Ch. 65

Testing the Waters

Pokemon is the property of its respective owners

ChaseWeeb: Your patience is about to be rewarded.

BioChemist02: I used baka instead of idiot because I was in middle school when I first started writing this story. Bit of a cringe moment, I realize, but that's the answer.

"Okay, Espeon said that Charizard and his family would be around here," Dmitri stated as the duo came across a large, pristine waterfall and saw a multitude of Charmanders, Charmeleons, and Charizards play fighting, sparring, or just goofing around with each other. Upon seeing Dmitri and Tomoe, however, all the pseudo-dragons stopped what they were doing and glanced at the duo with the Charizards in particular taking a keen interest in them. Seeing that all eyes were on them, Dmitri cordially waved to the pseudo-dragons while Tomoe politely nodded her head as the Charizards landed a few feet away from them.

"(So you're the human and strange member of our kin who stood up to Blastoise, huh? Good on ya; that guy needs to take a step back and relax before he gets us all killed,)" one of the Charizards stated while playfully punching Dmitri in the shoulder who chuckled and rubbed his arm while Tomoe folded her arms.

"(Indeed, I've seen people with his demeanor doom their people from either giving them a foe they can't fight, ostracizing themselves from potential allies when they are sorely needed, or both,)" Tomoe responded knowingly making some of the Charizards nervously laugh while feeling a slight chill go down their spines.

"(Oh...uh...well...let's try and avoid that. So, how can we help you guys?)" one of the Charizard's inquired causing Dmitri to decide what he was going to say in a split second while Tomoe patiently watched on.

"We came here to ask if any of you guys would like to fight against the foreign pokemon and their allies by joining us," Dmitri replied which immediately made all activity within the waterfall cease as the Charmanders and Charmeleons looked like they were on the verge of tears while most of the Chairzards brow creased and bared their teeth, but not out of spite toward the duo.

"(Me and a lot of other young, angry, hot blooded fools already tried that and we lost a lot of our own in the process. I want to fight, but I won't do so if it's just going to be a one sided slaughter,)" the lead Charizard responded with a slight, bitter growl causing Dmitri to sympathetically nod just as one of the Charizards in the back, one far shorter than the rest due to standing at 15 feet, gently pushed her way to the front.

"(I'll go provided I see what you two are capable of first,)" the pseudo-dragon stated causing her cohorts to widen their eyes and extend their arms outwards while Tomoe merely raised a brow, but was willing to welcome her so long as Dmitri approved.

"(You can't be serious! Don't you remember-)"

"(I do, but I'm not comfortable with the fact that we're going to live while others die in our place,)" the pseudo-dragon lightly interrupted making her comrade's expressions deflate and concede the point.

"Alright, how did you want to do this?" Dmitri asked causing Charizard to burn a large circle around them with a plume of ice exhaled from her mouth, stretched her arms, shoulders, legs, and wings, and popped her neck.

"(How about some wrestling? First one to push the other out of the ring three times wins or we can do some other challenge if you want,)" Charizard offered making Dmitri politely shake his head and go over to one side of the ring causing the pseudo-dragon to follow suit while Tomoe observed the spectacle while leaning against a boulder.

"No, wrestling is fine," Dmitri assured Charizard who let an eager grin form on her face which didn't go unnoticed by Tomoe who narrowed her eyes as Dmitri hunched forward, bent his knees, and extended his arms. His foe followed suit and got into the same position he did but with the additional benefit of curving her tail inward like a hook to aid in grappling and curling her wings toward herself to better stay upright. Dmitri and Charizard then locked eyes and slowly began circling each other with Dmitri staying relaxed and considered how to go about engaging his foe while Chairzard's muscles were tensed with her mind solely focused on forcing him out of the ring no matter what. After what seemed like an eternity, Charizard appeared as nothing but a light blue blur as she charged at Dmitri...only for the battle ace to simultaneously sidestep her and shove her forward making Charizard gasp as she uncontrollably face planted out of the ring. Immediately, some of her companions guffawed at the sight and Tomoe even chuckled lightly causing the pseudo-dragon to blush heavily, climb to her feet with a huff, and dust herself off.

"(N-not bad, but don't let beginner's luck get to your head!)" Charizard declared making Tomoe scoff while Dmitri just nodded slowly and got back into his stance.

"Of course, whenever you're ready," Dmitri calmly replied making Charizard recoil and stare at him as if he grew a second head before getting herself into a similar stance and narrowing her eyes at the battle ace. Like last time, after a moment of sizing each other up, Charizard charged at Dmitri as fast as she could and this time, she managed to wrap her arms and tail around his waist. However, Dmitri, using Charizard's forward momentum, twisted his hips and tossed her out of the ring again making the pseudo-dragon gasp and then grimace as she skidded across the ground. Grumbling, Charizard picked herself up and ignored the stinging pain in her sides as she stretched her shoulders while staring at Dmitri the whole time.

"(Hmm, y-you've got some skill, but watch what happens when I get serious!)" Charizard proclaimed while pounding her fists together causing Dmitri to say nothing and simply get into his stance again with the pseudo-dragon following suit.

"(Young Master, perhaps we should find someone else,)" Tomoe advised causing Charizard to glare daggers at the warrior with a slight blush while Dmitri gently waved her off and beckoned for Charizard to come at him. Obliging the battle ace, Charizard and Dmitri lunged at each other where the battle ace ducked underneath her attempted grapple, wrapped his arms around her leg, lifted the limb up, yanked it back, and drove his shoulder into her gut making the pseudo-dragon awkwardly hobble backwards. Snarling, Charizard tightly grasped Dmitri's shirt and fell back while placing her foot on his hip making Dmitri gasp as he was forcibly pulled forward and then tossed overhead by a sacrifice throw. Wincing as he landed on the ground spine first, Dmitri rolled to the side just as Charizard tried to pounce on him, but didn't expect her to coil her tail around his leg. Grimacing when she stepped on his foot as well, Dmitri had only enough time to look up just as the pseudo-dragon barreled into him shoulder first which made him forcibly exhale as he was knocked out of the ring and roughly hit the ground where he saw stars.

"(Ha, not so cocky now, are you!?)" Charizard proudly exclaimed while thumping her chest to emphasize her point causing Tome to snarl and stalk toward the pseudo-dragon only for Dmitri to calmly hold up his hand which made the begrudgingly warrior stop in her tracks.

"I suppose not; whenever you're ready," Dmitri responded while picking himself up, dusting himself off, and resettling into a wrestling stance making Charizard huff before settling into her stance as well. This time, Dmitri surged toward Charizard who readied herself as Dmitri grasped her waist and when the pseudo-dragon instinctively pushed his hands away, Dmitri quickly snatched one of her arms while she was still in motion. Gasping as Dmitri twisted his hips and tossed her over his shoulders using leverage, Charizard grimaced as she hit the ground with a rough thud, but managed to drag Dmitri down with her by using her tail and wings. Grunting when he landed face first on Charizard's belly, Dmitri saw the pseudo-dragon blush out of the corner of his eye before wrapping her tail around his waist and tightly grasping his arms with her wings. Hissing, Dmitri strained to break free to no avail as Charizard stood up and began walking toward the edge of the ring while holding a restrained Dmitri in her grasp causing the battle ace to grit his teeth and wrack his brain for a solution.

Just as Charizard was about to dump him out of the ring with no fanfare, Dmitri reared his legs up and coiled them around the pseudo-dragon's neck making the pseudo-dragon gag and when she was off balance for that split second, twisted his hips. Letting out a small cry as she desperately tried to maintain her balance, Charizard saw it was futile and instead wrapped her arms around Dmitri as they both tumbled to the ground. Tomoe, the Charmanders and Charmeleons, and the other Chairzards widened their eyes as the duo hit the ground and kicked up a copious amount of dust where they saw nothing but the pseudo-dragon laying on her belly trying to regain her bearings when the dust settled. Tomoe was at Dmitri's side immediately where she shoved Charizard off of him and checked on the battle ace who was stunned from having the pseudo-dragon land right on top of him, but was otherwise fine.

"(We both fell out of the ring at the same time, but I landed on top of you so technically you touched the outside first,)" Charizard reasoned while picking herself up and clutching her slightly dazed head as Tomoe gnashed her teeth and helped Dmitri stand as the pseudo-dragon stretched her limbs and got back into the ring.

"That's fine, shall we continue?" Dmitri inquired to which Charizard nodded and for the final round, got into a starting position sumo wrestlers would use causing the battle ace to match her by getting into a three point stance like he was gridiron linemen. After locking eyes with one another and waiting until the crowd was completely silent, they both charged at one another with Dmitri, just before impact, to simultaneously roll underneath her legs and grab her ankles. Gasping, Charizard fell onto all fours when Dmitri yanked the appendages, but retaliated by wrapping her tail around his waist and pulled him to the ground where she blushed when she felt Dmitri crash against one of her butt cheeks. Grunting, the battle ace grasped Charizard's hips and tried to flip her onto her side only to find himself being the one tossed to the ground where the pseudo-dragon tried to force him into a more advantageous position, but Dmitri curled up like a turtle and refused to budge.

"(You don't want to move? Fine,)" Charizard growled as she forced her full weight down on him making Dmitri forcibly exhale, but managed to buck her off when her weight shifted forward. Hissing when she hit the ground back first, Charizard rolled to her feet just as Dmitri lunged at her legs causing her to sprawl on top of him, but the battle ace was prepared this time. Digging his hands, knees, and feet into the ground, Dmitri forced himself into an all fours position and then fought his way onto both knees with Charizard's weight not only bearing down on him, but her trying to keep him down the whole time. Dmitri then wrapped an arm around her leg and grabbed her wrist where, after a bit of strain on his part, tossed her end over end with a fireman's carry by using leverage.

However, the pseudo-dragon dragged him to the ground with her where Dmitri found himself laying face down on the grass before getting onto his knees just as Charizard crashed into him making him wheeze. Exhaling and feeling beads of sweat pour down his face as he felt himself being slowly, but surely pushed back, Dmitri tried to sidestep to let the pseudo-dragon's momentum carry her forward, but she caught onto what he was doing and followed his energy wherever he went. When he was at the very edge of the ring, Dmitri got onto one knee, dug his feet into the ground, and pushed back against Charizard with everything he had making the pseudo-dragon, who wasn't budging in the slightest, smirk and put her hands on her hips. After a few seconds had passed, Charizard sidestepped and let Dmitri's forward momentum uncontrollably carry him forward making the battle ace gasp and then yelp as he felt the pseudo-dragon wrap her tail around his waist, spin him around, and then gently push him out of bounds where he harmlessly landed on his side.

"(Looks like I win; don't worry, you'll be happy to know that your team may be honored with my presence if your friend does well too,)" Charizard boasted and assured Dmitri while helping him up making him smile and chuckle as the pseudo-dragon locked eyes with Tomoe and pointed at the other side of the ring.

"(Young Master, can't we look for someone else?)" Tomoe silently implored Dmitri while walking toward the ring making the battle ace sigh softly and put a hand on her shoulder while Charizard patiently waited for the warrior.

"Sorry Tomoe, but she's the only who came forward when we asked them to come and join us and besides, she's not that bad," Dmitri stated making the warrior spare a glance at Charizard who repeatedly tapped her wrist with a clawed finger causing Tomoe to resist the urge to roll her eyes and simply nodded.

"(First I had to put up with Maris, now I have to put up with...her. The universe just loves matching me up with annoying loudmouths,)" Tomoe quietly grumbled as she got into the ring and readied herself only for Charizard to hold up a hand making the warrior raise a brow.

"(What do you say about kicking it up a notch and throwing our powers into the mix? We can even throw blows to the face and body if you want,)" Charizard suggested both with an ever so slight smirk, a hand on her hip, and her tail lazily swishing behind her making Tomoe fold her arms, size up her foe, and snort.

"(Fine with me,)" Tomoe curtly agreed as she pulled out her swords and tossed them to Dmitri as Charizard settled into a sumo stance while Tomoe crouched forward slightly and held her arms out. After a moment had passed, the two pounced at each other with Charizard quickly hacking up a mucus covered ball of ice from her throat and onto the ground which began slowly pursuing Tomoe like a heat seeking missile. Tome, however, simply jumped over it and crashed into the pseudo-dragon shoulder first making Charizard grimace as she fell on her knees which the warrior was quick to capitalize on and wrapped her arms around Charizard's waist. The pseudo-dragon answered by coiling her arms and tail around Tomoe causing a fierce, chaotic struggle to erupt and to Tomoe's surprise, she had to put in a lot of effort to not be tossed around like a ragdoll.

Lunging at Charizard's leg, she forced her full weight down on the appendage making the pseudo-dragon wince as she collapsed onto her side, but smirked when she saw the mucus covered ball of ice coming back around. Pressing her body against Tomoe's, Charizard tightly wrapped her legs and tail around the warrior's waist and put her in a choke hold while restraining both of her wrists with her wings as her projectile slowly closing the distance between them. Growling, Tomoe thrust her head back into Charizard's snout making the pseudo-dragon hiss as Tomoe used the brief reprieve to shoot a concentrated wave of water from her mouth that made the ball of ice burst into weird smelling mist. Additionally, it knocked both her and Charizard back and made them spill out of the ring with Charizard winding up on top of Tomoe who groaned and shoved her off while the pseudo-dragon calmly dusted herself off.

"(One point for me~!)" Charizard singsonged as she climbed back to her feet and got back into the ring making Tomoe grumble, but didn't protest as she put the incident into the back of her mind and stepped back into the ring. As soon as they decided to start the next round, Tomoe instantly shot a stream of pressurized water into Charizard's gut making the pseudo-dragon violently wheeze, double over, and crumple to her knees while clutching her stomach due to the kinetic energy behind the attack causing Tomoe to plant her foot against the pseudo-dragon's chest which knocked her out of the ring.

"(One point for me,)" Tomoe retorted with a smirk causing Charizard to hiss and get back into the ring where she crouched forward slightly, curled her wings and tail, and bared her teeth causing Tomoe to ready herself. The instant she did so, however, Charizard barreled into her making Tomoe gag as she was forced back and struggled to dig her feet into the ground and when she tried a sacrifice throw, Charizard followed her energy like she did with Dmitri and landed on top of her. Feeling the wind get knocked out of her, Tomoe held onto Charizard for dear life so she could regain her bearings only to grimace as the pseudo-dragon repeatedly spat orbs of draconic energy onto her face. Hissing as another one crashed into her cheek, Tomoe shot her hand out and smashed the bony part of palm onto Charizard's mouth making the pseudo-dragon's head snap back which enabled Tomoe to toss Charizard off to the side.

Getting back to her feet, Tomoe balked slightly when she saw Charizard coat her fists into powerful, chaotic bursts of red electricity, but kept her cool as the pseudo-dragon charged at her...only to find out this was a feint as Charizard abruptly stopped and fired a blindingly fast arc of wind at Tomoe by flicking her wings. Diving to the side to avoid the sharp arc of air, Tomoe nevertheless grimaced as it grazed her side and fired a pulse of water at her foe in the hopes that it would confuse her, but Charizard plowed right through it and yanked a rock out of the ground that was as tall and big as she was which was then flash frozen. Stopping mere inches from Tomoe, Charizard smashed her head against it with all her might sending bits of frozen stone and rubble flying into Tomoe's face and chest who crossed her arms into an x to the block the projectiles. Grimacing, Tomoe tried to stop herself from going out of bounds, but was unable to as she landed on her butt making Charizard smile despite sweat pouring down her brow and kissed her bicep.

"(You're falling behind~,)" Charizard hummed making Tomoe huff, pick herself up, and step back into the ring, and get into position with Charizard following suit only for Tomoe to fire a relatively weak burst of water at the pseudo-dragon. Immediately realizing what the warrior was doing, Charizard blocked the actual blow to her gut with her forearms only to feel her limbs nearly go numb from doing so. Reeling back in order to regain some feeling in her arms, Charizard widened her eyes as Tomoe relentlessly pursued her and placed her hand against the pseudo-dragon's face and when Charizard instinctively batted it away, dry heaved as Tomoe forcefully kneed her in the stomach. As if holding onto some sort of grudge, Tomoe used the stored up energy from Charizard's attack that knocked her out of the ring last round to give her strike more power which nearly knocked the pseudo-dragon out of bounds. Charizard, however, managed to grab Tomoe's arm in time making the warrior uncontrollably hobble forward only to stop herself mere inches from the edge. Before Charizard could even think of a way to get out of her predicament, she was knocked flat on her ass when Tomoe expelled a burst of chi from her body making the dragon curse as she was blown back and fell into the pond with a big splash.

"(You were saying?)" Tomoe huffed as she beckoned for Charizard to get back into the ring with her paw on her hip making the pseudo-dragon growl, cough up some water, and climb out of the pond while ignoring the stares she was getting from everyone else. Similar to what Charizard did before their fight, Tomoe locked eyes with her opponent and tauntingly yawned into her paw making the pseudo-dragon snarl and stomp into the ring where she got into position causing Tomoe to follow suit. After what seemed like an eternity, Tomoe rolled to the side to avoid a gigantic, powerful beam of ice with the energy of the dragons in it for extra kick, but grimaced as it grazed her ribs. Forcing down the pain, Tomoe glowed red as she simultaneously ducked underneath Charizard's attempted grapple and drove her elbow onto her opponent's hip with the force behind the blow being amplified from her prior wound.

Screaming, but not falling down, Charizard brought her arms up, balled her hands into fists, and slammed them down onto Tomoe's back making the warrior violently crash onto the ground face first where she left a mini crater from the impact. Gritting her teeth when she felt Charizard tightly grasp her waist to the point she thought her bones were going to crack, Tomoe grasped the back of her opponent's legs only for karma to set in as she was tossed end over end by the same throw she used on Charizard earlier. Grunting as she landed on her back, Tomoe rolled to her feet only for her head to violently snap to the side as she was struck across the face by Charizard's muscular tail making her twist to the side while spitting up a glob of saliva which splayed onto the frozen grass.

Tomoe, despite seeing double, still had enough presence of mind to roll away from Charizard trying to slam a gigantic frozen boulder on top of her and even managed to push away the first electrified fist flying at her face, but felt her pupils shrink as the second one she didn't see crashed into her gut. Coughing up saliva, Tomoe retreated to regain her bearings, but the pseudo-dragon doggedly pursued her and threw a flurry of electrified jabs at her face which the warrior blocked and managed to spin around the follow up uppercut where she smashed her tail shifted into against the pseudo-dragon's backside. Yelping, Charizard nearly fell over as the strike connected with her kidney, but stayed upright as she blocked Tomoe's palm heel strike to her snout and attempted to sneakily wrap her tail around Tomoe's leg, but the warrior saw this coming from a mile away. Roughly stomping onto Charizard's tail, Tomoe ignored her opponent's cry of pain and slugged her across the face with a vicious hook sending the pseudo-dragon uncontrollably spinning backwards.

Stopping herself mere inches from the edge of the ring, Charizard gnashed her teeth and concentrated the ghostly energy and draconic energy into one of her hands just as Tomoe charged at her with a contrail of water behind her. Despite looking like a blur, Charizard was unfazed as she waited for the right moment and threw out a strong straight punch which the warrior saw at the last moment and dipped her head to the side to avoid, but hissed as it grazed her eye and left her slightly dazed. However, this didn't stop Tomoe's forward momentum as she harshly crashed into Charizard's chest with her shoulder making the pseudo-dragon dry heave as she and Charizard spilled out of the ring out the ring where they crashed to the ground with harsh, audible thuds and just laid in a heap with Tomoe laying on top of the pseudo-dragon.

"(Hmm, you're pretty good, as good as me I'd say,)" Charizard simultaneously complimented Tomoe and sung her own praises causing the warrior to grunt and get off of the pseudo-dragon.

"(An insult indeed,)" Tomoe retorted making Charizard frown and release a small huff as Dmitri approached them and offered his hand to her causing Charizard to grasp it and feel herself being pulled to her feet though Dmitri was nearly pulled to the ground due to the weight difference between them.

"So, do you still want to join-"

"(Yeah, I am and from the look of things, you're going to need a heavy hitter like me,)" Charizard remarked while flexing her biceps causing Tomoe to groan and roll her eyes while Dmitri just laughed awkwardly.

"Before I put you in a pokeball, I want to know if you want a nickname, you want to stay outside of your pokeball, and are absolutely sure you want to come with us?" Dmitri inquired causing a feral, eager to form on Charizard's face.

"Sure, we'll see, and hell yeah," Charizard determinedly replied causing Tomoe to spare a glance at Dmitri whose expression all but said "Give her a chance." causing the warrior to sigh heavily, shake her head and fold her arms. Dmitri proceeded to gently boop Charizard on the chest with a pokeball after she let him do it causing the pseudo-dragon to break down into a mass of light and go inside the device which shook around for a moment before going still. Releasing Charizard from her pokeball, the pseudo-dragon clutched her head like she had the worse hangover in the world and even smacked her cheeks to regain a sense of equilibrium.

"(Yeah, I think I'm going to take a rain check on staying inside a pokeball. However, I'm cool with a nickname so long as it doesn't sound dumb,)" Charizard stated while pinching the bridge of her nose and exhaling loudly making Tomoe sigh while Dmitri nodded as he thought of possible nicknames for his new partner.

"Does Wynter sound good?" Dmitri inquired causing Charizard to raise a brow and rub her chin while thinking over the nickname and after concluding that people wouldn't be able to easily make fun of it, nodded.

"(It sure does; I'm in,)" Wynter stated confidently as she extended her hand to Dmitri who grasped it and shook it before the pseudo-dragon relinquished the hold and held her hand out to Tomoe. Sighing softly, Tomoe, despite her misgivings about her new partner, nevertheless grabbed Wynter's hand and shook it before breaking it off and politely, but curtly bowing to Wynter without making eye contact with her. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Wynter along with Dmitri and Tomoe bid farewell to her friends and walked away from the pond where Dmitri decided to see if he could get in contact with Alice to see how things were going for her.

"How much farther?" Alice inquired as she was starting to get tired of the stares they were getting from the townsfolk causing Espeon to laugh softly while Poliwrath, though she understood the suspicion they were getting, was growing weary of it as well.

"(Don't worry, we're getting close,)" Espeon assured her friend who grunted as they stepped off the main, grassy path and came onto a rocky one where, after walking for a few minutes, suddenly felt like they were in a oven. As they continued to walk, Alice's whole face and forehead suddenly became ridden with sweat causing the ex-heiress to wipe her face with the bottom of her shirt and press onward with a slight, but noticeable limp. Soon, Alice was breathing hard and though she tried to hide it, she was now fully reliant on using the rocky wall as a crutch to walk causing Espeon to keep her upright with her psychokinesis.

"(Use your shadow aura to protect you from the heat,)" Espeon advised causing the ex-heiress to wearily nod and active her bloody crimson aura where she no longer felt like she was going to keel over at any second. Giving an appreciative nod to Espeon who returned, the gesture Alice got up and patted Poliwrath on the shoulder for helping her stay upright before marching forward with her team when she noticed something.

"How come you didn't turn on yours?" Alice asked when she saw Espeon was casually wading through the heat as if she were taking a walk in the park and Poliwrath wasn't showing any signs of strain on her part either.

"(Because I'm strong enough to the point my powers passively protect me from things like heat or other forms of trauma. When you get stronger, it will happen to you too,)" Espeon once again assured her friend in a rather blunt manner making Alice snort, but otherwise say nothing as Poliwrath comfortingly patted her leg.

"And how long is that going to take?" Alice inquired with a slight, indignant growl making Espeon glance over her shoulder at the ex-heiress and gave her a not so subtle shit eating grin.

"(Less if you stop bitching,)" Espeon said in retort making Alice scoff while Poliwrath just laughed under her breathe as they followed the pink cat past some boulders and found scores of Squirtles, Wartortles, and Blastoises hanging out in an area covered in igneous rock.

"(Sooooo...are we actually going to talk to them or are you going to walk up to the biggest, strongest one and try to knock them on their ass to gain street cred?)" Espeon asked while gnawing on her tail causing Alice to say nothing as she scaled down the path and onto the ground with Poliwrath in tow.

"(If those humans come here, you don't say a word to them or agree to anything they try and ask you to do, understand!? They're nothing but trouble and I can't fathom why Charizard would let someone like them in!)" the elderly Blastoise who attacked Alice, Espeon, Poliwrath, Dmitri, and Tomoe at the border shouted at his children where one uncomfortably rubbed the back of his head when he saw Alice and Poliwrath approaching them.

"(Uh...dad,)" one of the Blastoises said while pointing to the duo over his shoulder causing the elderly warrior to wheel around and glower at Alice and Poliwrath who stood their ground while Espeon casually levitated beside her friends while scratching her face with her paw.

"(We have nothing to say-)"

"(You don't want to talk to us, but that doesn't mean the others don't,)" Poliwrath interrupted causing the elderly warrior to get right into the brawler's face who simply narrowed her eyes as Espeon got in between them.

"(Whoa, whoa! Relax, old man; we didn't come here to fight...at least not in the life or death context,)" Espeon added causing the elderly warrior to scoff and shift his gaze over to the pink cat who was still floating in mid-air and proceeded to tumble herself around like she was in a zero gravity environment just because she could.

"(Of course, that's all what my kin do in the human's clutches; fight, fight, and fight until they're no longer physically capable of doing so! Humans just use our race up and spit them out when they think we're no longer of use!)" the living artillery battery roared and to his surprise, Alice, Espeon, and Poliwrath nodded in agreement with him which made him recoil and stare at the trio as if they all grew second heads.

"(I can understand where you're coming from,)" Espeon stated as she began to reminisce about her time in captivity in Team Rocket.

Counting how many joints, wires, plates, nuts, and bolts her robot suit had for the umpteenth time, Espeon sighed as she mindlessly floated in her tank and tried to think of something better to do to pass the time while she was trapped in here, but nothing came to mind. She already made a list of what scientists she was going to maul if she broke free, memorized their appearances down to the last detail, and reviewed the information just to be sure so what else was there to do? Looking at the scientists, Espeon couldn't help but feel her blood boil when she saw them laughing and conversing with each other causing her to tense her muscles as the liquid in her tank began to bubble erratically as she managed to sneak past a tiny bit of psychic energy past the inhibitors. However, more poured through when a particular bespectacled scientist walked right up to her tank and stared right at her making Espeon gnash her teeth and growl viciously.

"Beginning injection phase," the scientist stated to which Espeon knew what he meant and cursed at him as he placed a vial in the console which the robot arms took and placed the substance in a syringe. Tensing her muscles and closing her eyes, Espeon was grateful that the robot arms were rubbing her back to try and put her at ease as they injected the substance into her body making the pink cat through her head back and scream as her body started twitching wildly. Feeling as if something was growing inside of her, Espeon wept with gritted teeth as she felt bones and muscles shifting throughout her body and then wailed at the top of her lungs as she felt as if someone was pushing her eyes out of her skull. Relieved that the pain came to a stop after a few more seconds of agony, Espeon released a breathe she didn't even know she was holding and realized that the robot arms were hugging her like a parent would a child making her smile ever so slightly in spite of her circumstances.

"Subject ESP, go to the testing grounds. We need to see what Metagross' bio-metal can stand up to; any resistance will be met with maximum level retaliation," the scientist ordered while draining the fluid from her tank and opening it where he gave her an electrical shock enough to power the whole planet by pressing a button on a remote to reinforce his point. Throwing her head back and letting out a scream at the top of her lungs, Espeon doubled over as the electrical shock continued which illuminated her skeleton before it suddenly stopped making the pink cat glower at the scientist.

"Subject ESP, go to the testing grounds; any resistance will be met with maximum level retaliation," the scientist repeated making Espeon resist the urge to roll her eyes as she gave an obedient nod like he wanted while mocking what he said under her breathe which was fortunately obscured by her helmet. Descending down to the testing grounds by way of an elevator, Espeon stood in the middle and looked up at her captors who watched her from behind the reinforced glass of the observatory.

"Subject ESP, stand over there; any resistance will be met with maximum level retaliation," the same scientist as before demanded as he pressed the button on the remote again making Espeon hiss as she slowly hobbled over to where he wanted.

"Subject ESP, hurry up; any resistance will be met with maximum level retaliation," the scientist proclaimed yet again as she gave Espeon another powerful, but quick shock to her system which made her curse. Standing on the platform he wanted while flinging a whole slew of curses at him which was muffled by her helmet, Espeon waited and gasped as clamps suddenly shot out from the ground and pinned her in place making the pink cat frantically look around.

"Initiating first phase of the test in three, two, one," one of the Team Rocket scientists stated before pressing a button on the console which suddenly battered a restrained Espeon with several missiles at point blank range which made the pink cat scream bloody murder and curl into a ball as the pain soon came to a stop.

"Subject is showing high resistance to blunt force trauma, but further is testing needed," the Team Rocket scientist stated as he pressed another button the console as claws suddenly jutted the from ground and grasped Espeon who furiously writhed to free herself to no avail. Grimacing as the claws harshly pinned her to the ground on her belly, Espeon looked up and felt her breathe hitch as a rogue planet the size of Jupiter came out of the wall suspended by firing mechanisms. Suddenly, the floor underneath Espeon was then lifted up like a dart board making tears stream down the pink cat's face as the clamps tightened their grips on her limbs.

"Initiating base defenses to the uppermost limit," the Team Rocket scientist as a dome covered the arena which left the pink cat in near darkness, but in spite of this, Espeon could still see the rogue planet being reared back by the firing mechanism making her futilely struggle in her restraints as she saw green force fields suddenly cover the testing grounds.

"Launching rogue planet; estimated impact force will be thousands of times that of a smaller planetoid capable of causing a mass extinction event," the scientist said as if he was picking what food to eat from a restaurant menu making Espeon cast an incredulous glance at him through the glass before tensing her muscles. At first, there was nothing but the whooshing sound of the rogue planet being fired by the mechanism, but soon the large planetoid came into a view with the pink cat being nothing but a speck of dust compared to it. Espeon could only manage to get out a breathless "(Holy shit!)" before the rogue planet crashed into her tiny form with planet shattering force sending large chunks of debris flying like shrapnel from a grenade in a gigantic burst of flames that completely engulfed the test area. Not only that, but the resulting shockwave violently shook not only the entire facility, but the ground it was built on and the ocean floor adjacent to it which didn't faze the scientists as they calmly waited for the dust to clear. After what seemed like an eternity had passed, they saw Espeon's robotic suit had been nearly obliterated from the impact as only a few pieces covered her body and what's more, her mangled, burnt helmet had a hole in it which exposed her piercing red eye. Espeon herself wasn't doing much better as her entire body had been heavily bloodied and brutally bruised with several gut churning burn marks to match, but the pink cat didn't care about the pain as she turned her head and narrowed her eyes at her "caretakers."

"Test 1 successful, subject has shown high resistance to blunt force trauma. Moving onto the next test," the scientist prattled on as he pressed another button on the console which shifted the floor back into it's original position with Espeon still pinned as swords sharpened to a single atom along with diamond, obsidian, and single layer graphene blades suddenly came out of the wall.

"Will now test subject's resistance to piercing weapons in three, two, one," the Team Rocket scientist said before initiating the test causing Espeon to bark a slew of obscene curses at him and his cohorts just as the blades collided with her body. Howling in pain as the swords embedded themselves into her flesh, the pink cat gnashed her teeth and felt tears falling down her face as fortunately, thanks to the injected bio-metal, the blades only superficially penetrated her flesh. Still, the pink cat was in immense agony as razor sharp darts and spears shot from the wall and crashed into her form where they shattered like glass, but not before leaving a nasty bruise and shallow, but stinging stab wounds in the process.

"Will now commence second phase of test," the Team Rocket scientist commented while munching on a chocolate bar as he pushed a button on the console which caused massive saws made out of the same material as the swords to emerge from the ground. Closing her eyes, Espeon let out a soundless scream as the saws collided with her body sending bloody spraying in every direction. In particular, Espeon felt a pain like she never felt before as one saw constantly cut against the exposed section of her helmet which meant her eye and ear bore the brunt of the punishment. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the saws disengaged and went back into the floor causing the pink cat to breathe a sigh of relief before glaring at those who were causing her harm.

"Test 2 successful, subject has shown remarkable resistance to piercing weapons. Will forward results to Giovanni to get clearance to inject bio-metal into Mewtwo," the scientist stated as Espeon, with a ferocious war cry, broke free of her clamps sending large chunks of metal flying through the air though her captors weren't fazed. In a contemptuous manner, the scientist pressed a button which sent a electrical surge which could power the entire planet throughout Espeon's body making the pink cat howl in agony before chuckling and shooting a bestial, bloodthirsty grin in his direction which was further amplified by her blood caked teeth.

"(Are you?)" Espeon asked in a voice barely above a whisper as she, with herculean effort, accessed her psychic powers by flooding them through the inhibitor with a skyward scream which shattered the walls and destroyed the floor underneath her to which she had a crater to stand on. This finally got the reaction she wanted as the scientists bolted like scared rabbits, but it was for naught for one as Espeon gripped some of them in a tight, psychic hold and pulled them right toward her where they came flying out of the reinforced glass they were hiding behind. Taking cruel pleasure upon seeing them hit the ground with harsh thuds which clearly broke some bones if the sickening cracks were any indication, Espeon scanned the lot and pulled one aside for later where she formed metallic restraints and a muzzle around her special victim. Wasting no time, Espeon pinned her tormentors to the ground and let out a small laugh when she saw that she managed to snag the scientist behind the tests on her and forcibly reactivated said tests. Locking eyes with all her victims, Espeon mockingly waved goodbye before unleashing holy hell upon them where she relished their agonizing wails as razor sharp spears and saws ripped and teared through their bodies like wet paper causing bloody viscera to splay across the testing grounds. In particular, Espeon took special "care" of the scientist who initiated the tests on her as she had the saws gruesomely cut off his fingers and toes one by one reducing them to nothing but bloody stumps which made him wildly flail while screaming his head off. Moreover, gouging out his eyes and impaling his ears made her feel somewhat at peace as she saw blood spurt from the wounds like geysers and while she wanted to do so much more, what she had in mind to finish them off made her throw her head back and laugh uncontrollably.

Pulling the debris toward her, Espeon formed a planetoid the size of Jupiter from the scrap metal and chucked it at the scientists where she fell on her back and cackled in delight as she watched them uselessly inch away from the oncoming projectile. Before impact, Espeon shielded herself and her set aside victim with her powers where they were unharmed by the kinetic energy behind the explosion, the blanket of heat, and the shower of debris. Feeling a weight lifted off of her shoulders when she saw at least some of her tormentors were nothing but literal bloody stains on the ground, Espeon turned to her special victim where she soaked in her fear like a sponge. Releasing her victim from her restraints, Espeon hobbled toward her victim with a crazed, feral grin which allowed her bloody phlegm to fall to the ground as the scientist frantically sprinted towards the wall and vehemently banged against it while shouting for someone to help her.

"(No one's coming, remember? Protocol, the very one you put in place, clearly states that when a subject breaks free of containment, the area is quarantined until a proper response can be mounted,)" Espeon purred as she took a mocking baby step toward her victim who pressed her back against the wall as far as it would go as the pink cat now stood in front of her causing the scientist's breathe to hitch.

"S-Su-Subject ESP, I-I'm warning you! Wh-what you did was inexcusable and my superiors are likely to te-terminate you once they have you back under control! L-Let me go a-and I-I'll talk to them and try to convince them to spare you!" the scientist implored as Espeon leaned her face so close to her victim's face to the point that their noses were touching where the scientist felt Espeon's hot, bloody breathe wash over her.

"(Ooh, that's very tempting, but I'll pass,)" Espeon stated as she used her psychokinesis to build up her muscle mass to the point that she was the size of Entei and infused her malicious, vengeful power into her claws and teeth which took on a dark, demonic shade of pink.

"(You came up with the list of gunk you guys wanted to inject in Mewtwo so I've been thinking that maybe giving you a taste of your own medicine would give you some sense of what I go through each and every fucking day, but that would be too predictable, wouldn't it?)" Espeon cooed as she loomed over her victim and barred her razor sharp incisors.

"Wh-what are you going to do to me?" the scientist wailed as Espeon smirked, put a firm paw on her shoulder as if she was an old friend, and leaned her face close to her ear while lazily swishing her tail behind her.

"(Since you're so smart, perhaps you can tell me what time of the year it is and what it means for my brethren?)" Espeon inquired as she let her victim mull over the question and smirked cruelly when she saw the woman widen her eyes and uselessly try to climb back into the observatory as the realization hit her.

"N-no, please! Espeon, please don't!" the scientist begged as the pink cat waltzed over to her victim and slashed her clothes with her claws leaving the scientist in nothing but her bra and panties.

"(Did you or anyone else show me mercy when I pleaded for the pain to stop?)" Espeon pointed out as her eyes glazed over and she locked eyes with the scientist with a dead, yet furious gaze making the woman fall silent.

"...I'm sorry," the scientist told Espeon in a completely sincere, regretful tone causing the pink cat to be taken aback, but still held her zombie like gaze on her quarry.

"I know...I've hurt you and I know telling you that I had bills to pay and kids to feed doesn't make up for what I allowed to happen to you, but I am sorry," the scientist stated with genuine remorse in her voice causing Espeon's murderous stare to soften as she scanned her victim's mind for any signs of deceit and was stumped when she found absolutely none. Releasing a low, soft sigh, Espeon nodded and responded with "I forgive you." making the scientist's eyes widen and even smile a little.

"Y-you do?" the scientist asked to which Espeon nodded making the woman breathe a soft sigh of relief...until she violently gagged as Espeon, thanks to Metagross's DNA splicing with hers, wrapped a tight paw around her neck.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to spare you," Espeon whispered while staring at the scientist dead in the eye which, to the Team Rocket member, seemed like the eyes of Giratina were looking right at her and let out a pained, soundless scream as the pink cat wrapped her other paw around her neck and increased the pressure around her throat. Arching her back as far as it could to get some air, any air, into her system, a streams of blood started to flow down the scientist's nose and she even coughed up the life giving substance too. Suddenly, Espeon sensed a swarm of drones, programmed to mimic dark, ghost, bug, and steel type pokemon along with security who were equipped with rifles that were capable of firing anti-material rounds at the speed of light rapidly heading towards her location making her grumble. Looking down at her quarry who, thanks to the ever increasing pressure around her neck, had blood flowing down from her eyes like streams of tears causing Espeon to sigh softly and put her quarry out of her misery by crushing her windpipe and snapping her neck so completely that it shut down all of her lower body functions with the utmost ease. Blankly staring down at the corpse of the scientist, Espeon reached a paw out and patted her shoulder just as security along with the drones burst into the area where they immediately surrounded her with their weapons at the ready.

"Subject ESP, return to your tank now or we will use lethal force!" the head of security shouted causing Espeon to snort as she figured she could take a good chunk of them out, but there would still be a lot left. Begrudgingly, Espeon began to walk back to her tank with the drones hovering mere inches away from her and watching her every move like a hawk as the pink cat stepped into her tank and felt her access to her powers cut off once again.

"You're lucky the suits still need you or else we'd have put you down," the head of security growled making Espeon glower at him as the robot arms went to work removing the broken bits of her suit and replacing them with new ones.

"Remember, we own you and we can do whatever we want. Tomorrow the suits are going to pump more stuff in you so you'd better not act up like you did just now or else there are going to be consequences," the enforcer snarled as he pressed a button on a console causing a small tungsten rod to suddenly fire into one of Espeon's eyes at the speed of light making the pink wail in absolute agony as the membrane was reduced to mulch with a wet, bloody squelch.

"Does it hurt? Good, that's what happens when you defy your masters," the head of security stated while spitting on Espeon's tank and departing with his forces causing Espeon to glare at him even with her destroyed eye which slowly began mending itself.

"(If I truly break free of this place, I'm killing you first,)" Espeon vowed to herself as she closed her eyes and tried to get some rest as a newly formed mask was put over her face leaving her in nothing but relative darkness once more.

"That's...I don't even know what to say," the guardian said as he was stunned to complete silence as were his nearby children which was something Espeon understood as she landed on the ground and looked at the warrior dead in the eye.

"(I don't even need to sense you to tell that you're horrified at what I did despite your hatred of humanity, but then again, you shouldn't care. You were going to do something similar to Dmitri and Alice earlier,)" Espeon pointed out evenly making the elderly warrior recoil and stare at the pink cat with his jaw dropped before narrowing his eyes at Espeon who didn't even flinch.

"(I would never-)"

"(Yes, you would have if you believed it would protect your home and your children so don't act all disgusted when the consequences of your desired actions rear their ugly head,)" Espeon effortlessly ripped apart Blastoise's retort before it could even come to fruition making the guardian slowly close his mouth and mull over what the pink cat said before sparing a glance at Poliwrath.

"(What about you? Did you go through what your friend did?)" Blastoise asked in an attempt to change the subject causing the brawler to shake her head.

"(No, I just ran into Alice and Espeon one day when I was a Poliwag and after they played with me in the pond for a while, the rest is history,)" Poliwrath said with a low, fond laugh while rubbing the back of her head causing the pink cat to chuckle warmly at the memory too and while Alice wouldn't admit it, she had fun that day as well.

"(You see, I went over the edge long ago and not only did I make it my home, but I fucking conquered it too which is why I'm able to act like a monster without losing control of myself. However, I sincerely doubt you'll be able to do the same should the scenario come up, but it doesn't have to be that way. Let us help so you can take a step back, reevaluate your character up until now, and then come back ready to defend your home with a new approach,)" Espeon advised while coating her eyes in a bloody crimson aura to emphasize her point and smirked ever so slightly causing the guardian to look at her, then Alice, and then Poliwrath before sighing heavily.

"(...Fine, but as soon as our common foe is dealt with, I want you and your friends gone,)" the guardian begrudgingly conceded in a much calmer, but still gruff tone to which Alice, Espeon, and Poliwrath nodded as Blastoise stalked away making his children rub the back of their heads.

"Espeon, never tell Dmitri what you did to that scientist," Alice suggested with Poliwrath nodding in agreement, but to their surprise the pink cat shook her head and looked over her shoulder at them.

"(Sorry, but no. If we're going to get closer, he's going to have know more my time as Team Rocket's petri dish,)" Espeon responded making the ex-heiress put a hand to her forehead and sigh while Poliwrath tilted her head and gave her friend an expression that said "Are you sure that's the best move?"

"We're not going to get closer to him so keep your mouth shut," Alice barked causing Espeon to scrunch her brow and narrow her eyes at her partner who folded her arms and stared back at her with a rough glare.

"(You're not going to get closer to him, but I am so don't go telling me who I can and can't be friends with,)" Espeon huffed as she slapped Alice in the ass with a quick application of psychic making the ex-heiress grimace, but didn't shift in her position causing Poliwrath to get in between them and gesture at one Blastoise's children who wanted to tell them something. Both Alice and Espeon sighed softly before regaining their composure and turned toward the living artillery battery who cleared his throat and began to speak.

"(I think we have the perfect candidate to go with you guys; like our dad, she wants to fight against our enemies, but the village elders have prohibited anyone from engaging them further after the last failed attempt,)" the guardian's child explained causing Alice, Espeon, and Poliwrath to glance at one another and agree that this being certainly fit the bill on who they were looking for.

"Please take us to her," Alice ordered as politely as she could causing the guardian's child to gesture for them to follow him and his siblings deeper into the rocky crevice which they did where, even with her bloody crimson aura protecting her, Alice began to breathe hard again. Suddenly, she no longer felt any strain and in fact, felt rejuvenated causing her to look around and saw that Espeon had used her psychokinesis to reinforce her partner's aura causing Alice to give a curt, but grateful nod to the pink cat. Returning the gesture, Espeon decided to stick closer to her partner just in case as finally, they arrived at an area littered with searing hot magma and igneous rock where the clone Blastoises looked even less like their source material and more like mythological creatures from a storybook.

"(To think Team Rocket could have messed up DNA splicing this horribly,)" Poliwrath breathlessly stated as she knew what a Blastoise looked like and these beings, barring a few token similarities to their source material, were certainly not the pokemon they were based off of.

"(Yeah, I know how you feel, but they're reliable and good company so try not to give any of them guff,) the guardian's child responded as he walked down the path to the magma tub with Alice, Espeon, and Poliwrath in tow where he and his siblings warmly greeted their altered brethren who affectionately returned the gestures. Stopping at big crack in the wall, Blastoise turned to the trio and folded his arms.

"(She's through there and a word of advice, be honest with her. She doesn't like liars or people who tell half truths. Good luck and I hope you guys stay safe and fight well out in the field,)" the guardian's child stated while extending his hand to Alice who, after a moment of hesitation, gripped his hand and shook it making Espeon mockingly widen her eyes and open her mouth as far as it could. Feeling her brow twitch irritably, Alice nodded and cordially bade him farewell as she turned to her partners where she saw Espeon was still tauntingly looking at her as if Alice was replaced by someone else while Poliwrath proudly patted her leg. Snorting, Alice gestured at the opening in the rocky wall face causing the duo to nod and follow the protector of Oni through it where they saw a "Blastoise" with an orange belly, a dark red body, a long, muscular tail with spikes running along the base, two sharp, yellow horns on its head, and a sharp, pointed snout like a ferocious dragon.

"How in the fuck did Team Rocket mess up this bad in the first phases of cloning?" Alice wondered internally as the "Blastoise" lifted her head and locked eyes with the ex-heiress, Espeon, and Poliwrath before huffing.

"(If you want me to come along, there's somethings I need to know first. First off, were you like one of the humans my great uncle hates?)" the altered pokemon bluntly inquired to which Alice was briefly taken aback by the living artillery battery's brazenness before regaining her composure.

"Yes; I cared only for power and inflicting as much pain as humanly possible on my opponents and I even went so far as to capture many other pokemon and forcibly enhancing their strength through unnatural means though I am trying to be better now," Alice just as tersely responded making the gargantuan turtle narrow her eyes at the ex-heiress who blankly stared back at her as the living artillery battery got off of her belly.

"(And where are my distant brethren now?)" Blastoise asked while rubbing her eyes as chunks of igneous rock fell off of her giant form causing Alice to shake her head and shrug making the living artillery battery tilt her head.

"I don't know; the most Arceus told me is that they're with people who're treating them a whole lot better than I did," the ex-heiress answered causing the living artillery battery to be taken aback and fold her arms as she stared down at Alice, Espeon, and Poliwrath whom she towered over.

"(You met the creator?)" Blastoise asked in a voice barely above a whisper to which Alice nodded and recalled Arceus exerting so much pressure on her that she couldn't even move her body and felt like the primordial was going to smite her right then and there.

"Not under ideal circumstances, but yes. She showed me mercy when I deserved none," Alice explained causing Blastoise to slowly nod and then kneel down to get a better look at Espeon's strange eyes and sclera making the pink cat model like she was on the runway.

"(You're friend was experimented on by Team Rocket as well?)" Blastoise questioned causing Alice to nod while Espeon resisted the urge to laugh uncontrollably at the massive understatement and simply smirked at the living artillery battery.

"(Let's put it this way; I put the psycho in psychokinesis,)" Espeon replied with a small laugh while flaring her aura up even more which smoothly washed over her a like a roaring waterfall.

"(That must have been hard, but I digress. Secondly, what's your plan on dealing with our mutual enemy?)" Blastoise asked as Espeon suddenly doubled over causing Alice, Poliwrath, and Blastoise to widen their eyes as the pink cat suddenly grew red and bluish outlines around her face along with two intertwined triangles on her chest of the same color. Releasing a heavy breathe, Espeon slapped her cheeks with her tail and did a once over of her appearance by forming a barrier in front of herself like it was a mirror where the pink cat pursed her lips and nodded.

"(Well, how about that?)" Espeon remarked with a slight grin causing Poliwrath to walk over to her friend and stare at the triangular tattoos now on Espeon's chest along with her new markings causing Espeon to playfully say "It's rude to stare."

"(Wait, did she just grow-)"

"Yes, she did; to answer your question, we're going to hit them where it hurts as effectively and with as much force as possible. If we get driven back, we'll regroup, find an area where resistance isn't as fierce, and hit them again. However, if we have to retreat, then we have to retreat," Alice frankly answered causing Blastoise to think over what the ex-heiress said and glanced at Espeon who was testing out her regained strength by opening a rift big enough to fit Oni which was no longer unstably crackling. After a moment, Blastoise allowed an ever so slight grin to tug at the corner of her lips which showed off her sharp canines and nodded as she extended a hand to Alice.

"(I like your style; I'm in,)" Blastoise said eagerly causing Alice to smirk as she grasped Blastoise's hand and firmly shook it as the living artillery battery then knelt down and cordially extended her hand to her new allies.

"(You know, I thought since we're outnumbered and outgunned, we'd be smarter about how we fight,)" Espeon pointed out as Poliwrath clasped Blastoise's hand and lifted her up without any mechanical leverage eliciting a bellowing laugh from the altered pokemon.

"Working around and turning weaknesses into strengths is Dmitri's way, not ours," Alice responded simply to which Espeon let a fanged, eager smirk form on her face and cackled evilly.

"(Damn right,)" Espeon wholeheartedly agreed as she clasped Blastoise's hand and immediately, the altered pokemon was flooded with the memories of what Espeon and Alice used to be like along with their actions leading up to this point.

"(Geez, you guys weren't kidding,)" Blastoise remarked as she glanced at Espeon and couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine due to seeing her vengeance in full and then stared at Alice where she felt a sense of disgust for the ex-heiress, but acknowledged that she was trying to be a better person at the least.

"Indeed, we should probably meet up with Dmitri now," Alice suggested causing Espeon, Poliwrath, and to a lesser extent, Blastoise to nod as they began to follow the ex-heiress until a thought suddenly occurred to Espeon as she stopped in her tracks and cleared her throat. Pausing in her stride, Alice turned to look at her partner with her arms folded and Poliwrath and Blastoise following suit as the pink cat held up her paw as if it were a hand.

"(Speaking of Dmitri, he's talking to some of the locals so I figure we've still got some time to ourselves which is why I was wondering if you wanted to see your baby sister? I, for one, want to see why you were so fixated on getting her attention,)" Espeon remarked as she stretched her back and raised her hindquarters in the air while doing so where she let out a loud yawn.

"Espeon, she hates me so it would be best-"

"(Yes? Well, good!)" Espeon proclaimed as she opened a rift underneath all of them making Alice, Poliwrath, and Blastoise gasp as they felt the ground underneath them leave and were suddenly in free fall with the pink cat laughing the whole time.

"(First Dmitri runs off and now this!)" Sparkplug roared as a nearby tree was subject to her wrath by a way of a powerful burst of electricity which blew it into a copious amount of splinters.

"(I know it looks bad, but Delia and Druddigon are too tough to be brought down by such an attack and Lopunny and Catherine are no pushover either,)" Haxorus comforted the lioness and put a hand on her shoulder for extra assurance while Kiera lowered her head and gently nuzzled Sparkplug's forehead to try and calm her down.

"(That's what I'm afraid of, actually; they might be in worse shape than we anticipate precisely because they decided to fight no matter how injured they were,)" Luka solemnly pointed out to which Haxorus, Hydreigon, Dragonite, Maris, and Kiera grimly acknowledged making the lioness bare her teeth and snarl with tears welling at her eyes.

"(Even if that's the case, none of them would be fucking dumb enough to hold their ground for a long period of time against that many guys,)" Maris countered which was a scenario Sparkplug was desperately hoping for as it at least indicated that their friends had managed to escape and were hiding somewhere.

"(Maybe so, but in the condition they're in, we'd better find them before our enemies do,)" Luka rightly retorted making Dragonite indignantly huff at the jackal's assessment, but grudgingly acknowledged her point as Sparkplug saw Jet and Maya sweeping the area for clues on their friend's whereabouts with help from law enforcement.

"(We'll cross that bridge later; for now, let's help them out,)" Luka suggested which no one was opposed to as they all separated into groups and inspected different areas of the battlefield with Sparkplug teaming up with Kiera.

"(Maris is taking it pretty bad,)" Kiera murmured to which Sparkplug cast a glance at the martial arts pokemon and saw that Maris was violently overturning boulders and roughly stomping about her chosen area to search for clues.

"(I know; she always wants to protect her friends so for them to get hurt and her not being able to do anything about it-)"

"(Really rattles your confidence in your abilities as a fighter,)" Kiera finished to which Sparkplug solemnly nodded in agreement as she saw a dried patch of blood on the ground causing her to sniff it and immediately recognized it as Catherine's scent.

"(Hey guys, I found something!)" Sparkplug hollered which immediately caused Luka and Maris to rush over where they both knelt down next to the patch of blood and intertwined their aura and chi sense in order to extend its range.

"(Sparkplug, you found the needle in the haystack. With this, we'll be able to track a good deal of their steps,)" Luka earnestly complimented her friend causing the lioness to blush lightly and managed to get out a quite "You're welcome." before tilting her head as a thought occurred to her.

"(Wait, what makes this patch of blood so special? It looks no different than the other ones we saw,)" Sparkplug pointed out to which Luka nodded while Maris snorted as she barked at Kiera to focus on the patches of blood matching Catherine, Druddigon, Lopunny, and Delia's scents to which the centipede nodded while doing her best to put up with Maris' abrasiveness.

"(You're right, it doesn't, but this one along with the others it leads to are away from the battlefield and still relatively fresh. This indicates that they were made when they were making their escape,)" Luka analyzed causing Sparkplug to purse her lips and nod as she along with her other friends began focusing on the blood spots just as a giant, bloody crimson rift opened up in the air above them.

"(What the fucking hell is this chi I'm sensing?)" Maris said in a voice barely above a whisper as she got into a fighting stance and ignited her demonic magenta aura while Luka, despite trying to remain calm, couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine as she powered up her light blue aura and readied herself as well.

"(It feels malevolent so everyone assume the worst!)" Haxorus exclaimed as he and his brothers in arms lit up their azure auras and prepared themselves for a fight with Kiera narrowing her eyes and shifting her weight while Sparkplug...just looked up at the rift.

"(Whoever's coming out...smells familiar,)" Sparkplug whispered to herself as Jet and Maya, their pokemon, the police officers, Maylene, and her team readied themselves too just as the lioness widened her eyes when she saw a humanoid figure come into view.

"(It's her,)" Sparkplug snarled which was something Luka noticed too as she barred her teeth as Alice, Poliwrath, an abomination of a Blastoise, and a abnormal Espeon were in free fall which wasn't helped by the rift closing and then exploding in a brilliant display of blinding, crimson light.

"With the power boost you got, I thought you'd get the hang of the rifts by now!" Alice yelled at her partner as the resulting explosion catapulted all of them forward at even greater speed making Espeon laugh jovially as if they were on a roller coaster.

"(Oh, I can make rifts that don't explode now, but making ones that do is so much more fun!)" Espeon merrily proclaimed as she did multiple cartwheels in mid-air before demonstrating her point by opening a rift which was the same size of that they traveled through before it closed seamlessly.

"You stupid, mangy, feline!" Alice roared causing Espeon to playfully stick out her tongue at the ex-heiress who prepared herself for impact as Poliwrath rolled as soon as she hit the ground, Blastoise landed on one knee with a mighty, earthshaking thud, and Alice harshly crashed to the ground on her side after curling up into a ball and activating her aura.

"(Well, well, well, isn't this cozy?)" Espeon remarked as she gently floated down and levitated a few inches off of the ground as Alice locked eyes with her former victims, albeit reluctantly, and tried to think of something to say. However, she didn't get to think over it long as Maris charged at Alice with reckless abandon and completely forgot about Espeon and Blastoise's immense power which more than enabled them to put a stop to whatever Maris was trying to do. In spite of this, Alice motioned for her friends to not assist her just as Maris' fist crashed into her face with a brutal, sickening crack which broke Alice's nose and sent blood splaying onto the grass.

"(Been waiting for this for a long time, you fucking bitch,)" Maris growled as she cracked her knuckles and glared at Espeon, Poliwrath, and Blastoise with a gaze that dared them to try and help Alice making Espeon contemptuously laugh under her breathe while the latter begrudgingly stayed where they were. Snorting, Maris turned her attention back to Alice was tightly clutching her bloodied face and punt kicked the ex-heiress in the ribs which broke handful of them with a gut wrenching crack. Sneering as Alice writhed on the ground and then curled into a ball, Maris harshly kicked the ex-heiress onto her back and then sat on her chest.

"(I'm going to enjoy this,)" Maris gleefully stated as she rained down devastating elbows and punches on Alice's face which gave the ex-heiress a nasty black eye, completely swelled her other eye shut, and opened up gruesome cuts that began to leak a copious amount of blood. In spite of this, Alice still didn't attempt to defend herself and held up a hand when Poliwrath and Blastoise tried to come to her aid as Maris forcibly flipped her onto her belly and pounded Alice's midsection with powerful knees.

"(Not so fun when you're the one getting hurt, huh!?)" Maris roared as she put Alice in a guillotine choke hold and applied as much pressure as she could causing Alice to violently wheeze as blood began streaming down her nostrils and her face began turning blue. What's more, she hacked violently as Maris broke more of her ribs with one stiff knee strike and then shattered some of the bones in her sternum with another. Coughing up blood, Alice went limp in the martial arts pokemon's arms and weakly motioned for Poliwrath and Blastoise, despite being at death's door, to not help her as Maris wrapped her sleeves around Alice's arm.

"(Since you took Dmitri's arm, I'm going to take yours!)" Maris exclaimed as she yanked the appendage as hard as she could making Alice howl in agony as her shoulder popped out of its socket with a sickening crack and the bone in her arm wasn't doing much better as it was at its breaking point. Before Maris could do any more damage, Luka, despite being conflicted, intervened by firmly grasping Maris's arms causing the martial arts pokemon to incredulously glower at her friend who stood her ground.

"(Luka, please, let me fucking have this-)"

"(No, don't you remember what Oni said!? Alice is working for her now so all you're doing is hurting one of our allies!)" Luka sharply interrupted Maris with Sparkplug vehemently nodding in agreement as she got in between Maris and Alice who stared down her friend despite not wanting to fight her.

"(Ally!? Are you fucking kidding me!? There's no universe where I would be on the same side as this cruel, psychotic, piece of shit and if anyone of you had any sense, you'd feel the same! No matter what Oni says, she'll always be the same motherfucker who-)"

"(Maris, shut up and think for a moment! If Alice and her partners were really here to hurt us, do you really think she, let alone her partners, would have just stood there and let you wail on her!?)" Haxorus fiercely cut off Maris who couldn't help but let tears well at her eyes as her lips angrily quivered and glowered at the dragon.

"(I-I don't know, and I-I've had it up to here with you always rallying against me!)" Maris furiously stuttered before breaking down into a brief sobbing fit before composing herself.

"(Maris, I'm not your enemy! You just need to be told things you need to hear before they finally get through your thick skull!)" Haxorus shouted back at her making Maris stutter breathe and advance on a heavily wounded Alice causing not only Sparkplug to body block her, but Kiera as well making Maris pause in her stride.

"(I can't believe you; Dmitri and I saved you from her and this is how you repay us? I wish we left you and never looked back,)" Maris spat as viciously as she could which made Sparkplug recoil and although she tried to maintain a calm facade, she looked as if someone had taken a sledgehammer and shattered her soul in one fell swoop. Maris, upon hearing what she said and noticing Sparkplug's reaction, widened her eyes and backpedaled as she could only look at her friend with her jaw agape.

"(I...I didn't mean-)" Maris began to say only to gag violently as to everyone's surprise, the normally stoic Kiera barreled into her like a runaway train and tackled Maris to the ground where she began viciously pounding her with brutal stomps, heavy headbutts, and gruesomely crushing the much smaller Mienshao underneath her bulk.

"(Kiera, stop!)" Haxorus shouted as he along with Dragonite, Hydreigon, Ursaring, Vaque, Graveler, and at Alice's urging, Blastoise tried to pry a frenzied Kiera off of Maris, but the centipede resisted their efforts with all the might her body could muster. In fact, Kiera went so far as to chomp on Maris' arm with her fangs where she maintained enough self control to not break bone or gore the martial arts pokemon, but Maris was still left with harsh, nasty bruises.

"(Kiera, please stop. Please,)" Sparkplug implored while climbing atop Kiera's back and staring at the centipede right in the eyes causing Kiera to blankly look back at her and then at Maris before begrudgingly releasing the martial arts pokemon.

"(You do not talk like that toward Sparkplug, Dmitri, Delia, Catherine, Luka, Haxorus, or anyone else ever again. You understand?)" Kiera seethed in Maris' face and forced her weight down on the martial arts pokemon again to emphasize her point making Maris fearfully nod.

"(Now you apologize for what you said,)" Kiera demanded as she nipped the scruff of Maris' neck and forcibly hoisted her into the air like she was a ragdoll and set her on the ground where she forcefully nudged Maris toward Sparkplug.

"(Sparkplug...I...I'm so sorry,)" Maris earnestly told her friend who looked back at her with narrowed eyes and to the martial arts pokemon's dismay, saw the lioness sigh softly and shake her head.

"(...Maris, I told you I was grateful for what you guys did for me so for you to say that...)" Sparkplug trailed off as she turned her head and began to weep making Maris finally break down as she tried to apologize to her friend again with tears streaming down her face only for Kiera to lift her away and place her in front of Alice.

"(Apologize to her too because right now, you're the monster, not her,)" Kiera growled like an angry parent admonishing a naughty child causing Maris to incredulously look back at the centipede with red-teary eyes, but Kiera was stone faced and simply gestured at the ex-heiress with her head.

"(I-I don't want to,)" Maris pouted causing Kiera to snort as she picked up Maris by the scruff of her neck as if she were her cub and set her down next to Maya who had watched the entire proceedings with a blank expression on her face.

"(Then until you realize what you did wrong, you're grounded,)" Kiera proclaimed causing Maya to take off Maris' pokeball from her belt making Maris let out a little gasp and back up as far away from the device as she could until she ran right into Kiera's bulk.

"(No, Kiera, please!)" Maris wailed as she tightly wrapped her arms around Kiera, sobbed openly, and began to breathe uncontrollably making the centipede sigh heavily before gently resting her head on Maris's shoulder as she wasn't completely heartless.

"(We'll still let you out to eat, sleep, and train and if you behave, we'll let you hang out with us for a little while,)" Kiera assured Maris while pushing her toward Maya which the far smaller Mienshao was helpless to do anything about as she tried to run only for Kiera to nip the scruff of her neck to keep her in place and sadly shook her head when she saw Maris dematerialize and get sucked into her pokeball.

"(That felt awful,)" Kiera murmured as she walked back to where Sparkplug was where they both glowered at Alice who was drinking a cup of milk Vaque gave her with assistance from Poliwrath.

"(Now before I fly off the handle like Kiera did, I want to know why you're here instead of protecting Dmitri,)" Sparkplug demanded to which Alice stood up as her wounds had healed for the most part and gave a terse, but grateful nod toward Vaque before folding her arms.

"Look, this wasn't my idea. My stupid, many feline wanted to see Catherine-"

"(You don't get to speak her name after all the things you did!)" Luka interrupted as she along with Graveler, Floatzel, Kricketune, Ursaring, and Vaque stood next to Sparkplug and Kiera making the ex-heiress acquiesce to their request.

"Fine, my stupid, mangy feline wanted to see what my little sister was like on a whim since apparently, we had free time. However, I don't know why she brought us here instead of, you know, to my sister!" Alice seethed at her partner to which Espeon, who was still floating in mid-air like she was laying on a couch, shrugged and nibbled on the ends of her tail.

"(Hey, it's not my fault; the ESP fields around your baby sister's team feel similar to hers and Lucario here is a near perfect match so forgive me for honing in on what I thought were six Catherines,)" Espeon responded with a slight huff causing Alice to pinch the bridge of her nose while Sparkplug, Kiera, and Luka exchanged glances with one another before the aura pokemon sighed heavily and locked eyes with Alice.

"(The enemy attacked us and we got separated from Catherine, Delia, Druddigon, and Lopunny. We have an idea where they are, but I fear so do our adversaries,)" Luka explained causing Alice to grumble, Poliwrath to look downcast, and Blastoise to purse her lips as Espeon snapped her paw and floated right up to Luka's face where she was so close that their noses were touching.

"(We'll help you find them and don't worry, I'll leave out you and your team's ESP fields during my search to make her location more accurate!)" Espeon offered to which Luka, despite being taken aback by Espeon's forwardness, gave a confused, but grateful nod as the pink cat's eyes glowed bloody crimson.

"(I found her; now you guys sit tight, we won't be long,)" Espeon assured them with a wide grin as she opened up another rift underneath her friend's feet without asking yet again making all of them yelp as they fell down into the seemingly endless void. However, they weren't in free fall for long as they landed in large patches of snow where Druddigon, Snover, Lopunny, and Delia stared at the group with wide eyes.

"(You,)" Lopunny said in a icy, deathly calm voice as she clenched her paws so tightly that they turned white and balled her giant ears into sturdy fists as she stalked toward Alice who sighed softly and got down on her knees.

"If you hitting me will make you feel better, I won't stop you," Alice told Lopunny who was dead silent as memories of Li, Catherine, Dmitri, and Delia flooded into her head making tears stream down her scowl ridden face. Stopping mere inches away from Alice, Lopunny just glared daggers down at the ex-heiress who neutrally looked back at her and once again, gestured for Poliwrath and Blastoise to not help her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of them just staring at each other, Lopunny grabbed Alice by the collar of her shirt and hoisted her up in the air.

"(My first trainer, what was his name?)" Lopunny asked the ex-heiress in a voice barely above a whisper making the servant of Oni close her eyes and sigh heavily before looking Lopunny in the eyes.

"(His name was Li; he was the child of a mailman and a baker, wanted to be the best pokemon trainer, and had four badges at the time of our unfortunate encounter,)" Alice answered making Lopunny sniffle as more tears fell down her face before she gritted her teeth and gripped the collar of Alice's shirt even tighter.

"(You know, I always wondered what I would do if I ever found myself in this situation and now that I am, I thought about rendering you as nothing but a barely lucid cabbage like you did to Li or burning your arm so badly that you'd have to amputate it like Dmitri had to. I even thought of crushing you so badly that you could barely walk like what your Arbok did to Delia or getting my friends to beat you like you did to Catherine! But then I realized if I did that, I'd be no better than you,)" Lopunny growled as she pulled Alice's face closer to hers and released a breathe right in the ex-heiress' face who didn't flinch at the hot air washing over her.

"(So let me just say this; I hate you. I hate you with every fiber of my being and I don't care that Oni says you're becoming a better person so let me make one thing clear. If you ever harm my friends again, I will put you in the ground,)" Lopunny icily growled causing Alice to say "I understand." to which Lopunny didn't respond as she released the ex-heiress who fell to her knees and looked up where she saw Catherine's eyes were glazed over and the only indication she was alive was the rising and falling of her chest.

"Oh my gosh," Alice said in a voice barely above a whisper as she climbed to her feet and slowly approached her baby sister only for Delia to protectively place herself in front of her Catherine in spite of her own wounds.

"You can't honestly expect us to be okay with you even after Oni said you're on our side now. I mean, how arrogant can you get?" Delia huffed which was something Druddigon and Lopunny agreed with causing Alice to grumble, but acknowledged the point as she backed away from them while holding up her hands in a non-threatening manner.

"Fine, hate me, I deserve it, but we're trying to help so push those feeling aside," Alice responded as Espeon, instead of opening a rift underneath everyone's feet, opened one beside her where she yanked a confused Luka through it to emphasize that they were here to help before pushing the aura pokemon back through the portal. Upon seeing this, Druddigon, Lopunny, and Snover glanced at Delia who scrunched her brow and looked down at the white, patchy snow for what seemed like an eternity before releasing a breathe.

"Fine, we'll go, but I want you to come over here first," Delia ordered making Alice raise a brow and do so as she had an inkling of what the dragon tamer had in mind while Espeon laid down on her belly in mid-air and proceeded to watch what was going to happen. Upon kneeling down next to Delia, Alice hissed and felt her head snap to the side as the dragon tamer belted her across the face with a heavy, stiff hook that caused blood to spray from her mouth and onto the patchy snow. Chuckling, Espeon watched as Alice just wiped her lips and nodded as she got back to her feet.

"Fair enough, now let's go," Alice stated causing Druddigon to carefully pick up Delia bridal style with Lopunny following suit with Catherine as they walked through the rift with Alice, Espeon, Poliwrath, and Blastoise in tow. As they were doing so, Espeon floated over to Lopunny who looked at her strangely as the pink cat gently touched Catherine's forehead with the tips of her tail and immediately, she was flooded with the memories of the events the comatose girl went through without having to read her mind.

"(Hoh, she's tough; no wonder stupid master likes her,)" Espeon silently mused as she nodded at Lopunny who warily nodded back as they all saw the silhouettes of those back at the battlefield where Sparkplug was the first to come into view.

"Hey, they're coming back through!" Alice heard Sparkplug yell as she along with her friends stood there in shock as Druddigon, Lopunny, Catherine, Delia, and Snover exited the rift where they tiredly waved at their friends.

"Hey guys," Delia managed to get out causing Dragonite, Haxorus, and Hydreigon to chuckle under their breathe and approach their friends where they playfully punched Druddigon on the shoulder, ruffled Delia's hair, and gave cordial nods to Snover who appreciated not being left out.

"Catherine!" Luka concernedly shouted as she along with Floatzel, Graveler, Kricketune, Ursaring, and Vaque approached Lopunny who gently set Catherine on the ground where Luka, Vaque, Floatzel, and Kricketune went to work healing her while Lopunny approached Delia and Snover.

"(I hope she'll be okay,)" Lopunny murmured to which Delia hoped so too as the bunny pokemon placed her giant ears around her two friends and grinned mirthlessly as Haxorus, Dragonite, and Hydreigon welcomed her back while worriedly glancing at the former heiress too. Maya and Jet even embraced Delia which the dragon tamer was happy to return as Sparkplug and Kiera watched the scene before them with bittersweet feeling as they heard a distorted ripping sound. Upon doing so, they saw Alice, Espeon, Poliwrath, and Blastoise walking through a portal causing Sparkplug to look at Kiera who blankly looked back at her, snorted, and then nodded. Nodding back, the lioness jogged over to the entrance of the portal and cried out a "Thank you." to Alice and her team causing Espeon to turn around, smirk, and form a giant, pink hand out of psychic energy which gave the lioness a thumbs-up. Alice, however, didn't break her stride as she cast a backward wave at her former partner without even looking at her making Sparkplug huff, but considered it a start as she walked back over to where Kiera was as the rift closed with nary a sound.

"(Soooooo...that was fun,)" Espeon remarked making Alice snort as she saw they were back in the main village where they saw Dmitri, Tomoe, and Wynter asking around for them making Alice give Espeon the stink eye. Shrugging, Espeon contacted Dmitri telepathically which made the battle ace jolt before he turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Alice as he marched up to her with Tomoe and Wynter in tow.

"Where were you!? One of Blastoise's children said you'd be at the enclave, but you weren't there!" Dmitri shouted making Alice huff while Blastoise herself couldn't help but give Espeon the stink eye as well making the pink cat stick out her tongue at her new companion who huffed and folded her arms.

"Espeon unwillingly took us all on a field trip to see Catherine where your girlfriend went ballistic upon seeing me, beat me up which I allowed, got into a huge argument with your other friends, got beat up by that giant, purple bug of yours, had a mental breakdown, and was put on timeout," Alice answered causing Dmitri to widen his eyes, Tomoe to clench her fists, and Wynter to raise a brow and tilt her head.

"Espeon, how could you-"

"(Not my smartest move, I admit, but I wanted to see the person Alice was fighting so hard for and I wasn't disappointed,)" Espeon lightly interrupted while giving Dmitri a shrug to which the battle ace grumbled, but let it go as Tomoe shifted her attention to Blastoise where she felt the blood drain from her face and took a step back.

"(What kind of abomination are you?)" Tomoe got out before she even realized what she was saying immediately causing Wynter to bonk the warrior over the head with a hammerfist while Dmitri incredulously stared at his bodyguard as Blastoise indignantly growled and stomped towards Tomoe.

"(Do you want to repeat that?)" Blastoise seethed as she put her hands on her hips and glared down at the warrior causing Dmitri to look at Tomoe and gesture with his head at the altered pokemon which made Tomoe groan internally.

"(...Please forgive me for my outburst,)" Tomoe hesitantly told Blastoise while cupping her hands and politely bowing to her making the clone pokemon release a puff of black smoke from her nostrils before muttering "Whatever." under her breathe and walking away.

"(So your new teammate gets a pass for being a clone?)" Espeon asked Tomoe with an sharp edge to her voice and even narrowed her eyes at the warrior who felt her words get caught up in her throat before regaining her composure.

"(It's not like that, it's...it's-)"

"(Don't try to justify being an asshole by saying you're a product of your time,)" Espeon interrupted the warrior who said nothing in turn as the pink cat opened a rift in front of them and gestured for everyone to get in to which Dmitri, Wynter, and Tomoe walked through it first at Alice's urging.

"Tomoe-"

"(I know, young master, I'm sorry. My mouth moved faster than my mind did; I promise I will try to not let it happen again,)" Tomoe assured Dmitri and even bowed her head to emphasize her point making Dmitri sigh softly, but accept her statement nonetheless, yet Wynter wasn't as ready to do the same.

"(You'd better; I won't be comfortable being around you if you think I'm the sole exception of a race of monsters,)" Wynter seethed causing Tomoe to look her new teammate dead in the eye and nod making Wynter snort as Alice, Espeon, Poliwrath, and Blastoise followed them through the rift where they found themselves back at their camp.

"Alright, we're here; let's come up with a plan," Alice curtly commented to which Lance, Kelly, and some of the gathered gym leaders, after getting over their shock, nodded and laid out a map of the area on the ground for all to see.