Pokèmon: Blood Red

Pendulum

Jaden stared horrified at the figure standing before him, sliding back slowly, carrying Kaylee with him. It couldn't be Bryan, Bryan was dead. Brian died, he continued to repeat in his head, replaying the scene of his demise over and over again in agony. Despite his fate, he stood before him, now moving slyly towards him, yet in no hurry. What's going on? Why is he here? He shouldn't be here... Jaden's mind twisted and shifted between reality and whatever this was. He couldn't fight it anymore, this was reality. All that stood before him became real, it always had been. Jaden stood up, dropping Kaylee, who landed on her back with a grunt. Jaden reached towards a grinning Bryan, reached to help him, reached to save him.
"No way..." Courtney said to herself in disbelief, "it shouldn't be able to do that... we've never had record of a hypno inducing hallucinations." She looked at the beast in terror. "And it shouldn't be able to function properly when infected..." Blaziken readied to leap into action, until a loud rumble sounded behind them, followed by a searing roar that ripped through their eardrums, immobilizing them. Wally turned slowly, and found himself in the darkened shadow of a towering exploud. It's eyes were not eyes at all, simply glass orbs, and its giant teeth were stained with blood, its colossal mouth wide open. It let out another ear pounding roar and advanced towards Wally, who stood paralyzed. Blaziken made a swift 360 and propelled his leg into the exploud's chin area, sending it stumbling backwards a few steps. Bllaziken serpentined left and right towards the discombobulated assailant, leaping into the air and landing another hit on its head with his foot. This time, the exploud took the hit head on, sliding back a few feet, but keeping its balance. It quickly snatched Blaziken by the right leg, flipping him upside-down. Blaziken's wrist flames flared up, and he grasped the exploud's lifeless eyes with both hands while hanging. His hands caught fire, the flames dancing around his latched fingers, burning the exploud's eyes. It cried in pain, releasing Blaziken's leg, sending him crashing to the floor. The exploud took a few steps back, giving Blaziken time to recuperate. Wally and Courtney had retreated further down the street.
Wally looked frantically at Blaziken, and then at Jaden, Kaylee and the hypno. He couldn't move, he tried but he just couldn't. He couldn't save them. He couldn't be brave, no he couldn't be like Jaden. He lowered his head, and noticed the blood on his shirt. The blood of his aunt and uncle, the ones who protected him, who shed their own blood in place of his. He gripped his shirt tightly, almost hurting his hand, and gritted his teeth. He suddenly broke into a sprint, his head still facing the ground, heading straight towards the hypno with surprising speed.
"I'm not going to be a burden!" He yelled, "NOT ANYMORE!" He lunged forward, plunging his loose fist into the hypno's skull. It tumbled to the ground with an odd cry, it's pendulum flying through the air and landing some distance away. Wally stopped his momentum, tripping and landing on his hands. He panted, searching for breath and began a fit of coughing. "I did it..." He said, recovering and regaining his breath, "I did it..." Jaden slowly fell out of his daze; Bryan had suddenly disappeared, and a crumbled yellow mass took his place. He took a few steps back breathing heavily.
Blaziken sped towards the unbalanced exploud, landing a forceful punch, and another, and a third, when suddenly it caught him completely off guard. As Blaziken threw another punch directed at its face, the exploud opened it's gaping mouth, allowing his whole arm to be engulfed in the wake of his open mouth. Blaziken began to fall forward in shock, sinking his fist further into its mouth. All it had to do was bite down. For the first time in a long time, Blaziken felt fear, and feared defeat, feared death. A sudden burst of water made impact with the exploud just as it attempted to close its jaws, causing it to fall backwards. Blaziken regained his balance and quickly turned back to identify his savior. It was Marshtomp, standing proud in all its glory for saving the life of the "great Blaziken".
"Good job Kips!" Kaylee yelled proudly, now standing tall and apparently recovered from her delirium, "Now finish it off with a Hydro pump! And make it adorable!" She gave a wink a smile, pointing at the aforesaid target. The Marshtomp, AKA Kips, planted his feet firmly in the concrete, his cheeks filling to the brim with pressurized water. Kips released the pressure with devastating power, launching the onflow of water right into the exploud, sending it flying another twenty feet, skimming off the ground and slamming into the wall of the Devon Corporation building. Kips then stood on his hind legs, tucking in his hands and turning his head towards Kaylee. He stuck out his tongue in an attempt to live up to her adorable expectations.
"Haha," she laughed, rubbing her hands through her hair, "we can work on the 'adorable'"
"Marsh!" Kips said happily, still trying to keep his tongue out. Blaziken crossed his arms and closed his eyes, facing the other way letting out a soft chuckle.
Wally rose steadily, wiping off his pants as if the newly added dirt made much of a difference.
"Thanks Wally," Jaden said with an appreciative chuckle, "you really saved my life, really." He extended his hand towards Wally with gratitudinous expression. Wally looked at his hand as if was some kind of foreign gesture, looking back up at Jaden's welcoming face. He reached for his hand as well, and they shook hands, Wally's arm moving up and down a bit loosely. Wally grinned more than he ever had in a long time, his face turning red.
"No, it was nothing," He said not looking directly into Jaden's eyes, but off to the side towards the ground, "I just thought... that if I was ever going to be as good as you... even better... I should maybe start now." Wally laughed, and Jaden followed. "Otherwise I might fall behind!" Jaden's eyes suddenly widened, and his gleeful expression flushed away in an instant. He quickly grabbed Wally and threw him behind him, having no time for gentleness. The hypno stood again, its twisted grin bearing it's bloody teeth. It began to move towards Jaden, and in his panic, he grabbed a pokeball from his backpack, launching desperately at the advancing hypno. It richochetted off of its forehead, opening up mid-air and releasing a stream of red light that enveloped it. The pokeball encased the hypno, closing and hitting the ground. Jaden and Wally stared at it anxiously, watching it shake and rumble with more force han usual. It gave a click. Jaden opened his mouth in disbelief. He actually caught it... and it was infected. He bent over slowly and cautiously picked the ball up, inspecting it as if it were going to bite him.
"No way..." Kayle said in shock, as she had apparently witnessed the whole scene.
"Keep it" Courtney said, walking up to him, "I could study the S.O.B., see what devil this thing is..." Jaden nodded, though he was tentative to put the monster on his belt. Courtney walked over towards the discarded pendulum lying on the cold concrete floor. She picked it up by the chain without hesitation and held it out in front of her face to examine it. "So how'd it figure that out..." she whispered to herself. Something caught her eyes beyond the pendulum. she squinted, and her body tensed up. She turned towards the others with a glint of fear in her eyes. "We have to go. NOW."