Ginkgo Landing.
Two figures, one red and one gold, clashed in the open ground, sparks scattering with every collision.
Bang—
The golden figure was sent flying backward, crashing into a tree. The trunk snapped clean through and fell with a crash.
"Bullet Punch!" Steven called out, standing atop Metagross as he looked down at Kleavor below.
Mega Scizor followed up instantly, its huge, ferocious pincer swinging around to strike Kleavor's body.
Bang!
Kleavor, who had only just gotten back to its feet, was knocked to the ground again, sliding some distance before rolling back upright. Its two axes dug into the earth as it forced its momentum to a halt, carving twin gouges into the ground.
Scizor straightened, its gaze sharp as it studied Kleavor from a short distance away. Since Kleavor's strength only grew the longer it fought, Steven and Scizor had committed to full power from the very start.
"Brick Break!"
The moment Steven's voice fell, Scizor shot forward, a red streak cutting through the air.
"Hey-cha!"
Kleavor crossed its arms and swung both great axes upward from below.
Bang!
The axes met Scizor's swinging pincers head-on, the force of the impact cracking the ground beneath Kleavor's feet.
From a distant slope, Pearl and Lian watched the battle in silence. The basket on Lian's back held several bulging pouches — the Calming Balm they'd already prepared.
"Captain Pearl, is this really Steven's strength?" Lian asked, watching Scizor overwhelm Kleavor with open surprise.
Pearl frowned, her gaze shifting instead to the silvery-white Metagross beneath Steven. "I don't think so," she said, shaking her head. "That silvery-white one gives off a stronger presence than the red one. If his Pokémon keep evolving into something greater, it wouldn't be strange for the one carrying him to be greater still."
There were no Metagross native to the Hisui region — and for that matter, Scizor was a Pokémon known to appear only through rifts in space and time. Lian blinked in astonishment at the two figures battling below. "Where in the world did the Galaxy Team find a monster like that?"
"Perhaps it came from another region entirely," Pearl said with a soft sigh.
It was commonly understood that those who once revered the Sinnoh Grandeur had called themselves the people of Sinnoh, though they had long since left Hisui behind. Only much later had another group arrived from distant regions, taking up that same name for themselves and eventually splitting into the two factions that became the Pearl Clan and the Diamond Clan of today.
Diancie puffed out her cheeks, glaring at Lian with an expression that managed to be both indignant and adorable all at once. "Excuse me, Steven is not a monster!" Even mid-scolding, her manners toward strangers held firm enough that she still tacked on an "excuse me."
"Hmm?!"
Pearl and Lian both startled.
"What was that sound just now?" Pearl asked, baffled.
"Captain Pearl heard it too?!" Lian looked over at her, equally puzzled.
Diancie planted her small hands on her hips. "I'm right here!"
Pearl and Lian both looked down at the little Pokémon standing between them.
"...Steven's Pokémon?"
"It can talk?"
Their identical looks of confusion only made Diancie pout harder. "Yes — this is called telepathy!" How dare they call Steven a monster right in front of her. Only she was allowed to tease him like that!
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken that way about your master," Pearl said, crouching down to apologize properly to Diancie.
"Steven and I are good friends!" Diancie shot back, only growing more upset at the word "master." All of Steven's Pokémon called him that out of habit, but in truth they were partners, friends, family — and Diancie much preferred those words instead. Never mind that, in practice, the way she and Steven interacted looked no different from how he treated any of his other Pokémon.
"...Friends?" Pearl and Lian exchanged a glance, matching confusion written on both their faces. A trainer, friends with a Pokémon?
Bang!
Scizor and Kleavor broke apart after another collision, both pausing to catch their breath. For a moment, Steven caught a flicker of clarity in Kleavor's eyes, before its berserk state swallowed it whole again. Golden light flickered across its body as it threw back its head and roared skyward. Seeing this, Metagross drew back a bit further to keep Steven well clear of danger.
"Swords Dance!" Steven called out.
As Kleavor raised its axes and charged forward, Scizor's eyes stayed calm and steady. Right as the blow came down, it spun its body in a sharp rotation, a red whirlwind sweeping up to deflect the attack. Kleavor staggered back a step, then swung sideways at the whirlwind.
X-Scissor!
Bang!
Scizor held its ground against the force, then swept its pincers around to meet Kleavor's follow-up head-on. Sparks scattered between them, and Kleavor faltered, clearly caught off guard by the sudden surge of power now behind Scizor's strikes.
"Bullet Punch!"
Scizor's great pincer swung forward in a straight, driving line.
Bang—
A dull crack rang out, and Kleavor gritted its teeth, stumbling backward again and again. Its golden axes flared red as it forced itself through the pain and lunged at Scizor, both axes slamming into its body and shoving it back several meters, leaving two long gashes across its red chest armor.
Scizor's gaze turned cold as a red aura of energy rose off its body.
"Close Combat!" Steven called, reading Scizor's intent and giving it his approval.
Scizor closed the distance with a burst of Quick Attack speed, swinging its great pincer to slam into Kleavor's body. The blow sent Kleavor staggering back several meters in a daze — but Scizor wasn't finished. A relentless barrage of heavy pincer strikes rained down on Kleavor one after another.
"Hey-cha!"
Kleavor howled and dropped to its knees under the last of the blows, each hit landing with enough force to leave it struggling to move at all. In short, it had been thoroughly stunned.
"Hey-cha..."
Kleavor knelt there, chest heaving as it fought to catch its breath. The more injuries it took, the more the wild power inside it surged — which explained why its strength had climbed steadily through the fight. But this time, Scizor had Mega Evolved the moment the battle began, fighting at full strength from the start. Kleavor had already been outmatched before factoring in the extra boost from Swords Dance, and now its power had been left far behind entirely.
A trace of clarity crept back into Kleavor's crimson eyes, though a flicker of stubborn defiance still burned within them.
"Hey-cha!"
Kleavor forced itself back up, leaning on its two great axes as it fought for breath, its gaze locked on Scizor. Steven studied its condition and judged that it was nearly finished. Turning, he called back to the two watching from behind.
"Pearl, Lian, it's almost time!"
...