Chapter 60.1- Oak

Lance. Fucking Lance. What he wanted and why he was here didn’t matter, not now. What mattered was that I needed a way out of here, a way without involving Sabrina. I was sure the two of us could find an escape, but I would never doom her to a life on the run simply to prevent my own arrest. Not her. Never her.

I stared at him, noting the Pokéballs on his belt. The good news was that the only Pokémon he had released right now was his Dragonite. However, the bad news was that it wasn't the Dragonite I would have wanted to face first. It was muscular and looked like it could bend steel with its teeth, but it wasn't the one that had been the downfall of elite trainers in the region. It wasn't the one I would have loved to surprise with my attack. On the plus side, it meant my surprise was more likely to work.

In the space between blinks, Dragonite found itself surrounded. I smiled as the plan began. Gai and Broly went first, the vanguard in all things for a very good reason. They were fast, covering the space between them and Dragonite in less time than it would take me to blink. While this Dragonite had the best grasp of extreme speed, I wasn't surprised when it moved its head out of the way of Broly's slash and blocked Gai's kick. It didn't matter though. I had called them the vanguard, but a better term would have been distraction. Kenpachi and Snorlax landed with the real attacks. Whatever defense Dragonite managed to raise against Gai and Broly's surprise attack was washed away as the two physical behemoths fell on it with full power and very little desire to hold back. Lance just watched from behind his Pokémon, where he had quickly retreated after the attack. I spoke to Ino in my head, and she nodded at the tactic I suggested. Was it cheating? Maybe. Did I care? No. Ino stretched her psychic influence towards the belt at Lance's waist, but it was a waste as a dark distorted glow surrounded the champion and completely blocked off her influence. I scowled at it. What the hell was that?

"I have a lot to thank you for, Donnell Oak. After all, if you hadn't been the one to build a team made of impressive Pokémon from all over the world, I might never have had the idea to check the remains of Mewtwo's destruction for members to add to my team. They called me crazy, reckless, and stupid. They called me 'Lord' when I returned with her. I don't know a lot about her species, but the one thing I do know is that she isn't done growing yet. I can feel it. She needs strong opponents. Let's see if the boy who beat Claire and Agatha can do what all the elders of the Wataru clan so far have failed to do. Let us evolve, Donnell Oak." What was with all the elite trainers and going mad? It was getting a bit repetitive.

I was forced to reevaluate my assessment when a shadow built around Lance's body. That definitely wasn't evaluative. I watched in shock as a shadow actually emerged from his own shadow. The shadow turned out to be a Pokémon that looked like a lizard. It had a black head with two horns and stripes on its sides, short stubby arms hiding a unique form of strength, and a tail that got lighter towards its end. I recognized the Pokémon immediately and almost paled in fear. Drakloak, the second evolutionary stage of Dragapult, a Pokémon that broke the meta. Fuck. This was almost as bad as Lance having a legendary on his team. Drakloak? What the fuck? I was sure they didn't even exist in this universe. The only reason I wasn't pissing myself with fear was because Ino was well-rested and Kenpachi was roaring for a fight. Drakloak had a weakness to both Dark and Fairy types, if my memory served me well. I hoped it did. I wasn't ready to face a ghost dragon. Even Hydreigon had been a pain to fight against those Rocket twins, and they weren't the best trainers. Speaking of which, what happened to the rest of Team Rocket? I just somehow knew that I would be finding out the answer to that question sooner than I'd like. For now, though, I gave Ino her orders and relayed Kenpachi's. I would be drawing one of the attackers away from Dragonite, but Kisame would be taking his place. I silently begged Igneel to remain above the clouds. Lance had missed him in his approach, so our surprise attack was still feasible, at least.

Not everything had gone to shit. Just most of it.

A/N; Yessss… I’ll tease you some more. Because I can