DPA: Rivals

Chapter 8: ...Bring May Flowers

John Fuji opened his eyes. He almost wished he hadn't.

All around him was nothing but destruction. Collapsed columns, broken bits of ceiling, shattered glass, electric wiring. Everything had been completely and utterly destroyed by Project Genetic, the once magnificent, multi-billion yen lab nothing but an obliterated husk of its former glory.

All of Fuji's research, his life's work, what would've been his crowning achievement, had been wiped out in an instant. Gone.

Fuji wiped a tear from his eye as he turned his attention to the piece of debris that pinned his leg to the ground, making him unable to move. He looked around for something to aid him in freeing himself, eventually laying his eyes on a piece of broken pipe. He stretched out his arm. Fortunately, the pipe was just within his reach.

Using said pipe, Mr. Fuji managed to get enough leverage to jimmy the massive chunk of marble off of his leg. He then used the same pipe as a makeshift cane, helping himself to his feet and surveying the area around him.

Seeing the damage from a standing position only made it more clear how devastating the blast had been. No one should've been able to survive this. The fact that Fuji was alive at all was a miracle in and of itself, thank Arceus. Unfortunately, as Fuji was beginning to realize, everyone else, all the researchers who had helped him up to this point, were gone. Agnew, Rhodes, Jurado, Clearwater...they were all gone. And they were gone because of him!

Fuji shook at this realization, and, struggling to process the implications, fell to his knees and screamed, into the sky, rage and sadness and confusion all compacted into a single agonizing noise.

Getting back to his feet, Fuji began to hobble away from the wreckage. There should be a Pokémon Center not to far away. After that, he wanted to be as far away from this as physically possible. His life as a researcher was over.

"Spearow, use Peck!" Daryon ordered. His Spearow obliged, zipping through the air towards the opposing Bulbasaur before firing off a flurry of pecks with its razor sharp beak, cutting small but weakening slices into the giant bulb on Bulbasaur's back.

The group had been walking through Route 2, talking and enjoying the scenery. Daryon had been getting to know his newly caught Spearow. Quiet and timid, Spearow had slowly warmed up to the friendly Daryon, mostly due to the kindness of Pikachu, who didn't hesitate to try and befriend the Tiny Bird Pokémon . After about an hour, Spearow felt comfortable enough to ride on Daryon's shoulder, like a tamed Chatot.

Suddenly, rustling in a nearby bush had drawn their attention. Daryon, curious as always, approached the source of the noise, only to immediately be tackled by the wild Bulbasaur that had been napping in the bushes, woken up by Daryon's loud footsteps.

The Bulbasaur, clearly irritated after Spearow's attack, growled before retaliating with a Razor Leaf. A storm of leaves fired out the top of the bulb, sharp as knives, each and every one of them colliding with the airborne Spearow. "Cracaw!" The Spearow yelped as a few sliced up feathers fell off its body.

"You're doing great, Spearow!" Daryon encouraged his feathery friend. "I need you to deliver one more Peck! Give it all you've got!"

A focused Spearow did as told, shooting directly at Bulbasaur as if it had been fired from a cannon. The Flying type delivered a quick but effective barrage of pecks directly at Bulbasaur's stomach as it flew underneath the Grass type. Bulbasaur, stunned, stumbled back a few steps.

Daryon, seeing that the wild Bulbasaur was off its guard, took advantage of the moment, throwing a Pokéball at the weakened Pocket Monster. The Pokéball opened, surrounding Bulbasaur in a glow of white light before sucking it inside and closing. The ball dropped to the ground and began to wiggle.

One wiggle.

Two wiggles.

Three wiggles.

Click.

"Whoop!" Daryon cheered, running over to the Pokéball, which had successfully caught what would be Daryon's third ever Pokémon . The rest of the group surrounded Daryon, congratulating him.

"Not bad," came a mysterious voice from behind. Everyone turned around, facing the unknown individual. It was a girl, about 16, with long, violet hair, wearing a simple black shirt and jeans.

"Uh, thanks," Daryon said, slightly surprised at the mysterious appearance of this girl. "Hi, I'm Daryon."

"The name's April," April introduced herself. "And this is my Eevee."

An Eevee stepped out from behind her legs, staring down Daryon's Pikachu. Pikachu growled, a spark of static sizzling around its cheeks.

"Hey, stop it," April chastised her Pokémon .

"Eevee!" Max cried out in childlike delight. "We have those in Alola! They usually aren't this fluffy tho."

Cameron took out his Pokédex and scanned the furry Pokémon . "Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon," he read to himself. "It has the ability to alter the composition of its body to suit its surrounding environment."

"Anyways," April said, pushing a lock of hair out of her face. "I want to battle you!"

"You're on!" Daryon agreed.

"No, not you," April said, turning to Cameron. "I want to battle four-eyes over there."

"Wait, m-m-me?" Cameron stuttered, surprised.

"N-n-no, the t-t-toddler," April mocked. "Yeah, you!"

"W-w-why?" Cameron asked, taken aback.

"You don't fit in with the rest of this group. You're quiet, reserved, you don't talk much, and I can see why, what with your speech problem. The only reason I can see why they would let you travel with them is that you're really good at battling. Therefore, I want to battle you."

"Vee!" Eevee barked in agreement.

"Are y-y-you sure?" Cameron sweated.

"Yes, I'm sure, now let's battle already," April groaned.

"Okay then," Cameron agreed. "L-lets do th-thi-this."

"Show her who's boss!" April cheered him on.

Cameron opened up his backpack. Mudkip, who had been taking a nap, yawned, before shaking its head, taking a deep breath, and jumping out, ready to battle.