"ONE HOUR LEFT!!" The voice screamed as we met each other down on the lower decks, I couldn't help but feel a bubbling deep in my chest, I could hardly sit still, let alone keep the smile off my face.
"Almost there…" I whispered among the piles of stacked boxes, holding the red flag close to me. Zorua let out a tiny yip at my words, her tail wagging like it was just gonna fall off.
"You're excited too huh buddy," I patted her head.
"Espurr psybeam!" A cry came out of nowhere, an explosion going off before we could even react. The two of us were sent flying to the door, the frame collapsing under our weight.
"What the hell?!" I grunted, sitting up to see who it was, though I couldn't make it out through all the smoke.
"I had a feeling someone'd come down here," red hair struck through the smoke, as a girl made her way through it, a female Espurr by her side. Mindy stood above me with a shit eating grin on her face. "I knew it'd be easy but not that easy,"
"Zorua, nasty plot!" A dark aura surrounded my pokemon, the fox letting out a snicker before its fur fell back into place. Mindy couldn't help but let out an amused look at my efforts, her eyes narrowed by her grin. "Now use dark pulse!"
"Light screen!" I watched as a transparent shield of light split my dark pulse in half, the two shots splitting and exploding behind her, causing a heavy gust of dust and debris to blast through the cargo door.
I heaved, coughing up my lungs as the smoke started to envelop me. Mindy grabbed at my hand in the shroud, pulling me forward, yet I refused to let go. Without wasting a second more, she kneed me in the gut, knocking the wind out of my lungs.
The flag dropped out of my hand as a result, falling at both our feet. As she got ready to pick it up, I lunged into her, the two of us struggling on the floor for what felt like forever.
"Get the hell off me!" She grunted, her fingers clawing into my face to push me off.
"Fat chance!"
I felt her feet shift below me, her legs curling up under my stomach to launch me off her and into the cargo room again. I grunted as I landed upside down in a pile of crushed boxes, eyes widening as I saw her grab the flag.
"Zorua, dark pulse!"
Zorua shot out a beam of darkness straight for the two of them. Quickly she turned around, her arm outstretched to the oncoming attack as she commanded, "Light screen!"
And just as before, the attack was mitigated, rendered completely useless and kicking up smoke yet again.
"Tch—" I grunted as she started to run away, my hand hovered over my belt for a fraction of a second, my teeth gritted before I committed and snatched two pokeballs anyway.
"Sorry Zorua, return for me, kay?"
Zorua yipped, wagging her tail as the red light enveloped her, taking her into her pokeball. "Kabutops, aqua jet!"
I tossed the ball into the air, and Kabutops appeared right before me. Without wasting any more time, I climbed onto his back as best as I could, feeling the pokemon shift under me as he launched off at neck-breaking pace, flying down the hall completely enveloped in water.
Eventually we caught up to her, side by side as she ran down the ship's halls. Kabutops turned directly into her, the girl freezing with a grimace on her face. "Espurr, reflect!"
A circle encased them just before we collided; we crashed through the walls, breaking through an unoccupied room and landing in a hallway just on the other end. We both tucked into ourselves as we rolled off the floor, our bodies covered in rugburn from the fall.
"Kabutops, ancient power!" Pieces of the ship got torn off the walls, chunks of metal flying straight at her and the pokemon.
"Espurr, use psychic!" The pieces Kabutops just tossed got frozen midair, the two of us panting as we stared at each other from the ground.
Our arms flew to our belts, pulling out two pokeballs.
"Kabutops!"
"Espurr!"
"Return!!"
"GO!!"
"Charmeleon!"
"Blastoise!"
We both tossed our pokeballs at the same time, Charmeleon coming out with a deafening screech as Blastoise appeared, towering over the two of us. I clenched my arm into a fist, thrusting it toward them with furrowed brows. "Thunder punch!"
Charmeleon charged forward, its hand crackling with a thunderous roar.
"Blastoise, ice beam!" Blastoise let out a blast of cold ice, trying to aim for Charmeleon, but each shot missed as he avoided them.
When he was close enough, Charmeleon thrust his arms forward, connecting with Blastoise's belly as electricity rang out through the halls, sparking against the metal walls and channeling straight back into Blastoise.
"Blastoise, rapid spin!" Mindy shouted, Blastoise shaking itself free and spinning with all its might, forcing Charmeleon to back up. "Now, use bite!"
Blastoise lunged at Charmeleon, biting down on his arm with a sickening crunch. He roared in pain as the pokemon latched onto mine, its fiery tail swinging around in its struggle to get free.
"Char—" I rushed over to his aid, yet I was struck in the jaw by Mindy, who knocked me off my feet. I stumbled backwards, falling on my ass as I felt a stinging sensation on my face.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Quit chasing me, you've already lost!" Mindy exclaimed, pointing the flag in my direction, as though to taunt me. "Say you'll stop chasing me, or else your pokemon loses an arm. Don't even think about calling any commands either…"
I continued to hear the deafening cries of my pokemon in pain, my teeth gritted in annoyance as I was forced to weigh my options— Genuinely what is there to do!? I can't call a command, who knows what she could do to us…That means charmeleon can't use thunderpunch again.
"F-fine! I'll…"
A glow of white light stretched across the hall, blinding the both of us for what felt like eternity, when the light finally cleared we both were left in awe by the sight before us. Blastoise was off of the charmeleon, and towering over all of us…
Was a charizard…
.