Chapter 61- Oak (Complete)

Lance's Pokémon fought like monsters. That was the first thing I noticed as Drakloak was almost trampled by Charizard while it fought off the aggressive Igneel. None of my team would have been so uncaring. The ghost dragon had no difficulties escaping the situation, though, and headed right back for Ino and Kenpachi. Ino remained still, drawing it in and teleporting away at the last possible second. Instead, it found itself meeting a barrage of shadow balls that Kenpachi had fired like bullets from a Gatling gun. It took the ghost-type attacks head-on and was sent reeling from the impact.

Ino slashed her spoon through the air, and a bolt of rainbow-colored light slammed right into the would-be pseudo-legendary. At this point, I was sure Lance was torturing his Pokémon for no reason. It showed none of the signs that were common among all species when evolution was near. It didn't even hint at what Lance thought it would be capable of. Of course, I wasn't surprised by that. Even if Lance had captured it the moment Mewtwo announced the tournament, he would have had it for less than four months. I suspected he had it for even less time. If he understood aura, then maybe I would have given him good odds, but he didn't.

Drakloak took Ino's dazzling gleam to the head and was sent spinning again. Yet, it came back, persistent. If I had to describe it, that would be the word I'd use. Having let the ghost Pokémon capture my attention for too long, I turned to the fight against Dragonite. It was still standing, but the truth was that it stood no chance in the battle it found itself in, against four of my Pokémon. I stretched out my aura and deepened my connection with the rest of them while casting my mind into the ether, searching for Sabrina's. Drakloak would not be evolving today; it was impossible, so I had to plan my escape.

Snorlax, who had previously been sending wild punches at its opponent, suddenly stepped back, allowing its adversary to nearly overextend itself. Broly had been briefed and was waiting for the opportunity. A stone axe cloaked in a steel-type aura clashed against Dragonite's extended arm with bone-crushing force. It grunted in pain and was suddenly sent reeling as seven ice beams crashed against it in quick succession.

Gai appeared in front of it, his body glowing with the energy of dragon dance, and began to unload whatever frustrations he might have felt with the day on the Pokémon in front of him. Punch after punch landed in quick succession, and when he was done, Kisame's ice beams continued to land as I used an otherworldly awareness of each of my Pokémon to aim the attacks perfectly at the gaps Gai left to give her the space to land her attacks.

Occupied as it was, the Dragonite could do little as Snorlax weaved around its form to attack it from behind. Caught between a rock and a hard place, it could do little as it was quickly overwhelmed. Broly remained by my side as I came up with a strategy for escape. Once the Dragonite fell, I turned to the laughing Lance and noticed him holding a Pokéball in his hand, about to release it but unable to do so. I smiled at Ino, who had teleported away from her battle with Drakloak to trap Lance in her psychic wiles. This was neither an official nor a friendly battle. Why should I bother obeying the codes of honor when both my Pokémon and our lives were on the line? And don't get me wrong, if Lance had released that Dragonite, someone would have died. Noticing the state of its trainer, Charizard let out a roar and slammed Igneel away with a fiery backhand before diving this way.

I had no idea what it hoped to achieve against my entire team. An icy wind from Kisame slowed down its flight towards us, and Snorlax bent its legs before jumping straight into the air and slamming into Charizard. It wrestled it to the ground, and with Gai’s help, was able to hold it off from approaching its trainer until Igneel was able to slam into it from behind and fly right into the clouds with the dragon clutched between his hands. I watched in pride as they flew higher and higher until Igneel suddenly erupted in flames.

The explosion cranked up to the max, taking advantage of the flame resistance Igneel had racked up after using the move so many times over the last few months. The light in the sky erupted so brightly that I was forced to cover my eyes, lest I actually go blind. Even a Charizard would be hard-pressed to take that one head-on without suffering some serious damage. I watched with pride as Igneel remained in the air after the explosion, and Charizard was sent falling to the ground. That was the move we’d been preparing by having Igneel remain in the sky for so long. It was supposed to be used in case any of the ACE trainers had a Pokémon that proved to be difficult to deal with. When Lance came in, I’d decided to save it for Dragonite. Using it on Charizard like that might have been a bit of overkill, but we needed to leave, and leave quickly. Broly returned to my side, and I smiled as I felt the barrier that had covered us begin to fall. His mission had been simple. Use extreme speed to scout the area and take out the Dark-type Pokémon that had been keeping up the blackout field. Now that everything was done, it was time to leave.

Of course, with that statement in my head, I’d managed to jinx the entire thing. I’d taken my eyes away from Drakloak, and when I returned them, I was surprised to find that it had been able to worm through Kenpachi’s guard and was heading straight for Lance. A thought to Broly had my starter outrunning the Pokémon and slamming it into the ground with a slash from one of his stone axes. I smiled as the Drakloak refused to be cowed and dove for Lance once again, only for Kisame to snipe it away with an ice beam. Lance attempted to struggle against Ino’s hold, but it was fruitless. Even Sabrina probably wouldn’t have been able to escape. Months of training with Alakazam meant I gave Ino good odds at being one of the top four Psychic Pokémon in the world, only behind Mewtwo, and the two monster Alakazams partnered with Oak and Sabrina, respectively. ‘I’m stronger than that geezer,’ Alakazam said in my mind, piggybacking off the connection I shared with his trainer, and I just nodded while mentally chuckling. I guess my vocabulary was infectious.

Drakloak tried to get up again, but Tsunade was in its way, shaking her head. Wait. Tsunade? I turned to my side and found Magnezone also staring at me in confusion. I almost found myself ordering her back to my side, but I was forced to remember that she was a fully evolved adult member of the team as she sent Drakloak flying with a single punch that created an audible shockwave. I nearly pinched myself for forgetting the monstrous strength her species was blessed with, and I silently decided to spend much more time training with her when we made it out of this.

Drakloak came flying back, but she cupped her hands and fired a Moonblast at him, which he jumped right over. He weaved through her attempts to stop him but was sent flying as he was suddenly punched in the side. Gai only looked at the younger Pokémon and shook his head while saying something in the language all Pokémon seemed to understand. From my impressions, it was clear the words he’d used were 'stand down' or something along those lines.

Like every Ghost-type ever, Drakloak did not listen to orders. It came again, and this time was blasted by a bolt of lightning from Magnezone. When I turned to him, I found my Pokémon shrugging at me as if to say, 'why not?'. Of course, he then proceeded to fly off to do something or another. I would have been more concerned if he wasn't heading straight for the gym. Sabrina was his favorite person in the world, and I trusted her to look after him while I was on the run. I wasn't sure he understood exactly what was happening, but I trusted him to figure it out in time. The Viridian City Gym would be the safest place for him in the meantime. Besides, with my carry limit, I couldn't have taken him with me anyway. Even fugitives of the law were bound by pesky things like carry limits. I turned back to Drakloak and found it being tossed back by Kenpachi. It was relentless, but even it was beginning to slow.

Persistent as it was, it was beginning to tire. It was beginning to flag as time went on. Besides, it was also acting as some sort of stress relief for the team. We'd be in hiding for the foreseeable future, so I allowed them to vent. It moved for Lance again, and Igneel blasted it back with a Flamethrower. It went right back, but with a hand on its tail, Snorlax tossed it right back. It was pitiful and a bit sad.

Of course, all those assessments disappeared as I got the strangest feeling that something was about to go wrong. It ran for Lance again, and Kenpachi seemed to take a deep breath before blasting it with a beam of Ghost-type energy. As it approached again, a Moonblast from Tsunade sent it reeling. When it came again, I shouted for my Pokémon to stop, but Kisame was the last to get the message and blasted it with an Ice Beam. This time, it flew back and landed on the floor, unmoving. It was still, for the first time in the fight, completely unmoving. Lance thrashed against the hold he was in, as I felt the anguish overtake and overcome him. His Pokémon was dead, but even with that, the feeling that something had gone fundamentally wrong refused to dissipate.

I stared at the body as my Pokémon let down their guards, and that was the only reason I saw it begin to harden and turn to stone. What was going on? I asked myself as I began to step closer to get a better look. Of course, that was the moment that the stone shell began to crack. I watched, gobsmacked, as more and more cracks began to appear on its body. When the cracks covered the entire shell, it exploded outward, and the Pokémon that flew out was completely different.

Its head had become more triangular, shaped like a wing, almost. Its body remained short, but now its tail was much longer and ethereal. It could fly too, did I mention that part? It floated in the sky, staring at me with visible malice, and I resisted the urge to step back as I gulped audibly. Its coloring had also changed. Most of its body was navy with a few visible yellow and pink areas, like its underbelly, which was yellow, and its claws, which were pink. It also had pink arrow shapes running through the aforementioned underbelly. Its smile had also changed, along with its presence. It was nearly overwhelming. A pseudo-legendary Ghost-type Pokémon was something else; it leaked malice from every pore. It was almost tangible in the air around us. It seemed to take a look around the clearing before deciding on a course of action.

It dove right at me, but Kenpachi somehow appeared between us in time. This time, when they crashed into each other, Kenpachi was no longer the one with the clear advantage. They wrestled with each other, neither one able to claim an advantage for a while.

That would have only been a problem if it had been a one-on-one battle. Ino was focused on keeping Lance locked, but the difference in power between them meant she could actively multitask. A blast of rainbow-colored light knocked Dragapult off balance, and Igneel showed his presence in this fight with a bang. He flew across the grounds, firing fireball after fireball at the ghost type. Each hit was devastating, and when Igneel got to him, Dragapult looked to be very much on his last legs. Of course, it proved to be a trick, as Igneel passed right through the Dragapult he'd been charging at, with the substitute exploding just as Igneel was in the epicenter of the blast.

My fire dragon flew back out of the explosion, looking a little worse for wear after everything. We searched for the original body, only for it to suddenly appear next to Lance. Once it touched its trainer, Ino's hold was broken, and Lance was free. I expected the dragon master to be pissed. Apoplectic. In search of revenge. But he actually just looked amused. "Well, you gave me exactly what I wanted. I'll give you one chance. Run. Now. Run far and fast with your tail between your legs. The next time I see you will be the day I end you," was all he said, while still smiling brightly and running his eyes over his newly evolved pseudo-legendary.

It stung. It stung every bit of me as I returned my Pokémon to their Poké Balls, starting with Snorlax and ending with Broly, who still seemed unsure about things. I said a mental goodbye to Sabrina, which she quickly amended to a 'see you later.' I loved that girl with all I had. Of course, I heard an eep in my mind as she retreated. I just smiled wryly and turned my attention to Ino. Once she touched me, we disappeared. We traveled several miles with each teleport, but we kept on going. It wasn't until I was sure our teleports could no longer easily be traced that I released Igneel from his Poké Ball. Ino nodded, accepting her orders as I rubbed my friend's scales before climbing on his back.

The league employed a large variety of psychic Pokémon. It would be foolish for me to assume they wouldn't have a way to trace multiple teleports, no matter how quickly we made them. So, Ino's mission was to set a false trail while Igneel took me to our destination. 'Where?' I hear you ask. Home, of course. Not the lab. Not Cinnabar. Not Viridian. No, the only home I'd ever known in this world. The forest that would become the Safari Zone at some point in the future. That was my home in every way that mattered. Every way I cared about. The truth was that the days I'd spent there were the best days of my life. They were peaceful and simple.

XXXXXXX

Two weeks here, and I was nothing but grateful to Lance. That conclusion took a while to achieve, but as I was forced to spend more and more time scavenging, figuring out rations, and generally being around nature, I calmed down and achieved peace with things. I realized that Lance had actually done me a favor. All that time away from this place had eroded me. My decision-making had been skewed and became more and more suspect as time went on. Looking at my past deeds with a neutral eye, I could see how erratic I had truly become over time.

Now, the more time I spent in this place, the better things became. I got to grieve Hashirama and build him a grave next to Quicksilver's. I got to train with my team in an environment they were all extremely comfortable with. That might have actually been the best part: the training. So many ideas for each of my Pokémon that we got the opportunity to leverage. As Igneel aged, his fire began to acquire a new quality. It was explosive. I saw it in videos of older Charizards on my Pokédex. The Pokédex Sabrina had returned to me on her first visit. She was another reason I felt much better. In two weeks, she'd visited four times and was pretty much my only source of information on how things stood. I'd disconnected my Dex from the Pokéweb, so there was no way for me to be tracked with it, and conversely, no way for me to use it to see how things were going in the wider world.

Eating a lunch of trainer rations and feeding all my Pokémon with their specialized meals, with the exception of Snorlax, who was instead just forced to eat a dozen portions of trainer meals. The Snorlax meals were provided by the league, and of course, they'd stopped sending them once I became an official fugitive of the law. According to Sabrina, the news called me troubled, unpredictable, and highly dangerous. I was an S-rank threat, apparently. The same rank Giovanni had held before his conditional pardon. I guess knocking out two of the champion's Pokémon was deemed impressive enough to warrant me being placed on the same level as the league's most dangerous criminals.

When I'd left, I'd filled my head with thoughts of proving my innocence and securing my freedom at some point, but I honestly wondered if I should. What was the point? Sabrina's latest piece of news showed that the Kanto representatives for the tournament had already been chosen: Oak, Giovanni, Sabrina, and Bruno. It was a good lineup. I mean, I gave myself good odds against three-quarters of the team, but the truth of the matter was I was tired. I'd trust my fate to others for the first time ever, and I'd trust them to do what was necessary to keep this region alive. If they didn't, I already had my ticket out. Every day, Ino practiced teleporting to the Seafoam Islands as quickly as possible. If Kanto lost, I'd be out of here as quickly as possible, which brought me to the present argument.

"You don't trust me," she said, and I hurried to reassure her that I did, placing her hands in mine and giving her a glimpse into my thoughts. There was no human in the world I trusted as much as Sabrina. There was no human in whom I had as much faith in seeing it through, but even that did not appear to be enough for her.

"Come with me, Sabrina," I finally offered, realizing that she wasn't fully convinced by my words. "Come with me. Let's skive off. Leave the league and the people to their own devices. Just us and our Pokémon. A long peaceful life. A life free from everything. Freedom at last, Sabrina," I said in a whisper as our foreheads touched.

"That is no freedom, Donnell Oak. That is cowardice," she said, and her tone sent me reeling. It was cold, lacking the warmth I'd become accustomed to over the months we'd been together. She took a step back and pulled her hands out of mine.

"You would leave the world to burn. You would let Kanto burn," she accused, and I nodded. I'd never lie to her. That was one promise I would keep.

"I would. All I care about is in this clearing with me."

"No. No, Donnell. You truly do not care for the people of Kanto? Viridian? Cinnabar?" She searched my eyes and seemed to find whatever she was looking for as she took another step backward and just disappeared. Fuck. Did I just get dumped?

I turned to the team in exasperation and found them pointedly focusing on their tasks, acting like they hadn't been listening in. I just scowled and turned to the tree I'd been doing pull-ups on before she arrived. Physical exercise was a godsend for distracting me from all the things I'd honestly rather not be thinking about. 

XXXXXX

A week since she left, and Sabrina still hadn't returned. I focused my attention on my Pokémon instead of wallowing in guilt and anger at how things ended. Igneel did me proud as he flew through the air, leaving a shockwave in his wake as he moved. I looked at the flames floating at his back, right behind his wings. It's an idea I got from Endeavour in the My Hero Academia anime. The fire hero could fly by turning his flames into jetpacks. With the developing explosive quality of his flames, Igneel could do the same, allowing him to move at speeds beyond what even Quicksilver would have been capable of. The only thing holding the move back was control. Igneel could not react to his surroundings at that speed and got tunnel vision worse than anything I'd ever seen. When I tried to share his senses to understand what he was going through, I found myself on the floor retching in short order. Now, I had him work with Ino when she wasn't practicing her endurance and finer control to learn some psychic abilities. Psychic Pokémon were masters at understanding their surroundings. If I could get him to develop even the vaguest of psychic powers, I'd be golden. It was coming slowly, though.

I turned to where Broly was training, and I smiled. He was doing two things at once: training his terrakinesis while going through his martial arts forms. Gai was a fighting-type Pokémon, and that somehow made him well-suited to working with Broly to build a fighting style that took maximum advantage of his speed and control over the very ground. The fact that I'd been able to show the fighting type the memories I had of several different fighting styles, both fictional and real, from my old life was probably a contributing factor.

Speaking of Gai, the fighting-type Pokémon was working on his endurance. He was practicing holding on to several of the "gates" (the name we'd come up with to describe his combination of enhancement moves at the same time). He held the combination of moves for as long as he could every day while engaging in shadow fighting with himself to get used to his improved speed and power. It was impressive how he consistently got better day after day. In his recharge times, he moved between Broly and Tsunade.

Tsunade was off on her own. As a pure fairy type, she was the best weapon I'd ever have against Lance and his team of monsters. I'd kept her away from battling for so long, but situations and her own desire had her training now. Multiple fairy type moves flowed from her in quick succession. Our goal was to reverse engineer all the fairy type moves I could remember from all the Pokémon games I could remember. So far, we were making good progress. Like the rest of the team, she was a prodigy at whatever she put her mind to.

Kenpachi's own goal was much simpler. He spent his days in meditation, trying to get in touch with the dark typing his evolution had gifted him. When I was done with my own exercise, I would join him. We bounced off each other when we meditated together and made leaps more progress than we ever could when we worked alone. Kisame was an entirely different beast. No training was as active as hers. Water had fallen under her command months ago. Now, we sought to do the same thing with ice. She commanded blizzard after blizzard to get used to controlling the element, and as Igneel crashed into the foliage and set a few trees alight, she rushed to perform her secondary duty while training: keeping track of the irritable fire dragon. She was the only one I trusted to put him down when he was being testy, without causing any unnecessary damage.

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"And what do you want?" I asked Oak as I entered the clearing I called home, finding him sitting there, clearly having made himself comfortable. Ino had sensed him the moment he teleported in, so it wasn't as much of a surprise as it had been when he first teleported in all those months ago.

"I should have expected you'd make this place your home. Were any days truly as peaceful as the ones you enjoyed here? Among your own kind in the deep wilderness, with no pressures of society or anything beyond what you care about."

"You're projecting, old man. If you want to recreate your days as a trainer, find a different clearing. This one is taken."

"Aye, I might just be, but I don't think I was wrong. After all, of all my sons, you took after me the most. We're two peas in a pod, we are."

"I have nothing in common with you. Now get out. You're disturbing my rest time."

"Oh, and you used to be oh so polite when you thought I could help solve your problems. I wonder what changed."

I replied with a blank look as I walked into the tent and began to set things up for lunch, ignoring the old man.

"I can still do it, you know?"

"Do what?" I asked, realizing I had fallen right into his trap. Now the sales pitch was coming.

"Solve your problems. A full pardon from the league is on the table if we complete the mission."

"No thanks. I'm fine where I am," I replied truthfully. Being a wanted fugitive was surprisingly liberating, and since Ino had perfected her skills with illusions, I could even venture into cities and purchase what I needed. My account had yet to be frozen, as they probably hoped to use it to track me. However, since we could teleport, we made purchases across the region.

"Of course you are, but you haven't even heard the mission we need you for yet."

"Not interested."

"Mewtwo," was all he said in reply, and I found my previous statement turning out to be a lie. I turned to him with a raised eyebrow, perhaps too proud to verbally ask for more information.

"A mission to take out Mewtwo. We've found him, and the leagues are working on a joint mission to put him down."

"A bad idea if I've ever heard one. Does the phrase 'the most powerful psychic in the world' mean nothing to you?" I asked, feeling incredulous at the idea. What guarantee did they have that Mewtwo hadn't plucked their intentions right out of their minds?

"Mewtwo served Giovanni and Team Rocket for a while. They came up with technology to limit Mewtwo's reach. We've implemented it at every stage of the planning process," he said, and now I was intrigued.

"And who is 'we'? What's the plan?"

"Sounds like a lot of interest from a person who isn't interested," he remarked idly, and I settled for glaring at the man.

"Now, the team consists of Lance, Cynthia of Sinnoh, Wallace and Steven of Hoenn, and myself. I managed to save you a spot," That was one hell of a lineup if I've ever seen one. I just looked at Oak in shock. He saved me a spot on a roster of champion-class trainers? To what end?

Perhaps seeing the confusion on my face, he replied to my unasked question. "Of all the trainers yet to cross the barrier to champion class, you are the strongest. You will serve a key role on the team we've built to take down the Pokémon that believes itself powerful enough to hold all the regions of the world at ransom."

I scowled to myself as I knew the answer I would choose. I scowled as I realized I'd be putting my team at risk again, and that simply wasn't fair. I prepared to reject Oak's offer until a voice spoke out in my mind. It was Igneel. His psychic training had come far if he could speak into my head. All he said was a single word, and I felt it echo in the world around me. "Ready" was what he said, and when I turned to the rest of the team, I found the sentiment echoing in all their eyes.

"We're in," I said, and he only nodded as if it had been a foregone conclusion. He gave me a few seconds to return my Pokémon to their Poké Balls before teleporting with me to an unknown location.

A/N: You thought there’d be a Tournament of Power, didn’t you? This mission was the idea that popped into my head that started this entire story. We are now in the endgame. To be completely honest, I’m still torn on the ending, but hopefully that resolves itself in the coming weeks.