COMPLETE: Pokemon Academy Year II: Second Year Rhapsody

[Flaze]

@Rediamond;

I have to admit I could've done better with the last round of the battle, by the time I got to it it was already late at night and...well, if I had left it for the day after I wouldn't have been able to sleep cause I'm a little OCD like that. So I kind of took the lazy route, I was gonna rewrite it later but exams arrived and I wanted to keep the momentum so...sorry about the inconvenience, I may edit the battle later.

Btw, I've never really hinted at evolutions before, they're always random for me.

Also, I actually got a scald from a hot Empanada myself as a kid, they burn like hell when they're heated up too much. So maybe I'm just weird but I did it from experience xD

 

[Persephone]

Ah. In that case, sure. The burn makes sense. Just didn't know that was a thing that happened to people, outside of maybe some really hot liquids spilling.

As for the evolution, it's more that them occurring as a Dues Ex is kind of cliche in the fandom. So when it's not hinted at all and saves the protagonist, it kind of makes my eyes roll.

Sorry for the pretty critical chapter review. I like the fic as a whole and I liked a few elements (Ursaring takes no kicks from chickens, improv psycho cut, the Kirlia v Infernape round in general) but the last part of the battle kind of just soured the mood of the review for me.

 

[GoneGuy]

WOOOO!! FINISHED AND UP-TO-DATE!! Well, that was one heck of a long time - but I really enjoyed it!!

Firstly, when I first starting reading I was very worried about Chigon. Fake Pokémon can very easily ascend to god-like positions and finding ways in keeping an ancient, royal Pokémon who can evolve into different forms to gain advantage over others grounded is hard. Bloody hard! But, you handle it really well and I applaud you for it! It shows great skill.

However, just so it can be buried, I have to say that grammatical slips ran riot back in Dragon's Roar and they took away from your anime-esque style. Typos and sliced-spacing made your prose very jaunting and discomfiting, and it can be difficult for a reader to maintain focus when they occur with the frequency which they did back in the initial chapters. If you have to re-read a sentence a few times, adopting an editorial role and rearranging syntax to make a paragraph sound right. They can really disrupt the fluidity of your otherwise very natural prose.

The skill you show with characters - look at the last two chapters, the focus you put on Miko and her development - is the best component of your story. Dialogue seems very natural, and flows very easily from your characters. By the way, your characterization is exceptional! Reggie is diametrically opposed to Darren, who is a foil for Miko, who can't be compared completely with Allison: every single character you create is unique and I find it amazing that every one of them has a special and unique voice that can't be mixed up with any of the other characters. I mean, look at Fin?

The text does really fit the anime genre, and does read sometimes like a very well-written transcript with included description. There is a lot of repetitiveness though. I couldn't count or estimate the amount of times you used 'deadpan'. Many of your verb choices are repeated again and again, and it becomes a little stale. Now, this isn't something major, and no one can blame you for it because everyone settles into a regular lexical rhythm, but awareness towards elegant variation may make your language more attractive.

All in all, I truly enjoyed the story, and I'm too excited about the upcoming few chapters, hopefully I will get a chance to drop another review soon,
Bulaí fir agus lean ort,
James

 

[kintsugi]

Review binge part two of many, I guess.

I have to admit, I'm really glad to see the focus on Miko in these last few chapters. I haven't seen much of her through the fic, and it was nice seeing her get to hold her own and have her own focus for a bit. Tbh, of all of the many glorious, fleshed out side characters that you've made, Miko seemed a bit shafted for a while, but this was a nice foray into her world/arc and I'm really glad that happened and blah blah blah.

Rediamond already pointed out the cliche of mid-battle evolution, but I'll give you props for not handling a mid-battle evolution the way that most fics would (ie weaker pokemon is getting crushed by fully-evolved one, taunting, weaker one crushed some more, weaker one stuck in corner, glowing white light, weaker one evolves, formerly weaker one curbstomps everything); I definitely didn't see it coming during the battle itself (as in, none of that previous set-up I mentioned in the earlier section), although I do agree that it came a bit out of left field from the story as a whole: I honestly didn't remember that Combusken was even a thing for a lot of this story, so seeing him randomly evolve wasn't exactly something I was expecting to happen at this point.

The battle was pretty clever, and you managed to make an entertaining and thoroughly original 3v3 battle. I really liked the use of Perish Song early on for a surprise kill (although, if we're going to be sticklers, it probably should've killed Milotic/Absol at the same time, unless there's some mechanic you've invented that's different from the games, which is completely fine so long as you address it). I also liked using some of the less-common moves, like Punishment and Encore, and a lot of those combinations were pretty badass (although, aside, Reggie's combos from the previous page made jackshit sense to me).

Overall, it's nice to see the Academy bits wrapping up as you do; I assume from your author's notes that you're preparing to move into bigger and darker things, but I'm glad you tied off all the ends here. One of the issues I had with this fic was the balance between school life and "holy shit these terrorists just burned down a major city with this legendary Pokemon", but all signs point to addressing this, so excellent work.

...and I didn't even shit on anything in this review

Also, a bit random, but in one of the chapters, you have the word "noticed", except the d is red and nothing else is. lol

 

[AetherX]

A Christmas present here for you Big joint review of everything I haven't reviewed yet (Chapters 42-45 I believe).

I get the feeling that you're going through and trying to do a variety of character development stuff before the big climax. First it was Darren, then Chigon, then the Enforcers, then Miko. No problem with that. You did a great job of intermingling your plot with slice-of-life kind of stuff, which is great for character development. I always love seeing the underdog supporting characters or antagonists getting some focus as a change of pace. Given how important Chigon was to Dragon's Roar, I'm constantly surprised how little he plays into this. It's hard to do Pokemon characters, but that chapter went a long way in that department. Echoing some of what others were saying regarding the Enforcers chapter as far as it being almost forced. It's a lot of development all at once for a bunch of characters that haven't seen any real development at all, which is always jarring. Better late than never, though. I also think I would have liked a bit more Zephyr focus since she's sticking around. I'm interested if the Enforcers will be making any cameos later on.

And then there's Miko. I'm really glad you didn't make Reggie prefect. Let's be honest, he'd be pretty bad at it. He's bad at confrontations, and you've hinted that he's not exactly the best student either. Miko's character has always intrigued me. I have a soft spot for kindness, which is a character aspect that is too often disregarded as too simple or boring. The friendliness, patience, and kindness that Miko has demonstrated throughout this story is hard to come by in real life. It's great to see a little bit more into her hopes and fears. I also forgot that she had a bunch of awesome Pokemon (and I still think it's funny that you gave Reggie the "cutesy" Pokemon like Azumarill and Eevee). As far as the battle goes I do think some patience would have helped (you mentioned being lazy about the end). Battles can get boring to write after a while, even if they're just 3v3s. But you have to hold on! If you can't think of a way to make a battle really exciting and believable, then wait for an idea to come. Again echoing what others have said in that the battle was pretty good for the most part but the end felt like it came out of nowhere.

My one worry is that these chapters were almost too much of constant "change of pace" stuff. It's not a big deal, just something to keep in mind in the future. I think this kind of development material is better sprinkled more evenly throughout. Overall, your writing has improved a lot. Be on the lookout for typos and frequently reused words as usual.

I really hope Rafael doesn't turn out to be evil. He's such a great cliche-breaker!

Really sorry about how bad I am at this whole reviewing thing. I promise I always keep up with reading and look forward to every chapter!

 

[diamondpearl876]

Posting early upon request...

I'm gonna give general comments about each individual chapter instead of quoting. I realize that might be inconvenient because your fic is long and you won't remember specific lines I talk about, but... It's a lot easier for me this way and my review for you is long overdue.

Chapter 5 – I like the little details you put into this, such as Reggie's amusing mob chase, and Claudia's attachment to the paper. Also, this line: “She looked like someone who wasn’t looking for a change but for someone that would bring that change to her.” That's absolutely brilliant and telling of her character.
Additionally, I appreciate the retelling from this fic's prequel since I haven't read it and am not aware of what the characters have gone through.

Chapter 6 – OH GOD! “Three Nights in Goldenrod” sounds like a really cool movie. I have no idea why, but that sounds like some ominous title that has potential. Nice mention of Kevin Samuels playing Blue, by the way. I'm going to admit it's a little weird reading an academy fic. I thought this when I read the line where Miko asks who's grabbing her ass. I mean, it's realistic, and I really like that. I just thought you should know I don't read school fics generally, so I'll just do the best I can while commenting. Also, Kevin actually said, “So come at me.” Consider me floored.

Chapter 7 – Stacy seems nice, but it seems like she has some sort of snarky side. She kind of reminds me of my 6th grade English teacher, who just happened to get fired after bursting out into tears and calling us all bitches. So they're all on a field trip set up by Brendan, but it's not explored very much. Brendan's scene is very short at the end of chapter 5, and I'm still not even sure why they're in the woods. I understand this is a filler chapter, and you do set up some nice characterization with the bridge falling, but you might need to delve into some things at some point.

Chapter 8 – Fin got kicked out of the calligraphy club? I'm surprised the school even HAD a calligraphy club. That seems like something that would fit into a fancier school, though I'm glad you brought calligraphy into the pokemon world, because I kind of felt silly putting the idea into Love and Other Nightmares. Also, why do I find it absolutely adorable that everyone thinks Reggie, YOUR MAIN CHARACTER, is the weakest battler ever? You've gotta get some credit for that. The thing with swampert running out of oxygen and fainting... That's genius and kind of twisted. Where do you come up with crazy shit like that? And tough shit Darren has a pikachu AND a pachirisu? You're killing me. Stop it. Like I said, I don't read academy/school fics, but I like the episodic style you're using so far. I imagine that once the plot kicks in, it won't be like that, but for now I'm enjoying it.

Chapter 9 – Poor Chigon, being stuck in a crate during the ride. It's kind of a cliché, having pokemon hate pokeballs, but you rarely see consequences for that quirk. So I like that Chigon gets the short end of the stick in this chapter. Sorry, Chigon. ...Also, did you just invent Mega Evolution in the year 2012 with Alagon? And Fin gained my respect in this chapter. Yeah, I respect men who grab bad guys by the collar and rough 'em up a bit.

Chapter 10 – Jack and Marie are pretty cute, actually. I like the idea of the Casteliacone stand turning into a bigger restaurant that serves sundaes for two. OH MY GOD. I want to bring my characters to Castelia City now...

Chapter 11 – An alcohol party in a pokemon fic? I have seen it all. Also, you managed to give two of my favorite pokemon (Hitmontop and Scolipede) to the Black Knights. You're obviously out to get me. And I wonder if Reggie/Claudia will be a thing?

Chapter 12 – Oh man, Jack is actually riding Zebstrika while its battling. Can I tell you how cool that is? Yet it's extremely dangerous, so I expect someone to get hurt eventually. Make it happen. Also, the scene where Clarice antagonizes Reggie by asking him if he's caught Chigon or not is really well done. Reggie acts so pathetically, and she even kisses him. That's messed up. Nice use of Victini and Genesect, too. I don't think I see them in fics very often.

Chapter 13 – The guy said he didn't hurt all of Reggie's friends. Then Allison stepped out and I thought SHE hurt everyone. Might want to fix that bit of confusion in there. Also, this was a good line: “Fear crept through her body as she realized that the possibility of dying was no longer an abstract one.”

Chapter 14 – Kevin's surprisingly a good battler. I've also noticed that nearly everyone's pokemon is super powerful and fully evolved. I suppose that's because all the pokemon evolved in the first fic? Also something tells me Freed isn't really just some innocent teacher who has a knack for battling strategies. Pokemon fusion... I'm strangely reminded of Dragonball Z.

Chapter 15 – I gotta say, I'm glad the police showed up. Their entrance was long overdue. Also, I'm not sure what I think of the Castelia City arc. Though the arc is very action packed, there is very little plot yet a lot of focus on characters. Don't get me wrong. I appreciated Clarice letting go of Victini for fun, and Cliff wanting to do go to extreme lengths just to prove a point. Why would anyone follow Cliff, though, if he had no other motive? Why use Genesect and Victini specifically? I feel you could have used any legendary and the arc would have been the same.

Chapter16 – Aw, Claudia and Valerie are adorable in this. THAT LAST SENTENCE THO...

Chapter 17 – There's something really amusing about Brendan being called “teach”... Also: “Be selfish, but less selfish than the others.” Reggie says that's bad advice, but I don't think it is. People spew all kinds of shit about loving yourself, treating yourself nicely, and not giving a damn what others think. Then when someone actually does those things, they're suddenly selfish. Can't win either way.



General comments:

I like your dialogue. It's very believable and at times endearing. My only complaint is that the characters don't have their own distinct voices, so they all kind of sound the same. I'm able to tell who's nice (ie Reggie, Miko, Valerie, Claudia...) and who's kind of out there and/or mean (ie Darren, Kevin), but that's about it.

You have a very, very large cast of characters. With the dialogue issue and the fact that I didn't read this story's prequel, I'm having a hard time keeping track of them. That's partly my fault, but I do appreciate how you try to give everyone a role in the story as well as some scenes that aren't always relevant to their own side stories. If that makes any sense.

I like the actions you put in between dialogue. You know, things like sighing, groaning, turning to look at another person. Sometimes you overdo it and put 2-3 actions in one sentence, so watch out for that. I guess it's better than not having anything at all, though.

I'm not sure who your beta is, but you might consider getting a new one. I'm sure you've been told this a million times, but your grammar isn't the best. Luckily the human brain is so great that it manages to fill in a lot of gaps for you, and it's able to figure out a lot of things even with incomplete, messed up sentences, but... Correct grammar attracts readers. Nice formatting says a lot about the author and the effort he/she puts into a fic. For future fics, just remember that. Oh, and if you're close friends with your beta and are afraid of insulting them or whatever... Well, it's okay to have more than one beta.

You write some of the most original battles I've ever seen. It's really, really hard to do that... so I just thought I'd mention it. I mean, most authors just turn to abilities to spice up a battle, but you go further than that and bring in actual scientific facts that make sense. What the fuck?

 

[diamondpearl876]

Chapter 18 – I guess it kind, sort of says a lot about a character when they're willing to beat the shit out of Darren for the sake of their job... when they literally JUST got hired. Also, I've misread “Fin” as “Flaze” every time in this chapter so far. What is happening to me? And I wish someone would give ME a pity scholarship... And I should have been able to understand the French, but I didnt... Too rusty.

Chapter 19 – Ah, so there's Kevin's real identity... which doesn't do much for me since, you know, I didn't read the first fic. But now there's confirmation of his evilness, which is something. Not sure if I buy the “policemen will get killed on the spot, so trainers should go instead” since you basically had the police save the day at the end of the Black Knight arc, AND there's no reason pokemon can't be used in police investigations. That comment about puberty, though... BRENDAN PLEASE.

Chapter 20 – Asking if a pokemon can feel depression is interesting. Your pokemon characters don't seem intelligent, at least not on a humanistic level, so it's a valid question. I was kind of actually wondering if the haunter/gengar were controlling azumarill and monferno somehow, but I see that that wasn't the case.

Chapter 21 – Reggie has other pokemon, right? He still has pidgeot and donphan. He should probably confirm that they're not listening to him too before making such a drastic decision. Lol @ Chigon thinking Johann is weird as fuck. And now I'm interested in Reggie's regeneration surgery... which I don't know about because I didn't read the first fic. You're evil. How dare you write a series. And I know Johann couldn't have really been introduced until now, but I kind of wish he had showed up sooner.

Chapter 22 – Damnit, Reggie, you went there. You got rid of Chigon. And I read your comment about the Shadow. The Shadow sounds like a little bitch. I wonder why Reggie hadn't thought about the possibility of it showing up, though. I mean, it's not like you were trying to hide it (or were you?) since the Shadow already appeared in Dragon's Roar. I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?

Chapter 23 - “After you and that idiot Reggie defeated me last year I lost everything, my respect, my gang, I ended up dropping out of school...who am I kidding, that’s not something I care about.” ← Best line ever. Reggie's sudden boost in confidence here is a little unexpected, but not unwelcome. Poor Reggie, too, giving up his whole life when Johann's already got everything halfway under control, lmao.

Chapter 24 - → A TYPHLOSION NAMED CHIMNEY. BRING ON MEGA TYPHLOSION, GAMEFREAK! Also, Martin's kind of scary. He's a scary guy... named Martin. Martin is such a nerd name. Also, I'll be interested to see if you do anything more with the “pokedex holder” concept. I liked it the manga (and I believe that's where you got it from), so yeah. → Then a thought dawned on him. What if she was with Kevin Samuels? Will she actually listen to his confession while having the guy that was currently her boyfriend right in front of her. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this...” Reggie looked at the floor insecurely. ← This here is the most logical reasoning I've seen Reggie yet. If Reggie backed out of situations for reasons like THIS, he might feel a bit better about himself.

Chapter 25 – LOL @ Reggie being friends with Miko for years, then fretting over the first date. Sit down, kid. → “I can see how Uncle Roger would be worried.” Johann deadpanned before sighing. “He’s always been overprotective of Reggie.” ← “WAIT TILL YOU FIND OUT I'VE BEEN ALMOST KILLED MANY TIMES NOW, DAD!” → I actually lol'd when Reggie and dad just stared at the shirt his dad bought. Like it's a literal abomination. → Oh, and... REMEMBER YOUR OWN IMMORTALITY. It sounds like something I'd put in a poem. I like it.

Chapter 26 – I'm not sure if I buy the “not everyone has a battling strategy” idea. I mean, there's literally SO MUCH that can go into building a style that it seems impossible for someone NOT to have a sstyle. Then again, I suppose you could argue that since there is so much that goes into a battling style, it's hard to balance all those charactertics to conduct a solid, bulletproof style.

Chapter 27 – Geez, I thought something interesting was happening, but Fin just basically felt like yelling. Typical Fin. Reggie asking Darren for help is a surprise, but a good one. Darren has nothing to lose by saying yes, at any rate. And oh God, is he ever going to have fun with it. I like that you turned it into a media club instead, since in reality newspapers ARE a dying art. Zephyr seems cool, though with the whole “your body needs to be ready to battle” thing and the fact that she's been out in the hospital... I wonder if that will have an effect on things.

Chapter 28 - Darren's a prick, geez. But Zephr seems pretty cool... The reasoning for others hating her and her handicap is something I've not seen before. AND she's a hacker.

Chapter 29 – A cook named Olive? You're killing me. I like that you gave Allison a role here. When you asked me who my favorite characters were I forgot to mention her. She's headstrong and fuck everyone if they don't know it. And anyway, a cooking chapter might have been boring had you not added it in for a reason.

Chapter 30 – Ah, we finally see what happened to Kevin after Miko dumped his ass. → “Maybe it’s your fault for not keeping track of her, I mean a boyfriend leaving his girlfriend alone so he can do some stupid training or whatever.” ← Yeah, because Reggie NOT being abusive and actually GIVING HIS GIRLFRIEND SOME SPACE is bad. Shut up, Kevin. (I do like their conversation, though, don't get me wrong.) Lol@Monferno almost setting the couch on fire. You ever see those pokemon shaming posters on Tumblr? That's what that reminded me of. LOL@Kevin Blaze calling Darren “doggy.” OH MY GOD, THE HORROR.

Chapter 31 – Yes, more Jack and Marie time! I like that you had Jack lose his temper here, even if it meant disqualifying Marie. → “Now let’s go, we can’t talk about this over drinks since you’re underage and all but some dinner wouldn’t be bad.” ← Kevin Blaze, please. Good line of dialogue. The scene with Kevin Blaze having Darren try a new food is hilarious and super cute. Good battle strategies used as always, I was floored when Zephyr figured out that she had to use Endure at the beginning of the battle. And I knew the type disadvantage was going to come into play the moment I realized her pokemon was a fire-type.

Chapter 32 – Fin WOULD come up with the barbeque idea. Because hey, why not? Also, Stacy's character is really out there. The food scene between Darren and Allison was nicely done, it gave us a glimpse into Darren's softer side and the dialogue was too good. Anyway, I think Reggie vs Kevin was a given, but I'll be interested to see how Darren fares in a double battle with Miko.

Chapter 33 – Well, Tyson's training methods certainly are unique. A fire-type deliberately used in a water field is not something I'd expect. Also, he just HAD to insult Lance, didn't he? And it was a GOOD insult. And Tyson having a milotic is a beautiful, especially if they really DO do their hair together. Sidestory, please? Also, can Allison/Darren be a thing? ...Please? Darren's pikachu and Allison's raichu could be best friends. By the way, the image of Reggie putting on his gloves and yelling about fistfighting is probably one of my favorite scenes of him. Honestly, I think it just inspired me to write a fist-fighting scene in Survival Project's sequel.

Chapter 34 – Well, I like that Reggie's battle is coming along in parts. While we're reading the longer, less important (lol) battles, I'm just thinking, “If they win, awesome. If not, that just puts more pressure on Reggie, which is equally awesome.” Oh, it's Claudia who likes Reggie, not Valerie. I got them mixed up. And finally, the swablu makes its appearance! I bet 100 bucks it joins Claudia permanently by the end of this arc.

Chapter 35 – It really says a lot about Kevin since he's mad at Reggie even though he told him it was okay for him to steal Miko in the first place. And him faking it makes a lot of sense. And okay, I'm going to have to give you a LOT of credit for Stacy's dialogue here. Usually when everyone's supporting a character for a greater cause, it's REALLY hard to bring in someone who shows the other side of the story. Stacy basically walks in and says, “This is fucking stupid, and you're all fucking stupid for going along with it, too.” I don't even think this makes her a terrible person. I try to think about both sides to a lot of stories too and it really fucking sucks, trying to come up with a conclusion, but Stacy just doesn't give a shit. ...Nicely done, is what I'm trying to say. I guess I'm a fan of moral ambiguity for a reason.

Chapter 36 – The cake! And the swablu! I told you swablu would join Claudia by the end of the arc. You're the writer though, so you knew that already. Fin's so inappropriate, but I guess he does mean well. I wanted Jack to confess his feelings, too... He better do it by the end of this fic, or else. And okay, I'm gonna be 100% honest here and say I wish I had someone like Fin in my life. HE HAS NO SHAME. Forget politeness and whatnot. Just say what's on your mind, or get out.

Chapter 37 – Alright, this chapter puts Fin high on my list. I can't say I'm too surprised at Kevin for kind of letting himself go, though I do wonder what really happened with the girl. (It's hard to tell.) But Fin needs to stop talking about food because it's making me super hungry. I wonder if Reggie trying to separate himself from Chigon is a good idea? It seems like a confidence thing, but if Chigon happens to get captured when he's not around, he's screwed. “TOOK YA LONG ENOUGH.” ← You said it, Marie.

Chapter 38 – Wow. Fin would say that Marie = Reggie's “sloppy seconds.” Rude, but funny. The gay confession scene was unexpected, but funny and not done offensively. Reggie making the chocolates himself is super cute.

Chapters 39-40 – I didn't really have anything in particular to point out. I liked Marie's hinting at Reggie being forceful, lmao. The dates were written well, though could have been more balanced so each couple got their fair share of screen time.

Chapter 41 - → “I stopped being a kid years ago.” ← No one has any idea. Poor Darren. Darren's situation is complicated, and you really show that here. On one hand, Reggie and co. SAY they care about him, but if they really did, wouldn't they give in to his wishes? Wouldn't they NOT want him to change? Aren't friends supposed to accept you as you are? That's one thing that annoys me about my friends and family, at least (because I am actually a lot like Darren, with the loner/guilt aspect). Then again, it DOES show they care, and that's what counts, right? That's what Darren should be happy about. He should forget everything tormenting him and move on. Right? Well, who the fuck knows? Not even Darren himself knows.

Chapter 42 - → “You saw a Pokemon come out of a meteor,” Valerie replied with a groan before pointing towards Chigon. “I think you’ve got it covered. ← I'm not sure what this is referring to but it sounds pretty awesome. Well, I have to question if you know how eggs work in real life, BUT this is the pokemon world... so I'm sure you have an explanation for it? Maybe? At any rate, Chigon and Eevee's interactions are very cute. If I had to guess. Reggie will eventually evolve him into Jolteon or Leafeon.

Chapter 43 – Poor Alexa, I would have thought Angelo as a sentimental guy myself. I also find it funny that Angelo loses his mature Kalosian accent the moment something's not going his way and, at that point, he just swears like it's no big deal. Also, why do I have a feeling that Reggie and co. are going to be the new and improved Enforcers next year?

Chapter 44 – Lol, I work at Subway and YES, Reggie, people will fight over a good sandwich if you do a poor job. Allison earns some cool points from me for nearly destroying the Subway-esque restaurant. Good Miko character development here. I can kind of understand where she's coming from, with the sibling issue and all. It can be a hard thing to escape.

Chapter 45 – AND ON THAT NOTE, I'M COMPLETELY CAUGHT UP. Hooray for that and hooray for Miko's win. May I say that I enjoy Miko's sexual jokes toward Reggie? He gets so flustered and she just keeps on doin' it.

General comments

I think you probably dug deeper into Chigon's past/appearance and stuff in your first fic, but I really like what you're doing with it in this fic. A fakemon being used to boost a character's popularity, just to have that backfire on him? Nice.

I think I mentioned this before, but I prefer your episodic chapters to the long, drawn out plot lines. Your characters, your setting, your writing style... They all seem to do better in the episodic setting. I know you've got side stories planned for this series and such, but for future fics it's something to think about.

 

[Flaze]

@Beth Pavell; @AetherX; @Tophat Dragoneye; @System Error; @Warrior of Fire; @Instrutilus; @Soulmaster; @Rediamond; @kintsugi; @Midorikawa; @diamondpearl876;

So I don't htink I have anything to reply to this time. I will say however that I'm finally that I can post this. The reason this fic took another small break is cause I was writing the whole of the Sin arc together and now that all the chapters are pretty much ready I decided it was time to get the final arc started.

Chapter 46: Sin Part 1: Resentment

Terror ran through his body as he trembled in a corner of the room. He couldn't see anything around him, only what he could detail as a piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes.

He could hear voices too but didn't want to listen to them. Instead he just focused on trembling and trying his best to survive, to encourage himself and tell himself everything would be okay.

"So you're saying the guy will really just pay up like that?" One of the voices snuck through the wall of cloth around his head. It sounded tired and exasperated but for him it was just as threatening.

"You can trust me on that," another voice, this one familiar to him replied in a slightly shaky tone. "James might be really protective of his assets but he cares even more about his family, he won't let anything bad happen to him."

"I sure hope so, if this fails and we end up going to prison for this you're the one that's gonna get it!" A third and rougher voice exclaimed furiously. "We weren't rocket grunts in our prime for being silly and quirky."

The boy didn't know what was going on. He had been going through his day like any other, getting up and going to school before being picked up by his father’s friend as usual.

Instead he was tied and blindfolded and scared of not being able to live those normal days anymore.

"It's almost time for him to get here with the money," the second voice said uneasily.

As if on cue a metallic knock resounded throughout the room, making the boy wonder where he was even more but at the same time causing a feeling of relief to rise up in him.

He then heard a loud sliding sound, associating it with the aforementioned door being opened. The sound of the door was followed by two loud gunshots and screams of shock and pain as the boy began to shake once more, clutching his hands together as hard as he could.

"Wait, please don't shoot me!" The man with the familiar voice yelled out desperately, his voice breaking and shaking with every word.

"You seriously have the nerve to say that now huh?" A smile of joy crossed the boy's face when he heard this. That serious and cool voice he admired, the voice of the person he had wanted to see the most.

"Dad!" The boy yelled, overjoyed.

"Don't worry Kevin, we'll get you out of here right now," Kevin's father replied calmly. "As for you Taylor. The only reason I'm not killing you is because it'll be a tough challenge even for my lawyers to cover it all up," he said with a bitter and enraged expression, ensuing a loud squeak from the man known as Taylor.

"That and at least now I have a reason to fire your ass from my company, don't think I hadn't been keeping an eye on you," He pointed out. Kevin heard footsteps approaching him, followed by the blindfold being taken off. Kevin winced as light finally returned to his eyes.

Once his eyes adjusted he was able to make out the form of his father, a man with well combed, short blond hair, blue eyes and a soft feature face that displayed young features. The smile on his face and the expression in his eyes showed relief and longing and invited Kevin to wrap his arms around his father's neck for dear life.

"I-I was so-so scared d-d-dad!" Kevin stuttered and cried loudly as he tightened the hold of his neck.

"It's okay son," his father replied soothingly as he hugged and patted his son's back. "You're okay now."

With that he grabbed a tighter hold of Kevin and helped him stand up. "As for you," he turned and glared at Taylor. "It's true that I'm not going kill you, but don't think that I'll leave you alone. No, I'm going to be keeping my eyes on you in ways you don't even know, and if you even try something like this again...well, you'll be those guys," he glanced down, making Kevin look at the dead bodies of his other two captors, something that made him jump back in shock as he held onto his father's pants.

After that a couple of men clad in black suits walked inside and proceeded to escort Taylor out as Kevin looked up at his father.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," James replied softly as he kneel down and put his hands on Kevin's shoulder, a feeling of comfort and security coursing through the boy. "Just remember Kevin, no matter what happens you can always count on me or the rest of your family," he smiled reassuringly. "That's what it means to be part of the Samuels family."

***

Kevin Samuels sat alone in his room, his back against the wall as he allowed the light from the sun to shine through his window.

He raised his hand and looked down at the picture he had been holding. It featured him and his father sitting standing in front of a large round stadium and wearing crimson and orange shirts with the word Blazikens written across their chest. The words were written so as to have an effect similar to flames and there were numbers-twenty five on James' and ten on Kevins’- under the word.

"I'm sorry dad," he said with a low voice, lowering the portrait down slowly. "But I'm in a situation where only I can help myself."

***

It had now been four days since the explosion that demolished the temple of Kin Island. After the event the whole academy fell into a state of turmoil, not knowing what had happened and what the cause was.

The teachers and the principal-deciding that they couldn't let the students run around in fear-had investigated and ruled the cause of the destruction as the result of a battle between wild Pokemon. They also set up Pokemon to guard the island as a measure to make sure that the students didn't roam around.

Brendan sat behind his desk as usual. This time though he was surrounded by Mr. Scott, Rose the coordinator teacher, Incendio and Freed.

"So it seems like we managed to stop this whole thing from causing distress," Brendan commented hesitantly while scratching his chin. "But we still haven't even been able to find what the cause of the explosion was."

"Couldn't it just have been two Pokemon battling?" Rose asked with a frown. "I mean it is a possibility even if that was the excuse we gave the students."

"Hah! There's no way two wild Pokemon could've done that," Incendio exclaimed from the wall he was leaning against, a condescending grin on his face. "At least not the ones around these parts."

"Well how would you know you ginger?" Mr.Scott argued as he turned towards Incendio, causing his large figure to tower over the smaller man. "Though I guess you would know being one of the people that attacked us last year," the muscular man spat.

"Ouch, insults and past mistakes. You sure like to act tough," Incendio replied with a smirk as he looked up at the man. His face showed no sign of retreating as he took out a Holo Caster from his pocket.

"You little p-"

"Anyways, the reason it couldn't have been wild Pokemon is because of the way the whole thing fell," Incendio explained with a bored expression while fidgeting with the device. "Had it been a battle then there would be a lot more rubble and it would look messier, instead everything was blown clean off, meaning it must've been done by a single attack."

He then raised the Holo Caster so that the other teachers could see. A picture was being displayed on the phone showing a glowing violet meteorite flying across the setting skies. "I noticed this while I was training in the woods, this meteorite is the type summoned when a dragon type uses Draco Meteor."

"And what's your point?" Mr. Scott replied in annoyance.

"It's disappointing that a battle teacher can't figure it out," Incendio smirked. "Draco Meteor is one of the most powerful dragon type moves there are. It's been deemed almost impossible for any non-legendary dragon to learn it without a trainer's assistance."

The whole room fell silent with Incendio's explanation as Brendan slowly nodded his head in agreement. "Incen-I mean, Mr.Blaze is right."

"Okay, so that means the school is under possible attack...again!" Rose exclaimed as she glared down at Brendan. "Taking this into account it would be best if we called the proper authorities."

"We'd have to close the school while they investigate, plus we already have guards searching and the League already selected me as their eyes and ears in this academy," Brendan replied harshly.

"Your lack of action here is really irresponsible allow me to say," Rose spat back, putting her hands on his desk. "I mean supposedly you weren't going to let things like this happen again when you became principal. Where did that statement go?"

Brendan frowned at this as he stood up from his chair. "If you doubt my words then I'm sorry, but there really was nothing I could do. This guy was able to break even past me!"

"Did he really break through?" Mr.Scott asked with disdain. "Our last principal was the one that led these guys," he pointed at Incendio. "To attack us before. You're not exactly much better always keeping secrets from everyone, how do we know you're not just lying to us."

"It's not his fault," Freed spoke, causing everyone in the room to turn to him since he hasn't spoken before. "There really was no way for him to predict this," he said as he and Brendan exchanged hesitant expressions.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked as she looked between the two. "Is there something we need to know here?"

"Well. I'm sure you all know about Memento Mori, the underground organization that's been on the news lately," Brendan said before looking at Freed. "Freed used to be a member of Memento Mori."

Both Mr. Scott and Rose opened their eyes in shock, stepping away from Freed and glaring at him. "We'll I'll be, I always knew pretty boy here was too good to be true."

"I am no longer part of Memento Mori, nor do I plan to be," Freed frowned and crossed his arms. "I joined as a teenager but eventually left, I worked as an informant for the Pokemon League and Interpol for a while after that. That's how the principal and I met."

This explanation seemed to calm down the two skeptical teachers, allowing them to lower their guard. "Then do you know who this is?" Rose asked, worried.

"Yeah, if I'm correct then we're dealing with a big fish," Freed bit his lip in frustration. "Among Memento Mori the 7 highest ranked and strongest members are given the rank of Sin. Inside that ranking is Memento Mori's field and stealth expert. The Sin of Envy, also known as Noah," he explained. "He's a master of stealth who can break into any place and mask himself perfectly."

"So you think he might be in the academy already?" Mr.Scott inquired.

"Yes, and with his skills he's probably already got something cooked up, he wouldn't do something this showy unless he was going to start his plan."

"So for now I want you guys to look after the students at today's event," Brendan ordered, getting the teacher's attention once more. "I'll do what I can to find this guy but if anything happens remember to report it to me."

"What about the other teachers?" Asked Rose, still seeming uneasy about the whole situation.

"I don't want to put pressure on them, I told you guys because you're the most capable ones," Brendan answered carefully. "Don't tell the other teachers for now, especially Ms.Lewis, she hangs around the media club a lot and if they find out they'll try to take things into their hands, got it Freed?"
"Yes, I understand," Freed nodded his head slowly.

***

Elemental Academy was brimming with excitement. Students walked around the stores, restaurants and multiple food stands that had been set up around the island.

To celebrate the end of the year the school had decided to throw a big festival for the students to enjoy. Multiple game stands had been prepared along with battlefields for those that wanted to train and even contest and singing stages.

"We're going to take you down today Enforcers!" A young boy yelled as he stood inside of one of the battlefields. He was wearing a basketball uniform and was holding out a pokeball designed as a basketball.

"Yeah! Just because we do sports doesn't mean we can't beat you guys in battle!" A girl wearing a tennis uniform exclaimed as she adjusted her visor, she held a racket in one hand and a tennis inspired pokeball in the other.

Besides the two of them were a boy wearing a baseball uniform and gear, a girl wearing a volleyball uniform and a boy wearing a soccer uniform.

The Enforcers stood in the center of the field, staring dumbfounded at the two trainers as well as the five sport themed trainers. "...people like this make me so glad we're graduating," Alexa rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Pffft, I'm sure they're just trying their-pffft," Tyson said while trying to stifle a laugh.

"Now everyone calm down," Keith interrupted, not even faced by their strange opponents. "The principal asked us to be in charge of this game so we should do it gladly."

"I'm not sure how I feel about being the equivalent of a carny game but whatever," Angelo sighed. "Let's just get this over with and get some lunch."

***

Meanwhile Reggie was battling in one of the scattered battlefields. His opponent was a boy with a Machoke and it was going up against Reggie's Donphan.

The boy grinned at the fact he held the advantage and proceeded to throw his arm forward. "Go and use Cross Chop!" He commanded as the Machoke began charging forward at Donphan, putting its arms together.

"Jump aside Donphan!" Reggie yelled out. Donphan waited for the right moment to jump to the side of Machoke, successfully avoiding the fighting move. "Now, Rolling Edge!"

"Rolling what?" The boy asked in confusion.

Donphan quickly rolled into a ball before beginning to spin forward at the fighting type. It body gained speed with every spin it made as an after image of Donphan materialized behind him.

Machoke slammed its foot down as Donphan jump forward, colliding with the fighting Type and pushing it back, though it wasn't enough to knock it off its feet. Reggie cursed under his breath as Machoke grabbed a hold of the still rolled up Donphan and lifted it up.

"Vital Throw!" The boy yelled out.

***

Reggie sighed to himself as he leaned against the fence separating the battlefield to the outside. He took out a small notebook and a pen and began writing down on it. "Rolling Edge has good speed, but I need something that gives it more power," he muttered to himself, while Chigon rolled on the floor below his feet and stared at the people walking. "Maybe, if I add another attack to it.”

"Chi!" Chigon exclaimed from the floor, earning Reggie's attention.

"Oh right," Reggie chuckled. "Sorry for ignoring you buddy."

"Well there you are!" Reggie raised his head, noticing both Miko and Fin walking towards him. "We've been looking for you man," Fin smiled cheerfully, holding out a bag filled with tokens. "I met up with Miko not too long ago; the two of us were talking about using these tokens to get some lunch."

"How did the battle go?" Miko turned towards Reggie with a curious expression.

"Well, it wasn't a success," Reggie sighed. "But at least I got to find out what I need for my new combo. What about you? I heard you were gonna have some battles of your own."

Miko smiled brightly at this before holding out a victory sign. "I won! I've gotten used to battling with Blaziken now, though we're still trying to get the hang of High Jump Kick."

Reggie nodded his head at this. Miko had spent the last few days training Blaziken after its evolution and had been trying to master new attacks for it.

"Well maybe we can train together later," Reggie suggested with a grin.

"I'd love that," Miko replied in agreement.

"Ugh," Fin groaned. "If you guys are gonna keep flirting then I'll keep my tokens to myself," He said before turning around.

"Come on Fin. Don't be like that," Reggie laughed as he and Miko followed after Fin, with Chigon walking in between the three.

Reggie, Miko and Fin made their way through the festival before stopping by one of the stands. A large crowd had gathered in front of the stand all of them screaming loudly as they made their orders.

Reggie and the others did their best to break through the crowd, with Fin pushing a few of them aside. "Why does there always need to be a crowd whoever we go!" Fin yelled in annoyance.

"Fancy seeing you guys," the trio turned to look towards the stand, surprised to see Olive looking at them. She was wearing a bandanna over her head and had her red hair tied in a short ponytail. "Making a ruckus as always," the girl pointed out.

"Hey Olive. So you guys are helping out with the stands this time around?" Miko curiously asked the girl.

"Yeah,” she nodded. “Everyone in the cooking club decided to help in managing the stands," Olive replied, though she was more focused on taking the costumers orders. "I'm sorry, but if you guys aren't going to order then I'll have to ask you to step out," she said dryly.

"Oh right," Fin chimed in, finally remembering the reason they were there for and taking out the bag of tokens. "I want three orders of fried chicken," he requested. "I heard they're pretty good, though with you making them I don't doubt it," he said slyly as he leaned closer to the stand.

"Don't get carried away dumbass," Olive rolled her eyes. "Sadly for you I'm not actually in charge of cooking today," she explained before pointing behind her.

The group looked over Olive's shoulder and noticed Basil at the back of the stand. He, like Olive, was wearing a white bandanna over his green hair as he prepared the food.

"Hey guys!" The group turned toward the cheerful voice that called out to them and were shocked to see Allison on the other side frying the chicken. "I can't believe you guys came over, I'll get your orders ready in a sec!" She called out with confidence.

"Hey Allison...How come you're here too?" Miko asked hesitantly.

"After the battle at the food fair I got my battle privileges revoked," Allison pouted, her shoulders sinking. "So I figured helping out with the food was the next best thing!" She called out with renewed joy.

The trio looked at each other before chuckling at Allison's mood changes. "Well. As long as you stay out of trouble I guess its okay."

Allison sighed once the group left with their food, earning a curious eyebrow from Basil. "You want to go battle huh?" He laughed as he turned back to his work.

"What? No it's just..yes," Allison replied shyly. "I don't mind cooking though, I mean it's really nice seeing people smile when they eat my food," she admitted with a gentle smile.

"That's what makes it worthwhile I think," Basil smiled at her, fully turning to face her. "A chef's job is to make good food that people enjoy after all. Plus there's no one that doesn't enjoy good food," he explained wisely before looking at Olive's back. "Unless you're Olive and instead decide to criticize it," he whispered.

"I heard that!" Olive called out loudly, not even turning around.

Basil jumped back at this before turning around and getting back to work, whistling innocently. Allison couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction.

“I think I’d still prefer battling though,” Allison laughed. Then her face grew somber and her eyes fell on the frying pan with unease. "It's nice to see everyone happy, but there's one more person who isn't here," she said softly.

"Oh? Who is it?"

"It's no one," she replied, turning away from him.

"Don't lie to him or he won't leave you alone," Olive stated.

Allison looked at her and then at a curious Basil before sighing. "It's just a rival of mine," she said reluctantly. "He hasn't really been the same lately and I bet he isn't even here."

"That sounds like a problem," Basil scratched his chin gently before smiling. "Then why don't you take some food to him?" He suggested. "Like they say, a good way to a man's heart is through his stomach! And a woman's too," he laughed. "Unless you're Olive."

"I heard that!" Olive yelled, miffed from Basil's constant bantering. "But yeah, food is an option."

Allison wondered about this. She hadn't seen Darren in a while. She wondered what he was feeling and why he would even want to separate himself so much from the others.

"Yeah, I guess I'll do that," she nodded her head with newfound resolve. "I hope you guys don't mind," she said shyly.”

"Nonsense," Basil replied with a hearty laugh. "You've helped enough, plus it's only fair we let you have your fun," he nodded his head as he smiled at her. "Like they say, food is a good way to a man's heart, or a woman," he stated. "Unless you're Olive."

"Now you’re just repeating yourself on purpose!"

***

"Gaah!" Matthew screamed as he was thrown against one of the battlefield fences, his Liepard landing not too far from him.

On the other side of the field stood a Bastiodon, a smug grin on its face as it glanced at the struggling leopard Pokemon.

"Man, this guy is weak," Matthew's opponent, a girl with short, curly red hair wearing a Charizard Flame uniform pointed out arrogantly as she looked down at the blond boy. "I wanted to believe that you had some talent. I guess I was wrong."

Matthew gritted his teeth in frustration, trying his best to push himself upwards. He wanted to say something back, at least to lower the blow for his Liepard. It was useless though, he couldn't say or do anything to defend himself and instead he opted for returning his Pokemon.

"Tsk," the girl frowned. "Can't even look me in the eye. Pathetic," she said with disdain as she walked out of the battlefield. "I better go find someone that isn't a waste of my time."

The small crowd that had gathered to watch the battle dispersed, leaving Matthew alone as he made his way out of the battlefield and tried his best to avoid seeing anyone.

Even though he had trained diligently since his double battle with Reggie he still wasn't able to do anything. He still got nervous and lost pathetically regardless of how hard he tried. "Maybe I should just give up," he frowned while tugging onto the bottom of his green jacket.

He slumped his shoulders and began making his way through the festival, trying his best to avoid crashing into or otherwise hindering any of the people walking by. He noticed Reggie, Miko and Fin walking together from the corner of his eye, causing the boy to jump back in shock.

Normally he would be happy to see Reggie, the two were a lot alike and they got along well together. Yet he was ashamed. Even after Reggie helped him back at the start of the year he still hadn't been able to grow, he was still useless on his own.

Compared to him Reggie was still far ahead. The two weren't exactly the best, but Reggie was clearly the most well known and he had only gotten stronger since the start of the year.

He lowered his gaze as much as he could while camouflaging with the crowd. If the other noticed him then he wouldn't know how to react.

His nerves grew more as he walked past them before they were coupled with certain unease. Why was he hiding? If Reggie was his friend then why would he wants to get away from him so much?

The questions that filled his head weren't cleared by the slight sense of relief after he had gotten out of their proximity. Matthew stared at the trio's backs. They seemed to be talking and laughing about something, particularly Fin who had put an arm around Reggie and was causing the other boy to laugh.

Matthew frowned at this before turning around once more and gritting his teeth in frustration.

"You don't seem happy, huh pipsqueak?" Matthew raised his head before turning towards the sound of the sudden noise. A shocked expression crossed his face when he noticed Sax standing not too far from him.

Matthew and Reggie had been able to fend him off before, but now he was alone, alone and unsure of what to do with himself. "What do you want?" Matthew asked with feigned calmness.

Sax smiled at this before sighing. "Don't worry; I'm not here to torture you or anything. Rather it seems like you're already going through that," the comment made more of Matthew's fear come out as he looked away from Sax. "I'm right aren't I?"

Sax proceeded to look around before signaling towards the forest. "Why don't you come with me for now?"

"What do you want?" Matthew stammered, moving a step back.

"I wasn't to help you," Sax replied nonchalantly. "I'm sure you want some help right? To stop feeling so weak."

Matthew opened his eyes wide before biting his lip in frustration. He wanted to refute that statement but knew that it would've been useless. "You're a really unlucky fellow," Sax stated. "I bet you've been teased your whole life, not just by me either," he grinned sheepishly. "I heard your parents transferred you here because they're too busy with their own work to properly look out for you too."

"Wa-how did you know that!?” Matthew yelled, earning a few gazes from the people around them.

"I have my ways," Sax replied innocently. "Listen, just follow me okay? We can talk while we walk. Plus, like I said, I can help you get stronger," he moved his head slightly towards the direction where Reggie and the others had gone through. "You could stand at that level instead of groveling on the ground."

Something about that statement rang true in Matthew, making him follow after the now walking Sax as if his body was moving on its own.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault you're in such a competitive place," Sax said as the two walked further away from the booths and the sound of the festival. "If you're not strong then you don't really matter. The Enforcers are the ones leading this year and those guys will be the ones leading next year," he explained methodically.

Sax turned to Matthew once they were away from the festival, causing the light of the setting sun to fall on his back and cast a shadow over him. "But someone told me something that made me think. Why do we have to let them walk over us like that? Just cause they win a couple battles or stand out doesn't mean anything."

He slid his hand into his pocket before taking it out once more, covering the contents in his hand with a fist. "Here's the solution to that issue," he held his hand in front of Matthew before opening it, revealing a red oval-shaped pill.

"Are you offering me drugs!?" Matthew asked in confusion and surprise as he stepped back, even more worried now about what Sax had in mind.

"It's not a drug," Sax shook his head immediately. "...well, technically. See what this does is that it increases your perceptive and mental abilities."

"You're not going to say some bullshit like it allows you to use more than 10% of your brain right?"

"No! Even I know that's dumb," Sax argued. "This pill increases your focus, control and senses, it also increases your link with a Pokemon during battle."

"How do you know all this? Who even gave you that drug?" Matthew asked with uncertainty.

"I can't really say, but I can assure you it works. I've tried it myself after all," Sax said simply as he stared at Matthew's hesitant figure. "The way I see it is that you can either say no or you can take it."

Matthew looked at the pill. He didn't trust Sax that much was for sure. Yet he was still curious of the effects and felt like maybe it would be best for him to use it, at least if it allowed him to walk closer to that person, to stand at the same level.

He stared at the red pill carefully before reluctantly stretching out his hand. "Why are you helping me though?" He asked, leaving his hand hanging in the air.

"It could've been anyone really, you're not the only one today and I'm not the only one doing this," Sax shrugged.

Matthew slowly grabbed the pill from Sax, glancing down at it before looking back at Sax. "Don't worry, I know we don't get along but you can trust me on this one," he said in a sincere reassuring tone. "I'm annoyed at all of this too, so I just wanted to help."

Matthew didn't say anything, he didn't want to say anything, instead he turned around silently and began walking back without letting go of his grip on the pill.

"Good, I hope that kid can kick some ass," Sax snickered. "It'll be fun."

He noticed a familiar face from the corner of his eye. Allison was walking through a different path with only a patch of trees dividing them. "She's heading to the forest."

Seeing her make Sax remember his loss to her, making his frustration go and his fist clench. He scooped another red pill from his pocket as he glared at Allison. "I'll see where she goes, but I'll be sure to get my revenge this time," he groaned as he swallowed the pill.

***

Reggie, Miko and Fin had stopped by a small contest stage that had been set up for the students. Multiple rows of benches were set up overlooking the stage.

The audience clapped happily, their gazes on the stage as they faced a cheering Marie who was giving polite curtseys to the audience. "As the winner of our special end of the year Contest, Miss Marie Star will receive a total of 200 tokens!" The announcer yelled out, making the crowd clap harder in return.

After Marie had gotten down from the stage she was greeted by Jack, who walked over and kissed her right away before smiling at the girl. "You were great!" He exclaimed proudly.

"Thanks," Marie nodded her was gently before chuckling at Jack's reaction. "It's been a while since I was in a contest, so I was afraid I had lost my practice."

"Well you clearly haven't," Jack replied with a gentle smile before adjusting his glasses. "I might have to ask for some pointers, that last move could work in a battle as well."

"Well, I don't teach for cheap," Marie teased. "But anyways, since I got all these tokens how about we go eat something."

"Oh, that sounds gr-"

"We would love to go eat!" Jack groaned in annoyance once he heard Fin'a voice, only for the person in question to appear from behind him along with Reggie and Miko.

"That performance was amazing Marie!" Miko congratulated before giving Marie a quick hug. "You really killed it.

"Thanks," Marie replied modestly as her cheerful smile widened.

"Yeah, we were actually going to eat so if you guys don't mind," Jack said as he glared at Fin.

"It's okay Jack," Marie stated. "We have enough for everyone."

"But we just had fried chicken," Reggie pointed out hesitantly, only to receive flares from both Fin and Miko.

"That was just a snack please!" Fin said with a laugh. "Anyways, let's go for the main course."

"Chi!" Chigon exclaimed happily from Reggie's shoulder.

"Well, I guess if he agrees," Reggie sighed.

"You guys have great timing though," Jack groan lightly.

"Come on Jack, I mean it's been a long time since it's been just the five of us," Marie commented with an air of nostalgia in her voice.

"You're forgetting about Jordan," Fin said with a pout. "I miss my slurpee buddy. Where did he even transfer anyways?" He asked, turning to look at Reggie.

"I told you before, I don't know. I mean yeah we were roommates but we didn't really keep in contact much," Reggie shrugged. He did have to admit he felt a little bad for saying that about his old roommate though. "Then at the end of the year he just suddenly stopped replying."

"That's odd," Fin said silently.

"Yeah. Now that you says it, our group has gotten really big since Valerie transferred late last year," Miko noted while scratching her chin.

Reggie looked ahead and noticed the arena where the Enforcers had been accepting challenges and heard multiple crashes and roars coming from it. "Looks like those Enforcer guys are having a tough time," Jack said with surprise.

"I wonder who they're battling?" Reggie wondered with curiosity as the group approached the field.

Once the group made it to the field they were greeted by a strange and shocking sight. Standing on the center of the field were a Liepard and an Empleon going against each other.

Keith stood behind Empoleon, showing an unfamiliar expression for him, frustration.

What shocked Reggie and the others the most was when they saw Matthew on the other side. The boy seemed oddly serious and he was staring intently at Keith, almost as if nothing else mattered.

"How come Matthew is going on against Keith?" Miko asked. She sounded boring, especially as she noticed Matthew's uncharacteristic expression.

"I have no idea," Reggie replied. He did however feel a low growl come from Chigon, something that made Reggie feel even more uneasy.

"Liepard charge forward!" Matthew roared ferociously as his Liepard began to stride towards the armored water type, it's fangs bared.

"Use Bubble Beam!" Keith countered immediately.

"Substitute!"

Empleon executed the command it had been given and fired a barrage of bubbles at Liepard. The bubbles successfully hit their mark but caused Liepard's body to pop, letting out a cloud of smoke and a green colored doll in its place.

"Now Fury Swipes!" Grabbing his chance, Matthew made Liepard charge forward and began slashing down on Empoleon; who was desperately shielding itself with it's wings.

Empoleon's wing took on a metallic hue, this allowed the water type to strike back and take a stab at the leopard-like Pokemon.

Matthew's glare on Empoleon intensified when he saw this. "Move through that and use Thunder Wave!"

Liepard was able to dodge the slash, showing an overpowering agility as it jumped on top of Empoleon's wing and proceeded to fire an electrical wave that course through the wincing penguin.

"Damn it," Keith bit his finger lightly. He wasn't normally cornered. He was always able to find a way to predict his opponent's moves, yet this time it was different, Matthew and Liepard were performing in a way that went completely against his predictions.

"It's almost like a beast don't you think," Jack notes from the crowd. "Him and his Pokemon are acting like senseless beasts, attacking in the spur of the moment as if they were fighting for their life."

"Now use Shadow Claw and Night Slash!" Matthew roared once more as his Pokemon began to slash down at the immobilized Empoleon with both of its claws surrounding themselves in deep black energy.

"Let's finish this! Roc-augghh!" Matthew let out a loud wail right as be was about to make his next command. He put his hands to his head, making as much pressure as he could.

He panted and groaned, his face falling on the floor at the same time he fell to his knees.

Reggie ran into the battlefield as soon as he saw Matthew on his knees, not caring for his friend's calls to be careful.

"Matthew! What's wrong!?" He exclaimed with deep concern as he slid to his knees next to Matthew.

Matthew didn't reply, he just kept looking down at the floor and letting out painful grunts.

"Chi!" Chigon growled as it jumped in between Reggie and Matthew, making his trainer jump back in surprise.

Reggie was about to scold Chigon for intervening but was stopped by Matthew's own growling sounds as he stood up from the floor.

He heard similar sounds coming from Liepard but didn't bother to look; instead he stared with dear as Matthew stood over him, canines bared and slit predatory eyes that glared down at Reggie.

"...Matthew?" He said shakily.

To be Continued...

End of chapter 46
Next Time: Sin Part 2: Struggle


Extra: Gift

Spoiler

Brendan had his face buried in his hands as he sat down alone in his office. The previous night a loud explosion had gone off in Kin Island and the result of it had caused the general atmosphere of the island to become tense.

He gritted his teeth in frustration, mentally kicking himself for failing to notice any intruders even with all of the time he had spent checking every corner of the island. Alas, he knew that there wasn’t much he could do now but prepared.

His mind was taken out of his thoughts by a hesitant knock on the door, causing him to turn towards the direction of the wooden doors to see Miko sticking her head in nervously. “You wanted to see me principal?” she asked carefully as she walked in.

“Hey,” Brendan greeted, a wide smile on his face, the complete opposite of how he actually felt at the moment. “Sorry I called you here so suddenly, I mean between you celebrating your victory and this whole thing I didn’t get a chance to give you my congratulations,” he apologized cordially.

“Yeah, everyone is really worried out there,” Miko pointed out, her concern showing on her face. Brendan didn’t reply to her though, instead he motioned towards a small wooden box that was sitting at the edge of his desk. Miko noticed the box, her eyes falling on it curiously as she walked over. “What’s this?” she asked hesitantly, her eyes meeting the principal’s.

“It’s a gift,” Brendan stated, his smile wiping away as his determined eyes met Miko. “Since you’re a prefect now I figured you should have something to help protect this school with.”

“But I-“

“You’re the only one I could give this to,” Brendan nodded his head gently. “Just save it for a rainy day for now…just in case.”

“What is it though?”

“I told you, a gift,” Brendan laughed. “Though you can also call it a fighting chance.”

Comments:

Spoiler

And so here begins the Sin arc, the arc I've been waiting over a year to reach. This is what all the hinting at Noah in the last few chapters have been for and I'm glad to finally be here. I do have to admit I kind of laughed at myself with how this chapter ended up feeling like one of those after school specials about drugs and stuff, but I thought it matched well with this being a story taking place in a school.

Originally the arc was planned to have 3 chapters but...I had too much planned so it's instead going to be 5, I'll also be doing commentary like this at the end of the chapters to point out any trivia and things like that.

Also on that note. I love Basil and Olive xD they're basically background characters really but I actually really love writing them (don't worry, they're staying where they are) I was actually wondering if it was wrong of me to give Allison the only girl in the fic that openly likes to battle a hobby that's usually associated with girls but then I remembred that most professional chefs are actually men so...cooking is not a bad thing damn it because food is good!

 

[diamondpearl876]

He couldn't see anything around him, only what he could detail as a piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes.

I actually quite like the use of the word "detail" rather than just saying he felt the cloth over his eyes.

"We weren't rocket grunts in our prime for being silly and quirky."

Because being a rocket grunt is the highest achievement you can get to in life, am I right?

"I-I was so-so scared d-d-dad!" Kevin stuttered and cried loudly as he tightened the hold of his neck.

"It's okay son," his father replied soothingly as he hugged and patted his son's back. "You're okay now."

I love cute little daddy-son moments. Never mind the fact that Kevin's dad just threatened a guy.

"It's true that I'm not going kill you, but don't think that I'll leave you alone. No, I'm going to be keeping my eyes on you in ways you don't even know, and if you even try something like this again...well, you'll be those guys,"

You shouldn't have asked me to review when I was tired. All I thought when I read this was... "Kevin's dad sounds like Santa." :C

They also set up Pokemon to guard the island as a measure to make sure that the students didn't roam around.

Pokemon guards... That ought to scare anyone off.

Had it been a battle then there would be a lot more rubble and it would look messier, instead everything was blown clean off, meaning it must've been done by a single attack."

Well, a single attack from a pokemon battle could have done it, then, to be fair. Might wanna say a "deliberate" attack or a "planned" attack. ...Or maybe I'm missing something.

"Pffft, I'm sure they're just trying their-pffft," Tyson said while trying to stifle a laugh.

LOL, is that what "pffft" means when you use it on Skype all the time? Get outta here.

"But someone told me something that made me think. Why do we have to let them walk over us like that? Just cause they win a couple battles or stand out doesn't mean anything."

but what if Matthew became the villain of this arc

"But we just had fried chicken," Reggie pointed out hesitantly, only to receive flares from both Fin and Miko.

flares

like glares, but with fire

"But we just had fried chicken," Reggie pointed out hesitantly, only to receive flares from both Fin and Miko.

"That was just a snack please!" Fin said with a laugh. "Anyways, let's go for the main course."

Can Fin be real? We'd get along. I could be Valerie.

- x -

Well, this chapter wasn't as long as I thought it was, though it still took me a while to read. Matthew being brought back is a pleasant surprise, and I'm wondering what the drug effects will be, especially if he continues to use them. (I assume it's just a type of drug you created, rather than something existing in real life. This seems like some kind of steroid, except for the mind rather than the body.) Olive and Basil are adorable also, though you made me think I was going crazy when he repeated himself. And Jack wanting to be alone with Marie? HE WAS TOTALLY OBVIOUS ABOUT IT. SO ADORABLE. We already talked about Kevin, so I'll just say I'm looking forward to more.

and what if Reggie took the drugs too

Okay, I think I'm done now. :C

 

[Flaze]

@Beth Pavell; @AetherX; @Tophat Dragoneye; @System Error; @Warrior of Fire; @Instrutilus; @Soulmaster; @Rediamond; @kintsugi; @Midorikawa; @diamondpearl876;

Chapter 47: Sin Part 2: Struggle

Valerie and Rafael made their way towards the Gyarados Aqua dorm; they were both eating snow cones in one hand while keeping their other hands together.

"Hmmmm cinnamon sprinkles are the best!" Valerie exclaimed with excitement as she took a bite out of her snow cone.

Rafael couldn't help but let out a laugh, noticing the small cinnamon spots that had been left on Valerie's nose. "I think you have a bit right here," he said before cleaning the cinnamon off.

"Wiseass," Valerie argued with embarrassment. She looked towards the dorm up ahead before glancing at Rafael once more. "I hope it's not too much trouble to come here," she said, her expression showing unease. "I know I said we could spend the day together but I wanted to check up on Claudia and her cold."

"Nah it's okay," Rafael reassured, letting out a slight chuckle. “I wanted to talk to you about something anyways."

Valerie raised an eyebrow at this. Rafael's expression had been drained of its usual tranquility; instead he looked serious and perturbed. "Okay," she replied warily, deciding to not worry about it for now.

***

"Looks like the fun is finally starting."

Noah laughed loudly as he stared into a wavering portal materialized in front of him. The portal was divided into smaller screens displaying different parts of the island.

All of the individual screens portrayed students, teachers and workers running around and screaming. Roars and explosions were heard on the other side, acting as a soothing sound for Noah’s ears.

Noah sat behind a white counter; the light of the portal being the only thing that shed light onto him in the otherwise dark room. The counter however was similar to those stationed inside the student dorms. He was writing down a message enthusiastically in an Academy Dex as he looked at the portal.

"I didn't think it'd be so easy to take over one of these dorms. I think Houndoom Dark fit me well," Noah said with a grin as he looked at the Nurse Joy and the students that had been tied and left on the corner of the room in unconsciousness.

"Did you really have to go overboard like this?" Kevin Samuels asked from behind him, his eyes turning towards the knocked out students with unease.

"Why not? It was pretty fun," Noah chuckled. "Plus I just used Hypnosis."

"I mean because supposedly you're a master of stealth. Yet not only did you do this, but you even alerted the principal of where you were," Kevin argued bitterly.

"Haha! You're right, but my plan's already in motion so I don't see why I can't have a little fun," he shrugged nonchalantly before relaxing on his chair and crossing his legs. "If you want to make space in a small pond then you have to get rid of the big fish first."

"And risk ruining your plan?" Kevin groaned. "That seems like a really idiotic thing to do to be honest."

"I really like that about you," Noah smirked.

"What?" Kevin asked in disbelief.

"It's simple," he leaned back against his chair and put his hands behind his head. "You helped me out by telling me which people I should go to for spreading the pills, like Sax for example. However, all you did was point, you didn't give any of them out or even made your presence known to those you recommended me to," he chimed in. "You're right here acting like my right hand man but even I would have no way to prove you have any involvement in this."

"And you like that?" Kevin raised an eyebrow. "I could betray you at any moment you know?"

"I do," Noah answered simply. "But at least you're honest about that possibility, even if there's a possibility you´ll betray me at least you were honest about it."

"That makes no sense," Kevin sighed.

"It’s because it goes against you’re whole deceiving act," Noah grinned as he adjusted his black hair and rubbed his hands through his long, messy black hair. "That's why it's fun."

With that he clicked his fingers and made the portal vanish, only for a Banette to materialize in its place. "You've done a good job of projecting things little guy," he said proudly before holding his hand up.

On his left hand was a black bracelet with a small rainbow stone attached to it.

"Is that a Key Stone?" Kevin asked, surprised at seeing the stone. After he said this the Banette turned around, showing a small pink stone with a black and yellow curve going down the center of it that was attached to its back.

"Yep," Noah replied casually, tapping the Key Stone with his index and middle finger.

The stone and Banette began to glow in a purple light. The light increased, forming a large purple barrier around the ghost type Pokémon.

Kevin stood in amazement as Banette let out a loud echoing scream as the barrier cracked and broke away in front of them.

Banette's appearance had changed. It gained multiple zippers across its body. One of them ran diagonally across its face, one on each hand and another one down its body. Three of the zippers were unzipped, revealing a pair of purple hands and feet.

"This little guy is the one that'll deal with that Pokedex Holder principal guy," Noah explained before turning to the Mega Banette. "Once you trap him I want you to bring him and anyone he brings along here."

Banette nodded its head as its plastered smirk increased.

Kevin looked at Noah hesitantly. "I can't believe you even lied to me," Kevin groaned. "What are those pills in the end?"

"Well you did well in not trying them," Noah confirmed. "Have you ever heard of Full Synchro?"

"No."

"It's a special ability that allows a trainer to completely connect with their Pokémon, increasing their connection and the Pokémons´ overall performance," Noah explained calmly while raising his index finger. "Only a couple of trainers have been recorded with this ability. One of them was Pokémon Master Red."

"Does that ability also make people act crazy?" Kevin asked dryly.

"I wasn't done," Noah sighed with exasperation. "The pill creates an effect similar to Full Synchro but it's also been infused with Pokérus."

Kevin began to feel uneasy when he heard this. Pokérus was a virus that had been documented years before, he didn't know much about it but he knew that the virus was known for making Pokémon go in frenzy and increasing their capabilities. The problem was that this made the Pokémon in question uncontrollable and the virus could spread just from having the infected one around other Pokémon.

"So then you infected humans with Pokérus!?" Kevin yelled as he glared at Noah'a back.

"Human and Pokémon,” Noah clarified. “It's an experiment Memento Mori's wanted to try out, though I’ll probably get scolded for doing it here," Noah said while looking at his nails. "Don't worry; the effects only last for a few hours. After that both trainer and Pokémon go back to how they used to be."

Noah grinned before putting his head against the back of the chair. He stretched it out so he could look at Kevin without having to turn around. "Of course a lot could happen in a few hours. While it raises their abilities to that of Pokémon that doesn’t make them immortal or anything, if people go too far in trying to protect themselves they could kill them."

Kevin didn't say anything; instead he just sighed, only to grin. "You guys really do go overboard."

"So you're not gonna do anything?" Noah questioned. "They're your classmates and teachers."

"That is true, but like you said I can't be proven to have been involved in this. Besides, it's not like I could do anything even if I wanted to," Kevin replied calmly as he leaned on the counter. "For now I'll just watch."

He scratched his chin in thought for a moment before smirking. “Maybe I can add some other pieces to his board. Hey grunts! Make yourselves useful.”

At the snap of his fingers a group of about ten men and woman walked out from the shadows. They were all wearing black suits and masks; they had black belts around their waists with holsters that contained guns or knives as well. “Make these hostages useful and give them some of the pills, it’ll help spread the chaos.”

***

Reggie shivered with fear, staring at Matthew's towering bestial figure. He couldn't move or do anything besides stare at his friend, or at least what his friend had become.

"Gon!" Chigon roared as it guarded its trainer, its eyes glaring at the immediate threat in front of it.

"Matthew…what's happening to you?" Reggie finally managed to ask, though his voice still broke.

He didn't get an answer.

Matthew let out a loud roar before charging forward at Reggie, managing to smack Chigon away when the Pokémon jumped in front.

Before Matthew could get any closer he was thrown against the metallic fence by a powerful water gun from Empoleon. This caused the fence to dent due to the crash.

"Are you okay Reggie!?" He heard Miko scream as she ran over to him and helped him up.

"What the hell happened to him?" Fin asked pokeball at the ready in case anything happened.

"I didn't think Pizza boy had it in him," came Tyson's voice as he and the rest of the Enforcers minus Keith walked over. That's when Reggie noticed that Keith and Empoleon were trying to stop a rampaging Liepard.

They began to hear more screams from different directions of the festival, making them all turn towards the running crowd. "Looks like the fun is over," Jack said with a frown.

"What do you think is going on?" Marie asked with a worried expression.

"None of that matters right now!" Keith yelled from where his stood, earning everyone but Reggie's attention. "Tyson, you stay here with me. I want the others to escort the students to safety with the teachers, in situations like this everyone is to gather at the main stadium at the back of the castle."

"All right," Alexa replied dutifully before looking at Reggie and his group. "You guys should follow us."

"Yeah. Come on Reggie, we have to go," Miko said softly to the still floored Reggie.

He stared at Matthew's defeated body. He knew that they had to get away but the shock of what had happened was too much.

"It's happening again," he muttered softly.

"Reggie let's go!" He heard Miko scream, causing him to finally snap out of his trance.

He looked at her for a moment, his face twitching slightly before he finally got the strength to push himself up. "It's....it's the same as last year. We're getting attacked again."

"That's not what matters right now," Miko reassured, grabbing his hand tightly. "We can worry about that after we get out."

"Yeah, let's hurry on that," Fin commented sternly. "I can hear more roars coming towards us. It's like some bad zombie movie."

***

Valerie and Rafael arrived at Valerie's dorm room in the Blastoise Aqua dorm. Rafael looked around curiously, scanning every inch of it, almost as if he was wary about something.

"Something the matter?" Valerie asked with a raised eyebrow. She was in the kitchen and had taken out a small wooden box filled with tea bags. "How do you like your tea?" She asked with a smile.

"Anything is fine really," Rafael answered cordially. He made his way to the window and looked out at the festival outside, something that confused Valerie even more.

"Anyways. You said there was something you wanted to tell me," Valerie commented, bringing Rafael back from his trance. "I'm glad we came back since it means I get to grab my camera though," she smiled brightly as she grabbed a small camera from the table. "Pictures of the festival will go splendid for the next issue of the newspaper."

"Listen," Rafael announced, causing Valerie to stop talking and turn her attention to him. "There's something I really have to tell you Valerie," dread emanated from his voice and his eyes fixed on her as if she was the only thing in the world for him.

This made Valerie step back a bit. "Just tell me already, sheesh. You're creeping me out."

Rafael groaned and began rubbing his temple in frustration at this. "I just don't know how to say it."

"I wasn't a student here before this semester," he finally spoke out. "I transferred here."

"Wait," Valerie interrupted. "Then how did you know about me and everything else, you practically knew everything that's gone on in this school."

"That's cause I didn't transfer here as a normal student," Rafael said with a more serious tone, one that made Valerie worry once more.

"Go o-"

Loud footsteps were heard not too far away from the building, alerting Valerie and Rafael. Rafael gritted his teeth, his eyes bulging out before he ran to the window once more.

"Fuck! It's still too early so why!?" He yelled in rage as he looked out the window.

"What's going on?" Valerie asked as she peeked out the window through his shoulder. She jolted right back as she looked down at the festival.

The sound of music and the light and cheerful atmosphere of the festival had now been replaced by the sound of screaming students and workers. There were two groups though. One of them was running away in fear while being led by some of the teachers while another chased after them.

This group was completely different, though. The people mixed in it ran wildly as if they were chasing prey, their speed was amazing too, allowing them to stay close to the other group without a problem.

The biggest thing that stood out about this group though was the fact that there were also Pokémon mixed into it, though they were just as mad and beast-like as the people they ran alongside of.

"What the hell is going on?" Valerie stammered, instinctively taking a picture of the sight. "Why are those people acting like that..."

It was then that she remembered what Rafael had said only a minute before, about the situation happening ahead of time. "What do you know about this!?" She yelled out in fury as she glared at her significant other, her feet moving back as she clenched her fists.

"Listen. I can't really explain right now," Rafael replied desperately. "For now just trust me okay? We need to get out of here fast."

"I'm sorry but right now you're not really earning yourself any points," Valerie said with a frown. "But I'm not dumb enough to act stubborn about this right now, so I'll trust you for now...barely."

"That's good enough for me," Rafael nodded his head before running to the door and throwing it open. "Let's get going then."

"Wait! We have to get Claudia first," Valerie called out, quickly running to the room right in front of hers.

She flung the door open immediately, though she did wonder why it wasn't locked. Once she walked into the room she was greeted by a shrieking Claudia.

Valerie looked to the other side of the room, with Claudia standing right against the window as she covered her body with a curtain. "What the hell? I was changing!" She yelled in embarrassment.

"Your door wasn't locked," Valerie pointed out while stifling a laugh. "What were you changing for anyways? And why are you naked?"

"I've been in only my pajamas all day because of my cold," Claudia fidgeted as she looked away from Valerie nervously. "I was going to change because I wanted to see what was going on down there. I kept hearing weird noises."

"Yeah...we kind of have a huge emergency," Valerie replied with urgency, finally remembering the matter at hand. "Get back into your pajamas; it'll be faster than waiting for you to change."

"Okay," Claudia nodded her head, praying silently that Valerie would leave already.

"Oh, also," Valerie added. "You just totally flashed your butt to everyone on the other side of that window," she said sheepishly, closing the door quickly as she heard Claudia let out another shriek.

"I'll be on my way there but please do get this dealt with quickly," she heard Rafael say sternly. He was talking through an earpiece and had an expression that could've frozen even an ice type.
"Who are you talking to?" Valerie asked warily.

"I'll tell you later," Rafael replied dismissively, though this just made Valerie keep her distance. "You said you'd trust me."

"I also said for now, that can last as long as I see fit."

***

"Why do these things always happen to me?" Stacy yelled out in rage as she and Freed led a group of students through the run down festival grounds.

"That doesn't matter for now," Freed replied. "We have to get the students to the stadium as quickly as possible," he said as his Metagross paved the way in front of them by blasting away any possible beast-like people or Pokémon.

"What's going on though? One second everything's normal and the next we're running from a bunch of monsters," Stacy panted, quickly checking the group of students behind her.

"This must be what that damn Noah was planning," Freed bit his lip in frustration.

Hearing this Stacy reacted immediately. "Wait. Did you and the principal know about this?" She questioned. Freed looked back at her, regretful that he had allowed her to hear what he said. "Yes I heard you, now tell me."

"I can't really do that in this situation," Freed countered. “You’ve got some good insight to figure out the principal knew as well though.”

"Just keep me out of the loop again then," Stacy groaned. "I don't get this school! Everything is so out of control sometimes and weird things like this happen and yet nothing is ever done."

"Stacy this isn't the time to worry about things like this!" Freed yelled, glaring back at his girlfriend as his Metagross cleared another group.

From the corner of her eye Stacy was able to notice a female student struggling against one of the beast students. She writhed on the floor as she pushed him away, only for him to let out a roar and charge at him once more.

"Stop that!" Stacy charged forward, landing a kick on the guy and sending him crashing against one of the food stands. Stacy looked down at the frightened and trembling girl as she noticed the group they had been leading stop.

"Come on Stacy, we have to get going," she heard Freed say from behind her. She looked at him for a moment, still processing what they had been talking about.

She sighed to herself. Even if she was still irritated over being out of the loop of what was happening she knew that the safety of the students took priority. "Can you stand?" Stacy asked the girl, leaning down towards her.

"Yeah I think I ca-ugh augghh!"

The girl was about to stand up, only for her to start writhing and grunting. She put her hand to her head and growled as Freed pulled Stacy away.

"What's going on?" Stacy asked, completely dumbfounded as the girl began to lose her senses.

Before she could do anything the girl was blasted away by Metagross' psychic attack.

Stacy stared at the unconscious body in fear. All she wanted was to get another chance at teaching, yet she kept getting caught up in all sorts of weird events, once that even put her life at risk. "Let's go Freed."

"I agree," Freed nodded his head wisely before turning to the crowd. "We're going to keep going! It seems like you can get turned just from being touched so made sure to stay as close to us as possible!" He commanded.

"After this is over..." Stacy muttered silently so only Freed could hear her. "...I'm quitting."

Freed wanted to reply to her, to tell her that she shouldn't quit, to hopefully try to clear he doubts. He realized that things weren't that simple though and that their situation didn't really make it easy for them to talk. "...okay," he finally replied before he began running once.

The group wasn't running alone though. Loud footsteps began to approach them quickly from behind, signaling for them to hasten their pace. "Crap! They're going to catch up at this rate," Freed cursed under his breath.

They tried to run faster but were stopped by multiple blasts of energy, flames or other elements that began landing around them and sent everyone barreling through.

"Look out!" Freed pulled Stacy close as the two were sent flying by a Hyper Beam from one of the outraged Pokémon.

Stacy groaned loudly as she lay on the rock hard ground. Her ears rang, making it unable for her to ear properly. Her body was aching all over, leaving her numb for a few seconds.

She opened her eyes slowly, only to see Freed's body covering hers while his arms stuck firmly to her back. The thing that shocked her though was the red fluid flowing down from his forehead and falling over his right eye as well as the bruises on his face. "Are you okay Stace?" He asked weakly before sitting both her and himself up.

"You're bleeding," Stacy whispered to herself as she ran her hand through his forehead.

Freed grabbed her hand and pulled it away, his eyes staring into hers with fervor. "Now's not the time," he announced before helping her up.

The two looked at the direction they had been running from. The rampaging group of people and Pokémon stood still, waiting for their prey to make a wrong move. Freed noticed their group had dispersed, some were getting up, others were either making sure those on the floor were okay or aiding those that were still on the floor.

He then turned around, coming face to face with the castle's walls not too far ahead. If only they could move a little more they'll be able to make it safely.

"We have to go now," Stacy said desperately as she looked at Freed.

Many people had now sent out their Pokémon as well, they seemed to have given up the desire to run away; instead they were protecting everyone that stood behind them as they faced the opposing group. "Looks like they aren't willing to leave," Freed said with an amused expression.

"Are they stupid?"

"They see it as their last choice," Freed said somberly. "They think that even if we keep running they'll catch up eventually. They're right," he turned towards Stacy. "They decided to stay here and allow the rest of us to run away."

"We can't let them though!" Stacy exclaimed. "You have to tell them to stop."

The man let out a soft laugh as he turned back to his co-worker and lover. "I can't tell them not to do something I want to do myself."

Stacy's heart sank when she heard this declaration. That's when she finally noticed, glancing down she saw Freed's right leg was bleeding as well and it seemed to have twisted a bit during the blast, causing him to lift it up slightly and lean on his left one. She shook her head frantically as she glanced back at the man.

"Now, I could just have Metagross levitate us all, well that's what I'll do actually, but I'd still rather stay here."

"You can't! Don't be an idiot!" Stacy begged, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she grabbed Freed's hand tightly.

"Metagross will only have enough energy to levitate you guys a little farther away from the wall," Freed stated, ignoring his girlfriend's pleas. "Once he lowers you I want you to run with everyone else to the stadium. Stay safe."

A pinkish aura began to envelop Stacy's body as well as everyone else that stood without a Pokémon or was too injured to move. They started to lift off from the ground, though Stacy still wasn't willing to let go of his arm even as she gained more altitude. "Freed..."

Freed looked at her and smiled before pulling her back slightly, connecting his lips with hers. As he did this he felt Stacy's grip beginning to relax and took it as a chance to get away from his grip.

When she noticed this the woman yelled out, not paying attention to anything but Freed even as she and the remaining members of the group were levitated through the castle walls by Metagross.

Freed grabbed two pokeballs from his belt before releasing his Bisharp and Jellicent. "Well, we might as well do this," he said as he turned towards the direction of their opposing group.

Roars filled the air as they began charging forward at Freed's group, who tried their best to keep their ground. "I'm sorry I can't help out more this time," he said softly before facing his Pokémon. "All right guys! If we're going down then let's go down hard!"

***

Stacy and the remaining escapees had gotten over the wall and were now making their way around the castle, running through the multiple buildings and grass fields around the castle as they made their way to the closed Stadium on the back of the grounds.

Stacy panted as she tried to desperately dry the tears from her eyes. "That idiot," she sobbed. They were now running across a path made out of concrete bricks that led towards the closed ring-shaped building.

She stared at the stadium for a moment, not even noticing when the guards opened up the doors and allowed everyone else to walk in.

Her mind kept going back to Freed and his sacrifice as well as the last words she said before they separated. "Just...why am I here?" She glanced down at her hand, remembering Freed's warmth from only a few minutes before.

"Hey! You coming in or not?" She heard one of the blue suited guard yell, finally snapping out from her train of thought. Realizing that she couldn't focus on her grieve at the moment Stacy nodded her head and began heading into the stadium.

The inside of the stadium had been changed completely. The battlefield had been changed to a concrete floor instead of the usual sandy field. There were beds and blankets lying around it for those that were wounded and needed treatment, which the nurses were kindly offering. Everyone else was sitting on the bleachers.

Everyone was down cast, their faces showing just how perturbed they were from the events transporting around them, the students more so. She noticed a few teachers who had decided to try and lift their spirits up through singing, but it didn't seem like anyone had the energy to do it.

"So you made it," Stacy looked down at the battle field from the railings she was leaning against. Mr. Scott and Ms. Rose were standing on the battlefield just below her, facing her. "Where's Freed?" Scott asked with a slight frown. "Did he go with the principal?"

“No,” Stacy replied, her shoulders slouching when she recalled Freed’s fate once more. It was quickly replaced by a growing realization. She glared down at Scott and Rose, clenching the rails tighter. “You guys knew about this too didn’t you!” she screamed, causing some of the people in the bleachers to turn towards her.

“Calm down,” Rose interjected, making sure not to attract too much attention to them. “The principal only told us that something might happen this morning, we don’t know what exactly is happening and we’re not happy about it either.”

“Yeah, we’re not exactly happy to deal with a bunch of zombies while losing even more teachers and students…Tasha couldn’t make it either,” Scott added hesitantly as he turned away from the two women.

“Where’s the principal then? Shouldn’t he be here to help us out?” Stacy asked, enraged at this revelation.

“He sent us a message,” Rose explained with a sigh. “He said that he received a notification from the person behind all of this. He didn’t know why he was contacted so he went only with Kevin and told us to stand by in case anything happened,” she explained with crossed arms.

“That guy always has to do things so recklessly,” Stacy frowned.

A loud explosion went off not too far away from the stadium along with a crash that caused the floor to underneath them to shake slightly. “What’s going?” Stacy wondered, making sure not to let go of the railings.

“Do you think they could be trying to get through the walls?” Rose theorized. Hearing this Stacy turned around and began to run back the way she had come from, being followed by a few people that wanted to see what had happened as well.

Rose’s theory had been right. The raging Pokémon had now surrounded the left wall that led into the stadium. Large Pokémon such as Snorlax, Onix, Golurk and Camerupt were crashing and slamming against the wall, making small dents in it that were bound to take it down eventually. This was coupled by the crazed fighting types own attacks on the foundations as well as the elemental attacks other Pokémon were delivering.

“I thought they were supposed to be a bunch of wild beast or something,” Scott commented bitterly as he looked at the wall.

“Even beasts can settle their differences if they have a common enemy,” Stacy said, her mind still shocked by what she was seeing. “All they care about is getting to us.”

“Everyone get back inside!” she heard a female teacher scream coupled with the sound of flapping and wind breaking above them. Stacy looked upward at the group of flying types that had flown over the wall, some of them even carrying the enraged trainers.

She didn’t have time to process it before she turned around and ran back to the stadium, which was now being closed off completely from the outside. Stacy panted slowly, resting her hands on her knees and gazing down at the floor. “Just…just what can we do?”

***

Brendan and Incendio made their way through the forest as cautiously as they could, pokeballs at the ready in case they were attacked. “So the message told you that the guy had taken over the Houndoom Dark dorm?” Incendio asked while looking around the trees.

“Yeah, I can’t say I trust it completely, but that’s why I decided for us to go,” Brendan explained while clearing away some branches from in front of them.

They had decided to walk through the trees and bushes that coated the forest as opposed to going through the paths usually marked for people to walk past. This was mainly in case of any possible traps that might be set up for them. “It’s kind of funny I’m the one accompanying you when last year you and I were going for each other’s throats,” Incendio pointed out with a laugh.

“Be quiet,” Brendan replied harshly, putting his index finger against his lips. “We don’t know if they’re hearing us or anything.”

Brendan took out a red and black game-like device. It had a pair of green buttons on the right side of it along with a small pokeball-shaped wheel that was attached to the left of it. When Brendan pressed a button in the center of the wheel the screen in the middle of the device lit up quickly. “So that’s one of the famous Pokedexes. What are you going to do?” Incendio asked, noticing that Brendan seemed to be writing something on the Pokedex.

“The Academy Dexes were originally made based around the Pokedex and other communication devices,” Brenan pointed out as he typed. “Because of this connection to the Pokedex though I made a few modifications, I made it so that my Pokedex could connect and contact anyone with an Academy Dex and vice versa just like it works for us Pokedex Holders,” he explained before pocketing the device once more. “I was just alerting Keith about where we are in case something happens, though it’s mostly because I haven’t gotten a reply from Freed.”

Brendan felt Incendio stop in his tracks, causing him to stop as well and immediately assume a fighting stance. “Can you feel anything?” Brendan asked as he reached out for one of his pokeballs.

“Yeah, but it’s not clear,” Incendio answered.

Just as they were about to send out their respective Pokémon the two expert trainers were hit by a loud sound wave. The attack on their ears caused them to become disoriented and let go of their pokeballs in an attempt to cover their ears. “Fuck. It’s a Screech attack!” Incendio exclaimed.

“Come on! Let’s send the Pokémon out qui-“

Before Brendan could even finish his sentence he was hit right on the back of his neck by a passing shadow, causing his body to lose its balance before toppling down and hitting the floor. “Boss!” Incendio screamed out, only for him to be knocked out as well.

To Be Continued…

End of Chapter 47
Next Time: Sin Part 3: Counter-Attack

Spoiler

So this chapter managed to move more into what made up this arc as a whole. I'm not exactly sure if the chapter itself is the best it could've been but I'm glad that I finally got a chance to properly write Noah out since he's a fun character to write about. The Stacy and Freed scene was actually something that I hadn't actually planned, originally Freed was going to help Brendan and Incendio out after leading the crowd to safety but I thought having Freed fall would be a good way to develop Stacy.

The last thing is probably Rafael's secret. I won't reveal anything here but while this was planned since his introduction I actually aren't one hundred percent happy with the way I handled it since I barely gave him any scenes prior to this. I would've liked to showcase him more as a normal student before this so that it would have more impact, sadly we can't always have wht we want.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Valerie and Rafael made their way towards the Gyarados Aqua dorm; they were both eating snow cones in one hand while keeping their other hands together.

"Hmmmm cinnamon sprinkles are the best!" Valerie exclaimed with excitement as she took a bite out of her snow cone.

Rafael couldn't help but let out a laugh, noticing the small cinnamon spots that had been left on Valerie's nose. "I think you have a bit right here," he said before cleaning the cinnamon off.

"Wiseass," Valerie argued with embarrassment.

I already know Rafael isn't the most moral person in this story, but this scene is really cute and almost makes up for it. SIGHS Valerie's reaction is perfect too.

Roars and explosions were heard on the other side, acting as a soothing sound for Noah’s ears.

This was a pretty good piece of description right here. It really shows Noah's character.

"Did you really have to go overboard like this?" Kevin Samuels asked from behind him, his eyes turning towards the knocked out students with unease.

"Why not? It was pretty fun," Noah chuckled. "Plus I just used Hypnosis."

"I mean because supposedly you're a master of stealth. Yet not only did you do this, but you even alerted the principal of where you were," Kevin argued bitterly.

And here I thought Kevin was actually showing a change of heart. Nah, he's just mad that they got noticed. Also a good character interaction.

Banette nodded its head as its plastered smirk increased.

Banette is one of my favorite ghost-types, precisely because it can do creepy things like this. ...Basically I like your description this chapter so far.

"Don't worry; the effects only last for a few hours. After that both trainer and Pokémon go back to how they used to be."

Is it an addictive pill, though? Because if so, your logic sucks, Noah.

He looked at her for a moment, his face twitching slightly before he finally got the strength to push himself up. "It's....it's the same as last year. We're getting attacked again."

I can only imagine the torture that Reggie will go through this arc. Or maybe his character development will have changed him for the better this time around?

"Something the matter?" Valerie asked with a raised eyebrow. She was in the kitchen and had taken out a small wooden box filled with tea bags. "How do you like your tea?" She asked with a smile.

...If my dorm had had a kitchen where I lived, life would have been much better.

"I'll tell you later," Rafael replied dismissively, though this just made Valerie keep her distance. "You said you'd trust me."

"I also said for now, that can last as long as I see fit."

She's bein' sassy as hell. I like it.

I read your comments about the chapter as well as System Error's comments when I had clicked the wrong profile. I don't feel that Claudia's cold issue took up a significant amount of attention like System Error made it seem... It was perfectly appropriate for Valerie to be worried about her friend, and then you have to consider that fact that she still has no idea the full severity of the situation. So.

The Stacy and Freed scene was heartbreaking, but you're right in saying that it will develop Stacy's character. I don't imagine Freed will go down so easily, but I suppose I'll see if you really killed him off or not like you made it seem.

Rafael may not have had a lot of scenes in previous chapters, but you did introduce him and the fact that you're slowly having him reveal his secret rather than bringing it out forthright makes up for it.

 

[Flaze]

@Beth Pavell; @AetherX; @Tophat Dragoneye; @System Error; @Warrior of Fire; @Instrutilus; @Soulmaster; @Rediamond; @kintsugi; @Midorikawa; @diamondpearl876;

Welp, here goes chapter 48. I actually meant to have everything here as a part of 47 but...it got a little too long for comfort so I decided to split it off into two. I still loved what went into this chapter, though I'm not too sure on whether I executed Rafael's reveal as great as I could've done it. It was also an important chapter for developtment of anothr character that I thought needed some.

Chapter 48: Sin Part 3: Counter-Attack

Brendan opened his eyes slowly, wincing slightly when light began shining down on his still adjusting eyes. His body felt unbalanced against the wall he as resting on.

Brendan began to scan his surroundings as soon as he was able to force his eyelids open, realizing that he was sitting down and that he was restrained by ropes that had been tied around his body. The room was lit up, allowing him to detail the dorm lobby that he was now in as well as the Pokémon Center counter that was in the center of the room.

There were banners hanging over the walls of the room, showcasing a red Houndoom head letting out flames over a black background. It was the Houndoom Dark dorm, the dorm that he and Incendio had been heading to before being attacked.

Upon further look he was able to see Incendio tied on the other side of the room. He had awoken as well and lit up once he realized that Brendan had awoken.

“Oh, the big guy is finally awake huh?” Brendan heard a young, conceited voice coming from the counter. When he raised his head he came face to face with Noah, who acknowledged Brendan by raising his head slightly.

Brendan looked at the man carefully. He was wearing a black kepi over his long messy black hair. He had dark skin and wore a black vest along with a pair of black jeans; he also had a black bracelet around his wrist similar to Brendan’s own white bracelet. “So you’re the Sin huh? You’re a little younger than what I expected; you stand out a lot more too.” Brendan commented dryly.

“Thank you,” Noah replied with a hearty laugh before standing up from his seat. “I try my best to dress nicely you see,” he said while adjusting the neck of his vest. “Still I didn’t expect you to fall so easily, but I guess that’s just how good my Banette is,” he clicked his fingers, causing Mega Banette to materialize from thin air in front of Brendan.

Brendan struggled against his bindings, his eyes glaring at Noah with pure rage. “What did you do? You said you had grabbed students hostage and we kept hearing screams coming from all directions on our way here,” he spat with gritted teeth.

“I don’t have to tell you shit,” Noah said conceitedly as he leaned against his seat. “I can show you though,” he yawned before clicking his fingers once more, causing the Banette to turn into a portal. “Ghost type’s Astral Vision is the best.”

Brendan’s heart sank when he saw the image shown on the portal. Rampaging people and Pokémon were bashing and attacking the walls around the castle, their faces were devoid of any emotion aside from instinctive fury. “I always liked these type of movies, the heroes cornered by a bunch of beasts and stuff,” Noah laughed. “Yo grunts!” he yelled out towards the black suited people standing all the way in the back of the room. “One of you go get me some popcorn! The others gather around, I got something for you lazy bums to do.”

“You think this is some kind of game or something!” Brendan roared, even more enraged that before as he struggled harder against the ropes.

“What? Of course I don’t,” Noah replied with a confused expression. “A game would imply I have to do something, if anything I’ll say it’s like a movie in real life,” he shrugged. “Just relax man, if this were a game you’ll already be out of it so chill.”

“And you’re a stealth expert?” Incendio scoffed from the other side of the room, causing Noah to look at him with an inquisitive eye. “You’re just some punk-ass kid messing around; you’re going to fail for being so conceited.”

“I assume you are speaking from experience Mr. Failed Assassin,” Noah shot back, unfazed over Incendio’s words. “Don’t speak so casually, both you and that loser Siegfried have already lost this one too, not like you’re anything special.”

“You sure have a big mouth,” Incendio replied with a slight grin.

“That’s what you’d like to think I’m sure,” Noah smirked before smiling deviously at Incendio. “But I just quoted what your previous boss said.”

Incendio’s eyes opened wide after hearing his, his face had been filled with disbelief and all of the comebacks he had thought of using on Noah vanished almost instantly. “I can’t believe that,” he frowned.

“Why? cause he’s supposedly dead?” Noah asked curiously. “I guess this guy didn’t tell you then,” Noah pointed towards Brendan as he fixed his grin on Incendio. “Last year after you guys were defeated in the temple at Kin Island they did a thorough expedition of the place, they didn’t find your boss,” he declared. “You see I was sent here on a mission last year; Memento Mori got curious about what was happening so I had to scout things out. I just so happened to come upon the guy’s half dead body and from the kindness of my big beautiful heart I rescued him.”

“Is this true?” Incendio asked Brendan, who just turned away from the conversation in embarrassment. He looked down at the floor in doubt, unsure of whether to believe Noah and what that would mean for his current life. “If Zivok is alive then maybe…”

“Oh and I let him go after he healed,” Noah added shamelessly, a large toothy grin plastered on his face. “So he’s sure to be somewhere out there I believe. I’m sure you’ll want to find him, he did tell me about you. How your parents were killed and he picked and raised you from the street.”

“Shut up!” Brendan screamed, lifting and slamming his knees against the floor in protest.

“You’re such a sore loser,” Noah laughed. “But fine I’ll stop talking. Now where was I? Oh right,” he turned towards the lined up grunts and proceeded to take out a pokéball.

A Delphox emerged from the pokéball, its silver colored fur gleaming with the lights shining down from the roof and matching perfectly with the purple fur on the bottom half of its body. “I’m going to need you to help me out with some Future Sight, ten to thirty minutes should suffice,” Noah said to his Pokémon. “That’ll help me decide what my next order of business will be.”

Delphox raised its wooden staff up into the air before tapping the floor down with it once more. When it did this Noah became completely quiet yet pensive, as if he was processing something that he had just found out about. “Okay,” he said with a grin. “All right Grunts! I want you all to head towards the stadium that was shown in that portal. I want five of you to go down towards the left side and the rest down the center of the island,” he commanded as he turned towards the ten grunts. “I want you to assist the infected Pokémon and people. Go out the back door though,” he suggested as he waved the grunts away.

The glass doors that led into the lobby opened almost as soon as the grunts walked out on the other side, causing Noah to turn his attention towards the entrance. “Oh, reinforcements are here,” he said with a grin.

Both Keith and Tyson stood at the entrance with their Escavalier and Infernape in tow. Keith scanned the room, taking notice of both Incendio and Brendan and using his knowledge of the dorm to decide where to go if they needed to retreat. “So you’re the person that ruined our festivities,” he addressed formally, turning towards the usurper.

“I didn’t think Memento Mori accepted punk rockers in their ranks,” Tyson joked, though this just earned him a frown from Keith. “Anyways, let’s get right down to business shall we?”

“Two other big fishes have stepped in, this should be fun~” Noah said in a sing song voice, having both Banette and Delphox step forward in front of him.

***

Reggie, Miko, Fin, Jack, Marie, Angelo, Alexa and Zephyr had snuck through the forest, moving carefully and diligently as they tried to make their way towards the back of the castle and the stadium on the other side of the wall.

They were now standing on a small hill overlooking the back of the castle. However, what they met with was the sight of a multitude of rabid Pokémon attacking the walls desperately. Zephyr and Alexa were talking about ways in which they could go in along with Angelo as Fin overlooked the sight and the two couples stayed close to each other.

Reggie was at the back of the group, his eyes away from the events unfolding ahead of them. He was still trying to process everything that was happening, about Matthew becoming wild as well as the academy itself being overrun by rabid people and Pokémon.

They had been hit by surprise once more, just like they were the year before and just like the year before he felt that he was unable to do anything yet like he had to do something. He grabbed Miko’s hand tightly, causing his girlfriend to look at him with concern. “I know you must be scared Reggie, but it’ll be okay.”

“Chi,” Chigon whined as it faced its trainer with fallen ears.

“Ugh, we were duped so easily like this,” Fin exclaimed in frustration before stomping on the ground. Seeing this reaction allowed Reggie to see that he wasn’t the only one that felt defeated over the situation. He looked over at the Enforcers who all seemed to be just as uneasy.

“There’s not much we can do though,” Jack pointed out from where he and Marie stood. “We don’t know what or who is causing this so it’s hard to really decide how to act,” he said with the most formal tone he could muster, though Reggie was able to notice some bitterness in his voice.

“There has to be a way to beat those zombies though,” Marie scratched her chin in thought.

“Rabids,” Fin said openly, earning the rest of the group’s attention.

“Rabids? Are you giving them names?” Alexa shook her head at Fin before sighing.

“Well they’re not dead so zombie isn’t exactly accurate don’t you think?” Fin shrugged nonchalantly before pocketing his hands. “If you have better ideas then please tell me.”

“Names aside. Since we don’t know how this all started there isn’t really a way for us to solve it,” Zephyr clarified while resting her hands on her chair’s armrests. “Though it could be….”

“Do you have an idea?” Jack questioned his mentor.

“I can’t really say till I rule out the possibilities.”

A beeping sound quieted the group at that moment, the sound coming from each of the three Enforcer’s Academy Dexes. “We got a message from Keith it seems,” Alexa said, reading the message they had received carefully.

“What does it say?” Fin asked, his eyes staring at the three Enforcers sternly. They seemed uneasy to reply to this question, something that Fin and the others caught onto quickly. “If it’s any info on the situation then you better believe I’ll find out even if you don’t tell me.”

“Fin, they’re our seniors,” Miko scolded, though this didn’t deter Fin’s stance.

“I don’t give a crap. They’re graduating anyway,” Fin shot back as he glared on the seniors increased. “The principal clearly kept something secret from us and you guys doing the same will not make our situation any better.”

Zephyr stared at her watch-like Academy Dex before nodding her head in recognition. “You have a point Fang Drac,” she stated formally, earning a groan from Fin at the use of his real name. “Keith sent us a message telling us that he and Tyson were called by the principal. Apparently this whole thing is an attack by the Underground criminal syndicate Memento Mori.”

Reggie raised his head upon hearing this. He recalled the events of Celadon City and how he and Johann had to face off against a member of Memento Mori in order to rescue Chigon. Chigon seemed to have realized this as well as it fixed its gace on Zephyr, its eyes becoming serious.

“The guy that did this sent the principal his location and as thus the principal and Mr. Blaze headed over there. It seems they decided to call Keith and Tyson as back up though,” Zephyr explained carefully while reading through the message.

“Where is it?” Reggie asked, speaking for the first time since they started running away. “Where is it that the principal and Incendio went?” he asked, his tone becoming firmer this time.

“Listen, we’re not stupid,” Angelo interjected as he stared Reggie down. “We’re not going to tell you just so you can go.”

“But we should go!” Reggie yelled. He didn’t know what had come over him. He was still scared of the situation of course but he also knew that I they didn’t try to help things would just become worse. He looked at the other’s faces, noticing that they seemed just as eager as him, though still with a hint of insecurity. “I want to go.”

“Why? you don’t know how strong this guy will be,” Alexa protested. “It’s our job to look after you guys and you really don’t have a reason to risk your life for a cause you might not be able to even succeed in.”

“Yeah but…”

“I can tell you why,” Fin announced confidently. He had lost every hint of seriousness he had before, instead he seemed to be excited about the turn of events. “He wants to go beat those guys in for what they’ve done. Even if we’re not sure of just how strong they are he still wants to give it a try,” Fin walked over to Reggie and patted his shoulder slightly before smirking at the Enforcers. “And I agree with him completely.”

“You guys are a bunch of idiots.”

“So what? The way I see it it’s our own choice if we go or not,” Fin argued, standing his ground firmly. “If we want to go kill ourselves then let us, we might just succeed. Hell, we succeeded last year while you guys just guarded everyone the same way you’re doing now,” he said with conceit, marvelling at the fact he had made both Angelo and Alexa turn away. “So cut the crap and let us go.”

“Will you really go with me Fin?” Reggie asked hesitantly.

This earned him a toothy grin from his best friend before being wrapped round Fin’s right arm. “After everything we’ve gone through I’ll go with you to hell and back!”

Zephyr chuckled before nodding her head. “You do have point,” she said as she tried to hold back her laughter and fidgeted with her Academy Dex.

“You’re not seriously going to tell them right?” Angelo asked in disbelief.

“Well he’s right. If they want to pitch in then why should we deny them the chance, especially in this situation,” Zephyr admitted as both Reggie and Fin’s Academy Dexes beeped.

“Thanks Zephyr,” Fin replied. “Once this is over how about I buy you some dinner,” he said sheepishly while looking at Zephyr.

“Fin!” Jack called out.

“What? Are you saying I can’t date her because she’s in a wheelchair?” Fin raised an eyebrow before shaking his head in disappointment. “You’re so offensive sometimes.”

This just earned him a groan from Jack. “You guys do what you want, we’ll go down to the stadium with the Enforcers and solve the situation down there,” he declared before looking to Marie or confirmation and receiving a nod in return.

“All right then, shall we go?” Fin asked Reggie, who nodded his head silently before following after him.

“Wait!” Miko called out, causing Reggie to turn back to his now approaching girlfriend. “I’m going to go with you two,” she declared with a serious expression.

This made Reggie uneasy. “It’s too dangerous though.”

Miko tapped Reggie’s cheek softly, her eyes staring deep into his and making the boy even more nervous. “I don’t care how dangerous it is I’m still going to go,” she protested as she lowered her hand. “I’m going to protect you just like how you protect me,” at this she lowered her hand to his and grabbed it tightly. “I’m not the same as last year; I won’t let you bear everything by yourself.”

“That is beautiful,” Fin clapped, earning a few glares from the rest of the group at his sudden interruption. “Now let’s get going.”

***

Valerie, Claudia and Rafael made their way through the forests around the Gyarados Aqua dorm. Claudia had changed back into her grey flannel pajamas and was clinging to Valerie in embarrassment.

Rafael walked ahead of the two, though not willingly. He had decided to stay a certain distance away from them so as to not earn more of Valerie’s distrust. He glanced back at her for a moment, only to realize that she was still glaring daggers at his back. He sighed.

“You know, you could’ve used this time to tell us what’s going on right?” Valerie reminded, though her tone still sounded wary.

“I can’t, I don’t know what could happen if I get distracted,” Rafael answered dutifully, his eyes staring at the path in front of them. “We should be getting to the place everyone else is gathered at soon enough.”

“Valerie I think we can trust him,” Claudia hesitantly interrupted, earning her friend’s attention for a moment. “I mean if he wasn’t trustworthy would we have helped us out so much?” she asked insecurely.

“I don’t care about that,” Valerie shook her head, frowning. “He still lied and hasn’t said the actual truth, I can’t trust someone that can’t trust me after all,” she specified before glaring back at Rafael.

“We’re a couple one moment and the second you find out there’s something about me you don’t know I suddenly become a villain,” Rafael scoffed. “That’s rich.”

“Eyes on where you’re walking Mr. Secretive!” Valerie called out, clearly unwilling to listen to Rafael’s statements.

They heard a small rustle coming from the bushes around them, making both Valerie and Claudia step back. Rafael simply stood there, his eyes fixed on the trees as the figure behind it began to reveal itself.

The figure turned out to be figures instead as a group of five men and women walked out of the bushes and revealed themselves to the group. They were clad in full black figure hugging outfits with skeletal designs. They also wore skull helmets over their heads, leaving only their eyes visible to the group.

“Who are the Halloween Rejects?” Valerie asked, her eyes staring into Rafael as he exchanged glances with the interlopers. “Who are they!” she stated once more, her tone harsher this time.

“So you guys finally show up,” Rafael finally addressed the skeletal figures, his hands going towards his pokéball belt. “Don’t worry girls, I’ll deal with these guys,” he said calmly before taking out a Heavy Ball from his belt.

“Will you promise you will tell us what the hell is going on afterwards?” Valerie asked. Even as she stared at Rafael protecting them she still didn’t know what to think, especially with how complicated the situation was becoming.

“You can count on it,” Rafael replied before throwing the pokéball forward into the air.

Instead of going for their own pokéballs the grunts reached out for the guns that were strapped to their belts. They raised the weapons swiftly and began to fire at Rafael. Once the Heavy Ball reached its zenith it opened up, releasing a beam of light that landed in between Rafael and the bullets, successfully blocking them.

The grunts stepped back in shock as the light started to take shape before finally revealing a roaring Tyranitar that glared down upon the grunts. “You guys are in for it now!” Rafael yelled out as the grunts retreated even more. “What? You guys can’t talk or something?” he insisted. “I guess Memento Mori’s grunts are just a bunch of cowards.”

This comment seemed to have spark something on three of the grunts. They stepped in front of their cohorts and sent their own pokéballs into the air, releasing a Weezing, Glalie and Forretress in front of Tyranitar. This allowed the other two grunts to turn and sprint off.

“We can’t let them get away!” Claudia yelled from behind Valerie. She threw one of her own pokéballs into the air, releasing her Swablu. The small flying type Pokémon began flapping its cloud-like wings eagerly after the two grunts.

It glared at them, a mischievous gleam on its eye as it stretched out its beak and increased its speed with each flap. “Dragon Pulse!” Claudia commanded, giving Swablu all the incentive it needed before firing a ray of purple energy down at the ground in front of the grunts.

The blast caused from the beam was enough to push the grunts back, finally giving Swablu their attention. They shakily reached in for their pokéballs, their eyes fixed on the flying type.

Swablu wasn’t going to give them any leeway though. Without receiving a command the flying type dove down and began clawing and pecking at the grunts, flapping its wings erratically so as to startle and keeping its prey from running off as well as tossing the pokéballs away.

“That little guy sure is spunky,” Rafael grinned, throwing his right arm forward. “Tyranitar, use Fire Blast!” Tyranitar raised its neck before firing a jet of seething hot flames down at is three enemies. The grunts were finally able to turn back to the battle in front of them, only to realize that their Pokémon had been completely surrounded by Tyranitar’s flames.

Rafael ran around Tyranitar, his feet skipping on the ground swifly as he threw himself at the grunt in the center, successfully connecting his knee with his opponent’s chest. The turn of events caused the two grunts on his side to take out their guns once more.

Rafael sidestepped quickly, his body moving out of the bullet’s path as he grabbed the arm of the grunt on his right. He yanked the arm as hard as he could before twisting it around, making the masked fellow writhe in pain as Rafael threw him against his comrade.

Rafael let out a sigh of relief before beginning to dust himself off and dispose of whatever bullets the three guns had left. “I guess aside from their leader the stealth division is nothing to write home about,” he smirked. He turned towards the remaining grunts, only to see that they had already been disposed of by Swablu; who was perched on top of one of their heads triumphantly.

Once the whole ordeal had blown off Valerie and Claudia approached Rafael once more. Valerie stared at him deeply, she still seemed hesitant on whether to trust him or not but her defenses had decreased slightly. “I have to admit that was pretty great. Now can I get an explanation for all of this and those skills you just showed?”

“Well, I guess since I was originally going to reveal it anyways,” Rafael replied, sighing and rubbing the back of his neck in thought. “Like I said, I transferred here for a reason,” he fished into his pocket before taking out a black colored card. The card had red lines that went across the top and bottom of it. On the center of the card were the letters S and A faded under white letters that showed Rafael’s information as well as a picture of him. “I’m actually a Special Agent. I was sent here on an undercover mission after it was reported that Memento Mori might get involved with this school.”

Valerie stared at the card in thought, unfazed by his words. Claudia was different though; she had stepped out from behind Valerie and was staring at the card in shock. “A Special Agent?” she asked curiously.

“Special Agents,” Valerie pointed out, getting Claudia’s attention back. “They are highly trained Trainers employed by the Agency, a private organization that deals with multiple missions from around the world. They were originally founded by Pokedex Holders Silver and Dawn around 10 years ago,” she explained, her eyes never deterring from the license card. “Unlike the Interpol which answers to the United Alliance and the Rangers who operate solely on regions that have affiliated with their organization, Special Agents operate all around the world replying only to the Agency.”

“That explains how he was able to beat those guys so easily,” Claudia said in amazement. “I can’t believe you were one all along Rafael.”

“I’m still only a B rank,” Rafael chuckled, enjoying Claudia’s reaction. “I’m more into hand to hand combat than battling so I’m glad I only had to face off against a bunch of weak grunts.”

He looked at Valerie once more, his expression becoming still as he and his girlfriend exchanged glances at each other. Valerie moved her head back before sighing. “I guess it makes sense if you think about it,” she admitted. “I still don’t like the fact that you kept it a secret for so long. On that note why did you even decide to date me? You were sent on a mission and instead of doing your job you get distracted.”

Rafael jumped slightly at this declaration, realization running across his face as he turned away from Valerie in embarrassment. “Well I did have my reasons,” she replied nervously. “The Agency has many ways of getting information and I was told that you and your friends had been involved in the events that occurred last year as well as the Black Knights attack on Castelia late last year,” he explained, finally regaining his composure. “I was told to make contact with you guys in case the same thing might happen again. As to why I approached you….well…”

“Oooooh I get it,” Valerie said sheepishly, trying to hold back her laughter as she walked closer to Rafael. “You just couldn’t resist my charms!” she announced slyly, flicking her hair aside. “You were only supposed to become our friend but you just couldn’t help yourself, that’s why you tried to impress me so much back then.”

“Ugh,” Rafael groaned, turning away from Valerie. “I can’t deny that,” he felt Valerie patting his shoulder lightly, making him face her once more. “Do you hate me though?”

“Right now isn’t really the time to focus on that,” Valerie shook her head, a determined expression crossing her face. “First I want to know what’s actually going on here.”

Rafael nodded his head in agreement before looking down at the defeated grunts. “I don’t know why Memento Mori came here, what I do know is that this operation is being led by one of their higher ups. A few weeks ago I was going around the island in search of information and saw one of the students here being approached by him, after the two of them met each other I approached this student in the hopes that he could help me out.”

“He agreed and worked as my informant over the next few weeks,” He stopped for a moment to look at Valerie and Claudia, hoping that they were understanding what he was saying. Claudia seemed a bit confused but was focusing on him and Valerie scratched her chin in thought, her eyes showing that she as processing everything he was saying. “Apparently Memento Mori has been working on these pills, all my informant told me is that they helped increase the connection between a Trainer and their Pokémon as well as their capabilities,” he then glanced down at the grunts before pointing at them. “I looked further into it with the Agency and found out that the Biological Research Center near Lumiose City had been raided a few months ago. The lab was known for experimenting with viruses and had recently begun to work with the Pokérus virus.”

Valerie’s eyes opened wide when she heard this, almost as if something had clicked in her head. “So they stole the Pokérus samples.”

“Yep, we assume that Memento Mori adapted the virus so that it could work on humans and infused it on the pill. I assume that what my informant told me is true in the sense that both Pokémon and humans are infected even if only the human ingests it, I don’t know how this could happen though,” he sighed in frustration, scratching the back of his head in thought. “But it makes sense that the people and Pokémon going on a rampage are infected by Pokérus.”

“Then we have to go help out don’t we?” Valerie pointed out with worry. “There’s gotta be something we can do after all.”

“Yeah, I called reinforcements a few days ago but they still haven’t arrived, I spoke to them on the phone earlier and they said they should be arriving soon but…I can’t say how long that’ll take,” he turned away once more, this time out of hesitation. “I’m sorry for getting you guys mixed up in all of this.”

“I said this isn’t the time to worry about this,” Valerie reminded as she looked down at the grunts. “Let’s tie up these guys and get going, we have to tell the others about this.”

***

Things inside the stadium had gotten grim since the refugees realized the walls were being attacked. The nurses were still trying their best to tend to the wounded but they no longer seemed into it, they walked around with worried faces and shaky voice while trying their best to hide their feelings from their patients.

The teachers and students that had remained optimistic prior to the revelation were now sitting quietly either on the bleachers or the floor around the stadium without a single trace of hope on their faces.

Stacy was different though, after they had seen the Rabids trying to break through the wall she had decided to instead note down everything they knew about it. She still felt bad over what happened to Freed and didn’t know if they could really solve the issue but she also figured that they had to give it a try.

She raised her head from her notes and turned towards Scott and Rose who were conversing with some of the other teachers, their faces as distraught as anyone else's. It seemed like they hadn’t received any word from the principal in a while so they were having trouble deciding what to do.

Stacy looked at the floor for a moment before nodding her head, trying to summon up her own confidence. She pushed herself off the wall and began walking towards the two. “I think I may have come up with something for what is going on,” she called out to the two teachers.

“Huh? How could you even do that?” Scott asked in disbelief as he frowned at Stacy. “Weren’t you crying a few minutes ago or something?”

Stacy frowned at this, trying her best to hold her tongue and offending the man. “Before I can answer to that I need to do something,” she said before she began scanning the stadium, trying her best to detail where everyone was. “Everyone listen up!” she yelled out, making everyone in the stadium turn their gazes at her with mixed emotions.

Chills went up her spine when she felt all of their gazes on her, she knew that she had to force those feelings aside though, especially if he wanted to help solve the issue at hand. “I’m sure you all know that we’re in a dire situation, but if you want to help us figure out what’s going on and how to deal with it I’m going to need your help!” she announced, her voice as loud as she could muster. “If there’s anybody, I repeat, anybody who might have an idea of what’s going on please speak up!”

She waited for a few seconds, clasping her hands together nervously and looking around the room once more. Alas no one raised their hand or said anything, or rather they seemed hesitant to at least. “Please! Neither I or anyone else will judge you; we will understand if you just explain things!” she said desperately. “We’re the only people left as far as we know so we should do everything we can to assure our safety!”

“How is that going to help,” Mr. Scott scoffed, causing Stacy to throw her arms back and glare at him due to his rudeness.

Realizing that no one was giving up Stacy decided to step back, only to hear footsteps approaching her and the teachers from behind. She turned around, coming into contact with a brunette boy wearing a Pikachu Thunder uniform. He was glancing around erratically with every step, not liking the fact he had become the center of attention.

The boy hesitated for a moment before sighing and addressing Stacy once more. “I may have an idea,” he said before digging into his jacket pocket. A second later he took out a red pill and held it in front of Stacy, who in turn grabbed it from his hand. “Earlier this afternoon me and my friend were approached by another student. He said that this pill was able to make us better trainers or something like that and gave me and my friend one each,” he explained nervously, noticing that everyone in the room had become more focused on what he was saying. “I didn’t trust it, my friend was different though…he took his pill and….he turned into that, for some reason his Pokémon went crazy too.”

“And you decided to tell us just now!” Mr. Scott roared, making the boy grimace. “You could’ve come to one of us about this or even tell someone else you little-“

“That’s enough, we’re not exactly in this situation thanks to honesty either,” Stacy stepped in between the boy and Mr. Scott as she glared into the man’s eyes. The two exchanged glances for a few seconds before Mr. Scott finally backed down. “Why didn’t you say anything though?” Stacy asked kindly, turning towards the boy and patting his shoulders.

“Because up until my friend began reacting like that I was planning to take it too,” the boy replied shyly. “We kept getting our asses kicked at battles and were tired of the fact that we weren’t getting anywhere so…well, we figured that we might as well try it out and see if it made things better.”

Stacy listened carefully, nodding her head as the boy spoke and gave his account on what had happened. She could understand what he meant, in an academy that housed so many great students it was understandable for people to feel like they couldn’t stand on the same level; something she herself thought as well. “I get it,” she replied as she smiled at the boy. “Thanks for telling me; you can sit down now,” she patted his cheek and sent him off before turning to the teachers once more.

“With that in mind, I think I may have an idea of what’s going on with all those people and Pokémon,” Stacy announced with a confident smile. “The people infected by this seem to have gained an increase in strength, speed, endurance and recovery similar to that of Pokémon, they have also become enraged to the point of losing their humanity and control though,” she noted while raising her index finger. “I don’t know how it started for the Pokémon but I believe that these pills caused a human version of Pokérus on the people that have consumed the pills.”

“Wait a second here. How do you even know it’s Pokérus?” Ms. Rose asked, dumbfounded. “I mean supposedly Pokérus only affects Pokémon and last time I checked it didn’t take so long and it wasn’t so easy for it to spread, this thing on the other hand is spreading by touch.”

“It’s true that Pokérus only affects Pokémon. However, it’s not impossible for it to mutate or be mutated so that it can affect humans,” Stacy answered formally. “As for how its spreads, we have to remember that Pokémon in general are a lot stronger and have better immune systems than humans, it might take a lot of exposure for a Pokémon to be infected but we don’t know how it could affect a human’s weaker system.”

“How can you be so sure though?” Scott added bitterly crossing his arms and looking at Stacy. “That doesn’t explain how the Pokémon began acting that way as well or how to deal with the situation.”

“I am a Biology teacher in one of the most recognized schools in the world just so you know,” Stacy shot back dryly. “And I don’t know how the Pokémon are affected but I do have an idea of how to deal with them. Assuming their healing mechanism is now similar to that of Pokémon then our best bet is to just knock them out,” she stated bluntly, earning a few shocked expressions from the people around her, though she assumed it was because of her decision to attack humans just like that.

“I’m sure a Battle teacher would know this,” she emphasized to Scott. “When a Pokémon faints their body begins a recovery process, this process can take up to 5 to 10 hours and remains uninterrupted as long as the Pokémon isn’t attacked any longer. Assuming that the people infected really are like Pokémon now then we shouldn’t have anything to worry about as long as we just knock them out.”

There were some hushed whispers going around the stadium now, some people had a renewed hope for their situation while others seemed unsure or even terrified about Stacy was implying. Mr. Scott himself was scratching his chin in thought as he processed what Stacy had said. “Then we’re going to need a plan in order to get out of here,” he looked at Stacy, remorse clear in his eye. “I’m sorry if I’ve been rude though, I’m not really good under this kind of pressure.”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t exactly in my best place a few minutes ago,” Stacy replied cordially. “But yeah, we need a good plan if we want to get out of here…I may have an idea though.”

“Oh,” Mr. Scott raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “I’m all ears.”

***

Allison panted loudly as she ran through the forest. Her legs ached and her heart was practically bursting from her chest as she did her best to increase her pace. She looked at the trees ahead, cursing at the fact that night had already fallen and she couldn’t see the way.

After she had left the festival to deliver food to Darren, Allison was approached by Sax, the same trainer she had defeated the other day. Originally she upheld her stance on not battling him since she had been forbidden to but after being asked to for so long she couldn’t help it.

That’s when things changed though. Shortly after Sax and her battle started he began acting strange, he started becoming wild and acting like an uncontrolled beast, this seemed to spread to his Pokémon for some reason as well.

Allison didn’t understand what had happened but she knew that she had to do something, she had tried to fight him originally but it ended up causing her own Raichu to go in a frenzy. Not knowing what was happening she returned her Pokémon and opted for running away, afraid of having anymore of her Pokémon or even herself becoming like that.

She heard a buzzing sound approaching her, causing her to stop in her tracks, panting as silently as she could. She tried to see which direction the buzzing was coming from, she wasn’t able to make out anything though, instead it seemed as if the sound came from every direction.

Allison’s chest heaved as she closed her eyes in an attempt to gather herself and recover her composure. When she did this she was finally able to hear it, the rustling trees as they were blown away not too far from her, they were coming from the east.

Once she realized this she turned to the opposite direction and began running once more, hoping that she would be able to reach the Houndoom Dark dorm soon enough and get some help.

Then something she hadn’t foreseen occurred. The ground below her shook slightly as she ran, alerting Allison of something else. Unfortunately before she had a chance to react she was treated to the ground in front of her erupting loudly, sending her falling back against the floor as a large Drapion towered over her, roaring wildly.

She put her hands to her ears as she desperately struggled to stand up, only to notice the Ninjask that was now hovering above her on the other side. Her hand went to her pokeball instinctively, yet stopped once she recalled the fate of her previous Pokémon. “I can’t let more of them go through that,” she muttered in defeat as she lowered her hand.

She then saw a crazed Sax standing to her right, his wild eyes glaring down at her as he bared his teeth. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know if she could do anything to begin with now that she was cornered from all sides.

Sax leaned back before jumping forward, pushing his legs with all his strength and jumping straight at Allison, who was trying her best to crawl back and avoid the charge.

However, before Sax could land his charge on her he was blasted by a jet of flames, sending his body cashing against a tree and falling back on the floor. The two Pokémon and Allison turned towards the direction of the flame.

Silent footsteps were heard from behind Allison, footsteps she recognized and in turn made a smile cross her face. “I don’t know what’s going on but you better be thankful for this,” Darren replied with annoyance as he, his Charizard, Houndoom and Seviper walked out into the moonlight.

***

Reggie, Miko and Fin were now approaching the Houndoom Dark dorm after separating from the rest of their group with Miko’s Blaziken and Fin’s Floatzel running in front of them for defense. “Don’t you think things are going a little too swell for us,” Miko stated, fixing her eyes on the road ahead. “Memento Mori took over the Houndoom Dark dorm, I assumed they would have more people scattered around the area.”

“Don’t jinx it Miko,” Fin groaned before shaking his head at her. “But I guess you have a point, either way we came prepared for anything right,” he said with a confident smirk before glancing at Reggie. Unlike Fin and Miko, Reggie still seemed a bit nervous about the situation, as if he was still coming to terms with his decision. “Everything okay there dude?”

“Uh…yeah I’m fine, just, you know,” Reggie replied incoherently before turning back to the road ahead. He glanced at Chigon for a moment, noticing that the toy dragon seemed a lot more determined than he was.

They didn’t run for much longer though as Fin suddenly ran ahead of the two and next to his Floatzel. “Aqua Ring!” he screamed, making both Reggie and Miko duck desperately in order to avoid the large ring of water that Floatzel released by spinning around in the air; Blaziken just jumped over it without an issue.

“What the hell Fin! Why did you do that so randomly?” Miko asked, infuriated and shaking her fist at her friend. Fin didn’t reply though, instead his glare was fixed at the trees to their side. “Fin?” she asked again.

“Reggie, I just realized something,” Fin pointed out, turning to smile brightly at Reggie. “Why don’t you and Miko go off on your Pidgeot, we really should’ve used our flying types from the start.”

Miko looked at the trees once more, nodding her head quietly before looking at Reggie, who proceeded to release and jump on his Pidgeot. “Be careful Fin,” Reggie commented, receiving a thumbs up from his friend.

Pidgeot stretched out it wings before soaring into the sky with one stroke with both Trainers in tow. The flying type looked down at the forest quickly before turning around and flapping its wings towards where it Trainer guided it too.

Once the flying type was out of sight Fin let out a sigh. “I’m so disappointed, I thought you guys would attack them while they flew off and I’ll get a chance to look cool saving them,” he replied half-heartedly.

Memento Mori grunts began walking out from the darkness of the forest, their eyes never turning away from Fin. “Well, no matter,” Fin grinned, showing his now slightly longer fangs. “At least I can have some fun trying this out,” he snickered, raising his gaze to show his now amber and slit eyes to the grunts.

***

Reggie felt the wind of the night hit against his face, blowing his hair around and making it hard for him to look ahead. He turned back to Miko, who seemed to be having a similar problem. “What’s the plan!?” she asked as her hair was blown back.

“I honestly have no idea,” Reggie replied, unsure. “My original plan was to get there and help Keith and Tyson out but if things turn to the worst I don’t know,” he said before glancing at Chigon, who was standing on top of Pidgeot’s head. “At least I’m glad I have some Crystals in my pocket to make Chigon evolve.”

“Then why did you decide to come help them out?” Miko asked. “I mean I’ll still help you of course, but if we don’t have a proper plan we’re bound to fail.”

“I don’t know,” Reggie shook his head, now looking down at the ground. “I guess something kept telling me kept telling me I had to come give a hand, even if I wasn’t sure how,” he chuckled slightly. “Maybe I’m developing a hero complex or something like that…or maybe,” he looked forward at Chigon. “It was something else that kept telling me to come here.”

Looking down once more he noticed someone on the ground that was looking up at them not too far ahead. Reggie put his squinted his eyes, detailing a Roserade Grass uniform and a familiar bond hair. “Pidgeot, land for a moment,” he ordered, surprising Miko.

Once the two landed on the ground once more they came into view with Kevin Samuels, who was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. “I knew you’d come here eventually, though I wasn’t sure if it’ll be this side,” he said coldly as he looked at Reggie and Miko.

“What are you doing here Kevin?” Miko pointed out with a worried expression. “You should be at the stadium with the others.”

Kevin didn’t reply, instead he pushed himself from the tree he was standing against and walked closer to the two, unclipping a Great Ball from his belt. He held the pokéball up, pointing it straight at the couple.

“Kevin,” Reggie gasped. “What are you doing?”

To Be Continued
Next Time: Sin Part 4: An Academy United

Spoiler

In regards to the Agency. This is actually something I got from an old RP I used to host here on the site years ago, I even had a fic with the same title a couple of years back. Originally I was going to go with the Rangers but once I thought of incorporating this idea into the equation I just couldn't help myself. Also, originally Valerie was planned to be revealed as a retired Ranger (Agent) as well but I scrapped that idea because I couldn't come up with any other situations after this one in which hat specific trait would help her character.

 

[Lugion]

Okay, so I finally decided to stop being a lazy bastard and read Chapter 18. So the Ginyu Force Enforcers have declared themselves openly. I hate Angelo so much already.

I like Alexa well enough, and Keith has a certain charisma. Tyson's kinda neat just because I see him being a sort of Vegeta to Reggie's Goku. Interested in seeing where things go from here.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Brendan opened his eyes slowly, wincing slightly when light began shining down on his still adjusting eyes. His body felt unbalanced against the wall he as resting on.

Brendan began to scan his surroundings as soon as he was able to force his eyelids open, realizing that he was sitting down and that he was restrained by ropes that had been tied around his body.

You do a good job of showing and not telling here, and the direness of the situation is clear. So good job there. I would actually NOT use the word "began," or at least use it scarcely, aka when it's important. For some reason really silly advice sticks with me, and one of those comments has been "every action has a beginning, middle and an end, and there's no reason to point them out in writing because it's redundant" or whatever. ...Someone on Bulba probably told me this, in fact.

“So you’re the Sin huh? You’re a little younger than what I expected; you stand out a lot more too.” Brendan commented dryly.

I don't know if you've read Special, but this piece of dialogue really reminded me of Ruby/Brendan from Special. I liked it a lot.

“A game would imply I have to do something, if anything I’ll say it’s like a movie in real life,” he shrugged.

Best piece of dialogue from a villain ever 2015.

“Oh and I let him go after he healed,” Noah added shamelessly, a large toothy grin plastered on his face. “So he’s sure to be somewhere out there I believe. I’m sure you’ll want to find him, he did tell me about you. How your parents were killed and he picked and raised you from the street.”

I assume this is all from Dragon's Roar. Again you do a good job of showing character's backstories without me actually having read the first story.

“There has to be a way to beat those zombies though,” Marie scratched her chin in thought.

“Rabids,” Fin said openly, earning the rest of the group’s attention.

“Rabids? Are you giving them names?” Alexa shook her head at Fin before sighing.

“Well they’re not dead so zombie isn’t exactly accurate don’t you think?” Fin shrugged nonchalantly before pocketing his hands. “If you have better ideas then please tell me.”

FIN, SHUT UP. NOW IS NOT THE TIME. Just kidding, there's always room for Fin dialogue.

“There has to be a way to beat those zombies though,” Marie scratched her chin in thought.

“Rabids,” Fin said openly, earning the rest of the group’s attention.

“Rabids? Are you giving them names?” Alexa shook her head at Fin before sighing.

“Well they’re not dead so zombie isn’t exactly accurate don’t you think?” Fin shrugged nonchalantly before pocketing his hands. “If you have better ideas then please tell me.”

Provoking the enemy isn't the best idea, Rafael! Then again, he's not quite good himself, so I'm not surprised.

“It’s true that Pokérus only affects Pokémon. However, it’s not impossible for it to mutate or be mutated so that it can affect humans,” Stacy answered formally. “As for how its spreads, we have to remember that Pokémon in general are a lot stronger and have better immune systemsthan humans, it might take a lot of exposure for a Pokémon to be infected but we don’t know how it could affect a human’s weaker system.”

Is that... plot relevance/development I see for Stacy? Nice. Though, if pokemon can deal with the pokerus virus a little more effectively, I'm not sure if I can buy them acting like feral creatures along with their trainers. Unless the mutaion specifically addresses that fact.

Allison didn’t understand what had happened but she knew that she had to do something, she had tried to fight him originally but it ended up causing her own Raichu to go in a frenzy. Not knowing what was happening she returned her Pokémon and opted for running away, afraid of having anymore of her Pokémon or even herself becoming like that.

Ah, Allison knows what's up. This is why I like her.

“I don’t know what’s going on but you better be thankful for this,” Darren replied with annoyance as he, his Charizard, Houndoom and Seviper walked out into the moonlight.

I KNOW I'M THANKFUL, DARREN! DARREN/ALLISON 4EVER

Once the flying type was out of sight Fin let out a sigh. “I’m so disappointed, I thought you guys would attack them while they flew off and I’ll get a chance to look cool saving them,” he replied half-heartedly.

Memento Mori grunts began walking out from the darkness of the forest, their eyes never turning away from Fin. “Well, no matter,” Fin grinned, showing his now slightly longer fangs. “At least I can have some fun trying this out,” he snickered, raising his gaze to show his now amber and slit eyes to the grunts.

Ah, I was wondering why Fin would suggest something like that "ride flying-types" thing out of the blue. He just wants to be the hero, huh? It fits in with his personality, at least.

Reggie felt the wind of the night hit against his face, blowing his hair around and making it hard for him to look ahead.

I feel like "the wind of the night" would sound better in this context as "the night wind"... but "the wind of the night" sounds so ominous and fucking cool that I'm gonna let you get away with it.

Kevin didn’t reply, instead he pushed himself from the tree he was standing against and walked closer to the two, unclipping a Great Ball from his belt. He held the pokéball up, pointing it straight at the couple.

“Kevin,” Reggie gasped. “What are you doing?”

KEVIN NO!!!

I'm gonna sound really weird and say I got really happy when Kevin entered the end of this chapter, even though I knew that meant bad news. I think he's starting to grow on me.

 

[Flaze]

@Beth Pavell; @AetherX; @Tophat Dragoneye; @System Error; @Warrior of Fire; @Instrutilus; @Soulmaster; @Rediamond; @kintsugi; @Midorikawa; @diamondpearl876;

All right! here's chapter 49, the third to last chapter of this story that has gone on for way too long xD I'm glad that the end is almost here though and this is a chapter that I quite enjoyed writing. Originally 49 and 50 were going to be one and the same but it ended up getting too long for comfort and I divided it.

This means that you won't get to know what happens with Reggie and Miko till the next chapter since this one gives closure to all the other ongoing events besides that one enjoy all the same though.

Chapter 49: Sin Part 4: An Academy United

“Okay so before I proceed to royally kick your asses,” Fin stated confidently, his now amber eyes looking at the Memento Mori grunts while a grin crossed his face. “I have to tell you that you’re a little too early for Halloween,” he snickered, noticing that some of the grunts had stepped closer and were clenching their fists.

“Oh, did I hit a nerve?” he mocked with a soft laugh. He unclipped two pokeballs from his belt, sending out both Dragonair and Gyarados. “I didn’t mean to, honest, it’s just that I still can’t handle these Dracowhatever genes,” he said innocently while pointing at his eyes. “They kind of make me go a little…mad to put it simply, it’s just a new ability I discovered a few months a-“

“Would you shut up!” one of the grunts, a male one for what Fin could detail, interven. His chest heaved as he turned back to his comrades. “I’m tired of hearing this guy wise cracking us, let’s just kill him already!”

“Okay…now I can kick your ass,” Fin smirked before leaping forward at the grunts, alerting them and causing them to pull out their guns and pokeballs.

Dragonair didn’t give them the chance, firing a barrage of lightning bolts down on the grunts, causing them to run back in order to avoid the attack. This left the three grunts on the front open for Fin’s assault. He threw a kick at one of them but missed.

The other two grunts aimed at him with their guns. However, just as the bullets were released Fin vanished from in front of them, appearing behind one of them and chopping down on the grunt’s neck, knocking it down with one shot.

“The fuck kind of demented freak is this guy?” the man that had spoken before called out in fear as he received a back kick straight to the face, the force of the kick being enough to make cracks on his helmet.

“I’m the fun kind!” Fin called out before proceeding to run back to his Pokemon. “Strategic retreat!” he yelled to the two before running into the forest with them.

Fin an alongside his Pokemon, being able to keep up even with Dragonair’s flying speed now. “This is fun!” He laughed merrily.

“Dra air gon air!” Dragonair protested, facing Fin sternly.

“Oh can it, I’m just stretching my limbs a little bit,” Fin rolled his eyes before looking back, noticing that the remaining grunts had released a Vigoroth, Hypno and Sudowoodo and were chasing after him. “Looks like they took the bait. Gyarados, I want you to use Surf to throw them off,” he ordered, speeding up along with Dragonair and leaving the giant serpent behind.

Gyarados roared into the air before summoning forth a large wave of water. The wave clashed against the grunts and their Pokemon, managing to push them back and giving Fin and his companions more room to run.

They weren’t out of trouble yet though, for now they were being chased by multiple flying type that were homing in on them. “They’re more efficient than I thought,” Fin grinned with excitement, turning to Dragonair and pointing upwards.

Dragonair chimed in response, lifting is body up into the air before beginning to spin around above Fin. It increased its speed with each spin, creating a powerful tornado of air that engulfed the flying type Pokemon and sent them falling around the woods of the island.

Fin didn’t look back; instead he kept running and allowed his Pokemon to catch up with him once more.

He soon came to a halt, having reached the end of the forest. He stood above a cliff that overlooked the roaring sea, something that dampened his grin a bit. “Guess our fun ends here,” he groaned, turning around to face the now caught up grunts and Pokemon. “Well I guess this is a good a place as any,” he shrugged before snickering at the grunts, his arms stretching out to pet both Gyarados and Dragonair. “Let’s kick these guys´ asses.”

***

The walls surrounding Elemental Academy’s castle had finally broken down, allowing the horde of infected people and Pokemon to run through and envelop the area around the closed off stadium. They knocked, kicked and slammed into doors, eager to break in and attack the people inside.

“All right, are we ready?” Stacy asked.

The inside of the stadium had been completely rearranged. The beds that had been kept inside the battlefield were pushed to the surrounding areas as a barricade to block all the entrances into the field. Instead their presence in the battlefield was replaced by the teachers and students with a circle made up of about 20 Psychic Pokemon in the very center of the battlefield.

“Yep,” Mr. Scott grinned proudly, facing Stacy. “All the other Pokemon have been sent into the halls and once you give the signal we’ll have these guys send a few more to the roof,” Scott explained before patting his Giraferig’s head. “This is a strategy that was used in the Mayun War 40 years ago. The Psychic types will use their abilities to connect the Trainers to their Pokemon and will transmit their commands as well as show us what’s going on outside. The Psychic types fighting among the main forces on the other hand will make sure to Teleport any Pokemon that have been exposed for too long.”

“We’re lucky that we found some medicine to hold back Pokerus inside the stadium’s Pokemon Center, at least that’ll allow them to keep fighting,” Stacy said with relief before looking around the battlefield once more. Hope had returned to everyone’s faces, even those that were injured had regained their determination. She was happy, happy that she had been able to do something to help everyone. “All right everyone!” she announced, earning everyone’s gazes.

“I know this is probably the scariest moment of your lives right now, but fret not for we will triumph!” she yelled out, slightly embarrassed with her choice of words. “Okay let me try again,” she sighed. “It’s not easy, I know that no one here is some kind of experience super Trainer or something, even us teachers are just normal people. But just because we’re normal doesn’t mean we can’t do anything, we’re in danger right now and only we can protect ourselves,” she stated, clenching her fists in determination. “I can’t assure that this will work but if we lose then at least we can say that we gave it our best shot, that we didn’t just stand around and let everyone else watch over us.”

The crowd began to look around, facing each other and back to Stacy as they processed her words. “Well I expected a round of cheers of applause but this works too,” Stacy replied in embarrassment. “Anyways…”

“Let’s go!”

The whole atmosphere changed as if on cue. The trainers all ran and circled the Psychic types as a group of Grass types that had been scattered around the field vanished.

Multiple portals materialized above the Psychic types, showing what was going above as well as outside.

Bellossom, Gloom, Skiploom, Jumpluff, Roselia and many other Grass types made up a circle on the roof of the stadium, scanning the area around them. The infected Pokemon and people noticed their presence immediately, especially the Flying types that had been hovering above them.

The Pokemon each let out a loud chime or roar before beginning to release a myriad of spores around the stadium. The different types of spores began to mix together, coating the Stadium around a cascading rainbow barrier. This made the infected beings retreat once they saw their brethren fall asleep, become still or poisoned by the spores.

“All right,” Mr. Scott called out, crossing his arms. “We’ll hold the spores for about 5 minutes before the main troops go out, once they do we’ll replace the Grass types on the roof with Electric types and hold that formation for five more minutes,” he ordered, earning multiple nods and thumbs up from the students and teachers. “Remember to command far range attacks as well as attacks that can handle multiple opponents at once, the more we can keep the Pokemon away from them the better.”

“I’m impressed,” Stacy teased. “I didn’t think you’d be able to make my plan work this well.”

“Well I may not be the best strategist like Freed, but I am a Battling teacher at one of the best academies for a reason,” Mr. Scott grinned with pride. “I’m more surprised by the fact you were able to do all of this.”

“Well…I guess you could say I’m surprised as well,” Stacy replied, her eyes staring off into space. “I have a friend you see, a friend who never backed down even if the situation was against her, I really admire her. I feel like if she had been here she would’ve done the same thing I did,” she explained with a slight smile.

In accordance with Scott’s orders the Grass types were Teleported back into the stadium after five minutes. This change started things off as the Pokemon waiting in the halls of the stadium slammed through the doors and ran out to face off against the infected beings.

Teachers and students all began to send command after command to the fighting Pokemon, making sure to push the horde away and knock out as many Pokemon and people as they could muster while the electric types on the roof made sure to throw the Flying Pokemon out of the sky.

Larger Pokemon barrelled through the horde, paving the way for all fighting and close combat fighters to pick out what was left behind. All far range attackers stuck to the entrance of the stadium and fired their attacks at multiple spots of the horde in order to spread them apart.

It wasn’t an easy feat though as many Pokemon got stuck in combat with the stronger infected creatures. This still didn’t deter the main plan though as they were quickly pulled out and replaced.

Once the five minutes were up the main force retreated back into the Stadium so as to allow the cascade of spores to be used once more, giving the Pokemon a chance to go back to their Trainers and receive treatment.

***

Jack, Marie, Zephyr, Angelo and Alexa watched the events unfold from the trees around the castle. They had been hiding themselves but were surprised to see the strategy that had been implemented to fight against the infected beings. “It isn’t a bad one I have to say that much,” Zephyr noted, scratching her chin in thought. “It focuses on giving the Pokemon enough time to fight and retreat without risking them being infected by Pokerus.”

“The only issue is their endurance,” Jack added, furrowing his eyebrows as he glared at the horde. “The ones on the back of the horde have been keeping to themselves while the ones on the front tire out the fighting Pokemon,” he explained, adjusting his glasses. “Soon they’ll switch places, giving them a chance to turn the tables.”

“Then we have to find a way to get to the stadium and tell them,” Alexa instructed, only to see Zephyr shake her head in return.

“No, we have to do the opposite,” she replied methodically.

“There you guys are,” The group of students turned towards the voice that had called to them, coming into contact with Valerie, Claudia and Rafael. “We were coming here as fast as we could to help out, though it looks like things started without us,” Valerie pointed out, turning towards he ensuing battle.

“Yeah, we thought the same thing,” Marie said before walking over to the two girls and pulling them into an embrace. “I’m glad to see that you’re both okay though,” she said with relieve. “We thought that you were among either of the groups there.”

“We were able to get away just in time,” Claudia answered shyly, patting Marie’s shoulder. “It was thanks to Rafael though.”

“No, I didn’t do anything, rather I feel I could’ve done more,” Rafael said somberly, his gaze falling down on the floor.

“You brought them here safely, that’s good enough,” Jack comforted, patting the young man’s back.

“No, he means because there was a secret he had been keeping from us that could’ve helped us out a lot,” Valerie argued, pursing her lips as she glared at her boyfriend.

“He can tell us later,” Zephyr interrupted, recovering the group’s attention. “As I was saying, if we want to help out then our best strategy is to take on the back of the rabid horde. We’ll implement a similar strategy minus the spore shield and try our best to sweep through the back,” she explained, her eyes falling on the horde, a gleam of expectation shining in them. “I’m sure you guys can do it.”

“Well, we might as well try,” Angelo shrugged before proceeding to take off his beret and set it down on the grass. He then glanced at Alexa with gentle smile. “Are you ready madam?”

“Stop trying to act cool,” Alexa chuckled. “But yes.”

“We’ll help out too,” Jack stated, adjusting his glasses once more as both Marie and Rafael took positions next to him.

With that the Pikachu Thunder and Roselia Grass students stepped out of the trees. They each unclipped their pokeballs before proceeding to send out their respective Pokemon.

Rafael had his lone Tyranitar next to him while Marie had sent out her Magnezone, Roserade, Bellossom, Purugly and Croagunk. Jack stood next to her, having sent out his full team of Glalie, Venusaur, Rhydon, Zebstrika, Braviary and Electivire.

“Looking tres bien there juniors,” Angelo pointed out before sending out his Smeargle, Garbodor, Lilligant and Masquerain. He then proceeded to withdraw a pair of paint brushes from his pockets, twirling them around in his hands. “Help me prepare a wonderful painting this time.”

“Stop being so conceited,” Alexa scolded, releasing her Alakazam, Crawdaunt, Female Pyroar, Crustle and Ludicolo. “Just make sure not to slow us down, okay juniors?” she said sternly.

From the back Zephyr had sent out her Mismagius, Gengar, Sableye and Trevenant in case she needed to step up.

“Don’t worry, we plan not to,” Jack stated before holding his hand forward, feeling Marie wrap his other hand with hers. “Let’s fight!”

***

Allison lay sprawled on the ground, completely in awe as she stared at Darren, who stood directly above her alongside his Pokemon. “I see you managed to get yourself in some trouble,” he pointed out dryly before turning towards Sax’s defeated body. “And I assume the reason he was acting so crazy is the same reason I’ve been hearing so many weird noises in the last few hours.”

“I don’t know what happened Darren. I was coming to deliver some food to you and then he just appeared and went all ´Rwaaar´ and ´Gwaarrgh´ and stuff,” she explained rapidly, even panting once she was done.

“That is great, why were you coming to bother me again?” Darren asked with a curious expression.

Sax’s Drapion let out a deafening roar into the air, receiving Darren’s attention once more. The Pokemon didn’t waste time though. Instead it charged forward in a fit of rage before pouncing at the teenager and slashing down with its scythe-like claw.

“Darren!” Allison screamed in fright as she saw Darren’s body being slashed cleanly in half.

She was going to scream again, she was even prepared to cry and even charge at the Pokemon herself when she realized the death of her friend. At least until she saw the two halves of Darren morph around, becoming completely black before uniting once more in front of the Drapion in the form of a Zoroark. “Huh?”

“Drill Peck!” a scream resounded from somewhere above her, beckoning Darren’s Honchrow to fly straight into the Drapion, its body spinning around as it slammed its beak against Drapion's chest and pushed it back against the tree its trainer had been sent flying to. The force of the crash in turn was enough to make the tree quake and crack slightly with the force of the crash.

“….Huh?” Allison stood dumbfounded, her eyes switching from Honchrow to the tree to the infected Ninjask who was now looking over its fallen comrades.

“Blast Burn that damn fly and get it out of my sight,” the voice called out once more. This got Ninjask’s attention, though it still wasn’t able to do anything before it was engulfed by a blast of blue flames coming from Darren’s Charizard. The Ninjask hit the ground with a small thud, its body completely charred and burned.

Once the area had been cleared of enemies Darren jumped down from the same tree he had piled up his opponents in, falling directly in front of Drapion and Sax. “That was surprisingly easier than I thought,” he dusted himself carefully before walking over to Allison and helping her up.

“W-what-did you really jus-“

“If you’re just going to stand there stuttering then I’m leaving you behind,” Darren shrugged before beginning to walk on his own, only for Allison to quickly follow behind him and his Pokemon. “When I noticed that you were being chased around I ordered my Zoroark to take my form, but I assumed you realized that already.”

“I didn’t think he could even copy your voice though,” Allison pointed out, glancing over towards the Zoroark who was looking around the forest with glee.

“You’d be surprised about what he can do with some training,” Darren replied simply, coming to a halt. “Anyways, from the way that guy and his Pokemon were acting I’d say they were under the influence of Pokerus.”

Hearing this made Allison understand a bit more about what had happened; if Pokerus really as the cause of the whole ordeal then it would explain why her own Raichu became infected. “But then why was Sax also affected and wouldn’t your Pokemon run the risk of getting infected?”

“I don’t know or care,” Darren shrugged. “As for my Pokemon, they’ve already gone through Pokerus once when I was younger,” he stated before coming to a halt. He proceeded to lift his white shirt slightly, revealing a long claw shaped scar going across his stomach and toned abdomen. “It was hell I’m not going to lie, but at least it makes them immune to it afterwards and gives them a boost in strength.”

Staring at him and the scar made all of her previous questions and worries about Darren come back to her, how he had cut himself off from everyone else and how she wanted to know more about why he would do that and what he had gone through in his life.

“Now, get away from here,” he instructed before lowering his shirt once more.

“No,” Allison defied, her eyes staring at him intensely. “I came here to talk some sense into you! And even battle it in if I have to!”

Darren sighed in annoyance, rubbing his hand against his head in an attempt to get rid of his frustration with Allison. “I don’t really have the time to deal with you right now.”

“You saved me!” Allison yelled out, gritting her teeth in anger. “You saved me when you could’ve just left me there, admit that the only reason you’re here alone on your own is just your stubbornness!”

“Yes I did save you!” Darren exclaimed, losing his calm demeanor immediately. “And you know how I saved you? By being strong! Something I wouldn’t be if I kept relying on you and those guys!”

“You keep talking as if being alone suddenly makes you stronger or something.”

“It does,” Darren argued. “I can protect myself.”

“Yes, but are you happy?” she asked bluntly, her words striking Darren like daggers. “You’re strong, but are you happy being by yourself like this? Are you happy pushing away everyone that tries to actually care about you?”

“Leave.”

“Darr-“

“I said leave!” He screamed, stepping away from Allison and raising his right hand. He stopped himself though, staring into Allison’s eyes, slowly lowering his hand. He closed his eyes tightly as stinging pain took over it, forcing him to clutch onto his arm with his left hand. “Just…just leave me alone,” he pleaded, his voice broken and weak, as if years of pent up sadness had suddenly surfaced in one go.

Then the pain began to fade slowly, instead being replaced by a radiating heat and soothing comfort. He opened his eyes slowly, realizing that Allison had wrapped her hands around his right hand, her eyes staring into his. “I don’t know what this is,” she said before glancing down at the black markings that covered Darren’s right hand. “But it’s the thing that’s making you do all of it isn’t it? Pushing everyone away, reminding you of your past mistakes and forcing you to keep chasing after a goal that you know you can’t reach,” she stated, gently rubbing his hand. “Because the truth is that you can’t become the strongest, not on your own at least.”

Growling noises began to slowly fill the air however, making both Trainers turn away from each other.

A group of about 20 infected Houndoom Dark students and even an infected Nurse were now surrounding them, fangs bared and eyes that glared at them with rage.

“Damn it! I was so close,” Allison groaned in annoyance, letting go of Darren’s hand and grabbing one of her pokeballs.

“This is why I said you had to leave,” Darren added, trying his best to regain his composure. “I felt they were getting closer.”

“So you were protecting me yet again,” Allison grinned, though this didn’t get a reply from the boy.

Darren looked down at the markings on his hand, his mind revisiting what Allison had just said. “You’re right,” He called out, earning a raised eyebrow from her. “The Instalink gives me and my Pokemon power and makes us stronger. It also instigates dark feelings from its user, that’s why some people go completely crazy or even kill themselves,” he explained, dread in his voice. “But I know all of that. I needed the Instalink for a reason and even if its purpose has been fulfilled I still have to live with the consequences.”

He lifted his sleeves all the way to his elbow. “I’m glad I have it right now though, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do this,” he said before unclipping a Dusk Ball from his belt.

“What’s that?” Allison asked, feeling a strange aura emanating from the ball he was holding.

“Thanks,” Darren whispered back to her. “For coming to help me.”

He let the ball slip from his hand, letting it fall on the ground and open up. However, instead of releasing a flash of light what came out was a cloud of shadows, shadows that erupted from its containments, completely surrounding both Darren and Allison.

“What’s going on!?” Allison yelled, out, losing sight of Darren as well as the infected people among the shadows. She tried to see through them but all she was able to make out was what seemed like white smoke and a single blue eye.

That was all she needed in order to understand though, even as the shadows began to head into the confines of the Dusk Ball once more, leaving behind 20 unconscious bodies. She looked at Darren, fear in her eyes as she noticed the marks on his hand shining with black energy.

“Darren…was that…”

“A fellow Sinnoan like you would understand what it was even with just a glimpse after all,” he replied with his usual cold and calm tone. “I don’t use it normally and I can only control it while using the Instalink, the only reason it even sticks around with me is because I’m a good source of food for it and let it do what it wants.”

“You can’t keep it though!” she yelled out desperately. “It’s just going to make your situation worse.”

“I’ll deal with it,” Darren countered. “It’s my punishment.”

With that he proceeded to walk on his own once more, though this time Allison wasn’t following behind, she wouldn’t know what to say even if she did.

To Be Continued...

End of Chapter 49
Next Time: Sin Part 5: The Couple's Last Resort

Spoiler

So for an explanation on Darren's um...mysterious Pokemon. Last chapter there were a lot of mentions of a character named Zivok, he was one of the antagonists in the first intallment of this series and he led a group of assassins that Incendio was a part of. During the last battle he had with Darren Zivok used this Pokemon and after "killing" him Darren kept it for himself instead of releasing it in case he needed to use it at some point. It's not gonna be a common thing or anything and even he'd rather not have to use it if he can. Also I'm not treating it as some evil being just from "feeding" on him and encouraging his fears and stuff because that's just something the Pokemon does regardless of whether it wants to or not.

All right! two more chapters left yay!

 

[diamondpearl876]

“Okay so before I proceed to royally kick your asses,” Fin stated confidently, his now amber eyes looking at the Memento Mori grunts while a grin crossed his face. “I have to tell you that you’re a little too early for Halloween,” he snickered, noticing that some of the grunts had stepped closer and were clenching their fists.

“Oh, did I hit a nerve?” he mocked with a soft laugh. He unclipped two pokeballs from his belt, sending out both Dragonair and Gyarados. “I didn’t mean to, honest, it’s just that I still can’t handle these Dracowhatever genes,” he said innocently while pointing at his eyes. “They kind of make me go a little…mad to put it simply, it’s just a new ability I discovered a few months a-“

Ah, there's no better way to start a chapter than with sassy ass Fin being his snarky self. I don't usually see him mention his heritage, either, so that was interesting to see. I'm not sure if you've ever really touched on him being related to Lance and how he feels about it... Maybe in Dragon's Roar?

Gyarados roared into the air before summoning forth a large wave of water. The wave clashed against the grunts and their Pokemon, managing to push them back and giving Fin and his companions more room to run.

I assume you just make Gyarados a floating water-type pokemon, so you don't need him to be in water? Haha.

They weren’t out of trouble yet though, for now they were being chased by multiple flying type that were homing in on them. “They’re more efficient than I thought,” Fin grinned with excitement, turning to Dragonair and pointing upwards.

I wonder if Fin has a darker side to him. You certainly seem to be showing that here, but usually he's sarcastic and from what you've told me of his future plans, he's a bit of a senpai-type. Not sure if the darker bits were intentional or not.

“This is a strategy that was used in the Mayun War 40 years ago. The Psychic types will use their abilities to connect the Trainers to their Pokemon and will transmit their commands as well as show us what’s going on outside. The Psychic types fighting among the main forces on the other hand will make sure to Teleport any Pokemon that have been exposed for too long.”

This... is actually a pretty sound strategy. Consider me impressed. There's always so much potential with psychic-type pokemon and you definitely took advantage of it here.

“I know this is probably the scariest moment of your lives right now, but fret not for we will triumph!” she yelled out, slightly embarrassed with her choice of words.

My initial thought was exactly that: "Yeah, thiat read awkward." It made for a funny moment, though, so nice.

“I don’t know what happened Darren. I was coming to deliver some food to you and then he just appeared and went all ´Rwaaar´ and ´Gwaarrgh´ and stuff,” she explained rapidly, even panting once she was done.

“That is great, why were you coming to bother me again?” Darren asked with a curious expression.

This is just like Darren. Chaos is happening and all he cares about is being bothered or not, haha.

Then the pain began to fade slowly, instead being replaced by a radiating heat and soothing comfort. He opened his eyes slowly, realizing that Allison had wrapped her hands around his right hand, her eyes staring into his. “I don’t know what this is,” she said before glancing down at the black markings that covered Darren’s right hand. “But it’s the thing that’s making you do all of it isn’t it? Pushing everyone away, reminding you of your past mistakes and forcing you to keep chasing after a goal that you know you can’t reach,” she stated, gently rubbing his hand. “Because the truth is that you can’t become the strongest, not on your own at least.”

I'm not sure if this scene just made Allison/Darren my favorite character interaction in the story, but I think it did.

With that he proceeded to walk on his own once more, though this time Allison wasn’t following behind, she wouldn’t know what to say even if she did.

It's a rather abrupt ending to the chapter, but it was emotionally impactful and perfect so I won't complain.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I understand the explanation about Zivok. It seems like you're being vague about it, as if there's still more to learn about it. Alas. Two chapters left indeed. :~) I'll be here to read.

 

[chaos_Leader]

Oh lordy. This is gonna take a while. I said I was gonna read this, and by Odin I'm reading this whole thing, top to bottom, even if it drives me bonkers! okay not really, but I am reading this. for convenience's sake, and my own sanity, I've decided I'll be reading and reviewing this story in chunks, divided by these "arcs" that you've divided the story by. As of this review, I've finished with the first "Daily Lives" arc, and I'll be reviewing it now, here, any second now, I promise I'm not procrastinating anymore.

I'll admit I was a little worried when I started that I'd be in way over my head, that I'd be slogging through unfamiliar and potentially difficult to understand story, as it's 1) a sequel to a story I haven't read, 2) an academia-based fic, and 3) featuring a fakemon. These are all normally red-flags in my head for something I'd have a really hard time with. This has not been the case. Even though I'm not familiar with the characters' past escapades, their personalities are distinct enough and presented clearly enough that I can readily identify them (with the exceptions of Jack and Fin; they're still a little nebulous and unclear to me at the moment, but I think that's mainly due to lack of screen-time with them).

Anyways, to the story content itself.

Well, that's one way to introduce Stacy: near-rape victim at the hands of a student. It distinctly reminds me of a scene from a 1980s move the name of which escapes me. I don't remember much about the movie itself, but it was about a school in a bad neighborhood, got a new principal in Bill Murray's character (who rode a Harley Davidson apparently), and there was an oafish-student-on-lady-teacher rape scene not entirely unlike Stacy's first day.

Overall, the feel reminds of the Harry Potter novels/films. The similarities are clear as a bell to see. An isolated large-scale boarding-school style institution, dividing the student body into distinct sub-groups, specialized faculty with stories of their own. Not to mention serious peer pressure issues and dire social straits the likes of which can only be experienced by teenagers in an academic setting.

I'm interested to see what the greater over-arc of the story will be in time. One of the things the Harry Potter stories did was to introduce a major element of the major over-arc early, before the school year, and have that hanging over the protagonists all year long, building, growing in complexity and intrigue, until it's resolved at the end. I haven't seen a major plot hook or serious question mark for this story's over-arc yet, unless I totally missed it or something.

One of the challenges I faced when reading this story, at least up until this point, is the wide ensemble cast, and how much you sift the perspective around. One of the strengths of the Harry Potter series, from which I'm pretty damn sure you're drawing your inspiration from, was how pretty much the entire series uses Harry as the focus character at all times. Even with all the characters, all the zany shenanigans, all the epic plot-lines and social upheaval of the Harry Potter series, having Harry himself as the constant anchor point for the readers gives it a solidarity, a restriction we the readers would like to peer out of, would like to try and learn more, mirroring Harry's own curiosity. The rapid perspective shift lets us see into the heads of a wider array of characters, allows the readers to tap into much more than a single focus character, but it comes with challenges, some of which I'm running into now.

It's like watching Ocean's Eleven (or Twelve, or Thirteen): there's often very limited points where each character in the ensemble can have their moment, and it becomes all the more critical that the characters make the most of that moment and get remembered. For the most part you've done alright so far: I distinctly remember most of the central cast, however limited my exposure has been so far, and the characterizations of the sideline characters has been interesting enough that they haven't been lost. Like I mentioned before though, some of them are still a fuzzy in my mind. As I read on, I hope to have them all solidified in my head.

I'll have another review up tomorrow later today, once I've read through the Black Knights arc. Until then, take care!

 

[Flaze]

@Beth Pavell; @AetherX; @Tophat Dragoneye; @System Error; @Warrior of Fire; @Instrutilus; @Soulmaster; @Rediamond; @kintsugi; @Midorikawa; @diamondpearl876;
@chaos_Leader; I think I'll reply to your reviews once you're done xD or maybe every two arcs, but I'm glad that at least you find it entertaining.

Anyways, here it is! the second to last chapter showcasing the fight I've been wanting to showcase for a year! enjoy!

Chapter 50: Sin Part 5: The Couple's Last Resort

Reggie and Miko stepped back defensively, their eyes fixed on the pokeball Kevin was holding on to. The blond teenager didn’t say anything; instead he just kept his gaze fixed on Reggie. A small grin crossed his face as he lowered his hand. “Scared you didn’t I?” he chuckled.

“What are you doing here?” Miko asked once more, her eyes now glaring intensely at Kevin. Kevin in turn moved his gaze to her, noticing that she was now clasping one of her own pokeballs.

“Well I guess it’s better if I’m honest here,” Kevin shrugged before letting out a sigh. “I’m the one that caused all of this.”

Reggie and Miko stood in shock at this revelation, looking at each other before turning back at Kevin. Reggie didn’t say anything at first, what could he say upon such a statement? He knew that Kevin wasn’t always the nicest of people, but even he couldn’t believe that he had caused the situation at hand.

“Are you telling us that you’re the reason everyone started going crazy!” Miko yelled, now clutching the pokéball harder. “How? Are you seriously a part of Memento Mori!?”

“Hmmmm, maybe I should specify. I’m not the one that made those people go crazy,” he clarified before fishing a red pill out from his pocket and showing it to the couple. “This red pill is the culprit. It’s apparently a pill that Memento Mori engineered; the effect gives both the trainer that ingests it and his or her Pokémon Pokerus,” he explained casually before tossing the pill to Reggie, who in turn fidgeted around to try and catch it in his hand.

“A few weeks ago I was approached by the guy that did cause all of this. His name is Noah and simply put he offered me a chance to help him in order to get my dignity back,” Kevin shrugged.

“So you helped a criminal organization just because you were sore about what happened at the Club Battle Royale,” Miko gritted her teeth in disgust, now stepping in front of Reggie. She was all but ready to send her Pokemon out to pounce on Kevin, yet there was something that pulled her back, the fact that Kevin’s grin was slowly breaking.

“Noah asked me to point him to the people that’d be easier to approach with this and he in turn made those people give out more pills,” Kevin explained somberly, now pocketing his hands. “I didn’t really care; he only told me that the pills were supposed to increase a Trainer’s ability and link with their Pokemon. I thought he was just going to use them to embarrass all those trainers that always stood at the top, yeah I figured there was something more…but I didn’t care,” his voice broke a little bit, his voice riddled with regret.

Miko didn’t trust him, knowing that one of Kevin’s talents was getting people on his side, he was a professional actor after all. “What’s your point?” she asked bitterly. “You’re still standing here when you could’ve done something about it.”

“I’m not strong enough to do anything,” Kevin shook his head at her. “Instead I’ll rely on you guys,” he stated bluntly before turning back to Reggie. “I want to help you out in defeating Noah; all I want in exchange is for you to not tell anyone about my involvement in this whole thing…I don’t want any trouble for my family.”

“That is such a tempting offer, except for one thing,” Miko looked behind Kevin, noticing that they didn’t stand too far away from the Houndoom Dark dorm. “How can we believe that you’re not just setting a trap for us?”

“Can’t you trust me?” Kevin replied, going back to his usual calm demeanor.

“Last time I did you kind of used me.”

“Funny, as far as I remember we both kind of used each other,” Kevin smirked before glancing over at Reggie; this in turn elicited a groan from Miko. “While I do still respect you though I don’t really care about what you think,” he said, keeping his gaze on Reggie. “Reggie’s different though.”

Reggie switched between both Kevin and Miko, uncertain on what he should do. Part of him believed what Kevin said, thinking that even he wouldn’t have done such a thing if he knew the full details about it. Something in his mind told him differently, though. He had already trusted someone that he thought he could rely on before and was betrayed the year before, he didn’t know if he could afford to make that same mistake again.

He let out a sigh. “Did he tell you what the basis for this pill was?” he asked hesitantly, holding the pill forward.

Kevin eyed the pill for a moment before looking at Reggie with curiosity. “He said that it was supposed to function similarly to some Full Synchro ability or something like that,” he replied, scratching his head as he tried to remember what Noah had told him.

Reggie’s eyes opened wide in realization when he heard this. He didn’t say anything to Miko or Kevin; instead he just looked down at Chigon, who was scratching its ear playfully. He smiled at this before nodding his head. “Okay, we’ll take your help,” he said, now smiling at Kevin.

Kevin seemed slightly shocked at this. He smiled however, glad that Reggie believed him. “Okay good,” he said with a sly grin before turning towards the building. “Noah is very impulsive and unsightly, if there’s anything I learned while being with him is that he’s way too cocky as well,” he explained in a more serious tone. “He knows that I’m not to be fully trusted though so once we go in we’ll have to strike right away.”

“What’s the plan then?” Miko asked with a raised eyebrow.

***

Keith and Tyson panted loudly. They were standing inside a circle of flames that extended all around the Houndoom Dark dorm’s lobby. Their Excavalier and Infernape stood in front of them, Infernape’s body was bruised and bleeding from various places, particularly its hanging and lifeless right arm. Excavalier on the other hand was covered in burns, its armor cracked and shattered in some parts; the tip of its lance had also been shattered.

“Boy this is so fun!” Noah called out with excitement. His feet were now on the counter and he was leaning back while looking at his Mega Banette and Delphox, both seemingly unharmed.

“I can’t believe we just came in here with Pokemon that were at a disadvantage,” Tyson chuckled nervously, sweat going down his face as he looked at Delphox.

“What I can’t believe is that he used your own trick against you,” Keith stated with bitterness, wiping some sweat off his forehead as he looked at the ring of flames around them. “And that Fire Spin hasn’t gone down.”

“The bastard’s Delphox keeps reusing it when we’re not looking,” Tyson frowned. “He knows that we’re not the type of people he can beat with just one Fire Spin.”

“Guys you have to get away now!” Brendan yelled from where he sat, his eyes looking at the two third year students with worry. He had originally called them as support for him and Incendio, but Noah had been able to turn the tables on his plan easily. He looked at Incendio on the other side of the room. The man had been left in a state of shock after Noah’s revelation and hadn’t said anything, only watching the events unfolding in front of him.

“They don’t really have a choice now,” Noah laughed, putting his hands behind his head. “Now, let’s finish this,” Noah snapped his fingers. Both Delphox and Mega Banette jumped forward at their opponents.

Delphox held its staff forward, the flame at the tip gleaming brightly before it fired a barrage of flames at Excavalier, completely coating the Pokemon in flames, forcing screams out of the knight-like Pokemon as it fell to the floor.

Banette on the other hand lifted Infernape up into the air, only to send it crashing against the walls, roof and floor of the room before finally dropping the defeated fighting type in front of its trainer.

Tyson and Keith looked down at their defeated Pokemon, worried about the state they had been left in. Fortunately the flames subsided as soon as their Pokemon were knocked out, allowing them to reach for new pokeballs they could use.

They couldn’t though, their hands instead hung there in the air, completely still and unmoving. Keith and Tyson groaned in unison, trying their best to move their hands. It was to no avail, both of their arms proceeded to be lifted up in the air against their will, leaving them defenseless.

“Pfffft, you actually thought I was gonna let you grab your pokeballs! That’s so rich!” Noah rocked back and forth on his chair, laughing maniacally as he stared at the two defeated teenagers. “So in the end the strongest students are just a bunch of snot nosed naïve brats.”

“Let them go damn it!” Brendan screamed, earning himself a glare from Noah.

“Awwww, you don’t want your poor little students to get hurt,” Noah mocked, a toothy grin crossing his face. “That just makes me want to have more fun, also Delphox, please shut him up with Psychic,” he snapped his fingers once more, signaling for his Delphox to raise its staff, making both Tyson and Keith levitate into the air while also making Brendan unable to speak.

Delphox grabbed a tighter hold of the staff, now using psychic energy to press onto Keith and Tyson’s neck. The two Trainers groaned and gasped, their necks being pressed harder and harder as the air in their lungs slowly drifted away from them. Their bodies shook around, struggling against the force that kept them in the air, kicking desperately with every passing air-less second.

Fortunately for the two the doors to the lobby slid open at that moment, causing everyone in the room to turn their attention to the entrance.

Kevin came walking in, scanning the room carefully. Even he was shocked to see Brendan and Incendio defeated and tied, even moreso when he saw Keith and Tyson. “You really have been having your fun huh?” he pointed out with a smirk as he looked at the hanging Keith and Tyson.

“Oh, you came back, I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me,” Noah grinned enthusiastically.

“What’s going on Kevin? What are you doing here?” Brendan-having been freed from Delphox's hold-asked in shock, realizing that Kevin and Noah seemed to share a bond of sort.

His question went ignored though as Kevin motioned for his Rampardos to walk in. Noah whistled in surprise as he saw the dinosaur Pokemon grabbing a hold of Reggie and Miko’s unconscious bodies, with Chigon being held I between Rampardos’s mouth.

“Hahaha, is that your offering to me for how rude you were before,” Noah teased, looking at Chigon. “Bring the little guy over here, you can throw the kids somewhere,” he instructed while pointing at the counter in front of him, now lowering his feet.

Kevin nodded his head at the Rampardos, motioning for it to throw Reggie and Miko on the floor before making its way to the counter. Once it stood in front of Noah the Pokemon proceeded to lower its head, setting Chigon down on the counter. “I was gonna go after this guy once I had my fun but I guess this make my job easier,” he smirked, leaning closer to Chigon.

Chigon’s still body finally moved, only for it to suddenly jump forward and pounce at Noah. However, it was stopped mid jump, its body becoming surrounded by purple energy coming from the Banette as its now opened eyes stared at a snickering Noah. “Oh boy, that was soooooo close,” he said melodically.

With a wave of his hand Delphox threw its staff forward, quickly slamming both Reggie’s and Miko’s seemingly unconscious bodies against the wall, causing the two of them to groan in pain, finally opening their eyes. “Fuck,” Miko gritted her teeth, realizing that their plan had been exposed.

Kevin desperately looked at Noah as the psychic/fire type turned its attention to him, pointing at him with his staff and beginning to use Psychic energy to strangle his neck like it had been doing with Keith and Tyson. He tried to order his Rampardos to attack but realized that he had been frozen by Delphox’s psychic prowess as well. “I’m so lucky I had Delphox use Future Sight,” Noah let out a sigh of content. “Not like I didn’t expect this to begin with, frankly I expected more from you Kevin,” he said with disappointment, resting his arm against the armrest of his chair. “This plan of yours was so lackluster that I’m honestly trying not to yawn.”

He stood up from his chair, calmly tracing his hand along the counter as he stepped out of the Pokemon Center area and slowly made his way towards the three teenagers. “So you’re Reggie Damon huh? You’re kind of…lanky,” he said while looking up at Reggie’s glaring eyes.

Reggie didn’t say anything; he didn’t even know what to say now that they had been trapped. He looked at Chigon’s frozen body, terrified for the sake of the dragon Pokemon. He looked down at Noah once more, fear crawling over him when he saw the man’s demented expression.

Noah let out a sigh of exasperation. “But you know, winning like this is kind of empty,” he stated melancholically, signalling for Banette to make Chigon float over to him. “I kind of wanna stretch my muscles a little, how do you think I should do that?” he asked curiously, enjoying Reggie’s terrified expression. “Oh wait, I know how.”

He unclipped an Ultra Ball from his belt and gently threw it down on the floor. A loud roar came out from the pokeball along with a beam of light. The beam of light began to take shape in front of Noah, revealing a large black Dragonite that now spread its small wings in front of its trainer.

Reggie gasped in shock as he looked down at the Dragonite, the shade of its body and even the threatening aura it radiated reminding him of another similarly colored Pokemon he knew. “You want to battle huh?” Reggie finally spoke, though his voice was unsure and broken.

“You’re smarter than you look,” Noah smiled before turning to Delphox. “Take care of these guys okay?” he instructed before jumping on the now kneeling Dragonite’s back.

In one fell swoop Dragonite spread its wings out and charged forward, lifting its body of the ground. Reggie felt his body finally unglue itself from the wall, only for him to be grabbed by Dragonite’s right arm.

He desperately closed his eyes, feeling the wind crash against his back, his hearing began to leave him the higher the dragon Pokemon went, making him wonder just how high Noah was going to take them.

He didn’t have to wonder for long though as he felt Dragonite grab a tighter hold of his body. He gasped and groaned, desperately clenching onto its now stretched out arm. It was to no avail. His body was hurled forward by Dragonite, sending Reggie falling down towards the ground.

His hair waved around with the wind as he fell and his body became heavier with every second that passed. He began shaking his arms desperately as he fell, trying to grab a surface that he knew wasn’t there for him.

Eventually he forced himself to open his eyes, at first finding trouble in it with the wind before finally being able to pry them open. He saw Dragonite and Noah above them, the distance between them increasing.

His eyes fell on Chigon’s falling body not too far above him though. The small dragon Pokemon flapped its wings desperately in order to rescue its trainer, though Reggie knew Chigon wasn’t strong enough to carry him at that height.

He fished into his pocket quickly, fishing out a small shining blue Crystal from his pocket. “Let’s go!” he yelled to Chigon as the Crystal and Pokemon glowed brightly, surrounding even Reggie with light.

Alagon proceeded to fly out of the sphere of light. Its body speeding through the sky as it broke the air wall around it with its wings. Reggie grabbed onto the Pokemon’s red armored back for dear life as the two reached Noah’s level once more.

“I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me,” Noah grinned sheepishly as he looked at Alagon’s body and a still slightly shaken Reggie that was now sitting upright. “It’s just as cool as I thought it’d look, isn’t it Dragonite?” he asked his Pokemon playfully.

Reggie flicked his hair back slightly, his eyes glaring at Noah as he grabbed onto Alagon. “Why are you and Memento Mori here to begin with!?” he yelled in fury. He couldn’t forgive him, for disrupting their peace and for causing so many people to lose their sanity, even people he cared about. “Can’t you guys just leave!”

“No can do,” Noah shook his head. “I’m here for a reason,” he stated calmly before pointing at Alagon. Reggie’s heart sank at this, realizing what Noah was after.

It was at that moment that he understood. The academy had been attacked and thrown into chaos all because of Chigon same as before, it was his fault; he had been the one that had put it at risk once more.

He had tried to live normally and put the events of the year before behind him, told himself that as long as he had everyone else with him he wouldn’t have to worry. But was that really the best decision, was he really willing to throw his friend’s safety and well being away for his own convenience, because he didn’t want to face the fact that he was dangerous.

“Gon,” Reggie looked down at Alagon’s face. Its eyes were filled with the same regret that Reggie had, regret and understanding for what was happening.

“I’m sorry buddy,” Reggie smiled, petting its back softly. “I guess we can’t mope around for now, we’ll worry about this once everything is over,” he reassured him before fixing his gaze on Noah.

His determination shone through now, his hand quickly adjusting themselves on Alagon’s neck. “I like that expression more,” Noah commented gladly. “Let’s do it then,” he clapped his hands together.

And then he was gone.

***

Miko looked down at Delphox, her eye scanning the room she was in thoroughly. The floor was completely coated in receding flames, with many craters and cracks around the walls, surely coming from the battle that had taken place. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.

Their initial plan hadn’t worked and Reggie was gone as well; that didn’t mean they could just let Memento Mori have their way either. Miko opened her eyes, determination shining in them as she clenched her fists as hard as she could. This sent a shock through the Delphox’s mind, making the Pokemon wince before it looked up at Miko in shock, finding it impossible that the girl had been able to make a movement.

“Finally noticed me huh?” Miko smiled with satisfaction, now clenching her fist harder and flexing her arms in an attempt to move them away from the wall. Delphox struggled with this, now putting more of its attention on Miko. “Now!” Miko screamed, loud enough to make the fox Pokemon step back in surprise.

As if on cue the glass doors to the lobby shattered with a loud crashed, followed immediately by a large black slash coming from outside. Delphox gasped in disbelief as it jumped aside from the attack’s path. Unfortunately this sudden jolt was able to throw off her concentration completely, releasing her control over the beings in the room.

Kevin, Keith and Tyson coughed loudly, even falling to their knees in an attempt to recover as much air as possible. Miko herself collided with the floor with a grunt. She struggled to stand once more, her head vibrating loudly after the hit she had taken. “That could’ve been worse,” she groaned while rubbing the bruise on her forehead.

She felt something wet rubbing against her hand, causing her to turn around and smiled as she came face to face with her Absol, rubbing its snout. “You did good girl,” Miko praised before turning to Kevin. “I figured I should have my own backup plan if yours failed,” she grinned sheepishly.

“Have to admit you surprised me there, how were you even able to break out of that?” Kevin replied, clearly impressed by Miko’s actions, though he only received a shrug from the girl. “But we’re not done yet are we?” he asked as he looked over at both Delphox and Banette.

“You guys step back, we’ll deal with these two,” Keith commanded. He tried to get back up from the floor but his shaking legs simply sent him back down, making him groan and clutch onto his neck.

“You guys should rest,” Miko clarified, her eyes falling on Tyson’s back. “You aren’t in a condition to battle right now.”

“Are you stupid or-“

“Let them do it,” Tyson coughed out, earning himself a glare from Keith. “She’s got a point,” he shrugged, chuckling weakly. “Let’s just trust them with this; we’ll step in if the situation gets too dangerous.”

Keith sighed at this, stopping any attempts to get up and instead opting to sit down on the floor, finally giving in to the others´ pleads.

Miko smiled at this before she facing Kevin. “Are you good to go?”

Kevin snickered. “I wasn’t planning to even get my hands dirty,” he replied, seeming disappointed in the turn of events. “But I think me and Rampardos can at least help out a little bit,” he said calmly. “If anything I find it weird I’m battling together with my ex.”

“You’re lucky to have an ex as great as me,” Miko added playfully, fishing out her black glove from her pocket and putting it on her left hand. “I’ll take the Banette and you take the Delphox.”

“Then let’s start this off. Use Rock Slide Rampardos!” Kevin commanded loudly. His Rampardos let out a roar before spinning around, sliding its tail against the floor and sending a barrage of rocks flying towards Delphox.

“Go for a Pursuit Absol,” Absol sprinted forward, its body surrounding itself in dark energy. It pounced at the surprised Mega Banette, who proceeded to vanish from sight just as Absol was about to collide with it. “Where did it go?” Miko asked herself, looking around desperately.

Delphox raised its staff in the air, making the flame at the tip of the staff glow brighter. The Pokemon’s eyes shone in a purple gleam as it thrust its staff down and sent the rocks flying away with Psychic energy. Kevin smirked at his as his Rampardos charged at the fox Pokemon. “Smack Down!”

Rampardos wheeled around rapidly before slamming its tail onto Delphox’s ribs. However, the Pokemon was able to use its staff in time in order to block the attack properly. Delphox glared at its opponent, holding its staff forward and firing a jet of purple flames straight onto Rampardos’s face.

Kevin gritted his teeth at this. He glanced at Miko quickly, noticing that the trainer was still searching for her opponent’s whereabouts. “Get closer,” he muttered upon fixing his gaze on his opponent once more.

Delphox lunged forward at the Rampardos, firing blast after blast of flames to try and push the Pokemon back. “Now Crunch!” Kevin yelled once Delphox had gotten closer to his Pokemon. This allowed Rampardos to throw its neck forward at the fox Pokemon, fangs bared and gleaming with black energy.

“Wait Kevin!” he heard Keith yell desperately from behind him.

It was too late though, Banette had reappeared just as Rampardos was about to land its attack was now clamped between the giant Pokemon’s fangs. The Banette smirked mischievously, its eyes glowing a deep blue along with Rampardos.

“Fuck,” Kevin cursed as he saw both Banette and Rampardos fall to the floor, causing a loud thud upon crashing. “Destiny Bond.”

“I’m sorry,” Miko said in embarrassment, frowning at the fact she had allowed Banette to sneak away from her. “If I had been faster-“

“It’s okay,” Kevin interrupted. He went for another pokeball, yet hesitated when he stared into Delphox’s eyes. The fox Pokemon had shown how good it was at handling multiple people at the same time and it was also quick in using its powers. A grin crossed Kevin’s face, accepting the fact that if he tried to help Miko anymore he would end up being hurt. “You’re on your own now.”

“What!?” Miko asked, dumbfounded with Kevin’s decision. “We have it right where we want it, we should team up.”

“I’m sorry, but I’d rather not be glued to the wall or get choked again,” Kevin replied hesitantly, stepping away from Miko. “Plus you still have a type advantage right? It’ll be no problem.”

Miko looked at him with spite, turning her gaze away from him and pursing her lips. She thought that she could rely on Kevin even a bit but he had still put his own well being over the battle at hand. Absol was still standing strong though glancing at its trainer and beckoning her to command it.

Miko couldn’t help but smile at this. “Yeah, if you’re ready to go then so am I!” she exclaimed with determination, glancing at the fire type Pokemon; who had shockingly returned its ally to its pokeball.

She hesitated though, unsure of whether her Pokemon was able to match up to Noah’s. She then looked towards Brendan, who had remained quiet throughout the whole battle; even after he stopped being controlled by Delphox. The man looked at her with a knowing smile, his head nodding slowly in encouragement.

It took her a few seconds to understand what the principal was hinting at. It all clicked though when she recalled her meeting with Brendan a few days back as well as the present he had given her.

Her hands went into the small pockets sewn onto her jacket, pressing against the contents of them as a new found vigor coursed through Miko’s body.

“Let’s go Absol!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her left hand shot out of her pocket, firing a blue and white sphere into the air.

Absol wasted no time, leaning back against the floor before throwing itself up into the air in order to grab the item. Delphox attempted to grab a hold of it with its psychic powers but failed as Absol successfully clasped the sphere between its teeth.

Miko didn’t waste time, taking out a small rainbow stone from her other pocket and holding it tightly into her hand. The stone began to glow brightly inside of Miko’s hand, causing a similar glow to come from the one that Absol was holding.

Her Pokemon’s body became completely covered in a swirling barrier of light, completely shrouding it away from the rest of the world. She felt a warm and gentle feeling wash over her body the brighter the Key Stone shone, almost as if she herself was wrapped inside the barrier.

She raised her hand up to her chest in order to feel her slowly speeding heart. She could feel it, Absol’s and her connection increasing due to the power of the Key Stone. “Now, come out!” Miko yelled out desperately.

A loud melodic roar was heard from inside of the barrier. Absol’s body broke away from its confines, its body now surrounded by a white aura.

“This is Mega Evolution?” Miko said in bewilderment, unable to turn her gaze away from her Pokemon’s new form.

Its fur had grown lush yet refined, giving out a beautiful and angelic feeling. The Pokemon’s general appearance only supported this. The fur around Absol’s back had grown exponentially and was now sticking out in the air, taking the shape of angelic wings.

The spikes on its heels and elbows had become longer and sharper but were also encased in fur that managed to hide most of them. The bangs over its head had grown long enough to completely cover its left eye as well. The disaster Pokemon had also developed a larger and longer sickle along with a second horn on the left side of its head and a triangle shaped marking on its forehead.

“When the fuck did you get a Mega Stone?” Tyson inquired, eyes staring widely at the Mega Pokemon that had appeared in front of them.

“Can’t really talk right now,” Miko argued. Her face became serious when she saw Delphox jump forward, vanishing from in front of them before appearing on the far left of the room. “Absol use Night Slash!” she threw her arm forward, watching as he Absol released another black slash of energy from its sickle.

Delphox held its staff forward, materializing a screen of light in front of it and blocking the dark type movie. The Pokemon teleported once more, this time appearing in front of Absol and firing a blast of shining light and making it fly back.

Absol rolled in the air frantically, its body bouncing on the ground once before it held its legs forward and slid through it, colliding with the wall on the other side. Delphox held its staff up in the air, surrounding the objects and artifacts on the counter with psychic energy before shooting them at Absol.

Something came over Miko the more she focused on the battle, things started to go slower and she felt her own senses increase. The biggest change was the connection she felt with Absol, even though she had been unsure of herself she now felt confident and determined, she knew that her Pokemon felt the same.

“Dodge them and use Shadow Ball!” Miko screamed with confidence. Absol leapt forward, swiftly jumping over and avoiding the hurdles it was presented with. The Pokemon slammed its back paws down and pushed itself once more, firing a sphere of black energy at Delphox.

Delphox was able to counter just in time though and fired its own sphere of darkness. The two attacks collided with each other, letting out black sparks before creating a large explosion of light that threw both Absol and Delphox back.

Delphox wasted no time as it split itself up into multiple clones that proceeded to surround Absol. The clones all raised their staves in unison before bringing them down, causing a large yet of blue flames to pour out from the tip of the staves and completely encase the Dark type.

Miko winced at this, her skin tingling and becoming irritated in unison with Absol. She looked down at her arm confusion before looking back at the Key Stone. “What’s going on here?” she wondered to herself.

“The Key Stone increases the connection between a Trainer and his or her Pokemon,” she heard Keith point out from behind her. “Sometimes Trainers who have a strong bond with their Pokemon can even feel what the Pokemon feels, at last that’s what’s theorized.”

She clutched onto her arm when she heard this, a frightened expression going through her face once she realized the repercussions of her new power. She had heard about situations where a Trainer and a Pokemon became linked in such a way, even Reggie had told her before. She never expected to go through it herself though and rather it scared her to think that she could get hurt if the battle kept going.

But that’s what her Absol was going through, no, it was going through a worse pain than her own and yet it still stood tall, enduring the burns and wounds it had received. The grip on her arm increased, followed by a long sigh in order to relieve her worries. “I can’t complain now can I, I wanted to help out after all?” she grinned to herself. “Looks like we’re in this together. Thunderbolt!”

Absol spread its wings out, roaring once more before firing a barrage of lightning down onto the Delphox clones, successfully managing to wipe out a large majority of them in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately the lightning hadn’t been able to hit all of the Delphox, instead it alerted them and made them charge at Absol once more, a sphere of light glowing at the tip of the staves. Miko squinted her eyes tightly, the burns becoming more apparent in her arm now. “Jump!” she howled.

Absol wasted no time in following her command as it propelled itself up to the roof, causing the remaining clones of Delphox to all collide and each other; the subsequent explosion from the clash of the attacks pushing the real Delphox back.

“Night Slash!”

Absol had reached the zenith of its jump and was now coming back down, curled up into a ball as both its sickle and tail glowed with black energy. Delphox reacted quickly though, lifting up its staff and using it to block Absol’s tail successfully.

What it didn’t see though was Absol raising is head, the black energy around its sickle increasing before it threw its head down, slashing down Delphox’s staff and body and leaving a long bloody gash on its chest.

Delphox howled in agony before finally hitting the floor, its staff falling in turn.

Miko panted alongside her Absol, looking down at the defeated Delphox so as to make sure that it was really down for the count. “That was pretty impressive,” Tyson commented proudly.

The girl wasted no time in replying to his comment though, for she instantly ran towards Bendan and proceeded to release him from his bindings. “You did great Miko,” Brendan nodded his head as he pushed himself up. “I’m sorry about what happened with the Mega Stone, I didn’t think you’d have to go through that.”

“It’s okay,” Miko shook her head, her eyes falling on her slightly burned arm. “I can’t believe this is what the Pokemon have to go through though, I mean I knew they got hurt but actually feeling it is completely different,” she glanced at her Absol, a guilty expression on her face as her Pokemon walked closer to her and rubbed its head against her hand. “I’m sorry Absol,” she said gently, petting the Pokemon’s head.

“Well if you understand then we better go stop Reggie’s battle with Noah,” Brendan added in a hurry.

“What do you mean?”

“For now all I can tell you is that if Chigon and Reggie battle for too long they’ll end up going through worse than what you went through,” he replied with an alarmed expression before beginning to run out of the room.

***

Reggie and Alagon raced through the sky, his arms grabbing onto the dragon’s back as tightly as he could. Suddenly Noah’s Dragonite appeared in front of them, its claws wrapped in violet energy before it slashed down at Alagon’s neck, throwing the Pokemon back.

“Damn it,” Reggie groaned, instead holding to Alagon’s horns so as to stabilize him easier. “Dragon Breath!” Alagon threw its head up, firing a powerful blast of air at the Dragon Pokemon. Unfortunately its opponent had already vanished once more. “How the hell does he keep disappearing?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Noah laughed, making Reggie look around desperately in an attempt to find him. “Didn’t you wonder why a loudmouth like me was the leader of the stealth division?” he pointed out calmly.

“Frankly I don’t care,” Reggie groaned, only for a blast of energy to crash against Alagon’s body, sending the two of them falling back slightly. Fortunately the dragon was able to withstand the force and regained altitude. “Just show yourself already!”

“You see,” Noah added, ignoring Reggie’s pleas. “There were times when I was just a kid where I could just sneak around a place without people noticing, even if I walked directly to them,” he explained with a soft chuckle. “I don’t really know how I do it but somehow it’s as if I was some kind of ghost or something, it’s a form of misdirection if you think about it.”

“So I guess Memento Mori are a bunch of freaks aren’t they?” Reggie spat, still doing his best to try and locate Noah.

“That’s a good way of putting it,” Noah informed a tone of realization in his voice. “Makes for great parties though.”

Noah and his Dragonite appeared in front of Reggie once more, making Reggie jump back in shock. Dragonite howled loudly before colliding against Alagon, its body surrounded in purple and yellow energy as it pushed the Pokemon back. “Fire Blast!” Reggie screamed, urging Alagon to immediately fire a jet of flames straight up at the Dragonite; who simply flew below it and dove down towards the pair.

Reggie quickly pulled on Alagon’s horns, making the Pokemon fly back in order to get away from Dragonite. Instead of disappearing like he had been doing Noah began to chase after Reggie.

He felt the wind hit his face as they sped forth, it didn’t deter him or the dragon though, instead he asked for his partner to go faster and faster. It was to no avail though because Dragonite had quickly caught up to them and was flying right behind them. “Now!” Reggie yelled, making Alagon fold its wings and push itself upward.

The Pokemon proceeded to roll around in the air, allowing Dragonite to fly ahead of it before firing another blast of air down at the Pokemon and Noah, this time landing the attack and sending the Memento Mori member falling back. “It worked,” Reggie laughed in relief, his legs wrapped tightly around Alagon’s neck while he remained heads down.

Unfortunately Dragonite was able to stabilize itself once more before flying back towards its opponent. “Okay, let’s do something else then,” Reggie instructed before Alagon dove down, allowing its wings to glide on the air as it headed straight for Dragonite.

Dragonite opened its mouth, firing a blast of red energy at Alagon, who simply used its wings to push itself away from the sphere. The dragon sliced through the air, turning and flying below Dragonite before emerging above it once more.

They didn’t attack though, instead Reggie had Alagon repeat the same manoeuvre over and over, turning and flying around Dragonite so as to keep it unfocused. “I didn’t think you’d be such an annoying little bug,” Noah gritted his teeth before clapping his hands. Noah vanished once more, making Reggie grit his teeth in annoyance.

It was only a few seconds before Dragonite reappeared once more, slashing at Alagon’s right wing and making the dragon wail in pain. “Damn it!” Reggie cursed as he and Alagon flew away once more.

They were quickly losing altitude due to the wound inflicted on Alagon’s right wing; this also had affected Reggie’s control over it as the Pokemon was having trouble overcoming the pain of the injury. “Come on Alagon, we can’t fall now!” Reggie begged, looking down at the mass of thick dark trees not too far from where they went. “The Dark Forest, we can hide there.”

“Oh no, you won’t!” Noah screamed from above Reggie. He grabbed onto the black Dragonite’s neck as it dove down, surrounding its body in a coat of water. The large dragon then slammed against Reggie and Alagon, making both Trainer and Pokemon scream out as they were separated and thrown into the Dark Forest.

Reggie felt his body break through the leaves and branches, bouncing around and crashing with each branch before finally hitting the floor.

He groaned loudly, trying his best to move his now sore arms and legs, though it was only enough to roll himself around. He was covered in leafs and dust and his head spun around, making him unable to stand up. He rubbed his cheek gently, only to see his fingers covered in blood. “Damn it,” he frowned before allowing his hand to fall back on the floor.

He looked up, his eyes staring at the hole that had been made through the roof of the pitch black forest. Even though he was in a dire situation he couldn’t help but stare at the stars shining above him, gleaming and making all of his worries go away.

He thought back to what Noah had said, about how he had gone there in order to take Chigon. The idea of something like that happening once more had been devastating for Reggie, it made him feel guilty, guilty for putting his friends at risk once more and for bringing danger to the academy.

“I have to make all of this better,” Reggie groaned before rolling back on his stomach. He was thankful for the moonlight as it allowed him to see through the darkness of the woods. Alagon had fallen not too far away from him and was writhing in pain.

Reggie planted his hands on the floor and used all the strength he could muster to push himself back up. His body screamed due to the pain of all the hits he had received from his fall.

Once he managed to get a grip on one of the trees and to let his legs adjust once more he made his way to the fallen dragon. “I guess this is also my fault. Huh buddy?” he muttered softly, walking around so he could come face to face with his Pokemon.

Alagon raised its head weakly, its head was bleeding much like its trainer and the red armor around its neck had cracked after the fall. Closer inspection allowed Reggie to make out its broken right wing which was being kept under its body as if to guard it more. Reggie knelt down in front of it, rubbing its head softly. “I’m sorry that you got injured like this again,” he said weakly. “If I was a stronger trainer…if I was a stronger person then you wouldn’t be this injured.”

“Al!” Alagon whined, almost as if it was trying to refute its Trainer’s claims.

“It’s the truth,” Reggie chuckled. “Even if you try to make me feel better I know I’m the one that put us in this situation, you’re not exactly a Pokemon that can be found anywhere,” he nodded his head before standing up once more. “I know that you’re already hurt, but if it’s okay I want you to keep helping me out!” he yelled with determination, his eyes staring straight into the dragon’s. “This time I will help you too though.”

Alagon nodded its had gently, raising his neck slightly an resting it on Reggie’s shoulder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB6LeJBF1wg

A warm feeling began to surface inside of Reggie, spreading around his body before surging out, making him gasp at the amount of power that he felt coming out of him. This power began to erupt, taking the shape of a sky blue aura that shrouded his body and Alagon’s. The aura increased before it began shining brighter, even managing to break through the darkness of the woods and come out of the hole the two had made.

Noah whistled when he saw the light that was coming out of the woods, a look of amazement on his face. “Things are gonna get good after all,” he laughed while patting his Dragonite’s head.

Then the light erupted through the trees, blasting away leaves, branches and even trees as it fired off into the sky. The light came to a halt once it reached the same level as Dragonite, floating only a few meters away from the black dragon.

A pair of large red dragon wings spread out, completely spreading the sphere of light away and sending pulses of fire through the air. Floating where the light had been was a large dragon slightly bigger than Dragonite. The dragon had a slim figure and was encased in a completely scarlet armor of scales that covered its chest and shoulders. Its arms were long and crimson, with long yellow claws. The upper half of its head was covered in a similarly colored armor. The thing that stood out the most though was the sky blue crystal that stuck out from its chest.

The newly emerged dragon glared at Dragonite with its slit rage-filled blue eyes. “So that’s Pyrgon huh?” Noah said simply, not paying much attention to it; instead his eyes fell on Reggie, who was sitting on the dragon’s shoulder. His hair was waving around thanks to the blue aura coming out from his body. There was something different though, his eyes, eyes that before showed insecurity and fear were now gleaming brightly with confidence and pure wild rage.

Just staring at him sent chills down Noah’s body, making him grab onto his left arm instinctively. A demented smile crossed his face and his eyes stared at Reggie with joy. “Now that’s what I like to see!” he screamed with delight. “Those eyes hahahaha you really had me full man. I thought you were just some little puppy but you do have your fangs,” he laughed hysterically.

He looked down at his Dragonite’s paw, staring at the blood that it had retrieved from Alagon before. “Huh, well doesn’t matter, I’ll have some fun before taking my leave,” he muttered before glancing back to Reggie. “So boy! Do you want to go another round with me?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sX_54hHcEE

Reggie didn’t answer, instead he signalled for Pyrgon to shift to its stomach, giving Reggie the opportunity to sit on Pyrgon’s neck like he had done when it was an Alagon. “I’ll take that as yes then!” Noah announced, clapping his hands loudly.

He soon found out that his old tricks hadn’t worked. Even though he was supposed to have vanished from Reggie’s sight the dragon still charged at him with great speed. Its body enveloped itself in blue flames and turned to a blur as it slammed against Dragonite, making the Pokemon cough up blood and almost throw Noah away.

Dragonite quickly spaced itself from its opponent, clutching onto its chest and wincing in pain. “Damn, I guess that’s not gonna work now is it?” he asked the still quiet Reggie. “Oh come on! You can at least say something; otherwise this whole thing will be boring.”

“Still, I didn’t think you actually had that ability, it’s a lot more menacing than I thought too,” he added sheepishly. He raised his left hand before holding it up, revealing a black open-mouthed devil-shaped tattoo with a 3 engraved on the center of the tattoo.

This got a reaction out of Reggie, causing him to stare at Noah’s hand in surprise. “An Instalink,” he muttered to himself. The Instalink on Noah’s hand began to glow in a black aura before black lines started spreading up his arm, hiding away from Reggie when they crawled through the sleeve of his shirt before coming out and enveloping the left half of his face and neck.

“Now we can really get started,” Noah grinned maliciously.

Dragonite howled before it was enveloped by a black aura. The dragon Pokemon’s small wings spread out before it fired multiple rays of icy energy at Pyrgon.

Reggie grabbed on tightly to his Pokemon before the two flew out of the Ice Beam’s path, zigzagging through it and flying straight for Noah. “Dragon’s Roar,” Reggie commanded coldly as he and Pyrgon gained the upper ground. The red dragon moved its head back before firing a white beam down at Dragonite, who put its arms together and created a blue barrier in order to protect itself from the blast.

Reggie didn’t waste time though. Pyrgon proceeded to circle around, flying behind Dragonite bfore throwing a fiery fist forward at the dragon. Noah pulled on Dragonite’s antennae in time, forcing the Pokemon to turn around and throw and icy punch at Pyrgon.

The two punches collided with one another, raising steam and pushing each of the Pokemon back. Dragonite roared, firing a barrage of Dragon Breath attacks at Pyrgon. This time one of the blasts was able to hit Pyrgon’s back when it tried to retreat, almost dropping Reggie from the dragon’s back.

“Guuuh!” Reggie yelled out. He couldn’t hear anymore due to the force of the blast and he felt as if his head was about to burst open, a strain of using Full Synchro for too long.

It was a chance Noah didn’t waste. Dragonite surrounded itself in purple energy once more before starting to rush at Pyrgon, clashing and slashing at it multiple times, not even leaving it or its Trainer room to recover.

Noah panted, his grin not leaving his face as he looked down at the struggling Reggie. “Well, I have to thank you,” he laughed. “I didn’t think I’d have this much fun. It’s sad that I have to end this now though.”

Dragonite lifted its right arm up before calling forth multiple purple meteorites from the sky. Reggie looked up, unease in his eyes as the meteorites homed in on him and Pyrgon and headed for them.

He clenched his fist in frustration before looking down at Pyrgon’s eyes, noticing that it still wasn’t willing to back down. “Let’s give it one more push then,” he nodded his head. Pyrgon spread its wings out and summoned a blue barrier before flying forward. The two began to manoeuvre through the falling rocks, occasionally firing blast of energy at them in order to destroy them.

It was tougher than they thought as many of the Meteorites managed to collide with Pyrgon, causing the Pokemon’s path to shake and for cracks to materialize on the barrier. Reggie motioned for it to fly straight at Noah though, his eyes never leaving their target.

“You’re one tough little guy aren’t you?” Noah snickered, raising his arm once more. “Dragonite let’s go!” he ordered.

A meteorite twice Dragonite’s size materialized right in front of the dragon, making Reggie gasp when he realized that they were heading straight for it. “Don’t falter!” Reggie screamed at the top of his lungs.

Pyrgon complied, letting out a deafening roar before it increased its speed and flew directly ito the meteorite’s path. The barrier around its body was enveloped in blue flames, giving out the appearance of a flying comet.

Reggie gritted his teeth before letting out his own roar once the two collided against the meteorite. The force of the crash sent flames spiraling around them and threatened to throw them back and crush them. Pyrgon didn’t move back though, it pushed harder against the meteorite and let out another white beam that finally pierced through the giant rock, shattering it into pieces once and for all.

The aura surrounding Reggie finally vanished, causing his body to scream once more as the strain of his wounds and the use of Full Synchro all began to catch up with him. That wasn’t as bad as what he found out once they were through the meteorite though.

Noah was gone, no trace remaining of either him or his Dragonite. “Fuck!” Reggie screamed in madness, slamming his arms hands against Pyrgon’s back. “Damn it! You fucking bastard! Come back here!” he roared.

It turned out that Pyrgon had had enough as well. Its body began to fall back to the ground, urging Reggie to wrap his aching arms around its neck as the Dragon crashed into the ground, raising up dirt and rubble as it slid to a halt.

Reggie rolled out of Pyrgon’s back, panting heavily as he saw the Pokemon glow and revert back to a now bruised and bloodied Chigon. “Thanks…buddy,” he said weakly.

“Reggie!” Reggie immediately turned around, seeing Miko calling out to him and waving from afar, relief in her eyes.

Reggie smiled at this, doing his best to push himself up. “I did it Mi-“

He couldn’t though, just as he had managed to recover his stand he felt his body beginning to fall once more, as if everything inside of him suddenly shut down.

The last thing he recalled was Miko rushing to his side and then…darkness.

End of Chapter 50
Next Time: And So Life Goes On

Spoiler

So here it is! the final part of the Sin Arc. Not gonna lie I've been wanting to do this battle for about a year, in fact it was even the sole reason I had originally thought of doing this arc. This comes mostly due to the fact that I had already showcased Noah in the epilogue of Dragon's Roar and thought it would've been bad to show him so much and not properly use him. I don't know if the battle is my best one, I tried to make it and even looked into some flying techniques thanks to @AetherX; Unpredictable, though I dont think I did it as good as he did.

Probably the biggest thing to deal with here was Full Synchro. Full Synchro in and of itself is a special ability only found in a select few that allows a Pokemon and trainer to completely synchronize, they can thus become stronger but also feel what the other feel. The Instalinks (the marks that both Noah and Darren have) are sort of like this except that while Full Synchro is a shared connection where both Pokemon and trainer take from each other the Instalink instead requires someone to be the taker at all times (the users can either choose to give their energy to their Pokemon and take their damage or vice versa), the Key Stones in the world of Academy can create a sort of Pseudo Full Synchro but this is only present in special people, wonder what it means for Miko ;p

In general the battle scene with Miko was a last minute thing, originally Reggie was going to go face off against Noah on his own. This did give me more to write but at least I think it was a good wya to give Miko a battle of her own and develop her character more.

Well there's only chapter 51 and the Epilogue to go and boy I never thought I'd get this far, I still haven't properly started the third fic but I have planned most of it out at least. I think first I'll go and reread everything from back in Dragon's Roar though.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look out for the next one as the group winds down and ponders over the end of the year. See you then!

 

[chaos_Leader]

Well. That escalated quickly.

I actually lumped two arcs into one review this time, so, double dose! As of this review, I've finished the "Fall From Grace" arc.

Now that I've gotten a little further into the story, I'll lay down some opinions. I actually kind of like Kevin. He seems like an assholeish entitled brat, and is characterized as such, but is actually pretty personable, smart as a whip, and a good sport, if a little manipulative and demanding at times. This is most evident I feel in his wooing of Miko late in this last arc. I get the distinct impression that he is deliberately trying to provoke Reggie into motivation, to emotionally kick his ass into gear to be the assertive "hero figure" Reggie needs to be; to be the Reggie that Kevin heard so much about before and prompted him going to this academy. It reminds me of a somewhat unorthodox, ethically questionable directing technique, in which the director deliberately attempts to provoke the intended emotional state in the actor. I would not be surprised if, when reading further, that was Kevin's intention, or even refers to this reverse-psychology method.

Fin seems like a blunt, straightforward instrument from what I've read so far, and at the very least makes a show of appearing to think only with his manhood. If there's depth to him (i.e.: Fin is just making a big show of his hedonistic oafishness for laughs and/or to conceal other aspects of his nature), it must show up either later, or in the previous story that I haven't read, or I just totally missed it altogether.

The enforcers seem like a very weird question mark in my head, and maybe not in the way the writing is intending. What I mean is, if the academy is experiencing such widespread and serious discipline infractions, why does the principal/headmaster/top authority grant the means to enforce to students. Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be any standardization among the enforcers or their policies, and they were chosen for the sole reason that Brendan Birch believes them to be strong trainers. I get that it's part of this whole "power corrupts" meta-idea, but it kind of feels forced; of course the enforcers are going to be "corrupted" by their power if their responsibilities are not clearly defined. If there's another reason for the Enforcers, something less obvious, perhaps a means for further-up authority to glean out something specific they're looking for, then I can see the decision making more sense. If it was as simple as a disciplinary crackdown, there are other, more practical ways than student enforcement.

One thing I've noticed throughout reading this story is many, many weird typos. It's never been major spelling or grammatical snafus, but rather, frequent use of a homonym of the word you meant. The standout examples being things "your" in place of "you're" and similar instances. While not necessarily typos per-se, there's also instances of awkward punctuation, or lack of punctuation. In particular, you make very sparing use of the comma, sometimes quite awkwardly in places where a comma might be helpful.

Quibbles aside, looking forward to reading some more of this as I go forward. Until then, need a snooze for a bit.

 

[chaos_Leader]

As of this review, I have finished the "Academy Club Battle Royale Arc"

Great, I just now realize there are two Kevins running amok in your story: Kevin "Incendio" Blaze, and actor Kevin.

I feel very weird about the Enforcers now. On the one hand, this Zephyr character seems very sensible, fair, encouraging, and just; exactly the kind of person who ought to be put in charge of discipline and given responsibility. And then the "Power Corrupts" issue I had with them earlier rears its ugly head again: actor Kevin has gone full-asshole (actor Kevin is a member of the Enforcers now, right? I'm not just seeing crazy things?). I can understand him being upset about Miko and Reggie, but let's be fair: he did outright invite Reggie to challenge him and go after Miko. That's fine though, if he was making that challenge out of confidence; this shows that he's petty beneath it all. What I'm really confused about is who is making the decision for these guys to be enforcers and why? Obviously Brendan Birch is the one pulling the strings here, even being the one shown to decide this competition thing. I'm really starting to believe now that the actual purpose of the enforcers isn't about discipline, but about giving the student body a "common foe" to resent, to aspire to knock down a peg, and so better themselves. If it was truly about just discipline, Brendan would have chosen a different method, and definitely would not have let them participate in an inter-club tournament (one he decided to have no less).

Interesting to see Reggie being trained under Darren. I was half expecting some "wax on/wax off" Miyagi style training shenanigans, but I suppose it makes more sense for Darren to be blunt and straightforward. It'll be interesting also to see how the situation between Darren and Kevin "Incendio" Blaze works out. Funny scene with the ramen btw.

Expect another review soon!