Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Realms ❯ A Rescue in Peril ( Chapter 26 )

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A Rescue in Peril

By nightdragon0

 

 

 

“So it wasn't us that they came here for.” Hazuki gasped. “It was Bashaamo!”

“Sounds like she's had some kind of fall out from that group.” Nala agreed. “However, why would she take Yusia away from the rest of Kaiser's troops? I can't think of a particular reason for it.”

“I'm not too worried about that, but now I'm so close to being able to save Yusia!” Hazuki looked up. “If she's really being held by Bashaamo, and Bashaamo is in this town…”

“That must mean Yusia is likely to be here as well.” Riot realized, flapping her wings about in excitement.

“All we have to do is find her.” Gwyen beamed. “But that's the hard part right? Dumb and dumber back there were using a scanner, and they still couldn't track her exact location. We just got lucky because we spotted Bashaamo directly.”

“Hmmm…” Hazuki lowered her head in thought, her eyes falling upon the Ankh that held Asiyu's Spirit Crystal. “Hey Asiyu, you sensed Bashaamo's Spirit Crystals earlier, didn't you?”

(Yes…)

“Can you do it again?”

(Certainly. However if I openly exercise more of my power, I risk not only Bashaamo detecting me in return, but also alerting those scanners of Kaiser's troops.)

“Oh yeah…” Hazuki's face fell.

“Actually, that's not a difficult problem to solve.” Nala raised a hand. “All we need is a distraction.”

“With all due respect, we can't possibly hope to catch the attention of all the search teams in this town at once.” Riot cut in.

“I was talking more along the lines of unleashing Spirit energy to draw their scanners towards us.” Nala informed the Aerodactyl. “We'll just Dragon Meld! That'll definitely send all the search teams flocking to us like Beedrill to honey.”

(Now that sounds like a plan.) Erizar remarked.

“Of course.” Nala winked. “You know all those old Godzilla movies where he goes round trashing towns? We'll just do the same thing. It's sure to catch everybody's attention, leaving you guys time to go and rescue Yusia.”

“Hey, you're volunteering to be the bait?” Gwyen gasped.

“Let us…” Hazuki began.

“No, Yusia needs you to rescue her.” Nala faced the shorter girl and placed both hands on her shoulders. “Gwyen, Asiyu and yourself should go. Leave the distraction to us.”

“It does expose you guys to a high chance of being captured again.” Hazuki said with concern. “And we just had to rescue you.”

“Don't worry, lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice.” Nala assured. “We'll just smash up a few things and de-meld, then slip out in the wake of the confusion. Nothing to it!”

(I promise not to hurt any innocent bystanders too.) Erizar added in.

“Thanks Nala.” Hazuki hesitated for a while before hugging her close friend and comrade.

“So, this is where we part ways again.” Riot turned to Gwyen. “Well…”

“Well what?” The Suicune growled.

“Good luck.”

“Yeah…you too…”

The two Pokemon stared at each other for a while longer.

“Humph!” Both huffed and looked away.

“Bimbo!”

“Air-head!”

That got Hazuki and Nala laughing again. And a well needed one before all the intense battles they were about to go through.

 

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(Keep focusing…) Bahamut's voice instructed. (Yeah, that's it.)

Kris had her eyes closed and her sword held out above the rune-decorated circle on the ground. Nightslice too had his claw placed over his partner's Spirit Weapon.

Those runes represented the teleport point that they'd entered the Dragon's Den through. Now, the party was trying to open a link back to the Alenky Labs. Or more specifically, a mountain close to the labs, which was the closest teleport spot to their destination that the group knew of.

Beside them, Jade and Firestorm were doing the same, though they didn't seem as well focused.

“I think it's working!” Nightslice muttered, watching as the circle of runes begun to glow.

“Don't lose focus.” Kris reminded him.

Images of various places she'd been to flashed through her mind. There was that room with the teleport point in the Silph building, the cave around the Saffron Forest, their current spot and even some others that she couldn't recognize.

Finally, the image of the Secret garden guarded by the Latias and Latios twins, Ryan and Rynn, came into mind. That was the one they wanted to go to.

But just as Kris finalized the location in her mind, she suddenly felt a great burst of energy. It was definitely Spirit Crystal energy, and a great amount of it too…almost as if someone were Dragon Melding reasonably close by.

The teleportation process had put their senses on the same `plane' as the Spirit energies, allowing them to feel something that they normally would not have.

However, the thought passed in an instant, and it was too late to stop the teleportation even if she had wanted to. Next thing the ninja knew, she'd been thrown into a dark void, spinning away into the darkness beyond.

 

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“Emmm…” Rynn yawned, rising from her spot on the pile of straw.

It was night and everything was dark in the Secret Garden that she shared with her brother. The fountain in the center and the lampposts surrounding the perimeter were working fine, with the various trees and plants swaying in the breeze. The stone ornaments and benches remained in their set positions, as always.

However, a strange tingling was what had awakened the dragoness. As she blinked in the dim lighting, Rynn's eyes slowly begun to adjust and she gasped in shock.

The circle of runes that decorated a raised platform nearby were glowing with a soft, white light. That meant that the teleport point was being activated. Perhaps Kris' or Jade's parties were coming back…or maybe something else.

That part of their home had been recently modified. Previously, the teleport point had been hidden beyond a set of underwater passages. The twins had spent a lot of time smashing through the rocky walls there until they'd opened up a path all the way to the teleport point.

“Ryan! Ryan!” The Latias cried excitedly, shaking her brother's sleeping form. “Wake up! Something's happening to the teleporter!”

The blue scaled Latios had chosen to sleep close to the runes, just to be prepared in case anything happened. But now that there was the necessity, he wasn't waking up at all.

“Ugghh…go back to sleep sis.” Ryan muttered.

“No, Ryan! Wake up! It's important!”

“Rynn…be quiet…”

“Ryan! Ryan!” The Latias continued shaking her brother. “Uh oh!”

Throughout Rynn's failed attempt to wake her twin, the runes had been growing brighter and brighter. Rynn flipped away on reflex as a bright flash emitted.

“Garrrggghhh!”

Seconds after that, Ryan was literally thumped awake to find himself at the bottom of a pile of a Scizor, a Charizard and two humans.

“That was rather ungraceful…” Kris sighed.

“Arrggh! I can't breathe!” Jade cried, second from the bottom of the pile up.

“Dammit! Get your foot out of my face!” Firestorm yelled.

“Get your tail out of mine!” Nightslice retorted. “And watch that flame of yours!”

“Shut up will ya?”

“Hey, you were shouting at me first!”

“Wanna make something of it?”

“Yeah, you know what these are?” Nightslice raised his arms. “They're called pincers!”

“You wouldn't dare!”

“Watch me! Harghh!”

CLOMP! Nightslice clamped a pincer down on Firestorm's tail.

“Garrghh! You! Rarrgghh!”

Firestorm and Nightslice immediately began wrestling, throwing Kris and Jade aside and further squashing Ryan into the ground.

“I tried to warn you.” Rynn giggled from the side.

“Oh be quiet.” Ryan moaned unhappily.

 

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“Should be any moment now.” Hazuki whispered.

Gwyen and herself were crouched behind a fruit stand, waiting for the event that they knew was about to occur. Erizar had agreed to start at the row of warehouses they'd been hanging around earlier and try not to cause `too much' damage during her `rampage'.

Right on cue, a thunderous roar sounded from across the town square.

A three headed hydra-type dragon had suddenly appeared from nowhere, smashing down buildings and sending the general Pokemon population fleeing in all directions. Standing up to 8 feet at her full height and neck length, Erizar was pretty much the largest Legendary Dragon that could be summoned by the ragtag group.

Although two of the heads were controlled by Nala and Riot, all three still worked in unison, spraying their acidic breaths around.

“There's Sano and Uno.” Gwyen pointed with her snout.

A rampaging dragon had certainly caught the pair's attention. The Aggron and Rhydon pair were amongst the few Pokemon running towards the chaos instead of away from it.

(Now that Erizar is the center of attraction, we'd best start scanning for Bashaamo.) Asiyu's voice suggested.

“Yes, you're right.” Hazuki raised the Ankh above her head and begun to focus.

The weapon shimmered with an icy-blue glow for a few moments. Then, Hazuki, under the influence of Asiyu's power, pointed it towards one of the adjacent streets.

(I have a lock on the Flying and Fighting type Spirit Crystals Bashaamo holds.) Asiyu informed them. (That way!)

“Get on, quick!” Gwyen lowered her body to allow Hazuki to mount her.

Hazuki quickly complied, taking hold of Gwyen's purple mane, so as not to fall as the Suicune sped off.

 

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“Never thought I'd be so happy to see this place again.” Kris whistled as the party strolled into town.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Jade agreed. “Home, sweet home.”

This realm's version of the Hoenn region was isolated enough to have avoided most of the Kanto/Johto conflict. It meant that the party could walk around freely, unlike the Kanto region especially.

However, it was Jade's comment that made all four stop for a moment, exchanging glances with one another. Having been so caught up in the conflict of this realm, all of them had barely any time to miss their own world, or even think of returning for that matter.

Not until they defeated Kaiser once again…and this time for good.

(What's up with you all?) Bahamut's voice interrupted.

(Yeah, why the sudden stop?) Lombadra added in.

The revived Legendary Dragons didn't really understand the mutual feelings that ran amongst the group of four, who'd been together for so long.

“Nothing…” Nightslice finally spoke up. “Just reminiscing.”

“In a way, yes…reminiscing.” Firestorm nodded, continuing to walk.

The party had just reached the front door of the lab when a slim, yellow-skinned Pokemon abruptly teleported in front of them.

“Hello guys! It's been a while!” Epsilon waved.

Unfortunately, that had the effect of causing the party to fall backwards in surprise.

“Oops! Did I scare you guys?”

“YES!” Everyone yelled angrily.

 

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“Grrr…I was worried about you lot!” Zian growled.

“It's not like I wanted to break the communicator on purpose.” Kris protested. “I was fighting for my life in that arena!”

“And mine got busted during one of those fights at the Charisific Valley.” Jade waved his hands, holding up his wrist communicator, which had its face smashed in. “Besides, they didn't do us much good once we got too far away. Too much interference.”

“I suppose that's true…” Zian muttered.

“It's only natural instinct.” Cid remarked, walking into the room with a tray of hot drinks. “When you've been waiting with no news. We haven't heard from Nala or Hazuki recently either.”

“I do believe that they're taking care of themselves.” Jade managed a grin. “Both of them are tough for girls their age.”

“And what does that make me?” Kris shot him an odd glance.

“A demon?”

“Oh thanks a lot!”

Kris' group had gathered in the living room, together with their other comrades who stayed at the labs. That consisted of Epsilon the Alakazam, Cid, a human researcher who'd been thrown into this realm long before they had, and Zian, one of the surviving Legendary Dragons who'd been crippled and paralyzed from his neck downwards.

Despite all the things that had been happening in Johto and Kanto, it was relatively quiet in the Hoenn region. That probably meant that Hoenn was not a region that had a large role in Kaiser's plans.

“By the way, this letter came in about three days ago, addressed to Firestorm and Nightslice.” Cid raised an envelope.

“Us?” Firestorm took the letter and tore it open, taking extra care because of his sharp claws.

“Who's it from?” Nightslice glanced over the Charizard's shoulder.

“Garrick and Vance!”

“I take it that you still remember them from the Sacred Fields.” Nightslice muttered.

“Oh how could I ever forget?” Firestorm growled. “Let's see…they're requesting our help because they're having some problems…with Juncan?”

“Juncan? He's back here already?”

“Apparently so. And Juncan has been sending threats to them because he still has the Grass Key.”

“The Grass Key?” Nightslice tapped the side of his head with a pincer. “Oh that's the key that allowed us access into the Sacred Fields in the first place! But didn't Garrick have the Key? Remember when we first entered? He took it from us.”

“Yeah, according to the letter, Juncan was first able to gain access using his Grass Spirit Crystal, but only because of the trances of energy left at the hidden gate when we opened it earlier. However, it's been a long time since anyone opened the gate, so Juncan needs to use the Grass Key to do so.”

“Meaning Juncan probably snatched it from Garrick when he captured us.”

“That's not good.” Firestorm growled.

“I agree.” Nightslice nodded. “It's lucky that he didn't try anything while we were away.”

“According to Garrick here, Juncan has just made threats, but no demands. And sounded rather vexed when he did.”

“Seems like he's in a bad mood.” Jade laughed, even though he barely knew what was going on. “For all we know, Juncan had a bad run-in with Hazuki or Nala.”

“It's something I wouldn't put past being impossible.” Kris remarked.

“So let's cut to the chase. We're helping him out, right?” Firestorm asked.

“Hey, definitely. Juncan has no qualms about hurting innocent civilians.” Nightslice immediately replied. “And in Garrick's place, there are a lot of them.”

“Yeah. Besides that, I'm itching to get back at Juncan for the humiliation he put us through!” Firestorm gritted his fangs.

“If you're headed out again, we'll keep watch here.” Zian informed them. “Just hurry back. With Kaiser on the move now, there's no telling when or where he'll pop up again.”

“Why don't you guys hang on to this?” Jade placed the Rock Spirit Crystal, which he'd acquired back in the Charisific Valley, down on the table. “It might help with your research or something.”

“Sounds fine with me.” Epsilon took the crystal.

“Just be careful you guys.” Cid added in. “We'll be waiting.”

And so, the party headed right back out the door, on to yet another confrontation. As they did however, Kris and Jade approached their respective partners of Nightslice and Firestorm.

“So, mind filling us in on this little adventure that we missed?” Kris tapped their shoulders.

“Erm…” The Scizor and Charizard moaned nervously.

 

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“You know, I'm actually enjoying this.” Erizar remarked. “Although I don't see why you people write stories about it.”

“It is rather fun.” The head controlled by Nala admitted.

“Fun being the bad guy for once.” Riot's head licked her lips, having just blown down the side of a building with her acid breath.

“Hey you!” Heavy footsteps sounded as Sano and Uno ran towards Erizar.

“Looks like the plan's working.” Nala whispered to the other two heads, who nodded discretely in response.

“You! You're that dragon that escaped from the freezer the other day!” Sano gestured.

“I'm so pleased you remember me.” Erizar smirked. “And you would be? Ah yes, the two clowns that let me escape in the first place.”

“Erm…yeah, that's right!” Sano blurted out.

“Idiot, she was insulting you!” Uno smacked the back of his partner's head. “Come on! Let's take her!”

“Yeah! Harrggghhh!” Sano dug his claws into the ground and came up with a huge chunk of pavement, hurling it towards Erizar.

“Acid!” Nala and Riot's heads lurched forward and sprayed the rocks with a toxic breath that disintegrated them.

“Sludge Bomb!” Erizar launched a purple blob from her jaws, which splattered all over the dino pair.

Although the goop stung their hides, the two dinos were not about to back down.

“Double Earthquake!” They roared together, leaping up and stomping the ground. Huge fissures ran across the street as the Earthquake attack looked poised to hit Erizar head-on.

“Not yet!” Erizar declared.

The Legendary Dragon jumped just before the attack hit and unleashed an Earthquake attack of her own the moment she hit the ground again.

“Garrgghh!” The dino pair staggered from the force of the attack.

Erizar swiftly cleared the distance between them and swung her tail, smacking Uno against a dumpster. Sano had already managed to recover from the Earthquake and sank his fangs into Erizar's right forelimb, biting down hard.

Howling in pain, Erizar threw her entire body weight against the steel type Aggron, hurling him into his comrade. The poison type dragon then changed directions and smashed her way though a nearby wall.

“Hey! Get back here!” Sano and Uno yelled as Erizar's tail disappeared into the warehouse.

The dino pair followed in a fit of rage and found themselves stopping short. With the exception of the large hole in the wall, nothing else looked out of place. The warehouse was dim and quiet, without even the slightest flicker of movement.

“Huh? Where'd she go?” Sano wondered. “She couldn't have just disappeared!”

“Let's have a closer look.” Uno suggested.

As the pair walked into the center of the room, a sudden scraping caught their attention. A small shelf to their left fell with a loud crash.

“There you are!” Uno growled, spotting a humanoid figure crouched between the crates.

The dinos advanced, but didn't get very far. An Aerodactyl abruptly swooped down from one of the higher storage shelves, raking both their faces with her claws.

“Rarrggghh!”

As Sano and Uno stumbled in pain, Nala emerged from her hiding spot and dashed past, firing her twin pistols at the base of another shelf. That resulted in a domino effect which toppled one shelf after another, finally ending with one that squashed Sano and Uno beneath.

Weighed down by tons of heavy electronic equipment, the dinos could only roar in fury as Nala and Riot left them in the dust.

“Great one!” Nala gave a high-five to the rear talon of her partner.

“Most certainly agreed.” Riot winked.

However, their celebration was short-lived. Upon exiting through the hole Erizar had made, Nala and Riot were treated to an alarming sight.

A large group of Pokemon, all glaring angrily at them.

“Are they the ones?” A black and gray, wolf-like Mightyena snarled.

“Rawwrr…scanner sure shows the spirit energy.” A second Mightyena replied, checking a silver watch-like device strapped to his right forepaw.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Screeched a Swellow, who was perched nearby. This Pokemon took the form of a large, blue feathered bird with a white coloring at its chest.

“Oh sh…” Nala and Riot cried as the entire Pokemon group swarmed them at once.

 

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“Come on, where is she?” Hazuki muttered frantically.

From their position on the building's roof, Hazuki and Gwyen carefully surveyed the scene. Although with the crowds of Pokemon running about, it was hard to make out anything at all.

“Man, do you think Bashaamo is hiding or running along with the crowd?” Gwyen asked.

“I really don't know.” Hazuki sighed. “Maybe it wasn't such a good idea…wait! Look there!”

Slipping into an alleyway further down the street was the distinctive red form of a Blaziken, one holding what seemed to be a smaller figure wrapped in a brown cloak.

“Yusia!” Hazuki screamed. “Yusia!”

“At least let me get closer before you start yelling again.” Gwyen told her partner. “Now hang on tight!”

Still mounted on Gwyen's back, Hazuki once again took hold of the mane as the Suicune started leaping from roof to roof.

Gwyen quickly cleared each building with ease and was above Bashaamo's position in a matter of seconds. However, both the rider and the Pokemon had failed to notice the figure crouched behind the stack of crates there.

That was, until he swung a massive fist at them.

“Ragi…” Was all Gwyen could get off before she was knocked off the roof.

Hazuki screamed as she fell off Gwyen's back in the confusion. Fortunately, she was nimble enough to grab hold of a balcony's railings and remained dangling there in a state of shock. Gwyen had taken the brunt of Raguragi's attack and hit the pavement hard, leaving the impression of her body in it.

That so happened to be just in front of Bashaamo and Yusia, who stopped in surprise. The Swampert then dropped down from the roof, facing the other Pokemon with a ferocious growl.

“Dammit…” Gwyen cursed under her breath.

Hazuki and her had been so focused on finding Bashaamo that they'd directed all of Asiyu's energy towards seeking out the two crystals of Fighting and Flying elements…leaving any others undetected. However, because of the large amounts of Spirit energy that process had generated, it had given Raguragi, who held the Water and Ground Crystals, the opportunity to locate them easily.

“Found you at last!” Raguragi snarled. “Mud Shot!”

Gwyen howled, receiving the attack right in the face. The impact sent her rolling backwards, ending up on her belly and facing Bashaamo.

All of a sudden, the Blaziken was charging towards her with flaming fists. Cringing, Gwyen prepared for the worst.

“Get down!” Bashaamo ordered.

The Suicune was so stunned that she just did as she was told to.

Bashaamo's Fire Punch went right over Gwyen's head and stopped another Mud Shot in its tracks. Immediately after that, Raguragi lunged forward, locking claws with Bashaamo as they struggled.

With their powerful muscles rippling, the former allies butted heads, neither one wanting to give in. Being the more agile of the two, Bashaamo was able to balance herself on one leg and use the other one to knee her opponent in the chest.

Raguragi grunted, stumbling backwards. Undaunted, he quickly pulled himself up and lashed out with an icy fist…Ice Punch. Bashaamo countered with a rising uppercut that knocked the fist aside.

“Earthquake!” Raguragi then brought both hands down in a maneuver that shook the ground, creating dozens of cracks in the road.

However, Bashaamo was already in the air, spinning and twirling into a Blaze Kick maneuver that caught the Swampert in the face.

“Harrgghh!” From the balcony she'd puller herself up onto, Hazuki raised her Ankh and fired an Ice Beam. A layer of frost covered the road behind Raguragi, causing him to slip upon contact.

But Raguragi did get off one final Mud Shot, which knocked Hazuki off the balcony and sent her plummeting into dumpster. At the same time, the massive Swampert was slammed into a wall and stunned by the impact.

“Sis! Gwyen!” Yusia had retreated to the far end of the alley earlier. Now she came running over, calling out for Hazuki and Gwyen.

“Yusia!” Gwyen shouted with a leap of joy, even though her body was still aching.

“Oh thank god you're all right!” Hazuki cried, jumping out of the dumpster.

Unfortunately, their reunion was not to be, for a dark shrouded shape leapt between the group. A black colored Scizor radiating a powerful evil aura….Kaiser himself was here.

 

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“Garrgghh!” Nala barely dodged the snapping fangs of a Mightyena. “We've got to get out of here!”

“I second that!” Riot whipped her tail at the eyes of a Swellow. “Hop on!”

Still in mid-flight, Riot performed a 180 degree turn and swooped down, causing several land-based Pokemon to scatter with the beating of her wings. Nala leapt forward, throwing herself onto the dactyl's back as the flyer raced past, taking them both out of the disorderly melee they'd been caught up in.

Riot flapped faster, whizzing down roads and cutting in-between buildings. Nala held on for all that she was worth, feeling the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

Since becoming acquainted back in their own world, Riot had tried these aerial stunts in all sorts of places, of course with Nala as her rider.

Left…right…right…up! Nala mentally noted the directions.

Even though they'd done these stunts many times before, each `race' was still a new experience. Especially so if one was running for one's life.

“I think we're almost out of town!” Nala shouted over the howling winds.

“Yeah! Just up ahead!” Came Riot's reply.

The pair rounded the next corner to find a large pile of rubble blocking the road. Since she was flying close to ground level, Riot instinctively pulled up in order to avoid an imminent crash.

Unfortunately, that was the moment a large metallic net was thrown from one of the adjacent building's windows and right into their path. Unable to change course in time, Riot got herself completely tangled up, sending her spinning wildly out of control.

Even in the midst of her screaming, Nala saw the gray concrete of the town's roads give way to the brown dirt and green grass of the surrounding forest.

“Tree!” Nala yelled. “Watch out!”

“Can't…control!” Riot protested. “Yyyarrrggghhhh!”

WHAM!

A painful sounding crunch rang out as Riot's head slammed into the huge tree. The dactyl then slid down to the ground with a long moan. Any other Pokemon might've broken their skull, but Riot was part Rock type and possessed a rather thick head.

At the same time, she did manage to shield Nala from the worst of the blow.

“Arrgghhh…oowww….” Nala moaned, shaking the stars out of her vision. “Who put that there?”

“What an extraordinary landing.” A sarcastic voice from nearby was accompanied by the sound of clapping.

Out of the shadows walked a tall, humanoid green dragon, waving his fan-tipped tail in glee. This was the Gale Dragon, Citraz, one of Kaiser's commanders.

“Damn…you set up that trap for us!” Nala muttered in disbelief.

“So right you are, girl.” The green dragon laughed. “The name is Citraz, most delighted to make your acquaintance.”

(That voice…) Erizar whispered. (Remember the troops that captured us at the healing spring? He was their leader! I'm sure of it!)

“Oh?” Citraz scratched his head. “You mean that three-headed dragon? That was you? Fancy how a bunch of brats like you would turn into that.”

Several of the Mightyena and Swellow they'd fended off earlier were now approaching the scene. The troops were definitely intent on preventing their escape this time.

A quick check showed Riot to still be quite dazed from the crash. The Aerodactyl would not be flying off any time soon, leaving only one other option.

“Dragon Meld! Unleash!” Nala invoked the powers of the Spirit Crystal contained within her twin pistols.

The merging process changed both Nala and Riot's forms into that of the hydra-like Legendary Dragon Erizar. But the Poison type dragon's poise to meet any attack was immediately met with a rude interruption.

Being much heavier than Nala and Riot's weight combined, a hidden pitfall trap beneath Erizar's feet was consequently triggered. All three heads let off a simultaneous yelp of surprise as they suddenly found themselves stuck up to their necks in the pit.

“The wonders that Dugtrio can do.” Citraz laughed as several of the brown, thumb-shaped moles popped out of the ground.

“Garrgghh!” Erizar struggled. “I can't get out!”

“Crap! He was deliberately provoking us to Dragon Meld!” Nala moaned. “And we fell for it like idiots!”

“Whatever happened to the lightning not striking in the same place twice?” Riot asked.

“Erm…three's a charm?”

“Get them!” Citraz ordered.

The three heads immediately sprayed their venomous breaths in a last ditch attempt to defend themselves. However, taking into consideration the number of enemies and the fact that they were stuck in one spot, the situation did not look good.

It would be a brief fight…going in favor of the opposition…

 

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(No…it can't be!) Asiyu gasped in disbelief.

“What?” Gwyen muttered.

(That aura…there's no mistaking it!) Asiyu confirmed. (That's…that's Kaiser!)

“That's who we're supposed to be fighting?”

“You…you haven't felt his power close up before.” Hazuki shook her head and clenched her fists.

Yusia screamed and backed away at the sight, but not for very long however. Kaiser raised a claw and slammed it against the ground, sending out a wave of purple energy that knocked Yusia into a deep sleep.

“Yusia!” Hazuki screamed.

It would've affected Hazuki and Gwyen as well, if not for Asiyu's quick thinking. She countered by emitting an icy blue veil of energy that not only nullified Kaiser's sleeping spell, but gave them time to Dragon Meld as well.

(That was a close one.) Gwyen breathed.

(But Yusia is…) Hazuki began.

(She's just asleep for now.) Gwyen noted. (But I think Asiyu has to worry about herself right now.)

(Yeah, I'm sorry. Go for it Asiyu!)

“That's what I've been waiting to hear!” Now in her true dragon body, Asiyu roared and lunged towards her foe.

Kaiser met the attack head on in a fury of claw to pincer slashes. Despite how fast Asiyu seemed, Kaiser was soon making two attacks to every one of hers, forcing the Ice Dragon to go onto the defensive.

(It's not working!) Hazuki's voice realized. (Pull away!)

A little too late, Asiyu tried to move, but received a roundhouse kick to the face. The ice elemental dragon went spinning to the ground, spitting out blood and a snapped tooth.

“Ice Beam!” Asiyu growled, firing off an ice-based attack from her claws.

All of a sudden, Kaiser had seemingly disappeared from the spot he'd been standing on.

“What the?”

“Watch out!” Bashaamo called from across the area.

In the blink of an eye, Kaiser came leaping in, leaving a bloodied scar across Asiyu's back. The black Scizor did this again and again, further pounding Asiyu to the very limits of her stamina.

“Flamethrower!” Bashaamo roared, forcing Kaiser to break out of his attack sequence and evade the fire elemental strike.

“You would dare attack me?” Kaiser fumed, glaring at the small burn wound on his left shoulder.

“That and more!” Bashaamo launched two punches and a kick, which Kaiser easily avoided, before locking claws with her former master.

“You don't stand a chance!” Kaiser taunted.

“We shall see!” Bashaamo pushed him off.

Kaiser skidded backwards, bracing himself against the ground. The dark Scizor then brought both claws up, charging a shimmering energy orb within them. In response, Bashaamo raised her hands as well…with a crystal clutched in each one.

“The Fighting and Flying elemental Spirit Crystals!” Asiyu realized.

Bashaamo's energy orb shot forward and pushed against Kaiser's, who certainly hadn't been expecting such a retaliation. In rage, the dark Pokemon shoved back with all his might, the energies building up to a critical level.

“Go!” Bashaamo turned her head towards Asiyu. “Take the human child and leave! Far away from this place!”

“But what about you?” Asiyu asked.

“Don't worry about me! Just go!”

(We…we can't just leave you like this!) Hazuki protested. (It's just…it's just…not right to!)

“Hazuki…” The Legendary Ice Dragon whispered.