Pokémon Mars

Chapter 77: The True Villain

Nyx took on Rudolph's Shadow Haxorus. She sent out Crobat to whip up Tailwind. The whoosh of wind flung Rudolph into a chair and negated the speed boost that Shadow Pokémon received from the removal of their emotions. Haxorus charged at Crobat. Nyx withdrew it before its attack hit. It crashed into a wall. She sent out Zoroark. While Haxorus regained its footing, Zoroark powered up with Nasty Plot. Haxorus charged again. Zoroark was slammed into the cracking wall that Haxorus hit. It refused to let go until Bitter Malice smothered it, leaving it with frostbite all over. It charged again. Zoroark was brutally pinned to the wall and crushed. Bitter Malice hit Haxorus twice as hard now it was afflicted with frostbite. It landed face-down on the floor. The wave of resentment chilled even Rudolph. He shuddered, but his eyes stayed fixed on Hadron's Sceptile as his Druddigon choked it into unconsciousness.

Firmino and Feraligatr took on Rudolph's Shadow Hydreigon. Feraligatr wrestled it to the floor and pummeled its skull with Ice Punch, but no matter how hard it was hit, it sprang back up and summoned another Shadow Meteor to crush Feraligatr. It fainted.

'Can't even hold a candle to your mother as a Trainer, eh, Buckley?'

'Maybe not, but if you think I'll lose when this is for her, you've got another thing coming, you vile murderer!'

'I take it you personally killed Arabella Marchand, then?' Hadron asked as he sent out Mimikyu, 'I can't see why else you'd know what kind of Trainer she was.'

'There were certain people I needed to ensure were erased and yes, she was one of them. She was a nosy, obnoxious, holier-than-thou Froakie, who knew far too much. Haxorus! Finish off that Zoroark!'

Triton's Mega Blaziken delivered a flurry of kicks to Rudolph's Shadow Stoutland. It was battered all over its body. The force of the kicks and Blaziken's fiery feathers left Stoutland's fur smoking. It still charged at Blaziken and trampled it with the force of Shadow End. It smothered Blaziken's face with its weight until it gasped for breath and fainted. Rudolph scowled. Zoroark was repeatedly slashed by Haxorus. Its ghostly fur covered the floor. Yet it was as if it never lost any energy at all. Only Nyx and Hadron noticed that Zorua disguised itself as a chair to spray Full Restore every time Zoroark was hurt.

Even the Shadow Haxorus couldn't take any more Bitter Malice. The torment was overwhelming. It screamed and flailed, shielding its face to no avail, until it fainted. Firmino's Clawitzer froze Druddigon with Ice Beam. Triton's Electivire wrestled with Stoutland until it managed to punch it between the eyes, briefly dazing it to stop it charging at Triton himself.

The tailwind began to peter out. Mimikyu struggled to hit Hydreigon. It darted all over the cockpit to avoid its attacks. Mimikyu dodged the first two Shadow Meteors, which left craters in the floor instead, but it took two more. Nyx tutted. Rudolph was using all six Pokémon at once, so she sent Crobat back out. It refreshed Tailwind.

Ice formed a chilling fortress around Druddigon as it was repeatedly hit with Ice Beam. It was yet to faint. Just how strong were these Pokémon? Firmino was far from the greatest Trainer in the history of Team Aqua, but his Pokémon were hardly weak. Nyx was sure they could easily collect eight Gym Badges. Clawitzer had been with him since he was six. There was a hole in Druddigon's wing. Yet it thawed out and pounced on Clawitzer as if nothing happened. The frozen wound began to bleed. It didn't stop Druddigon ripping Clawitzer's claw off. Zoroark was enraged. Cloaked in Bitter Malice, it leapt at Druddigon from behind. Druddigon tried to stand. Its legs gave way. Then it began to whimper.

Rudolph's scowl became a contorted twist of rage. He was strong. Hadron was slightly stronger. Even without the mysterious healing, that Zoroark was off the scale. None of Rudolph's Pokémon could even hit Crobat. It was too fast. Nyx heard Druddigon begging Zoroark to just knock it out already, but Zoroark subjected it to illusions that scarred its very soul until the pain became so unbearable that it fainted.