Chapter 33:Enter the Dragon
"You know, I never really gave a thought about the type of battle that I'd have to face at the Saffron gym." Ash frowned, as he sat with his arms pushed backward, his palms resting on the grass. After Poliwrath's evolution the previous day, he had given the tadpole complete carte blanche to test out his new-found physical strength. It had been a surprise to find out that the Poliwhirl-line automatically learnt the fighting-type move called Submission, a rather effective fighting-type move, which, when included with Detect, brought the number of fighting-type moves in his arsenal to two—not an advantageous position for a fighting-type, but then again, he had had Poliwhirl battle in an all-around form, using trickery and surprise instead of blunt force. Come to think of it, even Magnus and Rhydon, both of whom could very well battle as well as a fighting-type, used their own anatomy and sheer strength to overwhelm their opponents than proper move sets- something he needed to correct as soon as possible. Acquiring himself some fighting-type TMs from Saffron city pokemart sounded like a good start as any.
Type of battle? Aoi slanted her head to the left, peering at Ash.
"Well… I lost my handicap, and now the gym battles should be tougher than they have been. Besides, my change of status from the Battle Tower should… bring in some changes to that as well. I'd only make a fool of myself if I prepare a team of 2 or 3, only to face against a team of six from the world's most formidable psychic."
Aoi slanted her head further.
"—among humans." Ash added hastily.
Aoi smirked. She was certainly not going to complain if her trainer was so… whipped. It certainly made for interesting conversations. Then why don't you just prepare a team of six?
Ash's face was marred by a frown. "The problem is… I'm not sure if I have a team suited to face the Elite Four Sabrina. I'm sure Gengar, Absol and Crawdaunt would be a good option against her psychic types because of their obvious type advantages—not that it holds too much potential against an Elite-level pokémon, but any advantage is a good advantage. Metagross, might also be an option with his resistance to psychic…"
That's four. What about the elder tree?
"Trevenant has only joined the team. I cannot expect him to battle for me, without me aiding him to learn anything first." Her trainer refuted.
He'd be learning how to battle properly, and out of his natural environment. Is that not a good enough barter?
"I don't know." Ash scowled to himself. "I'll… talk to him about it. See how he takes it."
The dragons then? The serpent? Surely one of them could put a formidable battle against a psychic?
"I'm not sure about that. I'm hardly an experienced trainer, but even I understand how ridiculously easy it is, for a versatile psychic to incapacitate an opponent that is not resistant to its attacks. Even then, it is not easy."
And now I have finally deciphered why steel-head and psi have gotten such big heads from.
The teen rolled his eyes at her attempt at sarcasm.
Aoi observed him calmly for a moment, not liking the marred expression on his young face. I can battle for you.
That shook him out of his reveries. "You what?"
I can battle for you. After all, you are my trainer.
Ash looked at her in confusion. "I thought not putting you to battle was the prerequisite for you to join me."
Are you complaining? Aoi asked, dryly.
"I… am." Ash returned. "It doesn't look good on me if you have to break your own decision out of pity for me. I know you can perhaps… easily defeat one of Sabrina's pokémon, but it reflects poorly on my own capabilities as a trainer."
Aoi rolled her eyes.
"I did consider Magnus. He's swift and has both close-combat moves as well as long-range attacks. However, he doesn't have an ace in the hole right now that could be used to-" Ash stopped midway, the rest of his words dying in his throat, as his mind raced off ahead.
Knowing her trainer's quirks after her association with him over all this time, Aoi did the best thing she could. She spread out her tails to form a nice little sleeping position for herself.
"Magnus," Ash called out, his overly exhilarated voice almost contagious, as the black dragon leapt off from his place, before landing right next to Aoi (much to her consternation), letting out a grunt of acknowledgement.
"There's… something I need you to try. Maybe if you could do it, it could be your ace in the hole for our next battle." Ash advised. "To start though, I need you to try learning night slash from Absol, and see if you can use it much like a dragon claw attack? Do you think you could do that?"
Magnus grunted in confusion.
Ash lifted a finger. "That's the first step. If you can use night slash with your claws like you use dragon claw, then I might be able to fashion an unpredictable move for you."
That seemed incentive enough for the black dragon, who grunted appreciatively, extending and retracting his claws as if trying to figure out how to learn a dark-typed attack. As was with all dragons, they had traces of all three esoteric types in them, which explained their affinity when it came to learning esoteric-type moves.
"Absol," Ash called out, his voice making the feline perk up in attention. "Could you please teach Magnus a proper night slash attack?"
Absol grunted in affirmation without so much of a thought. This was the first time her trainer had personally requested something of her. She'd be damned if she didn't stand up to his expectations. "—sol!"
The trainer nodded in acknowledgement. Right now, it was a mere theory, but should he manage to work it out fruitfully, then it could open an entire vault of possibilities, and not just for Magnus, but also the lesser-trained members of his team.
One step at a time. Ash told himself.
Several hours later.
"Alright, let's do this again." Ash proclaimed. "Trevenant, whenever you are ready?"
Trevenant let out a grunt, before he sunk his roots, ingraining them into the ground, spreading out his will over a distance of two yards. It was not much, and that made it a good practice for close-combat, especially when it came to using the environment as a weapon. The special point was—Trevenant was using the environment both as a sword and a shield. While Ash knew how devastatingly powerful Trevenant's ability was, he had yet to see it in a controlled form, instead of the primal force of nature he had faced prior to this point.
"Dark claw." Ash commanded, as Magnus let out a grunt of acknowledgement, flooding his claws with distortion energy. As a dragon, he lacked the weaknesses that the other esoteric types felt when it came to utilizing distortion energy. It had taken some awkward trial attempts, but he was slowly gaining more and more control over the move.
Ash smiled. He had chalked out the plan, assuming that familiarity was the cornerstone of mastery and Magnus needed some amount of familiarity with distortion energy first-hand, before moving ahead to replicate it himself. Magnus already knew Crunch as a Charmander, and Ash made it a point to put Magnus on a battle against Absol, with the former limited to using Crunch and whatever half-assed version of Dark Claw, the dragon could procure at short notice.
It had been painful, but it had been worth it.
Magnus leapt off the ground, changing his position by leaping from one tree to another, and Trevenant kept sending roots and trunks out of the ground, extending out from the branches, and sometimes coming down from the canopy itself. His claws brimming with dark energy, he slashed against the roots, slicing them apart, as he attacked the elder tree. The irony was clear. Around a month ago, the two had a battle in an eerily similar setting, and now they were aiding each other-Magnus providing Trevenant the experience of close combat, while the latter giving him a good practice for his newly honed technique.
Ash took a step back. This would take a while, considering that both battle-nuts were quite charged up. He looked to his right. Absol was having a mock-battle with Aoi, who had, surprisingly, taken it up as a good game. Between the two felines, it seemed like a good match. Aoi was using her fire-based abilities to counter Absol and her proficiency with all three esoteric types.
Don't stare at us. The feline is having too much fun for her own good. Aoi mentally barked from her vantage point, before quickly leaping away, avoiding a dark pulse just in time.
"Absol, get closer. It will only piss her off." Ash yelled, smirking as Aoi groaned in annoyance, having to use her own mystical abilities to push the dark type backwards. Being as fast as she was, Absol easily twisted mid-air to dodge the air current before returning with a night slash.
"No cheating, Aoi." Ash called out. Said Ninetales didn't even bother to dignify his suggestion with a remark.
For once, Gengar was easily visible, despite it being day time. Instead of her corporeal form, Sylvi was currently in a semi-solid plasma-like state, the dense purple fumes hovering in the air, trying to maintain its stability in the middle of the extreme action on either side. Then again, he didn't really have much ideas about how exactly had Agatha's ghosts taught her the art of Miasma- so he figured that she knew what she was doing. On second thought, he should get started with reading the research material he had gotten from Agatha, for precautionary measure if nothing else.
Crawdaunt had, it seemed, found a new sparring partner in Poliwrath, the newly evolved tadpole only too happy to exchange blows with the rogue crustacean, punch for punch. Considering their proficiencies with the Aqua Jet technique, the two water-types had found a lot of ground to experiment between them.
That only left the two dragons- the dark one among them sleeping peacefully in one corner. Ash was surprised at just how young Zweilous was—in fact, Professor Oak was shocked that the dragon type had evolved into a Zweilous in the first place. By all standards, the pokémon should have been a Deino, and a young one at that. The theory was that the young Deino must have been exposed to some form of evolutionary energy, forcibly triggering an evolution in the young baby dragon.
The discussion they had had back in Pallet had been both interesting and shocking.
"The Deino line is rather… unique, even among those that demonstrate polycephaly, Ash, and perhaps the only one to have such a body physiology among dragons, which makes it all the more special."
"How so, professor?"
"Among dragon types, it is quite…expected for the baby form to quickly evolve into its first-evolved stage, like Dratini to Dragonair, an Axew to a Fraxure, or your own Bagon for example, into Shelgon. It is the second step that usually takes a significantly greater time, or a certain degree of emotional growth to actually go ahead and metamorphose into their final forms. For the Deino line though, the same doesn't hold true."
The professor paused for a moment. "Deino takes an incredibly long time to evolve into its secondary stage Zweilous, because it needs to prepare for something, we researchers term as a Cut."
"A Cut?" Ash deadpanned.
"Internal subconscious sympathetic and kinaesthetic sentience replication, if you really want to go into the details. It involves Deino inwardly doubling its mental capacity and associated faculties to literally create a copy of its own sentience which becomes the controller of the second head."
"…. Cut it is." Ash proclaimed.
Oak smirked. "Unlike most other polycephalous pokémon, the two heads of Zweilous are exactly alike, in nature, decision-making, thought-process and behaviour. Though why the two heads decide their superiority by such a mundane point such as 'who eats more' is a mystery."
"…."
"…."
"Bah! I thought you'd at least get my more practical jokes." The man complained. "Either way, not only is this particular Zweilous way ahead of its time, it isn't even more than a year old."
"Uh… how old are pokémon when they are given out as starters?" Ash asked, a dreaded feeling sinking into his stomach.
"Somewhere between twelve to fifteen months should usually suffice. Surely you didn't expect a pokémon to start battling for you mere days after hatching?"
"Um…. No?"
Oak arched an eyebrow but said nothing. "As I was saying, this is a baby Deino that has been forcibly evolved into a Zweilous. It needs rest, plenty of food, and sleep. Lots of it. I'd say you'd do better letting it stay at the coral."
"But what if she gets bullied by the other pokémon?" Ash asked, conflicted. Inwardly, he was extremely elated that he hadn't had the 'bright idea' to train Zweilous back on Sulphur Island, whatever the reasons might have been. Who knew what kind of adverse effects that might have had on the little thing?
Oak stared at him understandingly. "Do not worry. And if it helps, you can always call it whenever you train with your dragon types. As a dragon, it is safe amongst its kin. I'm sure Magnus and Shelgon will do a wonderful big brother."
"I guess you are right."
From what he had learned from the professor, Zweilous tended to oscillate between two main physiological functions—when awake, try to eat as much as possible, and then go back to sleep. Repeat. Apparently, evolutionary factors played a significant role in turning the species omnivorous compared to the other draconic species—living in caverns for a third of their lives ensured a lack of meat.
At least the nutrient potions should have some effect on her growth. For now, rest it is.
That turned him t0 the last member of the group, or should he say, the first member.
Shelgon.
Said dragon was currently sitting in a corner, sulking—not that the dragon would ever admit it- his little paws rubbing into the ground, his harder-than-rock shell unmoving, or rather—he went stiff, as he saw Ash approaching towards him.
"Shelgon?"
No reply.
"I'm standing right here, you know." Ash continued with a sigh. "Look, whatever might be the problem, why don't we just talk and sort it out?" He looked frustrated. "Why are you giving me this silent treatment?"
Shelgon said nothing.
Ash sighed again, before turning back to walk away, before stopping on his tracks. "You know… during the Battle Tower and immediately after, I was of the opinion that I had made a grave error and betrayed you, even though I knew it was a tough choice to begin with. During the battle, when I was watching my teammates fall one after another, I was having thoughts if it would have been better if I have taken you in the team instead. That was why, I decided to apologize to you after the battle."
He paused for a moment. "Now I know that I was wrong."
Shelgon perked up at that.
Ash turned around. "I tried talking to you. I tried apologising to you, and I tried doing everything that was possible to mend things between us. And yet, it seems that you have neither the need nor the inclination to do so. I never thought my starter… the one I started my journey to be a Pokémon Master would be so petty."
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.
Shelgon let out a growl. Ash better not be meaning what he thought he just meant.
Ash twisted his neck backwards to stare at the draconic creature. "So, now I made you angry, did I? Did I hurt your pride again?"
Neither of them noticed that the rest of the team members had stopped their individual activities and were staring at the two with varying levels of wariness in their eyes, as if they were expecting something unsavoury to happen any moment.
Shelgon let out a soft growl. Of course, Ash hurt his pride. Did he even need to ask about that? For months, he had endured the disappointment of becoming the after-thought, and yet, he had never even made a sound. Yes, the recent events had gotten to him, and he was more vexed than he thought possible, but he had maintained a safe distance between himself and Ash, and the rest of the team, to wait out the entire process of his innate metamorphosis. Was that too much to ask for?
"I thought my starter, my friend, understood me. I didn't think that he would turn out to be a stubborn dragon that thought of no one, but himself. I do not understand this incessant stubbornness over not being chosen. It is almost as if you want constant proof of your own strength from others. If that doesn't show that you are weak, then what does?"
Shelgon looked up at his trainer—the one person on earth he trusted beyond all measure, the one person he looked up to. Seeing the sneer of the teen's face, the cold expression on his lips, and his hurtful words, Shelgon couldn't help but feel angry.
But Ash paid him no heed, lost in his own vexation and his inability to set things right. The teen turned his back on the dragon. "I'm sorry, but you are not the strong dragon that was once my starter."
And that broke the proverbial camel's back, as Shelgon did something he had never imagined himself capable of doing.
He lost control. That innate, overflowing rampage present in his very blood, the one that gave a notorious reputation to Salamence, rose in him. His eyes turned an angry red, and for the first time, Shelgon felt a certain need he had never felt before.
To destroy. To annihilate. To devastate everything in his path.
With an exasperated roar, Shelgon opened his maw, before releasing hot dragon breath, aimed directly at Ash, as the hot waves of energy hit him straight in the back, nearly scalding him through his jacket. The attack could have been much more lethal, but another pulse of concentrated draconic energy intercepted the dragon breath midway, creating a powerful explosion, the sheer force sending Ash to the ground, fracturing a rib or two.
The teen however, ignored the searing pain he felt on his back and chest, and instead, stared in apprehension and disbelief at Shelgon- at the fact that his starter had sent something lethal at him—and at the massive black dragon that was now standing between him and the angry Shelgon, his silvery claws extended and dripping with draconic energy.
Magnus had entered the equation.
There had never been competition. Not for Magnus anyway. When it came to choosing between his own pride and Ash, he had chosen Ash in a heartbeat. After all, Ash had been the one to take him in. Ash had been the one to trust him, despite his lack of trust in himself. Ash had been the one who had accepted him as he was, when he had not accepted himself. Ash was the one for whom, he-who-was-not-Charmander had embraced his inner draconic form, something that had brought in the winds of evolution.
That was how Magnus had been born.
"Magnus… it means 'great' and you will be a great and powerful dragon in no time. I think it would be fitting for someone like you…"
Ever since the day he had embraced his true self, his power had awakened, and with every defeat, every slash on his hide, every humiliation, every battle, every victory and every achievement, he had developed a little more, learnt a little more, grown… a little more.
And it was all because of Ash.
Even now, he remembered talking to the Bagon, who had volumes to speak about his somewhat idiotic but good-at-heart trainer, about how Charmander had been initially skeptical about Ash, and despite being around Ash for days, how he had suffered from nightmares about Ash kicking him out, or worse, leaving him to suffer on the giant rock like Damien had.
And then Ash had shared bits from his own life with him. It was a memory Magnus forever treasured.
"Like you, I too have never really seen my father. I know he's there, somewhere, but I have never known him. I guess… both of us are alike like that."
Magnus had never known his own parents. Back at that... lab, he had only been in the presence of the other Charmander, and never seen a grown-up one. Damien had never been one either. For all he knew, Ash was the closest he had to a parent, and dare he call it… a father.
And he would be damned if anyone tried to endanger that single most-important entity in Magnus's universe.
Even if it were Shelgon itself.
He had silently observed the growing frustration or should he say… jealousy, in the other dragon, something that had become much more distinct after Magnus had evolved. As Charmander, Magnus had been a weakling, while Bagon, later Shelgon had been there to act as his big brother. The all-knowing steel-type had always been… the quintessential overachiever—the one who could fly, the one who could communicate with their trainer, the one who was a pseudo-legendary and recognized his own potential, the one who had evolved to become the most powerful member of the team. The one that Ash spent an awful lot of time conversing with.
The one who had stolen Shelgon's place from him, right from the day he had entered into Ash Ketchum's life.
Initially, Magnus had understood, and had been sympathetic to it even. Then again, he had an innate belief that he was a weakling, and thus, it was obvious that the stronger one would gain more interest and affection from their trainer. But Ash had proven him wrong once again.
And Magnus had evolved.
That was when things had gotten more complicated.
The avian had gained a potential beyond her own comprehension. The mindless rock beasts were slowly gaining more experience and skill. The tadpole was becoming more and more versatile. The prized white feline was already powerful in her own right, as was the queen shadow that had joined up with Ash. The great serpent was young and had much to cultivate, but there was no doubt about his imposing, natural strength.
But Shelgon? After his evolution, he had become a sitting duck, someone who had been replaced from the frontlines to a backbencher. The feelings… Magnus could comprehend it, and even sympathize with that.
But when Ash had not chosen Shelgon in his team, all that locked-up negative emotions had come out, and Shelgon had made Ash as the object to vent his depressions on. Magnus certainly hadn't agreed with that, but he had done nothing to intervene.
And then, surprisingly, Ash had sent everyone-everyone except that golden fiery feline—to the corral. Magnus had wondered about it, but then decided to trust in Ash's judgement. Shelgon though, had only turned bitter. He had tried to talk to the other dragon, but Shelgon had maintained his silence, not bothering to talk to him.
The evolution of the tadpole was probably what had been the last ingredient that broke the camel's back.
Shelgon had attacked Ash.
And that, was something Magnus could not condone. He was ready to do anything, and believed that any amount of collateral damage was worth it, if it meant that Ash was protected from danger.
Even from Shelgon as well, if that was what it took.
The dragon pulse had nearly intercepted the dragon breath attack, but it was obvious that Ash had been hurt by the resultant explosion and was possibly scalded from the hot dragon breath. With a speed that would have perhaps surprised himself, Magnus shifted from his own position, to stand between his trainer and the angry, overtly frustrated dragon who had stepped a little too further.
The retracted claws extended outward, dripping with draconic energy, as the black dragon let out a vengeful growl.
No one hurts his father and lives.
No one.
Aoi had withstood the betrayal of her original master. She had stood by her word and guarded her master's territory even when Armageddon had claimed it as its own. Even she had been submerged beneath the depths of the angry and unforgiving ocean, she hadn't deviated from her word, and called in a mystical power she hadn't known she had. She had lived up her own curse, burnt her original psychic strands, and corrupted herself with distortion—becoming something as an unprecedented entity in the strands of time and destiny. The only reason she was here, in this mortal world, was because of a certain someone and a second reason—one which she hadn't even begun to truly comprehend.
And now that obstinate baby dragon had tried to remove her one single clutch tying her with sanity.
Frankly, she had killed for much, much less.
The only reason she hadn't intervened, (and ended the brat's miserable excuse of a life) was because someone else had done so. Faster than she had been able to comprehend, the black dragon had diverted the attack from fatally harming Ash. Of course, not that she would ever admit it, but even she couldn't have stopped that attack that quickly. Her mystical powers, no matter how great, were simply not made for something that rapid. Or so she knew.
To be honest, even she herself didn't exactly comprehend the true nature of her powers. She knew she had them, she knew what they could possibly do, and she had learned to harness some of that ever-expansive ocean in front of her. The stage of Crimson Red Vermilion simply indicated that she had unleashed her mystical powers from genetic restraints, that she could, hypothetically, use them at will. The problem was, she didn't know the true breadth of her own abilities, nor their limits. Yet.
Her tails lifted up, ready to use her powers to protect her master should the situation turn unsavoury.
Oh, who am I kidding? Aoi mused.
For the first couple of seconds, there was only rage. His mind was clouded, his emotions unchecked, and he had given in to the primal need to rampage, as was in his nature. Of course, as a Bagon and a Shelgon, such… needs were much more subdued, but now that he was slowly metamorphosing towards his prospective final and true form, those needs were getting more dominant, more active within him. As was with dragons, he needed to constantly seek out potential and (he would never admit it) weaker prey and opponents to stroke his own ego. It was a requirement, and not a whim, since doing so would directly affect his own hormones, keeping the insatiable wish to destroy subdued. It was the main reason why most Shelgon resided in caves, occasionally battling the weaker Zubat or Nidoran, until the metamorphosis was over and done with.
Shelgon however, hadn't had such luck. Ever since his evolution, he had only tasted frustration, defeat, patience, and dare he say it… the ability to keep his own emotions under check, if albeit forcefully. Ash not understanding his needs had certainly not helped matters. However, that had also meant that there had been no lid upon his negative thoughts, which would sooner or later, blast out of the rigid container Shelgon had built around them.
It was unfortunate that Ash had to be the recipient when it bubbled over.
As seconds trickled by, the cloudiness disappeared, as did the rage behind them, filling Shelgon with a mixture of apprehension, dread and fear, as he stared at the fallen, and scalded form of Ash Ketchum on the ground, with a reasonably angry Magnus standing in front of him, his claws extended outward in declaration of war.
Shelgon did not care. Ash was hurt. Surely he would understand that it was a mistake. Without thinking, he moved ahead, galloping on his four legs towards Ash-
Only to feel a dragon pulse, straight ahead on the face, from an angry Magnus, who stood guard, not allowing him to reach Ash. The dragon pulse slammed into his face, pushing him back by several feet, his powerful shell keeping Shelgon away from everything but superficial wounds.
"Let me go!" He roared back at his once best-friend.
"You will not harm father!" Magnus roared back, swinging his claws, each dripping with draconic energy, as he raced towards him.
"I'm not…. Just let me pass."
Magnus only responded to that by snarling back.
Confused, apprehensive and anxious over the fact that his trainer was hurt, Shelgon did the only thing that his rage-addled mind could do. He saw the black creature as an obstruction and dealt with it in the most befitting manner.
He gave in to his impulses.
Lifting his maw up, he growled, before slamming his paw onto the ground, creating a low-level earthquake, before belching out hot, scorching flames towards Magnus, who leapt into the air, his claws raised and ready to pierce into Shelgon's armour. Finding the black dragon above him, Shelgon threw up a Solo meteor attack, hitting Magnus head-on, which exploded in a shower of meteors, the draconic pellets firing away in all directions. Incensed, the black dragon fired a powerful dragon breath of his own towards Shelgon, who countered with a dragon pulse instead.
The two draconic attacks neared each other, with Magnus still in the air, and Shelgon readying himself to face the impact of the explosion about to take place.
Nine golden tails spread out in the air like a corona.
And everything stopped.
Seven layers removed from Reality, Aoi felt her heartbeats go slower and slower.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
…
Thump!
As waves of distortion created a trans-temporal pocket reality whose sense of Time differed from the real world, the entire zone was branched off, out of the confines of space and time, only to be reinsert Ed when Aoi would be done making her adjustments.
Everything stopped. Shelgon, his maw still lifted and open, Magnus, draconic energy surrounding him like a blanket, the dragon pulse shooting towards the black dragon, and the equally powerful dragon breath shooting back to the creature on the ground, all of them seemed to have been fixated, stuck in the absence of the flow of time. Only Aoi herself, Shelgon, Magnus—and unfortunately enough, Ash remained within the confines of the pocket reality created by her mystical powers. The pocket reality had to be created out of a complete circle, and it was impossible for her to exclude Ash, keeping the two dragons and herself inside the circle—a restriction she would have to learn to discard later on. For now, Ash was inside the sphere, surrounded by distortion energy on all sides, and unlike the previous time, would be privy to the matters inside this pocket dimension.
Said trainer was staring all around himself in awe. This was just like being on that cursed island once again. He stared at the Ninetales who seemed to be actively trying not to look back at him, before glancing towards the disabled dragons hovering in mid-air.
What is this place? Ash couldn't help but wonder.
Thump! Aoi felt the fifth heartbeat. She had to hurry.
Aoi took a deep breath. Creating a pocket reality was comparatively easier, compared to what was she was about to try next.
Her eyes glowed malevolently.
Several finger-like projections shot out of the distortion-coated walls of the dimension, before leeching on to Magnus, Shelgon, and importantly, the significantly powerful dragon pulse attack hovering in the air between them. She knew that both Magnus and Shelgon could feel it as Distortion sucked in their strength, as was visible by the fading rush around Magnus, and the slowly disappearing Dragon Pulse between the two visibly infuriated dragons. Faster than the two beasts could comprehend, the impromptu battle had come to a stop.
Thump!
The two dragons felt their bindings disappear, as both fell down to the grassy floor. Aoi's eyes flashed again, now elated that the crisis was now averted. Before the teen knew it, the Distortion walls disappeared, as Ash felt himself return to the real world, once again.
Thump! Thump! Thump! The Ninetales felt her heartbeat slowly steady, before somehow managing to keep away from falling down, no thanks to her now weak knees. Using that… ability, took a lot out of her, especially the second part. She only hoped that it would be enough to continue.
"What… was that?" Ash tried to get himself up, only to hiss in pain, the bruises on his abdomen making him fall down, face-first, to the ground once again.
Aoi didn't bother to answer. She only had eyes for one single entity in the entire area. The baby dragon who had committed what was easily comparable to sacrilege in her eyes. And he would pay.
Her eyes glowed again, and this time, it wasn't to stop any attack, but to deal one on her own, as a silvery outline formed around Shelgon, who felt his entire body locked and incapable of movement.
"Just let me go," the dragon snarled in his native tongue, doing his best to push his paws out of the psychic trap but in vain.
"So that you can attack my Master again?" Aoi hissed, her tone venomous.
"It was a mistake, I-I didn't-"
The rest of his words were unheard, as several wild screeches gained Aoi's attention. Surrounding all of them, perched on branches all around them, staring at them with predatory stare, were several dozens of Mankey and Primeape.
She barely noticed losing control over Shelgon's frame, dropping him unceremoniously as she leapt towards the fallen form of her trainer, the other members of the team darting closer to them.
The mad apes beat their chests powerfully, jumping from branch to branch, screeching angrily at the group on the ground, as they let out a war cry, descending down to their prey.
Meanwhile...
Absol was pissed. First, she had been interrupted from an engaging spar, and immediately after that, the Rock-head dragon had attacked her trainer. Of course, she had panicked on seeing the vicious dragon breath shoot towards her trainer, only to sigh in elation when the black dragon had stepped in to protect him, before she herself could reach him. Before she knew it, the two dragons were engaged in a ferocious battle, and then that tricky and incomprehensible nine-tailed feline did something that stopped their battle out of the blue. Of course, the powerful Draco meteor thrown up by the rock-head had been quite devastating for the forest in general, if the scowl on the Elder tree's face was of any indication.
She had crouched towards her now injured trainer, only to freeze in her tracks. Surrounding them in all directions, was a massive herd of pig monkey pokémon, the nasty ones whose inborn-rage kept growing and growing until their death, most of which happened to be quite… unsavoury.
She had faced their kind back in the mountains that had been her former home, back at the Reserve. Mankey could shift from normalcy to heightened fury in less time than it took to batt an eyelash. Run away from them, face them head on, beat them, send them unconscious, bind them, get defeated by them… It didn't matter, since everything seemed to fester more and more anger in them, enriching their madness.
Unbridled, unrestrained, raw rage. And funnily enough, the more they got angry, the more their sheer strength increased, often at the cost of their ability to think and comprehend.
A true berserker.
And like all berserkers, Mankey and its evolved form, Primeape seemed to find peace, only in death.
Watching the fighting-types rain down on herself, her team mates, and more importantly, on her trainer, Absol let out a vicious snarl, her horn glowing an ominous purple as distortion energy concentrated within it.
The intent to kill flooded through her.
The maniacal battle-hungry creatures, fuelled by the lust for rage, descended down towards the population down below, half of which had been caught by surprise by the sudden invasion. The large herd, which called the Saffron forest its home, was primarily responsible for more than eighty percent of the deaths or as the League put it- trainers going missing—that had voluntarily stepped into the confines of the Saffron forest.
With Magnus exhausted by the recent battle, and more significantly, by those distortion tendrils that Aoi had employed, the black dragon was barely able to make sense of the sudden turn of events, as he somehow managed to pull himself up—his exhaustion making it difficult for him to stay focussed. If not for the impeding sense of being surrounded by potential danger, he would probably have fallen down by now. As far as Aoi herself was concerned, the entire event had taken a drastic toll on her, and if not for the fact that Ash's life was now in perhaps, greater danger than the previous circumstances, she would have already sunk down to rest, allowing her body to heal and rejuvenate itself.
Shelgon though, was a completely different matter altogether.
Of course, he had been sucked out of his power by those damned tendrils, but so lost was he in his outrage, he didn't even notice the loss in his power. Instead, he turned his senses to glare at the impeding danger on everyone in the vicinity—namely the herd of pig monkey pokémon.
Two tense seconds trickled by.
Shelgon lifted his maw and threw up another Draco meteor.
"—ape!" "Mankey!" The chattering, screeching herd enveloped Ash and company on all sides.
War came to Saffron forest.
With both Magnus and Aoi on their last legs, it left the newly evolved Poliwrath, and his partner Crawdaunt to defend against the encroaching invaders, at least as far as physical defenses were concerned. Aoi was doing her best to maintain a Protect sphere from all sides, protecting herself and Ash from the constant barrage of punches and kicks that stormed upon her psychic shield, though considering that she was facing fighting-types, it was no surprise to find the shields constantly shattering and new shields arising out to take their place. Of course, she had a wide arsenal of offensive abilities to use, but a prerequisite for that would be to leave her trainer unprotected.
So, Protect it was.
Magnus was slashing his claws against the pig monkeys, though for every single successful hit, he suffered thrice in return. Not only where the fighting-types in greater numbers, they were much faster, and had the situational advantage to themselves. Shelgon on the other hand, kept on firing draconic attacks at any of the monkeys in the vicinity, only to stop for a second and-
SLAM!
Two consecutive Mach punches hit him in the face, sending the dragon flying across several yards, before three of the mad species jumped upon him, showering him with punches and kicks. It was a testament to the sheer strength of his shell that kept Shelgon from becoming a pulp.
"Mape! Mape! Mape!" went the war cry.
On the other side, Crawdaunt was punching the headlights out of several Mankey with constant use of crabhammer, his anatomy being a perfect blend of offense and defense for this particular situation. He felt the enemies encroaching on all sides, and enveloped himself with flowing water, before zooming off into the air, slamming into the beasts at terrific speeds—Aqua jet and crabhammer combination in action.
Poliwrath though, was a completely different picture. Anyone and everyone that approached him was first being subjected to a powerful torrent of water slamming into their faces, and then depending upon the tadpole's whims- the victim would feel an ice punch and get frozen, or… no thanks to the newly added fighting-type, suffer a powerful hammer arm to the face.
In contrast, Absol wasn't faring spectacularly well. She was the only one close enough to the madly screeching Zweilous, whose instincts screamed danger and kept on trying to bite the air all around, hoping it was the head of the predator. With Ash being indisposed, she had automatically assumed responsibility to protect the infant dragon. Her eyes glowing malevolently, she sent several Primeape and their junior counterpart lost in their worst nightmares, though it barely lasted- their vital spirits pulling them back to action faster than Absol thought was fair.
A punch came slamming from behind her horn on the left, and would have hit her head—a severe injury considering the position, if not for the conveniently raised giant root that shot out of the forest floor, that not only intercepted the attack, but also sent the now-trapped Mankey upwards into the air, screeching madly.
Absol let out a sigh, as she turned towards her impromptu saviour, as the monochrome-eyed elder tree ghost let out a soft grunt- several roots rising up from the ground to form a dome around the baby Zweilous- before the ghost took a step forward, his arms raised.
Trevenant had decided to enter the battle.
Sylvi was perhaps, the one true offensive participant in the entire setting. With herself being completely immune to fighting-type attacks, she took great pleasure, turning herself into her Miasma state, saturating herself with thick poison, after which the dense, purple fumes swirled around in the vicinity, jumping from one Primeape to another, poisoning each of them enough for them to fall down, screeching as the poison trickled into their veins, before she reformed back into her corporeal self.
The Gengar grinned.
Her left eye tracked down the other ghost in the vicinity, the one who had been mostly neutral to the entire debacle since the start—Trevenant had barely done anything, and considering that most of the attacks made on him went flying through with no effect, it was no wonder that the pig monkeys had stopped attacking him and gone for the rest. Then again, Trevenant himself wasn't attacking back, so it made much more sense.
An outside observer would have perhaps misunderstood the entire situation and accused Trevenant of being a betrayer, but Gengar knew—the truth had nothing to do with Trevenant's own beliefs, nor with his relationship with the rest of the team.
Trevenant were, in essence, protectors of the forest, and by extension, those that resided in them.
Despite his origins, Trevenant were literal guardians of a forest ecosystem, always going out of their way to preserve peace, and promote growth in forests, both for the plant life and the pokémon inhabiting inside them. It was for the same reason why the sulking ghost had been so… accepted, inside the forests lining the Oak Ranch. As far as Saffron forest was concerned, Trevenant had seen Shelgon throwing up the Draco meteor up in the air—and not just once. He had seen the amount of destruction the battle of the two dragons had caused to the forest environment, and it had only been his word to Ash, that had stopped him from interfering in the entire matter. Obviously, the Draco meteor fragments must have disturbed the herd, which must have been the cause of their apparent displeasure and their declaration of war on the group. As such, the elder tree was conflicted—between fighting for what he truly was meant to be, and fighting for the team he was now part of.
Sylvi only wished that Trevenant be able to make a decision before things turned… nasty.
She saw the void-using feline snap one of the Primeape's arm off with a crunch attack, sending the forest-dweller into the throes of pain- and saw the other Primeape swerve a powerful punch from behind. Gengar had just started to form a shadow ball to defend Absol, but a large root tire through the ground, protecting Absol against what could have been a grievous injury. Many more roots followed, forming a dome to protect the innocent dark dragon from the rampage outside.
Sylvi casually observed that Trevenant did nothing to protect Shelgon or Magnus, both of whom were having a hard time against the rampaging attackers.
So that is how it is going to be.
The Gengar grinned again, her paws dripping with ghostly energy, as she impaled the incoming attacker straight through its abdomen, making the monkey whimper in pain before falling down to the ground.
"How many do you think will die before they decide to let us be?" Absol grunted, as she sent a dark pulse ahead, banishing the unfortunate victim by several feet. She leapt next to the Gengar, her horn now ready for another night slash attack.
"Probably no one," The Gengar grinned deceitfully, impaling another Mankey with a 'cursed paw', killing it instantly.
She turned to grin back at Absol who just deadpanned at her.
"All right, potentially everyone."
Absol guffawed.
The last of the shields shattered, as Aoi dropped down to the ground, her legs giving away as the last Mach punch tore its way through the protect barrier, following up with a mega kick right at the feline's neck. One single hit would be enough to shatter her vertebrae, crippling the Ninetales for life.
At least that was what the Primeape thought.
"Prime!" The pig monkey screeched, as his leg flew towards Aoi, only to be—
SLAM!
-bodily shoved aside by an injured, but no less defiant Ash Ketchum, holding what seemed to be a remnant twig from Trevenant's upraised roots. Half of the makeshift weapon had already twisted and broken by the single strike, though considering that Primeape had been sent tumbling to the side, it had been more than worth it.
"Take up against someone who can fight, you overgrown monkey!" Ash spat, before taking another thicker, heavier twig from the ground and slamming it in the head on another Mankey, who was punching hard at Shelgon continuously. Of course, it did nothing to throw the creature off, but it did make it angrier than it already was.
Shit! Ash cursed, before holding up whatever was left of the twig in his hands, as the now maddened Primeape and its unevolved form sprang at him—
Only for several roots to shoot up from the ground, hitting the two apes right in the abdomen, sending them flying away.
"Heh!" Ash laughed. "Thanks Trev-Urk!" the rest of his words remained unfinished down his throat, as his eyes widened, almost to the point of bulging out of their sockets, as blood thrust out of his mouth-
"—ape!" He heard the beast behind him.
He felt several of his vertebrae shatter, as a solid jump kick hit him straight in the back, before he closed his eyes, his knees hitting the floor, his face slamming down into the grassy floor, his eyes glassy.
And the world descended into bright light, fire and pain.
After the nth punch on his face, Shelgon had given up on victory. He had fought against his best friend in the team, attacked his trainer, and had his power sucked out of him by that eerily powerful feline. After that, he had taken the entire herd of mindless beasts head-on, only to be thrown around and beaten up. Even with the endless array of punches, Shelgon couldn't help but notice how not one of the team came ahead to even try to help him out.
The next punch shattered one of the shards right next of his face.
Why would they, anyway?
The next punch broke another shard off the shell, a thin fracture line visible along the furrow, a little further right.
"—key!" The mindless creature brought ahead another punch near his face as Shelgon prepared for pain-
SMACK!
"Man—Man—Key!" Shelgon opened his eyes, only to find the strangest and most incomprehensible sight in front of him-Ash, his hands around a thick twig, which he had possibly smashed on the Mankey's head- a probable hypothesis considering how the pig monkey was screeching, holding its head in pain.
He came to save me? Even after I nearly killed him?
And then the wretched creature decided to go for Ash, as it sent one last kick towards Shelgon before turning towards Ash—
Only Shelgon had other plans.
The dragon opened his maw, taking the monkey's paw straight into his mouth, feeling his fangs shatter as he did, but he bit into the leg, before turning around, using his own weight to shatter the pig monkey's knee as he did, making the Mankey to screech wildly in pain, before it kicked Shelgon away with the other foot, before leaping towards Ash-
Only for a large root to shoot out of the ground, banishing it away by several yards.
Shelgon almost chortled at the sight.
"—Urk!"
The barely formed chortle vanished, only to be replaced by shock and fear, as he witnessed Ash get hit in the back by another Primeape, as his trainer fell down, his knees first, before his head met the ground.
And Shelgon let go.
The dragon awoke.
The first crack created a thin fracture furrowing its way through the upper-left portion of the shell. The next crack was proof that the fracture had shattered through half of the skull. By the time the third crack was heard, the metamorphosing genetic material inside Shelgon's shell had begun to shine—glow radiantly in the dim light beneath the canopy.
And then two large, crimson-red wings tore their way through the shell, which cracked even further, not having power enough to stop the ongoing procedure.
Shelgon screamed.
Two more fractures happened on the lateral sides of his body, as four blue limbs, each of them ending with three shiny claws at the edges—shot out of the ruptured openings, followed by a third splinter at the posterior, out of which, a long draconic tail shot out, blue all over with red on the underside. With a third roar, Shelgon raised his head, which finally ruptured out of whatever remained of the upper shell—as a long necked draconic head shot out, leaving only the lower portion of the original shell—now forming a protection covering for his red underbelly.
Salamence let out a devastating roar.