DPA: Rivals

Chapter 37: Power From Unexpected Places

Daryon finished the last bite of his Miltank cheese pizza, feeling absolutely stuffed. Everyone had been chatting and stuffing their faces for the past hour, and everyone probably ate way too much. Daryon knew for sure that he himself would be a couple pounds heavier.

"Battle me," Cameron said suddenly. He had been silent the whole time, as he had been ever since Cerulean Cave. The request was unexpected, to say the least.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" Daryon asked.

"We'll be battling Sabrina soon, and Sabrina is known to be a really tough trainer, more so than the other Gym leaders. We need to be stronger if we're going to stay safe-I mean, we need to be stronger if we're going to beat her."

Daryon thought about it for a moment. "Okay," he decided. "Let's do this."

The two went about a hundred yards from the camp, about thirty feet between them. Skye, Max, Ero and Vince watched from the safety of the camp as Cameron sent out Kakuna.

"Good choice," Daryon said. He paused for a moment, before removing a Pokéball from his belt. "I haven't actually opened this Pokéball since I received it from that weird guy outside of Mt. Moon. I don't have a clue what this Pokémon is. Now seems as good a time as any to find out."

Daryon opened the Pokéball, sending out his mysterious new team member: a Magikarp.

As the Fish Pokémon flopped about on the ground, Daryon watched with a mixture of amazement, confusion, and slight amusement.

"Hey Vince!" Daryon yelled.

"What is it, Daryon?" Vince asked, eyeing the Magikarp, curious.

"What is Magikarp's moveset?" Daryon asked his digital friend.

Vince looked over the new member of Daryon's squad, scanning it. "Magikarp's only known move is Splash."

"Oh," Daryon replied, disappointed for a moment, before shaking it off and smiling. "It doesn't matter, we'll still find a way to win! Magikarp, attack!"

At that moment, Magikarp leaped up into the air with enough force to create a sonic boom. Daryon and Cameron were both knocked back as Magikarp shot straight upwards, higher and higher. Magikarp quickly became nothing more than a small orange dot in the sky, and then, not even that. Magikarp was gone.

Daryon looked at Cameron, then back at the sky, and then back at Cameron. "I think...I think Magikarp is just...gone," Daryon said, not a hundred percent sure what had just happened.

Ero approached them from the tables. Daryon was about to make a joke, but then stopped. "What is it?" Daryon asked, sensing Ero's panic.

"What comes up, must come down, and when that Magikarp comes down, based on the trajectory of its upward motion, it will do a lot of damage. You should move. Now."

"How much harm could a Magikarp-" Daryon began.

Magikarp came down, so fast that nobody saw it coming. The impact of the unassuming Water type hitting the ground caused a massive explosion, sending Daryon, Ero, and Cameron flying backwards several feet, while simultaneously creating an enormous crater, at least three hundred yards wide, knocking over all of the camping equipment. Skye used her body as a shield to protect Max from flying objects.

Daryon lay on the ground, looking up at the sky, his ears ringing, his side hurting. After a few seconds, the dust settled enough for him to see, and he struggled to get to his feet, limping slightly.

Cameron, Ero, Skye and Max seemed to be okay. Vince had floated above the whole mess, avoiding the explosion entirely. And in the very center of the gargantuan crater, Magikarp continued to flop about, seemingly unaware of all of the damage that it had caused, let alone hurt by it.

"Is everyone okay?" Daryon shouted, before choking on some dust particles.

"Max and I are good!" Skye yelled.

"I'm fine!" Ero also answered.

"My systems are running at 100% functionality," Vince answered.

"I'm good as-Kakuna?" Cameron cried out. Daryon followed Cameron's gaze, into the crater. Shattered bits of Kakuna shell surrounded the blissfully ignorant Magikarp.

"K-K-KAKUNA!" Cameron screamed, running into the crater. He physically lifted up Magikarp, throwing it to the side, rummaging through the thousands of shell fragments. "K-K-KA-AKUN-N-N-NA!!!!"

"Bzzzz..." replied an unidentified force from around ten feet up in the air. Cameron looked up, staring straight into the eyes of a Beedrill. His Beedrill. Kakuna had evolved.

"B-Beedrill?" Cameron stuttered, shaking. He stood to his feet, eyeing Beedrill carefully, unsure.

Beedrill floated forward, gently nuzzling its head against Cameron's nose, keeping its arms to its sides so as not to impale Cameron with its massive stingers.

"Beedrill!" Cameron cried, wrapping his arms around the Poison Bee Pokémon, tears running down his face. Beedrill burrowed its head in Cameron's shoulder as Cameron shook, crying.

A few feet away, Daryon watched, shocked at the surprise turn of events. He turned to Ero. "I can't even begin to understand what in Arceus' name just happened."

"If I had to guess," Ero replied, equally surprised. "Kakuna used several Hardens in succession just before Magikarp came down, which would've allowed it to survive the hit. Managing to stay intact after such a powerful blow would've raised its experience levels exponentially, causing it to evolve so fast that it broke out of its shell very forcefully, sending fragments of shell everywhere. But that's just a guess."

"That's...wow," Daryon was speechless.

"All I know for sure," Ero continued, pointing to Magikarp, who happily continued to flop about, minding its own business. "That Magikarp right there is easily one of the most powerful Pokémon I've ever seen in my life. You need to learn to control that power, or people will get hurt."

Daryon looked down at Magikarp, and grinned before returning it to its Pokéball. "Neat."