"It's so fluffy!"
"We're all gonna die!"
People shouted over each other as the Mega Altaria spread their cloud-like wings and tail. Trainers scrambled to get as far away as possible, leaving me, Lucas, and the referee behind. Lucas kneeled near his Medicham, who was lying on the floor and wheezing. He sprayed a Potion on Medicham's chest before recalling his ace. The ref stood frozen, staring at her Darmanitan's back. The rest of her Pokémon were gone, most likely back in their PokéBalls.
Mega Altaria Screeched, nearly popping my eardrums. Someone stepped out from behind the Dragon-Type, her long, straight, brunette hair waving in the wind. She wore the same green pants and white varsity as the others, but she had a green beret, just like Ada, the Team Flux admin that accosted me in the bar.
"Tch, I hate how you bugs are everywhere," she growled. "Brie, my baby, Hyper Beam." Mega Altaria smiled as wisps of Fairy-Type Energy gathered in her maw. Her face twisted in glee, the Hyper Beam whistling and crackling menacingly. She lifted her head before leaning forward to release the attack.
*THUMP*
Mega Altaria's head snapped back, the Hyper Beam releasing into the air and bursting in a massive explosion. The blast pushed me off my feet, rolling back until I hit a tree. I felt a wetness coming out of my right ear, slowly running down the side of my head. Lucas and the ref weren't spared either. Lucas was sprawled over a large rock, unconscious. The ref slid across the ground, quickly standing back on her feet and rushing to Lucas.
"Taaa!" Mega Altaria roared as a Floatzel wrapped their arms around her neck and flipped her over, quickly chopping down with both hands covered in Dragon-Type Energy.
A young woman in a baggy blue zip-up hoodie appeared next to me with a Starmie. The Team Flux admin frowned. "You're not supposed to be here yet," she said flatly. Brie the Altaria thrashed around as the woman's Floatzel held onto her fluffy wings with paws covered in Ice-Type Energy. She hovered in the for a moment, just high enough to slam her wing into a tree and shake the sea weasel off.
They danced for several exchanges, Mega Altaria using her wings, beak, and tail to hit in close quarters while Floatzel dodged, ducked, dived, dipped, and dodged some more. When the orange and yellow Pokémon created some distance, the majestic ball of fluff switched to bombs and beams of draconic and fae varieties. Floatzel bobbed and weaved between the attacks, using speed and dexterity to match overwhelming power.
"Flo, Ice Fang. Mimi, Screens and Beams," the woman said, ignoring the Flux admin. She stood there, arms crossed, as her Pokémon worked to bring down the Mega. Floatzel chomped on Altaria's neck, a blood-curdling screaming escaping her throat until an amalgamation of energies slammed into her and froze her jaw.
"Brie!" The brunette faced our savior, her face marred by ugly fury. "You bitch! I don't give a damn if you're a Gym Leader, I'm going to rip you in half and feed you to the Houndoom! Rough Rage!"
"Mimi, hold Altaria down. Flo, set up and then Jaw Breaker." She was calm, almost bored, in her commands, completely oblivious to the Altaria's Trainer. The Starmie spun as pink light radiated from it, slamming the Altaria onto its stomach. Her Floatzel lunged forward, jaws shining in a myriad of colors.
*CRACK*
My stomach churned and somersaulted as I saw the admin's Altaria jerk violently and slump into eerie stillness. The Flux member dropped to her knees, hands trembling as she rose an arm and recalled her Pokémon. Her head and shoulders dropped. "I'm going to kill you slowly, Lida."
Her head snapped to the Gym Leader, eyes red and flooding. "I won't rest until you and your Pokémon lay broken and worthless."
"Talk to me when you can force Mimi to Mega-Evolve." Lida walked forward, only to jump sideways as her Starmie Teleported in front of her and took a bomb of darkness head-on. An Umbreon appeared beside the Flux admin.
"Nautilus, Hypnosis!" The wave of Psychic energy washed over Umbreon uselessly, only serving to gain a scathing look. Nautilus, being a determined little squid, used his inherent hypnotic powers and slowed Umbreon. Lida's Floatzel appeared behind them, kicking Umbreon's feet out. Umbreon snapped out of the hypnosis and slapped Floatzel away with silver-colored tail. Umbreon then put a paw on the Flux admin and promptly teleported both of them out of there.
"Shit," Lida muttered, her Rotom Phone flying out and calling someone. "Hey, we got a problem. Yeah, she escaped. What?! Most of the prizes are gone? No wonder she said I wasn't supposed to be here. Uh huh. Yeah, I'll be there."
The Rotom Phone put itself back in her zip-up's pocket as she turned to me and my Pokémon. "That was some quick thinking," she said. "You'll need your Inkay to grow much stronger if you want his hypnosis powers to actually do anything."
She turned to the ref. "Araceli, I'll get that Trainer to a Center. Can you check in with Jean? Bring Marco with you. I think the tournament is over, and everyone else is meeting at the entrance."
She disappeared a moment later, leaving us alone. I turned to look at the ref, who slowly got up and brushed herself off. We looked at each other, her amber eyes searching my face.
"Fine, let's go," she sighed, grumbling something about a brother.
I followed behind, looking around the plaza. The lack of destruction from Lida fighting off a Mega Altaria didn't match the raw power I felt casually rolling off the Pokémon, or the pressure from Altaria's Pixelate-boosted Hyper Beam bursting in the sky. Other than some frozen patches of grass and a broken tree or two, the plaza looked the same as before. The lack of people and Pokémon was a more noticeable tell of what had just happened.
There were several people waiting at the entrance, including Mitchel and Luciana. They stared at us as we walked towards the group, Mitchel's eyes widening a bit before he ran up to us. "Thank Arceus you're both okay. We heard there was a Mega Pokémon in the plaza."
"Yeah, a Team Flux admin Mega Evolved her Altaria," I told him. "Lida took care of it."
"Really!" he cried out. He turned to the ref, "Is it true Araceli? Was she as cool as she was during the redevelopment?"
"You're such a dork," she huffed. "I don't understand how you're still in the tournament."
"You two know each other?" I asked, my eyebrows scrunching.
"Yes." / "No."
"He's my little brother," she told me, her shoulders slumping. "And an annoying one at that. Can you imagine your own family rooting against you in a Gym Battle?"
"I shouted for you too," Mitchel cut in, his words hurried. "I hoped you would win."
"But you wanted to see Lida keep her streak going," she corrected him. "And your shouting was just telling me to stop hurting her Goldeen."
Mitchel stayed quiet with that revelation, his cheeks and ears blushing a bright red. I chuckled to myself, the scene comfortably familiar. 'Does this mean I have a younger brother?'
I shook my head. We had business to take care of. "What happens now?"
Araceli shrugged. "We're supposed to meet some others. Professor Sycamore will most likely want to continue the tournament since most put their journeys on pause to travel and participate. He'll say they'll need to be rewarded for their efforts, as he usually does."
"So, we're still doing the semi-finals and finals matches?" Mitchel asked her. She nodded.
"My guess is yes. I'm not sure what the prizes are going to be now that the original ones were stolen," she replied. "There's Jean. He'll definitely know."
She walked toward a tall, lithe man with strawberry blond hair. His green eyes were overshadowed by the dark bags under them, telling everyone that countless nights were spent drinking coffee and staring at a screen. He took a deep breath as we approached, preparing himself.
"Yes, the tournament is still on. Yes, the Trainers need to stay here. No, I don't know how long. No, I don't know who's battling who. No, I don't know what the prizes are. Yes, Augustine and Lida are going to be present. No, I don't know what they're doing about Team Flux. Does that answer everything?"
"Just about," Araceli answered, rolling with his apparent telepathy.
"Yes, I do have telepathy. No, I'm not reading your mind on purpose. No, I can't turn it off. Yes, it is annoying and the reason I can't sleep at night." He looked at me, absolutely done with the day already. My eyes widened.
"Yeah, that answers everything."
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A/N: Sorry for the late post, everyone. Work's been kicking my ass, and this weekend is going to be brutal. There may not be an update this following week, so my apologies. Hope you enjoy this chapter!