Bloodlines and Heartbeats

Chapter 2: Hero

Vallus' Hydreigon was crazy powerful- it was easily on the same level as Aaron's pokemon. The only thing giving me a chance was the fact that his Hydreigon occasionally ignored his orders, which would leave us an opening to strike. But unlike my battle with Aaron, I also had to worry about my own safety, and that made things much more complicated.
According to the reports I had seen, Vallus only had three known pokemon. And by this point, I desperately hoped that he had no more. His Hydreigon had single-handedly taken down two of my pokemon- and it badly injured my third. I assumed that his second Hydreigon was the pokemon in Solaceon since a Hydreigon has been credited with most of the damage done in his other attacks.
Of my three remaining pokemon, one was still way too young to battle such a strong opponent. That only left me with two options: Volcarona, whom I had gone to Unova in search of; and Mawile, who I'd started my pokemon journey with. Between the two, Mawile was the only one really fit to battle. Volcarona was hurt enough that I would normally recall him; the poor moth could barely stay airborne. But the stakes were too high; he knew as well as I did that losing wasn't an option.
Vallus sighed as he returned his fainted Hydreigon to its ball. "Just my luck to run into a trainer worth a damn. Who even are you? Why are you all the way out here?" I was startled as he spoke. It was the first time he had referred to me directly, and his voice had such... venom in it.
Vallus pulled out another pokeball. I wanted to run, but I was exhausted from the battle and from all the running I did on my way here. And it wasn't like I could outrun most pokemon anyway.
I decided to humor a reply. If anything, it would give Volcorona time to catch his breath. I cleared my throat. "I originally came here to sightsee. My name is Storm." I sounded a lot more calm than I felt. My heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest from all of the thumping.
"Storm? What a strange name." He inspected his pokeball while he scratched at his neck with his free hand. "I don't think it really fits a tourist... you're a pretty small man for such a big name."
My fear started gave way to anger at his teasing. "Why do you even care what my name is? Weren't you going to kill me anyway?"
He paused his scratching briefly, surprised by my sudden outburst. "Oh, I just wanted to know if I've heard of you." Vallus looked back in my direction, over the top of the pokeball. "Which, I haven't." The whites of Vallus' eyes had an eerie glow to them in the shade of his hair. "Not just any trainer can defeat one of my dear dragons." With an underhand throw, he tossed the ball out in front of him. Volcarona and I readied ourselves.
Appearing in a flash of red was the pokemon I had been dreading. It was a dragon pokemon that stood upright clad in dangling, armor-like scales. I wasn't familiar with the species, but I had seen its picture on the news. It was a skilled battler, and it had also been the one responsible for most of the fatalities.
Vallus continued. "You aren't just some amateur. Your battling is decent. If you had a mind to, you could join us. You could even be one of our elites."
Join him? I was flabbergasted. Based on his earlier words, that wasn't what I expected him to say. And considering he sent out that pokemon before asking, it was definitely more of a threat than an offer.
"No! I'm not gonna become some... some terrorist!" I projected my voice, but I cringed on the inside. I spoke without thinking and lost my only out other than winning the battle.
Vallus gave me a sharp look. "I didn't really expect you to jump at the offer... but still, I thought I would give you a chance. You're probably too young to understand." Vallus' fingers wriggled before clutching onto his collar, squeezing tight. "Kommo-o, Dual-Chop the boy." My heart skipped a beat as the pokemon charged for me. It was much faster than the Hydreigon had been.
"Vo, Will-o-Wisp!" I backpedaled away as Volcarona threw balls of fire between me and the Kommo-o. They connected, clearly burning the Kommo-o. It continued its charge, unimpeded, bolting straight for me. My backward run was stopped suddenly as I hit something hard, winding myself. A quick glance revealed that I ran into a tree.
I needed to buy myself a chance to slip away. "Vo, use-" The Kommo-o was already upon me. It swung an arm at me hard. I dove out of the way as it collided with wood, sending splinters flying. It swung down at my neck with its second arm while I was still mid-dive. I awkwardly turned and held my arms up in an attempt to keep it from hitting my neck. The attack instead caught me in the shoulder, arm, and face. The dragon-pokemon's sharp scales left deep cuts in me.
I felt an especially sharp surge of pain in my shoulder. It didn't feel like anything was broken, but it hurt like hell. I fell to the ground hard at Kommo-o's feet. Its other arm was still stuck in the tree by its scales.
Volcarona let out a worried shriek and rushed towards us. Still stuck to the tree by its arm, Kommo-o half-turned its body. It wound up a swing with its tail- with no prompt from Vallus. Just as its mace-like tail started towards me, I saw a faint reddish powder surround the dragon from behind. It turned mid-swing, instead aiming its attack against Volcarona, who had been fast approaching. I didn't tell Volcarona to use a move, and I had never seen him use that particular one before. It was Rage Powder, a move that angered pokemon and drew their attention.
Not even a second after Volcarona enraged Kommo-o, it was struck viciously by the pokemon's tail. The heavy impact threw Volcarona across the battlefield, fainted. I couldn't waste this opportunity. I scrambled to my feet, returned Volcarona, and ran away from the tree.
"Maw, Ice Fang!" I sent out Mawile, who appeared in a squatting position, ready to jump. He immediately threw himself at Kommo-o. I knew that Maw had been waiting for his turn to battle since the start of all this, ready to act at a moment's notice.
Vallus screamed out from across the ruins, his frustration visible as I slipped away. "Dodge, Kommo-o, then use Bulldoze!" Kommo-o tore its arm out of the tree, leaving jagged chunks of its large scales behind. Kommo-o started a jump backward, but it was too slow. Mawile grabbed the now-free arm as it lagged behind the rest of the dragon-pokemon's body, ignoring the cuts his hand gained from Kommo-o's now jagged scales. Mawile used its arm to pull his smaller body closer. His massive maw lunged forwards and clamped down on Kommo-o's neck. The dragon pokemon cried out as crystals of ice spread from the wound. It took a swing at Mawile, who evaded by detaching himself and falling back to the ground, away from Kommo-o. Following up on the order its trainer had given, Kommo-o began to repeatedly slam its powerful tail into the ground, causing the earth to shift around the two pokemon. Mawile partially sank into the shifting ground, along with the tree.
Maw was usually pretty scrappy, but I was amazed at how much stronger he seemed right now. It was like he was fighting with twice the ferocity and twice the foresight. And I appreciated it. His readiness had allowed us to capitalized on Vulc's sacrifice.
"Don't let up! Maw, use Play Rough!" Mawile rushed Kommo-o, pushing through the roiling earth until it got close enough to unleash a barrage of strikes on the dragon pokemon. Kommo-o was impaired by its burn, unable to fend off the brunt of the attack. Mawile slammed its closed maw into its side, followed up by a knee thrust into the dragon's stomach. Even accounting for the type matchup, the dragon-pokemon looked far more damaged than I expected. We actually had a chance.
Vallus screeched out. "Enough! Kommo-o, Flamethrower!" I saw Maw give off a panicked expression as he looked up at the larger pokemon's openening mouth.
"Maw, get out of the way!" Before Mawile could move, Kommo-o grasped Mawile by the base of its larger mouth's neck, lifting him off the ground as it readied its open mouth.
Mawile's legs were probably damaged by the earlier bulldoze. His ability to react had been slowed significantly. We had to fight. "Never mind! Maw, Sucker Punch!" The glow in the dragon pokemon's mouth brightened, and its color darkened to a deep reddish-orange. Mawile tightened its tiny hand into a fist at his side and watched carefully, as he dangled from the large dragon's hand. Then, just before the flames were let loose, Mawile twisted its body and kicked the wrist of the hand holding him. He was released, and after landing, he immediately leaped upwards, letting loose a punch straight into the bottom of Kommo-o's jaw. A loud crack rang out through the ruins as the attack connected.
Kommo-o's mouth was snapped shut by the uppercut, causing the collected energy in the dragon-pokemons mouth to ignite and explode. The two pokemon were obscured entirely in a cloud of thick smoke. I felt my heart skip a beat. Mawile definitely didn't get out of the way.
As the dust settled, I took an anxious step forward. "Maw? Are you okay?" I saw movement in the cloud and froze. The dust cleared, and Mawile was standing atop Kommo-o's chest, glaring at Vallus from atop his felled enemy. He'd won.
"Maw, you did amazing! I knew-" Maw's body shifted slightly, and with a grimace, he tumbled from atop his perch, unconscious. Now that I was getting a better look at him, his entire bottom half had been damaged badly by that earlier bulldoze. His right side was also burnt badly from the blast. I had let my optimism get the better of me.
Of course Maw was hurt, this Kommo-o was easily the strongest opponent Maw had ever faced. I returned to him immediately and spoke to his ball. "Thanks, buddy. I'll make sure you're all healed up as soon as possible." I snapped Maw's pokeball back onto my belt and looked over to Vallus, who returned Kommo-o. He looked irritated, but I couldn't tell by his expression alone if he had lost. I only knew about three of his pokemon from the news. It was possible that was the end of it. I needed this to be the end of it.
It would be unlikely that he had any more pokemon than the news had said. After all he clearly had no problem leaving them behind-
I felt the blood leave my face as I thought back to my vision. I had forgotten about the Salamence. Vallus reached for his belt, and he procured another pokeball. It had been Vallus' voice from my vision, no doubt. Had my vision been from after my death? Could that happen?
Vallus tossed the pokeball, confirming my fears as a rather large Salamence landed between us. It took a heavy step towards me with its head lowered to my level and growled. Once Vallus realized I had no pokemon left, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Finally." Vallus picked at his face while glaring at me from behind the greasy strands of his hair. "I'm tired of all this. We have things to do. Salamence, Fire Blast."
The pokemon reeled its head back and let loose a massive fireball from its mouth in my direction. I turned and dashed for the nearest column, but I wasn't close enough. I could see my shadow darken as the fire drew near.
I didn't want to die, not out here with no one around. There were so many things I still wanted to do and see. What would happen to my pokemon after I was gone?
I looked back over my shoulder as I started to feel the heat of the flame. Just before the ball of flame reached me, a blade of air struck it mid-flight, extinguishing it. A large, white shape then gracefully soared in from where the wind blade had come from. It was a Togekiss. It was followed by its trainer; a tall, blonde woman dressed head to toe in a black, wearing a long overoat. She ran out to me, putting herself between Salamence and I, with her arm held out in front of me.
"I won't let you harm this trainer, Vallus!" Her voice was confident. And familiar. No wonder why I thought I recognized the voice in my vision; I had heard it before on television.
"Another one?" Vallus sneered, his eyes glinting with malice. Whether it was ignorance or hubris, the bastard didn't seem worried that the Champion of Sinnoh was in front of him.
There was a brief pause as the two stared one another down. The ruins towered over us; the only noise was the sound of a light breeze stirring the nearby trees. Cynthia stood confidently in front of me, ready to battle. My heart was pounding through my chest. I was still alive. My life had just been saved. And by the Champion no less.
With a simple gesture from Cynthia, Togekiss swooped down and launched a powerful Aura Sphere at Salamence. It wasn't exactly an effective move in this situation, but it was a reliable one. She was probably trying to gauge its strength. Salamence roared in response, unleashing a blast of Dragon Breath that clashed with the ball of energy. It detonated, sending shockwaves through the air. The subsequent wind caused Cynthia's long hair and coat to billow behind her. It also caused Vallus' greasy hair to be pushed out of his face, revealing gnarly scars and several fresh gashes on one side of his face. He hurriedly covered his exposed face with his hands.
Vallus growled. "Salamence, Body Slam." His voice was different than before. Deeper. It was still angry, but now there was an... edge to it. He seemed far less aloof; maybe he did recognize the Champion.
Cynthia's Togekiss glided elegantly through the air. Salamence took to the sky, heading straight for it. The dragon-type pokemon ignored Vallus' command, instead trying to strike Togekiss with what looked like a Dragon Claw. The fairy-type pokemon harmlessly blocked the attack with its wings, using the force of the attack to drift backward. Vallus' voice had been muffled a bit by his hands, but his order had still been loud and clear. I realized now why this pokemon wasn't used at first. It was without a doubt strong, but it listened to him even less than his other pokemon.
"Use Air Slash, Togekiss!" Cynthia commanded.
Togekiss followed its trainer's command, launching a flurry of wind blades at Salamence. The dragon-type pokemon attempted to dive out of the way, but the blades struck it in quick succession, sending it crashing down into the ruins. Cynthia frowned and whispered something to herself in response. It sounded like she swore.
Vallus slammed his fist into a nearby wall. "Obey me, you belligerent beast! Dragon rush, now!"
Salamence righted itself, loose debris tumbling off of it. After a glare in Vallus' direction, it let out a roar and charged not at Togekiss, but at the nearest structure- a column. Its massive body slammed through the pillar, destroying it. Togekiss was hailed in a shower of stone. Despite being surprised by the attack, Togekiss evaded the bulk of the debris with impressive agility before a sizable chunk of stone struck it center mass, knocking it out of the sky. It braced itself after it landed, but the enraged dragon pokemon was powerful. It continued its charge and slammed into the grounded Togekiss with tremendous force. It was sent hurtling backward. Though unharmed by the attack itself, the white pokemon crashed into the ruins hard, leaving cracks all throughout the wall before falling to the ground.
As the dust settled, Togekiss struggled to get up. Seeing the damage it left on the wall, I was surprised it could move at all. Cynthia rushed to her pokemon's side, concern etched on her face. The pokemon's beautiful white coat was dirtied from the muddy ground.
"You okay, Togekiss?" Cynthia looked back to Salamence, which let out a triumphant roar as it took to the sky, ignoring Vallus' commands to continue its onslaught. Togekiss looked into Cynthia's eyes and gave a determined song-like cry, spreading its wings and rising back into the air. Its eyes had a look of fierceness that contrasted with its fluffy body.
Cynthia smiled, unshaken. She pointed at Salamenc as it finally obeyed Vallus and landed. "Let's finish this quickly, then. Togekiss hit it hard with a Moonblast!"
Togekiss flew high up and did a loop, pink mist trailing from the ball of energy coalescing at its mouth. Togekiss then dove straight for Salamence, who just noticed that Togekiss was still up. Vallus swore at his pokemon, pleading for it to counter with a Dragon Pulse. Salamence took flight once more, preparing a Fire Fang. The fairy pokemon swooped down to the dragon, releasing the blast of energy into its face point blank. Togekiss narrowly rolled off to the side, avoiding Salamence's fiery bite by inches. The dragon-type pokemon crashed to the ground, the impact shaking the nearby trees.
Vallus seethed as his pokemon tried and failed to get up. With a clenched jaw, he returned his pokemon to its ball. Togekiss looped back around to us, gleefully cheering after its victory.
Cynthia ran to me, her expression solemn.
She gestured to my shoulder and face. "Are you okay?" Worry was evident in her voice as she asked. I hadn't realized until she brought attention to it, but the blood from my cuts had soaked my sleeve red. I probably didn't notice thanks to the adrenaline. I could also feel the warmth of blood running down my cheek, but I was pretty confident by now that nothing was broken, even if it smarted. In hindsight, the blow must have been a glancing one. If that thing had hit me straight on, I probably wouldn't be on my feet.
"I think... I think I'm fine." I nodded. I was grateful for her concern- I'd lost a fair amount of blood by this point. It was probably for the best I didn't lose any more.
Satisfied with my reply, she handed me a hankerchief. "Here, apply pressure to the deepest cut."
It was a bit jarring seeing her demeanor shift between being so fierce and so caring. We both turned back towards Vallus suddenly at the sound of a pokeball's release.
It was yet another dragon-pokemon. This one was floating. It had a long, trailing wispy body and a wide jet-like head. Without a word, Vallus hopped on its back and took to the sky, scowling down at us the whole way. Cynthia quickly pulled a pokeball from her coat and ran after him a dozen or so steps before stopping. Whatever pokemon it was, it was fast. It was out of reach in an instant, and out of sight within the minute.
Once Vallus was gone, Cynthia let out a sigh and walked back towards me. She opened her mouth to speak, but she cut herself off as we heard the sounds of yelling from down the road. Authorities had arrived. Better late than never, I guess.
They were accompanied by a handful of pokemon. I recognized some of them, there was an Arcanine, and a Roserade, among a few others. These had apparently followed Cynthia here at her request. They spoke to her about a Hydreigon that had apparently been attacking Solaceon Town. I felt a bit of pride that I had been right about that much. Then I felt a small twinge of guilt since that probably meant that people had been hurt.
Mid-conversation, Cynthia casually recalled and thanked two of the pokemon that had arrived with the authorities: the Roserade, and a bipedal dog-like pokemon with a metal spike through its chest. The group turned out to be members of the international police. Apparently, Cynthia had left a few of her other pokemon behind with them to take care of the Hydreigon so she could come here to investiage. She had seen the Hyper Beam that Aggron had deflected in the sky above the ruins, and she had rushed to this specific location "on a hunch" that this is where the fight was taking place.
I was bandaged and checked for any sign of a concussion by a super serious looking older lady in a brown trenchcoat. She had long brunette hair, and dark eyes. She also had a long, cool looking scar on her face that ran over one of her eyes and her lip. It looked like it was from a blade of some kind. She interviewed me about what happened. I answered honestly, though I omitted anything about the vision that led me here since that would just complicated things. She seemed skeptical that I could have held my own against Vallus, but thanks to my having all eight gym badges, plus Cynthia vouching for me, I wasn't suspected of anything. Though I was positive that the scary lady didn't like me. It felt like she was glaring at me the entire time. She hadn't smiled a single time, even when she was treating me. The other officials also referred to her as the captain of their group or squad or whatever it was, which made her ire even scarier.
When I talked about Vallus mentioning an "us" and his offer to join and become some kind of elite, there was a lot of chatter among the police. As far as they had known, Vallus had been working alone. Honestly, I don't think the captain believed me.
All throughout the interaction, I couldn't help but notice that most of the officials looked at Cynthia with some level of... reverence. Other than the captain lady, who just looked at me with what was at best suspicion, and at worst, the intent to kill.
Once the interview was done and their attention fell away from me and back to Cynthia, I found myself acting more reserved than usual. I also found myself hoping that I hadn't been gawking at Cynthia like some of them had been.
After everything was settled and the police left, Mrs. Scar Captain lingered behind and took Cynthia aside for a private chat of some sort. While I was alone, I wondered how often pokemon champions were involved in stuff like this. They obviously had powerful pokemon that could help, but was helping actually part of their responsibility as Champion?
Once they were done, Cynthia returned alone. Apparently, the Captain had taken off after they were done chatting. Cynthia offered to treat my pokemon, which was an offer I graciously accepted. I was left with a pretty gnarly bruise and gash on my shoulder, and cuts under my eye and on my forearm- but the bleeding had stopped and by now I felt pretty much fine other than the aching from the bruise. My pokemon, on the other hand, had gotten badly hurt. Enough so that I planned on letting them rest in their balls until we got back to a proper pokemon center. Even with their wounds treated, they were definitely exhausted from such a difficult battle.

A lot of time passed while she treated my pokemon. We each talked about our pokemon while she worked, and she seemed impressed that I had completed the gym challenge in Sinnoh with only four battle-able pokemon. Talking to her was much more casual than I would have thought. She had apparently been staying in town for the past couple of days to investigate the ruins, so she was in the middle of Solaceon Town when the attack started.
Once she finished treating my pokemon, she treated and cleaned off her Togekiss, along with the other two that had arrived with the police. The way she interacted with her pokemon during the process was sweet. It was nice seeing the Champion be so friendly with all of her pokemon. They were clearly close; I guess that kind of bond didn't change no matter how good at battling you were.
It was strange interacting with her like this after seeing her battle up close. She didn't exactly seem like a different person, but her presence was definitely a lot less intense than before. She had a very serene aura outside of battle. She also didn't seem nearly as surprised as I had expected when I told her my age; which was a pleasant change of pace. People usually mistook me as a lot younger due to my height and my less-than-macho features, and that got old very fast. I guess the Champion probably saw all sorts of people. Once our pokemon were fully healed, she offered for me to walk with her, and I obliged.
After a bit more small talk, she cut herself off mid-sentence. "-Oh, excuse me. In all the excitement, it seems like I forgot my manners." She gave a polite laugh and glanced up to Togekiss, who was soaring overhead, playing in the wind. "My name is Cynthia. I'm a pokemon trainer, like you." She turned to face me, smiling. It was a very normal introduction, all things considered. I guess she wasn't the type to throw her weight around.
"Oh uh, that's totally fine. I kinda forgot too! It's nice to meet you, I'm Storm," I smiled, trying to be friendly, but also trying a bit too hard to be normal. "Just Storm, if that's okay. Speaking of bad manners, I should probably say thank you. So, uh, thank you. For saving me, I mean." I laughed, but thinking about what happened, I would probably be dead if she hadn't shown up.
"It was truly no trouble. You had done most of the work, anyway. It would seem that your battle was close." She stopped for a brief moment and ran her hand across a large, half-buried slab covered in script. "I would say that sort of battle is preferable had it not been for the stakes..." She rested her other hand on her hip and looked up at Togekiss again, who was now circling us from above.
She whistled, prompting Togekiss to glide down before returning it. We were approaching a crooked entryway flanked by two weathered pillars. I hadn't noticed during our walk, but we had gone in a large circle. It was the place that Vallus had been investigating when I found him.
"You're already this far out here, why don't you join me, Storm?" Said Cynthia. "I had planned on doing this alone, but I think some company might be a nice change of pace."
I felt a surge of excitement. Any plans the champion had were probably important. And if it was here, then it was probably at least somewhat history-related. I tried to temper my hopes as my imagination ran wild.
"Wait is this, like, some kind of official operation?" I pointed at my chest. "Are you sure you trust a stranger with something like this?"
Cynthia smiled. "Well, you aren't a stranger, Storm. We've been through introductions, and I've seen you battle enough to know what kind of trainer you are." That seemed like a bit of a stretch. She couldn't have seen more than a few seconds of the battle... and yet I felt compelled to trust her. The conviction she said things with just made her words feel... true.
She continued. "You clearly have a lot of compassion for your pokemon. When I was treating your pokemon, they seemed far more worried about you than themselves. And that's good enough for me." She paused, giving me a chance to reply to her. "And to answer your question- it was originally a personal interest of mine. But considering today's events, it may have more importance than I first thought."
I said nothing. I was in awe of the situation I was in.
"Well?" She asked. "You don't have to if you aren't interested. It's no obligation." I felt panic at the thought of missing out. How could I say no to something like this?
"I mean, if you're sure, then yeah. Yes. I want to come." I spoke a little faster than I meant to. I just needed to speak with her like I would to any other person. "I uh, actually really, really like history. Especially when it has to do with ancient pokemon or civilizations. I just don't know so much about the Sinnoh region outside of the creation myth. I'm actually not from Sinnoh." I felt a bit of heat in my face as I said that last part. Archaeology was the only other serious pursuit I had other than battling. It felt... weird admitting my ignorance about something I cared about to someone so important.
"Oh?" She tilted her head slightly. "Then let's talk while we walk, then. Where are you from? Why take the gym challenge in the Sinnoh region? We can trade personal histories before delving into Sinnoh's."
In disbelief of the situation I was in, I followed my new acquaintance down the stairs of ancient ruins, sharing the story of my pokemon journey with her. As we continued talking, I was even more amazed to find that the Champion seemed to care about my story as I told it.