all heard its voice in their heads.

“How? Please tell me how! I don’t want to hurt anyone or control them! Especially my friends! ”, Aichi begged, with tears in his eyes tightening his grip on Solgaleo.

“There’s two possible ways: long mental training to allow you to resist it. Or trying to erase the programming entirely. I have been trying to myself without much luck. I don’t know how long it will take. Both will take more time than we currently have. First we have to drive Team Asteroid from Kakusa then we can try.”, Solgaleo replied.

“Thank you, Solgaleo. For everything I don’t know what would have become of me without you.”, Aichi thanked, his eyes were full of tears hugging Solgaleo tightly.

“Don’t worry everything will be alright Aichi. We don’t blame you for what happened. You couldn’t control yourself. I don’t think Kamui does either or any of your Pokémon.”, Misaki assured.

“Thank you. You too Kourin for you and your friends saving us.”, Aichi said, softly with tears still in his eyes and dang he looked so cute.

Misaki and Kourin couldn’t help, but blush. Rekka and Suiko looked at them with coy looks. Misaki and Kourin looked away embarrassed as Aichi looked completely clueless. He wiped away his tears looking forward.

“Today is really full of heavy reveals isn’t it? First, I find out my dad is a super villain. Then, I find out I mind controlled my friend and his friends. Finally, I find out I have programming in my brain and I was made in a lab. This is heavy...I had a hard enough time sleeping when all I knew about was that I lost control sometimes...To think I was created for something so twisted...what am I?”, Aichi thought.

“A poor kid with a terrible burden. Remember your not what they made you to be. That’s why they have to control you.”, Solgaleo said, reading his mind.

Aichi’s eyes widened remembering Solgaleo was well obviously a psychic type that could read his mind. He nodded thankful for the assurance. They made it to the door to the room where Kai and Ren were fighting. They could hear some of the battle from the other side, but they didn’t know who was battling. Shin opened the door and Aichi rode in on Solgaleo. Aichi gasped in horror as he saw what was happening.Ren’s eyes had rainbow spirals and he smiled smugly as Junos moved at unbelievable speed enhanced by a red aura. Before it had seemed as if Overlord was about to win. Overlord had been over Junos seemingly about to deliver the final blow beforehand. Junos slashed Overlord viciously with its blades almost like a twisted version of Ahmes. As Overlord reeled back it was hit by several sharp rocks causing it to faint. Kai fell to his knees and Miwa ran to him looking up to Ren.

“Do you understand now Kai? I made you believe you had a chance to defeat me before completely shattering your hopes entirely. I could have powered up my Pokémon whenever I wanted, but that wouldn’t had been fun so I decided to play with you a bit.”, Ren revealed.

Kai punched the ground furiously, sinking his head down.

“No!”, he said, with more emotion than he had heard from him in a long time.

Aichi glared at Ren feeling his blood boil at seeing what Ren had done to his idol. Shin and Misaki looked nervous seeing this, not wanting him to lose control again. Solgaleo and Ultra Rare however were surprisingly calm. They jumped when a aura surrounded Aichi, but however it was a gentle light blue color unlike before. The air around him hadn’t become oppressive instead almost like a reassuring breeze. They couldn’t help, but be in awe. Aichi felt like the Sun.

“This how Aichi’s power truly is without the corruption of the programming. Solgaleo can’t erase it entirely, but he can suppress it.”, Suiko explained.

Aichi looked over to Ren with a determined gaze who smirked at him.

“So, we finally meet each other 003v.”, Ren said to him.

Kai and Miwa looked over to Aichi surprised seeing him on Solgaleo. They were relieved Aichi had returned to his true self and completely dumbfounded he was riding on a legendary.

“My name is not 003v, it's Sendou Aichi.”, Aichi replied.

“Hehe. We’ll see about that. Looks like I’ll have to remind you of who you are and your mission.”, Ren replied with a sinister grin.

“That won’t happen Suzugamori Ren!”, Solgaleo roared.

It jumped into the air and rainbow colored beams of energy shot out from it. It was then surrounded by a sun-like blaze. Despite being inside the blaze, Aichi didn’t seem bothered by it covered by Solgaleo’s protective barrier. A pillar flame shot out from it towards Junos. Junos tried to dodge, but the flame followed it, manipulated by Solgaleo’s psychic energy. Junos was engulfed by it fainting however the blast wasn’t done. It swerved over to Ren who looked a little shocked. He created a barrier of psychic energy to protect himself, but he was still blown back. Ren stumped a bit before being caught by Solgaleo’s psychic energy much like Tetsu and Asuka.

“Looks like you got me 003v. What’s next?”, Ren asked with a playful tone smiling.

“You're going to jail for terrorizing your own region with Team Asteroid. And we’ll find a way to return you to your true self.”, Aichi replied.

The others except Ren couldn’t help, but look at Aichi in awe, almost feeling drawn in. He was glowing with a comforting positive energy. It was hard to believe it could become so distorted by the programming. This was the true Aichi a light of hope.

Later…

All of Team Asteroid in Grandblue city was taken by the police. Those who were knocked out started to stir as Aichi looked on anxiously. Misaki put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance.

“Hey, um was that really you on Solgaleo?”, Miwa questioned as Aichi looked over to him briefly.

“Yeah, I don’t know why I felt so confident but yeah.”, Aichi replied.

“You remember what happened?”, Misaki asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?”, Aichi questioned.

“Your power was activated, but the programming was suppressed by Solgaleo. If you need anymore confirmation you weren’t yourself before that’s it.”, Misaki replied.

Aichi was very assured by that. It was great to know he really wasn’t a crazy mind controlling sociopath.

“Aichi what happened? Wait...oh are you back to normal?”, Kamui questioned, before Aichi teared up.

“I’m so glad you're alright!”, Aichi said relieved, running up to Kamui.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Man! I’m sorry I couldn’t help you Aichi.”, Kamui apologized.

“You shouldn’t be apologizing. It’s all my fault.”, Aichi replied.

“Dude, how could you not get angry at the way Gouki was acting. You got mad because you're a good guy. Then, because you got mad you lost control, but you didn’t mean to do that.”, Kamui replied.

“Really?”, Aichi questioned as Kamui put his hands on his hips.

“How many times do I have to say it?”, Kamui questioned rhetorically.

“Well, looks like with Team Asteroid behind bars it’s time for you two to finally battle Misaki.”, Mark said.

“That’s right, Misaki’s gym is the next one! Maybe I should fight Gouki again though... I don’t feel like I won.”, Aichi replied.

“Trust me Aichi, you're more than strong enough, remember you beat me. And I had already beaten Gouki.”, Kamui replied.

“Really so you’ve beaten Kamui then huh? Then, you definitely deserve the Handsome badge.”, Gouki said walking in.

“But I was controlled?”, Aichi questioned.

“You still won and the Pokémon I used against you were my personal Pokémon rather than the gym Pokémon anyway so we’re even.”, Gouki assured.

“If you say so, I guess. And I’m really sorry about...well you know.”, Aichi replied.

“You guys were both out of your minds.”, Kamui said as Aichi sweat dropped.

“I’d like to just fight here and get it over with, but my badges are at the gym.”, Misaki said.

“We’ll it’s not that far to Oracle town. You guys could get there before the day even ends.”, Mark chuckled.

“Really? It’s that close?”, Aichi questioned.

“Well its not like the Kakusa region is that big. You’ve gotten through 4 gyms in less than three days.”, Misaki pointed out.

“It’s only been two days!”, Aichi gasped, realizing Misaki is right.

So, much happened in such a short time it felt like much longer.

“First though…”, Aichi trailed off throwing out his Pokémon.

“I’m sorry guys for what happened earlier if any of you wanna leave because of how I acted that’s understandable.”, Aichi told them as everyone looked at him shocked.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (As I told you before Aichi I will always be at your side.)”, Ahmes answered, bowing to Aichi.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario . Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (You are the one who reinvigorated my faith in humanity and friendship. I will not abandon you just as you didn’t abandon me.)”, Gancelot answered, putting its paw over its chest spike.

“Lycanroc? Lycanroc? Lycanroc? Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Your the best human I’ve met why would I leave? Sure you lose control of yourself, but nobodies perfect I know that better than anyone.”, Wingal answered, sitting down.

Aichi looked towards Llew who hadn’t answered yet. The others looked to him wondering if he would. He had never experienced Aichi like that before and it was so bad. It had been a few minutes and Aichi was about to say something.

He jumped when Llew suddenly hugged him tightly hoisting him up.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! (I dunno what happened but I’m really glad you're back to normal!)”, Llew said.

“I thought you were about to leave?”, Aichi replied, genuinely shocked.

“Golisopod? Golisopod? Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod?! Golisopod?! (Why would I do that? You beat up Team Asteroid, saved me and made me strong. Why would I want to leave?!)”, Llew replied, as Aichi cried again.

“But, from what I heard, what I did was so horrible?”, Aichi replied.

“How many times do we have to tell you. You have malevolent programming in your brain. Your basically brainwashed in that state it's not your fault!”, Misaki said, angrily as Aichi and Llew shivered in fear.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. (She is a very scary lady.)”, Llew commented.

“I know.”, Aichi replied.

“What did it say Aichi?”, Misaki asked as they shook again.

“Llew said you're so right and very cool.”, Aichi lied.

“Uh huh.”, Misaki replied skeptically.

“Oh yeah, the egg is it alright? I forgot all about it in this mess.”, Aichi said, as he reached for it in his bag.

Everyone gasped and Solgaleo walked as Aichi pulled out the egg. It was now dyed blue previously being white like all other Pokémon eggs.

“What happened?! Why is it blue?”, Aichi questioned.

“It might have been exposed to your psychic energy. That’s the only thing I can think of. I don’t know exactly how it will affect it. It’s still alive if anything it seems to have be even more so.”, Solgaleo said, before the egg started to wiggle not even seeming like it was close to hatching before.

“You don’t know how it will affect it? I hope it’s okay.”, Aichi replied as he wrapped his hands tightly and protectively around the egg’s case as everyone sweat dropped.

“I have the feeling you're probably gonna be a good mama Aichi.”, Miwa joked.

“He’s already got being a worry wart down.”, Kamui agreed, sweat dropping.

“He’s definitely Shizuka’s kid.”, Mark chuckled.

At the jail…

Ren hummed gleefully as the officers led him into the police station with Asuka and Tetsu.

“Hey, policemen mind letting me out?”, Ren asked with a rainbow spiral flashing in his eyes.

“Ah yes.”, they said in a trace taking the cuffs off them.

“Thanks.”, Ren replied playfully.

“That’s a relief. I’m so sorry for failing you master Ren.”, Asuka said, bowing to him.

“It’s fine I didn’t account for Solgaleo’s interference. However, something good has come of it. Now, we can free all of our members and gain some new ones. The inmates and police should be great additions to Team Asteroid.”, Ren replied.

“Great idea Ren.”, Tetsu replied.

“Oh, master Ren you're a genius!”, Asuka gushed.

“Hehe. You're helping us without even knowing 003v. Looks like you're truly a member of Team Asteroid.”, Ren said as he laughed maniacally.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 17 A Daunting Challenge! The Psychic Gym!

Aichi’s current team
Level 38 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 36 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 34 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 34 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Aura sphere
Quick attack

Level 0 ??? (Egg) ???
Moves:
???

“Hey, is Kai alright? He hasn’t said much since he battled Ren.”, Aichi asked, still squeezing his egg’s container tightly.

“I don’t think so. I tried to look for him but he had already stormed off when Team Asteroid was arrested.”, Miwa replied, as Aichi looked down.

“Don’t worry I’ll find him, Aichi. I always do, he just probably went off to brood somewhere like he always does.”, Miwa said.

“I hope he’s alright.”, Aichi mumbled, looking off in the distance.

“I’m going to help fix Grandblue city. Then, I’ll catch up to you guys.”, Kamui decided, looking around at the still decimated city.

“We’ll see you then I guess. I promise you I’ll get stronger so that this doesn’t happen again.”, Aichi replied, with his fist over his heart.

“I’m sure you will and I’ll get stronger too as well! Next time, Team Asteroid comes here I’ll crush them!”, Kamui replied as Aichi sweat dropped.

He held out his fist to Aichi who bumped his fist to his.

“Kamui!”, Nagisa squealed, tackling Kamui as everyone sweat dropped.

“That means your staying here?”, Nagisa asked, hugging him tightly.

“Only for a little bit!”, Kamui replied as Nagisa squeezed him.

“Well, then I guess it’s time for us to set off.”, Misaki said as Aichi looked at her.

“Yeah.”, Aichi nodded.

Shin and Mark came along with them.

“I have been meaning to see how Mikuru has been doing.”, Mark said.

“Looks like we’re going back home.”, Shin said.

They waved everyone goodbye setting off to Oracle town. There weren’t many trainers on the way so they got there rather fast. As they did Aichi looked down at his little egg which moved occasionally. They made it to Oracle town which seemed a little small with a few shops, houses, other buildings, and even tents for some reason. Aichi looked at everything as they walked past and a person in a hood in front of a crystal ball waved him over. Misaki followed him, sweat dropping.

“Not another fake psychic…”, Misaki groaned.

“Let me tell you your fortune boy.”, the hooded person said.

“My fortune?”, Aichi questioned as Misaki stood beside him glaring at the hooded person who flinched.

“You better be a real psychic.”, Misaki said menacingly.

“Isn’t he?”, Aichi asked, cluelessly.

“Oracle town does have real psychics because of that a lot of swindlers come here to pose as them. For those who don’t know much about it they can easily con them out of their money.”, Misaki explained.

“I-I can assure Mrs. Tokura I am very real!”, the hooded person said, shaking.

“Then, abide by the Oracle agreement I assume as a real psychic you know what that is.”, Misaki replied as the hooded person sweated nervously.

“What’s the Oracle agreement?”, Aichi asked.

“All psychics in Oracle town have to prove they are not a phony before serving someone.”, Misaki explained.

“I-I uh…”, the hooded person mumbled before scurrying away and the two sweat dropped.

“You're really good at scaring away the phonies, Misaki.”, Mark chuckled.

“Hmph! There better not be more. It’s always such a bother dealing with them.”, Misaki said as she crossed her arms walking to the gym followed by the others.

They made it to a small building turquoise building with a purple symbol for the psychic type. There seemed to be various square rooms inside.

“You have to get through this before our battle. You know the standard gym stuff.”, Misaki told him.

“Alright.”, Aichi replied, nodding before he walked up to three doors.

On the top there was the illustration of a Espeon dressed like a sphinx. Under it was a question “Reshiram and Zekrom are the Pokémon of?”. Above each of the doors was a different answer. They said “Yin and yang”, “Truth and ideals”, “Good and evil”. Aichi walked into the middle door “Truth and ideals” and was presented with another question. “Where was mega evolution created?” The choices were “Kalos”, “Galar”, and “Alola”.

“You know this isn’t that hard.”, Aichi thought walking through the Kalos door.

He was then presented with another question “Who is the master of the weather trio?”. The choices were “Thunderous”, “Rayquaza”, and “Zygarde”. He walked into the Rayquaza door and was presented with another question. “Which of these trios is the creation trio?” The choices were “Groundon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza”, “Yveltal, Xerneus, and Zygarde”, and “Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina”. Aichi walked through the door with the last option and was now in the room of the gym battle with Misaki waiting for him sitting on a chair. She had 3 Poké balls around her waist, likely the gym Pokémon.

“That was fast.”, Misaki said.

“It wasn’t really that hard.”, Aichi replied.

“You’d be surprised how many people fail that thing.”, Misaki replied.

“Really?”, Aichi questioned.

They prepared their Poké balls ready to battle.

“Go, Llew!”, Aichi called out.

“Go, Kushinada!”, Misaki called out throwing out a Gardevior.

The two Pokémon faced each other down. Aichi didn’t notice but his egg wobbled a bit.

“Kushinada is also a fairy type so my dark type moves won’t do well against it. And my fighting type moves are basically useless. Though, I still have...”, Aichi thought.

“Llew use first impression!”, Aichi ordered as Llew ran towards Kushinada with blinding speed slashing it with its claws.

Kushinada was a bit damaged by the slash.

“Kushinada use thunderbolt continuously.”, Misaki ordered.

Llew tried to block and endure the lightning, but it was struck by several bolts continuously.

“Llew move!”, Aichi commanded before Llew was forced back into the bolts by Kushinada’s psychic power.

“Llew use blizzard!”, Aichi order.

Llew blasted Kushinada with a storm of ice point blank before fainting.

“That’s not good. Gancelot won’t do well here at all and I need to save Wingal for her other Pokémon. Then…”, Aichi thought.

“Go, Ahmes use swords dance!”, Aichi called out.

Ahmes faces its counterpart dancing to up its stats.

“Kushinada use shadow ball.”, Misaki ordered as Ahmes avoided it still dancing.

Kushinada sent a barrage of shadow balls at Ahmes who continued to avoid them in its dance.

“Ahmes use solar blade.”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes delivered a devastating slash to Kushinada causing it to faint.

“Go, Wiseman use shadow ball.”, Misaki said, throwing out a Metang.

Ahmes dodged once again resuming its swords dance closing in on Wiseman.

“Wiseman use confusion.”, Misaki ordered as soon as Ahmes got in range.

Ahmes got hit starting to stumble around in its confusion swinging randomly. The egg wobbled again a bit faster.

“Ahmes snap out of it!”, Aichi called out before Ahmes was hit by multiple shadow balls knocking it out.

“Oh no! Go, Wingal use stone edge.”, Aichi said, recalling Ahmes and throwing out Wingal.

Wingal hurled the sharp rocks at Wiseman which didn’t even put a dent in it. However, the rocks were merely a distraction so Wingal could bite it.

“Wiseman use flash cannon.”, Misaki ordered as Wiseman sent a grey beam at Wingal that it was able to avoid.

Wingal jumped onto Wiseman biting down hard on it.

“Wiseman use zen headbutt.”, Misaki ordered.

Wingal was launched off Wiseman then blasted by another flash cannon. Wingal crashed to the ground fainting. Aichi sweated nervously already down to his last Pokémon. The egg started wobbling fast again.

“No way. Is Misaki really on a completely different level?”, Aichi thought.

“Your trick may have worked before on that Metagross from the gold challenge, but it won’t work against me.”, Misaki said.

“So, you remembered it from then...G-go Gancelot!”, Aichi said, nervously throwing out his last Pokémon.

“Wiseman use zen headbutt!”, Misaki ordered.

“Gancelot dodge and use aura sphere, don't let it get near you!”, Aichi commanded.

Gancelot shot a bunch of aura spheres keeping Wiseman at bay.

“Wiseman use shadow ball.”, Misaki ordered.

The attacks clashed causing a cloud of smoke.

“Wiseman use zen headbutt!”, Misaki commanded.

“Gancelot use close combat!”, Aichi ordered.

A loud metal clang resounded from in the smoke. Followed by multiple loud clanks.

Wiseman came flying out of the smoke fainting. The smoke cleared to reveal a damaged Gancelot standing resolutely.

“Go, Assistakitten!”, Misaki called out, throwing out her final Pokémon, a Espeon.

“Gancelot use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered as Gancelot shot sharp rocks at Assistakitten.

“Assistakitten use future sight.”, Misaki ordered.

Assistakitten dodged out of the was of the rocks.

“Gancelot use quick attack!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot sent a punch towards Assistakitten as it got close. Assistakitten dodged swiping Gancelot with its tail charged with psychic energy multiple times. Gancelot punched forward hitting Assistakitten after its future sight wore off. Assistakitten landed on its feet while Gancelot swayed.

“Assistakitten use psychic!”, Misaki ordered as Gancelot was hit by a wave of psychic energy knocking it out.

“Looks like I lost…”, Aichi said, recalling Gancelot.

“What are you going to do now?”, Misaki asked.

“I’m going to train. I really need it up till now I was over leveled at most of the gyms, but now it’s finally caught up.”, Aichi replied.

“I’ll see you then Aichi be careful.”, Misaki replied.

“Yeah, see you.”, Aichi replied, waving goodbye leaving the gym.

He went to the Pokémon center to heal up his Pokémon. He waited outside at the table with his egg that moved again. Aichi jumped when it continued moving before stopping.

“I guess you lost huh?”, Mark asked.

“Yeah. I’ve gotta get stronger. It probably would have gone better if I had a Pokémon that could have dealt with her Gardevior better.”, Aichi replied.

“A ghost type would do the job against a Gardevior.”, Mark suggested.

“A ghost type?”, Aichi questioned.

“Yeah, there’s plenty back in Kagero town.”, Mark replied.

“Yeah, that’s right though…”, Aichi trailed off, remembering his horrible experience in Kagero town.

“Well it might be more worth your while than you think. A rumor has been floating around for a while that ‘the legendary Aegislash of promised victory is there’. Its been said that it’s laid waste to several armies and now slumbers there.”, Mark replied.

“Isn’t that just a rumor? I didn’t see a Aegislash there.”, Aichi replied.

“Apparently it hides itself in a secluded part of Kagero town away from the other ghosts. You could probably ask Kurosawa about it.”, Mark replied.

“I guess. It’s not like I have much planned right now besides training I guess I could go back.”, Aichi replied.

Nurse Joy walked out with his Poké balls in hand. Aichi grabbed them, putting them back on his belt.

“So, where will you go now Mr.Mark? Did you see that Mikuru person you mentioned?”, Aichi asked.

“Yeah…”, Mark said awkwardly trailing off.

“Did something happen?”, Aichi asked.

“I just...she’s a bit angry at me.”, Mark replied, rubbing the back of his head as Aichi sweat dropped.

Flashback…

Mark was talking to a woman with long orange hair and green eyes. He was telling her all about what had happened so far before asking her something.

“So, Chrono is 10 now you think he should become a-“, Mark was cut off as the woman hit him upside the head.

“No! Never!”, Mikuru replied angrily.

Flashback end…

“I guess I’ll be going back to Sanctuary town. After all, your fellow students have been stuck with a sub for two days.”, Mark said.

“Okay, I don’t know if I should find somewhere to rest first though. Kagero town and Sanctuary town are so far away.”, Aichi replied.

“Never fear I have this.”, Mark said as he clicked some sort of wrist thing on his arm and a riding Pokémon appeared, a Charizard.

Aichi gasped in surprise seeing the riding Pokémon.

“I didn’t get a chance to use it earlier because the Pokémon can only carry so many people. Two should be fine for it.”, Mark explained.

Aichi put his egg case in his bag looking a bit nervous.

“I’ve never flown before.”, Aichi admitted.

“Don’t worry it’s not that scary besides I know what I’m doing.”, Mark assured as Aichi nervously got onto the back of the riding Pokémon with him.

They took off as Aichi screamed, clinging onto Charizard for dear life. Extremely scared of heights especially after the Drifblum incident.

“It won’t be too long now.”, Mark said as they flew to Kagero town.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 18 The Court Of The Ghostly King

Aichi’s current team
Level 38 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 36 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 34 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 35 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Aura sphere
Quick attack

Level 0 ??? (Egg) ???
Moves:
???

Aichi closed his eyes as they flew, finally opening them when they made it to Kagero town. The town looked a little better from last time though it was still clear it was under repairs. Him and Mark got off Charizard and started walking around looking for Kurosawa. They eventually came upon a young man with green hair and grey eyes.

“Hey, Kurosawa.”, Mark greeted, as Aichi raised his eyebrow.

“He’s Kurosawa?!”, Aichi questioned as the rather sparkly young man walked up to him.

“You haven’t forgotten me already have you?”, Kurosawa questioned.

“You look completely different without your hood.”, Aichi replied.

“I get that a lot. So, what brings you back here?”, Kurosawa chuckled.

“Is the rumor about ‘the Aegislash of promised victory’ true?”, Aichi asked, Kurosawa flinched when Aichi mentioned it.

“It’s true though I avoid telling people where it is. It’s the most dangerous ghost here. We’re just lucky it didn’t wreck havoc like the others.”, Kurosawa explained.

“Aichi here wants to catch it.”, Mark said.

“Are you crazy you’ll be killed?!”, Kurosawa gasped in shock.

“I think he can handle it besides he beat Team Asteroid’s Kakusa boss.”, Mark replied.

“R-really?! You really beat that monster? Maybe you can win.”, Kurosawa replied.

“I wouldn’t say…”, Aichi trailed off when Mark smiled at him putting his finger up in a shush position.

“It’s to the north part past the Frostlass. There’s a secret route there hidden behind a big rock.”, Kurosawa whispered to him.

“Alright.”, Aichi replied nodding.

“I see you later Aichi.”, Mark said, leaving on Charizard.

Aichi waved to Mark before setting off. He threw out all his Pokémon and put his egg container in his bag knowing very well how dangerous this place could be.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Not this place again.)”, Wingal said, jumping onto Aichi’s shoulder.

“Golisopod. (This place is spooky.)”, Llew said looking around as fog rolled in.

Ahmes used its psychic powers to dispel the fog around them. Ahmes and Gancelot walked side by side Aichi and Llew stuck to the back in case of a sneak attack.

“Frostlass? Frostlass? (You want to stay with us, cutie?)”, a Frostlass asked before instantly being bombarded with sharp rocks, a storm of ice, and psychic energy.

Aichi sweat dropped, never even making a command.

“Sorry.”, Aichi apologized as he walked on.

They eventually made it to the massive rock Kurosawa spoke of. Ahmes used a swords dance before cutting the rock clean in half.

“This way…”, Aichi heard an unfamiliar voice looking around for the source.

The walked threw going into a forest with an unnaturally straight path like it was intentional. They jumped in shock as an eerie purple castle seemingly materialized when they got near. There seemed to be armored knights standing guard armed with Doublades and Honedges. The knights had an eerie purple glow not to mention the eyes and colored cloth parts of the blade Pokémon glowed eerily as well. Aichi’s Pokémon tensed definitely sensing something off here.

“Is this where ‘the Aegislash of promised victory’ resides?”, Aichi asked, nervously already able to guess the answer.

“Yes, it is. I suspect you have come this way to catch it. Follow me, the only way our master will accept a battle is if you are able to pass his test.”, one of the knights said as they opened the door.

Aichi and his Pokémon had their guards up as they followed the knight in. The knights boots clanked as they led them through the very ghostly castle. As you would expect from a castle the interior was rather Victorian-like. The wall had very old looking paintings and murals. There were two crests in the middle of the two stairs, a symbol of a sword and shield, each with wolf heads at the top. One of the knights strangely seemed to be dusting the place which you think would be uncomfortable in full plate armor, but they didn’t seem to be bothered at all.

“Lycanroc. (This place is sus af.)”, Wingal whispered to him.

“Lucario. Lucario. (You can say that again.)”, Gancelot whispered.

“Don’t listen to them. Keep coming.”, Aichi looked around hearing the voice again beckoning him.

“I know...though they haven’t done anything yet.”, Aichi whispered, nervously.

He grabbed his head for a moment, none of them noticing the faint flicker of a purple glow in his eyes. They didn’t notice as some of the Doublades and Honedges seemed to stare at them while the knights did their duties. The knight opened a door leading them into the middle of the castle where there was an Aegislash stabbed into a stone. The stopped before looking at it as the knight gestured to him.

“Our master will accept your challenge if you are able to pull him from the stone.”, the knight told him as they looked at the Aegislash nervously.

Aichi had a really bad feeling. He wondered if it was intuition, but something told him pulling out this Aegislash was a bad idea. Then, suddenly he paused as he really looked it over. The blade Pokémon had a shimmering golden handle and guard. On the sides on the handle was an ebony cloth that ended with a purple design. The cloth was almost like arms. Above it’s guard was a single eye which was currently closed. Its arms held a golden shield with circle designs. Despite being jammed in a rock the blade was a pristine gold lined with silver. Aichi didn’t know why he felt so captivated was just a Aegislash. It’s not like he hasn’t seen one before so why did he feel like…

“I have to pull it out…”, he thought in a trancelike state.

He couldn’t see it, but a purple glow entered his eyes. His Pokémon looked at him nervously as his hand edged over to the blade. Suddenly, Ahmes moves his hand away.

“Gallade! Gallade! (Snap out of it, Aichi!)”, Ahmes warned as Aichi blinked, shaking his head snapped out of it.

He then noticed the eerie purple glow barely noticeable from Aegislash’s closed eyes.

“You must pull me out, Sendou Aichi. You know you need my power.”, an unfamiliar voice said in Aichi’s head.

“That voice, it was you! Get out of my head!”, Aichi thought.

Aichi shook his head resisting the temptation.

“Gallade? Gallade? Gallade ? (Just what are you people up to?)”, Ahmes asked, raising its blade.

“Up to? We’re not up to anything, such schemes are reserved for witches and warlocks.”, the knight stated, surprisingly calm.

“Golisopod? Golisopod! Golisopod! (Really? Because you guys seem super shady!)”, Llew yelled.

Wingal turned its head to the Aegislash as it heard the faint sound of cloth moving. The we’re suddenly surrounded by knights that seemed to appear almost instantly as if waiting for this moment. His Pokémon all got into fighting stances.

“Lycanroc! (Aichi, look out!)”, Wingal warned, shooting sharp rocks.

They turned to see Aegislash blocking the rocks with its shield. Aichi jumped gasping as it slipped over him; they tried to attack at it, but it was too fast. Aichi froze when it placed itself in Aichi’s hand and wrapped its cloth-like arms around his. His eyes glowed purple not unlike the knights. Aegislash’s purple eyes and cloth glowed. It’s shield rested over his arm that held it.

“Lucario? Lucario? (Aichi, are you alright?)”, Gancelot asked, full of concern as Aichi’s went slack like a puppet that had its strings cut.

The tension increased as Aichi raised his head.

“Everythings fine.”, Aichi replied, simply seemingly alright.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (You're not fooling anyone Aegislash.)”, Ahmes said turning to him.

“Looks like you’ve got me however it's too late. You know it’s been awhile since anyone has been able to hear my call a few hundred years I presume. It seems your trainer is worthy of being my host.”, Aegislash said, through Aichi smiling.

“Lycanroc? Lycanroc? (How does this keep happening?)”, Wingal questioned.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! (This is exactly why I hate ghosts!)”, Llew said.

Somewhere…

It was an endless void full of black…

“This is all your fault!”, 003v said.

Aichi had just become conscious looking up to his doppelgänger.

“What happened?!”, Aichi asked.

“We’re being possessed by Aegislash.”, 003v told him.

“How does this keep happening to me…”, Aichi trailed off, in disbelief.

“Because you're an idiot! You keep getting yourself into this situation!”, 003v replied.

“Most of the times I’ve been controlled were you!”, Aichi pointed out.

“And I should take control since it’s obvious you don’t know what you're doing!”, 003v retorted, pointing at Aichi.

“How do you know what you're doing?! You’ve been going around brainwashing people and causing havoc!”, Aichi retorted, exasperatedly.

In reality…

Inside Aichi’s bag the egg shaked more and cracks formed on the egg. Aichi’s Pokémon sweated nervously not knowing what to do before something suddenly a blue light emerged from his back shooting up. They all turned around surprised.

Floating inside the blue light was a small reptile Pokémon. It had red eyes and teeth that stuck out of its mouth. On its head it had a fin-like thing that almost resembled a helmet. It was an Axew and for some bizarre reason it was blue. It’s eyes were glowing looking down at Aegislash as they sweated nervously.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (You know I don’t know a lot about Axews, but I don’t think they're supposed to be able to do that.)”, Gancelot asked.

Before Gancelot could get an answer the Axew shot itself at Aegislash. Aegislash blocked it with it’s shield. There was a loud crash sound and Aegislash cursed as it was sent spinning away. It’s blade stabbed into a nearby wall. Aichi blinked confused, suddenly waking up from his possession. He looked down feeling something cuddled up in his arms; it was the Axew. It’s eyes were no longer glowing or had a aura and it’s scales returned back to its natural green color.

“Axew! (Mommy!)”, the Axew said, cuddling itself in Aichi’s arms.

“W-What happened?”, Aichi asked.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Don’t ask us we don’t know either.)”, Wingal replied.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! (It's your baby, Aichi! It hatched!)”, Llew replied, pointing at Axew.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (And it somehow saved you from Aegislash.)”, Ahmes added.

“So...your telling me this baby saved my soul?”, Aichi questioned.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! (It's a real soul saver!)”, Llew replied.

“Soul saver…”, Aichi mumbled as the Axew licked him.

“Axew. Axew. (I like that name, mommy.)”, the Axew said.

“If you do then your Soul Saver I guess.”, Aichi replied, still stunned.

Aegislash freed itself from the rock easily, still completely stunned at what just happened.

“How! I am the legendary king reborn as one of the strongest Pokémon...I have lived and trained for thousands of years...And a hatchling! Just sent me flying!”, Aegislash said, angrily surprisingly talking normally.

“Axew! Axew! (What you are is a big meanie!)”, Soul Saver replied.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (You know for a baby it knows a surprising amount of words.)”, Ahmes said.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (I think it gets all that weirdness from its mama.)”, Wingal replied, sweat dropping.

“My knights get those Pokémon! And leave the boy for me!”, Aegislash ordered.

The knights all brought out their Doublades and Honedges as Aichi’s Pokémon got in fighting stances.

“Ahmes use future sight! Wingal use stone edge! Llew use sucker punch! Gancelot use stone edge! Aim for the Pokémon!”, Aichi commanded.

Llew rushed in to the knights coming at them delivering vicious sucker punches to the blade Pokémon they wielded. Wingal and Gancelot shot sharp rocks keeping the knights away from Llew and distracting them. Aegislash was actually quite a bit impressed they were holding back its knights.

“Now, Ahmes use swords dance!”, Aichi ordered.

After the ghost blades were knocked out the knights followed suit and the purple glowing their eyes disappeared. Aegislash launched itself towards Aichi as its knights dwindled. Aichi braced himself and Soul Saver’s eyes glowed again, its scales becoming blue. Soul Saver roared at Aegislash who continued forward.

“Not this time hatching! Sacred sword!”, Aegislash yelled.

Soul Saver and Ahmes tried to slow it with psychic energy, but it resisted. They gasped as Aichi turned his back covering Soul Saver as Aegislash stopped its swing.

“I won’t let you hurt them! If you're going to attack someone, attack me!”, Aichi yelled, Aegislash was stunned at this action.

It reminded Aegislash of...Aegislash shook itself forgetting the memory.

“I can’t forget my mission, this is all for my country, Galar! I must save it!”, Aegislash said to itself.

“Galar?”, Aichi questioned.

“I am the once and future king of Galar, Alfred Pendragon.”, Aegislash or Alfred revealed.

They gasped in shock, but were still wary.

“Why are you doing this, Alfred?”, Aichi asked.

“So, I can live again and save my country like I failed two all those years ago. I have amassed this army for this purpose. My kingdom fell to my traitorous son Mordred. We both ended up killing each other and I was reborn as a Honedge.”, Alfred explained.

“Your intentions may be good, but you’ve been going about it all wrong! These knights are not really your knights, they're just victims of your Doublades and Honedges possession! You think your people would be proud of what you're doing!”, Aichi replied, determinedly.

The commanding presence from before returned to Aichi leaving the Pokémon stunned.

“What do you know you're just a kid!? You couldn’t understand what it’s like to lose everything! If I have no attachment to my knights then losing them won’t hurt again!”, Alfred replied, angrily.

Aichi stood up narrowing his eyes not backing down.

“That sounds like suffering. Are you willing to throw away all your morals for such a thing? As you are now your no different than what you would protect your kingdom from. Your ‘knight’ mentioned witches and warlocks and you're acting exactly like one!”, Aichi replied.

Aichi’s words cut Alfred deep like the sword that Mordred had pierced his chest with. Alfred looked down, shaking, he seemed sad more than anything. Like many ghosts that lingered in this realm filled with regrets about his life.

“I don’t know about losing everything, but I know what your doing is wrong regardless of your reason! Especially if you're torturing yourself! You don’t have to do it like this. I’m sure there’s a better way you can save your kingdom!”, Aichi continued.

“So, what would you do huh? All you can do is spout useless platitudes! What will platitudes do? How can platitudes save people?!”, Alfred replied.

“I dunno. Like you said I’m just a kid. I haven’t experienced anything like that. I don’t think I could give you a answer.”, Aichi replied honestly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

The Pokémon minus Soul Saver felt like face palming at that answer. Alfred ended up laughing surprisingly.

“You don’t know? And sounded so confident!”, Alfred replied as he laughed.

Aichi laughed with him as the others sweat dropped.

“That’s very king-like sounding confident even when you don’t know what you're doing!”, Alfred added.

“Is that what being a king is like?”, Aichi asked.

“All the time!”, Alfred replied before looking down again.

The other Pokémon minus Soul Saver looked at the two like they were insane and Soul Saver just giggled.

“You can really tell your worthy of being a king. You really get it. I haven’t laughed like that in hundreds of years.”, Alfred said, with a sigh.

“I’m glad you're happy I guess. Will you free these people?”, Aichi asked as Alfred looked to the fallen ‘knights’.

“As respect for a young king I shall. Also, for reminding me of what being human is like.”, Alfred agreed.

Later…

Aichi and his Pokémon took the armor of the ‘knights’ before they woke up. They ended up waking up confused to where they were. Aichi and his Pokémon started to lead them out of the forest.

In the castle…

Alfred watched them leave as it was approached by a Doublade.

“You should go with them King Alfred. That young king could use your guidance. I can watch the Honedges and other Doublades.”, the Doublade suggestion.

“Are you sure? I don’t think I deserve to be called a king anymore.”, Alfred replied.

“I’m sure you will be able to find your way again. I believe in you just as I always have.”, the Doublade replied.

“Wait...your-“, Alfred replied.

“Yes, it's me Marin. I have been by your side all this time.”, Marin replied.

“Oh Marin...you’ve seen what I’ve done yet still-“, Alfred replied, looking at Aichi deciding something.

“I can’t let him end up like me. That’s the only thing I can do to atone. Goodbye, Marin I hope to see you again one day.”, Alfred finished.

“We will one day King Alfred!”, Marin replied, waving him goodbye.

Alfred caught up to Aichi who felt a strange sense of deja vu.

“I have found an answer! I will make you king!”, Alfred said as they sweat dropped.

“You want to make me king?”, Aichi questioned.

“The greatest king ever so something like this won’t repeat itself. I owe that to my fallen subjects. To do that I shall serve you the new king. I am at your command.”, Alfred replied.

“Axew? Axew? Axew? (Is sword man coming with us?)”, Soul Saver asked.

“I guess so.”, Aichi answered.

“Lycanroc! Lycanroc!Lycanroc?! Lycanroc?!Lycanroc?! (You can’t be serious! How can you trust him he possessed you?!)”, Wingal asked, incredulously.

“It feels like he’s genuine.”, Aichi answered, simply like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Gallade. Gallade. (That’s just how he is.)”, Gallade explained simply.

His other Pokémon minus Soul Saver couldn’t help, but nod in agreement. Aichi and Soul Saver looked completely clueless. Aichi got out a Poké ball Alfred bowed as Aichi threw the ball at it. He then sent him out afterwards. The people were taken to Kagero town and left for their homes. Kurosawa and many of the citizens' jaws dropped when Aichi came back with Alfred.

“What are you kid? Were you sent by Arceus from the heavens or something?”, Kurosawa asked.

“Nothing like that I’m just your average trainer.”, Aichi replied chuckling.

“Lycanroc? Lycanroc? (In what dimension is he average?)”, Wingal commented, sweat dropping.

“Alfred does your training involve getting stronger?”, Aichi asked.

“Of course! It’s important for a king to be strong to protect his subjects and kingdom.”, Alfred replied as Kurosawa looked like he was about to faint.

“Alright, let’s start that training now!”, Aichi replied, holding up a fist determined.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 19 Team Asteroid Returns!
Aichi’s current team
Level 38 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 36 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Bite
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 35 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 35 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Aura sphere
Quick attack

Level 1 Soul Saver (Axew) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Scratch
Leer

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

They went back over to the area by the castle. His Pokémon all seemed separated in their training. Aichi was near where Soul Saver was who was fighting against little Honedges. It seemed to struggle a bit which was expected of a newborn, however every time it fell down it got back up fighting seeming to get a bit better. Aichi turned his attention to Alfred beside him.

“So, what do you want me to do?”, Aichi asked.

“As I said I am going to train you to have everything a king needs. As I mentioned before it’s important for a king to be able to protect his kingdom and subjects. As the trainer in a real battle you’ll be a big target for the opponent to eliminate.”, Alfred explained.

Aichi thought back to his fight with Kyou. He only won so easily because Kyou was quickly taken out.

“You have a point.”, Aichi replied.

“I am going to teach you Galar royal swordplay. You will wield my as a sword till you and your Pokémon are strong enough to have me in battle. I won’t use any moves as your sword I’ll simply be a blade. After all, you won’t grow if I simply defeat your opponents for you.”, Alfred replied.

“Yeah, I remember him going straight through Ahmes and Soul Saver’s combined attack like it was nothing. Not to mention, while Soul Saver did catch him off guard and hit him he didn’t have a scratch on him. He was merely surprised.”, Aichi thought.

“Alright, I’ll train myself to be worthy of using you in battle.”, Aichi replied, as Alfred placed himself in his hand wrapping his cloth arms around his arm.

“Have you ever wielded a sword before?”, Alfred asked.

“No, I’ve only seen them used in tv and movies.”, Aichi admitted, sheepishly.

“I see. First, off your stance is wrong. You should stand feet and shoulder width apart. Put your foot forward on the same side you're wielding me with. This will keep your center of gravity low and central making it easy to keep even in heavy armor.”, Alfred replied.

Aichi corrected his stance and put his right foot forward like the one he held Alfred in.

“Second, loosen your grip on my hilt. It will waste too much energy and tire you out. Focus your grip on your first two fingers and thumb and have the rest wrapped loosely around my hilt.”, Alfred continued as Aichi nodded, doing as Alfred said.

“Third, hold me slightly out, relax your wrist and put it in line with your forearm. Adjust your arm and joints until you can feel my weight being taken by your shoulder. That’s the basic stance, make sure to memorize all of this we will go over this and the rest of the basics I will tell you every day.”, Alfred finished as Aichi did as he said.

“When you cut you should only use a small movement with your elbow or shoulder rather than moving my whole blade. You can use a small movement with your elbow or shoulder to just before the blade meets the hilt. That will make your cut straight. Try cutting as I told you.”, Alfred explained.

Aichi did as Alfred said though it took him a few attempts to get it right.

“Next, to brake, stop your blade and snap your fourth and fifth fingers into the grip. Your elbow will lock when you do this making your break very effective. Now, try to brake.”, Alfred said.

Aichi did as Alfred said, struggling a bit though Alfred seemed rather patient with him correcting his errors. Aichi smiles when he finally got the brake perfectly.

“Woah, your right! You know I thought I’d be more tired by now, but I don’t.”, Aichi said, amazed.

“Of course, a sword is first a foremost a weapon. It wouldn’t be so widely used if it wasn’t practical for battle. All of those myths that they’re heavy and impractical aren’t true. Those have been spread by those not properly trained to use them or those who think decorative swords are meant to be used in combat, their not their just a decoration for a reason. I should know I have used them since I was a young like you. Swords were made to be easy to use, they were in my time what handguns are to your time. Swords are specifically made to minimize the amount of weight. All of the weight is focused in the blade which is important for power, but even the blades are rather thin. Speed, power, and energy conservation are key.”, Alfred explained.

“That makes sense.”, Aichi replied.

“Though, you still have to put on a little weight though to increase the power. So, you're going to have to work out. We will do that after we go over the rest.”, Alfred replied.

Later…

At the end of the day Aichi collapsed to the ground completely worn out. He took off his jacket to make it less hot. Soul Saver laid on his jacket using it as a makeshift bed beside him. He put the sides of the jacket over Soul Saver to keep it warm. After all, unlike him Soul Saver has cold blood so it didn’t produce its own heat needing an external heat from the sun or something else. Soul Saver cuddled into the jacket falling asleep fast. His other Pokémon came back very worn out as well. They went back into the castle for the night eating a meal prepared by the Honedges and Doublades. Aichi felt his mouth watering looking over the feast prepared, never feeling so hungry in his life. Llew and Soul Saver dug in without hesitation making a bit of a mess.

“Gallade! Gallade! Gallade! Gallade! (Llew! Less messy please! We’re guests here!)”, Ahmes scolded.

Llew flinched, slowing down and Aichi grabbed a napkin wiping up Soul Saver’s face. Gancelot and Wingal sweated nervously, eating slowly and mannerly as Ahmes did.

“Hehe. You have a good knight there.”, Alfred commented.

He sat with them though he didn’t really need to or well could eat since he was a ghost. The only reason the Honedeges and Doublades knew how to cook was to feed the ’knights’.

“Eat a bit more slowly like this. You’ll choke if you eat too fast.”, Aichi told Soul Saver showing him the right way.

Aichi inwardly gasped when tasting the food. It was really good he never knew chicken could taste so good. Soul Saver watched as Aichi did, mimicking him to the best of its ability.

“I hope you are enjoying our hospitality.”, Alfred said.

“Yeah, this is great Alfred. I didn’t expect for guys to feed us and give us a place to sleep.”, Aichi replied, nodding.

“Of course, proper nutrition and sleep are very important for everyone.”, Alfred replied.

They eventually finished and Aichi couldn’t help, but sweat drop seeing Wingal lick the plate clean.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Maybe these ghost guys aren’t so bad.)”, Wingal said as Gancelot raised his eyebrow.

“Lucario? Lucario? Lucario ? Lucario? Lucario (Weren’t you the one who was the most suspicious of them?)”, Gancelot replied.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (That was so long ago water under the bridge.)”, Wingal replied.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (Uh huh. That was like a hour ago.)”, Gancelot replied.

Soul Saver yawned, feeling sleepy again. Aichi picked it up to take him to the sleeping quarters. The others minus Alfred followed after. Aichi put Soul Saver to sleep, wrapping it up in its blanket. Aichi went over to his bed falling asleep instantly as he laid down.

In Oracle town…

An army of people with black uniforms and red As came in as everyone went for cover. Misaki and Shin came out seeing this preparing to throw out their Pokémon. Shin suddenly froze as if something was stopping him. They soon found out the source as Asuka walked out with a Malamar beside her. The Malamar’s eyes were glowing and it was surrounded by a psychic aura.

“Not so funny when it happens to you huh? We know all about you Shinemon Nitta. How you almost won the Pokémon world championships we won’t let you stand in our way.”, Asuka said.

They both gasped when Ren and Tetsu walked in besides her. Ren had a playful smile on his face. Tetsu has his hands behind his back with a serious expression.

“We’re back Misa-Q!”, Ren said playfully.

“Don’t call me that you jerk! How did you get out?”, Misaki asked.

“Don’t be so disrespectful to master Ren!”, Asuka replied, angrily.

“Oh, well it was simple. I just asked the nice officers to let us go and they did.”, Ren explained.

“What do you want? Why didn’t you stop me with that Malamar’s powers too?”, Misaki asked.

“Because you're not a threat to us. Besides I always love giving our enemies a fighting chance. It always makes crushing them all the more satisfying.”, Ren explained with a sinister grin.

“You! I won’t let you win! Go, Assisa Eevee! Amaterasu! Tom! Guardian! Sakuya! Coco!”, Misaki called out throwing out Espeon, Delphox, Alakazam, Metagross, Gardevior, and Hatterene.

“You’ll have to face me before you can even think of facing master Ren! I hope you enjoy my performance master Ren. Go Cerberus! Silver Thorn! Alice! Ringmaster! Dark lord!”, Asuka called out, throwing out a Houndoom, Weavile, Banette, Sableye and Spiritomb.

“Be careful Misaki!”, Shin warned, sweating nervously knowing Asuka had the advantage with her mostly dark and ghost Pokémon.

“Looks like I’m a bad match for you little miss gym leader. I am the dark type admin of Team Asteroid and the dark type master of the elite four Asuka Narumi.”, Asuka taunted as Misaki sweated nervously.

“As if I’ll let that stop me! Assista Eevee use dazzling gleam! Amaterasu use dazzling gleam! Tom use dazzling gleam! Guardian use body press! Sakuya use moonblast! Coco use play rough!”, Misaki ordered.

“Time for the first act! Cerberus use fireblast! Silver Thorn use foul play! Alice use phantom force! Ringmaster use foul play! Dark Lord use phantom force!”, Asuka ordered.

Misaki gasped when the pink fairy light emitted by her Pokémon was dispelled by the fire blasts. Alice’s phantom force hit Coco and Dark Lord’s hit Sakuya, knocking them out cold. Guardian pressed against Silver Thorn preventing their attacks from hitting the others doing a bit of damage. However, Guardian was hit by their attacks instead fainting. Just like that she was down to Assista Eevee, Amaterasu, and Tom half her Pokémon.

“You think I wouldn’t have a plan to deal with fairy type? My beloved beast Cerberus protects its fellow performers. How sad your already down to half your Pokémon I wanted to put on a splendid show for master Ren however your far too weak.”, Asuka taunted.

“Don’t count me out yet! I won’t...I absolutely won’t let you monsters take over this town!”, Misaki declared, balling up her hand in a fist.

Some of the people looked up from the cover wearily, praying for Misaki to win. She held a small boy in her hand which she held tightly to her chest.

“P-please don’t let them take this place over.”, Mikuru prayed, holding a little boy close from behind her cover.

The boy who had red hair with a pink swirl and green eyes took a glance out being pulled back in by Mikuru. Misaki sweated nervously looking defiantly at Asuka.

“Assista Eevee use protect! Amaterasu use mystic fire! Tom use shadow ball!”, Misaki ordered.

“It’s useless! This is your curtain call ms. gym leader! Go Cerberus!”, Asuka replied as Cerberus charged.

Cerberus jumped over the barrier made by the protect as Misaki paled.

“Use dark pulse!”, Asuka ordered, smiling menacingly.

“That’s it that’s the despair.”, Ren said, with sinister smirk clapping.

In Grandblue city …

“You know everything is really coming together here.”, Hiroshi said, looking around.

Grandblue city had lots of citizens and help from outside helping to fix everything. The effort was really uniting everyone, even the troublemakers. Kamui smiles seeing this he was beside Gouki, Nagisa, and Kaoru.

“I think you should catch up with Misaki and that Aichi kid. We’ve got everything handled here.”, Gouki said.

“I think I’ll do that...but first I should probably get something to battle against her besides Kaiser. Her Pokémon are super effective against a majority of my team.”, Kamui replied, sweat dropping.

“I’m sure you can take her Kamui!”, Nagisa replied.

“I’ll probably just stop back by Kagero town besides Gold Maine is on the way and I can get a lot of good training in there.”, Kamui said.

In Alfred’s castle near Kagero town…

It was the next day, Aichi and his Pokémon were up bright and early training.

Alfred watched as Aichi continued to struggle a bit.

“Is something bother you?”, Alfred asked.

“...I don’t even know where to begin…”, Aichi replied.

They sat down taking a break for a moment and Aichi told Alfred everything that happened before they came to his castle.

“I see. I’m glad I decided to do this. It seems you really have the weight of the world on your shoulders Aichi.”, Alfred said.

“It’s all a bit overwhelming. I can’t help, but think about it constantly. I feel like I’m a threat to everyone around me.”, Aichi replied.

“It might seem hard now, but it will get easier. Through mental training I’m sure you can keep control over yourself. I will be with you to help and your friends are with you as well. Now, shall we can continue?”, Alfred replied.

“Yeah. Thank you Alfred.”, Aichi replied, getting up.

“That explains why your strength seems to be growing faster than a normal human would. What you told me also explains the deal with that Axew. It may have not actually hurt me, but to think it could send me flying...it also seems to be learning and growing quickly as well.”, Alfred replied as he went into Aichi’s hand.

“Yeah, your right Soul Saver is really getting experience really fast. I wouldn’t be surprised if it evolved fully in a few weeks.”, Aichi replied.

Aichi did the morning routine again perfectly and Alfred would have smiled if he had a mouth. They continued like this training for a whole week unaware of what was happening in the outside world.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 20 Team Asteroid’s Attack! Our Heroes Reunite!

Aichi’s current team
Level 50 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 48 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 45 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 48 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Swords dance

Level 37 Soul Saver (Axew) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Somewhere…
Miwa, sweating nervously, was flying somewhere quickly on the back of his Flygon. It had been a week since Aichi had started training with Alfred in the secluded castle near Kagero town. Much had happened in his absence, countless towns had been recaptured by Team Asteroid and they were sending more in to take over other towns. He was searching for the one person he believed would be the biggest help in defeating Team Asteroid, Toshiki Kai.

It wasn’t easy though he had been searching ever since he disappeared in Grandblue city. He wasn’t at the usual places he normally went so Miwa had been checking the whole region. He finally landed in the last place in Kakusa he had to look, Dai City, the home of the final gym and where there is rumored to be underground battles happening. Dai city was more industrial focused rather than the coastal trading city of Grandblue. The uptown of Dai city was rather glamorous and rich. Miwa looked around a bit, but had a feeling Kai wouldn’t hang out here. So, Miwa went into the down town away from the bright neon lights of the uptown. The depths of the downtown were rather poor as expected with shady characters walking about. Aloan Raticates and other critters scurried around in the downtown. He went through an alleyway walking into a battle taking place behind a fence. The was a strong scent of nicotine in the air. Miwa looked over, seeing Kai and Overlord standing victorious.

“I can’t believe he’s hanging out with these lowlifes.”, Miwa said, looking over seeing various people betting on the matches.

In Kagero town…

Kamui had no idea what was currently going on in Kakusa too preoccupied ghost hunting. He kept trying and failing to capture a ghost type due to them either running away or him accidentally causing it to faint. He sat down tired and he was able to get some training in with the trainers here in between his unsuccessful ghost hunts. Kurosawa had told him Aichi was here, but he couldn’t find the supposed ghost castle he had mentioned for the life of him. He told him Aichi had come not too long before he appeared so he was probably alright. In this time Shout had evolved into Slaking and Tough Boy had recently become Rhydon. Kamui set out once again to obtain a ghost Pokémon going out into the spooky forest with his Pokémon by his side. When, went in, a Gengar appeared with Ghastlys and Haunters behind it. Yesterday he had beaten up some of the Ghastlys and Haunters trying to get one before they ran away.

“So, they actually brought the big brother out. That’s fine with me. The stronger the better! Go, Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered.

Kaiser shot a wave of darkness at the Gengar who jumped out of the way to dodge. As it did Buster slammed into it covered in fire hitting it back to the ground. Kaiser shot at it again, hitting it directly. Kamui threw an ultra ball at the Haunter to catch it. It broke free and Buster sent a fiery punch at it. Kamui tried again, the ball wobbled a bit and it broke out. The Gengar sent out a shadow ball that Tough Boy deflected. Kamui threw another ultra ball at Gengar and it got out again and this process continued on for at least ten times before Kamui finally caught a ghost Pokémon like he wanted. The other ghost Pokémon retreated when Kamui was victorious. He walked back to Kagero town before seeing an army of people in familiar black uniforms in the distance. Kamui ran back with his Pokémon as he saw it.

At Alfred’s castle…

Aichi stood across from a Doublade taking the stance Alfred had taught him wielding him. The Doublade took control of an empty suit of armor to replicate a person. It rested in the grip of the armor’s gauntlets. Marin watched on from the castle. The Doublade charged and Aichi reacted, parrying it’s blows. The Doublade possessed armor went far faster than armor would normally go. Partially due to being empty and the ghostly force controlling it. Aichi avoided as much wasted movement as possible as he parried the possessed armor’s blows conserving his energy. When he saw an opening he slashed towards where the neck would be braking perfectly before the blade hit.

“Good. You have mastered cutting and braking.”, Alfred said.

“That’s great. I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.”, Aichi replied, sitting down taking a relieved breath.

“You have come quite a way since you came here. I doubt you could have even beaten a Magikarp with your own strength.”, Alfred chuckled.

“Hehe, yeah I haven’t really worked out that much before besides a bit in gym class.”, Aichi replied.

Wingal ran over past them to the north sniffing something.

“Is something wrong Wingal?”, Aichi asked.

“Lycanroc! Lycanroc! Lycanroc! (I smell smoke in the direction of Kagero town!)”, Wingal yelled.

Aichi and Alfred flinched in surprise. Soul Saver walked up to them confused as to what’s going on. Aichi’s other Pokémon caught up to Wingal as Aichi got up looking down at Alfred.

“Let’s go!”, Aichi said.

In Kagero town…

“Kaiser use dark pulse! Buster use blaze kick! Tough boy use stone edge! Mr.Invincible use submission! Shout use hammer arm! And my new guy Hatred Chaos use shadow ball!”, Kamui ordered as his Pokémon sent the attacks out on the Team Asteroid grunts.

“Mimkyu use wood hammer!”, Kurosawa ordered being helped out by his robed allies from before with their ghost Pokémon.

They were able to hold off the grunts from advancing, but they weren’t able to drive them away. Things got worse as Kyou walked in with a smug grin.

“Remember me twerp? I’m gonna get revenge on you and your little friend for making a fool out of me!”, Kyou said as Kamui and the others tensed warily at the Team Asteroid admin.

Behind him was his Pokémon Skydiver, a Crabominable, Scrafty, Emboar, Primeape, and a Pangoro.

“I learned my lesson from last time all of my Pokémon are already out to crush you! Sky Diver use sky attack! Big arms use close combat! Dudley Dan use high jump kick! Juggernaut use heat crash! Reckless Express use outrage! Brakki use hammer arm!”, Kyou ordered.

“It won’t be like last time! Kaiser use outrage! Buster use close combat! Tough Boy use hammer arm! Mr.Invincible use submission! Shout use hammer arm! Hatred Chaos use shadow ball!”, Kamui replied as his Pokémon countered.

The shadow balls knocked over Sky Diver who Buster kicked hard into Reckless Express only enraging it more. Buster fought Brakki who swung its arm at it hard which it avoided. Kaiser charged at Reckless Express and the two berserkers fought. Juggernaut launched for Shout, but Mr.Invincible knocked it out of the way with submission. Dudley Dan came after it receiving a hammer arm from Shout while its guard was down. Sky Diver got back up nailing Shout with its sky attack.

“Looks like you're not as weak as before. It doesn’t matter, you'll still lose!”, Kyou taunted.

They all suddenly gasped in shock when they noticed all the grunts around them were defeated leaving only Kyou left. They were so absorbed with the battle they didn’t notice. They and the hiding town folks looked in awe as Aichi walked in brandishing Alfred with his shield on his arm like a buckler. On his shoulders which seemed a little broader were Wingal and Soul Saver. Soul Saver was cuddled up a bit more not having to worry about a mane full of sharp rocks cutting him. To his sides stood Ahmes, Llew and Gancelot. Kamui noted that Aichi’s team was finally complete and the Axew is what was in the egg. Aichi’s gaze looked far more determined and confident than before. His gaze was focused straight ahead at Kyou.

“It’s you!”, Kyou said, angrily pointing at Aichi.

“Aichi is that you?!”, Kamui questioned, genuinely surprised.

It had only been a week yet he seems to have changed so much.

“I won’t let Team Asteroid terrorize this town again.”, Aichi said.

“You think you can stop me!?”, Kyou replied.

Before Kyou could react Soul Saver shot a wave of blue energy from its mouth knowing out the rampaging Reckless Express. Kyou looked over gawking in shock. The others jumped when Soul Saver glowed with the light of evolution soon after. It grew a bit bigger it’s scales became black with the outer part becoming a dark green. The teeth sticking out of the sides of its mouth increased in length and were tipped in red. It’s claws became red and it’s tail became longer. It had become Fraxure. Kyou looked back over seeing all of his Pokémon clatter to the ground with Ahmes and Gancelot standing there. Kyou flinched at the glare Gancelot gave him stumbling back.

“What the hell! How did you get so strong?!”, Kyou questioned, hysterically.

Aichi walked up to Kyou silently.

“What is that kid?”, one of the hooded man asked.

He put Alfred’s blade against Kyou’s neck.

“Leave and never do this again.”, Aichi commanded as Kyou trembled.

He flinched, meeting Aichi’s stern gaze and sweated heavily.

“Hehe. This can’t be happening! You were a weakling before! How are you so strong now?! I refuse to believe it!”, Kyou denied, moving back before launching himself at Aichi to punch him.

“Look out Aichi!”, Kamui warned.

He soon gasped in shock when Aichi sidestepped Kyou causing Kyou to miss and fall to the ground. Kyou trembled with rage jumping up to deliver a sucker punch which Aichi dodged. Aichi with a very quick simple flick of the wrist hit Kyou with Alfred’s pommel knocking him out cold. Kyou crashed to the ground with a thud. Kamui could only stand there in awe. Aichi had made Kyou look like a complete pushover.

“I’m glad everyone’s alright! It’s been awhile Kamui!”, Aichi said, cheerfully losing all the seriousness from before.

He ran up to Kamui as Alfred slipped out of his hand floating beside him.

“It really has, Aichi. It looks like a lot has changed, you finally got a proper team and can kick butt yourself now.”, Kamui replied, running up to Aichi hugging him.

“Hehe. Yeah, I have been training for quite awhile. Honestly, I kinda lost track of time. Oh, this is Alfred.”, Aichi chuckled, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head before gesturing Alfred.

“Nice to finally meet you Katsuragi Kamui, Aichi has told me a lot about you.”, Alfred said as Kamui jumped.

“How can he talk?!”, Kamui questioned in shock.

“I am Alfred Pendragon, the once and future king of Galar reborn many millennia ago as a Honedge.”, Alfred explained.

“You mean like the knights of the round table?! Aichi where do you find these Pokémon?!”, Kamui questioned as Aichi chuckled sheepishly.

“I dunno, I just went where Kurosawa told me and found him. And this is Soul Saver the Pokémon that hatched from the egg I got in the gold challenge.”, Aichi replied, gesturing Soul Saver who jumped into his arms now that Alfred was no longer in them.

“Fraxure! Fraxure! (Hi, mama’s friend!)”, Soul Saver greeted as Aichi sweat dropped.

“Soul Saver how many times do I have to tell you I’m not a girl…”, Aichi replied, seeming used to it.

“Fraxure! (Aichi is mama!)”, Soul Saver replied, clapping as Aichi sweat dropped again.

“What is it saying?”, Kamui asked, completely lost.

“Soul Saver calls Aichi mama like he’s a girl. When, Soul Saver should be calling him daddy.”, Alfred explained.

“Oh...it’s nice to have a second translator. Wait...your little egg baby calls you mama?! That’s hilarious!”, Kamui laughed as Aichi blushed embarrassedly.

“Fraxure! Fraxure ! Fraxure! Fraxure? (Hee! Hee! Egg baby sounds funny! What’s an egg baby?)”, Soul Saver replied as Aichi face palmed.

“A baby that hatches from an egg.”, Aichi answered.

“Fraxure? Fraxure? Fraxure? (Where does a egg come from?)”, Soul Saver asked.

“A creature like a Pokémon lays it.”, Aichi

“Fraxure? Fraxure ?(How did you lay me?)”, Soul Saver asked as Alfred broke out into laughter along with Wingal and Llew.

Aichi was red as a tomato as Soul Saver was completely clueless looking around for where it could have come from. Kamui and the other humans were also clueless.

“You walked right into that one!”, Alfred wheezed.

“Was it like this for my mom raising me?”, Aichi questioned.

In the downtown of Dai city…

Miwa walked up to Kai facing him.

“What are you doing here Team Asteroid is back and wrecking havoc?”, Miwa questioned as Kai looked at him.

“I came here to get stronger.”, Kai replied.

“Like you could have gotten better hanging out with these cheaters.”, Miwa replied as the thugs sneered at him.

Kai looked away as Miwa got closer.

“Oracle town was taken over and Shin and Misaki are in Team Asteroid’s clutches. I don’t even know where Aichi is. He disappeared like you.”, Miwa continued as Kai looked over again.

Kai frowned realizing the threat with Shin locked up. He saw him fight against Team Asteroid in Grandblue city.

“You can’t find Aichi?”, Kai questioned, with concealed concern.

“Last I heard he went to Kagero town. I looked there and even asked Kurosawa where he was. I couldn’t find him anywhere.”, Miwa explained.

Kai looked away.

“Please Kai we need your help.”, Miwa begged as Kai looked back at him.

“Fine.”, Kai replied.

In Kagero town…

The unconscious Kyou was tied up for the police to get and Aichi and Kamui set off to Gold Maine city still unaware of what’s going on. When they got through the gates of Gold Maine, Kourin leaned against the wall waiting for them. They looked over to Kourin surprised to see her.

“Oracle town has been attacked and Misaki has been defeated.”, Kourin told the two of them who gasped.

“Is she alright?!”, Aichi asked full of concern.

“No, who knows what’s happened, it's been days since it was captured.”, Kourin replied.

“Then, we’ve gotta get there fast!”, Kamui replied.

“You think you can win? Against all of them? We can’t even rely on the police anymore; both them and all of the felons in Kakusa have joined their ranks.”, Kourin replied.

“I can and I will.” Aichi replied, determinedly.

Kourin was a bit taken aback surprised by his confidence.

“Then, let’s test it.”, Kourin challenged pointing to a nearby arena.

“Alright.”, Aichi agreed.

They walked over to the arena.

“Go, Nemain!”, Kourin called out.

She sent out the same Pokémon first from their first battle. The message was clear “Show me how much you’ve grown since then.”.

“Go, Soul Saver!”, Aichi called out.

Kourin looked a little surprised seeing the new Pokémon guessing this must have been what was in Aichi’s egg.

“Nemain use flamethrower!”, Kourin ordered.

“Soul Saver use dragon dance!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver avoided the pillar of fire Nemain shot from its mouth while dancing. Nemain growled angrily charging at Soul Saver.

“Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver sent a blue wave of energy from its mouth while Nemain was mid air sending it crashing back. Kourin was stunned seeing Nemain was already knocked out. Soul Saver stood defiantly and Aichi’s eyes were full of determination. It was a determination that almost made her tremble.

“Let’s see how you deal with this! Go, Ashlei!”, Kourin called out.

Aichi recalled Soul Saver throwing out Gancelot who quickly got into a fighting stance.

“Ashlei use psychic!” Kourin ordered.

“Gancelot use meteor mash!”, Aichi ordered.

Ashlei prepared to send a psychic blast as Gancelot before it was hit with blindingly fast punch sending in flying and crashing.

“Wow, he’s gotten a lot better.”, Rekka said walking in and standing next to Kamui.

“Yeah, it’s unbelievable! All of this from training with some ghost!”, Kamui replied as Rekka raised her eyebrow in confusion.

“He trained with a ghost?”, Rekka questioned.

Kourin frowned, sweating nervously as she recalled the unconscious Ashlei.

“Don’t get cocky! Go, Bridgette!”, Kourin called out.

“Gancelot use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered as Gancelot quickly shot sharp rocks at Bridgette.

“Bridgette use fire blast!”, Kourin ordered.

Bridgette shot a blast of fire at Gancelot who dodged shooting more sharp rocks at Bridgette. The rocks all bombarded Bridgette causing it to fall from the sky knocked out.

“Go, Salome use close combat!”, Kourin ordered, throwing out Salome.

“Gancelot use close combat!”, Aichi ordered.

Salome attacked with its leeked viciously, but Gancelot avoided all of its blows. Gancelot delivered a hard punch to Salome’s gut causing it to gasp. Gancelot then delivered a crushing chop making Salome crash to the ground fainting like the others. Kourin sweated nervously already down to her last Pokémon.

“Go, Garmore!”, Kourin called out, throwing out her final Pokémon.

She gasped as almost in a flash Gancelot seemed to appear in front of Garmore delivering a kick. Garmore was sent into the air and Gancelot delivered a barrage of punches at Garmore.

“Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! (Aura! Aura! Aura! Aura!)”, Gancelot said as it punched.

It delivered countless punches one last punch sent Garmore back to the ground. Kourin and Kamui’s jaws dropped in shock. Rekka whilsted impressed. The heard clapping everyone looked over to see Suiko walk in clapping.

“I believe you are ready to free Oracle town, Sendou Aichi.”, Suiko said.

“I can’t stop you that’s clear…”, Kourin said looking down.

Her expression shifted to surprise when Aichi outstretched a hand to her.

“Well, you still can help me if you can’t stop me.”, Aichi replied.

Kourin took his hand helping her up. She noticed his grip seemed a bit stronger.

“Alright, I have been wanted to kick that jerk Ren’s teeth in anyway.”, Kourin agreed.

“Then, let’s go.”, Aichi replied, with a bright smile that made Kourin blush lightly.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 21 The Horrifying Nightmare Circus

Aichi’s current team
Level 50 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 48 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 45 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 49 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Swords dance

Level 40 Soul Saver (Fraxure) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Aichi, Kamui, and Kourin set off to Oracle town. At the same time on the other side of the region Kai and Miwa were heading there as well.

In Oracle town…

Ren sat down in a chair being tended to by frightened citizens. The waiter shook like a leaf as he placed down a coffee for Ren. Ren looked out the window as picked up the cup.

“He’s coming. I can sense him. Hehe. It’s about time. I was starting to think he had run away.”, Ren said, before taking a sip from the cup.

He hastily spit it out looking very unsatisfied. He stuck his tongue out gagging.

“This dreck is the best coffee you’ve got?”, Ren questioned.

He threw the cup to the side. It suddenly started floating surrounded by a psychic aura. The waiter trembled walking back in fear holding up the serving plate like a makeshift shield. Ren’s eyes had a rainbow spiral and he made a flicking motion with his fingers. The cup was sent flying so fast it sounded like a bullet when it hit the plate. It made a loud crash as the waiter fell over on the ground hitting the back of his head hard. The waiter's mouth was wide open and his eyes widened as well. He was covered in sweat completely frozen in fear. Ren just smiled at his terrified expression.

“Don’t fail me again.”, Ren told the waiter.

The waiter jumped up in fright stumbling away quickly.

At the entrance to Oracle town…

Aichi, Kamui, and Kourin stood ready to fight with all their Pokémon out. Aichi brandished Alfred staring determined at Oracle town. The town sign had a red A spray painted on it. There was countless more graffiti throughout the town as Team Asteroid grunts sulked about.

“It’s better to aim to knock out the trainers.”, Aichi told them.

“That makes sense that seems like it would be way faster.”, Kamui replied.

“It also conserves energy for our Pokémon as well. Knocking out a human requires less effort than a Pokémon.

They walked in and were confronted by Team Asteroid grunts.

“Ahmes use solar blade! Wingal use stone edge! Llew use blizzard! Gancelot use stone edge! Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

“Kaiser use outrage! Buster use close combat! Tough Boy use hammer arm! Mr.Invincible use submission! Shout use hammer arm! Hatred Chaos use shadow ball!”, Kamui ordered.

“Ashlei use psychic! Nemain use fire blast! Bridgette use fire blast! Salome use close combat! Garmore use dark pulse!”, Kourin ordered.

Their Pokémon clashed with the grunts’ Pokémon. Aichi weaved through the battle. A Electivre was about to deliver a thunder punch to him when it was nailed by a sharp rock. Aichi dashes forward past to the grunts still running in. With a quick flick of his wrist he knocked out the incoming grunts. The other grunts gasped in shock as Aichi went on to knock out more.

“W-why the hell is that guy so fast he’s like a Pokémon?!”, one of the grunts who’s Pokémon was currently battling gasped.

The grunts crashed to the ground receiving a punch from Ahmes. Gancelot knocked out another trainer leaving their Pokémon directionless. The directionless Pokémon were then overwhelmed by Kamui and Kourin’s Pokémon. Wingal jumped up to Aichi’s shoulder. Shadow balls from Ashlei and Hatred Chaos knocked out some trainers in the distance.

“Where should we go?”, Aichi asked.

“The town’s not that big it shouldn’t take too long to find Misaki if she’s here.”, Kourin replied.

They ran around quickly knocking out Team Asteroid grunts, some of them having an easier time than others. Tetsu and Asuka watched in the distance.

“Interesting, it seems 003v has found a way to take advantage of his Pokémon biology without tapping into his psychic powers.”, Tetsu commented.

“If master Ren wants him I shall get him for him. Hmm...it would be nice to use my new puppet to beat him. Ah, that would be real fun.”, Asuka replied with a devious smile before going off towards the psychic gym.

With Aichi...

The town for the most part seemed surprisingly empty which worried them. There should be more people here. Aichi knew that, especially having been here before. The last place they had left to look was the psychic gym. Aichi frowned, sweating nervously, he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. For some reason he got an eerie vibe from the gym. Kamui and Kourin noticed how uneasy Aichi looked.

“Do you feel something Aichi?”, Kamui asked.

“I-I don’t know. I just feel sick for some reason. I had the same feeling a week ago.”, Aichi explained.

“It might be intuition. A week ago was when Oracle town was captured.”, Kourin replied.

“H-hopefully it's just a bad feeling!”, Kamui replied a bit spooked.

They opened the door which creaked open. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped at what they saw. The entire instance had been renovated to look like the inside of a carnival. The town folks were there held hostage tied to their audience seats. The audience looked horrified as Asuka stood in the center of the stage with her Pokémon out. Misaki was tied up on a wooden platform next to Malamar forced Misaki to walk forward with its psychic powers before a tightrope. Misaki sweat nervously trying her best to keep her cool. Cerberus grinned sinisterly before settling the tightrope ablaze and Misaki paled. Kamui and Kourin looked to Aichi who was shaking. It took all of Aichi’s self control to not go berserk on the spot. Aichi shook as he felt his psychic power trying to leak out. Aichi struggled to keep it inside himself; he ended up running forward into in front of the stage chased by Kamui and Kourin. They noticed Shin was tied up in the front row of the audience. He looked like he was having a panic attack seeing the twisted performance. Aichi confronted Asuka who smirked at him.

“You should be more worried about little ms. gym leader there. I’m afraid she’s quite a hopeless performer; she can’t even pull off such a simple trick. Will you go to her rescue and leave my wonderful Pokémon to deal with the citizens or will you sacrifice her to save them?”, Asuka said giving Aichi an ultimatum.

Asuka’s Pokémon besides Malamar were ready and waiting to attack their captive audience. A tear fell from Mikuru’s face in the audience doing her best to try and cover the young boy from before. They were near the front and she noticed Aichi’s features.

“Gin? No wait...that must be that boy Aichi, Mark mentioned.”, Mikuru said, sweating nervously.

Mark talked well of him though she wasn’t sure she could trust him. She looked over to the boy sweating nervously.

“Chrono stop squirming they're going to notice us.”, Mikuru scolded as Chrono continued to squirm in his restraints.

The boy stubbornly continued to try thinking he could break out.

“I’m gonna kick that lady’s butt.”, Chrono said as Mikuru sweat dropped.

With Aichi…

Aichi glared at Asuka. If looks could kill Asuka would be a ghost by now.

“We’ll deal with her Pokémon go save Misaki!”, Kourin said to him.

Kourin and Kamui faced down Asuka’s Pokémon with their own.

“Remember Aichi to don’t have to bear the weight alone your friends are with you.”, Alfred said.

Aichi closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He looked up to Misaki pondering how to get up.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! (We’ll launch you! We’ve got the strength!”, Llew suggested.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (We’ve only got one shot so this has to work.)”, Ahmes said.

“Lucario! Lucario! (It will work, we have to believe!)”, Gancelot replied, determinedly holding his paw over his heart.

Wingal got off of Aichi’s shoulder. Ahmes, Gancelot, and Llew lifted Aichi up in an almost pole topping-like position. Aichi tensed seeing their time running out as Misaki neared the rope.

“Do it!”, Aichi commanded as they threw him into the air with all their strength.

Aichi neared the platform he reached out before he started to fall. He quickly grabbed Alfred’s cloth holding onto it and launched his blade forward stabbing into the platform. Aichi sweated nervously looking over to see Misaki’s foot about to touch the flaming rope. Aichi swung himself onto the platform kicking Malamar hard in the face. Malamar fell off the edge and its control was broken. Aichi hastily pulled Misaki back onto the platform.

Kourin faced off against Cerberus and Ringmaster. Kamui faces off against Silver Thorn, Alice, and Dark Lord.

“Ashlei use dazzling gleam!”, Kourin ordered.

Cerberus sent a breath of fire at the light dispelling it. Salome then came in attacking Cerberus with its leek. It hit Cerberus a few times before Cerberus grabbed leek with its teeth biting it in half. Kourin gasped in surprise as Cerberus jumped onto Salome. Nemain got behind Cerberus biting it’s tail and pulling it off Salome. Before it could fully, it was hit by a shadow ball sent by Ringmaster and went flying. It nearly crashed into the captive audience before Ashlei stopped it with her psychic energy keeping it mid air. Bridgette tried to drain Cerberus, but it pounced on it.

Kamui’s luck wasn’t any better. Buster tried to hit Silver Thorn with its fiery punches and kicks but it kept dodging. Tough Boy tried to swing at it, but missed too. Hatred Chaos shot shadow balls at Dark Lord which had no effect. Mr.Invincible tried to punch at Silver Thorn, but instead got claws by sending it back. Shout tried to squish Alice, but it jumped into its big arm and used phantom force in its face hurting it badly.

Aichi looked down at the others worriedly about to order his Pokémon to help. He gasped in shock as well as his Pokémon as he was suddenly caught in a hold.

“M-Misaki?! Why?”, Aichi asked, in complete disbelief looking back.

Misaki tightened her grip as Aichi squirmed. Asuka smiled deviously as she flew up with the help of Malamar’s psychic energy.

“You can just stay there while your friends are dealt with. As soon as we’re done with them I can finally deliver you to master Ren.”, Asuka taunted.

“W-what did you do to her?!”, Aichi asked.

“Oh, besides completely annihilating her in battle? Nothing. But, master Ren did. Now, she’s ours I just had Malamar move her to hide that.”, Asuka explained.

“Misaki! Snap out of it! You wanted to defeat Team Asteroid remember!”, Aichi called out.

“Be quiet and stop struggling!”, Misaki replied.

Wingal ran up the side of the gym clawing into the walls. Asuka saw this and Malamar blasts it off. Ahmes caught Wingal when it fell. Gancelot shot sharp rocks at Malamar, but it easily destroyed them.

“Golisopod! Golisopod? Golisopod? (Crap! How are we supposed to get up there?)”, Llew questioned.

“Gallade! Gallade! Gallade! (We’ve got to beat that Malamar!)”, Ahmes replied as it held Wingal who looked up at it.

“Fraxure! Fraxure! (Their hurting mommy!)”, Soul Saver said angrily as its eyes glowed.

They turned around as Soul Saver’s scales turned blue again. Everyone looked stunned as Soul Saver floated up surrounded by a blue aura.

“G-Get that woman! N-not Misaki!”, Aichi said.

Soul Saver shot itself at Malamar. It collided hard against its gut as it gasped for Aichi. Asuka and Malamar fell, Ahmes stopped them before they hit the floor knowing the fall would likely be fatal.

“Gallade! Gallade! (Get Malamar now!)”, Ahmes yelled.

Llew and Gancelot charged at the stunned Malamar. Llew delivered multiple sucker punches to Malamar. Gancelot delivered a barrage of steel hard punches at Malamar.

“Lucario! Lucario! Lucario!/ Golisopod! Golisopod! (Aura! Aura! Aura! Aura!)”, they cried out in unison.

They delivered one last devastating punch at the same time sending Malamar back. Malamar was about to move again before it was hit by sharp rocks sent by Wingal.

Meanwhile, Soul Saver landed on the platform before Aichi and Misaki. Misaki’s arms were forcefully moved by psychic energy coming from Soul Saver freeing Aichi. While Misaki was caught Aichi spun around Alfred and with a flick of his wrist hit her on the back of the neck with the pommel making her pass out. Aichi’s Pokémon looked up relieved to see him alright.

“Go, Gancelot! Llew! Wingal! Help the others! Ahmes keep Asuka restrained!”, Aichi yelled down to them.

Gancelot and Llew went to help Kamui and Wingal went to Kourin. Wingal sent sharp rocks at Cerberus.

“Now, Ashlei use dazzling gleam!”, Kourin ordered as Wingal kept Cerberus distracted.

Her other Pokémon went over to hold off Ringmaster. Cerberus was bombarded on both sides, but still refused to budge. Soul Saver brought Aichi and Misaki back to the ground before turning back to normal and charging at Cerberus. It used dragon dance as it charged and when it got near it shot dragon pulse from its mouth pushing back Cerberus more. The audience was stunned in disbelief seeing them fight so hard for them.

“You can do it you guys!”, one called out, before they all started to cheer for them.

“Arceus please let them win.”, Mikuru prayed.

Chrono looked at Mikuru seeing what she was doing and decided to do the same.

“Please win! Big space dude Arceus help them out!”, Chrono prayed.

“Just this once I’ll make an exception. That women’s Pokémon are absurdly strong. Even the three of you combined isn’t enough.”, Alfred said as Aichi nodded.

“Thank you, Alfred.”, Aichi replied as he turned to Cerberus preparing to cut.

Alfred’s blade shimmered with golden light emitting far more power than Aichi could even believe. The audience gasped in awe seeing the golden light. They could be sure that it was nothing short of a miracle.

“Sacred sword!”, Aichi and Alfred said in unison as gold energy shot from the blade when they did a cut launching towards Cerberus.

Ashlei moved Kourin to the side out of the way as the golden light enveloped Cerberus who let out a pained howl. The golden energy completely obliterated the wall and parts of the ceiling allowing the sun to illuminate the dark gym. The clouds had split where the cut had been launched and Aichi looked stunned. Shin was completely stunned as well watching the whole time and shocked by how much stronger they had gotten. Kourin turned with Ashlei towards Ringmaster knowing what to do. Ashlei emitted pink light that stunned Ringmaster allowing all of her Pokémon to get their attacks in. Somehow it still managed to stand even after all of that. Wingal sent sharp rocks at it and Soul Saver shot dragon pulse from its mouth. Ashlei pushes forward emitting more light eventually overwhelming Ringmaster however it wasn’t over yet. They were only halfway done.

Buster, Gancelot, Llew, and Mr.Invincible all punching and kicking at the same time eventually managed to hit Silver Thorn who was sent crashing to the floor. Buster launched multiple flaming kicks at Silver Thorn sending it into the air. Gancelot, Llew, and Mr. Invincible then sent a barrage of punches and kicks at Silver Thorn finally knocking it out. All that was left now was Dark Lord and Alice.

“Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as Kaiser shot a wave of darkness at Alice.

“Now, Buster! Mr.Invincible! Close combat! Tough Boy use stone edge on that Spiritomb, keep holding it off. You too, Hatred Chaos keep using shadow ball!”, Kamui ordered.

Asuka struggled in Ahmes psychic grip angrily.

“This can’t be happening! How lucky are you people?”, Asuka said, angrily.

“Those kids, they really created a miracle.”, Shin finally said, stunned.

He looked over to Aichi who was rushing over to Kamui. Aichi had made this all possible due with Alfred and Soul Saver without the both of them this would have been impossible. Especially with him unable to interfere without his Pokémon. He noticed how the sun’s light that was let in from Alfred’s blast seemed to shine on Aichi. Perhaps it was because of his connection to Solgaleo that the sun seemed to shine in him? Or maybe it was something more?

Wingal and Soul jumped in shooting sharp rocks and dragon pulse at Dark Lord. Their attacks combined with Kamui’s Pokémon allowing them to overwhelm Dark Lord and make it faint. Now only Alice was left. Llew sent a storm of ice at Alice and Gancelot sent sharp rocks after it was sent flying by Buster and Mr.Invincible’s close combat. After, that Buster delivered one final flaming kick finishing off Alice.

“We did it Aichi!”, Kamui cheered running up to Aichi.

“Yeah, we did!”, Aichi replied with a bright smile.

Kourin couldn’t help, but smile alongside them. They released the captured citizens as Ren watched on with Tetsu in the distance. Ren just smirked rather amused by their performance.

“They really think they’ve won haven’t they?”, Ren commented.

In the gym…

“You may have beaten me, but you're still fucked! You can never defeat master Ren if you had such a hard time against me!”, Asuka said.

“Can we gag her?”, Kourin asked.

“She’s bad, but that would be in humane.”, Shin replied.

Shin then walked over to the unconscious Misaki looking worriedly. He hoped Ren’s spell wore off on her. Aichi and Kamui looked overwhelmed as they were crowded by the citizens thanking them. Kourin didn’t seem as bothered as they were. Mikuru walked up next to Shin with Chrono.

“Do you think she’s going to be alright?”, Mikuru asked.

“I don’t know. I hope Ren’s control has been broken.”, Shin replied.

“That blue haired kid he’s Gin and Shizuka’s son isn’t he? Mark told me about him.”, Mikuru asked.

“Yeah, his name is Sendou Aichi. I was pretty surprised when I met him. He really didn’t know anything about Gin or anything. He has been raised by Shizuka this whole time.”, Shin replied as Mikuru nodded.

“I see. It’s strange to think they look so alike, but are so different.”, Mikuru replied before she looked at Chrono who had a weird look.

“What’s wrong Chrono?”, Mikuru asked.

“I have a bad feeling.”, he answered simply looking down at Misaki.

Shin and Mikuru raised their eyebrows wondering if he was onto something or not.

“He doesn’t remember Dran, but he can still be connected to it somehow. Chrono has always been a weird kid due to that connection.”, Shin thought.

Aichi and Kamui looked exhausted after being freed from the crowd while Kourin looked just fine. They walked over to where Shin, Mikuru, and Chrono were having recovered their Pokémon. They suddenly jumped as they saw Misaki get up. Shin and Mikuru stepped back and Mikuru grabbed Chrono. Misaki had a menacing glare as Shin sweated nervously. Aichi rushes up in front of Misaki. Misaki brought out a Poké ball in front of Aichi.

“Battle me.”, she said.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 22 The Heartfelt Rematch

Aichi’s current team
Level 50 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 49 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 47 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Close combat
First impression

Level 50 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Swords dance

Level 43 Soul Saver (Fraxure) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

“Shin I want you to go take the citizens to Gold Maine city. They’ll be safer there. Besides you're stronger than me if Team Asteroid attacks I’m sure they’ll be safe.”, Aichi told him.

“Heh! You losers only won because master Ren gave you the chance! Without it you w-“, Asuka was saying before Kourin elbowed her with an annoyed look on her face.

“Aichi are you sure? Besides, I should fight Misaki! It was my fault she fell under their control.”, Shin questioned.

“I don’t have time for you! I’m fighting him!”, Misaki replied.

“Misaki…”, Shin said as Mikuru put her hand on his shoulder.

They looked back to see all the scared citizens. Shin shook not knowing what to do. He didn't want to leave Misaki here.

“Are you sure about this Aichi? Your Pokémon are exhausted.”, Kamui questioned.

“Trust me.”, Aichi said, his eyes were full of determination.

Shin looked pained looking away before finally relenting. He threw out his Pokémon and started to lead away the citizens. Aichi faced Misaki who had a cold glare. Aichi brought out his Poké ball.

“Go, Guardian!”, Misaki called out.

“Go, Soul Saver!”, Aichi called out.

“Guardian use body press!”, Misaki ordered.

“Soul Saver use dragon dance!”, Aichi ordered.

Guardian hovered in the air before instantly trying to slam down onto Soul Saver. Soul Saver used dragon dance as it dodged.

“You’ve gotta win, Aichi!”, Kamui said.

Kourin and Asuka watched quietly and Asuka was tied up in rope.

“Guardian use ice punch!”, Misaki ordered as it got closer.

“Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver shot blue energy at its mouth at Guardian keeping it at bay.

“Grr! Guardian use psychic to bring it towards you!”, Misaki ordered.

Soul Saver squirmed as it was lifted into the air with psychic energy. Asuka smirked as she saw this.

“Oh no!”, Kourin called out.

“Aichi you’ve gotta do something!”, Kamui said.

“Soul Saver use dragon pulse then crunch!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver blasted Guardian while it was in the air pushing it away before pouncing on it and biting it.

“Looks like you haven’t learned your lesson just yet! You don’t remember your mistake in our match, but I do!”, Misaki said.

Guardian prepared to throw Soul Saver off with psychic energy.

“Not on my watch! Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver shot another dragon pulse where it was currently biting Guardian. Guardian cried in pain recoiling back.

“One last time! Dragon pulse!”, Aichi commanded.

Soul Saver sent one final dragon pulse at Guardian, making Guardian faint.

“Go, Sakuya!”, Misaki called out, throwing out her next Pokémon.

Aichi recalled Soul Saver as she did. He threw out his next Pokémon.

“Go, Gancelot use meteor mash!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot delivered a hard punch to Sakuya but it endured.

“What gives?”, Kamui questioned.

“Remember Aichi’s Pokémon are exhausted right now their weaker than usual.”, Kourin replied, sweating nervously.

“Hang in there Aichi! Darn! Why did you send Shin away?”, Kamui said.

“He probably decided that the citizens' well being is more important than his own.”, Kourin replied as Kamui sweated nervously.

“Sakuya use future sight!”, Misaki ordered.

Gancelot threw multiple steel punches trying to hit Sakuya but it effortlessly dodged. Sakuya then sends a blast of psychic energy at Gancelot, sending it crashing into the ground. Gancelot struggled to stand back up and face Sakuya.

“Hang in there!”, Aichi called out.

“End this Sakuya use psychic!”, Misaki ordered as Gancelot ran up to it.

Gancelot tried to deliver a punch, but was blasted back being knocked out. Aichi recalled Gancelot.

“You tried your best. Go, Ahmes use future sight!”, Aichi called out, throwing in his next Pokémon.

“I’ve gotta get rid of Sakuya! She’s completely immune to most of Soul Saver’s attacks and she resists all the dark moves my Pokémon have.”, Aichi thought.

“The move I gave you…”, Misaki trailed off.

“That’s right you gave me this move to help me out because I was so hopeless. You’ve really been helping me out a lot Misaki not only saving me, but assuring me along the way.”, Aichi replied with a smile as Misaki’s eye twitched.

“That was a mistake.”, Misaki replied as Aichi shook his head.

“I know you still care even though you're being controlled right now and I’ll set you free!”, Aichi replied.

“As if! Sakuya use moonblast!”, Misaki ordered.

Ahmes dodged out of the way of the fairy blast.

“How troublesome.”, Misaki snickered.

“Ahmes use swords dance.”, Aichi ordered.

Sakuya shot more at Ahmes trying to hit it.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes closed the distance between it and Sakuya.

Ahmes delivered a slash to Sakuya, stunning it. It then a blast of psychic energy making Sakuya faint.

“Go, Coco use play rough!”, Misaki said, throwing out her next Pokémon.

Aichi looked shocked not knowing she had another fairy type.

“Ahmes use future sight!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes was hit by the first blow, but dodged the rest. Ahmes used swords dance as it dodged.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes delivered a cut to Coco and then blasted her back like Sakuya as it tried to avoid it. However, due to future sight it was pointless. Misaki recalled the fainted Coco.

“Go, Tom use dazzling gleam!”, Misaki ordered.

A pink light shot out from Tom causing Ahmes to fall over fainting.

“Thanks Ahmes. Go, Llew use blizzard!”, Aichi ordered.

Llew shot a storm of ice at Tom sweeping it away and stopping its light.

“Llew use sucker punch!”, Aichi ordered.

Before Tom could react it was hit by a vicious right hook.

“Yeah, go Aichi!”, Kamui cheered as Llew continued to beatdown on Tom.

Llew looked really exhausted as it delivered the final punch knocking out Tom. Llew stumbled a bit as Misaki threw out her next Pokémon.

“Go, Assista Eevee use psychic!”, Misaki ordered.

Assista Eevee sent a psychic blast at Llew causing it to fall over fainting.

“You did a great job. Go, Wingal use stone edge!”, Aichi said.

Wingal shot sharp rocks at Assista Eevee which it easily stopped with its psychic energy before turning them on Wingal. Wingal struggled to dodge out of the way. It was able to get behind Assista Eevee and use crunch on its tail. Assista Eevee cries out in pain throwing it off it it’s psychic energy before bombarding it with sharp rocks. Wingal crashed to the ground. When Assista Eevee’s guard was down it jumped on it.

“Wingal use play rough!”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal was surrounded by pink energy as it clawed and bit Assista Eevee.

“Assista Eevee use dazzling gleam!”, Misaki ordered.

Wingal was sent crashing back down to the ground fainting. Aichi sweated nervously down to which was likely his final Pokémon. He wasn’t sure if Alfred would make an exception again.

“You did good Wingal. Go, Soul Saver use dragon pulse”, Aichi ordered.

Assista Eevee was taken down by this blast after already being damaged by Wingal. Now, they were both down to their last Pokémon. Misaki narrowed her eyes at Aichi.

“How is he still standing? He always seems to be able to create miracles…”, Misaki thought, remembering back to Aichi’s fight with Kamui and Asuka.

Flashback

He was expecting a big and bad final mon, but instead it was a small feeble bug Pokémon that was curling itself into a ball. Everyone minus Aichi, Llew, and Misaki couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably. Misaki sweat dropped looking at the battle.

“Wow, you really are lame. It’s time to end this I guess. Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui replied.

Kaiser shot waves of darkness at the stationary bug Pokémon. Llew didn’t budge as Kamui order Kaiser to shoot it more.

“Dang it! Earthquake! This has got to get you.”, Kamui said as Kaiser shook the ground again.

Llew in its ball shape bounced around. Llew collided against various surfaces as some of the onlookers took cover for the deadly bug ball. By sheer chance Llew bounced at the exact right spot colliding against Kaiser with all it's built up kinetic energy. Turning it’s ultimate defense into the ultimate offense. Colliding with a Pokémon with an enhanced shell instantly knocked out Kaiser. Afterwards its shell was very scrapped up.

Kamui’s and Misaki’s mouth was agape in pure disbelief.

“That’s impossible.”, Misaki thought.

“Aichi has the luck of Giratina…”, Mark commented, laughing a bit.

Flashback end

Flashback

“Just this once I’ll make an exception. That women’s Pokémon are absurdly strong. Even the three of you combined isn’t enough.”, Alfred said as Aichi nodded.

“Thank you, Alfred.”, Aichi replied as he turned to Cerberus preparing to cut.

Alfred’s blade shimmered with golden light emitting far more power than Aichi could even believe. The audience gasped in awe seeing the golden light. They could be sure that it was nothing short of a miracle.

“Sacred sword!”, Aichi and Alfred said in unison as gold energy shot from the blade when they did a cut launching towards Cerberus.

Ashlei moved Kourin to the side out of the way as the golden light enveloped Cerberus who let out a pained howl. The golden energy completely obliterated the wall and parts of the ceiling allowing the sun to illuminate the dark gym. The clouds had split where the cut had been launched and Aichi looked stunned. Shin was completely stunned as well watching the whole time and shocked by how much stronger they had gotten.

Flashback end

Misaki clutched her head in pain.

“I have to bring him to Ren.”, she thought as she shook her head.

She met Aichi’s determined gaze and stumbled a bit.

“Those eyes are so intense. Even now he still hasn’t given up.”, Misaki thought as she frowned.

“Go, Amaterasu end this with dazzling gleam!”, Misaki called out.

Soul Saver was sent back by the pink light. Soul Saver struggled to get back up.

“Please!”, Aichi thought as Soul Saver got back up standing defiantly at Amaterasu.

“Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered as Soul Saver sent blue energy at Amaterasu as soon as the light dispersed.

Amaterasu was still standing however not done yet.

“If only I could get in close to use crunch.”, Aichi thought as Soul Saver seemed to react and Aichi looked down at it.

He gasped as Soul Saver charged at Amaterasu.

“Soul Saver no! You can’t take another dazzling gleam! It’s a fairy type move!”, Aichi called out, outstretching his hand towards Soul Saver.

Asuka smirked as Kamui and Kourin looked in horror. Aichi without thinking started running after Soul Saver.

“Amaterasu use dazzling gleam!”, Misaki ordered.

Pink light emanated from Amaterasu engulfing Soul Saver as Aichi screamed out. Soul Saver roared as it continued forward through the blast. It’s roar grew louder and stronger. Aichi felt his soul rock from it.

“Fraxure! Frax-(Holy charging-)”, Soul Saver roared as its scales turned blue and it was engulfed in light.

“”Ure! (ROAR!)”, Soul Saver roared.

There was a massive explosion of power rocking the entire town. There was a massive cloud of smoke enveloping everyone. The smoke started to clear as Aichi’s legs trembled. Soul Saver was revealed from the smoke barley still standing just over the fainted Amaterasu. Misaki fell over in complete shock seeing this before fainting. Kourin and Kamui ran over to Aichi as he and Soul Saver fell over at the same time fainting. They looked down at the two who looked completely drained. Soul Saver’s scales had returned to normal. Kourin grabbed Soul Saver’s Poké ball from Aichi, recalling it for him and placing it back on Aichi’s belt.

The both of them jumped as they heard clapping in the distance. They looked over to see Ren and Tetsu walking in with a freed Asuka.

“Oh fuck!”, Kamui cursed, before getting in front of the unconscious Aichi.

“Your theory may have been true Tetsu.”, Ren said.

“Yes, it seems that Fraxure has become linked with 003v due to its exposure to his power in its developing stage. Through this link it can access some of Aichi’s dormant psychic power. However, this seems to have the negative side effect of heavily draining both it and Aichi. It has been used twice today causing them to both faint.”, Tetsu explained.

“You’ll get to do all the tests you want on him and that Fraxure once we capture them.”, Asuka replied.

“Your not doing tests on Aichi!”, Kourin replied, angrily.

“And what are you going to do? Stop us? It’s obvious you're far too weak.”, Ren replied with a smug grin as Kourin snickered.

“003v is simply returning to where he belongs; he is the property of Team Asteroid.”, Tetsu said.

“Aichi isn’t anyone’s property! Especially you jerks! You already brainwashed Misaki and Gouki, how much more do you want?!”, Kamui replied, angrily.

“I want him of course. I was so sad when he disappeared again, though it seems he just left to train. That will only make him even more useful.”, Ren replied.

“Stop talking about my friend like he’s a tool for you to use!”, Kamui replied, angrily.

“But he is. He literally is.”, Asuka replied.

“Shut up!”, Kamui replied, angrily.

“I won’t let you take Aichi!”

They looked up in shock to see a Kai on Overlord and Miwa on his Flygon. Ren smirked as Kai and Miwa got in front of Aichi.

“You think you can stop me Kai? You know it’s hopeless.”, Ren said as Kai growled glaring at him.

They jumped again hearing a familiar roar in the distance. They saw Solgaleo who jumped down in front of Aichi. Ren looked mildly annoyed at Solgaleo.

“Not you again. Meanie cat.”, Ren said.

“I will distract them. Go and take Aichi away from here!”, Solgaleo said in their minds.

Kai grabbed Aichi and put him on his back and Miwa grabbed Misaki and put her on his back. Kai threw out two more Pokémon Vortex and Nehalem for Kamui and Kourin to ride. The followed behind Kai who flew on Overlord. They got into the air.

“Aichi.”, Kai said, looking back at Aichi whose arms were wrapped around him.

“Where are we going?”, Kamui asked.

“To Tachikaze town though the final stop is Dai city.”, Kai answered.

“Why shouldn’t we go to Gold Maine city?”, Kamui asked.

“That’s too obvious. Besides all the refugees from the towns taken over by Team Asteroid are there. They will attack with all their might to get in if Aichi is there.”, Kourin replied.

“Besides the rest of the gyms are this way.”, Miwa added.

“Is that important right now?”, Kamui questioned.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 23 The Town Ruled By The Fossils

Aichi’s current team
Level 51 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 49 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 48 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 50 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Swords dance

Level 46 Soul Saver (Fraxure) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

They made it to where Tachikaze town should be flying directly above it and they were beyond shocked at what they saw. The town looked like it was reduced to a rather primitive state and fossil Pokémon freely roamed around. Some of the people had on barbarian-like clothes. The gym was made from rock and the symbol for rock type was very crudely carved into the stone.

“What the actual heck?”, Kamui questioned.

“Are they filming a movie here or something?”, Miwa questioned.

“What do we do? There doesn’t look to be any healers here. Our Pokémon are all completely exhausted.”, Kourin said.

Kai looked back to Aichi who was still sleeping soundly on his back.

“We’ll have to think of something. There has to be a Pokémon center here somewhere.”, Kai replied.

They found what looked like a Pokémon center which stood out quite a bit against the prehistoric surroundings. They walked in dismounting their Pokémon surprised at what greeted them. Before the healer stood a bunch of barbarians instead of a nurse Joy. They looked more primitive, seeming to be neanderthals.

“Won’t get to heal!”, a barbarian said.

“Only we heal.”, another said.

“Charge!”, a different one said.

Though as soon as they did they were slapped by Overlord’s tail.

“Char! Char! Charizard! (Those humans are really stupid!)”, Overlord commented, looking down at the fallen barbarians.

Kai walked over to the healer with Aichi in tow. Suddenly, the healer sank down into the floor and the entrance closed with iron bars. They looked up as a screen overhead suddenly flickered on.

“I’m afraid you people aren’t going anywhere.”, a man in a lab coat with a red A said on the screen.

“What’s going on?”, Kai asked.

“You will all become test subjects for Team Asteroid like the people of this town have. I am sure you’ve seen the results.”, the man said as he pointed to the unconscious barbarians.

Everyone minus Kai paled at the thought. Kai just glared at the man.

“I ain’t becoming one of them!”, Kamui said.

“Well except 003v over there nabbing him for the boss would be a nice bonus. Yes, we’ll get much more funding then.”, the man said.

“You're not touching Aichi!”, Kourin said, glaring at the man.

“Let’s make it fun if you can win in our unground tower then you can leave. If you don’t however we will take 003v and experiment on you all. Even if you escape we shall collect some nice data.”, the man said.

They flinched when the ground around them started to sink down like an elevator. On the new floor they entered there was a door. It opened up and some fossil Pokémon walked out. They braced themselves for a battle. Kai, Miwa, Kamui, and Kourin threw out their Pokémon. Kourin had an idea looking over to Aichi.

“That guy said Aichi is linked to his Fraxure right so if it's healed he may wake up.”, Kourin said.

“What?!”, Miwa questioned, incredulously.

“That might work! We’ve gotta cover them though not just Kourin, but Misaki and Aichi too.”, Kamui replied.

Kourin got out, Soul Saver’s Poké ball throwing it out.

“Ashlei use heal pulse.”, Kourin ordered.

Ashlei emitted healing energy to Soul Saver. Misaki started to rouse looking over at what’s going on.

“Just stay down for now. You probably haven’t fully recovered your energy yet.”, Kourin said.

“Aichi…”, Misaki trailed off, looking over to him.

Overlord shot dragon pulse from its mouth at the fossil Pokémon the people brought out which included Kabutops, Aerodactyl, Armaldo, Rampardos, Bastiodon, Carracosta, Archeops, and Tyrantrum.

“Dauntless use dragon rush!”, Miwa ordered as it slammed into Tyrantrum.

“Let’s make these fossils go back to extinction! Kaiser use outrage! Buster use close combat! Mr.Invincible use close combat! Tough Boy use hammer arm! Shout use hammer arm! Hatred Chaos use shadow ball!”, Kamui ordered.

His Pokémon were able to do some damage, but it was clear they were exhausted.

“Wait...Aichi still has Alfred it can help.”, Kourin realized as she looked for Alfred’s Poké ball while Ashlei continued to heal Soul Saver.

Kai’s dragons went on a rampage with outrage as more fossil Pokémon funneled in seemingly without end. Miwa’s shot hyper beams at the incoming fossil Pokémon. Kourin threw out Alfred who looked around confused.

“What’s going on?”, Alfred asked.

Kourin explained to him everything that happened since the battle with Asuka. He looked over to the battle seeing the continuous waves of fossil Pokémon flood in. Alfred floated over to the unconscious Aichi. Kourin looked confused when he placed himself in Aichi’s hand and wrapped his fabric around his arm. Alfred’s eye and the fabric glowed purple as Aichi suddenly got up. Everyone looked very surprised by this. Kourin noticed his eyes glowing purple like Alfred’s. He walked over as Kamui looked at him.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t help and only be a sword.”, Kamui said.

“I am being a sword, a haunted sword. Besides I won’t use any moves.”, Alfred replied through Aichi which sounded a bit weird because he seemed to suddenly gain a Galarian accent like Alfred.

Kamui sweat dropped and Alfred’s logic. Kai glared over your Alfred.

“Ah, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Alfred Pendragon, the once and future king of Galar. And currently sir Aichi’s Pokémon and teacher.”, Alfred said, with a bow.

“Is this really the time for introductions Alfred?!”, Kamui questioned.

“You know for a guy who claims to not care about Sendou Aichi you look pretty pissed.”, Miwa said to Kai with a sly look.

“Shut up, Miwa!”, Kai replied, harshly.

Alfred got into a sword stance as Miwa and Kai raised their eyebrows. Alfred took a step forward going so fast it looked like he disappeared to them. They all gasped in surprise as Alfred weaved through the fossil Pokémon cutting them down one by one. The scientist on the monitor gasped in shock at how easily Alfred was plowing through the Pokémon with pure skill.

“Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! (I won’t be outdone by some rusted sword!)”, Overlord roared, shooting more dragon pulses enveloping the fossil Pokémon.

Buster and Mr.Invincible took that opportunity to launch some of the smaller ones into the blast with their attacks. Though, Kamui’s and Kourin’s Pokémon soon fell over exhausted.

“That sword better hope he doesn’t get Aichi hurt!”, Kai thought, though he would never say it out loud and deny it to his last breath.

The scientist gasped in disbelief as all the fossil Pokémon were cleared out in spite of so many of their Pokémon being exhausted. Alfred walked back up and Kai still glared at him.

“Hehe. Don’t worry tough guy I won’t tell Aichi how mad you got when I possessed him.”, Alfred replied, with a knowing and smug smile.

Kai’s eye twitched in annoyance at Alfred’s tone.

“...Tell me what?”, Aichi questioned, sluggishly as he blinked and his eyes were back to normal.

Alfred floated off his hands and over to his side. Aichi rubbed his eyes, still seeming kinda sleepy.

“Aichi!”, Kamui said as he ran over him.

“Kamui…”, Aichi replied, still sluggish.

“Oh, yeah I forgot you're not really a morning person.”, Kamui said, sweat dropping.

Soul Saver ran over to Aichi as he looked down at it.

“Fraxure! Fraxure !(Mommy, your awake!)”, Soul Saver said, cheerfully.

Aichi picked up, Soul Saver who cuddled with him. It was a stark contrast to Aichi’s very tired look.

“That Fraxure looks real happy to see him.”, Miwa commented.

“It’s Aichi’s little egg baby he won from the gold challenge.”, Kamui replied.

“Hehe. Now, Aichi has his own little dragon.”, Miwa chuckled.

“Aichi.”, Misaki said as she got up going over to him.

“Misaki?”, Aichi questioned.

“I-I…”, she trailed off as she looked down.

Aichi looked very confused at her downcast expression.

“Everythings fine.”, Aichi said.

“How did you?”, Misaki questioned.

“As someone who has not been in control of themselves way too many times. I know exactly what you’re thinking. You should listen to your own advice to me.”, Aichi replied as Misaki nodded and Kai glared at Alfred again who sweat dropped.

“Your right.”, Misaki replied.

Aichi absentmindedly petted Soul Saver who really enjoyed it.

“Oh, Kourin sorry about before I didn’t know Alfred’s attack would be that strong.”, Aichi apologized.

“It’s fine besides I’m alright.”, Kourin replied.

Misaki put something into Aichi’s hand and he looked down curiously. He opened it up to see a blue moon shaped badge.

“It’s the lunar badge. You won it remember.”, Misaki said.

“I almost forgot.”, Aichi admitted.

He looked down at it.

“Why is it called the lunar badge?”, Aichi asked.

“It’s a long story but my parents...they used to run the gym and they really loved Lunala. They would always tell me stories about it when I was a kid. So, the badge of their gym represents Lunala, one of the many psychic type legendaries.”, Misaki explained.

“I see.”, Aichi said as he smiled accepting the badge.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect the gym...mom...dad…”, Misaki thought as she looked away, not wanting them to see the tear that stinged her eye.

She quickly wiped it up so they wouldn’t notice.

“So, where are we? What’s going on?”, Aichi asked.

They told Aichi and Misaki all about what happened while they were asleep. Aichi looked up to the ceiling wondering.

“Can we just fly out then like before?”, Aichi asked.

“Not so fast 003v! Go, my final minion stop him!”, the scientist said, from the screen.

Out walked a man with a green army-like suit with black hair and black eyes.

“That’s Tachikaze town’s gym leader Ryudo Gunji. It looks like he has been mind controlled by Team Asteroid as well.

“Fraxure! Fraxure! (Let’s kick his butt, Mommy!)”, Soul Saver said.

“But, he’s down to only you think you can take on his whole team?”, Alfred questioned.

“Fraxure. Fraxure. (For mommy I will.)”, Soul Saver replied.

“Alright.”, Aichi replied.

“Alright? Are you sure?”, Alfred questioned.

“You guys keep forgetting we don’t speak Pokémon.”, Kamui said as Aichi walked up to Gunji much to everyone’s shock.

“You intend to fight me boy? You must be real confident for a guy who’s been sleeping this whole time.”, Gunji said as he raised a Poké ball.

“Uh, Aichi are you sure about this?”, Miwa asked.

“Go, Savage Destroyer!”, Gunji called out, throwing out Kabutops.

“Go, Soul Saver.”, Aichi called out as Soul Saver jumped from his arms onto the battlefield.

“Savage Destroyer use leech life!”, Gunji order.

“Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

Before Savage Destroyer could drain Aichi it was blasted by blue energy sending it flying back. Gunji sweated a bit nervously not expecting Aichi’s Pokémon to be so powerful. Soul Saver shot at it again knocking out the Kabutops cold.

“Aichi’s gotten pretty strong huh, Kai?”, Miwa said as Kai didn’t respond just watching Aichi.

“Let’s see if that knockout was beginner's luck! Go, Megarex! Use dragon tail!”, Gunji called out, throwing out a Rampardos.

“Soul Saver use dragon dance.”, Aichi ordered as Soul Saver dodged the tail swipe.

Soul Saver danced around Megarex as it tried to hit it.

“Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver shot dragon pulse from its mouth at Megarex while it was mid attack knocking it out.

“Woah!”, Miwa gasped.

“How did Aichi get this strong?”, Misaki asked Kamui.

“For this past week he’s been training with Alfred.”, Kamui explained.

“Where did they go? When I looked I couldn’t find them anywhere.”, Miwa asked.

“He was in my castle.”, Alfred replied.

“And where is that?” , Miwa asked.

“Near Kagero town, it simply has an enchantment on it so that only the one who is worthy can find it. Aichi found it rather easily.”, Alfred explained.

“I guess i’m not worthy.”, Miwa chuckled, sheepishly.

“So, that’s why I couldn’t find him anywhere!”, Kamui replied.

“Go, Tyrant Deathrex! Use dragon claw!”, Gunji called out, throwing out his final Pokémon which was Tyrantrum.

Soul Saver easily weaved around the massive Pokémon while using dragon dance. Deathrex uselessly swung down as Soul Saver with its claws trying to catch the smaller Pokémon.

“Reminds you of you guys first match huh?”, Miwa said to Kai.

“This gym leader is a joke.”, Kai commented.

“Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

“Ahh! Tyrant Deathrex use head smash!”, Gunji ordered.

Deathrex rammed into the beam of energy as Soul Saver moved out of the way. It shot at Deathrex again who charged at it.

“It’s useless! Your Fraxure is too puny to defeat my Tyrant Deathrex!”, Gunji laughed as he taunted him.

Aichi didn’t look very amused or concerned. He looked at Soul Saver, able to sense something.

“Soul Saver is going to evolve in a minute.”, Aichi said as the others gasped.

“How do you know that Aichi?!”, Kamui questioned.

“It must be the link that guy mentioned.”, Kourin replied.

Gunji growled at how confident Aichi seemed in his prediction.

“As if! Even if it did it’s still too puny!”, Gunji said.

“Size isn’t everything. 30, 29, 28…”, Aichi said as he started to count down.

“You can’t be serious, you're actually counting down?!”, Gunji question.

Soul Saver continued to shoot at Deathrex getting increasingly frustrated it couldn’t defeat it.

“Fraxure! Fraxure! Fraxure! (Grr! Just go down you big jerk!)”, Soul Saver roared.

“3,2…1.”, Aichi said as Soul Saver started to with the light of evolution and everyone minus Kai gasped.

Soul Saver got much taller and it’s scales were now yellow and it still had a black underbelly. The teeth that stuck out of the sides of its face now resembled black axe blades that were lined with red. Its scales were more like armor now and it’s tail, arms, and legs were longer.

“He was actually right?!”, Kamui gasped.

Soul Saver’s eyes now glowed and it gained a dark blue aura as it gave into its rage charging at Deathrex recklessly. Deathrex swung at it, but it dodged slapping it in the face with its tail. It then clawed at Deathrex from on top of it as it tried to shake it off. This only made Soul Saver angrier as it then bit down on Deathrex deeply. The blades from its axe-like teeth dug into Deathrex’s scales.

“Get him Deathrex!”, Gunji called out, as nothing was working.

“You can’t win now. End this futile struggle Soul Saver!”, Aichi said as his voice noticeably sounded deeper.

“You don’t think their emotions are linked too are they?”, Kourin questioned, noticing Aichi’s complete mood swing when Soul Saver got mad.

The others looked at Aichi noticing the familiar chilling vibe he was giving off. Alfred hovered over to Aichi looking at him glaring at Deathrex.

Soul Saver sent one final massive blue blast out of its mouth at where Deathrex was hurt engulfing it. When the blast dispersed Deathrex was on the ground, fainted. Kamui and Misaki could hardly breathe recognizing the way Aichi was walking and the change in demeanor.

“It looks like I win. I don’t suppose you still have the badge do you?”, Aichi asked.

“A wins a win. It seems your stronger than me.”, Gunji said as he swayed giving the Dino badge to Aichi.

Soul Saver started to calm down a bit as the fight had ended. They noticed Aichi’s shoulders seem to relax a bit as it did. The vibe around him returned to normal as Aichi looked down at Gunji.

“We should bring him up with us we can’t leave him here.”, Aichi said, his voice completely returning to normal.

“What just happened to you?”, Alfred asked as Aichi looked confused.

“What do you mean?”, Aichi asked.

“You got mad when Soul Saver did and you calmed down when he did. It’s like you two are in sync.”, Kourin explained.

Aichi blinked confused as Soul Saver ran over to him happily rubbing his head against him. Aichi smiled patting Soul Saver’s head seeming a bit happier as well.

“This is seriously freaky.”, Kamui commented.

“I didn’t notice.”, Aichi replied.

“So, you're saying Aichi is now subject to sudden mood swings based on the emotions of a baby Pokémon?”, Misaki questioned.

“Y-yes.”, Kourin replied, feeling like face palming.

Kai face palmed at the thought.

“So, he’s just like a pregnant woman.”, Miwa commented as Misaki and Kourin glared at him.

“Aichi really is Soul Saver’s mommy…”, Kamui commented, sweat dropping.

“So, if Soul Saver throws a tantrum Aichi could go completely berserk…”, Misaki realized, the very thought of it made her pale.

“That would be real bad.”, Kamui replied.

“That is very concerning...you hear that Soul Saver you’ve gotta be on your best behavior now. The link also seemed to get stronger as you evolved so it's likely at maximum strength now.”, Alfred said to Soul Saver who childishly stuck it’s tongue out at Alfred.

“Don’t worry too much, everything will be fine.”, Aichi replied.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.(Yeah, mama says don’t worry so don’t worry.)”, Soul Saver said.

They sweat dropped and Aichi surprisingly didn’t seem that worried. It was extremely unlike him. Likely being affected by Soul Saver’s whimsical mood.

“Guys I’m scared…”, Kamui said, sweating nervously seeing how much of an impact Soul Saver’s emotions were making on him now.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 24 The Mechanical Menace Mechalodan
Aichi’s current team
Level 51 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 49 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 48 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 50 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Swords dance

Level 48 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

“Oh, my Arceus! This is horrible! What in the world was I thinking!? This isn’t fine! None of this is fine! Keeping my emotions in check is one thing, but a baby?!”, Aichi completely panicked, holding his head as everyone sweat dropped.

“Y-yeah...Miwa you’re definitely right.”, Misaki said as her eye twitched.

“He sure regained his senses quick…”, Kourin commented.

After they got to the top after busting the ceiling open one thing became clear. Aichi is indeed a pregnant woman. You see as soon as he recalled Soul Saver he suddenly regained his reason and realized just how horrible the link is.

Miwa laughed uncontrollably seeing Aichi completely freak out.

“This isn’t funny. We’re dead we’re so dead.”, Kamui said.

“Lighten up, Kamui it can’t be that bad.”, Miwa replied.

“You don’t understand! You haven’t seen him angry…”, Kamui replied.

“Is he alright…?”, Gunji asked, conscious again.

“No.”, Kai replied.

“We are all going to freaking die because of an egg baby...An egg baby!”, Misaki thought, face palming.

“Death by egg baby. What a way to go.”, Kamui said as he cried comedically.

“You think they're freaking out Miwa? Aichi is way worse…”, Kai commented, sweat dropping.

Alfred desperately tried to calm Aichi down without much luck.

“It will be fine Aichi we just have to raise Soul Saver to be a respectable Pokémon.”, Alfred said.

“What about it in the meantime?! I’m gonna completely lose it before that happens! You know how mad Soul Saver gets!”, Aichi replied, full of panic.

“Aichi I think you need to chill.”, Miwa said.

“How can I chill?! I don’t wanna…”, Aichi trailed off, remembering very well what would happen if he got angry.

“That’s why you need to chill. If you keep freaking out you're going to lose control. Just take a deep breath.”, Alfred replied.

Aichi took several deep breaths trying his best to remain calm. Then, they were attacked by barbarians again. Kai and Miwa threw out their Pokémon since they still had some juice. Aichi brandished Alfred getting into a sword stance.

“Aichi what are you doing? That ghost isn’t fighting again right?”, Miwa questioned.

The barbarians swung towards Aichi with a club. He side stepped them and nailed them with Alfred’s pommel. Kai and Miwa eyes widened in shock realizing Aichi could fight on his own. Aichi took another breath easily dodging another causing them to trip over each other. He then hit them with Alfred’s pommel too knocking them out.

“Woah...that was badass!”, Miwa gasped.

“Of course, I taught him the greatest sword style in the world! Galarian royal swordplay!”, Alfred boasted, with a hardy laugh as they all sweat dropped.

“I know where those scientists are.”, Gunji said, getting up.

They all turned their attention to Gunji.

“They are housed inside the dormant Tachikaze volcano.”, Gunji said as he pointed in the distance.

“Is there any way to reverse what happened to the people?”, Aichi asked.

“I don’t know…”, Gunji answered, looking down as his shoulders slumped.

Misaki put her hand on his shoulder.

“I’ve been there. We’ll see if we can still make everything alright.”, Misaki said.

Aichi looked towards the volcano with a determined look.

“Let’s go.”, Aichi said as he pointed Alfred’s blade to the volcano.

“Wasn’t he just freaking out like...5 seconds ago?”, Gunji questioned.

“He’s a mama that’s why.”, Kamui replied, sweat dropping.

They flew over to the volcano on Kai’s and Miwa’s Pokémon.

In the lab…

“003v...just what kind of monster is he? He’s completely foiled my plan.”, the scientist growled.

“That’s why I warned you to not underestimate him. He is Gin’s boy after all.”, a shadowy figure said on a monitor.

“Well I have one last thing to stop them. Release Mechalodan!”, he ordered the other scientists.

“Are you sure sir?!”, the other scientist questioned shaking.

“Don’t question me or you’ll be the next experiment!”, the scientist growled as the others jumped.

“R-releasing Mechalodan!”, one said.

Outside the lab…

They grabbed tightly onto their Pokémon mounts as the volcano shook.

“Ahh! I thought you said this thing wasn’t active!?”, Kamui yelled.

They gasped as the volcano billowed smoke and the ground behind the lab started to crumble. Out from the volcano bursted out a massive figure revealing exposed lava beneath the volcano. The figure was silver and reptilian in look. It had a massive shell on its back like Carracosta. The shell was lined with spikes like Omastar. It had spikes on its head like Rampardos. It had frilly looking things off the sides of its neck like Aurorus. It had wings like Aerodactyl. Its tail and legs were like Dracozolt. It’s face was shaped like Tyrantrum’s with red and black eyes instead. To top it all off it was covered in of some sort of metal armor. It had two massive cannons on its back and two smaller ones on its arms. It’s chest had some sort of hatch that looked like it opened up.

“What the fuck?!”, Kamui questioned, incredulously.

“Why does all this weird stuff always happen around me…”, Aichi trailed off.

“Tremble and piss yourself before the ultimate Pokémon! Mechalodan! The perfect fusion of the dna of Pokémon for the ancient past and technology! Now, get them Mechalodan and capture the blue haired boy.”, the scientist boasted from the speakers of the lab.

Mechalodan let out a loud roar which caused the area around them to tremble.

“Nonsense.”, Kai replied.

“What do you mean by nonsense!?!? Team Asteroid’s science is the greatest!”, the scientist questioned.

Kai landed Overlord and recalled it as a second bracelet he had glowed. The energy funneled into the Poké ball making it massive he threw it out with both hands. Overlord grew massive and it’s wings were replaced with flaming ones. It’s belly and knees now had diamond designs. Fire shot out of its collar bones and horns. It’s eyes glowed like fire along with its mouth. Everyone gasped incredulously at the transformation.

“ Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! (You see your wrong there scientist! I’m the ultimate Pokémon!)”, Overlord boasted, his voice shaking the area.

“Overlord use G-max wildfire.”, Kai ordered.

“Megalodan use your matter destroyer cannon!”, the scientist ordered.

Overlord breathed a massive amount of fire from its huge mouth shaped like a phoenix. The hatches on Megalodan’s chest opened up shooting twin blasts. The massive attacks collided as the entire area including the town shook.

“This is crazy!!!!”, Kamui yelled, clinging onto Vortex for dear life.

“You idiots are gonna destroy everything including the laboratory!!!”, Misaki yelled, as she clung to Berserker.

They had to shield their eyes from the blinding light their attacks let off. They were able to finally open them again to see the two behemoths still standing and the entire volcano reduced to rubble. Everyone gasped in horror at the destruction minus Kai.

“You psycho! You could have killed us!”, Kamui yelled.

“Your fine enough to yell.”, Kai replied.

Aichi sweated nervously from beside Kai looking up at the massive beasts.

“How do we win? They seem equally matched?”, Aichi questioned.

“ Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! (I am matched by no Pokémon!)”, Overlord bellowed as it slapped Mechalodan with its tail.

As Mechalodon fell over it blasted Overlord with its cannons as the ground continued to shake.

“We have to find another way this battle will kill everyone!”, Aichi pleaded.

“The only other option is surrendering.”, Kai replied.

“There’s got to be another way! We’ve still gotta save the citizens!”, Aichi replied before reaching for a Poké ball.

“What will you do?”, Alfred asked, going back into Aichi’s hand.

Aichi threw out Soul Saver much to everyone’s surprise. Soul Saver lowered itself down as Aichi jumped onto its back.

“Ah, now you finally have a steed though your still missing armor my young king.”, Alfred commented.

“I’ll worry about that later.”, Aichi replied.

Soul Saver got up again letting out a roar before running towards the laboratory. It was like they were in complete sync.

“He’s going in there alone?!”, Kourin questioned.

“He doesn’t have much of a choice most of our Pokémon aren’t in any condition to fight.”, Misaki said as she looked down worriedly at Aichi riding off.

In the lab…

“003v is coming in here?! It would be perfect if most of my weapons hadn’t been wiped out!”, the scientist said.

“Ah, 003v is a smart one he probably realized he can stop Mechalodan by defeating you.”, the shadowy figure on his monitor.

“I will not allow it! To think 003v would push me this far first unleashing Mechalodan now this!”, the scientist said as he got out a capsule.

“B-but sure the prototype hasn’t been perfected yet!”, another scientist gasped.

“It’s either that or failing Team Asteroid.”, the scientist said before pressing the button on the capsule.

With Aichi…

The lab shook as Mechalodan and Overlord continued to battle. Soul Saver dodged and shot dragon pulses from its mouth at the falling debris.

With the others…

Overlord and Mechalodan clawed at each other and got into a grapple.

“I don’t know about this Kai. I think Aichi’s right this whole place is gonna be destroyed...”, Miwa said, sweating nervously as more tremors rocked the land.

“Yeah, at this rate there will be no people left to save from Team Asteroid!”, Kamui yelled.

“Overlord just keep Mechalodan in place.”, Kai ordered.

Overlord matched its strength to Mechalodan's, keeping them in a grapple.

With Aichi…

Soul Saver burst through the lab door ramming the door with its head making it fly off its hinges. What greeted them was a more than surprising sight. Before them stood a person in some sort of armor. It seemed organic and covered in orange scales. It had spikes on its shoulders and two horns on its head. It’s feet and arms were clawed like a Pokémon. It had a hatch in its chest like Mechalodan. It had black gauntlets, greaves, shoulder pads that looked shell-like. Its eyes were red and it didn’t have a mouth. With the strange figure was some scientists hiding in the background and two monitors one had the others on it and the other a shadowy figure.

“This is the fruits of my labor, my true aspiration to evolve humanity, the Biomon armor. I have searched for a long time with many accidents creating a regression instead. Through my research I have found this answer all funded by the wonderful Team Asteroid!”, the scientist boasted.

“I was joking about the armor.”, Alfred said.

“So, you're the guy behind this?”, Aichi asked.

“Yes, I am the genius doctor Kaputo!”, Dr. Kaputo replied.

“I’m gonna stop you. Hopefully you're only being controlled.”, Aichi replied, holding up Alfred.

“You cannot defeat me boy! I am the most genius scientist in Team Asteroid!”, Dr. Kaputo boasted as organic blades slid out the sides of the gauntlets.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! (Ew! That looks gross!)”, Soul Saver said.

Aichi looked a little green as well, but ignored it.

“Soul Saver use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver shot blue energy at Dr. Kaputo he dodged running forward. He slashed at Aichi who blocked with Alfred’s blade. Soul Saver spun around knocking Dr.Kaputo over with its tail. Dr.Kaputo got back up for another slash and crashed against axe-like tusks. Soul Saver head butted the doctor making him stagger back. Aichi rushes forward slashing at him with Alfred. It did some damage to the armor. They looked in horror when the armor healed itself. Using this distraction the doctor punched Aichi off Soul Saver. Aichi fell letting out a pained gasp when he hit the back of his head, some blood leaked from it. Soul Saver roared angrily seeing this. Its eyes glowed and it was surrounded in a dark blue aura. It pounced onto the doctor slashing at the doctor wildly and bit him.

“Aichi!”, Alfred called out, hovering over him.

Aichi put his hand on his head letting out a pained groan. Soul Saver ripped off the armor with its teeth and claws faster than it could regenerate.

“You have to stop Soul Saver before she kills him!”, Alfred told him.

Aichi felt his head ringing as he staggered to get up. His vision was blurry and he could barely register what Alfred was saying. He felt an extreme anger suddenly fill him seemingly out of nowhere. Alfred grew increasingly worried when Aichi didn’t respond before he suddenly heard a growl coming from him. Then, Alfred remembered the link.

“Well fuck.” , Alfred said.

A dark blue aura surrounded Aichi as he glared at the doctor as his vision cleared.

“He’s not worth it...”, Aichi said, sounding pained before Soul Saver suddenly stopped.

The doctor trembled as the armor was scattered across the room. He jumped when Aichi walked up to him. He was especially chilled by the uncharacteristically sinister smirk on this face.

“I-I!”, Dr.Kaputo tried to say.

“Your wrong.”, Aichi said, his voice sounding deeper.

“Aichi?”, Alfred questioned, noticing the chilling vibe from before return.

“There’s nothing ultimate about that toaster you call an ultimate Pokémon.”, Aichi continued.

The shadowy figure had a sinister smirk on his face.

“The only ultimate being here is I, 003v.”, 003v finished as the doctor became white as a sheet, especially noticing the similarly sinister look in Soul Saver’s eyes.

The doctors in the background trembled in fear at the proclamation.

“Ah, so you’ve finally reawakened 003v.”, the shadowy figure said with delight.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 25 Goodbye Tachikaze Town

Aichi’s current team
Level 51 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 49 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 48 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 50 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Swords dance

Level 48 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Mechalodan suddenly came to a stop.

“Aichi was right! He must’ve beaten that jerk!”, Kamui said.

“Hmph.”, was Kai’s response as he recalled Overlord.

He frowned looking down a bit.

“I hope everyone is alright. Hopefully there’s a cure for whatever those scientists did.”, Gunji said before glaring at Kai.

“What were you thinking you could’ve killed all of us!”, he said, angrily as Kai walked towards the laboratory.

“Whatever...I never claimed I was a hero.”, Kai replied.

“Kai…”, Miwa trailed off, running after him.

With 003v…

“Aichi you have to get a hold of yourself! Remember what you’ve been fighting for!”, Alfred said.

“Silence, my name isn’t Aichi it’s 003v!”, 003v replied.

“No, you are Sendou Aichi, son of Shizuka and an aspiring trainer trying to defeat Team Asteroid.”, Alfred replied.

“No, it’s 003v.”, 003v insisted as Soul Saver hissed at Alfred.

“No! Remember this is exactly what you were afraid of! I remember you telling me how scared you are of this happening!”, Alfred replied.

003v grabbed his head, wincing in pain. His head was still ringing and it hurt like a lot. His mind felt like a complete mess.

“Give him aid now.”, the shadowy figure ordered as the scientists hastily complied bringing him to the medical room.

As soon as they left Alfred put his blade to their throats.

“You will also heal up his other Pokémon besides me. I’m staying out.”, Alfred threatened.

They sweated nervously compiling and healing Aichi’s Pokémon including Soul Saver. 003v was put in the medical bed and a cloth was wrapped around his head. He felt his mind swirling.

“Y-you will turn the people back.”, Aichi said as Alfred looked very relieved.

Though, soon after he collapsed in the bed. Everyone had rushed inside to the laboratory. Misaki threatens one of the scientists into telling them where Aichi is. They got into the medical room and they instantly ran up to him. Kai stood back paling when he saw Aichi.

“What happened to him?!”, Kourin asked.

Alfred explained to them what happened when Aichi got into the lab.

“Damn it! Why do you always keep trying to do everything yourself! Your so stupid!”, Misaki yelled at the unconscious Aichi before tears fell from her eyes.

“I should have gone with him.”, Kamui said.

“Don’t feel bad. You couldn’t have done much without your Pokémon.”, Miwa replied.

“Ahh...would you guys shut up…”, 003v grumbled as they jumped in shock.

“You alright Aichi?!”, Kamui replied worriedly.

“Huh…? Kamui? Where are we?”, Aichi questioned, full of confusion as he closed his eyes do to light straining them.

“Umm…”, Kamui replied, very confused.

“Stop talking Aichi we need...to sleep.”, 003v said as everyone looked very confused.

They noted his tone and behavior flipping like a switch on and off. And him talking about himself in the third person.

“He’s not alright at all. You think it was the blow to the head?”, Misaki asked.

“It’s possible. He mumbled something about his head swirling while he was asleep.”, Alfred replied.

“How am I supposed to sleep with my head like this? Ow...it hurts…”, Aichi winced, uncomfortably as he tried to find some sort of comfortable position.

“Well...maybe if you stopped being such a dumbass...we wouldn’t be in this situation…”, 003v replied, pained.

They all sweat dropped at Aichi essentially having a conversation with himself. Not just himself, but his brainwashed evil self.

“Yeah, he’s not fine.”, Miwa agreed.

“Maybe we could sleep if your idiot friends got out here…”, 003v added.

“We’re not idiots.”, Kamui replied.

“You are if your friends with this loser…”, 003v replied.

“Don’t talk about Aichi that way uhh…”, Kamui trailed off, very confused on what to calm him.

“Gosh...why are you so mean all the time? Calm down, just like the first time I met you.”, Aichi told 003v.

“First time?!”, Misaki questioned.

“Uh...it’s a long story...but when I was possessed... I like met him in a place that I think is my head or something…”, Aichi answered.

“When did this happen?!”, Misaki questioned, incredulously.

“Ah, when I possessed him the first time. When we met.”, Alfred replied as they all then looked at Alfred.

“It’s complicated...but Alfred is good now…”, Aichi said.

Gunji was completely lost at what was going on and felt very awkward.

“Should I walk out?”, Gunji questioned as they remembered he didn’t know anything about what’s going on.

“Ah sure…”, Miwa replied, awkwardly.

“Ahem...you possessed him Alfred?!”, Kourin said.

“You’ve seen it before.”, Alfred replied.

“What was the first time about?!”, Kourin questioned.

Alfred ended up awkwardly explaining when he met Aichi.

“And Aichi actually trusts you?!”, Misaki questioned.

“That’s exactly what Wingal said.”, Alfred replied.

Kai walked over to Aichi who still seemed pretty uncomfortable squirming the bed.

“Don’t move too much.”, Kai said to him as Aichi nodded.

“Don’t you trust his judgement?”, Alfred asked.

“Considering how often his judgement keeps getting compromised. No.”, Misaki replied.

“It’s fine Misaki…”, Aichi trailed off.

“We can’t keep him here, this place is run by Team Asteroid. They’ll probably come in any minute now to take him.”, Miwa said.

“They do have a healer here you can heal your Pokémon then perhaps Kourin can heal him with her Gardevior.”, Alfred suggested.

“Just because you make good suggestions doesn’t mean I’m not still mad at you.”, Misaki replied.

They all went to heal up their Pokémon with Kourin going first so she could heal Aichi. She went over to Aichi with Ashlei who raised her hands over him emitting healing energy. Aichi smiled as he started to feel a bit better.

“Thank you, Kourin…”, Aichi thanked, softly as Kourin blushed lightly.

“It’s nothing…”, Kourin replied looking away.

After a few minutes Aichi felt perfectly fine and back to normal. He got up pretty easily smiling at Kourin. His head didn’t feel all weird anymore.

“Okay. We all need to go quick before more of Team Asteroid gets here.”, Aichi said, after taking a breath.

They all left the laboratory with their Pokémon finally recharged. They were very relieved to see the citizens had been returned to their former states however fossil Pokémon still roamed around.

“Thank you all very much. I salute you.”, Gunji said as he saluted them.

“It’s nothing.”, Aichi replied.

“Especially, since a certain psycho caused a bunch of earthquakes…”, Kamui grumbled.

“I don’t think Kai realized how destructive the clash would be. He might be a strong trainer, but he’s really bad at thinking things through.”, Miwa replied.

“Whatever you say. I think we should just go to Palesville on foot.”, Kamui replied.

Aichi looked over to Kai, not really sure on what to decide. Kamui and Miwa both had a valid point. What Kai did was very irresponsible, but it seems like he’s realized that and won’t do it again. Besides he didn’t realize how strong Alfred’s attack was going to be and nearly hit Kourin.

“Maybe...you can give him a chance.”, Aichi said.

“Are you serious?!”, Kamui questioned.

“Just one. Though, I don’t think he’ll do it again.”, Aichi replied.

“Why do you seem so sure?”, Kamui questioned.

“I don’t think Kai’s used that power before. Giganta maxing comes from Galar. It’s completely under Team Asteroid’s rule though it's possible Kai just happened to get his hands on one of the bands still floating around especially with Team Asteroid floating all around Kakusa. He could have just taken off one of the members who came from Galar.”, Aichi replied.

“Where did you get that?”, Miwa asked.

“I got it from winning a bunch of matches in the underground earlier today. That’s why I went there.”, Kai explained.

“See.”, Aichi replied as Kamui relented.

“Fine! For now. Your ghost sword is still shady though.”, Kamui replied.

“Alfred’s changed since then.”, Aichi replied.

“Man! I’d like to battle Gunji, but Team Asteroid could be here any minute. I’ll just have to do it later.”, Kamui said.

“Well, look at it this way Kamui by the time we’re done with Team Asteroid all the gyms will be a breeze for you.”, Miwa chuckled.

“You’ve got that right. But, it won’t be as fun that way. Ah! Whatever, let’s go to Palesville!”, Kamui replied.

They flew off to the site of the next gym though it was getting rather dark. They ended up making camp for the night. Aichi was glad to finally make use of the tent and all the other camping stuff he had packed. Kamui had some stuff as well so they had two tents: one for the girls and one for the boys. Kai and Miwa got some wood and Overlord started the fire with flamethrower. Aichi sat down in his sleeping bag. It was a bit of a tighter squeeze than the girls tent. Aichi brought up his phone as Kamui looked at it next to him.

“Are you gonna call your mom again?”, Kamui asked.

“Yeah, I do every night though I’ll have to go out to do it.”, Aichi replied as Kamui jumped when seeing his lock screen.

“What?”, Aichi questioned, when Kamui put his face up to the screen.

“Y-you have a girlfriend?!”, Kamui questioned.

“W-what?!”, Aichi replied, in shock.

“Aichi has a girlfriend no way! Is she cute?”, Miwa asked, going to look at the phone.

“Guys…”, Aichi tried to tell them.

“Ah, she’s pretty cute. Nice.”, Miwa said.

“She looks just like Ime...Aichi we may be but we may have to duel.”, Kamui said.

“She’s my sister not my girlfriend.”, Aichi replied.

“W-what?!”, they questioned.

“She’s my sister. My little sister. This picture was taken on our first day of school.”, Aichi explained.

They both looked at the picture again recognizing Aichi had on a grey Hitsue middle school uniform and Emi had on a Miyaji elementary uniform. They had their school bags and stood in front of the door.

“Brother!”, Kamui said to Aichi who looked at him like he was insane.

“What?! I’m not your brother?”, Aichi replied, incredulously.

“I have always thought of you like a brother because you’re one of the coolest guys I know.” , Kamui replied as he got up into Aichi’s face.

“Simp.”, they heard Misaki say muffled from the other tent.

Aichi and Miwa sweat dropped realizing they heard all of that.

“Wanna back rub brother?”, Kamui asked.

“Kamui please…”, Aichi said as he felt like face palming.

“Is that a yes?”, Kamui asked.

“No! I’m just gonna leave for a sec.”, Aichi replied.

Aichi walked out of the tent taking a breath before looking for his mom’s contact. After a few rings she picked up.

“Oh, it’s a little later than usual did your training with Alfred run late?”, Shizuka asked over the phone.

“No, I’m not in the castle now.”, Aichi said as he then explained, everything that happened.

“You should have stayed there. You’d be safe.”, Shizuka said.

“I know...but you I can’t just sit around while Team Asteroid terrorizes everyone. Speaking of that is everything alright back home? Are you and Emi safe?”, Aichi replied.

“Team Asteroid has mostly ignored this town. It’s not like we have a gym leader. There mostly just to the south where the Pokémon migrate into here.”, Shizuka explained.

“They're still close. Maybe you guys should go to Gold Maine I know it’s far but...”, Aichi replied, with a hint of worry.

“Trust me if I see them in the town we’ll leave. Though, it may be a bit hard they’ve retaken Megacolony town.”, Shizuka replied.

“Maybe Mr.Mark can help you.”, Aichi suggested.

“I will think about that. Heh, we’re really more alike than I thought so how is your baby doing?”, Shizuka asked.

“Soul Saver is fine now. She got really upset when I got hurt though she’s cooled down a bit.”, Aichi replied.

“Soul Saver is a girl?!”, he heard Kamui gasp a bit away.

“Plot twist.”, Miwa replied.

Aichi couldn’t help, but laugh a bit after hearing them.

“Those must be your friends.”, Shizuka replied.

“Yeah, that’s them.”, Aichi replied.

“I hope you’ll be, safe baby. I would tell you not to get into trouble, but I know you won’t listen.”, Shizuka replied as Aichi blushed embarrassingly.

“Bye mom.”, Aichi replied.

“Bye baby!”, Shizuka replied, before Kamui and Miwa erupted in laughter.

“Did she have to say it so loud?”, Aichi said as his face was red with embarrassment.

“It’s a mom’s job to embarrass their kids. I’m sure you’ll do it with Soul Saver.”, Miwa replied.

“How do you know Soul Saver’s a girl? How can you tell?”, Kamui asked.

“Well...at Alfred’s castle they checked her. She’s the only girl Pokémon I have the rest are guys.”, Aichi answered.

“I guess the rest just told you that.”, Miwa replied.

“Yeah.”, Aichi replied.

Aichi got back down into his sleeping bag. They eventually all fell asleep for the night.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 26 The Palesville Showdown
Aichi’s current team
Level 51 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 49 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 48 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 50 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Swords dance

Level 48 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Before everyone else woke up Aichi did his morning routine with Alfred. After everyone else woke up they continued to Palesville. Palesville seemed surprisingly chill. It was bigger than most of the other towns and would become a bustling city in the near future. There were many new buildings under construction and it seemed rather colorful. There seemed to be a lot of weird art pieces around and people dressed in very up to date fashion. Aichi kinda felt like they stuck out here a bit. He also couldn’t help, but wonder why Team Asteroid ignored this town. It has a gym like many of the others. They looked around for the gym and Aichi got an eerie feeling.

“Something about this place feels off. Everything seems too alright here and unlike Gold Maine it’s not heavily defended.”, Aichi thought, as he really looked at the people here.

He noticed some eyes seemed to be on him and the moment he looked back they looked away.

“Maybe I’m just being paranoid...They're probably looking at us because we stick out.”, Aichi thought.

Though, he couldn’t shake this feeling like something was off. He remembered this feeling it was like when he first went to Alfred’s castle. They eventually made it before the gym. It was a rather sparkly building and was weirdly shaped. It had a very artsy looking fairy type symbol likely painted onto the building.

“Looks like you can’t use your egg baby for this one bro.”, Kamui said.

“This isn’t going to stop isn’t it?”, Aichi questioned, sweat dropping.

“I dunno what you mean bro.”, Kamui replied.

Everyone sweat dropped and Aichi just went into the gym. They covered his eyes from the obviously colorful star shaped lights that shined in their faces. The gym seemed to be designed like a stage inside with the battle area on the stage. There were several rows of people in the audience clapping for a redheaded teen with purple eyes and blue suit. They sweat dropped as he made a dramatic pose for the audience which was met with up roaring applause.

“Bido Kiriya, he’s still eccentric.”, Misaki said.

“He’s the gym leader here.”, Kourin added.

“So...do we just wait for him or…”, Aichi pondered, before Kiriya seemed to beckon him onto the stage.

Aichi looked around to the others to see if he was beckoning someone else. He pointed at himself to make sure and Kiriya nodded. Aichi nervously walked up to the stage. The others looked a bit conscious seeing how he seemed to call Aichi up.

Aichi tried not to look at the audience feeling very anxious at the idea of battling for a crowd.

“Nice to finally meet you. My name is Bido Kiriya.”, Kiriya introduced.

“Uh...my name is Sendou Aichi. Wait...what do you mean by finally?”, Aichi replied.

“I have heard quite a lot about Sendou Aichi. How could I have not? You’ve been going from town to town and defeating Team Asteroid with your friends.”, Kiriya explained.

“I guess so...I didn’t know people outside the towns really knew.”, Aichi replied.

“Well the internet does exist after all word travels around fast.”, Kiriya replied.

“That makes sense.”, Aichi replied.

“Since, Team Asteroid isn’t here you must obviously be here for a gym battle.”, Kiriya replied.

“Yeah...I am.”, Aichi replied, still feeling a bit skeptical.

“Then we shall battle! Go, Mawile!”, Kiriya replied.

“Go, Ahmes!”, Aichi called out.

Ahmes prepared a fighting stance instantly. Kiriya smiled seeing what Aichi had thrown out.

“Mawile use play rough!”, Kiriya ordered.

“Ahmes use swords dance!”, Aichi ordered.

Mawile tried to chomp at Ahmes it’s second mouth, but Ahmes dodged out of the way and started the swords dance. Mawile chases down Ahmes getting a few hits in and some hits Ahmes blocked with his blades.

“Ahmes use close combat!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes pushes back Mawile going into an all out attack slicing Mawile repetitively with it’s blades. Ahmes sent a final slash knocking out Mawile.

“Very impressive Sendou Aichi. Now go, Mr. Mime!”, Kiriya said, throwing out his next Pokémon.

“Ahmes use swords dance.”, Aichi ordered.

“Mr. Mime use dazzling gleam.”, Kiriya ordered as Mr.Mime lit up the stage with pink light.

Ahmes jumped out of the way of the light. It started using swords dance again.

“Ahmes can’t get in close with that attack being used.”, Misaki said.

“Yeah, it was like when he fought Amaterasu.”, Kamui replied.

“What do I do? I’ll have to recall Ahmes he can’t fight from a distance.”, Aichi thought.

“Gallade. Gallade.Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.Gallade. (That light won’t last forever and the attack is continuously draining Mr.Mime’s energy.)”, Ahmes said.

“Your right.”, Aichi said as he noticed Mr.Mime starting to tire.

The second the light dissipated Ahmes charged forward with blinding speed.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes slashed at Mr.Mime multiple times before it could use dazzling gleam again. Mr.Mime fell to the ground fainting. Kiriya recalled Mr.Mime and clapped.

“Very good. You are definitely as powerful as I’ve heard.”, Kiriya said.

“Thanks, though I don’t think I’m that strong.”, Aichi replied.

“To get this far you would have to be powerful. Go, Mimikyu!”, Kiriya replied.

“Mimikyu use play rough!”, Kiriya ordered.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes tried to slash at Mimikyu, but it was a very small target. It jumped around as Ahmes tried to hit it. It slammed its tail into Ahmes as he tried to slash at it. Ahmes blocked the second tail strike with its blade before slashing at Mimikyu. Mimikyu was send flying back a bit before it jumped at Ahmes again.

“Ahmes use future sight.”, Aichi ordered, before Ahmes dodged out of the way of Mimikyu.

Mimikyu rushed at Ahmes again, but was dodged. While Mimikyu was mid air Ahmes slashed at it with solar blade once more making it crash to the ground. Mimikyu charged at Ahmes one last time as Ahmes hit it with a wave of psychic energy from future sight. Mimikyu was sent flying back and fainted.

“Looks like Aichi wins.”, Miwa commented as Kiriya smiled.

“Now, let’s see how special you really are.”, Kiriya said as he revealed a very similar looking bracelet it glowed with light that was channeled into the Poké ball he held out.

Everyone gasped in surprise seeing what Kiriya was about to do. The Poké ball grew and Kiriya threw it forward with both hands.

“Go, Grimmsnarl!”, Kiriya called out, as Grimmsnarl grew massive.

The ceiling of the gym was obliterated and Grimmsnarl towered over them like a titan. They sweated nervously looking up at the colossal Pokémon.

“W-what are you doing?! It could destroy the whole city!”, Aichi replied full on panic.

“It doesn’t matter much anyway after all these people are only dolls being manipulated.”, Kiriya replied as on cue the ‘people’ all slumped like puppets that had their strings cut.

“Grimmsnarl ! Grimmsnarl! Grimmsnarl! Grimmsnarl! Grimmsnarl! Grimmsnarl! Grimmsnarl! Grimmsnarl! (It wasn’t that hard to fool you stupid humans! They just had to look human enough to fool you!)”, Grimmsnarl said as it looked down at them it’s voice alone causing the town to shake.

“Where’s the real citizens then?!”, Aichi questioned.

“I’m sure you’ve run into some before. You see they are all working for Team Asteroid now.”, Kiriya answered.

“So, you're being controlled now too?”, Misaki asked.

“As if! I joined Team Asteroid willing to get rid of all the filthy weakling trash stinking up this beautiful region. It’s filled to the brim with sniveling cowards who fled their own region in fear of Team Asteroid.”, Kiriya replied.

“You can’t be serious! Kakusa is one of the last regions left that hasn’t been taken over by Team Asteroid. And you just want to take away one of the last sanctuaries left from their rule for a reason like that?!”, Aichi questioned.

“I wouldn’t expect a sniveling coward like you to understand Galarian. Though, it’s not like you’d know much about your home region considering you fled. You were supposed to be in Galar by your father, the boss’s side yet you ran from that! You could have ruled the world!”, Kiriya replied as he pointed at Aichi.

“I don’t wanna rule the world! I just...I just want to be happy with all my friends! I want the world to return to peace!”, Aichi replied.

“Yeah, not everyone’s a power hungry sociopath like you!”, Kamui said to Kiriya.

Kiriya laughed at them as the others tensed preparing to send out their Pokémon.

“You're such a fool. You don’t deserve that power you were blessed with. What’s the point when you don’t use it? Instead you just want everyone to hold hands and play nice however the world isn’t really like that.”, Kiriya replied.

“I disagree! Sure things can get bad! They can get really bad! But there’s so many good things in the world worth protecting!”, Aichi replied, determinedly.

“Then, let’s see who’s beliefs shine through! How will your friendship withstand absolute power! Go, Grimmsnarl, destroy them! Use g-max snooze!”, Kiriya replied.

Grimmsnarl sent dark energy at them as Ahmes quickly grabbed Aichi moving him out of harm’s way. Then others ran, throwing out a Pokémon to ride out of the crumbling gym. Kai flew on Overlord, Miwa flew on Dauntless, Kamui rode on Tough Boy’s back, Misaki flew on Guardian and Kourin rode on Garmore. They were back in the town. With each step Grimmsnarl made the town shook. Kiriya rode on Grimmsnarl’s shoulder and the entire gym had been obliterated. Aichi grabbed his Poké balls throwing out the rest of his Pokémon.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! (Holy crap! That guy’s huge!)”, Llew said, sweating nervously.

“Lucario. Lucario. (It must be a gigantamax.)”, Gancelot said.

“ Haxorus? Haxorus? (How do I get that big?)”, Soul Saver asked.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Aichi doesn’t even have one of the bracelets you need.)”, Wingal replied.

“Hax! (Aw!)”, Soul Saver replied.

“Another gigantamax these people aren’t being careful at all with them!”, Alfred said.

“Yeah, I know I don’t know how we’re going to beat that thing. But, we’ve gotta try! Kiriya is on it so trying to knock him out doesn’t seem like a option.”, Aichi said.

“Gallade? Gallade? Gallade?(So, what shall we do my vanguard?)”, Ahmes asked.

“The only thing I can think of is to just attack it with everything we have. There’s no civilians here so we don’t have to worry about them.”, Aichi replied.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! (Alright, let’s hit it till it faints!)”, Llew said.

“That seems like the only thing we can do.”, Alfred said as he floated into Aichi’s hand.

In the distance he saw everyone else getting out their Pokémon to fight. Overlord appeared onto the battlefield behind Grimmsnarl now in its Gigantamax form.

Somewhere near Palesville a carrier Dragonite carried some sort of packages.

“We’ll have to fight from a distance to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.”, Kourin said as Misaki nodded.

“What’s that thing even weak to?”, Kamui asked.

“Poison, steel, and fairy.”, Misaki replied as Kamui sweat dropped.

“I don’t have any of those types!”, Kamui replied.

“Ashlei use moonblast! Bridgette use toxic! Nemain use fire blast! Salome use steel wing! Garmore use hyper beam!”, Kourin ordered as her Pokémon sent their respective attacks.

“Ahh! Alright let’s go I won’t let type stop me! Kaiser use hyper beam! Buster use fire blast! Tough Boy use hyper beam! Mr. Invincible use strength! Shout use hyper beam! Hatred Chaos use hyper beam!”, Kamui ordered as his Pokémon sent their respective attacks.

“Assista Eevee use dazzling gleam! Amaterasu use dazzling gleam! Tom use dazzling gleam! Guardian use flash cannon! Sakuya use moonblast! Coco use dazzling gleam!”, Misaki ordered as her Pokémon sent their respective attacks.

Misaki definitely seemed to be doing the most damage to Grimmsnarl out of the three due to her super effective attacks. However, she had nothing on Overlord who sent a flood of fire at Grimmsnarl. Grimmsnarl sent dark energy at Overlord mostly focusing on it.

Aichi rode on Soul Saver brandishing Alfred as his Pokémon sent out their attacks. Ahmes sent waves of psychic energy. Gancelot and Wingal sent sharp rocks at Grimmsnarl. And Llew sent a storm of ice. Grimmsnarl was completely unaffected by dragon moves so Soul Saver wasn’t an option. The only thing she could do is be Aichi’s mount so he could avoid danger though, she was happy to be protecting her mommy. Aichi wielded Alfred for when he needed him.

They noticed the Dragonite in the distance flying over to them wondering what it’s about. Aichi rode over towards the others on Soul Saver as the Dragonite landed. The Dragonite sent down a case and held out a monitor. On the screen appeared Esuka much to their shock.

“It’s been awhile, but we don’t have time for that. I am giving these to you so you can improve your Pokémon’s power further. I don’t know when you will get these, but hopefully it’s fast.”, Esuka said on the screen before it cut off.

Misaki opened the box to reveal 3 mega rings: one blue, one green, and one orange.

“These are mega rings.”, Misaki said as she handed them to Aichi and Kamui.

“Don’t we need mega stones for these?”, Aichi asked.

“Right here.”, Misaki said, as the other package had 6 mega stones they were for: Gallade, Lucario, Gardevior, Metagross, Tyranitar, and Blazekin.

“Ah!!! If only Kaiser was Tyranitar!”, Kamui said, before he was passed some rare candies from the third package.

“Let’s go!”, Kamui said, giving all the candies to Kaiser.

Kaiser was finally enveloped in the light of evolution. It had become much larger and turned green. It grew arms, legs, and a tail. Also, it had spikes down its back.

Aichi held up the mega bracelet on his wrist a bit nervously having never used one before.

“Alright. Ahmes. Gancelot.”, Aichi said as the two of them stood ready.

Grimmsnarl looked over as light came from the area they were in. Before it could launch an attack at them it was clawed at by Overlord.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 27 A New Power! Mega Evolution!

Aichi’s current team
Level 52 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 49 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 48 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 50 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Swords dance

Level 48 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Ahmes now had a cape and it’s blades grew longer now lined with red. His upper body was now white and the fin on his head curved.

The black patterns on Gancelot’s face and body changed. He now had a big furry yellow tail and spikes on his legs and an extra set on the back of his paw. All of his paws were now red and the things that flowed out the back of his head were now longer and tipped with red.

Guardian’s legs were now all in front and it continuously floated. It had a spike under its mouth and the x on its face was now longer and golden.

Sakuya now had a second fin on her chest and her hair was shorter. Her dress was now more puffy and her arms were now white.

The spikes on Kaiser’s back were now much longer and parted. It had an extra spike on its head and legs. The thing on its stomach was now red along with its eyes and it’s tail was now longer with spikes.

The fur on the back of Buster’s head now stuck up and it had a spike on its forehead. The pattern on its body had changed and it was black and red. Fire trailed off the sides of its wrists.

They gasped in awe seeing their Pokémon transform once more.

“Haxorus! (That’s so cool!)”, Soul Saver squealed with childish excitement.

“Hehe, I know!”, Aichi replied excitingly.

“Aichi focus.”, Misaki said, sweat dropping at the link activating again.

“Ah. Ah...Yes, we have to defeat Kiriya. L-let’s go guys! Ahmes use solar blade! Gancelot use meteor impact!”, Aichi replied, shaking his head snapping out of it.

The powered up pair charged up at Grimmsnarl. Ahmes slashing at it and Gancelot landing a hard steel punch. The blows caused Grimmsnarl to stumble as the others joined in.

“Guardian use flash cannon! Sakuya use moonblast!”, Misaki ordered as both blasts nailed Grimmsnarl causing it to stumble again.

“Kaiser use hyper beam! Buster use fire blast!”, Kamui ordered as the attacks clashed with Grimmsnarl causing it to stumble once more.

“Now, finish this Ahmes! Gancelot!”, Aichi commanded.

Ahmes and Gancelot jumped up together from a tall building at Grimmsnarl. They both hit Grimmsnarl in the face Ahmes slashing and Gancelot punching. The massive Pokémon finally fell over.

“Ahmes save him!”, Aichi ordered, reading out.

Ahmes stopped Kiriya from falling to his death with his psychic energy.

“How could I lose! To cowards like you!”, Kiriya yelled enraged.

“You're the coward! You actually joined Team Asteroid willingly and gave all the citizens of your town to them!”, Misaki replied, angrily.

“Yeah, were actually trying to fight back against those jerks and you just gave in!”, Kamui added, angrily.

“Seriously, says the guy who lost to Aichi fair and square then threw out a gigantamax Pokémon. Gigantamax is not even allowed in our league.”, Kourin added, with a cold look.

“You!”, Kiriya growled, struggling within the grip of Ahmes powers.

The fairy badge had fallen out while he struggled and Kourin handed it to Aichi.

“Don’t forget you won this.”, Kourin told him.

“Thank you.”, Aichi replied.

“I’ll get my revenge on you cowards! I, the brightest star in Team Asteroid!”, Kiriya threatened.

“Gosh, this guy is really a sore loser.”, Miwa commented as Kiriya fumed.

“I don’t think you’ve looked into a mirror recently, Kiriya.”, Kai replied to Kiriya.

“So, what do we do with him?”, Aichi asked.

“I guess Esuka’s Dragonite can take him.”, Misaki replied.

“Okay. Is that alright?”, Aichi asked Esuka’s Dragonite.

“Dragonite. Dragonite. (It shouldn’t be too tough.)”, Dragonite answered, flying over to Kiriya.

“Thank you.”, Aichi replied as Dragonite picked up Kiriya who continued to struggle.

“Dragonite. Dragonite. Dragonite. Dragonite. (It's no trouble this guy is a lightweight.)”, Dragonite replied.

“I guess we're off to our final destination now, Dai city.”, Miwa said.

“First we should probably heal up our Pokémon there’s probably still a healer in the Pokémon center.”, Misaki replied.

They healed up their Pokémon before setting off again. There weren't any trainers on the way probably due to most people being scared of Team Asteroid. Aichi flinched when he smelled the obnoxious scent of pollution in the distance. He instantly put his fingers on his nose to block the smell.

“What is that?!”, Aichi questioned.

“I know it’s bad, but have you never smelled polluted air before?”, Miwa questioned.

“He’s a country bumpkin he hadn’t even gone to Gold Maine before his adventure.”, Misaki replied.

“Gold Maine didn’t smell bad like this.”, Aichi replied as Kourin handed him and the others masks.

“It’s probably best for you guys to wear these here. The smog here is pretty bad.”, Kourin said.

Aichi wasted no time putting the mask on not being able to stand the smell at all.

“Thank you so much Kourin.”, Aichi replied as he took a breath.

“It’s not a big deal I just have these disposable masks for when I have to perform here.”, Kourin replied.

“Your not even in the city yet.”, Miwa said as they neared it.

There were some officers in the front though they seemed a bit shady. Especially, when they already knew Ren brainwashed all of them. They were a bit conscious as they passed by. When they got in they immediately noticed how crowded and bright the city was. The obnoxious neon lights even pierced through the thick smog in the city. Misaki held Aichi’s hand leading him through the smog as they looked for the gym.

“It’s here!”, Miwa’s called out, finding it.

They followed Miwa to the front of a building that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. It had a glowing neon symbol for the steel type.

“Well, the city may be crappy because of all the pollution, but the gym leader here is actually pretty nice. His name is Mitsusada Kenji.”, Misaki said.

The door to the gym slid open when they stood in front of it and they walked in. Inside of the gym had some rather shady looking individuals. One person stood out , a teen with a long white coat and a black shirt. He had piercings and black hair with purple eyes. Kai narrowed his eyes at them.

“Where’s Kenji?”, Misaki questioned.

“I dunno. But I recognize those shady guys from the underground.”, Miwa replied.

“That’s Mutsuki Jun the king of the underground.”, Kai told them as they gasped in shock.

“It’s been awhile Kai. I was wondering where you went.”, Jun said.

“What are you doing here Jun?”, Kai asked.

“I’m the new gym leader here.”, he said as they gasped in shock.

“When did that happen?!”, Misaki asked.

“After that fool Kenji challenged Ren and lost. He’s been held captive by Team Asteroid for months along with his friends. Apparently the mind control wasn’t working on him or something. Whatever that doesn’t matter to me.”, Jun explained as Misaki growled.

Aichi stood up to Jun as he smirked.

“What? You wanna battle me little boy?”, Jun questioned.

“This kid thinks he can take on Jun!”, one of the thugs laughed before they all started to laugh.

“You have a fierce gaze there kid. I guess I’ll humor you.”, Jun said.

Aichi held out a Poké ball and Jun did too. He no longer needed the mask due to the air inside being much cleaner.

“Beat this jerk bro!”, Kamui yelled, from the sidelines.

“This gym is steel type.”, Misaki told him.

“Go, Gancelot!”, Aichi called out.

“Go, Ferrothorn use stealth rock!”, June called out as spiky rocks covered the battlefield.

“Gancelot use close combat!”, Aichi ordered as Gancelot dashed at it and Jun smirked.

“Watch o-“, Kai was saying before he was cut off.

Gancelot sent a barrage of punches and kicks at Ferrothorn. Aichi looked over, noticing everyone suddenly going quiet. He gasped as it seemed that they were put to sleep by a Hypno.

“What are y-“, Aichi was saying before he was cut off.

“Ferrothorn use explosion.”, Jun ordered as Aichi paled.

Gancelot heard that tried to jump back, but Ferrothorn wrapped its vine-like appendages around him.

“Gancelot!”, Aichi cried out, holding out his hand to Gancelot before they were illuminated in light.

Aichi covered his eyes from the light and heard a loud explosion. Aichi flew back a bit from the force of it. Aichi opened his eyes to see Ferrothorn was gone and Gancelot was severely injured. Aichi hastily ran over to Gancelot without thinking. He was shaking as Gancelot opened his eyes slightly.

“L-Lucario. Lucario. Lucario! (I-It’s fine Aichi. Don’t cry I’ll be ah!)”, Gancelot was saying before crying in pain and fainting.

“G-Gancelot!”, Aichi called out, shaking before he lowered his head and his eyes were shadowed.

“Looks like everything went according to plan. For a kid who’s been such a thorn in Team Asteroid’s side your really gullible.”, Jun said.

“Look at the little baby cry! Has he never lost a Pokémon before!?”, one of the thugs taunted.

They all flinched as the air around them became cold and heavy. They stumbled a bit feeling like they were being choked. Jun looked over to Aichi seeing a dark blue aura flow out of him.

“That’s some impressive stuff. To think just the feeling of power can do this to my guys.”, Jun said.

Aichi didn’t respond to him simply recalling Gancelot. His shaking was completely gone and he stood up with his eyes still shadowed.

“Your going to regret that.”, Aichi said, angrily, his voice becoming deeper and he brought out another Poké ball.

“We’ll see. Go, Steelix!”, Jun called out.

“Go, Soul Saver! You know what to do!”, Aichi called out.

Soul Saver instantly charged as soon as it was brought out. She had a similarly dark blue aura and her eyes glowed. She completely ignored the pain from the stealth rocks.

“Steelix use earthquake!”, Jun ordered.

Soul Saver jumped into the air avoiding the earthquake falling towards Steelix.

“You're such a fool! Steelix use dragon breath!”, Jun ordered.

Steelix shot blue energy from its mouth at Soul Saver. For a split second it’s scales turned blue and it moved out of the way with psychic energy. They all gasped as Soul Saver rammed into Steelix sending the massive Pokémon flying back and stopping the earthquake. Soul Saver charged again as she shot blue energy from her mouth at Steelix as it struggled to get up. Soul Saver swiped at Steelix with its claws and tusks causing it to faint.

“W-what the heck is this kid? Some sort of demon?!”, a thug questioned, shakily as a sinister smile formed on Aichi’s face.

Jun sweated a bit nervously, but kept his cool.

“A demon, don’t be silly. I’m the devil and you are going to regret waking me up!”, 003v said as he pointed towards Jun.

“Your Team Asteroid’s weapon aren’t you? We should be on the same side.”, Jun replied.

“Consider this a punishment from your better for pissing me off!”, 003v replied angrily as the thugs flinched and shook in fear.

“Looks like things won’t be that easy. However, I don’t intend to just sit down and take your punishment. Go, Aggron!”, Jun replied, throwing out his next Pokémon.

“What’s with him? He was completely different before?!”, one of the thugs questioned.

“The true 003v has been awakened from within that kid.”, Jun replied.

Jun flinched as Soul Saver wasted no time pouncing onto Aggron.

“Aggron use blizzard!”, Jun ordered.

Soul Saver wildly slashed at Aggron before being hit by a storm of ice knocking it back. Soul Saver was heavily damaged, but ignored the pain only becoming more angry. It furiously shot massive blue energy from its mouth engulfing Aggron and causing it to faint. 003v recalled Soul Saver before the adrenaline from outrage wore off and it would faint.

“Go, Llew!”, 003v called out as Jun smirked.

“Go, Magnezone use thunder!”, Jun called out.

“Dodge and use liquidation!”, 003v commanded.

Llew barely dodged out of the way and sent a blast of water knocking Magnezone back. Llew continued to walk forward shooting water at Magnezone flinching as it stepped on the spiky rocks. Though, fortunately it didn’t do too much except make him feel a bit uncomfortable.

“Magnezone use thunder!”, Jun ordered.

Magnezone shot the bolt, but missed due to its eyes being covered in water.

“Now, use sucker punch!”, 003v ordered.

Llew rushes up to the distracted Magnezone trying to clear its eyes. Llew delivered multiple punches to Magnezone. Magnezone tried shooting a bolt directly above it to hit Llew and take them both out.

“Llew throw it in the way and move.”, 003v commanded.

Llew sweated a bit nervously complying with his orders throwing Magnezone into its own attack and moving. The thunder was even stronger due to all the water on Magnezone.

“Now, use liquidation again!”, 003v ordered as Llew looked back at him nervously.

He knew that his trainer wasn’t in his right mind right now.

“Did I stutter?”, 003v questioned as Llew shook.

There was a loud clang as Magnezone fell to the ground before the thunder could be further fueled.

“G-Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod ! (T-This isn’t you Aichi! It’s that weird programming talking!)”, Llew replied.

“Shut up and listen.”, 003v commanded.

“Trouble in paradise?”, Jun commented.

Llew flinched feeling compelled to listen. It turned back towards Jun in a fighting stance.

“Go, Scizor use sandstorm!”, Jun ordered.

A sandstorm wiped up making it harder to see. Llew buffed a bit from it.

“Llew use liquidation!”, 003v ordered.

Llew shot out water all around trying to hit Scizor. Scizor dodged the torrents of water moving closer to Llew.

“Scizor use X-Scissor!”, Jun ordered.

Scizor slashed at Llew with blow claws in a X shape. Llew delivered a sucker punch sending Scizor crashing back now knowing where it was. Llew shot another liquidation at Scizor. The sand from the sandstorm was starting to stick to Scizor all over making it unable to see.

“Now, use sucker punch Llew!”, 003v ordered.

Llew beat down on the blinded Scizor until it was knocked out.

“Go, Bisharp! Use giga impact!”, Jun called out.

Bisharp charged at Llew crashing into it knocking out Llew. 003v recalled Llew.

“Fine then. Go, Ahmes!”, 003v called out.

As Bisharp had to rest, 003v pressed Aichi’s mega bracelet causing Ahmes to mega evolve.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (Aichi, you must wake up. You need to turn back so you can save your friends.”, Ahmes said.

“Stop chatting and battle.”, 003v ordered his eyes flashing with a rainbow spiral.

He was taken off guard when Ahmes suddenly hugged him.

“A-Ahmes what are you?!”, 003v questioned, confused as his tone flipped from his to Aichi’s throughout it.

“Save the love fest for later! Bisharp use night slash!”, Jun ordered.

Ahmes effortlessly dodged out of the way holding 003v even in the sandstorm. It sent a cut back, sending Bisharp back and dispelling the sandstorm. They gasped in shock at Ahmes’s power.

“Gallade . Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.Gallade . Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.Gallade . Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.(Aichi I know you're angry right now. I can feel it, but you have to calm down. You can’t save anyone like this. Even when you're like this I know part of you is still in there. That’s why you were still able to mega evolve me. Mega evolution requires a bond between trainer and Pokémon.)”, Ahmes said.

“I-I!”, 003v said, wincing in pain as he clutched his head.

“What’s going on, why do I-I?”, 003v questioned.

“Gallade . Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (As I said mega evolution is more than a power up. It relies on our bond.)”, Ahmes said.

“O-our bond?”, 003v questioned as countless memories flashed through his mind.

Flashbacks
“Ralts! (Don’t be sad!)”, Ahmes said, wiping away his tears.

Kai looked equally stunned by the Pokémon’s action before smiling.

“Ahmes seems to have really taken a liking to you.”, Kai said laughing a bit.

“O-oh this is your Pokémon?”, Aichi asked.

“Yeah, but I think it should stay with you now it seems like you need it a bit more.”, Kai said.

“T-there’s no way I c-“, Aichi stuttered.

“It’s fine I got other Pokémon. Besides I have a feeling that together the two of you will be able to get real strong.”, the young Kai replied, patting Aichi’s back.
-
Ralts! Ralts! Ralts! (I got this Aichi! Remember we just have to win one battle!)”, Ahmes said.

“But, Ahmes-“, Aichi said before he suddenly gasped seeing Ahmes start to glow and change shape.

“No way!”, Morikawa gasped.

“It’s evolving.”, Miwa said.

The glowing stopped revealing Ahmes had became a bit taller it white part tapering off to a skirt at the bottom. It grew thin green legs. Its green bowl-like head became more like hair and it no longer covered its red eyes.

“Kirlia! Kirlia! (I’m not finished yet Overlord!)”, Ahmes said now a Kirlia.
-
Aichi touched Ahmes with the ™ causing all its knowledge to flow into it. Then he held out the dawn stone for Ahmes. Ahmes touched the stone and started glowing like before. Ahmes grew twice as big, no longer having a skirt. It’s arms now had blades and it’s head resembled a knight helmet. Ahmes now Gallade bowed before his master like a knight.

“Wimpod! Wimpod! (Wow! Ahmes looks so cool now!)”, Llew gushed.

“Rockruff! Rockruff! (I can’t wait till I evolve!)”, Wingal commented.

“What a show off…”, Misaki commented, sweat dropping at the melodramatic Pokémon.
-
“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (As I told you before Aichi I will always be at your side.)”, Ahmes answered, bowing to Aichi.
-
He couldn’t see it, but a purple glow entered his eyes. His Pokémon looked at him nervously as his hand edged over to the blade. Suddenly, Ahmes moves his hand away.

“Gallade! Gallade! (Snap out of it, Aichi!)”, Ahmes warned as Aichi blinked, shaking his head snapped out of it.

He then noticed the eerie purple glow barely noticeable from Aegislash’s closed eyes.

“You must pull me out, Sendou Aichi. You know you need my power.”, an unfamiliar voice said in Aichi’s head.

“That voice, it was you! Get out of my head!”, Aichi thought.

Aichi shook his head resisting the temptation.
Flashbacks end

003v groaned in pain clutching his head. Bisharp tried to slash at Ahmes again, but he blocked without even looking back. The dark aura disappeared from around him and Aichi blinked waking up.

“Ahmes?”, Aichi questioned, confusedly.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (Let’s end this my vanguard.)”, Ahmes said as Aichi nodded.

“Ahmes use close combat.”, Aichi ordered as Ahmes turned its cape covering Bisharp’s vision.

Ahmes slashed at Bisharp repeatedly before sweeping it off its feet and delivering one final slash. Bisharp collapses to the ground knocked out. The thugs surrounded Aichi and Ahmes, but Ahmes blew them away with psychic energy. Ahmes levitated the others out of the way of the thugs flying away as they roused awake.

“What happened?!”, Kamui questioned.

“I win, Jun.”, Aichi said.

“Heh. I guess you do. I’m no sore loser.”, Jun replied as he handed him the justice badge.

With this Aichi finally had all eight gym badges. This suddenly dawned on him.

“Wait! This is the last badge!”, Aichi realized.

“That’s right! That means we’re out of here!”, Miwa replied.

“There’s no place left to run so we’ll have to take the fight to Ren.”, Kourin said.

“Yeah.”, Aichi agreed, nodding along with the others.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 28 The All Out Assault On Team Asteroid!

Note: They all got experience from fighting gigantamax Grimmsnarl too.

Level 55 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 50 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Crush Claw
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 51 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 53 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Close combat
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 50 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Crunch
Dragon dance
Dragon pulse

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Aichi rushed to the Pokémon center to heal his Pokémon, especially Gancelot. After they did that they left Dai city. Jun didn’t stop them just watching on with a smirk.

“It will be interesting to see who wins this war.”, he said, watching on.

As soon as they left the putrid city Aichi threw out Gancelot to make sure he was alright. He was very relieved to see he was perfectly fine. He went to hug him, but Gancelot stopped him because he had a spike over his heart.

“Oh, that could have been bad.”, Aichi said.

“Lucario. (Yeah.)”, Gancelot replied, sweat dropping.

They stopped by at the towns they visited previously. Palesville was still empty and severely damaged. Team Asteroid hasn’t come back to Tachikaze town because he left. Oracle town was rather empty suggesting Ren had decided to abandon it. Perhaps Solgaleo drove him away? Grandblue city was doing really good now being very close to fully recovered. Gouki, Nagisa, Hiroshi, and Kaoru stuck back to protect the city in case Team Asteroid returns. They then stopped at Gold Maine city to check up on those who had fled there. Aichi looked around to Kamui to see if his family had come yet. Though, it was difficult because of how vast Gold Maine was. Kourin ended up calling them back. They went to her seeing Suiko, Rekka, and Takuto with her. The others had come as well, including Shin and Esuka. Aichi froze when he saw Takuto. He didn’t know why, but felt like he had met him before.

“Is something wrong, bro?”, Kamui asked.

“Have we met before?”, Aichi asked Takuto who smiled at him.

“Hehe. I had a feeling you might recognize me even in this form.”, Takuto replied.

“This form?”, Aichi questioned, thinking of what that could mean.

He noted the strange comforting feeling Takuto gave off to him. Also, he wasn’t exactly sure how, but he could feel psychic energy within him.

“Your Solgaleo.”, Aichi realized, as Kamui gasped in abject shock.

“No way!”, Kamui gasped.

“It’s very possible there are other legendaries capable of taking on a human form.”, Kourin replied.

“That’s true. Latios and Latias can do that and their psychic legendaries like Solgaleo.”, Misaki confirmed.

“Why are you here?”, Aichi asked Takuto.

“I run this place. Though, that’s not what’s important right now. We’re going to take down the last towns controlled by Team Asteroid then go to the base. Before that however Aichi you are going to train here while the others take down the occupied towns.”, Takuto explained.

“Which towns are those? Most of them were fine after we passed by.”, Miwa asked.

“Megacolony town, Kagero town, and their on the borders of Sanctuary town.”, Takuto replied.

Aichi tensed at the mention of his hometown. His worry for his family growing.

“I can’t just stay here! When their going to attack my home!”, Aichi replied.

“I understand your worry, but it’s not like we’ll just leave it to Team Asteroid, we're sending people there too. Besides, you're not strong enough to face Ren yet. Your the only one who can defeat him.”, Takuto replied.

Kamui and Misaki put their hands on Aichi’s shoulders as he looked over to them.

“Send us to Sanctuary town.”, Misaki said.

“Yeah! We’ll make sure bro’s family stays safe!”, Kamui added.

“Me too.”, Kai said as they turned to him shocked.

“Guys…”, Aichi trailed off as tears entered his eyes.

“Don’t worry bro everything will be fine.”, Kamui assured.

“You helped the both of us out with saving our homes now we’ll protect yours.”, Misaki added.

Aichi wiped up his tears feeling very emotional and Kamui hugged him. Kai walked up to Misaki’s side looking away a bit.

“...You...you were the one that reminded me battling is meant to be fun. I-I had messed up so much and I’m glad that I was able to help you out. I thought I had done nothing good for anyone.”, Kai said as he looked away and Miwa smirked.

“Was that so hard to admit?”, Miwa questioned.

“Don’t worry Aichi we’ll make you so strong you’ll crush Ren.”, Kourin assured.

“Yeah, we’re gonna help with training you!”, Rekka added.

“Thank you guys! So much!”, Aichi replied, his voice cracking a bit.

Shin and Esuka smiled seeing this.

“I’m sure we can handle the other towns.”, Esuka said as Shin nodded.

“Definitely.”, Shin replied.

“Well, it seems Kai, Kamui, and Misaki are going to Sanctuary town. Shin will go to Megacolony town. And finally Esuka and Miwa will go to Kagero town. Along with the other trainers we have obviously.”, Takuto decided.

“We’ll see you later bro!”, Kamui said as he waved goodbye with the other.

After leaving Gold Maine they flew off to their respective towns.

“Yeah, we will!”, Aichi replied, waving back his eyes still full of tears.

“First of all we have some tms for you to maximize your team.

“Alright.”, Aichi replied, nodding.

At Kagero town...

They arrived in the town with a massive mist swirling around it. Miwa had Dauntless clear some of the mist with its wings. Kagero town came into sight and they walked towards it. As they did they were surrounded by ghost Pokémon. Esuka just smirked as her Salazzle used foul play quickly knocking out the ghost types. Miwa sweat dropped as he saw how easy she made it look. They saw some sort of vehicle driven by a Team Asteroid grunt. Esuka’s Delphox used psychic to stop the vehicle. They opened it up to see some people in cuffs. One guy had blond hair and light blue eyes with a long red jacket. Another guy had black hair in a ponytail and light blue eyes with a green vest. The one girl there had brown hair and amber eyes and a white top with an orange under.

“Isn’t that…Dauntless use dragon tail on their cuffs!”, Miwa trailed off, before giving an order.

“Thank you very much! It was very stuffy in there.”, the blond thanked.

“Not as stuffy as that stupid cell.”, the woman replied.

“You’re Kenji Mitsusada right? The steel type gym leader.”, Esuka asked, pointing to the blond.

“Ah, yes.”, Kenji answered.

“Wanna help us defeat Team Asteroid?”, Miwa asked.

“Definitely, that’s actually why we got captured.”, Kenji replied.

“Let’s give those jerks hell!”, the woman said as the two men sweat dropped.

“Take it easy, Yuri.”, the man with a ponytail said.

“How can I take it easy, Gai? Those lousy criminals locked us up like criminals!”, Yuri replied, angrily.

They were soon surrounded by Team Asteroid grunts.

“I’m not getting captured again! Go, Escaviler! Exadrill! Lucario!”, Yuri called out, throwing out her Pokémon.

“Go, Aggron! Bisharp! Steelix!”, Gai called out, throwing out his Pokémon.

“Go, Daiyusha! Laurel! Daikaiser! Grander! Daimariner! Twin Order!”, Kenji called out, throwing out Lucario, Metagross, Aggron, Scizor, Magnezone, and Aegislash.

Kenji then mega evolved Daiyusha into mega Lucario.

“Woah, jack pot! These guys have some serious fighting power!”, Miwa gasped.

“Well, Kenji was the champion at one time before he was a gym leader.”, Esuka replied.

“No way!”, Miwa gasped.

“Let’s go Daiyusha!”, Kenji said.

They easily knocked out the grunts Pokémon as Kurosawa stepped in with Mimikyu.

“Daiyusha use meteor mash!”, Kenji ordered as Daiyusha moved at blinding speed taking out Mimikyu.

In Megacolony town…

Shin had just landed, flying in on Valkriyan. Instantly the grunts charged at him.

“Valkriyan use thunderbolt!”, Shin ordered as the grunts Pokémon were instantly knocked out.

He got up to Kishida’s gym who instantly held up his hands in surrender.

“Ah! I’m so glad you're here Team Asteroid is so scary!”, Kishida said as he clung onto Shin who sweat dropped.

In Sanctuary town…

The three had made it to Sanctuary town. Kamui looked around, never actually having gone there before. After all, it didn’t have a gym and it wasn’t Gold Maine by any stretch. It was a really small town where most Pokémon from other regions came in. The only other thing of note about the town was that it had the best school in Kakusa, Miyaji academy. The only reason trainers usually stopped by here was because there was a chance to get some rare Pokémon which was the same reason Team Asteroid was on the outskirts.

“Man, I wish I had asked Aichi where he lived.”, Kamui said.

“It shouldn’t be that hard it’s not even that big.”, Misaki replied.

“We don’t need to find it yet. First, we can drive away Team Asteroid on the outskirts. Then, we can spend time looking.”, Kai replied.

“I guess that’s a good enough idea. So, where is it anyway?”, Kamui asked.

“It’s south.”, Misaki said as she took the lead.

Kamui and Kai followed after her. They got to the outskirts where there were some grunts chasing after Pokémon.

“Go, Overlord use flamethrower!”, Kai ordered.

“Go, Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered.

“Go, Assista Eevee use psychic!”, Misaki ordered.

Their respective main Pokémon launched their attacks at the grunts Pokémon knocking them out easily. The grunts were about to send out more as Kamui threw out Buster who quickly chopped the grunts on the back of the necks mimicking Aichi’s move previously.

After that they went back up to Sanctuary town looking for the Sendou house. They ended up spotting it and walked up to the door.

“Okay, let’s do this! None of you are nervous are you?”, Kamui asked.

“We’re just meeting Aichi’s family. What’s there to be nervous about?”, Misaki questioned, sweat dropping.

“Ah...just making sure.”, Kamui said, trying to hide his shaking a bit, ringing the doorbell.

They waited for a minute with no answer.

“Maybe no ones home?”, Kamui questioned.

Suddenly the door creaked open and they jumped back a black scaly hand pointed at them with a watery bullet materializing.

“Who are you?”, they heard.

Kamui recognized the voice from Aichi’s phone.

“We’re Aichi’s friends! It’s me Kamui and this is Misaki and Kai.”, Kamui said.

The door finally fully opened revealing Shizuka and an Inteleon by her side.

“Ah, sorry I have just been a little cautious since Team Asteroid got close. I am Aichi’s mom Sendou Shizuka. Come in if you like.”, Shizuka greeted, brightly with an Aichi-like smile as they sweat dropped.

“A little cautious...her Inteleon almost blew our brains out.”, Misaki thought.

“T-thanks Uh...Mrs.Sendou.”, Kamui replied, awkwardly as they walked in.

The house was rather small and modest though it did have a second floor making it a bit bigger. They looked around as Emi walked down the stairs.

“Who are these guys?”, Emi asked.

“There the Aichi’s friends I told you about.”, Shizuka said as Emi seemed to inspect them.

“N-nice to finally meet you. M-my name is Katsuragi Kamui.”, Kamui said, shakily with a blush facing Emi.

“Don’t mind him. I’m Tokura Misaki.”, Misaki told her.

“Toshiki Kai.”, Kai said, simply.

Shizuka and Emi sweat dropped and they could definitely tell Kai wasn’t the talkative type.

The groups sent to all the towns and cities would continue to guard them for a week in case of an attack from Team Asteroid. They stood vigilant though things got quiet, too quiet.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 29 Sanctuary Town In Peril! Aichi Returns Home! Part 1
Aichi’s current team
Level 65 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 65 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 63 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 64 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 70 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Throughout that week Aichi trained intensely even harder than at Alfred’s castle. He was determined to protect his family and all his friends which motivated him to push himself harder. Not to mention, as they further improved the barrier to get to the next level only got stronger. Not only did his Pokémon train, but he also trained with Alfred to master Galarian royal swordplay. He also had mental training with Takuto to resist the programming. Everyday he collapsed exhausted from his training along with his Pokémon. The others trained as well in this week. Some trained more intensely than others.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.(We shall be victorious my vanguard. We will protect everyone and the region! Together!)”, Ahmes thought.

“Lycanroc! Lycaroc! Lycanroc! Lycanroc! Lycanroc! Lycanroc!(I won’t let you down again Aichi! I will get stronger!)”, Wingal thought.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod!(We’re definitely going to defeat those big meanies who took away my friends!)”, Llew thought.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.(I won’t let Team Asteroid hurt or corrupt more innocents.)”, Gancelot thought.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! (I wanna protect mommy!)”, Soul Saver thought.

“You will become the greatest king ever, Aichi.”, Alfred thought.

These thoughts went through their heads as they trained.

In one of the days during the training…

“When you get taken over there still seems to be some part of you in there. Though your mind is taken over, some of your emotions remain. That’s why you still fight against whoever triggered it regardless of their Team Asteroid or not.”, Takuto said.

“Ahmes was saying something like that before when he told me about what happened against Jun.”, Aichi replied as Takuto nodded.

“The fact that you were still able to mega evolve Ahmes in that state proves it. It may just work with him though he is your oldest friend after all. I’m not sure the same thing would occur with Gancelot.”, Takuto replied.

Aichi squirmed a bit uncomfortably.

“But, those emotions haven’t stopped me from doing horrible things to both my friends and my Pokémon…”, Aichi replied, feeling very uncomfortable with that revelation.

“But, there’s something you haven’t considered Aichi. Throughout your adventure your mental strength has been strengthening. You were hardly able to resist the control in the beginning when you did those things. Remember the last few times you lost control it was much easier for you to turn back. The programming and your powers awaken at the slightest irritation. And the angrier you are the harder it is for you to fight it, but even then the last three times you were able to snap back. Only the last time you needed help, but you were much more enraged.”, Takuto explained.

Aichi absorbed everything Takuto said thinking back to those moments. He thought it was a bit weird when thinking about it, especially remembering the incident in Kagero town and Grandblue city.

“Yeah, it’s been easier, but for the other two I thought it was because they were triggered by the link. Also, I got a blow to the head one of those times…”, Aichi replied.

“I don’t think it’s about the link. Do you really think a baby Pokémon would calm down so fast?”, Takuto replied.

Aichi sweat dropped thinking back to the times when Soul Saver would throw a tantrum. She was almost completely inconsolable at times if anything that should have made it harder for him to calm down.

“You're starting to get to a point where you would be able to tap into your powers without being controlled. Though, it may just be baby steps now.”, Takuto replied.

“B-Baby steps?!”, Aichi questioned, incredulously.

“Hehe. You have a lot more power hidden inside there than you think. The programming seems calibrated to get more severe with the more power you use. Like some sort of limiter. The more you tap into the harder it will become to resist the programming.”, Takuto replied.

“How much power do I have?”, Aichi asked.

Takuto pauses, actually seeming like he had to think about it for a moment.

“Well...I can’t say anything exact. I know you still have more inside than you’ve shown though. Considering what you were made for it would have to at least be on the level of a legendary Pokémon.”, Takuto replied as Aichi gasped.

“A legendary?! No way!”, Aichi replied.

“Well, Ren is that strong and he was only the first of you created. It’s not really that unlikely. You're actually likely much stronger than just a typical legendary after all you are the strongest one they made.”, Takuto replied.

Aichi felt his jaw drop, looking at Takuto stunned.

“That’s part of the reason they want you back so much. As well as the reason why you can defeat Ren. Even, if you can’t unlock your full power some of it will be enough especially since you have been training yourself. That actually makes it easier since your training growth is like a Pokémon. Even, if you’ve simply been improving your physical capabilities it impacts your psychic powers as well improving them along with it.”, Takuto explained.

“It’s hard to believe I’m really that strong.”, Aichi replied, he looked down at his hands.

He didn’t feel really that strong.

“We just need a bit more unlocked for you to be able to battle Ren. Not to mention, you have to learn how to use it. We’re going to try and see if we can unlock as much as possible.”, Takuto replied.

In Sanctuary town a week after Aichi started his training…

“Man your so cool Misaki!”, Emi said as Misaki effortlessly dispatched a grunt that went into town.

“It’s nothing. These guys are small fries anyway.”, Misaki replied.

“Still that was so cool and Assista Eevee is so cute.”, Emi gushed as it jumped Misaki’s shoulder into her hands.

Misaki couldn’t help, but smile a bit when Emi cuddled with it. It reminded her of when she was a kid.

“D-did I do good too goddess?”, Kamui asked, nervously pointing to himself.

“Yeah, you were cool too.”, Emi replied as Kamui fainted with steam coming from his ears.

They both sweat dropped looking down at Kamui.

“Is he alright?”, Emi asked, cluelessly.

“No, he’s stupid.”, Misaki replied.

She got in front of her and Kamui jumped up when more grunts suddenly came into view from the distance. Misaki and Kamui brought out their Poké balls. Kai was flying up on Overlord descending to them.

“There’s much more coming. A whole army and Ren.”, Kai told them as they gasped.

“What will we do?”, Emi questioned, worriedly.

“I’ll fight Ren. You two can deal with the grunts with the other trainers' help.”, Kai said to Kamui and Misaki.

Misaki and Kamui revealed their mega bracelets prepared to go all out to defend Sanctuary town.

“Not a single one of you jerks will touch my goddess! Kaiser use dark pulse! Buster use fire blast! Mr.Invincible use close combat! Tough Boy use hammer arm! Shout use hammer arm! Hatred Chaos use shadow ball! ”, Kamui yelled, with his fist up and Emi was still clueless.

Tough Boy was now finally Rhyperior.

South of Sanctuary town…

Kai flew over quickly towards Ren. As he flew over, Overlord shot flamethrower at the grunts Pokémon below. He landed before Ren who smirked at him.At his sides was Tetsu and Asuka.

“Oh, your back again Kai. Didn’t you learn the first time that you can’t defeat me? No human like you is capable of such a feat.”, Ren said, condescendingly.

“You talk like you're some sort of god, Ren! But, you're not, you're mortal like me and you can lose!”, Kai replied.

“Huh, really? Well, let’s see about that then. If you can’t even beat this loser you’ll never defeat me.”, Ren replied as Kyou walked out growling at Ren.

“I didn’t even know he was still around.”, Asuka said.

“You jerks! I’m a admin too yet you guys keep treating me like a grunt!”, Kyou yelled, indignantly.

“Former admin. You lost.”, Asuka replied.

“So, did you!”, Kyou countered.

“Wow, against three people at once while all my Pokémon had to fight without orders. One of those people being the guy that soloed you. That’s why I’m still an admin unlike you loser.”, Asuka replied as Kyou growled.

“I’ll prove it to you! I’ll prove it to all of you! Crusher Kyou is the strongest in Team Asteroid!”, Kyou said angrily as he turned to Kai.

Overlord roared standing beside Kai ready to battle. Kyou threw out all of his Pokémon and Kai threw out the rest of his.

“Sky Diver use sky attack! Big arms use close combat! Dudley Dan use high jump kick! Juggernaut use heat crash! Reckless Express use outrage! Brakki use hammer arm!”, Kyou ordered.

“Overlord use fire blast! Vortex use zen headbutt! Dragon Dancer use clanging scales! Nehalem use aqua tail! Berserker use super power! Descendant use body press!”, Kai ordered.

Overlord first shot fire in the shape of the kanji for fire creating a loud explosion as it enveloped Kyou’s Pokémon. Surprisingly they were still standing running up to Kai’s Pokémon. He noticed they were surrounded in red aura like Junos before.

“So, that’s Ren’s game, he's powering up this guy’s Pokémon. If I can’t even defeat him like this then I’ll never defeat Ren at full power.”, Kai thought.

Nehalem slammed it’s water covered tail onto Juggernaut which it blocked, though it struggled to hold it back. Dragon Dancer kept Reckless Express at bay using its clanging scales. Berserker let Skydiver hit it so it could grab it and start squeezing it. Vortex rammed into Brakki and Big Arms with zen headbutt. It did more damage to Big Arms than Brakki. As Big Arms was sent flying back Overlord launched a flamethrower finishing it off. Descendant landed itself onto Dudley Dan nearly crushing the smaller Pokémon with its weight. Dudley Dan squirmed to try and get out from under Descendant.

“Descendant use dragon pulse!”, Kai ordered as Descendant shot blue energy from its mouth, finishing off Dudley Dan.

Berserker then threw Skydiver to Vortex who headbutted it sending it crashing to the ground fainting.

“What the heck this can’t be happening! Not again! I can’t lose again!”, Kyou yelled.

Berserker tripped Juggernaut with its tail causing it to fall over. Nehalem took this opportunity to slam its tail into Juggernaut again multiple times. Reckless Express was finally pushed back by the changing scales as Dragon Dancer then charged at it.

“Dragon Dancer use close combat!”, Kai ordered.

Dragon Dancer sent a barrage of punches and kicks at Reckless Express causing Reckless Express to faint. Brakki was left alone as the dragons towered over the lone Pokémon. It tried to escape, but Overlord caught it with its tail.

“Overlord use flamethrower!”, Kai ordered.

Overlord breathed fire which enveloped Brakki. It let go of its hold allowing the chared Pokémon to fall to the ground. Ren started clapping with an amused smile on his face. It was then Kai noticed that Asuka and Tetsu had left. Kai gasped in shock looking back to Sanctuary town about to rush back before he was stopped by psychic energy. He looked back to Ren who’s eyes had a rainbow spiral.

“You're fighting me, remember?”, Ren said.

In Sanctuary town…

Misaki and Kamui had Emi go back to hide in the house. They gasped when they saw Asuka and Tetsu approaching them. They tended prepared for a battle throwing out their Pokémon.

“Go, Amon! Gwinn! Death Anchor!Yellow bolt!Reijy! Vampir!”, Tetsu called out, throwing out a Trevenant, Gengar, Dusknoir, Rotom, Chandelure, and Decidueye.

“Go, Cerberus! Silver Thorn! Alice! Ringmaster! Dark Lord! Puppeteer!”, Asuka called out.

“We won’t let you take over this town!”, Kamui yelled.

“You honestly think you weaklings can defeat us?”, Asuka questioned.

“We will!”, Misaki said as her and Kamui activated their mega bracelets.

Asuka and Tetsu looked a bit surprised, but not alarmed.

“Seems you guys have gotten some more fire power, however that’s not enough to defeat someone on our level.”, Tetsu said as him as Asuka revealed their own mega bracelets causing them to gasp.

Cerberus, Ringmaster, and Alice mega evolved for Asuka. And Gwinn mega evolved for Tetsu. They tensed as they faced down the four megas along with their own Pokémon.

“Everyone use future sight!”, Misaki ordered.

“It’s useless! Useless! Useless! Ms. Gym leader! Cerberus use foul play! Silver Thorn use dark pulse! Alice use phantom force! Ringmaster use shadow ball! Dark Lord use dark pulse! Puppeteer use foul play!”, Asuka ordered.

Misaki’s Pokémon were able to dodge some of it, but still got scrapped. Misaki snickered as Asuka grinned.

“We’re simply better than you.”, Asuka taunted.

“Kaiser use super power! Buster! Mr. Invincible! Use close combat! Tough Boy! Shout! Use hammer arm! Hatred Chaos use focus blast”, Kamui commanded.

Buster delivered a kick to Cerberus sending it back before delivering a flurry of punches. Mr. Invincible punched away Silver Thorn, Dark Lord, and Puppeteer when they tried to attack. Then then got clothes lined by Tough Boy and Shout. Kaiser got in front of Cerberus delivering a powerful punch to it while it was down.

“Don’t forget about the great Kamui! I’ve got your back Misaki!”, Kamui said, pointing to himself.

“Amon use phantom force! Gwinn use shadow ball! Death Anchor use shadow ball! Yellow Bolt use shadow ball! Reijy use shadow ball! Vampir use phantom force!”, Tetsu ordered as his Pokémon launched their attacks, knocking away Kamui’s Pokémon.

“Don’t forget I have a partner too!”, Asuka replied.

However, Kaiser pinned down Cerberus refusing to move even as it was attacked by Tetsu’s Pokémon.

“Do it Misaki!”, Kamui yelled.

“Assista Eevee use dazzling gleam! Amaterasu use dazzling gleam! Tom use dazzling gleam! Guardian use body press! Sakuya use moonblast! Coco use play rough!”, Misaki ordered.

The whole area around them was completely enveloped with pink light as Tetsu’s Pokémon launched their attacks again trying to stop it. Cerberus tried to shoot fire, but Kaiser's body slammed down on it as it tried. Guardian was able to see through the blast using body press on the Pokémon that resisted the light. The light could even be seen by Ren and Kai in the distance. When the blazing fairy light cleared all of the Pokémon around were knocked out including the ones that launched it using all their energy.

“Fuck! She created a bomb of fairy type power with her Pokémon to get all of ours!”, Asuka gasped in disbelief.

“That’s for Oracle town. We can’t continue on in this battle, but neither can the two of you either!”, Misaki replied as Tetsu frowned and Asuka scowled.

“You little bitch!”, Asuka cursed, angrily.

“Hehe! You might as well run home to Team Asteroid now!”, Kamui said, pointing at the two of them.

“You maggots think you’ve won? When master Ren is done with your little friend he’ll crush this whole town!”, Asuka replied, angrily.

In Gold Maine city…

Aichi got a sudden chill, having a really bad feeling. He was holding Alfred in the middle of training.

“Is something wrong Aichi?”, Alfred asked.

“Ren. He’s...he’s in Sanctuary town I can feel it!”, Aichi said as his eyes widened and a rainbow spiral flashed in his eyes.

“J-just calm down.”, Alfred replied.

“No! If I don’t get there something horrible will happen I can feel it.”, Aichi said, clutching his head as his eyes had a rainbow spiral.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 30 Sanctuary Town In Peril! Aichi Returns Home! Part 2
Aichi’s current team
Level 65 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 65 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 63 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 64 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 70 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Kai sweated nervously facing down Ren. He honestly didn’t know if he could win, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying. Ren brought out his Pokémon quickly. They moved so fast it appeared like they were teleporting to his human eyes. He heard five loud thuds looking over to see all of his Pokémon except Overlord knocked out. Overlord stubbornly clung on holding back Junos’s blade. Kai activates his mega bracelet evolving Overlord into its mega x form.

“Overlord use fire blast!”, Kai ordered as Overlord shot a massive blue flame at Ren’s Pokémon.

Due to the amp of Ren’s power it only left a scratch. Kai snickered at this.

“My battle against Kyou proved skill can still triumph, but it seems like everything I have still isn’t enough against him after all that training!”, Kai thought, remembering back to the day Ren changed.

Flashback…

He walked in to see a young Tetsu fall over with his Pokémon. Kai quickly ran over to his aid.

“Don’t you get it, you're utterly helpless against what I am!?”, Ren said, condescendingly.

“Just because you beat him doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk! What the heck happened to you?”, Kai replied, angrily.

“Why don’t you tell him Tetsu?”, Ren replied.

“Ren’s gotten stronger. So strong it’s scary...”, Tetsu replied.

“I have been reborn as the ultimate being!”, Ren said as someone walked up behind him.

It was a man in a black suit with a red A. He had red eyes and hair like Ren though his was short and slicked back.

“You always were. But, now you’ve finally realized your place and purpose.”, the man said.

“You! Katsuki! What have you done to Ren?!”, Kai questioned, angrily.

“It’s Mr.Suzugamori to you child.”, Katsuki replied.

“With this power Team Asteroid will easily be able to conquer Kakusa and the world! Doesn’t that sound fun Kai? It’s a whole new and bigger challenge! I know how you love those!”, Ren said as his eyes had rainbow spirals.

“Do you even hear what you're saying?! It completely contradicts everything you’ve thought till now!”, Kai replied.

“I was a fool then! I have seen what I must do now!”, Ren replied.

“We’re gonna battle and I’m going to defeat you! And return you to normal!”, Kai said as he raised a Poké ball to Ren who growled angrily.

“Fine then I guess you just need a demonstration then!”, Ren replied.

They battled and like you may have guessed he didn’t stand a chance. Kai backed away a bit before he noticed Ren falling over. Kai quickly ran to catch Ren as he fell.

“I have gotten so much stronger... Isn’t it great?”, Ren said, tiredly.

Kai sent Ren down against the wall as he glared up at Katsuki.

“So, what will you do?”, Katsuki questioned, with a shit eating smile.

“I’m leaving! How about you Tetsu?”, Kai replied, before turning to Tetsu.

“I won’t abandon him.”, Tetsu replied as he looked down at Ren.

“Perfect, you made the right choice.”, Katsuki said.

Kai looked away walking out without facing them.

Flashback end

“That day I lost my two best friends...After that I went back to my hometown Sanctuary town where I met him again...I honestly hadn't thought much about what I did for him back then.”, Kai thought as he imagined child Aichi for a moment.

Flashback

“You live in this town and yet you haven’t heard of him. He’s that weirdo who talks to Pokémon. Sendou Aichi.”, Izaki explained.

“Sendou Aichi...”, the brunette murmured looking over noticing the Ralts beside Aichi.

“It’s that kid.”, he thought.

Ahmes looked at the brunette recognizing him.

“Ralts…(That’s…)”, Ahmes said.

Aichi’s eyes widened in realization, also recognizing the brunette.

“You...your…”, Aichi trailed off.

“Can’t anyone talk to their Pokémon?”, the blond questioned.

“It’s different with him, it's like he can actually understand what they're saying.”, Izaki replied.

“Really?”, the blond questioned shocked.

The brunette’s eyes widened a bit hearing their eyes before glaring at Aichi who flinched.

“Just like him…”, the brunette mumbled.

“Your…”, Aichi trailed off.

“Hmph I guess that loser gave up.”, the brunette said referring to Morikawa.

“Loser! I’m not a loser!”, Morikawa denied.

“Losers forfeit.”, the brunette said.

“He had to his Pokémon was in critical condition.”, Aichi said.

“Fine then go Nido-“, Morikawa was saying as was cut off.

“No! Nidoking can’t fight anymore if you push it any harder it could die.”, Aichi replied.

“Then, I’ll just catch another one!”, Morikawa said as the air around them became very oppressive and cold.

“No. You. Won’t.”, Aichi said sternly, glaring at Morikawa emphasizing every word as his eyes flashed with the rainbow spiral again. They could swear that there was a faint blue aura around him not unlike a psychic Pokémon.

“If you want to battle someone, battle me.”, Aichi said as everyone minus him and the brunette gasped.

The brunette focused on the younger boy who turned towards him who’s eyes returned back to normal as soon as they changed. As Aichi snapped back he suddenly realized what he said the aura disappearing as well.

“Ah! Why did I say that? His Pokémon is fully evolved.”, Aichi thought.

Flashback end

“I realized he had the same sort of powers as Ren. I didn’t really understand how then. But, I didn’t want to fail him. Not like I did with Ren.”, Kai thought.

Flashback

“We did it...WE DID IT!”, Aichi cheered, raising his hands in the air as Kai silently recalled Overlord.

“Hmph. I guess you did. Let’s go Miwa.”, Kai replied simply walking away coolly with Miwa following behind.

“Wait up, Kai!”, Miwa said as he followed Kai.

Aichi smiled brightly as he watched on.

“U-Umm I would like to battle you again someday if that’s alright.”, Aichi said.

“We’ll see…if our paths cross again.”, Kai replied simply.

“They definitely will become a great Pokémon trainer like you. The very best like no one ever was!”, Aichi replied.

Kai smirked at the answer, not saying anything more.
Flashback end

“Perhaps I lost on purpose in our previous fight because I didn’t want to push him to look for power. Only to be consumed by his own. I want to beat Ren. Not only for him, but so Aichi never has to use that wretched power.”, Kai thought.

Flashback
Aichi turned to Ahmes with a smirk.

“You will no longer stop me, Ahmes. I am your new master and you will all obey me without question.”, Aichi commanded.

His Pokémon flinched feeling the order wash over them. Compelling them to obey. He started laughing maniacally as the murky blue aura surrounded him.

“Good. Hehehaha! Finally! I told you I would take control, Aichi. Now...what should I do first?Oh, wait I’ve gotta get my badge.”, Aichi said to himself; strangely talking in the third person.

With Kai and Ren…

“W-what the heck!?”, Kai gasped, seeing the screen showing what happened in the water gym.

Kai and Miwa were completely stunned.

“It’s about time. I’m surprised it took so long to take over him.”, Ren said as they turned to him.

“What did you do to him?!”, Kai questioned.

“It’s not what I did. It’s how he was made.”, Ren replied.

“Made?! What do you mean made?”, Kai questioned, in confusion.

“As I said Aichi is just like me. He was created to fulfill Team Asteroid’s goal of world domination.”, Ren revealed as the two gasped.

“What the heck are you talking about? You can’t make someone!”, Miwa denied.

“Team Asteroid’s science is the greatest in the world. Team Asteroid’s top scientists made both of us. Is it even that crazy considering Mewtwo exists? But, Aichi ended up disappearing. We now know from monitoring you guys who took him.”, Ren explained.

“Why did he change?”, Kai asked.
Flashback end

“I was scared when I saw him like that. I thought I had already failed, but he came back.And unfortunately I failed him again...the one who reminded me of why I became a trainer. It was seeing his strong bond with Ahmes that reminded me.”, Kai thought.

“Looks like you truly are no more than a mere Durant to me Kai.”, Ren said.

“What are you going to do?!”, Kai questioned, worriedly.

Ren just laughed as he put his hands behind his back smirking.

“You know in all my time of taking over the various towns and cities in Kakusa it was never personal. Whoever I’m going to enjoy terrorizing the hometown of 003v. He’s been such a thorn in our sides, but after I finish burning his little town to the ground. I will turn him back into who he’s meant to be, permanently.”, Ren replied.

“I won’t let you-“, Kai was saying before he was cut off frozen by psychic power only able to watch.

“While, I do have no more interest in you. You have caused me quite the frustration after you left Team Asteroid. So, you’ll get a front row seat perfectly helpless and only able to watch while I break him.”, Ren said, menacingly.

Kai tried to move, say something, do anything, but he was caught. Overlord pushed Junos aside, charging at Ren.

“Shoo!”, Ren said as he flicked Overlord sending it crashing to the ground instantly falling out of its mega form knocked out.

Ren entered the town as Misaki and Kamui glared at him.

“I’ve got your little friend. Now, I going to use you to lure 003v here.”, Ren said as he hoisted them up into the air with his psychic energy stopping them from moving.

“What’s next master Ren?”, Asuka asked.

“Where’s the Sendou residence?”, Ren asked, with a sinister smirk as Kai, Misaki, and Kamui gasped in horror.

In Gold Maine city…

“Aichi what are you doing you can’t go yet?”, Takuto questioned.

“I have to.”, Aichi replied, resolutely.

“If you go now you’ll lose.”, Takuto replied.

Aichi threw out Soul Saver as he still held Alfred and he got onto Soul Saver’s back who now had a proper burdle and saddle to ride. He looked back at Takuto.

“If I don’t go now everything you have done for me will have been for nothing. I can feel it, he’ll turn Sanctuary town into a visual of hell just to torment me. And...I’ll snap.”, Aichi replied as he had rainbow spirals in his eyes.

“You foresaw that?”, Takuto questioned, nervously.

“Yes, I did. I can’t let that happen!”, Aichi replied before riding off.

Takuto looked on before closing his eyes. He put his foot forward like he was about to leap before he was enveloped in rainbow light turning into Solgaleo.

In Sanctuary town…

Everyone was rounded up outside looking either confused or panicked. Ren stood with Asuka and Tetsu. Kai, Misaki, Kamui, Emi, and Shizuka were tied up on a platform.

“People of Sanctuary town! I am your new god and I shall deliver harsh judgement upon all of you!”, Ren announced.

Shurikens made of water were suddenly shot at Ren, but were stopped midair by his psychic energy. Mark jumped onto the platform wearing his Ninja Master M suit. Ren waggled his finger as he looked amused at Mark.

“I will not allow you to harm this town!”, Mark said.

“You shall be a great example here for everyone. Of what happens to those who defy me.”, Ren replied as he suddenly sent Mark flying with his psychic powers.

He was caught by his Zoroark however it got sent back as well crashing into the building behind them causing it to collapse. The crowd gasped in fear starting to panic.

“I’ve gotta get out of here.”, a redhead with gold eyes and a black school uniform said as he was pushed along by the hysteric crowd.

“W-what’s with that guy he’s like some sort of demon?!”, Izaki questioned, shakily as Morikawa tried to walk up getting pushed by the crowd.

“Nothing the great Morikawa can’t defeat!”, Morikawa replied.

“Your delusional, man!”, Izaki replied.

Ren laughed maniacally as he watched the crowds fear. They tried to run, but they were surrounded by Team Asteroid grunts.

“Oh, shit we're fucked.”, the redhead cursed.

“Aichi…”, Emi said as she shed a tear.

Shizuka looked over to her about to say something before they suddenly heard a roar in the distance. He looked over as it seemed like something was sending the grunts flying back. All he saw was a green and blue blur whisking by as the grunts fell over. The crowd all looked in the front when the blur stopped. The blur was Aichi riding on top of Soul Saver wielding Alfred. He glared at Ren who smirked.

“I’m so glad you could finally join us 003v!”, Ren said.

“Is that really Aichi?!”, Emi questioned, surprised hardly able to believe how much he had changed.

“Yeah, that’s my bro! He’s the best!”, Kamui replied, proudly.

“I always knew he’d come for us. That’s just the kind of guy he is. Now, if only he didn’t have to come for us.”, Misaki commented.

Shizuka was silent, staring wide eyed at her son. Hearing about it was one thing, but really seeing it was different. She could tell by the way he had now carried himself and the determined gaze that he had grown up a lot. She was always used to him being so shy and timid. Now, he was standing off against Ren defiantly to save all of them.

“My baby…”, Shizuka whispered, with proud tears in her eyes.

Ren suddenly flinched when he noticed Kai, Misaki, Kamui, Emi, and Shizuka were now behind the crowd. Now, by Aichi’s side were the rest of his Pokémon in fighting stances.

“Is that who I think it is?”, Izaki questioned, full of disbelief.

“There’s no way…”, Morikawa gasped.

“If you want to battle someone…”, Aichi started.

Aichi aimed Alfred’s blade towards Ren in a challengingly like motion.

“Battle me!”, Aichi finished as Ren growled glaring down at him.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 31 Sanctuary Town In Peril! Aichi Returns Home! Part 3

Aichi’s current team
Level 65 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 65 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 63 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 64 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 70 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

A teen with a brown bowl cut, red eyes, wearing glasses, and a black uniform gazed upon Aichi in awe as he held his little brother close to him. His eyes practically sparked gazing at him. His little brother peeked out, also amazed. They didn’t know why especially after Ren’s display of power, but when they gazed upon Aichi they suddenly felt reassured. Like everything would be alright. He seemed almost mythical to them with air he gave off. The light of the sun seemed to shine directly on him, making him appear to be glowing. To them and to the rest of the crowd watching, Aichi felt like the incarnation of hope.

Ren scowled as all the fear he had instilled in the people seemed to instantly vanish upon Aichi’s entrance. Tetsu and Asuka were also taken aback by Aichi’s resolute gaze. His gaze seemed to have the intensity of the whole sun. The crowd walked back a bit as the auras from the two were intense. Ren’s oppressive and dark aura vs Aichi’s hopeful and bright aura. Kai, Misaki, and Kamui quickly rushed over to Aichi’s side standing with him even though they couldn’t battle anymore. The crowd saw things and one by one came up to back up Aichi.

“How?! How?! Could you stomp out my despair so easily?!”, Ren questioned, angrily.

“All it takes is for one person to stand up for what’s right. Then, the rest will follow.”, Kai replied.

“Thanks, Kai.”, Aichi thanked, with a bright smile.

Kai smiled back, shocking Misaki and Kamui.

“No, thank you Aichi.”, Misaki replied.

“Yeah, we would have been toast if you hadn’t come bro.”, Kamui added.

“Your not out of the clear yet!”, Ren growled.

“You're going down Ren one way or another! You may be strong, but everyone has a limit!”, Aichi replied.

“Oh, really? I’ll show you your limit when I crush you like the little Caterpie you are!”, Ren replied.

Ren suddenly flinched in surprise when Solgaleo appeared going behind Aichi and giving Ren a threatening roar.

“Looks like another nuisance has joined you. Fine, I’ll battle you 003v, but how about we do it properly? I’ll see you after you go through victory road at the league.”, Ren said as his eye twitched with annoyance.

“Alright then. I’ll see you there, but you have to promise me one thing.”, Aichi replied.

“What is it?”, Ren asked.

“Team Asteroid won’t attack anyone while I go through victory road and fight the elite four and you.”, Aichi replied.

“Fine, however you only have two days then. I don’t like waiting and I wouldn’t want you to stall on me. And return you have to promise me something.”, Ren replied.

“What is it?”, Aichi asked as he sweated nervously.

“If you lose whether it’s against the elite four or me. You will return to your father’s side in Galar without a fuss.”, Ren replied, smirking.

“There’s no way bro can accept that?!”, Kamui replied, angrily.

“Aichi you can’t agree. Please!”, Shizuka pleaded to her son.

Aichi looked back to her to see her face full of concern. He looked over to Emi who was worried and scared as well. He looked over to the crowd and his friends. Aichi closed his eyes thinking about it. He had a faint blue aura around him. He remembered the absolute devastation Team Asteroid has caused across the region and for the people he cared for. He knew the second he set off the whole region would be attacked and subjugated.

“So, will you accept those terms 003v?”, Ren asked.

“Only if Team Asteroid leaves this region and never comes back if I beat you.”, Aichi replied.

“Aichi!”, his friends and family called out in disbelief.

“You drive a hard bargain, 003v. Fine.”, Ren accepted.

“I’ll accept.”, Aichi replied as they looked at him like he was insane.

“Aichi please don’t do this.”, Shizuka begged in tears.

“Are you crazy you can’t beat him alone?!?! You’ll have to fight the elite four before that too and you can’t even heal!”, Misaki replied, in disbelief, worry, and anger.

“Yeah, let’s just fight him right now! Not when he has the advantage!”, Kamui added.

“Guys...if I don’t do this the fighting will never end. There will never be peace and everyone will continue to suffer. I know it’s a risk...but I have to do this.”, Aichi replied.

“It’s more than a risk that is practically suicidal! Just battle him with the others!”, Emi replied.

“I won’t accept your terms if the others interfere.”, Ren said.

“I’ll battle you, Ren. At the league.”, Aichi replied.

“No you won’t! You're crazy!”, Misaki replied.

“Yeah, he can’t take all of us!”, someone in the crowd said.

“I most certainly can.”, Ren said as he had rainbow spirals in his eyes and a red aura lifting up the crowd.

“Ren stop! I’ll battle you! And no one else has to get involved!”, Aichi replied.

Ren put the people down.

“Then it’s a date. Tootles!”, Ren replied as he flew away with his psychic powers along with the others.

“What is going through your head?!”, Shizuka questioned angrily as Aichi jumped in fear.

“Oh...yes...hi mom. I’m sorry that we had to meet like this, but I have to go again.”, Aichi replied, shakily.

“But, I don’t want you to go! I don’t want to lose you!”, Shizuka replied.

“I’ll come back. I promise.”, Aichi replied.

“And if you lose?!”, Shizuka questioned.

“I won’t lose. I’m going to protect you, Emi, and everyone else.”, Aichi replied with a determined look.

“But, who’s going to protect you?”, Shizuka questioned.

“You can rely on us madam.”, Alfred replied, floating out of Aichi’s hand and over to his side as Aichi’s other Pokémon went to his side as well.

“A talking Pokémon?”, Emi questioned.

“I am Alfred Pendragon, the once and future king of Galar. As Aichi’s Pokémon I have vowed to protect him with everything I have. The others agree as well though you can’t understand them.”, Alfred said.

“I promise I’ll come back, mom. Remember you promised to tell me everything when you got the chance.”, Aichi said as he got off of Soul Saver and walked up to Shizuka.

Shizuka instantly hugged him tightly and protectively. Aichi felt so small in her arms. It was so hard to believe such a small boy was the only one who could defeat a monster like Ren. She could tell that he was more toned since they had last seen each other. He felt a bit heavier in her arms.

“Why does it have to be you though?”, Shizuka questioned, her voice cracking a bit as Aichi returned the hug.

“I am the only one who can defeat Ren. With his powers he can easily manipulate and beat down anyone without the same power. As much as I don’t like this power inside me. I’m glad it has some use to protect all of you.”, Aichi replied.

He saw Emi walk up to him.

“You better come back Aichi. Or I’ll come drag you home myself!”, Emi said, trying to sound confident, but it was clear she was worried and scared.

“I’d never make you do that. Don’t worry I’ll win. It will be alright mom.”, Aichi replied as he looked over to Shizuka.

She finally let go of Aichi looking at him with tear stained eyes.

“There’s really nothing I can do to convince you to stay is there?”, Shizuka questioned.

“No. But, I’ll make it up to you mom. After this is all over I’ll stay home and go back to school.”, Aichi replied with a bright smile.

“You better!”, Shizuka replied angrily as Aichi jumped back again nodding in agreement.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. (Mommy’s mommy is scary.)”, Soul Saver commented, shaking not unlike Aichi.

“Gallade. Gallade. (You have no idea.)”, Ahmes replied, sweat dropping.

“So, your leaving again?”, Mark said, stumbling over to them.

“Are you alright Mr.Mark? What happened?”, Aichi asked.

“Hehe. I tried to stop Ren, but it looks like I failed.”, Mark replied.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t have gotten here earlier.”, Aichi replied.

“It’s fine. But victory road is far from here; it would be much faster by air. I’m just lending it so I expect you to be back.”, Mark said as he handed Aichi his riding pager.

“Yeah, I’ll see you in class.”, Aichi replied.

“You are the most stubborn guy in the universe.”, Misaki sighed.

“Hehe. Sorry.” Aichi apologized as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“We’ll make sure everything is safe here while you're gone.”, Kamui said.

“Thanks guys. All of you. I’ll see you all later.”, Aichi replied.

With that Aichi recalled his Pokémon and set off on the riding Charizard to Victory road. Solgaleo followed after Aichi as he flew off. They looked on only able to pray for his victory.

Aichi passed over the towns and cities he had gone to over his adventure. It took everything in him to not look back. He ended up at the entrance to Victory road. He dismounted the Charizard and it flew off. Aichi stood before the massive cavern. There weren’t any normal trainers instead it was full of Team Asteroid grunts. Aichi threw out all of his Pokémon and they stood ready to fight. They fought through all the grunts making their way through the cave. It took awhile due to how big it was. It had been several hours before they made it out. At the end Aichi gave his Pokémon some potions and they took a rest. Aichi could see the league off in the distance. He walked forward, but Kenji stood in his way and Aichi looked confused.

“Hi there, I am Kenji Mitsusada though you can call me Koutei. I am the real steel gym leader before you can go on you have to beat me.”, Koutei said.

“Alright.”, Aichi agreed, recalling back his Pokémon.

“Go, Daikaser!”, Koutei called out.

“Go, Gancelot!”, Aichi called out.

“Daikaiser use fire blast!”, Koutei ordered.

“Gancelot use focus blast!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot rolled out of the way of the fiery blast. Gancelot brought his hands together shooting a beam from his hands. Daikaiser stumbled back when hit by the blast. Gancelot sent another blast pushing it back and falling over. Daikaiser fainted after trying to get back up before it did; it sent another fire blast and Gancelot narrowly escaped. Aichi was surprised when Koutei patted Daikaiser before recalling it. Aichi smiled a bit when he saw it.

“Go, Grander!”, Koutei called out.

“Gancelot use focus blast!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot shot another blast, but Grander dodged it running up to Gancelot.

“Grander use x scissor!”, Koutei ordered.

Grander slashed at Gancelot with both of its claws in a x motion. Gancelot held its arms up blocking the blow.

“Gancelot use meteor mash!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot quickly launched a steely punch at Grander while it was close.

“Now use focus blast!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot sent out another blast enveloping Grander. They were surprised to see Grander wasn’t fully hit moving out of the way a bit.

“Grander use flash cannon!”, Koutei ordered.

“Gancelot use focus blast!”, Aichi ordered.

The two blasts clashed against each other struggling for ground. Despite the fact that the focus blast was super effective against the flash cannon it was rather close. Aichi then activated his mega bracelet evolving Gancelot into mega Lucario. The focus blast finally overwhelmed the flash cannon and Grander was enveloped by the blast fainting.

“You alright bud. Don’t worry I’ll heal you soon.”, Koutei said as he recalled Grander.

“Hehe. Your pretty strong, but I still have one Pokémon left for the gym battle.”, Koutei said as raised a Poké ball.

“Alright let’s see it.”, Aichi replied with a smile.

“Go, Daiyusha!”, Koutei called out.

He then activated his own mega bracelet evolving Daiyusha. The two mega Lucarios stood up against each other.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (You definitely have conviction, but only one of us can win it will be me.)”, Daiyusha said.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario . Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (I don’t intend on losing. I will fight to the end.)”, Gancelot replied.

“Gancelot use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

“Daiyusha use psychic!”, Koutei ordered.

The wave and blast launched sent both Pokémon back. Gancelot was more hurt than Daiyusha.

“Gancelot use focus blast!”, Aichi ordered.

“Daiyusha use psychic!”, Koutei order.

Daiyusha dodged the beam and sent a wave of psychic energy directly in Gancelot’s face. Gancelot struggled to stand from all the damage. However, Gancelot continued to stand up against Daiyusha.

“He’s and his Pokémon way more experienced than us. You can tell in the way they move. Even still...I won’t lose!”, Aichi thought.

Gancelot tightened his fists almost as if he thought something similar. Daiyusha smiled at Gancelot’s determined look. Daiyusha got into a fighting stance as Gancelot did as well.

“Daiyusha use close combat!”, Koutei ordered as it was too close to Gancelot to safely launch another psychic.

Daiyusha moved at unbelievable speed looking like a blue blur.

“When the time is right...”, Aichi thought.

“Lucario! (I strike!)”, Gancelot thought.

Gancelot brought his hands together quickly than he had ever moved before. Daiyusha fist was centimeters away from Gancelot’s face as Gancelot launched focus blast point blank enveloping Daiyusha. Gancelot pushes all of his remaining power into the blast making sure Daiyusha wouldn’t get up again.

“Hehe. Looks like I lost. You really earned the justice badge Aichi.”, Koutei said as he recalled Daiyusha.

“I never told you my name.”, Aichi replied in a confused tone.

“Hehe. Oh, Miwa told me all about you. It was so strange, but Solgaleo told me to come here.”, Koutei revealed.

“Takuto…He probably wanted to give me one last challenge before I fight the elite four.”, Aichi thought.

“I’ll heal up your Lucario for you.”, Koutei offered.

“Thanks. Also, it was a really great battle.”, Aichi replied with a smile.

“Be careful battling Ren.”,was the Koutei told him after healing Gancelot.

“I will.”, Aichi replied, nodding.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 32 The Strongest In Kakusa, The Elite Four! Part 1
Aichi’s current team
Level 67 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 66 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 65 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 66 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 72 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Aichi stood before the massive dark building that houses the elite four. If things were different he would be excited about getting here. However, that wasn’t quite the case due to the current circumstances. He had to win or he...no everyone would lose everything. He grabbed his chest feeling a bit of anxiety bubbling up inside him. He had put on a brave face for his friends and family, but he truly was scared. Scared of failing everyone. Scared of what his father would have planned for him if he lost here. Scared of battling Ren. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself. He mustered up his courage and strode forward in spite of his fears.

There was a little healer where he quickly healed his Pokémon all up. He made sure to double check how many ethers, potions, and revives he had: 12, 15, and 6. He wondered if he should stock up more, but he wasn’t sure it was safe to buy from stores run by Team Asteroid. So, he walked before the door that led to the elite four. He went through. The first room that greeted him was a room ablaze with pink stage lights. The middle of the room had a small stage-like platform with a familiar face; Kiriya Bido.

“Long time no see coward.”, Kiriya greeted, as Aichi’s eyes widened in shock.

“Aren’t you a gym leader?”, Aichi questioned, his voice full of confusion.

“I have improved my power since we last met. To the point where Team Asteroid recognized that strength and promoted me. Well, after I dealt with that troublesome dragon.”, Kiriya replied.

“What did you do to Dragonite?!”, Aichi questioned, worried for the Pokémon who helped them.

“The same thing I’m going to do to you. Beat you down into submission before you recognize my power and bow at my feet!”, Kiriya replied as Aichi narrowed his eyes glaring at Kiriya.

“That won’t happen! I’ll defeat Team Asteroid and you! Go, Gancelot!”, Aichi replied, throwing out his Pokémon.

“Go, Mr.Mime! Use psychic”, Kiriya called out.

“Gancelot use meteor mash!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot dodged past the psychic blast delivering a powerful steel punch to Mr.Mime sending it straight to the ground with a loud thud. Mr.Mime stumbled up damaged and dazed by the blow.

“Mr.Mime use dazzling gleam!”, Kiriya ordered.

Before Mr.Mime could get the chance it was hit with a hard blow to the gut. It blew the wind out of Mr.Mime and caused it to faint as Kiriya scowled.

“You're not the only one who has gotten stronger.”, Aichi said.

“Heh. It seems so, but it won’t be enough to beat me. Go, Mawile use dazzling gleam!”, Kiriya replied.

As soon as Mawile flew out of the Poké ball in emanated bright pink light. Gancelot jumped back as this happened narrowly escaping the light’s reach.

“Gancelot use focus blast!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot put his hands together and shot out a beam of energy at Mawile. The beam hit Mawile directly dispelling the light.

“Now use meteor mash!”, Aichi ordered as Gancelot rushed forward.

“Use dazzling gleam again!”, Kiriya ordered.

Mawile while mid air started emanating pink light again. Gancelot tried to dodge again, but got caught up in the light. Gancelot staggered a bit after being hit with the blast, but was not hurt too bad.

“Damn! That Lucario is half steel type so my attacks aren’t as effective as they’d normally be!”, Kiriya said.

“Gancelot use focus blast.”, Aichi ordered after Mawile had crashed into the wall leaving it no place to run.

Gancelot sent another beam of energy at Mawile causing it to faint.

“Grr! Go, Alolan Ninetails! Use psyshock!”, Kiriya ordered.

Gancelot dodged out of the way of the psychic blasts shot his way. He ran along the arena as he dodged the blasts. The circles he ran around the arena got smaller as he approached Ninetails.

“Gancelot use meteor mash!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot delivered a hard punch to Ninetails knocking it back. Aichi noticed Gancelot seemed to be getting a bit tired so the hit wasn’t as strong. Gancelot threw another punch to compensate. He threw one last punch to take down Ninetails.

“I’m gonna have to have him rest up for a bit.”, Aichi thought as he recalled Gancelot.

“Go, Slyveon!”, Kiriya called out.

“Go, Soul Saver!”, Aichi called out before Kiriya laughed.

“Are you stupid? You're really throwing out a dragon type against a fairy type? Are you trying to make a fool out of me?!”, Kiriya questioned.

“Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus. Haxorus. (Mommy doesn’t need to, you already are one.)”, Soul Saver replied as she laughed and Aichi’s seriousness suddenly broke laughing too.

Kiriya growled at this mockery as Aichi smiled at him under the influence of the link.

“Even his Pokémon is laughing at me!”, Kiriya thought angrily.

“Let’s show him what you can do Soul Saver! Use dragon dance!”, Aichi said.

“Slyveon use moonblast to shut up that annoying dragon!”, Kiriya growled angrily.

Slyveon sent a beam at Soul Saver who dodged while doing dragon dance. The way Soul Saver dances was almost in a mockery way which only further infuriated Kiriya and even Slyveon.

“Haxorus! Haxorus!Haxorus! Haxorus!Haxorus! Haxorus!(Na! Na! Bo! Bo! You can’t catch me stupid fairy!)”, Soul Saver taunted as an angry tick mark appeared on Slyveon’s head.

“Slyveon! Slyveon! Slyveon! Slyveon! Slyveon! Slyveon!(Shut up stupid dragon! Your mince meat to me! I’ll show you!)”, Slyveon growled angrily as Soul Saver continued to laugh with Aichi.

Slyveon in response sent several moonblasts at Soul Saver with even more power than before. Though, due to being blinded by rage Slyveon’s aim was off. Slyveon only continued to grow more frustrated along with Kiriya. Soul Saver continued to do dragon dance including wiggling her butt mockingly in the dance.

“Grr! Take this seriously! I won’t allow a coward who relies on others like you to defeat me!”, Kiriya said.

“Oh, really? I don’t think so. It looks like your and your Pokémon are losing way more than your temper.”, Aichi replied mirthfully.

Slyveon panted becoming increasingly exhausted from all the attacks it was launching. Soul Saver got up closer to Slyveon as it growled at her.

“Haxorus! Haxorus!(Come at me bro!)”, Soul Saver taunted.

Slyveon angrily shot another blast at Soul Saver who surprisingly skillfully dodged.

“Soul Saver use iron tail!”, Aichi ordered as Kiriya paled.

With one loud swipe of its tail which sounded metallic as it collided, Slyveon fainted. Soul Saver smirked before laughing and beating her fists against her chest like a monkey and breathing out blue energy. Kiriya’s eye twitched as he felt himself reaching his breaking point as he threw out his last Pokémon. Kiriya Gigantamaxed it not caring about anything else, but shutting up Aichi and Soul Saver.

“Go, Grimmsnarl! Kill them!”, Kiriya ordered.

Grimmsnarl was now huge, reaching up to the tall ceiling in height. Aichi and Soul Saver smiled confidently not being bothered by this at all.

“Let’s do this Soul Saver! End this!”, Aichi said, confidently as Soul Saver roared in agreement.

Kiriya jumped in surprise when Soul Saver’s scales became blue and its underbelly glowed gold as if it was made of energy.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! (Holy charging roar!)”, Soul Saver roared as it’s eyes glowed.

Move: Holy Charging Roar
Type: Psychic
Category: Special
Power: 150
Accuracy: 70%
PP: 5
Priority: 1
Description: This move can only be used when Soul Saver’s scales turn blue. This attack ignores type effectiveness simply dealing neutral damage to any Pokémon it’s used against. Soul Saver lets out a loud roar which temporarily upgrades it’s attack and special attack. She sends a golden dragon shaped blast from her body at the target.

In response Grimmsnarl sent dark energy at Soul Saver. The two attacks clashed as Soul Saver’s blast surprisingly seemed to overwhelm the Gigantamax Pokémon. Kiriya’s jaw dropped in shock when the blast completely overpowered Grimmsnarl’s and enveloped it. Debris fell from the roof as Grimmsnarl was sent flying into the air breaking the ceiling and shaking the whole building.

Ren smirked from within the champion room amused.

“Looks like 003v will actually make this interesting.”, Ren commented.

Soul Saver swiped at the debris with its tail and tusks, destroying and cutting it. Aichi blinked as he looked at the whole in the ceiling, sweat dropping as he snapped out of the link.

“Oh, crap! I hope everyone in the building is alright! We weren’t supposed to use that attack yet! Hopefully Ren didn’t see it!”, Aichi thought as he held his head in panic.

Aichi walked over to the door to check, but he quickly realized it was locked.

“Crap!”, Aichi yelled as Soul Saver walked over to him holding her head down.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. (Sorry mommy.)”, Soul Saver apologized after seeing the destruction.

Aichi rubbed his head, sighing as he closed his eyes.

“You have to be more serious as me and Alfred have been trying to tell you this isn’t a game. We can’t lose here. It’s different outside but...you think you can get this door open so we can check on anyone outside?Just don’t launch that attack again in a building like this. People could have been hurt. ”, Aichi replied in a scolding tone as Soul Saver whined.

“You can’t the door is locked and its sturdiness is being enhanced by master Ren.”, Kiriya replied.

“Then...we’ll just break the wall.”, Aichi said as he looked around for a way out.

“There’s no one out there anyway. The only people in here are Ren and the elite four. That’s why the healer was unattended besides if you leave you forfeit.”, Kiriya replied as Aichi froze.

“Are you positive about that?”, Aichi asked as he balled up his fists.

“Yes! You think anyone besides someone as strong as a elite four would want to be anywhere near master Ren’s firing range?”, Kiriya replied.

“Alright. I guess I’ll go on then.”, Aichi replied as he recalled Soul Saver.

Aichi moves onto the next room a little nervously. He was relieved to see the debris was only in the previous room. However, the room itself had him a bit taken aback. There were pictures of canine Pokémon on the walls. In the middle of the room was a male teen with long silver hair and beady eyes. He wore an Arcanine suit and had a collar like a pet. Aichi sweat dropped, stumbling back a bit in shock.

“Woof! Woof! I am Minami the dog elite four master!”, he introduced.

“O-oh you're the next elite four member?”, Aichi questioned incredulously.

“Yes! Isn’t it obvious?”, Minami replied as Aichi was completely stunned.

“S-sure. It makes perfect sense...even though there’s no dog type…”, Aichi muttered out.

“Don’t underestimate us canines or you’ll get bit!”, Minami replied as Aichi’s eye twitched incredulously.

“Now, face the wrath of my dog army! Go, Manectric!”, Minami called out.

“So, Wingal!”, Aichi called out.

“Ahh!”, Minami screamed as Aichi sweat dropped.

“What’s wrong?”, Aichi asked.

“How dare you use a dog against me you heathen!”, Minami cried as Wingal sweat dropped.

“Lycanroc? Lycanroc?Lycanroc? Lycanroc?Lycanroc? Lycanroc? Lycanroc?! Lycanroc?!(What the hell is this crazy guy on about? What even is a dog?!)”, Wingal questioned.

“I have no idea.”, Aichi replied.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (I think this guy is delusional.)”, Wingal replied.

“Wingal use stealth rock.”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal shot sharp rocks out of his mane which covered the arena.

“Manectric use iron tail!”, Minami ordered.

“Wingal use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered.

As Manectric was mid air Wingal sent a barrage of sharp rocks at it which all cut it. Manectric fell to the ground struggling to get up.

“So, horrible! Horrible! Two doggies being forced to fight!”, Minami commented as Aichi and Wingal have incredulous looks.

“...Lycanroc.Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (...I’ll just put him out of his misery.)”, Wingal replied.

Wingal used crunch on the struggling Manectric biting it down till it fainted. Minami was seething as Aichi and Wingal continued to sweat drop.

“You villainous wretch! Go, Mightyena!”, Minami called out.

Mightyena winced when it’s paws were cut by the rocks.

“Wingal use play rough.”, Aichi ordered as Wingal quickly launched itself at Mightyena.

Before it could counter it was pounced on and beaten down as Minami gasped in horror clutching his head.

“A-are you alright?”, Aichi asked with concern.

“Lycanroc! Lycanroc! Lycanroc! (Of course not! He’s insane!)”, Wingal replied, standing over the fainted Mightyena.

“Ahh! What horror! This is an outrage! Go, Granbull use outrage in this abuser!”, Minami yelled.

“Abuser? We’re just battling? Isn’t battling your job?”, Aichi questioned.

“Lycanroc.Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Aichi stop trying to reason with the crazy.)”, Wingal replied as he ran from the rampaging Granbull.

As Granbull rampaged it got a bunch of cuts from the stealth rock, though completely ignored it in its rage.

“Wingal use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal hurled more sharp rocks at Granbull which it ignored in its rage continuing to run forward. Granbull threw a punch and Wingal easily dodged due to how slow it was in comparison. The punch left a crater in the wall and Granbull stumbled, falling into confusion after its rampage. The pain it had accumulated from its various cuts caused it to faint. Minami fumed as Aichi just said nothing.

“Grahhh!!! Go, Lycanroc midday! Use close combat”, Minami called out.

Minami’s Lycanroc was quite a bit bigger than Aichi’s. Wingal sweated a bit nervously seeing as it towered over him. Wingal narrowly dodged the first strike from the other Lycanroc, though got hit by the following ones. Wingal howled in pain as it was clawed and bit. Aichi recalled Wingal before more damage could be dealt to him.

“Grr! You're running away!?”, Minami questioned.

“I thought you said you didn’t want...oh whatever. Go, Llew!”, Aichi replied, throwing out his next Pokémon as Minami gulped.

Lycanroc growled at Llew pouncing on him and trying to beat him down like Wingal. Lycanroc didn’t realized this mistake till it bit down on Llew’s hard shell and it felt its teeth start to crack.

“Golisopod. (Yare yare daze.)”, Llew said coolly as he snatched up Lycanroc with his claws.

Lycanroc sweated nervously desperately scratching and launching rocks from its mane at Llew to no effect.

“Llew use liquidation.”, Aichi ordered.

Llew opened up his mouth shooting a powerful torrent of water at Lycanroc. Llew let the squirming Lycanroc go after it fainted letting it fall to the ground.

“You! You! Ahh! Arcanine, king of the dogs! You're my only hope! Use extreme speed!”, Minami called out as he sent out his final Pokémon.

Arcanine launches itself at Llew with blinding speed as Llew just stood there taking the hits. As soon as it got the opportunity it grabbed the speedy Pokémon with its claws, hooking them around Arcanine paw. Arcanine paled as Llew turned his lead to it.

“Llew use liquidation!”, Aichi ordered.

Llew sent a torrent of water at Arcanine sending it crashing back into the wall and causing a crater. Arcanine struggled up only to slip on the water and fall on its head getting knocked out. Minami gaped in disbelief with comical tears.

Aichi uses some potions and ethers on his Pokémon before walking up to Minami.

“Sorry about that it’s not personal.”, Aichi apologized as he waved goodbye to Minami going onto the next room.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 33 The Strongest In Kakusa, The Elite Four! Part 2

Aichi’s current team
Level 67 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 67 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 66 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 67 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

The next room’s walls looked like that of a circus tent. There were various circus things lying about. Aichi instantly paused seeing this getting a sudden sense of deja vu remembering what happened in Oracle town. He heard a creek from up above seeing Asuka descend down on some sort of platform tied to rope. Her hand rested on the rope and she sat with her legs crossed.

“So, we meet again, 003v. This is where your little rebellion ends. You won’t make it to master Ren.”, Asuka said.

“You're the one who tormented Misaki’s town. I will definitely defeat you!”, Aichi replied, glaring at Asuka.

“Pfft! You trying to avenge your little girlfriend.”, Asuka replied.

“She’s not my girlfriend! Just a very good friend!”, Aichi replied, hastily with a light blush.

“Uh huh. How unfortunate Ren can’t see the show right now. No matter I will make it up to him by handing you to him. Let’s end this quickly go, Silver Thorn!”, Asuka replied, throwing out her first Pokémon.

“Go, Ahmes!”, Aichi called out.

“Silver Thorn use shadow claw!”, Asuka ordered.

Ahmes dodged Silver Thorn’s swipes narrowly.

“Ahmes use close combat!”, Aichi ordered.

While Silver Thorn was mid swipe Ahmes cut it hard with his blades.

“Silver Thorn use dark pulse!”, Asuka ordered.

Ahmes blocked as the wave of darkness pushed him away from Silver Thorn allowing it to pounce on him again.

“Ahmes use future sight!”, Aichi ordered.

As Silver Thorn delivered another swipe Ahmes moved his head over to dodge. Ahmes took this opportunity to land a blow into Silver Thorn’s stomach knocking the air out of it.

“Silver Thorn use dark pulse again!”, Asuka ordered.

Before it could, Ahmes dashed forward delivering a final strike sending Silver Thorn crashing to the ground, fainted.

“Darn it go Puppeteer use hypnosis!”, Asuka called out.

Ahmes was put to sleep as Puppeteer smirked evilly.

“Crap!”, Aichi said.

“Now, use foul play!”, Asuka ordered with a smirk.

Puppeteer mercilessly beat down the unconscious Ahmes.

“Ahmes! You have to wake up!”, Aichi yelled at Ahmes.

Ahmes continued to get beat with no signs of waking.

“If we don’t win then everyone will lose! Team Asteroid will be able to take over the region! And then they’ll make everyone suffer again! Please Ahmes!”, Aichi pleaded.

“It’s useless! He’s done for!”, Asuka said.

She suddenly gasped in shock when Ahmes started to rouse hearing Aichi’s voice. Tears started to enter Aichi’s eyes as Ahmes was beaten mercilessly unable to fight back. It reminded him of…

Flashback

Back in Sanctuary town when he was little he was constantly bullied. The pranks, the jeers, or the beatings he wasn’t sure which he dreaded most. All of them were forever ingrained into his mind.

It was depressingly an average day for him in grade school getting beaten down by a group of the other kids.

“Man this kid is such a coward he never fights back!”, one of the kids laughed as he pressed him against the wall.

“P-please stop…”, Aichi begged.

The response he got was another punch to the stomach.

“What’s wrong Pokémon boy? If you can talk to Pokémon surely you can fight back like one.”, a kid said as he punched him into the wall.

“I-I don’t want to hurt anyone...I just wanna have friends…”, Aichi replied weakly.

“Heh! Who would ever wanna be friends with a freak like you?!”, a kid replied in a jeering tone as tears stung Aichi eyes.

Flashback end

“Gallade…(Aichi…)”, Ahmes thought.

“Gallade! Gallade! Gallade! (I won’t let that happen my vanguard!)”, Ahmes said as he stood up facing Puppeteer.

“Ahmes, you really heard me! Use solar blade!”, Aichi replied, with a little bit of tears in his eyes.

Ahmes rushed forward slashing at Puppeteer multiple times causing it to faint.

“Are you alright?”, Aichi asked, still a bit emotional.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (There is no need to cry Aichi. I'm fine.)”, Ahmes assured as he looked back to Aichi.

“Thank goodness.”, Aichi replied.

“You just got lucky! Go, Alice! Use phantom force”, Asuka called out.

“Ahmes use swords dance!”, Aichi ordered.

As the ghostly energy came towards Ahmes he skillfully dodged and started his swords dance. The ghostly energy curved trying to hit Ahmes who continuously dodged. Ahmes then shot a wave of psychic energy at Alice sending it back a bit.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes charged forward delivering a sun powered slash to Alice. The ghostly energy dispersed as Ahmes delivered another quick slash.

“Grr! Alice use phantom force!”, Asuka ordered.

As Alice crashed to the ground it sent ghostly energy at Ahmes sending him flying back. Ahmes got back up staggering a bit. Seeing that Ahmes May needed a bit of a boost due to the type advantage, Aichi activated his mega bracelet. Ahmes mega evolved into mega Gallade, easily dodging the next blast.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes sent a final swipe at Alice knocking it out.

“No more playing around! Go, Dark Lord! Use phantom force!”, Asuka said as she threw out her next Pokémon.

“I can’t fail master Ren no matter what!”, Asuka thought.

Flashback

A young Asuka looked rather nervous when she stood before the doors of the Team Asteroid Kakusa hq. Anxiety filled her chest as she looked down to Cerberus by her side. She remembered Team Asteroid coming into Palesville and their own gym leader giving them over to them. All she really knew about Team Asteroid was what she heard from the news and when her parents would talk about them. Apparently, they were some sort of evil team bent on world domination.

“Good for nothing gym leaders.”, she thought.

She noticed a young Ren standing at the door wondering if he was nervous too. Perhaps he was also from Palesville? She didn’t recognize him though Palesville was mildly big so that was understandable.

“Are you alright?”, Asuka asked.

“The door won’t open. Usually when I walk in front of it the door slides open.”, Ren replied.

Asuka and even Cerberus sweat dropped realizing Ren was in front of the window not the door.

“You mean like this?”, Asuka questioned as she stepped in front of the door which slipped open.

“Ah! You made the door work!”, Ren replied with genuine amazement.

“He won’t last long here.”, Asuka thought, sweat dropping.

They both walked in and Asuka flinched when Tetsu walked up to them.

“Master Ren where have you been?”, Tetsu asked.

“The door was being mean and this girl helped me out.”, Ren answered.

“M-my name is Narumi Asuka.”, she introduced a bit nervously.

“You're a new recruit aren’t you? One from Palesville.”, Tetsu asked.

“Yes sir!”, Asuka replied, trying to hide her fear and giving a rather stiff bow.

“Thank you for helping out master Ren. He can be...never mind.”, Tetsu replied as Asuka looked over to Ren with surprise.

“Master Ren? You mean to tell me he’s in charge?!”? Asuka questioned in shock.

“Yep, my dad is one of the bosses.”, Ren answered.

Asuka’s jaw dropped in shock, not even realizing.

“See you later Asuka.”, Ren said cheerfully as he waved goodbye to the stunned Asuka.

Flashback end

Ahmes dodged to the side of the blast and cut Dark Lord with solar blade. Then, at blinding speed Ahmes cut Dark Lord several more times with solar blade causing it to faint.

“Go, Ringmaster!”, Asuka called out, before activating her mega bracelet.

“Ahmes use swords dance!”, Aichi ordered.

“Ringmaster use shadow ball!”, Asuka ordered.

She gasped when Ahmes jumped right over the attack with a flip getting behind ringmaster.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes slashed Ringmaster while it was midair causing it to let go of its massive stone. The stone fell on Ringmaster pinning it underneath. Ringmaster squirmed underneath the stone sweating nervously as it looked up at Ahmes whose arms were crossed waiting for Aichi’s orders. Asuka hastily undid the mega evolution and the stone disappeared freeing Ringmaster.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered.

Just as Ringmaster got up again it was slashed by Ahmes’s blades. It ended up fainting no longer having its mega power fortifying it’s defense.

“This has gotta be a joke! End this, Cerberus!”, Asuka called out, mega evolving Cerberus as well.

Flashback

“Haha! You're so weak!”, a young Kyou laughed as Sky Diver rammed into Cerberus causing it to faint.

She held Cerberus who whimpered in pain as it was moved in its injured state. She rubbed its head comfortingly to try and soothe it.

“You don’t have to be such a jerk about it!”, Asuka replied a bit angrily before they both paused hearing clapping.

It was Ren walking in with Tetsu.

“Asuka , your performance was really entertaining; it was like a circus act. So flashy and cool! Especially with your Houndoom! ”, Ren commented.

“Um I’m the one who won! You should be praising me!”, Kyou said, only to be ignored by Ren who went up to Asuka.

Asuka blushed a bit at Ren’s smile and felt her heart flutter. She didn’t know what it was but something about him captivated her. She felt almost drawn in, wanting to do anything she could to please him.

“I can tell you definitely have the passion to be a great member of Team Asteroid. Your bond with your Pokémon is strong. You just need to get stronger.”, Ren said.

“You think so?”, Asuka questioned, as she felt her heart beat faster.

“He believes in me.”, Asuka thought.

“I’ll definitely get stronger, master Ren!”, Asuka said as Ren smiled.

“I’ll be watching. Don’t disappoint me, Asuka.”, Ren said as he left.

Flashback end

“It was because of master Ren that I was able to become the person I am today. A proud member of Team Asteroid and the elite four rather than some scared girl. I won’t fail him! Ever again! He doesn’t know me and Tetsu lost to this brat’s snot nosed friends.”, Asuka thought.

“Ahmes use close combat!”, Aichi ordered.

“Cerberus use fire blast!”, Asuka ordered.

Ahmes started to sweat as the attack was too big for him to escape. He decided to keep charging forward running. He used some of his psychic power to push back the flames. Ahmes slashed and kicked at Cerberus with all it could. Cerberus bit down hard on his arm during one of the slashes digging deeply into his arm. Aichi recalled Ahmes seeing how bad things were going.

“Now, that’s how you do it Cerberus! Good boy!”, Asuka praised Cerberus.

Aichi raised his eyebrow a bit surprised to see this. Though, he remembered what Takuto said about mega evolution. It required a bond between a person and Pokémon.

“Maybe Asuka isn’t actually that bad. She could be controlled after all just like Misaki was.”, Aichi thought.

“Go, Wingal! Use stone edge!”, Aichi called out.

As soon as Wingal jumped out he hurled sharp rocks at Cerberus which it burned away. Cerberus charged towards Wingal who sweated nervously.

“Use play rough! Now!”, Aichi ordered as Asuka jumped in surprise.

Wingal glowed with pink energy as he clawed and bit down on Cerberus causing quite a surprising amount of damage. Cerberus quickly turned whipping away Wingal with its tail sending him flying. Wingal took this opportunity to shoot sharp rocks at Cerberus again. Before Cerberus could breathe more flames a rock stuck in its mouth. Cerberus growled angrily at this before it was suddenly cut by more sharp rocks. It not only damaged, but further angered Cerberus. Cerberus shot flames from its mouth that completely incinerated the rock. During this distraction Wingal ran up to Cerberus.

“Wingal use play rough!”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal glowed pink again clawing and biting at Cerberus while charged with fairy power. However, Cerberus still refused to faint wildly trying to shake on Wingal who was on top of it biting it. It managed to shake off Wingal sending him flying into the air.

“Cerberus use dark pulse!”, Asuka ordered.

Cerberus shot a wave of darkness from its mouth with engulfed Wingal.

“Lycanroc! Lycanroc! Lycanroc! (Not like this! I refuse to give up!)”, Wingal thought as he growled and sent sharp rocks at Cerberus while it was mid attack,

The rocks all hit Cerberus who was unable to move away.

“Come on! We have to win Cerberus! We can’t fail master Ren!”, Asuka said.

“Houndoom! Houndoom! (I won’t fail you mistress Asuka!)”, Cerberus roared, with a level of determination which shocked Aichi.

Cerberus staggered as it still continued to stand.

“These feelings...these convictions of them feel genuine. It’s not like the brainwashed or coerced people. She has something worth fighting for. I don’t know what it is but... I can’t lose.”, Aichi thought.

Wingal crashed against the wall struggling up as well growling. Wingal shot more sharp rocks at Cerberus. Dark energy leaked from Cerberus’s mouth as it shot another wave of darkness from its mouth.

“I will not let you win!”, Asuka yelled with determination.

Wingal pushes back against Cerberus with night landing several super effective sharp rocks at Cerberus, but it refused to go down. Wingal ended up overwhelmed and fainting.

Aichi sweated nervously in disbelief.

“Their not just strong, but their intense emotions are enhancing their power beyond their limits.”, Aichi thought in astonishment as he recalled Wingal.

“Go, Llew!”, Aichi called out.

Llew stood ready to fight as Cerberus growled at him.

“Llew use liquidation!”, Aichi ordered.

“Cerberus use dark pulse!”, Asuka ordered.

The two attacks clashed intensely causing the arena to shake. Despite Cerberus’s damage it preserved as Llew added more power to his water. Cerberus staggered back a bit as it started to get overpowered. Llew growled as it added more power and Cerberus staggered again.

“Don’t give up we can’t fail!”, Asuka told Cerberus.

Cerberus roared pouring all of its power into the dark pulse blasting through the liquidation and charging at Llew.

“Cerberus use thunder fang!”, Asuka ordered.

Cerberus clamped down hard on Llew actually piercing his shell. Llew sucker punched Cerberus repeatedly then slammed Cerberus into the ground before it finally let go fainting.

“No, this c-can’t…”, Asuka said as she fell to her knees.

Aichi recalled Llew walking over. She hung her head and Aichi couldn’t help, but look down with a bit of sympathy. He tried to think of something to say, but he didn’t want to make things worse.

“Just go!Go, so you can lose to Ren!”, Asuka yelled, not looking at him.

“I-I”, Aichi stuttered.

“You won, go! You think I wanna hear any of your lip service?! I was never some brainwashed pawn! Ren is my whole world and I failed him!”, Asuka yelled angrily.

Aichi flinched a bit, before looking away. He knew there was nothing he could say and he had to go. He quickly used a revive on Wingal and some potions on him and Ahmes. Asuka didn’t look at him and he tried not to look back. He just strode forward onto the next room.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 34 The Strongest In Kakusa, The Elite Four! Part 3

Aichi’s current team
Level 69 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 67 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 66 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 67 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Emi walked over Shizuka who sat next to Misaki covered with a blanket. Misaki handed her some hot coco which she drank. Kamui was beside her looking at her a bit concerned seeing the concerned look on her face.

“Don’t worry everything will be alright. Aichi has the tendency to create miracles. Every time I doubted him he always proved me wrong.”, Misaki assured.

Shizuka accepted their drink, taking a sip as she shed a tear.

“Why does it always have to be Aichi...he never asked for this…why did Arceus cast such a fate upon my son?”, Shizuka questioned, her voice a bit shaky.

“Maybe Arceus believes he’s the best person for the job?”, Misaki suggested.

“He’s already had far too much grief for someone so young...it makes me regret ever falling for that man.”, Shizuka replied.

“You would have never had Aichi and Emi. That’s something positive you got from falling for him.”, Misaki replied.

“I know it’s just...I wish...Aichi was born normally. I wish we never had to deal with this nonsense...and just have a normal happy life.”, Shizuka replied.

“What ever made you fall of that man anyway?”, Kai asked rather bluntly as the others flinched.

“Dude read the room! Miwa’s right you have no people skills!”, Kamui yelled.

“It’s a long story...It may be hard to believe, but he used to be different before. Then, he changed...you’ve probably heard that kind of line before, but it’s true. I’ll tell it when my baby gets home.”, Shizuka answered.

“Yeah, Bro will be back Mrs.Sendou don’t you worry!”, Kamui assured.

“It really is nice that Aichi finally made some more friends besides just Ahmes. It still feels strange to hear, especially remembering…”, Shizuka thought.

Flashback

“You have to do something about my son being bullied. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed him getting beaten by the other kids.”, Shizuka said to the lady at the desk across.

“I’m just telling you honestly. We haven’t seen anything.”, the lady said with a shrug sounding very dishonest.

“Really now? You expect me to believe that?”, Shizuka replied, easily able to catch microexpression of smirk.

“You can always move if think it’s too bad.”, the lady replied as Shizuka gasped in disbelief.

“Excuse me?!”, Shizuka replied with shock and anger.

“I’m just saying you can always go back to Galar. There’s nothing keeping YOU people here.”, the lady replied.

Shizuka froze when the lady mentioned Galar.

“H-how did you know we're from Galar?”, Shizuka asked, her guard rising.

“It’s not that hard to tell. You guys hide your accent really well, but it’s still pretty obvious your Galarian.”, the lady said as she looked Shizuka over.

“What’s the problem with being Galarian?! There’s plenty of Galarians in Kakusa!”, Shizuka asked.

“Being Galarian isn’t a problem that should be obvious Mrs. Sendou. Or should I say Mrs.Gaillard?”, the lady questioned before she jumped at the death glare Shizuka gave her.

“”Let’s. Make. Something. Clear. Bitch. If you don’t do your job you will regret it and shut your mouth about where me and my family came from. I may not be with Mr. Gaillard anymore, but I can still wreck down this whole town if I wanted.”, Shizuka replied, with a composed anger emphasizing the first part as she moved her finger towards the lady in emphasis.

The lady shook in fear covered in sweat, shrinking away from Shizuka. She hastily nodded with her eyes full of fear.

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.”, Shizuka said with a smile as she left.

Flashback end

“Hopefully you’ll be alright brother.”, Emi thought.

With Aichi…

Aichi entered the last elite four room. I was dark and it looked like the inside of a medieval dungeon. The torches had blue fire rather than orange. Tetsu stood tall in the middle of the room like a sentry. His arms were crossed and he calmly looked at Aichi.

“So, you’ve made it this far 003v. However, I can’t allow you to proceed.”, Tetsu said.

“I won’t fall here. I’m going to put a stop to Team Asteroid’s terror here!”, Aichi replied resolutely.

“Don’t be native. Even if by some miracle you defeated Ren there’s still countless branches of Team Asteroid in other regions. There are others in Team Asteroid far more terrifying than anyone you’ve fought so far.”, Tetsu replied coldly.

“Even so I won’t give up! I have too many people counting on me!”, Aichi replied.

“Your determination will mean nothing before the might of Team Asteroid. Go, Reijy!”, Tetsu replied, throwing out Chandelure.

“Go, Wingal!”, Aichi called out.

“Reijy use solar beam!”, Tetsu ordered.

Reijy started to absorb the light around them making it harder to see.

“Wingal use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal shot sharp rocks at Reijy as it built up energy. Reijy shot a powerful blast and Wingal who jumped out of the way. He ran along the walls shooting more rocks at Reijy.

“Reijy use energy ball!”, Tetsu commanded.

Reijy sent multiple green balls at Wingal. He was able to dodge most of them, but some landed. Wingal jumped back up sending more sharp rocks at Reijy causing it to faint.

“Go, Vampir! Leaf Storm!”, Tetsu called out, throwing out Decidueye.

Vampir sent a storm of leaves that Wingal got caught in. He was sent crashing against the wall fainting.

“Go, Soul Saver!”, Aichi called out.

“Vampir use brave bird!”, Tetsu ordered.

Vampir dove towards Soul Saver.

“Soul Saver use scale shot!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver shot scales at Vampir as it dove towards her. She dodged out of the way when Vampir continued forward. She shot at Vampir’s back causing it to crash into the ground.

“Soul Saver use dragon dance!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver did her dance as Vampir struggled to get back up due to both the damage from Soul Saver’s attacks and the recoil of brave bird.

“Vampir use phantom force!”, Tetsu ordered.

“Soul Saver use scale shot!”, Aichi ordered.

The powered up scale shot easily overpowered the phantom force. The attack hit Vampir causing it to faint.

“Go, Yellow Bolt! Change into your frost form and use blizzard!”, Tetsu ordered, throwing out Rotom which switched to its frost form.

“Soul Saver dodge!”, Aichi commanded.

Soul Saver quickly ran from the icy storm. She ran around as the ice engulfed the areas it hit covering it in ice and putting out the flames. The room was now very dark as Aichi tried to see what was going on. He heard a loud thump and a cry of pain from Soul Saver slipping on the ice and landing on her butt.

“Now, Yellow bolt use blizzard!”, Tetsu ordered.

Soul Saver let out a cry of pain as the storm hit her.

“How can it see?”, Aichi questioned, barely able to see in front of him.

“Ghost Pokémon live in the darkness. They can easily see through it.”, Tetsu explained.

Soul Saver struggled up slipping again on the ice and let out a pained groan.

“How am I supposed to fight when I can’t see what’s going on?”, Aichi thought.

“Don’t see. Feel.”, Aichi jumped as he heard the voice of Solgaleo in his mind.

“Feel?”, Aichi thought.

“Close your eyes are sense your surroundings.”, Solgaleo replied.

Aichi complied, trying to do as Solgaleo said. He struggled as he tried only to be distracted as Soul Saver cried out, hit by another attack.

“Soul Saver!”, Aichi cried out.

“You have to focus and empty your mind for it to work.”, Solgaleo said.

“How am I supposed do that?!”, Aichi thought, panickedly.

“Just focus or you will lose.”, Solgaleo replied.

Aichi shook at Solgaleo’s words knowing them to be true. He took a deep breath trying to do as Solgaleo told him. As he did Soul Saver struggled up with her eyes closed as well.

“Rotom? Rotom?Rotom? Rotom?Rotom? Rotom? (Why are these idiots closing their eyes? Are they trying to lose?)”, Yellow Bolt questioned.

Aichi felt the cold from the ice all around the room. He tried to focus and ignore it to find Yellow Bolt. Then, he suddenly thought of a way to distinguish Yellow Bolt from the rest of the ice. He remembered the ghostly energy Alfred and the other ghost Pokémon gave off. He pointed two of his fingers to his head as he tried to lock into that energy.

“Rotom. Rotom. Rotom. (These guys are idiots.)”, Yellow Bolt commented.

Strangely Soul Saver didn’t react to this provocation so focused that she didn’t hear Yellow Bolt. Yellow Bolt the Soul Saver was perfectly mimicking her master despite being unable to see him. This weirded out Yellow Bolt.

“End this Yellow Bolt.”, Tetsu commanded.

Yellow Bolt prepared to send another storm of ice at Soul Saver before it was suddenly hit directly by scales. It let out a pained and surprised cry as it fell.

“Impossible how could you find Yellow Bolt?!”, Tetsu questioned with genuine surprise.

Aichi didn’t respond to what Tetsu said as Soul Saver continued shooting scales at Yellow Bolt. The room lit up a bit as a light blue aura became visible around Aichi.

“I see so he’s using his psychic powers to sense where Yellow Bolt is. And since that Haxorus is linked to him it can feel Yellow Bolt too.”, Tetsu realized.

Soul Saver stood near where Yellow Bolt fell surrounded by the same aura. The light allowed him to see that Yellow Bolt had fainted. He recalled Yellow Bolt throwing out his next Pokémon.

“Go, Death Anchor! Use ice punch!”, Tetsu ordered.

Death Anchor threw an icy punch at Soul Saver who dodged and shot scales at Death Anchor. Death Anchor tried to punch at Soul Saver again, but it dodged again despite the fact that her eyes were closed. Soul Saver shot more scales at Death Anchor overwhelming it. Afterward, Soul Saver used dragon dance with her eyes still closed.

“He doesn’t even need to give commands. This is big trouble. Go, Gwinn. Use destiny bond.”, Tetsu said, before throwing out Gengar

Neither Aichi or Soul Saver reacted as Tetsu thought. They couldn’t even hear him right now and would continue to attack. Solgaleo who viewed the battle using his powers was panicking. With how connected Aichi and Soul Saver were in this moment they would both faint. That is exactly what Tetsu wanted.

“This is checkmate 003v.”, Tetsu thought.

He gasped in surprise when Aichi recalled Soul Saver still pointing his fingers to his head.

“There’s no way he can’t also sense the destiny bond can he!?”, Tetsu questioned.

Aichi threw out Llew, still silent.

“Use sucker punch.”, Aichi finally said, not sounding completely there.

Llew complied as the light around Aichi illuminated the room more intensely allowing him to see Gwinn. Tetsu quickly activated his mega bracelet in response as destiny bond was now useless. Llew sucker punched Gwinn repeatedly without mercy before and after its mega evolution. He already had done a ton of damage to Gwinn before it had mega evolved.

“Gwinn use thunder!”, Tetsu ordered.

“Move.”, Aichi ordered, still sounding distant as Llew was surrounded by the same light blue aura easily dodging the thunder.

“He’s doing it!? He’s powering up his Pokémon just like Ren and the programming still hasn’t taken over?!”, Tetsu questioned, shocked and amazed.

“If he has discovered how to do this he can actually defeat Ren!”, Tetsu thought, panicked.

Llew dashed forward towards Gwinn with blinding speed delivering a flurry of sucker punches. Gwinn ended up fainting from the buffed attack.

“I have to stop him now! Go, Amon!”, Tetsu called out.

Tetsu looked a bit worried as Amon shivered from the ice, weakening it. He started to regret his earlier plan especially because it awakened this power within Aichi.

“Use blizzard.”, Aichi ordered.

Llew sent a storm of ice at Amon furthering the effects of the ice on the grass Pokémon. To make things worse for Amon it’s root-like were now frozen and now stuck to the ground.

“If he can truly beat Ren. That means he can save him and finally end this nightmare.”, Tetsu thought.

He had never been truly loyal to Team Asteroid. His loyalty always laid with his dear friend Ren. He had stayed by his side even when he changed in hopes he could find a way to return him to normal. He had also helped out Asuka in becoming strong since Ren seemed fond of her without others knowing. It was a sign there was still humanity left in his friend. That’s why he studied Aichi so intensely, reasoning if Aichi could break free Ren could as well. However, Team Asteroid had started to pick up on this and he had to be very careful.

Flashback

One day someone from the Galar branch of Team Asteroid had been sent over to their branch. It was a tall teen with short purple hair and red eyes. He wore a white militaristic uniform with gold trimming. He wore a white handkerchief with a gold broach. He looked over their various members as they trained in the base and walked over to Kyou. Kyou has out Gancelot who was now Riolu and had recently lost.

“If you have a weak link you should cut it. Least that weak link weakens the whole.”, he commented.

Kyou and Gancelot shook as they looked over to look at the teen. They felt a shiver go up their spines at his presence making them feel like he would freeze them whole.

“Is there problem?”, Tetsu said as he walked over to the scene having watched it unfold.

“I’m just giving this boy some important advice. This branch seems far too soft which is why the boss has sent me here. My job is in his words to ‘freeze the hearts of these recruits.’. Right.”, the teen replied as he looked over to Kyou who hastily nodded.

“Y-yeah, your right. I have wasted way too much time on trying to make this useless trash evolve!”, Kyou replied, sweating nervously.

He shivered at the overbearing presence of the teen and Tetsu sweated nervously not liking this.

“Who exactly are you? You said the boss sent you. Everything has been going fine here why have you come?”, Tetsu asked.

“I am Serra Raul, a member of the boss’s elite squadron the Quatre Knights. Technically we’re meant to serve 003v, but as you know he’s been missing for quite awhile.”, Raul answered.

“003v I have only heard of him. Isn’t he supposed to be the strongest creation of project Psyqualia?”, Tetsu replied.

“Ah, yes he is. My second job is also to see if he is being hidden in Kakusa.”, Raul whispered to Tetsu going up to his ear.

“That means 003v can defeat Ren and return him to normal.”, Tetsu thought.

“Oh, and by the way…”, Raul said with an edge in his voice that made Tetsu freeze.

The air around them became Tetsu as he faced Raul.

“Make sure your loyalty is solely to Team Asteroid.”, Raul whispered.

Tetsu sweated nervously forgetting to breathe and he felt an intense aura of malice.

“Y-yes of course.”, Tetsu replied.

Flashback end

“Amon use leech seed!”, Tetsu ordered.

Amon sent seeds at Llew to syphon his energy, but he effortlessly dodged, shooting more ice at Amon as ran up to it.

“Use sucker punch.”, Aichi ordered.

“Amon use wood hammer!”, Tetsu ordered.

Llew put his upper body back and slid on the ice avoiding Amon trying to clothesline him. He leaned up afterward delivering a powerful sucker punch to Amon knocking it out. Llew turned to Aichi as the light he emitted started to die down and caught him as he fell over.

“Golisopod? (Are you alright, Aichi?)”, Llew asked as Aichi’s eyes finally cracked open.

“W-what?”, Aichi muttered out confusedly sounding tired.

Llew leaned Aichi against the wall as the latter rubbed his eyes. Aichi tried to regain his bearings as he felt very drained.

“Golisopod. Golisopod.Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod.(Don’t move too much. Just tell me who needs healing and I’ll heal them.)”, Llew said as he went through Aichi’s bag and Aichi nodded.

“Wingal and Soul Saver. Wingal needs to be revived.”, Aichi replied.

Llew did as Aichi said, healing up the two and looked at Aichi. He didn’t have a hard time seeing due to his species being accustomed to swimming and seeing in the ocean.

“Golisopod? Golisopod? Golisopod? Golisopod? Golisopod? Golisopod? Golisopod? Golisopod? (If these potions work on us it’s possible it would work on him since he’s half Pokémon right?)”, Llew thought, spraying Aichi.

Aichi started to feel more energy in him as Llew sprayed him with the potion. He blinked as his strength returned to him and he got back onto his feet. He clenched and released his fist and looked shocked.

“Golisopod! (It really worked!)”, Llew said amazed.

“Thanks Llew.”, Aichi said as he smiled at Llew.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. (It’s nothing you're my trainer after all.)”, Llew replied bashfully, rubbing the back of his head.

“Now, all that remains left is Ren to battle.”, Aichi said.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. (I can lead you through the room. It’s not that hard to see for me.)”, Llew replied.

“Thank you.”, Aichi replied as Llew held him turning away bashfully.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. (Like I said it’s nothing.)”, Llew replied, leading his trainer.

“003v.”, Tetsu said as Aichi and Llew turned to the direction of his voice.

“No Sendou Aichi. Please save Ren.”, Tetsu finished as the two looked shocked.

“Wait aren’t you a Team Asteroid member?”, Aichi questioned.

“My loyalty has always been to Ren not Team Asteroid. His father is responsible for making him like he is right now. The real Ren isn’t like this.”, Tetsu replied.

“He has the programming just like me doesn’t he?”, Aichi questioned.

“He does. All of those like you do to varying degrees.”, Tetsu replied.

Aichi was about to ask Tetsu more, but the room suddenly got much colder.

“What’s going on Llew?!”, Aichi asked.

“G-Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! (H-he’s been frozen solid!)”, Llew gasped in shock as Aichi’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I always knew Tetsu was never truly loyal to Team Asteroid.”, Aichi and Llew jumped as they heard an unfamiliar voice.

Little did they know it was the person from Tetsu’s flashback, Raul.

“Who are you?!”, Aichi asked.

“You’ll find out soon 003v. It’s not time for us to battle just yet. I was ordered not to battle you only to find you. I can’t believe Katsuki didn’t report finding you to the boss. We will see each other soon after I deal with some pests. First, I’ll be taking away this traitor. ”,Raul replied.

“No, stop!”, Aichi yelled as he reached out, but as soon as Raul appeared they disappeared.

“G-Golisopod. (H-he’s gone.)”, Llew told him.

Aichi shed a tear as his hands balled up into fists and shook.

“Darn it!”, Aichi yelled.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 35 The Fated Battle Begins
Aichi’s current team
Level 69 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 68 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 67 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 67 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Ren smirked as he felt Aichi approaching the champion room.

“I guess that just leaves me then. To think Asuka and even Tetsu have failed me. Oh well, I don’t need those weaklings. Gaining 003v on our side will make all of the losses worth it. After all we are worth far more than weakling humans.”, Ren said.

He turned as his father Katsuki Suzugamori walked in next to him.

“Do not underestimate 003v. You must use your full strength to defeat him.”, Katsuki warned.

“As if! I could sense his Pokémon fainting multiple times against the ‘elite’ four. He is no match for me.”, Ren replied.

“Take this seriously son. This is our last chance from the boss. He’s getting inpatient with our progress in taking over the region.”, Katsuki replied.

Aichi walked into the room having recalled Llew after they got out of the darkness. Katsuki tensed as he laid his eyes on Aichi. Aichi’s focus was on Ren, it briefly switched to the person beside him not knowing who they were.

“So, we meet again 003v.”, Katsuki said as Aichi raised his eyebrow in confusion.

“When did we meet?”, Aichi asked in confusion.

“You still don’t remember me or Ren due to Solgaleo’s interference. We have met before a long time ago in Galar. If you had your memories you would have never challenged Team Asteroid.”, Katsuki replied.

“What? Why would that be the case?”, Aichi questioned.

“Because you were a loyal member of Team Asteroid of course.”, Ren answered as he stood from his throne to face Aichi who’s eyes widened in shock.

“What are you talking about?!”, Aichi asked.

Ren smirked as he remembered when he truly first met Aichi.

Flashback
He was much younger then, about 4 or 5. He bounced excitingly much to his father’s chagrin at the idea of meeting another like him.

“I hope he’s not a stick in the mud like Leon.”, Ren said.

“You have got to be professional 001q. This is the boss’s son we’re meeting.”, a small blond haired boy around his age said next to him.

He had three ahoges and purple eyes. He wore white formal looking clothes with a red A. His arms were crossed behind his back looking at Ren with annoyance. Leon’s father was with him a man with dirty blond hair and a mustache. He wore a similar formal white uniform.

“Gosh, your way to high strung Leon. Just call me Ren.”, Ren wined.

“001q was the name you were designated with which is what I will call you. As you should as well call me 002f.”, Leon replied.

“Quiet boys.”, Katsuki said as both of the boys suddenly froze looking ahead.

The attention was instantly drawn when a familiar man to them walked through the door. The man was rather short for his age, he was a redhead with hair that went down to his shoulders. He had blue eyes and wore a long black jacket. He wore a white dress shirt with grey dress pants. He had black boots and a white handkerchief around his neck. He had a black belt around his waist with a red A. This man was Gin Gaillard. To his side was his brother Arthur Gaillard with his son Olivier Gaillard.

Arthur was way taller than his brother practically dwarfing him in height. Arthur had a greenish-blue ponytail and blue eyes. He wore a blue suit with a white handkerchief. He had grey pants and black shoes.

Olivier looked around the same age as Aichi. He had greenish-blue like his father and an ahoge. His eyes were a fiery orange. Olivier wore a blue suit with a red tie. He had white pants and black shoes.

Galarians were rather strange like that putting their family name last rather than first. That’s why they called him Gin Gaillard instead of Galliard Gin. Which was quite weird for Ren since he was very used to the other way around. Gin had a small smile and a small boy in front of him.

It was Aichi younger than he’s been shown so far. He wore a simple grey dress shirt with grey pants and black shoes.

“Hello Trition, Katsuki, 002f, 001q. This is my son 003v.”, Gin greeted, he motioned the young Aichi in front of him.

003v was silent looking over them. Ren cocked his head noticing he was rather quiet. Olivier stood to his side not unlike their fathers.

“Hello as my father said I am 003v.”, 003v finally said with a bow.

He got the impression that the new kid was rather shy judging from how reserved he seemed.

“There’s no need to bow before your inferiors son.”, Gin said as 003v brought himself up again.

“Yes father.”, 003v replied.

He looked up briefly to his father who held in a scowl and being called inferior to a little boy.

“I have prepared the best way to introduce 003v to all of you.”, Gin said as he held a remote.

They walked into a new room with a large arena. Gin pressed the button which lowered some prisoners. Team Asteroid grunts came in pushing some carts at the same time. They were surprised when the grunts released the prisoners handing them Poké balls.

“What is going on Master Gin? Those prisoners are world class trainers. It was so difficult to capture them.”, Trition questioned nervously.

“Trust me.”, Gin replied with a carefree tone and smile.

“We got our Pokémon back!”, one the prisoners said as they threw out their Pokémon.

Out came a Vensaur, Kelfkey, Tyrantiar, Staraptor, Garchomp, Gengar, Salamence, Marstomp, Arcanine, Ferrothorn, Lucario, Aegislash, Kangeskan, Infernape, Toucannon, Metagross, Alolan Raichu, and Golbat. They mega evolved all their Pokémon capable of mega evolution.

He, Leon, Trition, and even his father were a bit nervous seeing this. Gin, his brother, and the two boys whoever weren’t worried at all.

“This is the end of your reign of terror Gin Gaillard! You are going to regret all the suffering you’ve caused millions!”, another prisoner said pointing to Gin who just smirked without a hint of worry.

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve heard the same speech a hundred times already and the ones who said it always lost. Show them the power of Team Asteroid, son.”, Gin replied with a smug smirk.

003v stepped forward much to the prisoners confusion. They didn’t expect a Gin to send out a little boy against them.

“You can’t be serious.”, one the prisoners said with genuine shock.

“That bastard has a son!”, another gasped in shock.

They all couldn’t help, but notice 003v had no Poké balls with him yet still walked up without hesitation.

“What the heck are you planning hiding behind a child you monster?!”, a prisoner questioned.

003v wordlessly raised his hand up in front of the Pokémon. Their jaws all dropped stumbling back a bit to see all the Pokémon easily defeated. The prisoners were on the ground with their eyes wide open and their mouths agape. They backed away from 003v who walked up to them as they trembled.

“D-demon!”, one of the prisoners shouted foaming from the mouth.

003v wasn’t very bothered by being called that simply raising his hand up. The prisoners gasped when they were lifted into the air with psychic energy along with their cuffs which reattached to their arms.

“Don’t talk about my father like that. He is the man who will lead the world into a new world order.”, 003v said.

Gin smirked as they all looked stunned.

“Very good son.”, Gin replied patting his son on the head almost like a pet.

“With 003v my brother’s plan to take over the world will become much easier. His power is unmatched by any other being in the world.”, Arthur said.

“Well he’d have to be to defeat Arceus of course. Then, I will be able to finally create the perfect utopia without those meddling legendaries inferring.”, Gin replied.

“Yes, father I will make your dream a reality as I was made for.”, 003v replied.

Flashback end

Aichi’s eyes widened in shock as Ren recounted this to him, not remembering any of it.

“But, then Solgaleo took you away and erased your memories. To turn you into our enemy and another pawn of Arceus.”, Ren said as Aichi shook his head refusing to believe his words.

“You're wrong! I’m nobody's pawn! I’m fighting Team Asteroid to defend the people I care about! Not because somebody told me to!”, Aichi replied, pointing to them.

“You think that because you’ve been brainwashed living here in Kakusa. As you may know this region only recently appeared 50 years ago. The increasingly fierce clashes between legendaries shook and battered the world. Arceus creates this region as a sanctuary for people and Pokémon to escape the destruction. It is under its divine protection. The people here are the most religious and devoted to Arceus because they believed it saved them. Gold’s Maine is the center of Arceus protection where it's the strongest. It merely did this to gain more worship from the increasingly scientific world! You have been raised around these religious nuts for years making you think like them!”, Katsuki said.

“You're wrong! I’m sure Arceus had good intentions in creating Kakusa! Maybe it just thought it had messed up with all of the destruction and wanted to make things right!”, Aichi replied.

“Of course you spout the same drivel as those nuts. And they only have gained more followers by welcoming those who fled here to escape our rule.”, Katsuki replied.

“Don’t give me that nonsense! The only ones who have tried to brainwash me are Team Asteroid! How the heck can you hypocrites talk about brainwashing when it was who you put programming in my head! And have gone around brainwashing people with Ren’s powers!”, Aichi replied angrily as a blue aura started to appear around him with bits of rainbow in response.

The two stumbled a bit as the room around them shook. Aichi growled at them raising a Poké ball his eyes had rainbow spirals. They flinched when Solgaleo jumped in, landing behind Aichi.

“You!”, Katsuki yelled one anger at Solgaleo.

“Sendou Aichi has finally awakened to his destiny. Now, that the taint of your evil team has been purged from him.”, Solgaleo said.

“You can’t mean-“, Katsuki replied shakily, sweating nervously as he looked over to Aichi.

He was practically covered in his light blue aura with bits of rainbow from Solgaleo’s influence. His power leaked out seemingly without end as he glared at the two of them. There was no nervousness or hesitation or even fear in Aichi’s eyes, everything but the determination to crush their ambition had faded away.

“I am the hope of the world. I am the answer to all of those crying for peace. I am the protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. Ally to good! Nightmare to you! I am…”, Aichi said, before unexpectedly smiling.

“The messiah!”, Aichi finished as Katsuki and even Ren became as white as a sheet.

“Oh fuck no! You stupid glorified Meowth! Do you realize what you’ve done?!”, Katsuki stuttered.

“I know exactly what I have done. If anything Team Asteroid should have seen this coming. Gin knew long ago that his offspring would be the messiah, Arceus’s champion. Now, he will crush everything that Gin has built.”, Solgaleo replied.

“Right now he’s merely an avatar for Arceus’s will. He’s not even Sendou Aichi right now.”, Ren said.

“Heh. It’s for the greater good. He was made a weapon regardless of who’s commanding him right now. Now, it's time to end this Aichi.”, Solgaleo said looking down to Aichi who walked forward.

Ren raised up a Poké ball in response, sweating nervously. Before he threw out all of his Pokémon, he gigamaxed them, his guard being at its max right now. Replacing Rugos was his own legendary who had failed to take him away, Zekrom. The building around them was completely destroyed with everyone besides those in that room running out. His Pokémon towered over looking down at Aichi and Solgaleo. He then pressed his mega bracelet mega evolving Junos. In response Aichi threw out his Pokémon. Ahmes froze quickly, turning to Aichi noticing something off about him.

“Gallade!? Gallade!? (Aichi, are you alright!?)”, Ahmes questioned, grabbing Aichi’s shoulders.

“A-Ahmes? A-ah my head hurts what’s….”, Aichi replied, snapping back to normal blinking.

He clutched his head sweating as Ahmes held him. Solgaleo looked shocked, sure he had helped Aichi’s will strengthen, but to resist that. How strong has Aichi’s will become?

“G-Golisopod! (G-gah! Their huge!)”, Llew yelled.

“Okay, I may need to make another exception.”, Alfred said.

They ran with Ahmes holding Aichi as Zekrom nearly crushed them. Ren rode on Zekrom’s shoulder looking down at Aichi.

“Hehe! This is the end for you 003v! How unfortunate you snapped out of being the messiah!”, Ren gloated.

“The messiah? What are you talking about?”, Aichi questioned, his head still felt funny.

“You have to activate your powers quickly or we’re going to be squashed.”, Solgaleo said.

“Alright!”, Aichi replied as his eyes now had a rainbow spiral.

He extended his power out allowing his Pokémon to fly up. He then mega evolved Ahmes and Gancelot.

“Let’s go! Ahmes use close combat on his Aegislash! Wingal use stone edge on his Gallade! Llew use blizzard on Zoroark! Gancelot use focus blast on his Lycanroc! Soul Saver use holy charging roar on Hydregion and Zekrom! Alfred use sacred sword on um... all of them!”, Aichi ordered.

Alfred flew into Aichi’s hand, his blade shimmering gold at Aichi raised him up to cut. The outer parts of the blade having Aichi’s aura along with his aura surrounding the rest of his Pokémon. Aichi sweated nervously as he brimmed with his power trying to keep control over himself. He knew this wasn’t his power’s limit, but he still felt like he was losing himself. That it would consume him.

“Be calm Aichi, we are all with you.”, Alfred said as Aichi looked at him panting.

“Y-yeah. I won’t let myself lose control. I have to beat Ren and protect everyone. Let’s go Alfred!”, Aichi replied.

The massive Pokémon towered over them and glowed with a red aura. The steps shook the ground and obliterated anything they stepped on.

“Sacred sword!”, they both said in unison.

Their attacks collided with the massive Pokémon causing a huge explosion and shaking the entire region.

In Sanctuary town…

The others suddenly jumped up as they felt the ground under them rumble.

“Woah! What the heck is that!”, Kamui yelled.

All across the region everyone rushed out of buildings.

With Aichi…

Aichi looked in disbelief as he noticed the entire region shaking.

“R-Ren we have to battle normally! We can’t continue like this or we’ll destroy everything!”, Aichi yelled.

“Then so be it! Let those little Caterpies be crushed under the weight of the battle of gods! You can always surrender 003v!”, Ren replied.

“You can’t be serious! Everyone will die! What about Asuka or Tetsu or everyone else under you?!”, Aichi yelled.

Ren seemed to freeze a bit for a mere millisecond. The smoke cleared to reveal both of the Pokémon to be rather damaged some more than others. Ren suddenly descended down and returned his Pokémon to their normal size.

“Fine 003v. If there’s no region left I’ll starve before I can get to another one. We’ll do the classic one on one. No powers.”, Ren replied.

“Thank goodness.”, Aichi replied with a relieved sigh.

He finally let go of the breath he was holding as he deactivated his powers. They both recalled their Pokémon before raising up one Poké ball.

“Go, Llew!”, Aichi called out.

“Go, Nevan!”, Ren called out.

There two Pokémon faced each other as Solgaleo watched in the distance.

“I guess this is the best outcome we can hope for. As long as Ren keeps his word that is. The destruction will be kept to a minimum.”, Solgaleo thought.

“Llew use first impression!”, Aichi ordered.

“Nevan use night daze!”, Ren ordered.

To be continued…

Plot twist: Takuto is still shady af. Who would have guessed 😂? Things are more complicated than they seem.

Chapter Text

Chapter 36 The Fated Battle
Aichi’s current team
Level 69 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 68 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 67 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 67 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Llew and Nevan rushed up to each other. Llew swiped at Nevan with his claws and Nevan shot a pitch-black shockwave point blank at Llew. Llew raises up his arms to guard, though they were both still pushed back by the attacks.

“Llew use liquidation!”, Aichi ordered.

“Nevan use night daze!”, Ren ordered.

The two respective Pokémon launched their attacks from where they were blown back to. The attacks clashed and the battlefield started to lightly shake.

“Nevan use foul play!”, Ren ordered.

Nevan sent a second attack on Llew while he was preoccupied trying to overpower its first. In response Llew raised up one of his arms to block the poured more power into the attack, overpowering Nevan’s. It was said crashing back as Llew ran forward.

“Use liquidation again Llew!”, Aichi ordered.

Llew sent more water at Nevan which knocked it over while it tried to get up.

“How ruthless.”, Ren commented, recalling his Pokémon.

Aichi ignored his comment and narrowed his eyes at Ren.

“Go, Junos!”, Ren called out.

Ren suddenly smirked, much to Aichi’s confusion.

“You know this battle reminds me of when I battled Kai and crushed him like the little Durant he is.”, Ren said as his smirk deepened at Aichi’s eyes widening.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! (He's just trying to distract you! Don’t listen to him!)”, Llew yelled.

“Your right go Llew! Use liquidation!”, Aichi ordered.

Junos quickly rushed forward with blinding speed faster than Plew could react.

“Junos use thunder punch!”, Ren ordered.

Junos punched Llew in the stomach with it’s fist coated in electricity. Llew gasped in pain as the air was blown out of him. Junos quickly punched Llew more and more in succession until he fell over and fainted.

“Thanks Llew.”, Aichi said as he recalled Llew.

“I beat down Kai just like that. It was fun at first, but it got boring quickly. It got boring even faster for your gym leader friend, Misa Q.”, Ren taunted as Aichi’s eye twitched.

“Do not give him the satisfaction.”, Aichi thought to himself trying to ignore Ren’s taunts.

“Go, Soul Saver!”, Aichi called out.

Junos quickly rushed up to the dragon Pokémon hitting it with a barrage of icy punches. It suddenly stopped when it felt Soul Saver bite its arm. Junos tried to punch her till she let go, but Soul Saver sent scales at Junos. Seeing Junos was in a rather bad position Ren recalled it.

“Go, Phantom Blaster!”, Ren called out.

Soul Saver shot scales at Phantom Blaster as it entered.

“Phantom Blaster use draco meteor!”, Ren ordered as Aichi’s eyes widened in shock.

“How could he teach his Hydreigon that move? That move requires a bond between trainer and Pokémon to learn.”, Aichi thought.

Flashback
“My loyalty has always been to Ren not Team Asteroid. His father is responsible for making him like he is right now. The real Ren isn’t like this.”, Tetsu replied.

“He has the programming just like me doesn’t he?”, Aichi questioned.

“He does. All of those like you do to varying degrees.”, Tetsu replied.

Flashback end

“It’s like Tetsu said isn’t it?”, Aichi thought, sweating nervously as meteors rained from the sky coated in dragonic energy.

Soul Saver quickly ran trying to dive away from the meteor blasts being hit by some of them. Soul Saver swiped her tail at some and cut some in half with her tusks which she couldn’t dodge.

“You can run all you want, but you’ll never escape.”, Ren taunted as Aichi sweated nervously.

Katsuki appeared seemingly fine from the clash earlier, simply getting lost when they broke everything apart.

“Soon, you’ll return to us 003v it’s only a matter of time.”, Katsuki said with a smirk.

“I won’t allow it.”, Aichi replied as Soul Saver got serious too.

Soul Saver glared up at Phantom Blaster where it was flying.

“There’s too many people counting on me to save them! As long as that holds true I will never lose! Soul Saver use holy charging roar!”, Aichi said as Soul Saver roared.

Soul Saver’s scales became blue and its underbelly gold. She was surrounded in a blue aura like Aichi’s own and her eyes glowed. Soul Saver sent out the golden energy at Phantom Blaster which completely disintegrated the meteors. The blast continued forward engulfing Phantom Blaster and causing the area around them to shake. Phantom Blaster fell from the sky crashing hard into the ground knocked out.

“You probably should have saved that. Go, Fullbau! Use outrage!”, Ren replied.

Fullbau threw itself at the exhausted Soul Saver violently biting and clawing her till she fell over fainting.

“Take a rest.”, Aichi said as he recalled Soul Saver shaking a bit.

He felt an indescribable sense of anger from seeing Soul Saver be beaten down till fainting. Perhaps because she was his baby or at least she felt like it considering he raised her. He tried to push the rage down into himself. However, it was only building up more soon to completely boil over.

“Go, Gancelot! Use focus blast!”, Aichi called out.

Aichi had wasted no time ordering Gancelot to attack, barely containing the rage he felt inside of him. Fullbau threw itself at Gancelot, but was easily dodged. Gancelot sent a wave of energy at Fullbau sending it crashing to the ground.

“Again!”, Aichi commanded, with barely concealed rage as his voice started to deepen a bit.

Gancelot sent another energy wave at Fullbau before it could get up causing it to faint.

“Go, Mordred Phantom!”, Ren called out as Aichi’s eyes widened.

“Mordred? It can’t be…”, Aichi thought.

“Mordred Phantom use shadow claw!”, Ren ordered.

Mordred slashed Gancelot with its ghostly blade doing a surprising amount of damage.

“Gancelot use dragon pulse!”, Aichi ordered.

Gancelot shot blue energy at Mordred which it effortlessly blocked with its shield.

“Is that all you’ve got. As my father’s trainer I expected more from you.”, Mordred Phantom spoke with a similar accent to Alfred.

Aichi and Gancelot gasped in shock realizing who Mordred Phantom really was. Mordred Phantom quickly slashed at Gancelot with more ghastly slashes overpowering him and making him faint.

“You did well.”, Aichi said as he recalled Gancelot.

“Man, your seriously reminding me of that softie Koutei.”, Ren commented to Aichi’s shock.

“You know Koutei?”, Aichi questioned.

“Of course, I do I am the champion after all. I locked that loser up after I beat him to a pulp.”, Ren replied as Aichi shook more trying to restrain his anger.

Aichi sweated nervously as he held up a certain Poké ball pondering if he should throw him out next. He closed his eyes, deciding to just do it.

“Go, Alfred!”, Aichi called out.

“So, we finally face each other once more father.”, Mordred Phantom said.

“Mordred...you were reborn as well.”, Alfred replied.

“I’m sorry for bringing you out like this. I thought that he might be as strong as you.”, Aichi apologized.

“It’s fine, Aichi. I understand that. However, I will only battle Mordred.”, Alfred replied.

“You must be a real doormat to allow your Pokémon to make demands like that.”, Ren replied.

“It’s not like I’m just completely calling the shots. Aichi simply respects our wills. Besides, I'm doing this so I won’t stagnate Aichi’s growth.”, Alfred replied.

“How stupid! You realize what we are right? With our kind of power we don’t need to train!”, Ren replied.

“There are things in this world more important than power.”, Alfred replied.

“Heh! As if! I expected you to spout the same drivel as before.”, Mordred Phantom replied.

“It is your lack of understanding these things that is the reason I didn’t allow you to become king.”, Alfred replied.

“Grr! We’ll see about that! Shadow claw!”, Mordred Phantom replied as he slashed at Alfred.

“Alfred use shadow claw!”, Aichi ordered.

The two ghostly blades clashed with loud reverberations of metal echoing throughout the area. With every clash the ground around them shook.

“I guess power is the most important huh? Don’t you see how powerful I have become father?”, Mordred said.

“I have seen how weak you’ve become.”, Alfred replied as Mordred scowled.

Mordred was taken off guard when Alfred out maneuvered him sending his blade away. He tried to pull it back forward as Alfred slashed at his eye and he cried out in pain. Mordred raises his shield to defend, but Alfred got around it and sent Mordred flying.

“What makes that doormat so special!? If power isn’t everything why are you trying to train him?!”, Mordred Phantom questioned as he struggled up.

“Because I see the potential to be a leader within him. Something that I never saw in you. You have been too absorbed in your own power and arrogance to see your faults and improve yourself into what Galar needed.”, Alfred replied, before delivering a final slash to Mordred causing him to faint.

“Thank you, Alfred.”, Aichi said as he recalled him.

“It is nothing, young king. If anything I’m glad you allowed me to face him.”, Alfred replied.

“King? Is that rusted sword serious?”, Ren questioned.

“The way you are now you can’t lead anyone. A leader, a king is supposed to care about those under him. I know some of those under you care about you. Is that feeling mutual?”, Aichi replied.

“Your talking about Tetsu and Asuka aren’t you?”, Ren replied with a frown.

“Asuka pushes herself beyond her limits in our battle. And it was all for you. Tetsu as well they both gave it their all because you're important to them. Would you give that same resolve for them?”, Aichi replied.

“They lost so they no longer matter.”, Ren replied.

“That implies that they did matter to you before.”, Aichi replied.

Ren snickered angrily in response. Aichi looked over when he saw Asuka in the distance behind some of the rubble. It seemed she had stayed when the others fled.

“Even now she won’t leave his side.”, Aichi thought.

“Oh, save your friendship speeches! In the end all that matters is absolute power! I will prove that to you 003v! Heh! The way you are now you don’t deserve that designation Sendou Aichi! Now, crush him into a pulp! Raging Form!”, Ren replied angrily, throwing out Zekrom.

Aichi raised a Poké ball sweating nervously as Raging Form emitted dangerous sparks around it. It’s very presence caused a lightning storm to start. Aichi looked up as the loud sound of thunder rang through the air. Rain poured down from dark clouds that covered the sky.

“Go, Wingal!”, Aichi called out as Ren smirked.

“Is that all you have to face me! Raging Form use fusion bolt!”, Ren ordered.

Raging Form‘s blue parts glowed with electricity surrounding it. A giant bolt of lightning rained from the heavens. Aichi called out for Wingal the sound his voice wasn’t even heard till the bolt hit.

“Wingal dodge! Use play rough!”, Aichi’s panicked words were finally heard.

Smoke covered the area making them unable to see what happened. All Aichi could see was the decimated ground below him that now had fissures carved into it. Aichi looked over nervously not even knowing what happened to Wingal. He suddenly heard a thud accompanied by a few others. He heard Raging Form roar in anger.

“Zekrom! Zekrom! Zekrom! Zekrom! (Stupid mutt! You dare face me!)”, Raging Form roared.

“Lycanroc! Lycanroc! (You damn right! I dare!)”, Wingal roared back.

Wingal was surrounded in pink fairy type energy biting down on Raging Form and clawing it. Wingal winced as he was struck by lightning bolts repeatedly. Wingal growled angrily as his eyes turned red and bit down harder. Raging Form tried to shake Wingal off, but he stubbornly stayed on Raging Form.

“You have to get back Wingal! At that range Zekrom could easily kill you!”, Aichi pleaded.

Sharp rocks were shot at Raging Form from Wingal maine cutting the legendary and intercepting the lightning.

“Your Pokémon is a stubborn little twerp like you, Sendou Aichi.”, Ren commented.

“Stop playing around and end this Ren!”, Katsuki ordered.

“Shut up, old man!”, Ren replied angrily as he flung Katsuki away with psychic energy.

Aichi and Asuka gasped in shock seeing this. Katsuki collided with the ground creating a crater.

“I am the strongest being in this world! I’m not scared unlike you! I will take over the world as I was created as I see fit! But, first I will crush Sendou Aichi into the ground!”, Ren said angrily as Aichi sweated nervously.

“Ren?!”, Aichi questioned in confusion and a bit of panic as a red aura surrounded Ren.

“You! Those stupid old farts will never shut up about you! So, what if you were created to be the strongest! It's useless since you’re not willing to take advantage of the power you hold! Unlike you I am!”, Ren replied.

“You said you won’t use your powers!”, Aichi replied.

“Your stupid Haxorus used yours so consider us even! Raging Form end him!”, Ren replied.

They looked over to Raging Form. They both gasped in shock. Raging Form was sent back by a claw attack by Wingal covered in fairy energy. As Raging Form fell back Wingal bombarded the legendary with countless sharp rocks.

“T-that’s impossible!”, Asuka gasped in shock.

Both him and Ren were equally stunned when Raging Form fell to the ground fainting.

“L-Lycanroc...Lycan...roc...Lycanroc. Lycan- (I-I told you...I would...not let you down again, Ai-)”, Wingal said before he collapsed fainting.

Aichi hastily ran over to Wingal picking him up holding his Poké ball.

“You’ll be fine, buddy. You did good really good. I’m proud of you.”, Aichi said as he raised his Poké ball.

He thinks Wingal heard him because he had a small smile on his face before he recalled him.

“That doesn’t make any sense! Legendary, my ass! Useless trash!”, Ren roared in anger as Aichi pulled out a Poké ball getting ready to face Ren.

“Aichi created a miracle again. However, we can’t celebrate until he defeats Ren’s last Pokémon.”, Solgaleo thought.

Aichi and Ren raised their Poké balls with their final Pokémon at the same time.

“Go, Ahmes/Junos!”, Aichi and Ren said in unison.

They both revealed their mega bracelets pressing them. Light enveloped the two Gallades as they mega evolved. Rainbow spirals were in Ren’s eyes as a red aura surrounded Junos. In response Aichi activated his own power and rainbow spirals entered his eyes as a light blue surrounded Ahmes.

“Junos use poison jab!”, Ren ordered.

Junos prepared to strike Ahmes with a blow full of poison.

“Ahmes use future sight!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes narrowly dodged the poisonous jab. Junos sent a barrage of jabs at Ahmes who dodged.

“Thank you, Misaki. It’s not just her, but Kai, Kamui, Kourin, Miwa, Takuto, and my Pokémon. Without their support I would have never come this far. It’s still strange to think about it. I never thought I would actually make it to the champion. Though, this isn’t the time to be excited, there's too much riding on this battle.”, Aichi thought, smiling for a moment.

There was no opportunity for Ahmes to use swords dance with how fast Junos’s jabs were.

“Ahmes use solar blade!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes sweeped Junos feet as soon as it became too distracted by trying to land a hit on him. Ahmes delivered a powerful slash powered by the sun. Junos growled as it jabbed up towards Ahmes who jumped up. As Junos charged at Ahmes shot a wave of psychic energy at Junos. Junos stubbornly pushes forward through the blast refusing to lose. Ahmes was taken off guard when Junos made its way through delivering a vicious jab to Ahmes poisoning him. Ahmes shook a bit when the poison filled his system starting to drain his power.

“Ahmes!”, Aichi called out in concern.

“G-Gallade! Gallade! Gallade! Gallade! (I-I won’t allow you to make my vanguard cry!)”, Ahmes said as he struggled up only for Junos to jab him repeatedly while he was down.

“Ahmes n-no! I can’t lose you! I won’t only lose you, but everything else too!”, Aichi thought, with increasing panic.

That was the point where Aichi’s anger finally boiled over. A surge of power filled his entire body in response to his emotions. Ren suddenly looked over to where he heard a loud crack. Solgaleo sweated heavily in nervousness in fear.

“He broke the restraints. That means he’s outputting more power than even when he was messiah!”, Solgaleo thought.

Flashback
Back in Gold Maine city…

“You should wear these.”, Takuto said as he gave Aichi four gold bands with the symbol of the sun carved into them and green gems in the middle.

“What are these?”, Aichi asked.

“They are meant to hold your power back in case you accidentally access more than you can handle. They were only recently completed.”, Takuto explained.

Aichi could feel a weird energy coming from the braces.

“Thank you. These will definitely be a big help. I’m really scared of losing control.”, Aichi replied as he put two of the braces on his arms and legs.
Flashback end

Ren and Asuka covered their eyes as a blue light enveloped the area. Aichi gridded his teeth as power surged through him. He swayed as he was barely able to keep a hold of himself. Ahmes flinched as he was filled with power getting up like the poison meant nothing to him.

“A-Ahmes u-use solar blade.”, Aichi ordered shakily, as he desperately tried to keep control.

Ahmes hastily complied, wanting to end the battle as soon as possible to help Aichi. Ahmes charged all of his power into one final strike channeling the sun’s energy even through the dense dark clouds. His blade glowed golden as he delivered a blindingly fast slash to Junos causing him to faint. The ground shook once more from the final attack causing Ren to fall over.

“No. That’s i-impossible!”, Ren gasped as Ahmes rushed over to Aichi ignoring the poison.

He caught Aichi as he fell over holding him in his arms. His eyes glowed blue as he tried to help Aichi restrain the power and push it back down. Aichi struggled against in sweat heavily letting out a pained grunt. Solgaleo lended his power as well to restrain the power before it went out of control. A rainbow aura surrounded Aichi as he finally calmed down. His eyes cracked open as he looked at Ahmes with a smile.

“Hehe. You saved me again.”, Aichi said weakly.

“I-It’s fine I-I will always protect you my vanguard till the end of your days.”, Ahmes replied with a smile.

Aichi shakily raises his Poké ball to recall Ahmes.

“I will heal all you guys up as soon as I can.”, Aichi said as he recalled Ahmes who nodded.

Aichi stumbled up walking over to Ren who backed away nervously. He was taken aback when Aichi extended his hand to him with a smile.

“I-If what y-you said about me w-was true and I-I could change, b-breaking away f-from Team Asteroid’s grip. I-I’m sure y-you can too. T-those who care a-about you are w-waiting for you.”, Aichi said to Ren briefly looking over to Asuka causing him to look over as well noticing her.

“Y-you're still here?!”, Ren questioned with genuine shock.

“I will always be by your side master Ren.”, Asuka said.

“Asuka...Where’s Tetsu?”, Ren said.

“I don’t know.”, Asuka replied sadly as her and Ren looked down.

“H-He w-was taken b-by someone f-from Team Asteroid. The r-room was d-dark so I-I could see him b-but Llew could.”, Aichi answered.

Ren frowned looking down as he heard this his shoulders noticeably slumped.

“It was probably that guy…”, Ren said.

“Who?”, Aichi questioned.

“Raul Serra, he’s from the Galar branch of Team Asteroid. He is a part of a special team that serves directly under the boss known as the Quatre Knights.”, Ren said as Aichi froze.

“Q-quatre Knights…”, Aichi mumbled as he clutched his head, wincing in pain.

He saw a quick flash of four kids bowing before his younger self. One was Oliver and another was a young Raul. One of the kids was a bigger kid with brown hair with two ahoges and green eyes. He wore a white uniform. The final one was a small girl with tan skin and long black hair with golden eyes. She had a red symbol on her forehead and a white uniform.

Ren gasped in shock at this reaction as Aichi fell over. Without thinking he grabbed Aichi’s hand as he fell, pulling him up. Aichi was completely unconscious now in his grip. He could easily bring him to Team Asteroid in this state, but for some reason he didn’t want to. He wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe, it was just him honoring his agreement with him he thought.

“Let him go Ren.”, Solgaleo said as he faced Ren who smiled.

“I’m not pulling anything. I keep my promises he beat me so I will leave along with all of those serving me. I was only allowed to take him if he lost. I’m just bringing him back over to the champion room after all he is officially the champion of Kakusa now.”, Ren replied as Asuka ran to his side.

“Will you really leave with me, Asuka? This is your home you should stay here.”, Ren said to her.

“No, I want to stay by your side to the end. You are the one who gave me confidence and a purpose in life.”, Asuka replied.

Solgaleo watched the two cautiously following behind them as Aichi was brought up to the healer in the back of the destroyed champion room. Asuka helped Ren place Aichi’s Poké balls into the healer. His team was now recorded into the hall of fame officially making him champion. Ren funneled some energy into Aichi as they did using the move healing pulse to heal him. Aichi’s eyes cracked open looking around confusedly still half asleep. They looked up suddenly hearing the flapping of wings as Kai flew down on the back of Overlord. He hastily grabbed Aichi from Ren holding him protectively as Ren pouted.

“Hey, I’m not taking him I lost.”, Ren said to Kai’s shock.

He looked down to Aichi who was still regaining consciousness.

“He’s right, if he pulled any funny business I would have stopped him.”, Solgaleo said.

“Alright.”, Kai replied.

Ren handed Kai, Aichi’s Poké balls that were paced back on Aichi’s belt.

“You must really care about him to get so worried like that.”, Ren teased with a sly smile.

“Ren?”, Kai said in confusion wondering if he was back to normal.

“This might be the last we see of each other. I’m fulfilling my end of the bargain, Team Asteroid will leave Kakusa and never bother it again.”, Ren replied.

“I-I...goodbye Ren. I hope you are able to find your old self again.”, Kai replied.

“Who knows? We’ll have to see.”, Ren said, before left with Asuka following behind.

“Char. Charizard. Charizard. Charizard. (Heh. To think that kid really did it.)”, Overlord laughed with his hands on his hips.

Kai put Aichi into his back and flew on Overlord back to Sanctuary town.

Elsewhere…

Raul walked over to Katsuki who was starting to rouse.

“It seems you have failed us Katsuki. You know what happens to those who fail Team Asteroid.”, Raul said.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 37 After The Storm
Aichi’s current team
Level 70 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 70 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 68 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 68 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

They looked up into the sky of Sanctuary town expectantly. They let out relieved sighs as Overlord came into view descending down. On his back was Kai and Aichi on his back half asleep.

“Kai…”, Aichi mumbled as Kai dismounted Overlord with Aichi on his back.

Misaki, Kamui, and Emi all ran up to Aichi, but were outsped by Shizuka who hastily grabbed a hold of the boy holding him close to her chest.

“Mom…”, Aichi said tiredly.

“He won though he expended a lot of his energy battling Ren and the elite four. He’s completely drained right now even after being healed.”, Solgaleo said as Takuto floating down to Kai’s side.

“He will need a good night rest then.”, Shizuka replied, looking down to Aichi who had already fallen back asleep.

“It just figures as soon as he’s back he’s asleep.”, Emi commented exasperatedly with a sigh.

“You really missed him didn’t you?”, Misaki asked as Emi had an embarrassed blush.

“Now, I’m gonna have to wake him up every morning again.”, Emi replied.

“I feel that I thought he was dead back at PSY Sweets because he slept so heavily.”, Kamui said.

“How did you guys wake him up?”, Emi asked.

“I just threw him into the tub after filling it with ice cold water. He woke up really fast after that.”, Misaki answered.

“I should try that.”, Emi replied.

Shizuka carried Aichi back to the Sendou household and placed him in his bed after changing him into his blue pajamas. His Poké balls were put in the bag he brought on his journey. Shizuka smiled, finally having her little boy safe and pulled the blanket over him to keep him warm.

Later…

Aichi roused from his slumber groggily rubbing his eyes. He looked around noticing he was in his room. He looked down seeing he had his comfortable blue pajamas on.

“Was all of that just a dream?”, Aichi thought as he looked around everything looked rather normal.

He looked over the clock noticing it was 8:30 am. Aichi's eyes suddenly widened as he looked at the time.

“Did I sleep in?! Through Emi trying to wake me up?”, Aichi questioned, springing up and quickly getting himself ready for school thinking he was late.

He got on his red under with a grey uniform over it like in Mark’s flashback. He opened the door and jumped in surprise to see Misaki, Kamui, and Kai there alongside Emi and Shizuka.

“Wait...that wasn’t a dream?! I really fought a evil team and became the champion?!”, Aichi gasped in shock as they sweat dropped.

“You thought that was all a dream?”, Kamui questioned.

“It was probably waking up back home that made him think that. Besides a lot of crazy stuff happened on our adventure so I don’t blame him for thinking it was a dream.”, Misaki replied.

Aichi chuckled embarrassingly, feeling very awkward.

“You are such a dork, brother.”, Emi said as Aichi sweat dropped.

“I-I’ll be back!”, Aichi quickly said with an embarrassed blush.

He went back into his room quickly throwing something else on and looked around for his Poké balls finding them in his bag. He came back out the door now with a white dress shirt with black parts on the sides going up to his short sleeves over his red under. He had on dark blue pants with black lines vertically on its sides at the waist part. He had on a back belt with a grey metal part in the middle and his Poké balls hanging on his belt.

“Wow, that actually looks pretty clean bro.”, Kamui commented.

“I just threw something on.”, Aichi replied, sweat dropping.

“Why am I not surprised.”, Emi replied, sweat dropping.

“You know I really missed you guys. Emi, mom, Kai, Misaki, Kamui.”, Aichi said with a bright smile.

“I missed you too, brother.”, Emi finally admitted with an embarrassed blush.

She looked over to Aichi who held out his arms. She ran over to her brother hugging him having finally truly been reunited.

“You're so reckless, Aichi! You better not go doing stupid stuff again!”, Emi said as she had some tears in her eyes.

“It’s fine. Everything is fine now. I’m home.”, Aichi assured patting her on the back.

He looked over to see Shizuka smiling at the two of them.

“I’m so glad you’re alright!”, Shizuka said, joining in the hug.

Misaki smiled and sweat dropped when she saw Kamui’s river of tears. Kai looked over with a small smile not saying anything. They finally broke away all smiling at one another.

“Speaking of finally being home…”, Shizuka trailed off with an edge entering her voice causing Aichi and Emi to flinch in fear.

“I-is something wrong mom?”, Aichi questioned with a nervous chuckle raising up his hands.

He sweated nervously at the borderline death glare Shizuka gave him, making him shake like a leaf.

“If you ever do something that stupid again. You are going to feel a world of pain.”, Shizuka said as he could practically imagine menacing kanji around her.

“Y-yes, mom!”, Aichi replied frightfully.

“Good, I am glad you understand.”, Shizuka replied with a disturbingly gentle smile.

“S-so, umm…”, Aichi trailed off awkwardly, trying to change the subject looking down to his belt.

“Wanna meet my Pokémon? You only saw them briefly before.”, Aichi said.

“That would be nice.”, Shizuka replied as Aichi took a relieved breath.

“Yeah, I remember you had one cute one.”, Emi replied.

Aichi held out his first Poké ball.

“You guys already know Ahmes, but he has become a Gallade now.”, Aichi said as he threw out Ahmes.

“Woah, he looks so cool now! Dang, it feels so weird for him to be so big he was shorter than me a few weeks ago now he’s bigger.”, Emi said as she looked up at Ahmes.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (Long time no see Emi, Mrs. Sendou.)”, Ahmes said politely as he turned to them before bowing.

While they didn’t know exactly what he was saying they had a good idea judging by his gestures.

“Nice to see you again Ahmes.”, Shizuka said.

“Yeah, he’s like big bro’s main man! Like a starter if he had one.”, Kamui replied.

“He can also mega evolve now too. Though, it’s a bit draining so I’m not sure about doing that right now.”, Aichi said.

“Well we know about that. Misaki and Kamui told us everything.”, Emi replied as Aichi brought out his next Poké ball.

Next he threw out Wingal.

“Oh, gosh he’s so cute!”, Emi gushed scooping up Wingal in her arms.

Wingal blushed embarrassingly and Aichi along with the others sweat dropped.

“Like brother, like sister…”, Misaki commented.

“Yeah, Emi really likes cute stuff.”, Shizuka commented.

“You should be a bit careful with him. His name is Wingal and while he is cute he is a Lycanroc which means his fur is full of sharp rocks.”, Aichi informed.

“Aww. That’s sad that means I can’t cuddle with him.”, Emi replied.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (I can still do this though.)”, Wingal said.

Wingal licked her causing her to chuckle. A brought out his next Poké ball while Emi held Wingal in her arms. He threw out Llew next.

“This is Llew, he’s a Golisopod.”, Aichi introduced motioning Llew who looked around a bit awkwardly.

“This one is a bit scary.”, Emi said.

“He’s a nice guy. Trust me. He’s a lot softer on the inside than outside. Don’t be too nervous Llew this is my sister and the lady over there is my mom. ”, Aichi replied as Llew blushed embarrassingly.

“Golisopod. (Hello.)”, Llew said as he shyly waved at the two.

Aichi chuckled a bit at how nervous Llew seemed.

“It’s alright I can recall you back if you’re uncomfortable.”, Aichi said to Llew.

“G-Golisopod! Golisopod! (I-it’s fine! I’m just a bit nervous!)”, Llew said shakily awkwardly, taking a seat.

“Wow, I didn’t expect him to be so shy. He looks so big and tough.”, Emi commented.

“He’s kinda like Aichi in that way. It feels surreal for you to be the one calming down somebody else’s anxiety.”, Shizuka commented.

“You think so?”, Aichi questioned.

“You really have changed a lot since we met. You were definitely way more shy back them.”, Misaki replied.

“Really? I don’t think I’ve changed that much.”, Aichi replied as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“You are way too modest bro.”, Kamui replied.

Aichi brought out his next Poké ball throwing out Gancelot.

“This is Gancelot, he's a Lucario. Gancelot this is Emi and my mom over there. ”, Aichi introduced.

“Lucario. Lucario. (Nice to meet you.)”, Gancelot said.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! (Gosh, you make it look so easy!)”, Llew said as Ahmes patted his shoulder sympathetically.

“A Lucario huh? Another cool one like Ahmes.”, Emi commented.

“Lucario’s evolve through friendship. Considering my son is your trainer you were probably drowning in it.”, Shizuka commented as Aichi blushed embarrassingly.

“Lucario!? Lucario!? Lucario… lucario. Lucario. (How did she know!? I mean...I wasn’t drowning per say.)”, Gancelot questioned with an awkward cough.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Definitely, drowning. It looks like the affection runs in the family.)”, Wingal replied.

“I-I’m not that over affectionate guys.”, Aichi replied with his face red in embarrassment.

“I can totally see that.”, Emi laughed.

“There’s nothing wrong with being affectionate Aichi.”, Shizuka said.

Aichi brought out his next Poké ball and threw out Soul Saver.

“U-uh anyway next t-there’s Soul Saver she’s a Haxorus. Soul Saver this is my mom and my little sister, Emi.”, Aichi introduced.

“Also his egg baby.”, Kamui added.

Soul Saver looked very excited running over to Emi and Shizuka clapping. Kai, Misaki, and Kamui sweat dropped as the instant Soul Saver came out. It was like Aichi was injected with caffeine and all of his embarrassment disappeared.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! (Hello, mommy’s sister! Hello mommy’s mommy!)”, Soul Saver said excitedly with a giggle.

“Do not let her appearance fool you. She is a baby Pokémon with an adult Pokémon body. She’s only 16 days old.”, Misaki said.

“She’s a baby!? But she’s so big?”, Emi gasped in shock.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! (Yeah! Yeah! I’m big, strong and tough!)”, Soul Saver replied happily.

“Yeah, definitely! Very tough!”, Aichi replied, practically bouncing under the influence of the link.

“So, this is the link you guys were talking about.”, Shizuka realized, sweat dropping noticing Aichi’s near instant change in attitude.

“Oh Arceus! He’s not even a girl yet he knows what it’s like to be pregnant!”, Shizuka thought, the scene reminding her of the mood swings she had while pregnant.

“Yeah, she looks tough, but it’s really hard to find her threatening when she acts like a baby.”, Emi thought, sweat dropping.

“Nice to meet my baby’s baby.”, Shizuka said to Soul Saver who gave her a hug much to her surprise though she accepted it.

“His baby is very hyper.”, Shizuka thought.

“B-baby?! I’m not a baby anymore!”, Aichi replied blushing embarrassingly as Soul Saver blushed too.

Soul Saver set her down, also looking embarrassed like her son.

“I dunno. You were like a very hyper baby just a second ago.”, Emi teased.

They sweat dropped as the two looked very embarrassed seeing the link was mutual between them. Soul Saver affected Aichi and Aichi affected Soul Saver.

“H-haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus. Haxorus. (Y-your wrong I’m very mature! I’m like 16 days old.)”, Soul Saver assured, putting her fingers together as she blushed.

They sweat dropped seeing Aichi was doing the same thing even though they weren’t even looking at each other. Soul Saver ended up sitting next to Llew looking very embarrassed. Aichi brought out his last Poké ball throwing out Alfred.

“Ahem! This is Alfred, he's Aegislash. Alfred this is my mom and Emi.”, Aichi introduced.

“Wonderful to meet you again. As you know I am Alfred Pendragon the once and future king of Galar!”, Alfred said, with a bow.

“He’s a ghost Pokémon right?”, Emi asked.

“Yeah, I met him outside Kagero town.”, Aichi replied.

“Aren’t ghost Pokémon supposed to be like see through?”, Emi asked.

“Well, I am inside a sword so that’s why I am not.”, Alfred replied.

“Ah, that makes sense. Your like possessing the sword like in scary movies.”, Emi replied.

“Thank you for allowing my son to stay at your castle Alfred.”, Shizuka thanked.

“Should we have mentioned Alfred possessed Aichi?”, Kamui whispered to Misaki.

“If she knew that she’d rekill him.”, Misaki whispered.

“It is nothing Mrs. Sendou. Your son has been a blessing.”, Alfred replied.

“Alfred…”, Aichi said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, still feeling embarrassed.

“Oh, yeah I have to give Mr. Mark his riding pager back!”, Aichi remembered.

“We already handled that son you were asleep for a whole day.”, Shizuka replied as Aichi gasped in shock.

“I was asleep for a whole day?!”, Aichi questioned.

“Yeah, you slept like a rock.”, Misaki replied.

“Hehe. Sorry about that. So, what now?”, Aichi replied.

“I plan on returning back to Oracle town later today and Kamui will finish the gym challenge. I don’t know about Kai though.”, Misaki replied.

“I’ll be leaving as well to continue fighting Team Asteroid outside the region.”, Kai revealed, much to their shock.

“You're leaving Kai? We just had a war with Asteroid and you're about to jump back into it so soon?”, Aichi questioned.

“Well, before I leave we’ll have our battle like I promised back then. I will be back. You should stay here and protect Kakusa, you are now the champion after all. While, Ren may keep his word others in Team Asteroid may not or someone else could attack.”, Kai explained.

“Kai…”, Aichi said sadly, looking like a kicked puppy.

“I’m counting on you to protect our home while I’m gone. I know you can do that, Aichi.”, Kai replied.

“I will Kai, I promise!”, Aichi replied, nodding.

“Good.”, Kai replied, nodding.

“You guys can go into town for awhile before you have to separate.”, Shizuka suggested.

“Okay.”, Aichi nodded and his Pokémon got up following him.

They walked out into the town and Aichi was taken aback to see all the decorations everywhere. The streets were much more crowded than he was used to. There were stands up and people partying from multiple different parts of Kakusa. Aichi jumped when a microphone was suddenly shoved into his face by a reporter.

“Champion Aichi, all of Kakusa has been waiting for you! Do you have any comments you want to make as the new champion? How was battling Team Asteroid?”, the reporter questioned, before Misaki glared at the reporters making them walk back.

“Uh...no comment. I don’t really know what to say anyway.”, Aichi replied, awkwardly sticking to Misaki’s side as they walked away from the reporters.

Aichi shrinked a bit nervously as people crowded around them.

“That’s the guy!”, “Our hero!”, “That’s the guy who defeated Suzagamori Ren!”, “I want his autograph!”, “I expected him to be taller.”, were comments that came from the crowd.

“Hehe. Sorry, but my brother is a bit shy.”, Emi said to the crowd.

They eventually made it through the crowd to see some familiar faces: Kishida, Mark, Kurosawa, Gouki, Gunji, and Koutei. They were all together, Koutei and Gouki waved at them. Along with them was also Kamui’s friends from Grandblue city, Miwa, Yuri, Gai, Shin, Esuka, Mikuru, Chrono, Morikawa, Izaki, Ultra Rare, and Takuto. Ultra Rare was currently performing a concert. Morikawa was there to cheer for Kourin and Izaki was roped in. Aichi still felt a little overwhelmed though a bit less due to them being familiar faces.

“You did it kid! You came back!”, Mark said.

“Yeah, I did.”, Aichi replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“Nice to see you again, Misaki.”, Yuri said.

“You too. It’s been a long time.”, Misaki replied.

“Kamui!”, Nagisa yelled as she tried to tackle Kamui being dodged.

“Ahh! Nagisa stop!”, Kamui begged.

“No! Now, with Team Asteroid gone we can get married!”, Nagisa said.

“Is she your girlfriend?”, Emi asked.

“No!”, Kamui yelled with comedic tears.

“Yes!”, Nagisa said as she hugged Kamui and Aichi sweat dropped.

“Their so cute together.”, Emi said obviously.

“Sure…”, Aichi replied awkwardly.

“Lycanroc? Lycanroc? (How dense is she?)”, Wingal questioned.

“My little sister is right now is the perfect time for celebrations like marriage! Come on, Aichi don’t be so stiff and party!”, Gouki said.

“I-I don’t know what to do. I have never been to a party.”, Aichi replied awkwardly.

“Then you shall learn the life of the party! Especially with Esuka Corporation funding the celebration there is so much to do!”, Esuka replied as Misaki sweat dropped.

“Don’t let her take you to the dark side Aichi!”, Shin yelled dramatically.

“You still think Esuka is evil?!”, Mikuru questioned, face palming.

“I didn’t mean evil I meant adult!”, Shin replied.

Suddenly Ahmes, Gancelot, Llew, and Alfred came to their oblivious trainer’s side protectively. Soul Saver just looked really confused and Wingal was still in Emi’s arms.

“Adult?”, Aichi questioned obliviously.

“See! He’s so innocent! I won’t let you corrupt him!”, Shin said as he pulled Aichi away from Esuka.

Esuka huffed offendedly in response.

“What are they talking about Mikuru?”, Chrono asked.

“You learn when you're older. We should have you play with the kids.”, Mikuru replied.

Aichi looked just as obvious as the child Chrono and baby Soul Saver, having no idea what they meant by adult.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 38 The Grand Kakusa Celebration
Aichi’s current team
Level 70 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 70 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 68 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 68 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

While they were talking the concert had ended and Morikawa had noticed Aichi. Aichi was still pondering what Shin meant by adult when Morikawa came up to him. Aichi had recognized Morikawa and was a bit confused as to why he had gone up to him.

“You!”, Morikawa said as he pointed at a confused and stunned Aichi.

“Me?”, Aichi questioned.

“As if some loser like you could defeat Suzugamori Ren! I challenge you to a battle to see who the real champion is here!”, Morikawa said.

The crowd murmured overhearing this and the reporters were abuzz.

“Will you accept my challenge Aichi or are you still the little coward I knew?”, Morikawa asked.

Misaki glared at him, Emi and Kai frowned looking angry at Morikawa. Aichi was noticeably silent and his Pokémon looked at him.

“Bro doesn’t have to prove anything! He just had to battle Ren yesterday he’s probably not even fully recovered yet!”, Kamui said.

“Oh, wow shouting commands is very tiring! That’s just an excuse!”, Morikawa replied.

“It’s more complicated than that.”, Misaki replied.

“I’ll battle you.”, Aichi agreed, much to their shock.

They looked back to him seeing he had a smile on his face. His gaze held a bit of excitement.

“Uh, you just fought Ren you really wanna battle again so soon?”, Kamui asked.

“Yeah, you had just battled a bunch. Aren’t you tired of fighting?”, Emi asked.

“All the battles against Team Asteroid were all so serious. But, I do truly love battling without all the high stakes. I don’t have anything to lose battling Morikawa not like when I battled Ren.”, Aichi explained.

Ever since he first battled Kai, he knew that he did enjoy it. He always felt the sense of excitement deep within his bones though he tried to restrain it. He didn’t really have much of a chance to fully indulge in this love for battling with the constant threat of Team Asteroid. The only times he really got to was back at PSY Sweets and Alfred’s castle. But, now there were no stakes to stop him from enjoying the battle. Morikawa was just a normal trainer disconnected from Team Asteroid.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! (Yeah! I’m raring to go!)”, Soul Saver agreed.

“Then it’s settled time to battle!”, Morikawa said.

He made a peace sign when the media’s cameras had turned to him.

“I thought he’d be sick of it, but he’s not at all.”, Shin said.

“It might be the Pokémon dna that makes him enjoy battling so much.”, Esuka reasoned.

“Whatever is, I’m glad he can still enjoy battling after what he went through.”, Mark replied.

“Well, boys will be boys.”, Yuri commented.

“Uh huh.”, Emi replied, agreeing and Misaki nodded.

“Definitely.”, Mikuru agreed, sweat dropping and Chrono looked clueless.

“Let’s go, Morikawa!”, Aichi said as Soul Saver jumped in front of him prepared to battle.

“After I beat you everyone will cheer the name, Katsumi Morikawa!”, Morikawa gloated, while laughing and Izaki sweat dropped.

“That guy never changes does he?”, Miwa chuckled.

“He’s still a idiot.”, Kai replied.

“Looks like our champion already has his first challenge! Let’s see if he’s really up to the job or if his win was a fluke!”, a reporter said as Misaki glared at them causing him to flinch.

“Go, Juggernaut Maximum!”, Morikawa called out, throwing out Nidoking.

“Go, Soul Saver!”, Aichi called out, she was already out and let out a roar.

“Juggernaut Maximum use mega horn!”, Morikawa ordered.

Juggernaut Maximum charged trying to ram Soul Saver with its horn. Soul Saver grabbed it by its massive ears and stopped the attack dead in its tracks.

“He stopped one of the strongest bug attacks!?”, Kishida gaped, shaking a bit.

“That kid really is crazy.”, Kurosawa commented, sweat dropping.

“Soul Saver use scale shot!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver shot scales at the pinned Juggernaut Maximum. The scales hit so hard and fast they were able to penetrate its thick skin. It was sent back and Soul Saver whipped her neck cutting Juggernaut Maximum with her tusks. Juggernaut Maximum fell over, fainting causing Morikawa to growl.

“Woah, Aichi kicked that guy’s butt!”, Emi commented in amazement.

Soul Saver giggled at all the attention she was getting, feeling very confident.

“Of course, that guy’s a pushover compared to bro!”, Kamui replied to Emi.

“So, what do you have next?” Aichi questioned as Morikawa looked away awkwardly.

“Uh...all I have besides Juggernaut Maximum are Magikarps…”, Morikawa replied awkwardly as many of the spectators burst into laughter.

“W-what?!”, Aichi questioned, genuinely stunned.

“Catching Pokémon is hard okay!”, Morikawa replied.

“Well, that was anticlimactic…”, Gai commented, sweat dropping.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! (Aww! But, I wanna fight more!)”, Soul Saver whined as Aichi’s other Pokémon sweat dropped.

“Anyone else want to challenge me?”, Aichi asked.

“Is this really that same guy we knew?”, Izaki questioned, stunned.

“I’m not sure.”, Morikawa replied.

Some challengers did come up all crowding around him. They couldn’t help, but sweat drop about the crowd not making him nervous now when it did before.

“Is he just going to battle all day?”, Miwa questioned.

“Of course, a real man battles all day!”, Gouki replied.

Later...

It was a testament to Aichi’s strength that it hadn’t actually been all day for him to battle each member of the crowd. It had only been an hour at most much to their amazement. Aichi had recalled his Pokémon who were a bit tired out now.

“Wow, that guy is really strong.”, Chrono commented.

“Of course, my bro is the strongest trainer in Kakusa!”, Kamui gloated.

“You guys don’t look related.”, Chrono replied, sweat dropping.

“Finally, you're done brother. I was worried you were about to spend the whole party battling.”, Emi said as she walked up to Aichi.

“Yeah, especially after you even rematched the gym leaders.”, Misaki added.

“That was a complete massacre.”, Kourin commented, walking up with Takuto, Suiko, and Rekka.

“Looks like he’s definitely proved his dominance as the champion to the whole region.”, Rekka added.

“I think you guys are exaggerating.”, Aichi finally said, sweat dropping.

“Don’t sell yourself short kid, you’ve really gotten tough.”, Mark replied.

“Yeah, you're like Kai now.”, Miwa added.

“With a way better attitude.”, Kamui replied.

“What else do I do?”, Aichi asked Emi.

“I dunno dance? There’s still music and they probably have some games here.”, Emi replied.

“I-I can’t dance.”, Aichi replied.

“That’s because you’ve never tried.”, Emi replied.

“How about we go around to see everything there is?”, Kamui suggested.

“I guess.”, Aichi replied.

There were a lot of food stands and games that you’d find at festivals.

“Aww. I wanna Teddiursa bear.”, Emi said as she pointed at the prize.

“Do not fear I’ll get it miss Emi!”, Kamui offered before being pulled away by Nagisa.

“Get me that prize Kamui.”, Nagisa said as she pointed to a different one.

“No way! I’m getting my goddess Emi a prize!”, Kamui refused.

“It's one of those games where you have to hit a target. Their usually rigged.”, Misaki said.

“Let’s see…I’ll try it.”, Aichi said.

“Alright.”, The person at the stand said as they gave him the gun toy to shoot at the targets.

Aichi raised the gun to shoot.

“I’ve never used a gun before.”, Aichi thought.

“There’s no way he can get it. That girl is right the game is rigged.”, the stand person thought.

He suddenly gasped in shock when there was a bang and he looked over to see Aichi hit the target.

“Huh, maybe this one isn’t rigged.”, Misaki said.

Aichi shot more of the targets to rack up points for the plush.

“W-what the fuck?!”, the stand person thought.

Aichi narrowed his eyes as he noticed how the seemingly stationary targets moved slightly out of the way very quickly. Because of that he thought of simply predicting where the target will move to rather than shoot where it currently was. He remembered the principal from when Alfred taught him about bows.

“We’ll have one Teddiursa plush.”, Aichi said, after he got all the points.

“Thanks brother.”, Emi thanked, smiling brightly at Aichi.

“It’s nothing.”, Aichi chuckled, handing Emi the plush.

“I wish that was me.”, Kamui thought, he cried comedically while being pulled around by Nagisa.

“Kourin wishes that could be her.”, Rekka said with a sly smile as Kourin glared at her.

“As if!”, Kourin replied, looking away with a blush.

“We’ve gotta play the wingmen here.”, Rekka whispered to Suiko.

“Definitely.”, Suiko whispered.

“What are you guys talking about?”, Kourin asked as her eye twitched with annoyance.

They went to play some more games. Next was a dunking game and they couldn’t help, but be stunned at how good Misaki was. Her tall height probably helped a bit.

“I bet I can get more points than you.”, Yuri teased.

“Challenge accepted.”, Misaki replied, with a serious look.

Aichi couldn’t help, but flinch at the intense auras the two gave off. Emi looked amazed at the two cheering them on.

“Those two can be scary sometimes.”, Koutei commented.

“Yeah…”, Aichi agreed.

“I can see my image of victory in sight, Misaki.”, Yuri smirked as they sweat dropped.

“That image will shatter before my calculations. I have memorized the perfect angle to shoot at.”, Misaki replied as she made a slam dunk.

“There’s more to dunking than silly numbers.”, Yuri replied as she shot a basket, also getting a slam dunk.

The game only continued to intensify as Aichi stepped back nervously out of blast range especially as insults started being thrown.

“They really are great friends.”, Koutei commented.

“Yeah...sure…”, Aichi replied unsure.

“My sister is always intense in any kind of competition.”, Gai said, talking about Yuri.

“I can see that…”, Aichi replied, sweat dropping.

“They're so cool!”, Emi gushed with reverence, making Aichi laugh nervously.

“I hope Emi’s not that scary when she’s older.”, Aichi thought.

Later, they got some food from the stands and ate it while walking around. One of the food stand people flinched when Kai narrowed his eyes while he watched them cook.

“Don’t give the poor guy the death glare, Kai.”, Miwa said, sweat dropping.

“Not enough sauce, needs more onions.”, Kai replied blankly.

“What are you a food critic?”, Miwa questioned.

“Tastes good to me.”, Emi said as she took a bite of a Tentacool dumpling.

“Bro seems to be enjoying it too.”, Kamui said as they heard Aichi’s stomach growl.

“Aichi why does your stomach sound like a hungry Tyranitar?”, Miwa asked.

“Well, he was asleep for a whole day so he hadn’t eaten. Also, psychic powers can be very draining.”, Misaki explained.

They looked over to Aichi who was eating surprisingly a lot though he was very mannerly while eating. Rather than engorging himself like Kamui or Gouki or Morikawa. Aichi’s Pokémon were back out dining on some of the food too except Alfred since he’s a ghost, but he was still out though. They were surprised about how mannerly Soul Saver was while eating.

“I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”, Aichi replied in between bites.

They sweat dropped as they saw a bunch of neatly stacked empty bowls in front of him and he just placed another after finishing.

“That must be some draining stuff I’ve never seen you eat that much in your life.”, Emi replied, sweat dropping.

Another stack was started after he finished his next bowl.

“Well, he is a growing boy he needs to eat with how tiny he is.”, Yuri commented.

“I’m not that tiny.”, Aichi replied, blushing embarrassingly.

“I’m surprised that Soul Saver has such good table manners. She’s like a baby.”, Miwa said.

“She learned from copying Aichi.”, Alfred explained.

“So, Soul Saver learned from mimicking her mommy.”, Kamui replied.

“I keep telling Soul Saver to call me daddy not mommy. She knows I’m a guy, but she still calls me mommy.”, Aichi replied.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. (Regardless you're still mommy.)”, Soul Saver replied.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (You just give off more of a mother vibe, Aichi.)”, Wingal added as Aichi’s blush deepened.

“Aww! She calls you mommy that’s so cute.”, Yuri teased.

“I’m not gonna lie, when we first met I thought you were a girl.”, Gouki admitted.

“I’m not that feminine looking right Emi?”, Aichi asked, with his face red in embarrassment.

“Uh…”, Emi trailed off awkwardly, looking away.

“Emi!”, Aichi replied dramatically, feeling deep betrayal now extremely red with steam coming out of his ears.

“There’s nothing wrong with looking a little girly. A surprising lot of girls are into that.”, Miwa assured.

Ahmes patted Aichi on the back as he sulked while still eating. Gancelot patted Soul Saver on the back who also felt embarrassment because of the link.

“Aichi seems very close to his Pokémon.”, Gai commented.

“Yeah, he’s always been weird like that. Though, I think it’s pretty cool he can understand them.”, Emi replied.

“Okay, operation: hook up commence!”, Rekka said behind the bushes wearing a disguise.

She had on sunglasses and hat as a disguise. Suiko was with her with a similar disguise.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 39 The Sunset Dance
Aichi’s current team
Level 70 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 70 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 69 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 69 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

It was getting close to sunset as couples danced together near the stage where Ultra Rare had performed.

“Now, this is what adult is Shinemon.”, Esuka said.

“Oh, stiff and formal adult that’s what you intended.”, Shin replied, with an embarrassed blush as Esuka raised her eyebrow.

“What do you think I meant, pervert?”, Esuka asked.

“Ahem! Uh...uh nothing! Anyway I have gotten so many cute pictures of Misaki today. Now if only I could get her to dance!”, Shin replied.

“In your dreams.”, Misaki replied coldly causing Shin to sulk.

“Come on, Aichi don’t be such a wallflower and go dance!”, Emi urged, pushing Aichi forward.

“I-I can’t even dance! I don’t know who to dance with!”, Aichi replied nervously.

“This is my chance to dance with Miss Emi! Then…”, Kamui thought.

Kamui’s imagination…
There was a beautiful sunset in the background as he danced with Emi. He was in a fancy suit with a yellow tie. Emi had a yellow dress that sparked majestically in the sunlight.

“Ah, Miss Emi your beauty outshines even that wonderful sunset over there.”, Kamui said, with romance anime like sparkles in his eyes.

“Kamui your kindness is greater than even our god.”, Emi replied, with romance anime like sparkles in his eyes.

They went in for a slow dramatic kiss that cut off just before they did.

Image end

Kamui was beet red as he imagined this.

“Kamui!”, Nagisa squealed as she tried to tackle him only for Kamui to swiftly dodge.

“Miss Emi w-would you d-dance w-ith-“, Kamui stuttered as he got up to Emi.

“Kamui can you help me find somebody for Aichi to dance with?”, Emi asked.

“Of course!”, Kamui replied chipperly with a nod.

“He could dance with Misaki.”, Yuri suggested with a sly smile as she elbowed Misaki.

Misaki’s eyebrow twitched with annoyance as she looked away hiding her light blush.

“You could dance with Kou-“, Gai was saying to Yuto before she cut him off with an elbow to the gut.

Koutei looked oblivious to all of this.

“Are you alright, Gai?”, Koutei asked.

“According to my calculations I should have a 98% success rate in getting a dance partner!”, Kishida said.

“Where did you get that statistic from?”, Kurosawa questioned, sweat dropping.

Kishida gasped with disbelief when as soon as Kurosawa’s hood came off girls lined up to dance with him.

“W-What kind of black magic is this!?”, Kishida questioned.

Mark whistled nervously as he looked around.

“So, are you looking for Shizuka?”, Shin asked with a knowing look on his face as Mark flinched.

“Ah, what gave you that idea!?”, Mark questioned defensively.

“Just a hunch.”, Shin replied.

“Maybe you could dance with Kai, Aichi.”, Miwa joked as Kai glared daggers at him and Aichi looked embarrassed.

“No./N-no!”,Kai and Aichi replied in unison.

Aichi looked mortified when he heard the flash of a camera and saw Shizuka walk in with a camera.

“You're always so cute, son.”, Shizuka said as Aichi became red.

“You're like a ninja, mom.”, Emi said.

Shin had a sly smile as he pushed Mark forward.

“I-I don’t even have a suit!”, Aichi said, looking mortified as Shizuka pulled out a suit.

“I got a dress for Emi too.”, Shizuka said as she pulled out a dress.

“Come on, Aichi. It is apart of your kingly duties to dance.”, Alfred said.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! (Hehe! Dance mommy! Dance!)”, Soul Saver giggled.

Elsewhere…

“R-Rekka, Suiko! Stop!”, Kourin stuttered as the two tried to push her onto the dance floor.

She had on a long golden dress with a gold veil that obscured her identity so she wasn’t crowded. The dress had a sun shaped broach and she had green heels. Rekka had a shorter red dress with black heels and a veil. Suiko had a cyan dress with dark blue heels and a veil.

“Y-you guys said this was for a show not a dance!”, Kourin said angrily.

“Well, we lied. Besides you need to live a little Kourin your way too stiff.”, Rekka replied.

Rekka had a Cheshire cat-like grin as she saw Aichi in the distance.

“You little…”, Kourin growled, before Suiko let out a push making her step onto the dance floor.

“Go, knock em dead Cinderella.”, Suiko teased.

“C-Cinderella?!”, Kourin questioned.

With Aichi…

He was looking very nervous as Emi, Kamui, and Shizuka tried to get him a dance partner. He felt very stiff and uncomfortable in his suit. He looked around shyly, catching a glitter of a golden dress in the distance. He sweat dropped as the person wearing it stumbled around ungracefully likely due to the veil blocking their vision. Little did he know it was Kourin and it was because Suiko pushed her. He saw that she was about to fall and moved without thinking, getting over the dance in a flash catching her in his arms. Kourin blushed intensely as he saw Aichi’s face from behind the veil. She saw he was wearing a black suit and dress pants. He had a blue dress shirt and a black tie.

“Are you alright Miss?”, Aichi asked politely.

“Lycanroc! Lycanroc! Lycanroc! (Oh my god, he’s actually doing it!)”, Wingal gasped in shock.

“Haxorus? Haxorus? Haxorus? (Am I going to have a daddy now?)”, Soul Saver questioned.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. (I don’t think any humans would wanna dance with us.)”, Llew said as he pressed the tips of his claws together.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (I can’t even dance like a human. I’m not even bipedal.)”, Wingal said.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! (Of course you can dance Wingal! See!)”, Soul Saver assured, grabbing Wingal’s paws and awkwardly hoisting him up on his hind legs.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Yeah. I think I’ll pass.)”, Wingal replied plainly.

“I-I uhh...it’s nothing! I just uhh...tripped.”, Kourin replied awkwardly, trying to mask her voice.

“There’s Prince Charming.”, Rekka whispered with a smug smile.

“Are you nervous too?”, Aichi asked, noticing her ears were red.

“A-Ah yeah...a bit.”, Kourin replied.

She squirmed a bit in his arms feeling a bit conflicted. His embrace was so warm and inviting she almost didn’t want to get out of it. Also, her heart was annoyingly fluttering as much as she tried to calm it down.

“Oh sorry I didn’t realize I was still carrying you. Hehe. You must really be light for me not to notice.”, Aichi chuckled nervously, putting her down.

“Thank you.”, Kourin replied awkwardly, looking away then back to him.

She put her hands over her chest feeling the flutter of her heart continue especially as she looked at Aichi. Aichi noted how the dress she wore glittered in the sun’s light creating a glowing effect. He squirmed a bit as he looked around the girl still in front of him. He was curious the image just seemed incomplete without seeing her face. Though, he didn’t want to be rude so he didn’t try to remove the veil. Not to mention, he could definitely sympathize with the anxiety that he thought made her put on the veil. It didn’t seem like anyone was asking the girl to dance which seemed like a bit of a waste. Considering the expensive dress she wore he surmised that she was probably really looking forward to this. He pushed down his own anxiety and extended his hand to the girl who he still didn’t know was Kourin.

“D-do you want to dance with me? I’ve never danced before so I’d probably be no good.”, Aichi offered as Kourin felt her heart fluttering faster.

“I haven’t gotten to that part of my king training with Alfred yet.”, Aichi thought.

She could easily tell how nervous he was. The expression was very plain on his face, but he still asked her. After seeing that she didn’t have anyone to dance with.

“Darn it, Aichi! Why do you have to be so nice?!”, Kourin thought, looking away before looking back to his hand hesitating to take it.

Their hands touched and the others gaped seeing Aichi was actually about to dance with somebody.

“Mission complete! Now, time to get my own dance partner!”, Rekka said as she walked onto the dance floor.

“When did he get over there?”, Emi questioned.

“Looks like Aichi is going to dance after all.”, Miwa commented.

“Ah, he’s doing it! I always knew he could!”, Alfred gushed, like a proud parent.

“Ah, my baby!”, Shizuka gushed as she raised up her camera.

Mark stood next to Shizuka nervously turning his attention to Aichi. He felt some pride seeing his shy student coming out of his shell like this. Now, if only he could follow that example.

Soul Saver pouted because Wingal didn’t want to dance looking over at the other Pokémon. This didn’t include Alfred who was too busy being a parent with Shizuka and Mark.

“Haxorus? (Dance?)”, Soul Saver asked.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! (I can’t! I have too much crippling anxiety!)”, Llew replied nervously.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (I’m afraid of getting too close to my partner, they might accidentally get pierced.)”, Gancelot replied, gesturing his many spikes, especially the one over his heart.

Ahmes turned his attention away from Aichi who he had been watching with a proud smile.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (I’ll dance with you if you really want to, Soul Saver.)”, Ahmes offered as Soul Saver bounced with excitement.

“Hax! (Yay!)”, Soul Saver cheered.

The others sweat dropped as Ahmes and Soul Saver went onto the dance floor.

“Looks like Soul Saver wants to dance like her mommy.”, Miwa chuckled.

With Aichi…

“I know how to dance. I can lead you.”, Kourin offered.

“A-alright.”, Aichi replied, nervously following Kourin’s lead taking her hands.

They circled around as they danced, Aichi looked down to make sure he didn’t step on Kourin’s toes.

“You’re supposed to look your dance partner in the eyes.”, Kourin told him.

“I don’t want to step on your toes.”, Aichi replied nervously, looking up.

He felt butterflies of anxiety in his chest as they danced. Especially as he noticed the daunting height difference between them.

“It will be fine. I’m a strong girl.”, Kourin assured.

“Alright...but it’s hard to see your eyes.”, Aichi replied awkwardly.

“True…”, Kourin replied awkwardly, not wanting to take her veil off.

With the others…

Yuri blushed as she danced with Koutei. Kai watched Aichi dance intently similar to Mark. Kamui tried to ask Emi again only to be pulled away by Nagisa. Emi sighed genuinely not knowing who to dance with when there were so few people her age. She wore a pink frilly dress with white heels. Chrono was with Mikuru looking around awkwardly. He had the ‘I don’t wanna be here’ look. He looked rather bored as Mikuru talked to Shin and Esuka. He didn’t really know what to do, just looking around.

“Umm...Chrono is it? Would you like to dance?”, Emi asked as Chrono looked around thinking she was talking to someone else.

“Me?”, Chrono questioned, pointing to himself.

He had on a red suit and dress pants with a black tie.

“Yeah, I know we don’t really know each other well though doesn’t mean we can’t dance.”, Emi replied.

“Don’t couples do that? Besides I...can’t dance.”, Chrono replied awkwardly, looking away.

“It’s not just a couples thing you can dance with anyone. Besides…”, Emi trailed off as they looked over to Aichi.

He stumbled a bit at first with the dance, but seemed to get a hang of it.

“My brother didn’t know how to dance either and he’s doing fine.”, Emi finished.

“I guess so. So your um…”, Chrono trailed off.

“Emi Sendou.”, Emi introduced.

“Chrono Shindou. Though, I guess you knew that.”, Chrono introduced.

Chrono still looked a bit nervous as she walked onto the dance floor with Emi.

“They grow up so fast!”, Shin gushed, with comedic tears.

“I can’t believe Chrono is actually dancing. He’s kinda socially awkward, I’m glad he is actually participating.”, Mikuru commented, sweat dropping as Shizuka and Shin were very embarrassing with all their pictures.

“Wanna dance Misaki? You are being such a stick in the mud even Aichi’s out there. Heck, even Ahmes and Soul Saver are out there!”, Miwa offered.

“Fine. One dance if it will shut you and Shin up.”, Misaki replied annoyed with a sigh.

“Nice!”, Miwa cheered, as he took Misaki’s hand walking onto the dance floor.

“This is a nightmare!”, Kamui comedically cried, as he was forced to dance with Nagisa while Gouki laughed.

“Where’s Kourin?”, Morikawa questioned, with Izaki next to him looking around like a hawk.

“I don’t think they’d be here do you? I would think it be too pedestrian for them.”, Izaki replied.

“I will find you my true love!”, Morikawa yelled, rushing in as Izaki hastily followed him.

With Aichi…

Kourin debated taking off her veil though was way too nervous. She didn’t know why she wasn’t normally this nervous. She just felt this way around Aichi and she didn’t know why. Aichi tried to follow what she had told him to the best ability trying to look her in the eyes as much as he could.

Off to the side unknown to them the media had got their cameras focusing on Aichi because he was the champion. Aichi’s attention was focused squarely on trying to look Kourin in the eyes and avoiding stepping on her toes. Kourin’s hand hovered over the top of her veil shakily.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”, Aichi said.

“No, it’s fine. It’s a little ridiculous to expect you to look at my eyes when you can’t see them.”, Kourin replied, lifting it a bit.

Aichi’s eyes widened in surprise when the veil was removed revealing the girl as Kourin. The image was finally complete. Aichi held in a gasp feeling his heart flutter inside his chest.

“Kourin looks really good in that dress. What’s this feeling in my chest? It’s all warm and fuzzy like before we went to storm Grandblue city, but it’s different somehow.”, Aichi thought, lightly blushing.

“I can’t believe I didn't recognize you.”, Aichi said.

“You probably didn’t expect an idol to stumble on the dance floor.”, Kourin replied.

“Hehe. That’s probably it. Idols get nervous too I guess.”, Aichi chuckled.

“Well...I’ve never danced with a guy. My dance teacher was a woman.”, Kourin defended.

“I’m nervous too. I’ve never danced with a girl. You know you look really nice Kourin.”, Aichi replied, sheepishly.

“You too...I didn’t think you’d look so nice in a suit.”, Kourin replied, before blushing when she realized what she said.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! (Look mama I’m dancing!)”, Soul Saver called out.

They both chuckled a bit as they saw Soul Saver dancing with Ahmes mimicking the way Aichi was dancing. Of course, Soul Saver was much more hyper about it while Ahmes was very calm.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (I am very proud of you, my vanguard. Make sure you make her happy.)”, Ahmes said, making Aichi blush madly.

“A-Ahmes!”, Aichi stuttered embarrassingly, knowing what Ahmes was implying.

“Kourin!”, Morikawa squealed as the two suddenly looked over.

They stopped awkwardly as Morikawa rushed up to them like a madman.

“Who do you think you are dancing with my beloved Kourin?!”, Morikawa questioned, pointing at Aichi.

“I didn’t even know it was her until she took her veil off.”, Aichi defended, raising his hands.

“Not this annoying guy again.”, Kourin said, talking about Morikawa.

“You couldn’t even tell it was her! You don’t deserve to dance with my darling Kourin if you can’t instantly recognize her!”, Morikawa said angrily.

“You didn’t know it was her till she took off the veil either.”, Izaki said, before Morikawa growled at him.

“Shut up!”, Morikawa growled.

“Can you leave us alone?”, Kourin asked as Morikawa gasped in disbelief.

“Then, I challenge you Sendou Aichi to duel for Kourin’s heart!”, Morikawa declared dramatically, catching some attention.

“Oh for the love of...Didn’t Aichi already beat you in a battle earlier today?”, Kourin questioned.

“I’m not talking about a battle! A true mono e mono duel between men!”, Morikawa replied.

“Morikawa we don’t have to fight. How would we even duel without swords? Besides Kourin doesn’t seem like she wants you bothering her.”, Aichi replied.

“You're right about that, Aichi.”, Kourin agreed.

Morikawa growled in fury glaring at Aichi.

“What’s so special about that freak anyway huh?! That stupid Pokémon boy!”, Morikawa questioned, pointing at Aichi.

Aichi looked down as Kourin glared at Morikawa.

“I don’t care about that. I like Aichi for who he is. I wouldn’t hate him for some stupid shallow reason like that.”, Kourin defended, much to Aichi’s surprise mostly at the ‘like’ part.

Aichi blushed at Kourin defending him however he wasn’t the only one. Gouki came up glaring at Morikawa.

“Hey, that’s my friend, you're insulting!”, Gouki said angrily.

Morikawa and Izaki flinched as the big teen glared at them. Next to him was Kamui growling at Morikawa with Nagisa clinging to him.

“Don’t talk that way about brother Aichi!”, Kamui said angrily.

“It was because of him I could dance with my beloved Kamui today! You big meanie!”, Nagisa added.

The two jumped as Soul Saver roared angrily at them and Ahmes glared.

“Not cool man.”, Miwa said seriously, with Misaki beside him glaring at Morikawa which caused him to flinch more than Gouki’s especially as she menacingly cracked her knuckles.

“Hey, there’s no need for that kind of talk here. We’re all here to have fun.”, Koutei said, to Morikawa calmly with Yuri beside him glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, you should be thanking that kid he’s a hero if I have ever seen one.”, Kurosawa said and Gunji nodded in agreement.

“Yes, Sendou Aichi is an honorable man and I won’t be quiet as you talk bad about him.”, Gunji added.

“If it wasn’t for him I’d heck everyone would still be living in fear of Team Asteroid.”, Kishida added.

Emi pouted angrily at Morikawa and Chrono frowned at him.

“Don’t talk about my brother like that!”, Emi said angrily.

“Hey, he saved me and my auntie, jerk!”, Chrono said, with a surprisingly threatening glare for a 10 year old.

Kai walked up with a silent rage with his hands in his pockets glaring at Morikawa. Even others, people he didn’t even know came up to his defense.

“Guys…”, Aichi muttered as a small smile formed on his face.

“Before, I set out on my adventure. I only had Ahmes to come to my rescue. It’s so strange to see all of these people defending me.”, Aichi thought, putting his hand over his chest feeling a warm feeling in his chest more familiar to before they stormed Grandblue city.

“What’s going on here,”, Shin asked, as he walked up with the rest of the adults and Pokémon confused about the situation since they were further away.

Morikawa and Izaki backed away nervously not expecting to get ganged up on like this. Morikawa snickered before turning away.

“Let’s get out of here!”, Morikawa grumbled angrily, before him and Izaki ran out of there.

“Wait Morikawa!”, Aichi called out, reaching out for Morikawa.

By the time he got to walk forward they were already long gone.

“He’s already gone. I wanted to try talking to him.”, Aichi said as Kourin sighed.

“You’re too nice, Aichi.”, Kourin replied, before grasping his hand.

Aichi looked over to Kourin.

“Should we finish our dance?”, Kourin asked as Aichi looked back and then to Kourin.

Everyone had gone back to where they were before the commotion.

“Yeah, let’s do it.”, Aichi replied.

They had one last dance before a beautiful sunset that illuminated them.

“Operation: hook up. Success!”, Rekka whispered as she danced with somebody in the distance.

“They both look so happy.”, Takuto commented, popping out with Suiko beside him.

“Master Takuto, did you extend the sunset for them?”, Suiko asked.

Takuto’s only response was a coy cat-like smile.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 40 Our Heroes Travel Down Their Own Roads
Aichi’s current team
Level 70 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 70 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 69 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 69 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

After the dance ended most of the people who had come were leaving and were saying their goodbyes. One by one many of the gym leaders and their friends waved goodbye.

“I guess this is where we part, bro, Miss Emi.”, Kamui said.

“We’ll see each other again at the Pokémon league.”, Aichi replied.

“Yeah, were going to have our rematch.”, Kamui said as he held out his fist to Aichi.

“I won’t go easy on you, Kamui. I see you then.”, Aichi said with a smile before Kamui gestured with his other hand that they were supposed to bump their fist, realizing this Aichi did and they both smiled.

“It won’t be long till I see you either mr champion. As the champion you’ll have to attend boring meetings with the region’s government alongside the gym leaders. I will have to show you the ropes then.”, Misaki said.

“Yeah, I look forward to working beside you and the other gym leaders Misaki.”, Aichi replied.

“You can always stop by anytime here.”, Emi added.

“We’ll battle on week from today then I will leave to fight Team Asteroid.”, Kai said.

“I see you then, Kai. Please promise me you’ll be careful Kai.”, Aichi replied, before Kai nodded.

“So, for now this is goodbye. But, we’ll all see each other again.”, Aichi said as the others nodded.

“It’s a promise bro.”, Kamui replied, before waving goodbye.

Aichi waved goodbye to his friends alongside Emi and Shizuka. Aichi looked down after they left. This was the start of a new chapter in the life of Sendou Aichi. Aichi’s chapter as the champion of the Kakusa region.

“You’ll start back at school tomorrow after school... I will tell you about everything.”, Shizuka said as Aichi and Emi gasped looking over to Shizuka.

“I had almost forgotten, with everything happening one after the other. Soon...the questions that I’ve had about myself and...my father will be answered.”, Aichi thought as he nodded in response.

“Hey, mom can I hear too?”, Emi asked.

“I’m not sure you would want to, it's not exactly a happy story.”, Shizuka replied.

“I do! I wanna know even if it’s a sad story! I have wondered about our past as well!”, Emi replied.

“Emi.”, Aichi said, with a bit of shock as Shizuka sighed.

“Alright. But, first you both need to get a good night’s sleep for school tomorrow.”, Shizuka relented, before the two nodded.

In Aichi’s room…

He was in his blue pajamas sitting on his bed before his Pokémon.

“Do you guys wanna sleep outside or in the Poké balls? My room’s not very big.”, Aichi asked his Pokémon.

“Gallade...Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (Yeah...I have definitely outgrown my old bed.)”, Ahmes said, sweat dropping, looking over to his old tiny bed.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (It would probably be for the best with how small this place is.)”, Gancelot agreed and Llew nodded.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! (Aww! But, I wanna sleep with mama!)”, Soul Saver whined.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (I think you're a bit too big for that now.)”, Wingal replied, sweat dropping.

“Soul Saver, Wingal is r-“, Aichi was saying.

Soul Saver pouted before changing his tune and Aichi suddenly patted his bed.

“Oh, it’s probably fine.”, Aichi said.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (That’s the link talking.)”, Wingal replied.

“He’s right Aichi besides you know you can’t baby her forever. Or have you baby her forever because of the link. We should just sleep in the Poké balls.”, Alfred said, sweat dropping as Aichi pouted with Soul Saver under the link’s influence.

“Fine. You can sleep in the Poké Ball, Soul Saver.”, Aichi relented, with a sigh after taking a breath.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. (Sorry mommy. I keep forgetting about the link.)”, Soul Saver apologized, putting her head down.

“I know you don’t mean to. I accidentally affect you too sometimes. We’ll figure it out eventually.”, Aichi replied, patting Soul Saver’s head.

“Well, good night everyone.”, Aichi said as he recalled his Pokémon.

Aichi laid down in his bed looking out the window. The moon shined majestically in the darkness of the night sky. Aichi knew it was time for the curtain to fall on his Pokémon adventure in the Kakusa region. What he didn’t know was about the new adventure that laid ahead for him in the near future. A ordeal far tougher than the first was on the horizon. Aichi closed his eyes trying to ignore all of the pestering thoughts in his mind that usually kept him up at night. He slept soundly knowing soon he would have answers.

The morning…

At his usual time Aichi did his morning routine with Alfred, before going back to sleep needing the rest for school. Emi walked into Aichi’s room rather annoyed he was still sleeping soundly when he needed to go to school. Emi sighed walking over to his sleeping form and shaking him till he got up. He finally sat up still looking half asleep as he got himself ready. He had also let his Pokémon out to roam around the house while he was gone. He got himself together miraculously before sitting at the table to eat breakfast. He checked the time knowing that he didn’t have long.

“Umm...is it fine if you put mine on a paper plate?”, Aichi asked his mother.

“It’s no trouble. Sounds like you actually plan to eat more than a nibble.”, Shizuka replied, as Aichi chuckled remembering how he didn’t use to eat much.

He ended up eating more recently due to Alfred’s training sessions draining his energy. Not to mention, now that he was more active his body burned more energy. Aichi got up to leave as soon as he got his plate of breakfast.

“I believe you should take one of us with you to school just in case something happens.”, Alfred said.

“You think so?”, Aichi questioned.

“Lycanroc? (But, who though?)”, Wingal questioned.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod.Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod.( Maybe it should be Ahmes or Gancelot since they can both mega evolve.)”, Llew suggested.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (I will happily go, my vanguard.)”, Ahmes volunteered.

“Is everyone alright with that?”, Aichi asked.

Gancelot looked down at Soul Saver who still seemed a bit sad from last night.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (It would probably make sense for Soul Saver to go too. She can ride you home after all.)”, Gancelot suggested as Soul Saver perked up.

“Hax. Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus? Haxorus? (Yeah. I can ride mommy home! Is that alright mommy?)”, Soul Saver asked.

“Yeah. That will be great for the both of you to come. It’s a bit safer too if something did happen.”, Aichi agreed, raising up their Poké balls recalling the two andputting their Poké balls in his bag.

“See you after school.”, Aichi said as he waved goodbye to Shizuka and Emi.

“Have a good first day back sweetie!”, Shizuka replied.

“I will.”, Aichi replied, before going out the door.

“I hope nothing does happen.”, Emi whispered.

Aichi ate while he made his way to school and threw the trash away in the nearest trash can when he was done. It all felt surreal to him. Returning back to a normal life before his adventure began. Well, there would be some changes due to him being champion. Overall, compared to his adventure in Kakusa it was rather mundane.

He noticed all the attention that was on him from random bystanders and then the students as he got up to the school building. The attention is definitely something he will have to get used too.

“Is that Sendou Aichi the champion?”, “To think a timid kid like him actually became champion.”, “He doesn’t look like he’s changed.”, “I wonder if I can get his autograph!”, “He still has to walk to school?”, were some of the chatter he heard.

Aichi was mostly focused on getting to his class in time since he overslept. Aichi quickly took his seat back at his desk. He took a deep breath relieved that he had made it on time. He jumped in surprise when he was crowded around.

“Uh...can I help you?”, Aichi asked, a bit timidly still not good with being the center of attention.

“So, how’s your morning Aichi?”, someone asked.

“Pretty good I guess.”, Aichi replied.

“What’s being champion like!?”, someone else asked.

“Can I have your autograph?”, another asked.

“You have any tips for the league?”, another person asked.

“I uhh..”, Aichi trailed off, feeling overwhelmed.

“Alright! Alright! Give him some space!”, Mark said as they all turned their attention to him before scurrying back to their seats.

“Thanks Mr. Mark. I’m still not very good with crowds.”, Aichi thanked, after taking a sigh of relief.

“Ah, It’s nothing. I hope you have a good first day back.”, Mark replied, before going behind his desk.

Aichi looked around seeing many of the other students whispering to one another though he ignored it. He noticed Morikawa avoid him as he sat down. He was tempted to say something, but class started. Mark went through his lecture which this time was about the Medieval period. Luckily for Aichi, Alfred had educated him about it already and it wasn’t hard to follow along.

“Answer me this, Sendou Aichi! What would you do if you were transported into Medieval times?”, Mark asked as Aichi stood up.

He didn’t notice the similarity to the question he had been asked not too long ago before his adventure started. Aichi blushes a bit nervously at all the attention focused on him. He closed his eyes blocking it all out as he tried to think of a satisfying answer.

“I guess...first I would get some Pokémon and train them up. Depending on whatever the situation was...I think I would try to defend some of the people or maybe...try to create my own kingdom.”, Aichi answered, before opening his eyes and hearing the stunned gasps of his classmates.

“I’m glad you were able to imagine yourself with a bigger role to play this time. Wonderful answer!”, Mark replied as Aichi blinked in confusion.

“Bigger role…”, Aichi whispered,as he sat back down before suddenly remembering.

Flashback

They were in a classroom Mark was teaching while many of the other students didn’t pay much attention.

“Answer me this, Aichi Sendou!”, Mark said pointing to Aichi who nervously got up from his desk.

Aichi had on a closed up grey uniform with grey pants and had his red under underneath.

“Man, he chose Shychi Aichi “,“He chose the quietest kid in class.”, “We’re going to be here all afternoon.”, some of the students commented.

“What would you do if you were transported to the Warring Regions period?”, Mark asked.

“I-I guess...I guess I’d make sure I always had an escape plan.”, Aichi answered as all the other students broke into laughter.

“Man he’s such a coward.”, “No wonder why everyone picks on him.”, “Man o man you're hilarious.”, some of the students commented.

“Well, it’s not a bad plan if all you're trying to do is survive. But, how about imagining yourself with a bit bigger role to play.”, Mark defended.

Aichi blushed embarrassingly just sitting back down to his desk.

Flashback end

“I completely forgot about that.”, Aichi thought.

“Looks like Aichi really has changed.”, “What happened to him?”, “He actually seems kinda cool now.”, some students muttered.

A small smile formed on Aichi’s face.

“Maybe I really have changed. I didn’t even notice.”, Aichi thought.

In Oracle town…

Misaki and many others worked around the clock to erase the damage done to the town and gym by Team Asteroid.

“Mom...Dad...I’m sorry I failed before, but hopefully this time I’ll be able to protect the gym and town.”, Misaki thought.

In Gold Maine city…

“Finishing hold!”, Kamui called out.

A Alakazam fell over knocked out before a Tyranitar which was shooting darkness from its mouth.

“Okay, any of you other chumps wanna face the great Kamui?!”, Kamui asked as the trainers nervously backed away.

Somewhere in Kakusa…

Kai wondered around with the Overlord taking on various trainers.

In Sanctuary town…

After class ended Aichi followed Morikawa. He was crowded by students again.

“What do you want, twerp?!”, Morikawa asked.

“Hey, don’t talk about the champ that way!”, someone said.

“It’s fine. I just want to talk to Morikawa alone.”, Aichi said.

The crowd bristled a bit feeling inclined to listen. The presence Aichi gave off was commanding even without his powers active. They listened, scattering away leaving the two alone.

“Hehe. Looks like you rule the school now. What are you here for revenge?”, Morikawa asked.

“No. Nothing like that. I just wanted to apologize for you getting driven away yesterday.”, Aichi replied.

“Why are you apologizing?”, Morikawa questioned.

“I’m still not really used to well...you know all of this. I didn’t expect that you’d get driven away like that. I hope we can be friends.”, Aichi replied, before extending a hand.

Morikawa sweated nervously looking at his hand.

“What’s with you? Why do you want to be my friend when I bullied you all the time?”, Morikawa questioned.

Aichi pauses thinking about exactly why.

“I...I don’t want to live in the past. I’ve moved on from that. Also, I think it’s better to make friends rather than lashing out. I think everyone deserves a chance.”, Aichi answered.

Morikawa looked shocked and then a bit thoughtful at Aichi’s response.

“Even Suzugamori Ren?”, Morikawa questioned, trying to trip him up.

“Yeah. Even him. I don’t know where he is now, but I decided to give him a chance. Perhaps it’s because I can relate to what he’s gone through. I hope he takes it. I think it would be nice for everyone to be able to get along and live peacefully.”, Aichi answered.

Morikawa looked stunned not really knowing what to say. He looked away from Aichi not wanting to face the radiance he gave off. He could tell Aichi was not the same doormat kid he used to know. Whatever happened to him on his adventure had changed him into a stronger person. He seemed much more wise then the stuttering kid he was used to. He also gave off the aura of a leader. You could just sense it.

“Alright fine. I won't pick on you anymore, but don’t expect us to be all buddy buddy or anything.”, Morikawa grumbled, walking away.

“I hope you have a nice day, Morikawa.”, Aichi replied, with a bow.

“Yeah. Yeah. Whatever.”, Morikawa grumbled.

Aichi smiled, glad that it seemed he was able to make it somewhere with Morikawa. He went onto the rest of his school day no longer feeling the same dread he once did. Compared to Team Asteroid dealing with school was rather easy even though he was gone for a month. He felt weird about the looks of awe from his fellow students. He used to be bullied for doing so good in school now he was admired. It would definitely take some getting used to.

As he left he was crowded again. The crowd watched on in awe when he got out a Poké ball throwing out Soul Saver. She had on all of her riding equipment from before. He mounted Soul Saver who looked very excited.

“Woah, isn’t that the same Pokémon he rode on when Ren attacked?!”, someone gasped.

“It looks so cool!”, another person gushed.

“A mount fit for a champion!”, a different person commented.

“Let’s go, Soul Saver!”, Aichi said.

“Hax! Haxorus? Haxorus? Haxorus? (Yay! Can we go play later mommy?)”, Soul Saver asked.

“Of course. We have to get home first though.”, Aichi replied, before riding home on Soul Saver.

Aichi lightly blushed as people gushed over him.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 41 How I Met Your Father
Aichi’s current team
Level 70 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 70 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 69 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 69 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

Aichi and Emi have come home and changed out of their school uniforms. Aichi brought Ahmes back out since he was home now. Aichi, Emi, and Shizuka sat on the couch. The Pokémon sat around either on the other furniture or floor.

“I guess I will start back when I first met your father. I was young then really young, only 10 years old and starting my Pokémon adventure in Galar. My old home…”, Shizuka started, having their full attention.

(This entire chapter will basically be in the past so I’m not bothering to write flashback and flashback end.)

She was much smaller then she wore a grey hat and a cream colored jacket. She had a blue backpack and black jeans with black shoes. She was off to get her starter Pokémon. At the place where they were supposed to meet there was a bench and a small batting area on the ground. It seemed like she was the first one there so she simply sat down on the bench waiting for the others. Soon after the new professor of the region appeared after the old one had recently passed. The new one was professor Mahogany. She had long braided brown hair and a blue suit with a white coat.

Soon after she showed up two boys rushed in. One was pulling the other who snickered. The boy pulling had greenish-blue hair in a rather short ponytail and blue eyes. He wore a blue dress shirt with a white handkerchief and black pants, looking rather formal. She couldn’t help, but whistle thinking he looked quite handsome.

-

“Is that dad?”, Emi asked.

“Hehe. Oh no, that’s your uncle Arthur I’m about to get to him. No you see your father was the unruly boy being pulled. ”, Shizuka chuckled.

Aichi and Emi’s eyes widened in shock as Shizuka then went on to describe their father.

-

The boy being pulled looked much less formal than the other. He was a redhead with rather unkempt long hair that went down to his neck. He had blue eyes and a vibrant red shirt. He wore a blue winter jacket lined with black. He was also quite a bit shorter than Arthur who looked tall in comparison. This was Gin Gaillard, their father.

“Arthur you don’t have to pull me! I can run myself!”, Gin said with a scowl, freeing his hand from Arthur’s grip.

“Gin we were going to be late because you slept in. And we didn’t have time for your half asleep dawdling.”, Arthur replied calmly.

“I don’t dawdle! I’m just not a morning person!”, Gin replied.

-
Aichi sweat dropped as Emi looked over to him.

“So, that’s where you got it from.”, Emi said.

“Hehe. I’m not that bad.”, Aichi chuckled, as he rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly.
-

Shizuka and Professor Mahogany sweat dropped as they watched the exchange.

“Oh, terribly sorry about that professor, miss. My name is Arthur Gaillard and this is my younger brother Gin Gaillard.”, Arthur introduced formally, with a bow pushing the grumbling Gin down to bow alongside him.

“Yeah, nice to meet you or whatever.”, Gin grumbled.

“I’m Shizuka Dou, nice to meet you.”, Shizuka greeted.

She noted how Gin’s eyes sparkled a bit and looked at her though she ignored him. Arthur’s attention was focused solely towards the professor.

“Man why can’t he look at me like that?”, Shizuka thought, sulking referring to Arthur.

“Nice to finally meet you all. As you know I am professor Mahogany. I am here to give you your starter Pokémon and Pokédexes.”, Professor Mahogany said as she got out a Poké ball and one by one threw out the three starters.

“There is the grass type Grookey, the fire type Scorbunny, and the water type Sobble.” Professor Mahogany explained, gesturing the three Pokémon that stood before them on the battle area.

“Woah!”, Gin said as they looked over the three Pokémon.

“So, which one of you will choose first?”, Professor Mahogany asked.

“I believe the Miss should go first.”, Arthur suggested as he put his arm out keeping his excitable brother back.

“Oh, thank you Arthur.”, Shizuka replied with a light blush, with a light bow to Arthur as Gin grumbled.

She walked up to the three Pokémon looking them over. She was glad she got to choose first since she had already long decided which one she wanted.

“I choose Sobble. I’ll name you Elaine.”, Shizuka decided, picking up the water type.

“Okay, now you can go Gin.”, Arthur said as Gin was practically bouncing from behind his arm.

“It’s about time! I choose Scorbunny! I'll call you Uh...Galahad! That sounds cool!”, Gin said, picking up the fire type.

“Why am I not surprised?”, Shizuka thought, rhetorically.

“Then, I will have Grookey. Dinas should be a good name.”, Arthur said as he bent down to the grass starter who excitedly ran into his arms.

Professor Mahogany nodded in approval handing them their rotom Pokédexes.

“So, do you plan on having a first battle here?”, Professor Mahogany asked

“Of course! Arthur I’m gonna kick your butt for dragging me!”, Gin said as he pointed as Arthur who just sighed expecting this.

“Alright, Gin.”, Arthur replied.

Shizuka went to the side as the two brothers started their battle.

“Galahad use tackle!”, Gin ordered.

“Dinas use scratch!”, Arthur ordered.

Galahad rushed at Dinas tackling it. Dinas scratches Galahad with its stick getting Galahad to get off of it. Galahad jumped up to tackle Dinas again, but was batted away by its stick.

“Get em again, Galahad!”, Gin commanded.

Galahad stubbornly charged at Dinas even after being batted away again.

“Again!”, Gin continued to command stubbornly and Galahad complied, continuing to recklessly charge at Dinas.

“What an idiot. What is he thinking?”, Shizuka thought, as Gin and Galahad continued on stubbornly charging.

She was surprised when Galahad eventually made it through after Dinas had been worn out from guarding.

“Haha! We did it!”, Gin cheered, raising his fist up into the air alongside Galahad as Dinas fainted.

“It must have been dumb luck.”, Shizuka thought as Gin cheered and Arthur recalled Dinas not seeming bothered.

She just sighed at the events. Little did she know at the time what awaited the three of them. Of the horror and tragedy that would soon befall them and the world. She simply left waving goodbye after realizing Arthur would be traveling with Gin. But, they would soon meet up again.

Later…

Shizuka was right outside a town and stumbled as tremors rumbled. She didn’t quite know the source, but she knew it had been that way when the world was nearly destroyed by a battle between the legendaries. She wasn’t quite sure what else it might be since the quake was more powerful than any natural one. She rushed into the town to try and save people from the collapsing buildings. She threw out Elaine who was now Drizzle. One of the debris was kicked over and incinerated by a Raboot. A sound wave destroyed another debris. She saw Gin and Arthur with Galahad and Dinas trying to save people.

“Elaine use water pulse!”, Shizuka ordered.

Elaine shot a torrent of water destroying more falling debris. They didn’t say anything to each other simply rushing as many people out as possible.

Afterward...

“Damn, that was scary! I was glad we were able to get everyone out of there.”, Gin said as he took a breath.

“I was surprised to see you two.”,Shizuka said.

“There’s no way we were gotta stand there while people got crushed!”, Gin said.

Shizuka paused with the conviction in Gin’s words. He meant what he said. It wasn’t just all worthless platitudes he was a man of action.

“That could have been very messy. I wonder what caused it?”, Arthur pondered.

Arthur sweated seeming a bit nervous and alarmed by the sudden quake. They looked over to the destruction a bit nervously. Some of the kids started to cry as Gin patted them on the shoulder to calm them down. Shizuka smiles a bit at the gesture trying to calm down some of the kids herself. After that Shizuka ended up traveling with the two of them for a while. They even encountered the sword and shield legendaries with Gin catching Zacian through pure stubbornness, not giving up till he caught the legendary. With Zacian he was able to defeat the champion of Galar becoming the new champion. They even ended up adventuring to the isle of armor and crown tundra. She didn’t notice the time that flew or that ever since that moment at the destroyed town that she started falling in love with Gin.

They ended up entering the Omni-Regional Circuit where they had formed a three person team. There they ended up meeting Shin, Mark, Mikuru, Tatsuya and the father of Chrono; Rive Shindou. Gin and Shin actually got along well with them both being rather hot-blooded youths as well as Rive and Mark. They all got along well with the rather polite Arthur except Shin. She couldn’t help, but sympathize with Mikuru when it came to dealing with crazy boys. Everything was going rather good then it was one of the most happiest times of her life, but...eventually everything good comes to end and end it did.

It all started when they discovered the island of the Soryu. All that was left of the ruined civilization was a young man, Triton Soryu and a young woman, Tethys Chen. They told them the story of how their civilization was devastated by Kyogure while it was rampaging causing them to flee to the island they were currently stuck on. There their people slowly died out. The cruel irony about it was that the Soryu had worshipped Kyogure like a god. Gin clutched his hands into fist tightly while he heard the story furrowing his brow. He ended up storming out and she followed after him to calm him down. They stopped before the edge of the island overlooking the sea.

“Those stupid legendaries! They think they can just do whatever the hell they want!”, Gin grumbled.

“I’m sure it was unintentional. I don’t think Kyogure even knew who they were.”, Shizuka replied.

“This isn’t the first time they’ve gone around tearing everything up. It’s like they don’t care about people or their fellow Pokémon! It just pisses me off! I mean come on Zacian isn’t like that. So why do so many of the others not care?”, Gin replied.

“I don’t know, but getting angry won’t fix anything. It’s best we focus on getting those two off this island.”, Shizuka replied, before Gin nodded calming down a bit.

However that was only the beginning. Several other similar accidents had happened where they had to save more people. Then, a few years later the hometown of their friend Tatsuya had been devastated by a battle between the three legendary birds. At this time she wasn’t aware of it yet, but she had a baby in her stomach very early in development. Thankfully, Tatsuya survived though he was put in the hospital. However, his family was not as lucky they were killed in destruction. Gin looked very pained as he looked down at the grey haired boy with purple strapped to a hospital bed in a hospital gown. Her and Arthur had their hands on his shoulder trying to calm him down.

“Hey, guys this might sound crazy. I have a plan to finally stop all of this. Do you want to hear it?”, Gin said as his eyes were narrowed and he frowned.

Arthur also turned to Gin looking rather serious. Right now she could barely hold back the tears and flood of emotions in her mind. She was so tired of this and so desperate...that she listened.

“What is it?”, Shizuka asked, turning to Gin determined.

Those three words. Saying those three words were the greatest mistake of her life. Those words had paved the road to hell for the three of them built on Gin’s originally good intentions.

His plan was to capture Arceus and to force it to keep the legendaries in line. Of course, it was easier said than done. Not only catching, but even finding Arceus would be a difficult hurdle. But, they were determined to catch any berserking legendaries while they pursued that goal. They ended up enlisting the help of a scientist Rive worked for to help them, Ryuzu Myoujin. She believes that Gin definitely got worse after he joined them. Ryuzu talked on and on about the idea of his utopia. She believes that had poisoned Gin who only continued to get more absorbed in his plan. Unknown to her or even Arthur that plan started to become more ambitious. Gin now not only wanted to negate the tragedies caused by legendaries, but to create a perfect utopia. Such a task was impossible and often led to horrendous results throughout history. This time was no different.

Eventually they were able to obtain the azure flute and got on top of mount Coronet. At this point they knew about the baby developing in her. However, Shin and Esuka caught wind of their plan not liking the idea they had become very skeptical especially after they had hunted so many legendaries. Shin confronted Gin alongside Esuka and Mark at mount Coronet.

“You won’t stop me Shin! This has to be done!”, Gin yelled, raising his fists.

He now wore a long black jacket with a white dress shirt with grey dress pants. He had black boots and a white handkerchief around his neck. He had a master ball attached to his belt with the intention of catching Arceus.

“Your crazy Gin! Don’t you realize you're playing with fire here? You think you can catch god?! You’ll only piss it off!”, Shin replied.

“I will and you won’t stop me Shin!”, Gin replied angrily, pointing at Shin.

Shin frowned as Ryuzu stood in his way throwing out Palkia causing Shin to gasp.

“Don’t let him through Chronofang.”, Ryuzu commanded as Palkia roared at Shin.

Shin snickered, throwing out Coballion to face Chronofang. Esuka rushed forward to try to stop Gin, but was intercepted by Xernus.

“Not you to Tatsuya! You should know that this is crazy!”, Esuka yelled.

Tatsuya revealed himself to be alongside Xernus. He now had on a light blue dress shirt and a white lab coat.

“I will make sure that a tragedy like the one that happened to my family will never occur again!”, Tatsuya yelled.

Esuka threw out Isabelle to face him. Arthur was battling Mark.

“Why do we have to fight like this?”, Shizuka thought, looking down frowning at the battles taking place.

“It will be all worth it once we’re done.”, Gin assured.

Shizuka nodded trusting Gin wholeheartedly. Gin held up the azure flute playing it to summon Arceus. She gasped in awe when the clouds above her became golden and started swirling. Slowly a hole seemed to open within the sky with heavens visible from within. A golden light shot from the hole revealing Arceus who ascended down from on high slowly and dramatically. Her and Gin’s breath hitched as they laid their eyes on the godly figure. Arceus shimmered with golden energy and its red eyes glowed. It was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. They trembled from the power Arceus radiated and awed at its divine presence. Arceus looked down at them completely silent.

Gin shook a bit, but got his nerves under control before grinning.

“So, your god huh? I’m Gin Gaillard! And I’m going to catch you! Go, Drangal!”, Gin declared, pointing at himself before throwing out Zacian.

“You are not the one.”, Arceus finally spoke, it’s voice boomed though it sounded calm.

Gin froze pondering what Arceus meant. Rive had finally arrived on top of Dialga having been convinced by Shin to join their side.

“What the hell do you mean?!”, Gin questioned confusingly.

“You are not the one chosen to wield my power. He has not been born yet.”, Arceus clarified, looking down to Shizuka no not her specifically her stomach.

“What the hell are you talking about!?”, Gin questioned angrily.

“The one who is destined to wield me is not you Gin Gaillard. It is your offspring who is. They will be the messiah.”, Arceus replied.

They all gasped in disbelief and Shizuka looked down to her stomach. It wasn’t big yet, but she had taken a pregnancy test recently and knew she was pregnant.

“What’s the messiah?!”, Gin questioned, completely clueless.

“The messiah is my avatar who will fulfill my will on the mortal plane.”, Arceus explained.
-
Aichi and Emi then looked at each other with stunned looks.

“Is it you?”, they both asked each other pointing at the other.

“Well, Arceus did say ‘he’, so I think he meant Aichi. Don’t worry it will make more sense soon.”, Shizuka replied.
-
Gin growled clenching his fists.

“I don’t care what you say! Or about your fate mumbo jumbo! I’m gonna make my own fate! Drangal use sacred sword!”, Gin replied determinedly, pointing at Arceus.

“Don’t be a fool Gin!”, Rive cried out, as he flew in reaching out for Gin.

Drangal jumped at Arceus it’s blade glowed with golden energy which it slashed sending a wave of energy at the god. Arceus didn’t move as the light envelopes it. When it and the smoke cleared Arceus stood there unfazed. Gin growled angrily, shaking and Shizuka’s mouth was agape at Arceus’s power.

“Try this on! Moonblast!”, Gin yelled.

Drangal shot a beam of pink energy at Arceus. Arceus once again completely shrugged it off not even seeming bothered by the attacks.

“Grr! Use solar blade!”, Gin ordered, getting more frustrated.

Drangal slashes at Arceus with its blade powered by the sun’s energy. When the blade touched Arceus it snapped in two. The pieces of the legendary blade clattered to the ground with a loud thud. Gin gasped in shock shaking in fury. He recalled Drangal this time gigamaximg it.

“This time! Solar blade!”, Gin commanded.

Drangal picked up the broken blade that also grew. This prompted no reaction from Arceus who still was very calm. Drangal slashes at Arceus and the blade broke again. They dove out of the way as the broken part of the massive blade flew. However, Arceus finally moved standing over Shizuka likely with the intention of protecting the unborn messiah from the stray blade.

“Y-you bastard! Get away from her!”, Gin growled, really losing it now.

Arceus said nothing hovering back to the spot where it stood before unshaken. Gin threw out more of his Pokémon all ordering them to attack. But, like with Drangal their attacks didn’t faze the god. Gin grew more unstable as he stubbornly continued to order his Pokémon to attack. Arceus seemed to grow bored of this. The azure flute glowed before disappearing as they gasped in shock. Arceus started ascending back into the heavens as Gin desperately threw the master ball at it. Arceus’s eyes glowed as the master ball was completely obliterated.It ascended back into the heavens as Gin yelled at the god, now in complete hysterics. He fell to his knees, his voice now hoarse from yelling. Shizuka walked up to him slowly and hesitantly. Rive reached him before her extending his hand which Gin viciously batted away.

“This is bullshit! There has to be a way! We have to find the azure flute again! We have to…”, Gin said as his voice grew more hopeless by the second.

Ryuzu flew over on Chronofang creating a rift through space time which they left through before they could be caught. Shizuka pulled Gin through, very worried about her husband. His eyes looked so empty only reflecting despair.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 42 The Fall And The Birth
Aichi’s current team
Level 70 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 70 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 69 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 69 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

-
Aichi was silent. He couldn’t help, but feel bad for his father hearing his story. Even knowing the horrible stuff he would go on to do to the world and him. Similar to Alfred he had good intentions and ended up losing his way. Though, he knew it wasn’t close to over and he felt it was about to get worse.

“I believe that was when Gin snapped. He was never the same after that.”, Shizuka said.
-

“Don’t worry Gin everything will be fine. Even if Arceus is right that means our kid can still catch him and achieve our goal.”, Shizuka assured, as she held Gin in her arms.

After that Team Asteroid was created. Because of her pregnancy she had to go on the sidelines to take care of her baby. She believed that Team Asteroid was simply going to achieve Gin’s initial goal. Unfortunately she was terribly wrong though she was unaware at the time. She noticed something seemed off about Gin though, she couldn’t put her finger on it exactly. She could just sense that something in him died on mount Coronet. She did her best to comfort him, though it was not enough. Things only got worse from there.

“M-miscarriage?! Why? How?”, Shizuka questioned worriedly as she was checked up on by Ryuzu.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I’ll have to take a dna sample to find out the cause. As well as the baby.”, Ryuzu told her as she broke into tears.

“First Gin dies on the inside and now our kid...I-is this because we played god? Is that why all of this misfortune is befalling us?”, Shizuka thought.

At least she told herself that it was Arceus though, logically he wouldn’t want their child to die. She was so stupid for believing Ryuzu. She didn’t know at the time, but it was a set up. Her child didn’t die; they were taken in their still developing state and…
-
Aichi froze, having a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach.

“...that baby...the one you thought died. That was me wasn’t it?”, Aichi asked as Emi gasped in shock and horror.

“Y-yes, that was you Aichi. I’m so sorry Aichi if only I didn’t trust Ryuzu! Then you wouldn’t be like this right now! You’d be…”, Shizuka said as her voice cracked.

Aichi went over to his mother’s side comforting her.

“It’s alright mom. There’s no way you could have known.”, Aichi assured, holding his mom as she cried into his arms.

“T-that’s so messed up! That Ryuzu guy is horrible!”, Emi said shakily, feeling very angry towards Ryuzu.

“Right. They then took you away and did all that weird stuff to you while you were still developing. Making you like this with the powers and the programming. Gin didn’t want to leave the fate of the world in your hands. So, he took it into his own hands by controlling you, the messiah.”, Shizuka explained.

“Ren mentioned something about the messiah when we fought.”, Aichi thought, deciding to ponder more on that later.
-
She was devastated because she thought she had lost her child. To try to make her happy Gin had another child with her. This next child was Emi. She was much happier after that having a happy healthy baby. It was Gin’s way to distract her from the plans that he had in motion with the baby she had believed died. Not long after Emi was born a strange person appeared before her. This person was Takuto Tatsunagi who was actually Solgealeo in disguise. He revealed all of this to her using irrefutable proof that the Tatsunagi corporation had hacked from Team Asteroid including files and footage. She was completely devastated and completely unable to believe what she had heard and read.

“I know you may not trust me Shizuka Dou. But, something that is an irrefutable truth that I have revealed to you is that your son is alive. And your husband hid that fact from you. You must realize the kind of man your husband has become and leave here with your children.”, Takuto said.

Shizuka shook as she held Emi tightly, not wanting to accept Takuto’s words. But, as much as she wanted to deny it she knew it was true. How could she possibly trust Gin again when he had hid her own son from her? She could see that something in Gin had changed and now she was forced to admit it. Takuto was right that there was no way she could stay with him, especially knowing his horrendous plan to use her son as a weapon to take over the world.

“Fine, I'll leave but where would I even go?”, Shizuka relented.

“The Kakusa region would be the safest. Even if Gin found out where you were he is blocked from entering himself because of its divine protection from Arceus. The barrier around the region keeps its worst enemies from entering.”, Takuto suggested.

She didn’t like it, but she just wanted her babies to be safe so she nodded. Takuto disappeared for a brief moment teleporting before reappearing in a few minutes with an unconscious boy. He had blue hair and blue eyes. He wore a grey dress shirt and pants with black shoes. He looked a remarkable lot like Gin. He looked very young; he was only 3 years old at the time while Emi was 1. It was Aichi who wasn’t quite Aichi yet. At this time he was still 003v. Shizuka instantly grabbed hold of her unconscious child holding him close to her chest along with an infant Emi.

“We have to go now. Grab a hold of my hand.”, Takuto said urgently.

“Get him!”, he heard Gin’s angry voice from behind the door.

Team Asteroid members flooded in and Shizuka hastily grabbed onto Takuto.

“You!”, was the last time she heard Gin’s voice before they were teleported away.

She gasped in complete shock as she was now standing in Gold Maine city. The sun shined brightly above illuminating them and making the golden buildings of the city appear to glow. She quickly had to calm down Emi who was crying likely due to all the yelling from before. This was the start of a new chapter in her life. Her chapter as a resident of the Kakusa region raising her two kids.

“I’ve altered his memories. As far as he’s concerned he’s been raised by his single mother and that you fled Galar with him and his sister to escape Team Asteroid.”, Takuto explained.

“You messed with his head?!”, Shizuka questioned, glaring at Takuto.

“Trust me it’s better that he doesn’t remember. You remember what you read right? How Gin had been raising him?”, Takuto replied.

“I know but…”, Shizuka trailed off as she looked down.

“Wait, what about his name? Isn’t his name being 003v a bit suspicious?”, Shizuka questioned.

“What do you want his name to be?”, Takuto asked as he held his fingers up to Aichi’s head.

Shizuka froze remembering the name she had originally thought up for him.

“Aichi...I want his name to be Aichi. It has many meanings including love, wisdom and...light of hope. Also, I don’t want to find it easily so our last name will now be Sendou.”, Shizuka replied.

It was unspoken, but they both knew she had chosen Aichi as his name because he was the messiah. He was the light of hope for the world. An aura flashed around Takuto as 003v now was named Sendou Aichi. To further distance themselves from Gin they said their names like those in Kakusa did with their family name first.

She finally got to sit down when they got to PSY Sweets and she would stay there till she found a place to live. She was rather anxious as Aichi gained consciousness after sleeping soundly in the room’s bed. She held in a deep breath as Aichi stirred, rubbing his eyes in confusion. He looked over to Shizuka who held Emi in her arms. Emi roused from her sleep laying her eyes on her brother for this first time.

“...mom? Where are we?”, were the first words she heard her son say groggily.

She froze as he heard her son call her mom for the first time, forgetting to breathe. She also noted his noticeable Galatian accent like her own and Gin’s. To blend in further in Kakusa she would later make him hide it till eventually he lost his accent all together.

“We’ve made it to Kakusa, Aichi. We’re in PSY Sweets.”, Shizuka replied, finally remembering to breathe.
-
“So, I have gone to Gold Maine city before I didn’t remember at all.”, Aichi said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“It’s probably because you were too young to remember.”, Shizuka replied.

“Not to mention, that’s when we first met brother.”, Emi said to Aichi who nodded.

It sounded so weird to think about. Aichi didn’t meet Emi until she was already 1 year old despite the fact they were siblings.
-
Aichi looked around tiredly in a way that reminded her of Gin in the morning. The physical resemblance he had to Gin added to it though he had Shizuka’s colors.

“Oh okay…”, Aichi replied, half asleep.

He crawled over to Emi who looked over at him curiously in her arms. Emi giggled as he came near and Aichi smiled.

“I’m glad Emi’s alright.”, Aichi said as Shizuka felt a very warm feeling in her chest.

Her babies were together and it seemed like they were already getting along quite well. Eventually, they found a home in Sanctuary town and the rest was history.

(End if mommy Sendou story time? I dunno what to put here.)

Aichi sat back absorbing everything he had heard. He had a lot to think about right now. He could tell Emi had similar feelings, it was a lot to digest all at once.

“Thinking back I also regret not bringing Oliver with us.”, Shizuka said.

They jumped as they noticed Aichi visibly flinched when he heard that name. Aichi clutched his head and sweat dripped from his brow.

“Gallade?! Gallade?(Are you alright Aichi?!)”, Ahmes asked, full of concern.

“W-who is Oliver?! That name sounds familiar to me.”, Aichi said shakily in pain.

“Oliver is Arthur’s son making him your cousin. He was a very nice and polite boy. I don’t know what’s become of him now. Gin had plans for him too, I don’t remember everything but he was supposed to be part of a special squad.”, Shizuka answered.

“T-th the Q-quatre Knights…”, Aichi muttered out as he swayed and Ahmes caught him in his arms.

Aichi ended up falling unconscious in Ahmes arms.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (This happened before when he fought Ren.)”, Ahmes said as he placed Aichi back onto the coach and Alfred translated.

“Haxorus...Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus… (Mommy...mommy’s in pain. His heart aches and he doesn’t know why…)”, Soul Saver said sadly putting her head down beside Aichi with tears stinging her eyes.

Alfred translated this for them again and they gasped in shock.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (Soul Saver is right. I can feel extreme sadness and confusion in his aura.)”, Gancelot confirmed, as he put a hand on Aichi and was also translated.

“Did Aichi know Oliver?”, Shizuka asked, no one in particular still not really remembering the details of Gin’s plans well.

“Aichi…”, Emi said full of concern, noting the small tear that fell from Aichi’s face.

“Is it possible that the memories Solgealeo had sealed are returning to him?”, Shizuka thought, sweating nervously.

In Galar…

Raul had just returned with his prisoners in tow. On a throne was Gin Gaillard. Off to the side bowing was an older Leon with two twin girls by his side. Leon wore a white uniform with bits of purple and gold and a red A. In the middle of it was a purple gem shaped like a diamond. The twins had light blue hair in ponytails and golden eyes. They wore white uniforms with a red A and blue skirts. There was another boy by Gin’s side who wasn’t fully visible, covered by shadow. On the other side of Leon was a few others covered in shadow obscuring their features. Raul bowed to Gin.

“I have found 003v. He is in Kakusa going by the name Aichi Sendou. They say in like Sendou Aichi, but well he is Galarian so it makes more sense to say his name that way. It seems Katsuki had known earlier and hid it from you. Also, the legendary who took him along with your wife and daughter was Solgealeo.”, Raul relayed.

Gin smirked and the boy beside him flinched.

“Please let me retrieve him, master Gin.”, the boy asked.

“No, it should be me. There’s no way he could stand a chance against 003v.”, Leon cut in.

The two narrowed their eyes at each other.

“We will in due time when the time is right. How about we meet the two of you halfway. I have a plan to get him back and you're both involved.”, Gin said as the two nodded.

“Thank you, master Gin. I won’t let you down.”, the boy thanked, as Gin just waved him off.

“I will bring you home 003v or Aichi as you are called now. And save you from the clutches of Arceus and Solgealeo! I swear it!”, the boy though as he raised his head.

The boy was revealed to be Oliver who wore a white militaristic uniform with bits of red and black with a red A.

In Kakusa…

Aichi was set back into his bed still sweating. He clutched the covers tightly as his brow furrowed. Soul Saver sat next to him refusing to move in a similarly somber mood. She rubbed her head against the unconscious Aichi.

“Oliver…”, Aichi muttered in his sleep sounding pained.

Aichi tossed and turned in sleep, clearly very uncomfortable. Aichi clutched his head again as he slept.

Somewhere in Kakusa…

In front of a large table sat the gym leaders along with men in suits. Koutei and Mark seemed to be calming down Misaki who looked rather angered.

“Regardless of his deeds Sendou Aichi is still the spawn of Gin Gaillard. You all talk highly of him, but for all we know he could have brainwashed you like Ren. We have sent someone to personally evaluate Sendou Aichi. He has a camera following him and a recorder on him so we will know if he pulls anything. This is why we haven’t called him here today, we do not trust him.”, a man in a suit said coldly.

“Aichi may be the son of Gin. But, he is a truly good person. Would he save the region and stop Team Asteroid if he was working for them? Even Takuto has vouched for him!”, Misaki questioned, not backing down and glaring at the man.

Takuto said nothing, but frowned, definitely very discontented with the government’s decision as well. Behind where he sat was Suiko, Kourin, and Rekka. Kourin glared daggers at the man while the other two looked more calm and ready to restrain Kourin when necessary.

“As I said before your words mean nothing Miss Tokura nor does any of your words.”, the man replied.

“What will you do if the person you send does not approve of Aichi?”, Gouki asked.

“It goes without saying we will use all the resources at our disposal to eliminate him.”, the man said as Misaki completely lost her temper and had to be restrained by Koutei and Mark.

Suiko and Rekka had to do the same for Kourin.

“It will be fine. We just have to believe in Aichi.”, Koutei assured.

“We don’t even know if these old farts will give him a chance.”, Misaki whispered.

Near Sanctuary town…

A man currently covered in shadow approached the town shadowed by the employees of the Kakusa government.

In Aichi’s house Gancelot looked out the window putting his hand on it and Llew and Wingal curiously walked up to him.

“Golisopod? Golisopod? (Is something wrong?)”, Llew asked.

“Lucario….Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (Somebody...no some people are coming. I don’t know who they are, but I don’t like some of their auras.)”, Gancelot said as he narrowed his eyes.

The two tensed and Ahmes and Alfred came over.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.(Whoever it is I won’t allow them to hurt Aichi.)”, Ahmes said as the rest nodded.

Aichi was still fast asleep in his bed with Soul Saver by his side trying to comfort him. Shizuka came into Aichi’s room with a concerned expression putting a wet towel on his head. Emi turned her attention to Aichi’s Pokémon who were gathered at the window becoming rather concerned.

“You should stand back Emi. We do not know what’s coming.”, Alfred warned.

They suddenly flinched when there was a knock at the door. Someone must’ve walked in from the other side. Gancelot cautiously grabbed the door handle opening it slowly. The door creaked as the tension they felt built to a crescendo. The door opened to reveal a figure they definitely did not expect. It was a little girl younger than even Emi. She had light green hair and orange eyes. She wore a little pink dress. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she frowned deeply. Gancelot blinked in confusion taking a double take.

“Where is that villain 003v?!”, the girl squeaked angrily as she pointed to the stunned Gancelot.

The others had heard everything and were beyond confused. Emi came up to the door.

“Uhh...there’s no 003v here, but there is Sendou Aichi. Are you looking for him?”, Emi asked politely, feeling very weird calling her brother by his designation.

“Yes, I am here to stop him! Are those his goons?”, the girl squeaked, trying to sound menacing pointing at the Pokémon.

The Pokémon all fell over sweat dropping. Emi looked completely stunned and confused with her eye twitching at the incredulousness of the situation.

“Lycanroc? Lycanroc? Lycanroc...Lycanroc? (What’s with this sassy...lost child?)”, Wingal questioned.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 43 The Champion’s Test
Aichi’s current team
Level 70 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 70 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 69 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 69 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

A young Aichi looked rather nervous as a young Oliver squeezed his hand in reassurance.

“Don’t worry you’ll be fine. You’ve done this before and you can do it again. I believe in you 003v.”, Oliver told him.

He still seemed a bit nervous, but it was eased a bit at Oliver’s assurance. He didn’t know why but, he always felt much less nervous around him compared to the adults. Perhaps it was because they were around the same age? Or because they were related? All that he knew for sure is that he felt more at ease with Oliver rather than those men in lab coats. Oliver gave him a reassuring smile and he took a deep breath calming down.

“I can do this. Father is counting on me to impress his colleagues.”, Aichi said, raising up his fist.

He didn’t remember why yet, but he was deathly scared of disappointing his father. Perhaps he would remember why when he regained the rest of his memories. Oliver was always rather patient with him like this, he could feel it. It was because Oliver was the only person besides his father that could really get him to do anything that Oliver was assigned to be by his side.

In reality Aichi was still fast asleep, not even hearing the commotion downstairs at all. Soul Saver was still glued to his side not even hearing the commotion either because her attention was so focused on Aichi. Shizuka heard it rather curious and a bit cautious as she went back down the stairs. She prepared a Poké ball just in case it was something dangerous. What she didn’t expect was to see Emi arguing with a smaller girl. Alfred tried to help Emi out with diffusing the situation and the other Pokémon didn’t really know what to do mostly since the girl couldn’t understand them.

“I won’t let you get in my way, sword man! Let’s take him down Ahsha!”, the girl said, throwing out a Snivy.

“Is this girl serious? She knows Aichi is the champion right?”, Emi questioned, sweat dropping.

“Ahsha use vine whip!”, the girl ordered.

Ahsha slapped Alfred with the vine, having little to practically no effect on the ghostly king. Alfred didn’t even flinch from the attack just sweat dropping at the ridiculousness of the situation. Ahsha attacked again and again to not much effect on the Pokémon much to the girl’s annoyance. Alfred didn’t even bother to raise his shield, further enraging the girl.

“Darn it! This is just the first goon, I’ve gotta at least be able to defeat the first one!”, the girl said angrily.

“I am not a goon. I am Alfred Pendragon, the once and future king of Galar.”, Alfred replied.

“I don’t care who you are! I’ll defeat you and your boss for my bro-“, the girl was saying before she was suddenly scooped up by a male teen.

He had greenish-blue hair that went down to his shoulders and orange eyes the same shade as the girl’s. There was a noticeable resemblance between him and the girl. He wore a white dress shirt with a red tie and dark grey pants. He had a belt where six Poké balls hung.

“I’m so sorry about this please don’t mind her.”, the teen said.

The girl squirmed stubbornly in his grip kicking her legs.

“But Mamoru! Didn’t you hear what the guy on the phone said? He said that a bad guy named 003v is trying to take over the region!”, the girl yelled.

“Wait...your Anjou Mamoru aren’t you? You were the champion of Kakusa before Ren!”, Shizuka realized as they all gasped in shock except the two newcomers.

“Your right I recognize him from tv! He had disappeared after Ren became champion!”, Emi said.

“That stupid coward Ren made him disappear! There’s no way he could’ve beat my brother!”, the girl yelled as Mamoru sweat dropped.

“Calm down Tokoha. I know what you may have heard, but this whole thing is really a massive misunderstanding.”, Mamoru told his sister Tokoha as she calmed down.

“What are you talking about brother?”, Tokoha questioned.

“You see 003v, Sendou Aichi defeated Suzugamori Ren and saved the region. But, the higher ups in the region are skeptical about him because he’s Gin Gaillard’s son. They don’t actually have any proof that he’s up to anything. I am supposed to see what kind of person he is. You would have heard that if you didn’t scurry off.”, Mamoru explained.

“Ohh...I was scared he a bad guy was going to take you away again…”, Tokoha said a bit sadly, as she looked down realizing her mistake.

“I see you were just worried about your brother. I can understand the feeling.”, Emi replied.

“What did happen to you?”, Shizuka asked.

“Me and Koutei tried to stop Ren when we found out about his plans. I was captured for a while along with Koutei, but he was moved somewhere else. As you may know while he was being moved in Kagero town he was saved by Esuka and Miwa. Afterward Koutei helped finding where I was kept and freed me.”, Mamoru explained.

“So, that’s what happened. I thought it was weird that you just suddenly disappeared out of the blue.”, Emi replied.

“Yeah...I feel bad that I wasn’t able to do anything while the region was nearly taken over. I’m glad that Sendou Aichi saved it. Where is he?”, Mamoru replied.

Almost if on cue they heard a thud, all turning their attention to the source. Aichi was leaning against the wall on top of the stairs with Soul Saver by his side. He held the wet towel to his head and he was still sweating.

“W-who are you?”, Aichi asked shakily, swaying a bit.

“What are you doing your not fully recovered from before yet?!”, Shizuka yelled at her son full of concern.

Aichi seemed to ignore this yelling, walking down the stairs only for his mom to stop him.

“Is he alright?!”, Mamoru asked with concern, setting down Tokoha and helping hold Aichi up.

“P-people with...bad intentions...are near...I can feel it. It’s not you.”, Aichi mumbled out, looking over to Mamoru.

“What is he talking about?”, Tokoha questioned.

“I don’t know, but he IS psychic.”, Emi replied.

“You came down here in your condition just to warn them?”, Mamoru asked.

“I-I’ve gotta...stop them...I won’t let them hurt…”, Aichi mumbled out, before Mamoru set him down.

“Do you know who he's talking about?”, Shizuka asked with a serious expression as Mamoru looked down.

“I have a feeling...they're the government employees. I think that whoever chose them sent employees purposely biased against Sendou Aichi to skew the results of his appraisal.”, Mamoru surmised.

“What do you think of my son?”, Shizuka asked as Mamoru stood up.

“My first impression is that is a respectable man who protects those he loves even at his own expense. I intend to give him a chance.”, Mamoru answered as he looked at Shizuka.

Shizuka put her hand on Aichi to keep him down as loud banging came from the door. The door opened to reveal men in suits with Pokémon by their sides. Aichi’s Pokémon tensed, taking this as a threat.

“It seems you have been bewitched by 003v and betrayed us Mamoru. Looks like we’ll have to eliminate you alongside him.”, a man said.

“Does he look like he’s in the condition to do something like that?”, Mamoru questioned.

“No. But it’s not like we have to tell the higher ups that. The story will be 003v bewitched the former champion and gym leaders so he could trick the masses into believing he was their hero. Then, control Kakusa from the shadows.”, the man replied as Mamoru tensed glaring at the men.

Shizuka and the Pokémon also glared at the men. Emi and Tokoha gasped in disbelief that they would do such a thing.

“Just sit here and leave this to me.”, Mamoru told Aichi.

“Because 003v is in no condition to move much less fight we can easily kill him here. We will step over your lifeless corpse if it means killing him, Mamoru.”, the man replied.

“You guys are blinded by your hatred for Gin Gaillard. He may be his son, but Sendou Aichi is certainly not his father.”, Mamoru replied as he threw out his Pokémon: Haxorus, Kommo-o, Dreepy, Noivern, Kingdra, and Turtonator.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! (I’m seeing double!)”, Soul Saver gasped in disbelief behind Aichi.

“Make sure your mamma is safe.”, Shizuka whispered to Soul Saver, who nodded.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. (I will keep mommy safe.)”, Soul Saver said as she got in front of Aichi who looked up at her.

Ahmes got in front of Aichi with Wingal by his side. The other Pokémon got into fighting stances and Emi and Tokoha went behind Mamoru. Shizuka walked up to Mamoru’s side, throwing out her Intellion, Elaine.

“Blademaster use dragon claw!”, Mamoru ordered.

The Pokémon clashed with the intruders Pokémon, but it seemed like every time they defeated one more came almost endlessly. More men came in with more Pokémon. Not to mention, they had to hold back so they didn’t destroy the house and drop the roof on their heads. The Pokémon started to get exhausted as they fought for a solid hour.

“Getting tired? We came prepared with an army to kill 003v so you won’t stand a chance of holding out!”, the man said as Mamoru sweated nervously.

His Pokémon pushed back the invaders, but it was obvious that their attacks were no longer at full strength. One by one their Pokémon were getting knocked down leaving Ahmes in his mega form, Alfred, and Soul Saver. A mega Scizor shot forward with blinding speed towards Mamoru to kill him. Alfred rushed as fast as he could to block with his shield, but he was preoccupied by the other enemy Pokémon.

“Brother!”, Tokoha cries out.

Mamoru closed his eyes knowing there was no way he could outspeed the Pokémon. He suddenly heard a clang noise, but he felt no pain. He opened his eyes to see Aichi in front of him covered with a light blue aura. He still didn’t seem like he was fully recovered, however despite it much to his shock and awe he held the Scizor’s claw. He held it so tightly the claw started to crumple like a tin can. The Scizor cried in pain when Aichi pushed its claw back, bending its arm. They all gasped in shock seeing that Aichi was able to do this in his current condition. The suited men gaped in shock and fear of Aichi’s power.

“I...won’t let you...kill...him...or anyone else…”, Aichi mumbled, still sounding completely exhausted.

“What the hell is this kid?!”, another suited man gasped in terror.

They flinched as Aichi glared at them with a level of anger that made them tremble. Everyone else was in awe and disbelief looking at Aichi.

“Where...where was this army...when Team Asteroid...attacked…?!”, Aichi questioned.

They didn’t say anything as Aichi gridded his teeth. The enemy Pokémon stopped fighting and shook in fear at this anger. Their instincts were telling them to run far away from him.

“How...can you claim...to care about...this region...when you had this...much fire power...and did nothing!?”, Aichi questioned angrily.

The men had nothing to say backing away and looking down feeling extremely ashamed. Because Aichi was right they had this power, but did nothing against Team Asteroid. They didn’t even try because they were too scared. Aichi, the one that they hated was the one who saved the region and their families. They were too afraid of the actual enemy so they had tried to kill a wounded hero instead.

Mamoru caught Aichi as he stumbled and the aura vanished. He looked up to the men in suits who flinched.

“Do the higher ups hear us right now? I approve of Sendou Aichi. As the former champion I give him my blessing.”, Mamoru said.

“Fine…”, the man grumbled in defeat, recalling the rest of the men.

Aichi was back to sleep in Mamoru’s arms. He helped Shizuka bring him to his bed. Emi and Tokoha went to the Pokémon center to heal up the Pokémon after all the men were gone.

“You have a very brave boy, Mrs. Sendou.”, Mamoru commented as Shizuka smiled.

“I know. I’m so proud of him though, it can be frustrating with how reckless he is.”, Shizuka replied, causing Mamoru to chuckle.

“Yeah, I can definitely sympathize with that.”, Mamoru replied.

They stood before Aichi’s bed which Soul Saver sat back next to. Soul Saver rubbed her head against Aichi.

“Pokémon seem to love him quite a lot as well. They fought very fiercely to protect him without even being ordered to.”, Mamoru said as he watched how affectionate Soul Saver was towards her trainer.

“He’s always been able to understand Pokémon deeper than most can. Though, to be fair he technically is one.”, Shizuka replied.

“I heard all about it from the higher ups. It’s rather strange though it doesn’t bother me.”, Mamoru replied.

In the Sanctuary town Pokémon center...

Tokoha looked down as she walked beside Emi.

“I’m glad your brother saved mine. I thank him.”, Tokoha said as Emi chuckled.

“I don’t think Aichi minds that much. That’s just the kind of person he is.”, Emi replied.

“Yeah. Sorry for thinking he was evil I jumped to conclusions.”, Tokoha apologized as she rubbed the back of her head.

“It’s fine. If our positions were reversed I would have done the same thing. Friends?”, Emi replied as she extended a hand to Tokoha.

“Friends.”, Tokoha replied, accepting it.

Somewhere in Kakusa…

Takuto had a smug cat-like smile as the higher up in a suit grumbled in anger.

“Looks like Mamoru approves of Sendou Aichi as well as your other men.”, Takuto said.

The higher up shook with rage especially as Takuto played a recording that revealed the men’s intentions causing the gym leaders to gasp in disbelief and anger.

“I knew it!”, Misaki yelled angrily.

The other men in suits gave the man sideways looks as moved back.

“I-I was just trying to protect the region from that monster!”, the man said with desperation.

“Oh really, then where were you and your men when Ren attacked?!”, Misaki questioned, glaring at the man and pointing to him.

“I-I”, The man stuttered.

“It seems that you are not qualified for your job. We will have someone else replace you who will hopefully do a better job at protecting the region.”, a different man in suit said.

“Then, it’s settled Sendou Aichi is the champion of Kakusa.”, Takuto asked and Kourin smiled at this.

She glared when Suiko and Rekka gave her knowing looks and she blushed.

Later…

Aichi woke up fully recovered from before. He stretched as Soul Saver looked very happy, bouncing. Aichi petted Soul Saver’s head who giggled.

“Good girl. Is Mamoru still here?”, Aichi said.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus.Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. (He said he was leaving earlier. He said that the big meanies were forced to accept that your champ now.)”, Soul Saver replied.

“That’s relief.”, Aichi said with a relieved sigh, before looking over to Soul Saver.

“Now it’s time to play.”, Aichi said as Soul Saver’s eyes lit up with excitement and she jumped up.

“Hax! (Yay!)”, Soul Saver cheered.

Aichi and Soul Saver walked down stairs and Emi, Shizuka and the rest of his Pokémon greeted him.

“I never knew you could be so cool brother.”, Emi said.

Aichi blushed in embarrassment rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“I wasn’t that cool.”, Aichi replied.

To be continued…

Chapter Text

Chapter 44 Full Circle! A Prelude To The Next Adventure! (Finale)

Aichi’s current team
Level 72 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting
Moves:
Close combat
Solar blade
Swords dance
Future Sight

Level 71 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock
Moves:
Stealth rock
Crunch
Stone edge
Play rough

Level 70 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug
Moves:
Sucker punch
Blizzard
Liquidation
First impression

Level 72 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel
Moves:
Focus blast
Stone edge
Meteor mash
Dragon pulse

Level 73 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon
Moves:
Outrage
Iron tail
Dragon dance
Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel
Moves:
Sacred sword
King’s shield
Iron head
Shadow claw

The day of the fateful rematch finally arrived. Aichi wore the outfit he had worn to the grand celebration. Many had gathered to spectate the match between the two including: Misaki, Kamui, Miwa, and more.

“Today’s the day I’ve waited for so long Kai. I will finally be able to fight you as an equal and friend.”, Aichi thought as he looked down at his Poké ball before up at Kai.

Aichi stood across from Kai and they both prepared a Poké ball.

“You know Aichi’s whole adventure started with a match against Kai. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new one?”, Miwa commented.

“No more adventures for my baby. He is staying home and going to school.”, Shizuka replied.

It would be nice if he could, but they all knew one day Aichi would be called up to fight again. Like his first clash with Team Asteroid, future ones were inevitable. Team Asteroid would continue to terrorize the world and being the kind of person Aichi is, he'd try to stop it. His only assurance preventing him from taking on Team Asteroid globally is that the other regions have strong trainers protecting them and soon Kai. Not to mention, his fate had been forever linked to the organization the moment they turned him into 003v when he was only developing.

“Go, Vortex!”, Kai called out.

“Go, Llew!”, Aichi called out.

“Vortex use stone edge!”, Kai ordered.

“Llew use blizzard!”, Aichi ordered.

The rocks that Vortex shot were swept away by an icy storm and sent crashing into Vortex. Vortex swayed heavily damaged from the attack. Llew crossed his arms Aichi didn’t give any commands.

“He’s done.”, Aichi said.

“You're too soft, Aichi. Vortex use outrage!”, Kai ordered.

Vortex’s eyes glowed as it got up roaring. Aichi and Llew both looked surprised as despite the damage Vortex had suffered it got up like it was nothing. Vortex shot itself at Llew like a speeding plane. Llew hastily brought up his arms to guard, not having time to launch an attack. Vortex crashed into Llew who stumbled a bit just barely stopping himself from falling over. Vortex clawed at Llew violently and shot dragonic energy breaths.

“Llew use blizzard.”, Aichi ordered sounding a bit reluctant.

Llew grabbed Vortex’s wildly flailing arms and hooked his claws around them. Vortex shook violently to get out of Llew’s grip, but it was locked in. Vortex was about to shoot more energy at Llew before it was bombarded by an icy storm sent by Llew. Vortex was covered in snow and ice making it unable to move. Kai closed his eyes as he recalled Vortex.

“He really is as soft as ever. He had two opportunities to finish off Vortex yet he didn’t. That’s why he must not be allowed to take part in the global fight against Team Asteroid. His softness would be the end of him.”, Kai thought.

“Go, Nehalem!”, Kai called out.

“Llew use blizzard.”, Aichi ordered.

Nehalem flew out of the way to avoid the icy storm.

“Nehalem use thunder!”, Kai ordered.

While Llew was mid attack a massive lightning bolt crashed into him causing him to stagger again. Llew was shot again by another bolt before passing out. Aichi recalled Llew.

“Go, Gancelot!”, Aichi called out.

“Why did he do that when he knows Nehalem knows thunder?”, Kamui questioned.

“We’ll just have to see.”, Misaki replied.

“Is that bad?”, Emi questioned.

“Gancelot is half steel type so thunder is super effective against him.”, Misaki explained.

“Why did Aichi do something so stupid?”, Emi questioned.

“Gancelot use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered.

Nehalem once again avoided the attack shot at it by flying out of the way.

“What does he think he’s doing?”, Kai thought as Gancelot continued to shoot rocks from where he stood.

“Nehalem use thunder!”, Kai ordered.

Emi and Kamui cringed as the lightning bolt neared Gancelot. Though they were all stunned except Aichi and Gancelot when Gancelot easily sidestepped the lightning bolt. Gancelot dashed forward at blinding speed and nailed the distracted Nehalem with sharp rocks. The impact of the various rocks caused Nehalem to crash from the sky to the ground.

“How did he know Gancelot was fast enough to dodge the lightning?!”, Emi questioned.

“He might have trained for a situation like this.”, Misaki guessed.

“Well, bro ain’t the champion for nothing!”, Kamui said as he wiped away a nervous sweat.

“I think it was his intention to make Kai believe he did a misplay. So, he could catch him off guard like this.”, Miwa said.

Shizuka took notice of the way Aichi analyzes the area around him, he seemed deep in thought which is part of the reason they hadn’t heard much from him.

“Go, Dragon Dancer! Use close combat!”, Kai called out.

“Gancelot go near the rocks dodge.”, Aichi commanded.

“Lucario...Lucario! (I see...yes Aichi!)”, Gancelot replied, seeming to understand his trainer’s plan.

Gancelot darted towards the rocks and Dragon Dancer followed trying to strike Gancelot. Gancelot dodged out of the way causing Dragon Dancer to strike one of the sharp rocks embedded into ground from Gancelot‘s battle against Nehalem. Dragon Dancer’s armor protected the Pokémon from serious damage though the rocks splintered and cut some of its unarmored parts. While it was distracted Gancelot grabbed a long sharp rock from the ground and channeled his aura into it. The audience gasped at this especially as Gancelot used the rock like a polearm attacking and batting away Dragon Dancer’s attacks while keeping a distance.

“Interesting trick. You’ve taught your Lucario to channel its aura through inanimate objects to strengthen them. However it won’t be enough to defeat me.”, Kai commented.

“I have actually been working on this with Gancelot since Alfred’s caste, but it took a long time to perfect it for use in battle. The technique wasn’t complete till recently.”, Aichi replied.

“He worked on a move like that, that long? Considering how much of a aura masters as Lucarios are known to be you would think it would have been faster.”, Miwa commented, with his hand on his chin.

Kai was taken off guard when a familiar blue dragonic energy engulfed the rock Gancelot used as a polearm. Dragon Dancer gasped in shock when Gancelot jabbed with the rock piercing it’s armor and damaging the dragon greatly.

“That’s so cool!”, Kamui gushed.

“What move is that? I’ve never seen it before.”, Emi asked.

“I haven’t either because such a move doesn’t exist. Rather the ‘move’ we’re seeing is a combination of multiple different moves. It looks like he’s combining the move stone edge with the dragon pulse. All using Gancelot unique aura mastery as a Lucario to make it possible to channel dragon pulse into the rock.”, Misaki explained.

“That’s really smart actually. Looks like Aichi’s really using his smarts for battle.”, Emi replied.

“It’s not just the psychic power that makes him powerful it’s also the intelligence that comes associated with his type as well. Aichi himself was classified as a psychic type Pokémon in Team Asteroid’s files. My baby, using both brains and brawn unlike some thick headed idiots I’ve known. When Team Asteroid comes back eventually he’ll be able to defend himself from being captured.”, Shizuka thought, happy to see how strong Aichi was.

“This is me and Gancelot’s especial move: Aura Armorment.”, Aichi said.

“Especial move? So that’s what you’re calling it? The combination of multiple moves into one.”, Kai replied.

“Yeah and...the name took me a while too. I got the idea for it when Alfred taught me about all the old weapons people used to use.”, Aichi replied.

Dragon Dancer desperately tried to overpower Gancelot, but it couldn’t land a single blow on Gancelot due to the range disadvantage. Kai snickered as he thought of a way to counter Aichi’s especial move. There were loud thunderous cracks as Gancelot attacked with blindingly fast speed breaking away pieces of Dragon Dancer’s armor.

“Dragon Dancer use clanging scales!”, Kai ordered.

Before the sound the scales could even travel to Gancelot to send him flying back. He struck Dragon Dragon multiple times including the parts where the scales clanged. Dragon Dancer collapsed after the strikes, fainting. Kai recalled Dragon Dancer.

“Dang, Gancelot has gotten really fast. First, the thunder now this?!”, Kamui commented.

“Aichi has gotten very strong now, without even using his power.”, Shin commented.

“It’s not just strength as Misaki said it’s smarts too.”, Mark replied.

Kai frowned thinking of the best way to deal with this especial move.

“Go, Berserker fly high up and use flamethrower!”, Kai commanded as he threw out his next Pokémon.

Berserker flew high into the air and breathed fire down at Gancelot.

“You know what to do Gancelot.”, Aichi said, before Gancelot nodded.

Gancelot spun through rock around like a fan blowing back the fiery blast. Gancelot flinched as he could still feel the intense head radiating from the flame causing him to sweat.

“Now!”, Kai commanded.

Berserker quickly flew behind the distracted Gancelot breathing fire at his back. Gancelot growled with pain as it was hit by the powerful flames.

“Gancelot!”, Aichi called out worriedly.

There was a loud thud as Gancelot fell to the ground fainting. Aichi quickly recalled Gancelot back into his Poké ball.

“Go, Wingal!”, Aichi called out.

“I’m prepared for your pup this time. Berserker use surf!”, Kai ordered.

Aichi was taken off guard as the massive bulky dragon surfed on a tidal wave that had materialized. Wingal ran far away from the water.

“Wingal use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered.

Sharp rocks were shot into the air that Wingal quickly leapt onto to reach the dragon.

“Wingal use play rough!”, Aichi ordered.

Wingal glowed with fairy type energy as he clawed and bit at the dragon.

“Berserker use super power!”, Kai ordered.

Berserker swiped around the smaller Pokémon who endured the attack due to the fairy aura being effective against it. Wingal bit down hard on Berserker causing it to roar in pain. It dried to swipe Wingal again only for its arm to be cut by sharp rocks Wingal sent from its mane at Berserker also covered in fairy energy. Berserker tried to block, but was overpowered by the fairy power and fainting. Kai recalled Berserker and preparing his already decided next Pokémon.

“Go, Descendant!”, Kai called out.

“Wingal use stone edge!”, Aichi ordered as sharp rocks covered in fairy energy bombarded Descendant.

“What’s going on Wingal can’t use aura?”, Kamui questioned.

“Your right Kamui. But, Wingal becomes completely soaked in fairy energy every time he uses play rough. I’ve noticed that the rocks he keeps in his mane soak up that energy as well.”, Aichi explained.

“That means Wingal can hit Kai’s Pokémon with a fairy type attack from a distance.”, Misaki clarified.

Emi and Kamui gasped with amazement.

“Descendant use flash cannon!”, Kai ordered.

“Unfortunately though Descendant is half steel type so the damage is neutral. It wouldn’t be much use against Overlord either. He resists Soul Saver because of his steel typing too. The best move would be to bring out Ahmes.”, Aichi thought.

The steel blast negated the fairy power much like Cerberus had before. Aichi recalled Wingal knowing he wouldn’t be the best here.

“Go, Ahmes! Use future sight!”, Aichi called out.

“Descendant use Draco meteor!”, Kai ordered.

Meteors covered in blue energy rained from the sky. Ahmes avoided some and slashing others in half. Ahmes closed the distance between himself and Descendant using the meteors as cover. Before Descendant could react Ahmes was turned into mega Gallade with a flash of light by Aichi with his mega bracelet.

“Ahmes use close combat!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes slashed Descendant multiple times with his blades in quick succession and finished it off with a psychic blast from future sight. Descendant fell to the ground with a loud clatter fainting. Kai recalled it preparing his last Pokémon.

“He’s pushed Kai this far and he still has four Pokémon left.”, Miwa commented.

“Go, Overlord!”, Kai called out, before mega evolving Overlord.

“Charizard! Charizard! Charizard! (This time I’ll crush you Ahmes!)”, Overlord roared.

“Gallade. Gallade. Gallade.Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. Gallade. (We’ll see about that. I don’t intend to fail my vanguard.)”, Ahmes replied.

“Ahmes use future sight then swords dance.”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes started his dance.

“Overlord use hurricane!”, Kai ordered.

Overlord sends a fierce wind at Ahmes trying to wrap him up in it. Ahmes dodged quickly getting behind Overlord.

“Ahmes use close combat!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes fiercely slashed at Overlord who whipped around nearly smacking Ahmes with his tail. Ahmes narrowly ducked out of the way with aid of future sight. He kicked away then blasted Overlord with psychic energy causing it to slip on the ice Llew had created at the beginning of the battle due to all the blizzards he shot. Overlord growled about to fly up before Ahmes slashed at him repeatedly. Overlord angrily burst into flames melting the surrounding ice. Ahmes shielded himself with his cape from the flame. Ahmes spun with his cape covering him and fire whirling about. Overlord gasped in pain when Ahmes leg slipped out briefly kicking Overlord in the stomach again even harder knocking the air out of him. Ahmes pulled back his cape dispelling the flames.

“C-Char...Chariz- (I-I refuse...to lose t-)”, Overlord was cut off as it was kicked again.

Ahmes slashed Overlord multiple times before Overlord stumbled refusing to faint. Overlord roared in anger bursting into flames once more.

“Overlord use outrage!”, Kai ordered.

Overlord’s eyes glowed as clawed and shot fire at Ahmes ignoring the pain from his strikes. Ahmes took some heavy damage reducing it by using its cape as a shield.

“Ahmes use future sight.”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes was now better able to weave through the berserking dragon’s assault.

“Ahmes use close combat!”, Aichi ordered.

Ahmes swept Overlord off its feet it uselessly clawed at Ahmes as it fell, creating a crater. Ahmes slashed down at the dragon repeatedly with every slash the crater grew. Ahmes shot another psychic blast at it causing the crater to get deeper and the dragon to sink into the ground. Overlord stumbles as it tried to fly out only for Ahmes to knock it back down sending it crashing and fainting.

“You did it Aichi. You beat me.”, Kai said as he recalled Overlord.

“I did, didn't I?”, Aichi questioned, blinking as he suddenly realized the battle was over.

“I did it! I really did it!”, Aichi cheered as he raised his hands into the air, Kai and Miwa imaged the image of when he first won back then superimposed onto him.

Ahmes blushed embarrassingly as Aichi hugged him tightly. The others couldn’t help, but sweat drop at Aichi’s excitement. In this instance he was acting more like Soul Saver even though she wasn’t out right now.

“G-Gallade?! (A-Aichi?!)”, Ahmes replied with surprise.

“Man, even though he’s the champion he still is excited about defeating that guy.”, someone commented.

“Well, he’s got to be strong to defeat two of the champion’s Pokémon.”, someone else replied.

“Heh. He even beat Kai at full power. To think that brat actually did it.”, Morikawa commented.

“Looks like I was right back then Aichi. You’ve become strong, even stronger than me. Keep our home safe while I’m gone.”, Kai said.

Aichi set down Ahmes and smiled at Kai.

“I will. Just like I promised you.”, Aichi replied.

The two smiled at each other with a bit of sadness knowing this was the last time they would see each other for a long time.

Later…

Kai was sitting at a table with other shadowed figures. He had his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

“There is still no luck in finding where 001q aka Suzugamori Ren left. We do not know for sure if he’s no longer a threat.”, someone said, his voice was a bit haughty.

“Is it true that you have interacted with 003v, Kai?”, another shadowed figure asked, his voice sounding a bit softer than the others.

“Don’t call him that. His name is Sendou Aichi and yes it’s true. He is the one who defeated Ren and the Kakusa branch of Team Asteroid.”, Kai replied as the shadowed figures gasped in shock.

“But, I heard he was the strongest and most loyal creation of project Psyqualia to Team Asteroid!?”, a different shadowed figure with a noticeable accent responded.

“I don’t know the full details you would have to ask Takuto for that, though he’s changed. He has lived in the Kakusa region for all these years and lives as a denizen there. He intends to protect Kakusa with his life, he no longer has any loyalty to Team Asteroid. However, the stories of his great power are true. He is the one person I consider a rival.”, Kai explained.

“That’s high praise coming from you Kai. You don’t usually give many trainers that much respect. You sound like you're fond of him.”, the haughty shadowed figure replied.

“Hmph.”, Kai replied, before smiling, confirming the figure’s suspicions.

The other figures looked completely stunned at this.

“He must be a very special person then. I would love to meet him when this is all over.”, the figure with the soft voice replied.

To be continued...