Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoy. If you REALLY like it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.
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Despite all the whacky superpowers in the Pokémon world, there were still some completely natural phenomena that blindsided me. Such as the way the one second Koichi, Master of the Saffron Fighting Dojo, and I locked eyes seemed to stretch for so much longer, the crashes, explosions, and screams fading into a muted background choir.
He looked the same as the last time I saw him. Dark hair and eyes, red headband, white karate with the sleeves ripped off. Except red and black stained that white, blood and sooth clinging to the fabric and his Hitmonchan. His knuckles were covered, a small pool gathering under the feet he'd driven into his opponents face.
His Mahogany Trainer opponent.
Then the moment was over, and I was reminded that we were in the middle of a life or death assault.
"Hyper Pump!"
"Skunk them, Skuntank!"
The stinging spray of blocked, high-pressure water hit my neck and sent me flinching a step forwards. The movement agitated Hitmonchan, the tense Fighting-Type moving forwards with its hands up. In return, Herc's yellow and black form stepped around me to meet the boxing Pokémon. I lifted my hand to stop him-
WHOOSH-HIISSSSS!
-but was interrupted by another collision of attacks from behind, a billowing steam cloud covering us for a second before it was blown back by Hercules' Quick Attack enhanced Brick Break meeting Hitmonchan's Mack Punch, the impact sending both Pokémon sliding back a couple of steps.
And the battle was on.
"Wha-? Young Peri!? What are you doing here!? Chan, calm down!" Koichi looked gobsmacked, no sign of the violent confidence he'd entered with. Hitmonchan ducked and weaved between Herc's assault, letting the glowing fists just barely scrape against its rough hide. Hearing Koichi's words, Hitmonchan abandoned a counter punch and tried to move back, but the switch cost it. Herc's tail swung down as it was over extended and caught its ankle, making it stumble into a crackling thunder punch. Even with that, the well-trained Fighting-Type managed to pivot and take it to the shoulder rather than the chest, using the force to spin it back in front of Koichi, holding the shoulder while moving the arm around to get feeling back.
"Koichi!?" I yelled back, everything feeling strangely distant, like I was seeing the world from inside my head, but… weird. "What the fuc-What are you doing here!? A-are you working for Team Rocket!?" I didn't want to believe it. It wasn't like Koichi and I were great friends, but… surely, it was a mistake.
But I didn't pull back Hercules. Nor did I stop Siren and Aurora from joining in with steaming Water Bullets and Ice Shards. Hitmonchan had already been on the defensive due to Koichi's orders, but the humanoid Pokémon was quickly pinned in front of its Trainer and had no choice but to block every attack lest something slip by. Its were a barely distinguishable blur, deflecting Herc's thundering fists in the same movement as it struck the near-boiling Water Bullets and Ice Shards. Flashes of green sparked to life more and more often as it had to resort to Protect to stay in the game, head-sized shields blinking into existence and shattering with a single blow.
The Master of the Fighting Dojo hesitated at my accusation, eyes darting around. He was backing up down the corridor, further from Brad and Ariana's battle to try and give Hitmonchan room to maneuver, yet Herc was dogged in his pursuit, Siren and Aurora flanking out like they were trying to flank around.
"Its… its not that simple…"
"KOICHI!" The scream came from behind, forcing me to glance back. Brad had forced Ariana sideways and blown out the wall to one of the large labs lining the corridor, giving them some more room to fight. The Rocket Executive was sweating, a thin layer of ice over one of her arms as she stood behind a large purple and white, quadrupedal Pokémon I presumed to be the Skuntank she told to 'Skunk us'. In between the two Trainers, Brad's Weavil was clashing two dozen times a second with a larger, purple Pokémon.
Was that a Toxicroak? Where the fuck were the Rockets getting so many Sinnoh Pokémon!?
"KOICHI! DON'T LET THAT BRAT GET TO BLAINE! TAKE HIM DOWN, BUT LEAVE HIS POKÉMON ALIVE! THEY'RE THE PROPERTY OF TEAM ROCKET, NOW!"
Welp. The words echoed in my ears, each one dimmer as they were drowned out by the rising churning of my blood and the thump-thump of my heartbeat. The world narrowest down to just Koichi.
Traitor.
An expression of intense conflict flashed over Koichi's face. "No one said anything about children, Ariana!"
The only womanly Rocket Executive scoffed, which turned into a small shriek when a piece of ice nearly slit her throat open. "STOP BEING A PUSSY AND-!"
"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOOOUU!"
"ARRRF!"
Both Pokémon and Trainer's eyes widened comically as Sol materialized mid sprint, using just a single step of Extreme Speed to accelerate nigh-instantly while ducking his head and rocking it tight. Hitmonchan had no chance to react before the momentum-enhanced Double Edge hit it like a freight train, lifting it up and carrying it down the hallway. Thanks to his Pokémon eating it first, Koichi had just enough time to leap sideways as the monstrous Arcanine, taking up more than half the width of the corridor, ran past like a bullet before finally hitting a hall down at the end.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The whole base shook at the impact, dust and little pieces of debris shaken loose. Everyone took a second to make sure the ceiling wasn't coming down on them, a chance Koichi used to hold out a hand my way as he tried to talk me down, half-lying in a broken doorway.
"Careful, Peri! I understand-!"
Everyone but me.
"KOICHIIIII!"
Crack!
My foot hit the edge of the wall, breaking off a chunk with a puff of grit while Koichi used his bent legs to jump backwards into the room and dodged my Spartan kick. Bringing his hands over his head, he landed on them and rolled himself into a handstand, pushing off the ground a good 10 feet to avoid Honedge trying to take his hands off at the wrists. Mid-air, he twisted to try and avoid the barrage of sharp ice pieces that tracked him. They littered him with thin cuts before shattering against the far wall, yet nothing deliberating. The worst was a deeper tear across his bicep, something he nursed as he landed lightly. The room was large, crates with differing logos filling the space.
"Peri, let me explain-!"
"DIIIEEEEE!"
Even slightly injured and reluctant to engage, Koichi was quick, hand darting down to flick a PokéBall towards me as my last two burst open, both Betty and Newt already inhaling as they formed.
WHOOOOOSH!
Dual Dragon Breaths filled the storage area as Koichi's Pokémon emerged, a conflagration of green-blue dragon fire smashing the craters to pieces and disintegrating their contents, tearing a swath of the hard-packed ground loose and turning it to dust.
I briefly thought that was it. I'd just overwhelmed Koichi before he could adjust and killed him.
But as the Dragon Breaths trailed off – Newt breathing a little heavily while Betty didn't seem affected – and the inferno started dying down, I saw the tornado that spun where Koichi had been. For a second, I assumed he'd pulled out a Dragon-Type, or something else capable of using Twister, yet as the column spun, it faded, the flames were flung outwards and dispersed. In the middle, in front of a crouching Koichi, a blue and tan top slowed its rotations, the whirlwind it had kicked up around itself dying with it.
Crossed armed and crossed legged, the spherical, blue body was balanced precisely on its round and brown head, flat, curved extensions protruding on either side and a single horn on top jabbed deeply into the stone floor. Beady black eyes stared at me unimpressed from its upside down position.
"They made me do this, Peri!" Anger and frustration had replaced the reluctance in Koichi's voice as his Hitmontop turned back into a beyblade and started moving its way towards us at worrying, a sharp skkkrrrrrrrrr! sound following it as it carved a thick funnel in the floor. "The League took everything from me! My father gave his life for Kanto! My uncles, my grandfather, and this is how they repay us!? Letting that-that, Psychic bitc-girl take what's mine!? Push me from my home, my family's home, shitting on centuries of traditions!? NO!" The last word was nearly unrecognizable with how the emotions in his voice distorted it. "NO! THIS ISN'T HOW IT ENDS! I WON'T LET IT!"
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!" A brown figure leapt over the Hitmontop, a Hitmonlee coming down with a frosty heel kick like a scythe aimed at the still mildly deformed part of Betty's shell, trying to cleave through the thick armor.
"Espeon!"
Throughout the battle with Koichi, Espeon had been hanging back while the rest of the team took the lead.
But that didn't mean she had been idle.
Psychic power shone from her eyes and focusing crystal before it ripped from her in the thickest Psybeam I'd ever seen, less a strand and more like a psychic Flamethrower from the build up Calm Mind I'd bought her in Blackthorn. In lue of being unable to use Teleport – not that it mattered inside the volcano – Calm Mind had become her new favorite move, something she could practice nearly 24/7 from her place around my shoulders.
That power hit the descending Hitmonlee dead on, stuck in the air as it was. To its credit, the modified Ice Punch vanished instantly to be replaced by a hazy black coating that did its best to shield the Fighting-Type. The Dark-Type energy took the worst of it, but whatever anti-psychic techniques Koichi had been developing for Sabrina either needed more work or just wasn't good enough as it was ripped away from Hitmonlee and smacked into the Pokémon itself, throwing it back into the wall. Hercules pursued a Thunder Gloved one-two to its torso before it could force him away, blood leaking from the corner of its mouth from the super-effective attack as it glared at the still glowing – though lessened – Espeon as she jumped down to join Herc.
Meanwhile, Siren and Aurora breathed a pair of Ice Beams towards the Hitmontop as it whirled our way, the kicked up wind tugging at fur and my clothes. Said wind picked up dramatically, blue, cold energy leaking from the blue, bulbous feet as it generated a contained Blizzard around itself, the icy storm swallowing the pair of Ice Beams. Betty groaned even from a distance at the frigid winds, a trail of ice left in the wake of the frozen tornado on both the ground and the ceiling, the pillar taking up the eternity of the vertical portion of the room.
Taking offense to that, Betty belched flames at the incoming storm, a blindingly bright Flamethrower melting the outside layer of the Blizzard and sending a spray a water throughout the room. Suddenly, the Flamethrower seemed to break through, the Blizzard parting as the winter winds were flung wide, but the flames only met more flames, an inferno swirling to life to replace the ice. In seconds, a new, fiery twister was bearing down on us, the ground bursting above and below from the sudden temperature shift.
Almost before Siren and Aurora could even go to work putting it out, it was gone again, waves of fire kicked our way as electricity took its place, a moving ball of lighting screaming its way towards us as bolts lashed out towards us. Betty took them with barely a flinch, her thick shell no-selling the make-shift thunderbolts while the smaller ones hid behind her
But I was already gone, using the chaos to move the opposite way of where Herc and Espeon was wearing Hitmonlee down, keeping it boxed in and unable to fully use its agility.
"KOICHI!"
He leaned back, Honedge's tip carving across his collarbone. Instinctively, his leg kicked out a good deal faster than he'd been during our fight in the Dojo and caught me in the knee, making it buckle and letting him slip away before I could get up.
"Damnit Peri, what are you doing here!? This is no place for children!"
"DIE, TRAITOR!"
He blocked the sheath with his forearm, only to winch when the ribbon wrapped around him and began sucking out his lifeforce. It wouldn't take him down in any appreciative amount of time, but every little bit helped. He tried to rip it off but had little time when I let go and he suddenly had a sentient sword attached to him, doing its best to stab and cut him.
"Traitor!? TRAITOR!?" That seemed to be a tricker word for him as suddenly my world went black for a second as his fist thundered into the side of my head, taking me off my feet and sending me into a sliding tumble. "We were loyal to the end! What did that give us, huh!?" He grabbed Honedge's hilt with his free hand when the blade tried to take his head off, the two starting a tug of war that somehow, Koichi was winning. He even had the mental surplus to try and stomp on my leg as I scrambled backwards. "Ridicule! Humiliation! Decades of degradation, of platitudes and pity! I couldn't just take it! So yes, Team Rocket! Sometimes, it takes bad people to rip out the corruption and correct a mistake!" I spread my legs when his foot came down again, letting it hit between them to make a small crater in the rock as I wrapped my legs around his knee and tried to twist. Instead, he fell with me and forced himself around my own leg, flipping the situation as it was suddenly my leg trapped between his, my knee extended the extreme. "You wouldn't understand! You can't, your too young! Give, Peri! Surrounder, and I swear on my honor that no more harm will-!"
"Your honor!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed like a lunatic, stomping towards his groin as I strained. Something popped in my ligament when I twisted, a sharp flare of pain shooting up from my knee as I ignored his hold and tried to turn his balls to mush. "What fucking honor!? Liar, traitor! I'll kill you!"
He stared at me, muscles bulging as he restrained both me and Honedge, eyes wide and darting around between my pined leg and the two battles going on in the room, the Pokémon getting frantic due to their Trainers being in danger, yet unable to disengage without leaving themselves open. He licked his lips as the whole base shook again when Pryce and Blaine throwing down above us. The tremors seemed to make his decision for him, his eyes firming and-
"ARRRRHHHH, WHAT TH-GET OFF ME!"
-something invisible latched onto the back of his head, his right ear vanishing in splatter of blood as Zorua went to town, trying her best to tear through the hard muscles on the back of his neck to get to the soft spine beneath. Koichi threw his head back and slammed the Dark-Type into the ground, getting a pained yip, but she refused to let go as she shimmered into existence. Another slam nearly forced her to let go, but she clung on and tried to get her forelegs around to the softer jugular in front, opening long rifts on the side of his neck that poured blood. His legs loosened from the pain and danger, allowing me to slip free and surge back up, ignoring how the knee he'd been pressuring almost gave out under me in order to try and cease the opportunity.
Unfortunately, Hitmonlee had seen the danger and decided 'fuck it', coming in with a kick any soccer player would've been proud off. The was a snap! as Zorua's side bent inwards and she was torn off Koichi's savaged neck in a cloud of blood and hit the wall with a worryingly loud thud! before falling to the ground in a limp heap. Hitmonlee, meanwhile, only had a second before a trio of Psybeams hammered into its pack and it was donkey-punched in the back of the head by Herc's Focus Punch. That in turn forced the Hitmontop to abandon its elemental assault on Betty and the girls and come to the rescue, forcing everyone to keep a wide distance while its fellow struggled to its feet, swaying and dripping with blood, but still willing to fight.
Koichi kicked to his feet, pressing the back of a hand to the side of his neck to check the bleeding. He probably thought I was going to check on Zorua, or regain my breath, and that he had the time.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
I slammed shoulder first into his midsection, wrapping one arm around him in a parody of our first fight. Much like back then, he brought his elbow hammering down on my back, just without holding back. I did my absolute best to reinforce the area by circulating as much Aura that way – and it came easy in my rage – which might be the only reason my ribs held under the first blow, based on the way I could feel them bend and creak.
The second hit definitely snapped a couple, a sharp stabbing sensation coming from my chest as I tried to regain the air that had been knocked out of me.
He wasn't the only one who wasn't holding back, however. There was a reason I only used one arm.
"AAAARRRRGGGHH-HHnnnnnn!" Koichi forced his scream down to a groan as I twisted the survival knife buried in his side. I'd missed his kidney and other organs with the first shank, so I withdrew the blade and tried again. Before the knife hit, though, his hand holding Honedge's sheath gribbed my own side and hurled me sideways into a wall.
"Aaaaarrrrggghhhh, fuuuck, Peri!" He exclaimed, looking down at the uneven hole in his side as it gushed blood in thick spurts in rhythm with his heartbeat. He seemed to be in disbelief. "Y-you stabbed me!" Slightly weird thing to say when there was a living sword inches from his head, vibrating intently as it tried to get loose and cut his head off. Koichi's grip on the sheath slipped, letting the hollow piece of metal bash him over the head again and again, without enough leverage to do any actual damage.
"I'll do it again!" I snapped back, picking myself off of the floor. Breathing hurt. I didn't think the throw punctured anything, but it definitely didn't make anything better either, and blood ran down from my hair line. A fourth PokéBall at Koichi's waist opened and I almost rolled my eyes at the Machamp that emerged. Of course he had more Pokémon. "Are you gonna pretend you haven't seen this fucking lab!?" I chuckled a little manically, rubbing a hand over my face without caring for the blood that got smeared across it. "Like you don't know what these fucks are doing!? 'Noone said anything about children'!? Who the fuck are you trying to convince, me or you!?"
Koichi opened his mouth and let the Machamp put a piece of leather it had pulled from his pocket in his mouth, biting down hard on it. Even in my rage stupor, I was as shocked as everyone else would've been when the Fighting-Type's hand lit up with a Fire Punch and it pressed it against Koichi's side.
"HHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" Koichi screamed into his gag and Honedge tore free from his grasp, edge singing for his neck, only for his hilt to be grasped by another, larger palm. Machamp grunted as it felt the draining effects of Honedge's touch, but didn't stop cauterising Koichi's wound until the Trainer slumped against him.
Pale faced, covered in sweat and blood, Koichi nevertheless managed to push himself upright again, nodding down where Honedge's ribbon was wrapped around his arm. "Get that off me."
Machamp grunted and reached for the ribbon, trying to work a fat, sausage finger under the cloth to pry it loose, while I looked frantically around for a free Pokémon or two. There was no doubt about the outcome of the fight, any longer. The team was pressing Himonlee and Hitmontop hard, the Fighting-Types entirely on the defensive as they did their best to hold all six Pokémon back and away from their Trainer. Even with Betty being unable to help as much as she – or I – would like, without killing me as well, they were getting closer and closer to the win. Even as I watched, Newt slipped through the firestorm that surrounded Hitmontop, letting her scales brush off the heat as she Wrapped herself around the spinning top Pokémon. A high-pitched shriek left the Dragonair as she was slung around like a carousel, more and more of the long body unwrapping from the force as she struggled to hold on. That didn't stop her from lighting up with Thunder Wave, making the top wobble, and then letting go, using the rapidly expanding Blizzard to push herself back towards the team, shivering and shaking as she slid back behind the front lines to offer support.
But they might not do so well if I pulled them away.
My second of hesitation cost me, Machamp using all three of his free amps to pull at Honedge and despite the Steel/Ghost's turning Koichi's forearm purple from how hard he was tightening, he couldn't compete with a Machamp's strength. Coil by coil, he was unbound, each extra length pulled taught.
And all the while, the scabbard beat and beat, shining with Metal Claw to try and do some damage, any damage.
But it just wasn't sharp enough! For all the work Honedge had done on dual-wielding, using his blade and holster at the same time, the sheath had been relegated to defense, other than the occasional swinging clubbing.
But he refused to give in, striking again and again as he was unwound from Koichi. He beat and beat and beat, shining brighter and brighter and brighter, like a star as the glow spread down the ribbon, Machamp's efforts getting more hurried. He hit and hit and hit, clubbed and clubbed and clubbed as the sheath started elongating, the blinding gleam reaching the blade-
"THROW IT AWAY!"
Machamp untied the last of the blazing cloth and flung Honedge away like it had been burned, roaring in pain as the still growing sheath cut deeply into its left shoulder on the way past.
No, I realised as the tumbling cartwheel of starlight came to a hovering stop in front of me, connecting cloth rippling as something X-shaped formed in the middle and then detached from either side. Not Honedge.
Duoblade.
Dual blades gleamed in the flickering light from the lamps above, roughly a foot-and-a-half of silver steel attached to light grey handles, a pink, slitted eye glaring out from either crossbar. Attached to each pommel, a long, dark purple sash with a pink swirl pattern on the tip swayed in an imaginary wind; the tip of the sashes splitting into four tassels, vaguely resembling a hand as the blades moved independently. Behind the twin swords, a brown plaque with a pair of crossed scabbard attached floated. The sheathes were varying shades of brown with lines forming a triquetra pattern across the front and near the top of each sheath there was a rhombus-shaped opening and three rings
Doublade ground its blades together as the whole room stopped to look at him – them? They? – a head-splitting noise ringing out as it readied itself for combat. A grin so wide it felt like the corners of my mouth tore open covered my face. Suddenly, I didn't feel the need to pull anyone away from their fights.
We had it.
CRASH!
As soon as the thought hit, the wall to our far right exploded inwards as something massive and flaming was thrown through it, a burning quadruped rolling across the ground in between me and Koichi with pained yips. I didn't need the fire to go out to recognise Sol, but it sure did make it easier to help him to his feet.
"You okay?"
The Arcanine huffed in response, glancing at me briefly before doing a double take at my state. He immediately started sniffing and whining at my bloody face, forcing me to push him away.
"I'm fine! I'm more worried about you!"
He snorted dismissively, trying to puff himself up to look even bigger, yet cringed into himself instead. One of his eyes had swelled shut, the area around it looking a little odd and lumpy, like the bone had shifted. His right foreleg was raised over the ground and he wouldn't put any weight on it and when I pressed gently just behind it on his ribcage, he flinched away, sniffingly apologetically, yet unwilling to let me get any closer.
"Couple broken ribs, ey? Aren't we a pair?" I snarked, leaning against him for a moment as the sides redrew themselves in the sudden pause that had occurred. I narrowed my eyes as Hitmonchan plodded over to Koichi's side, helping to steady him much like Sol was doing to me. The Fighting-Type wasn't doing particularly well himself, despite apparently having been able to hold Sol off after already taking a couple of blows. Both glove-like growths were charred and melted where they'd hammered into Sol's burning pelt. The shoulder Herc had hit in the beginning of the fight had a nice sear, the flesh black and cracked around a series of teeth marks, the arm hanging limply at his side.
Shit, it had done all that with one arm? Probably Koichi's Ace, then, the strongest of his team.
"Still," I pushed myself up and stepped forwards as my team gathered around my, Doublade's plaque hanging over my upper back while his swords flanked my shoulders. "We've got this."
Looking them over, I actually believed my words, too. Siren was fine, the Feebas more than used to conserving her meager strength and only striking when she was sure it would be of use. Between hanging back and being the best at pacing herself, she'd outlast us all. Betty was still good to go as well, but she just didn't have the room she needed to not kill everyone else alongside our enemies. She'd be on the defensive with Protect and Rock Tomb. Sol was hurt, but it would take a hell of alot more than a Hitmonchan to keep him out of the fight. Herc's tail had a weird bent, and he was cradling his wrist, but again, good enough. Espeon was running out of steam, the massive Calm Mind having worn off and left her exhausted. Hone-Doublade was… well, awesome. Zorua's unconscious body was quickly recalled, and finally, Newt's eyelids were a little droopy and she was still shivering from the Blizzard.
Koichi was worse, however. Not even his Pokémon, though they were in even worse condition than my team and Hitmonchan were, but Koichi himself looked like he was on the verge of death. Blood caked his neck and throat, pouring down from his chewed off ear, and even leaked through a small opening that Machamp's battlefield treatment didn't catch. He was pale and sweaty, half hanging off of Hitmonchan as he panted.
"Peri… this… this isn't w-what I wanted."
"It's what you fucking deserve," I panted myself, trying to keep each breath light. "What did you expect? Huh? Were you gonna… what, challenge Lance to an honor duel? You were, you were gonna push through legislation at knife point? Reform the government with a, a bunch of murderous, insane terrorists!? What the fuck did you expect!?"
"I-..." He looked over his shoulder to the hole Sol had made when he smashed through it. Through the broken wall, knocked over machines and medical equipment could be seen, wires running down into enclosed beds. I didn't want to know what was in them, but I could see on that had been knocked over, its inhabitant much too small and fleshly looking to have hatched on their own. "... not this. It… it wasn't supposed to be like this." He looked genuinely lost, all the fire and anger from before gone as he gazed out over what we'd done to each other. Hell, he might even had shed tear.
Not a single fuck stirred in my heart.
"Well, boo-fucking-hoo. This is the result of your actions, and now, I'm going to kill you for them."
The tension racked back up as we stared each other down. He took a risk to glance at his team, letting me do the same, my eyes telling them to be ready on my mark-
"NOW!"
My head snapped back around just in time to see a massive cloud of steam and smoke explode out from their location. In response, a torrent of elemental attacks from my side blasted the make-shift cover apart, reducing what was left of the wall to slag and ruins while revealing what happened to Koichi and his Pokémon.
The space was empty, only a single, circular hole in the ground where they'd been standing, surrounded by puddles of blood.
"NO!" I screamed and threw myself at the hole, trying to stuff myself down into it without thinking. It was plenty wide and I slipped in easily, gravity taking hold as I started to plummet. I would have kept doing so, and likely died on impact with wherever they'd made a turn, if not for several hands and tail wrapping around my legs to pull me back out. "No, let me go! GET BACK HERE! KOICHIIIIIIII!"
"PERI!" I looked towards the source of the yell, and for a second, I thought it was Koichi. But no, Koichi wouldn't be looking through the doorway from outside, nor was he tall, bald, and bearded. Or was standing behind a Cloyster holding up a Protect that filled the doorway and made it air tight right as a purple cloud washed over it. Brad. "PRYCE!"
Pryce? Who gave a fuck about Pryce!? Koichi got away! I fucking had the filthy, rat bastard right where I wanted him, and he slipped away like the dirty snake that he was!
The world shook again.
"PERI!"
I stared at Brad, then at the hole, then at the ceiling.
Then I screamed.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Echoed down the hallway as I leapt over the decimated wall, recalling Betty and Newt as I did, since they were too big. Sol took the lead through the mess he'd made of the door on that side, running down the long hall and balling over whoever was brave enough to stick their heads out after his first pass through.
It wasn't over, I swore as I sprinted down the corridor. Not by a long shot. The list had been updated and went: Proton, Giovani, Koichi, the rest of Team Rocket. I was going to hunt him down, I vowed as a Golbat suddenly flew out towards me, ichor splattering over me as Doublade sliced it in two as soon as it came near. I was going to find Proton, I was going to find Giovani, and I was going to find Koichi.
Sol and Hitmonchan had thankfully hit the corner we had to turn to reach the staircase, rather than the staircase itself. They had also felt a four foot deep, floor to ceiling crater in the wall, with half the ceiling collapsed down on it. We paid that no mind and I quickly recalled Sol when I saw he was too wide.
The volcano shook more and more violently as I climbed, quickly having to slow down to avoid elevating my heart rate too much and breathing too deeply. That was a real shame since when I looked up, there was no sign of the end. I had to restrain myself to a brisk walk, and that was trying. If it wasn't so tight, I'd have re-released Sol and had him carry me-
I blinked as Doublade's swords flipped over my shoulders and down into their sheaths, the whole plaque then floating over my head to come rest right around knee level, the two eyes staring up at me.
"Thanks, buddy," I exhaled as I took a seat, the whole assembly big enough for my ass to sit on as the ghost started flying forwards, keeping himself steady rather than tilting to match the steps.
Doublade wasn't much faster than Honedge had been, and Honedge had never been a speed demon. That didn't matter much when climbing stairs as hovering beat walking every single time. We even had to slow down to not leave the rest behind – other than Herc, who took it as a challenge. But I needed him as fresh as possible, so we slowed, even as the minutes ticked by. Dust and loose stones rained down on us from the battle above, alternatingly sweltering and freezing winds blowing down the longest stairway of all time.
But, eventually, we reached the top, a door-shaped rectangle of light too blinding to see through after minutes upon minutes in the dark stairway. I slid off Doublade and without further hesitation, walked straight through the opening to the fight between Pryce and Blaine.
And emerged into a hellscape.
—-
For anyone curious about the 'power-scaling', I have Koichi right around Conference-level (just under Master), which is where I also have people like Executives and top-tier Gym Trainers like Brad. This is of course not an exact power level (between Typing, compatibility, environment, mentality, and plot) but roughly the same ballpark.
Peri can't quite hang one on one, but with the numbers and a mental advantage? Doable.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed. If you REALLY liked it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.