"Kadabra!"
Kadabra reappeared behind Heracross.
"Aerial Ace," the cloaked figure said.
"Teleport, then Metronome." Akiyama actually smiled.
Kadabra vanished—dodging a move that, in the games of another life, never missed.
Then he swung his finger with everything he had left, and a Flying-type energy unlike anything he'd ever produced gathered around him.
A green line drew itself clean across the sky, bright enough to push back the light of the Mother Tree itself.
"What is that?" The eyes under the hood narrowed hard.
"Holy crap." Akiyama watched Kadabra rocket upward and swore out loud.
Every scrap of fantasy energy that had been pouring into him scattered in that moment.
Even Kadabra, who had rolled this thing, looked stunned.
But once Metronome picks a move, whether you use it stops being your decision.
Akiyama knew this one on sight.
Dragon Ascent.
Kadabra came down out of the sky like a meteor with intent.
The Heracross below had no chance of reacting.
BOOM.
Heracross hit the ground so hard it dug its own crater, and a ring of shockwave rolled outward through every plant in the clearing.
Hanging in the air above it, Kadabra stared down, dazed.
Did I do that?
Heracross climbed out of the smoke in the pit, propped up on shaking limbs, its whole body trembling. It got its wings open and hauled itself out.
"What was that move?" the cloaked figure demanded.
"Ask your boss," Akiyama said.
He hadn't expected a four-times-effective hit at maximum power to leave the thing standing, either. But this was a hell of a lot better than five minutes ago.
Gardevoir, still cradled against him, was staring too. She'd spent two weeks with Kadabra knowing only that he liked Metronome. She hadn't known that was in there.
"I don't believe for one second you can do it twice. Heracross—get up. Rock Blast!"
Heracross forced itself upright. Five stones lifted into the air around it, quivering.
Kadabra drifted down to Akiyama's side and shook his head.
He couldn't. That single Metronome—Dragon Ascent had drained him down to nothing.
"Hydro Pump!"
An enormous shape dropped out of the sky.
Gyarados.
"You people were fine ten minutes ago. What happened?" Nanami looked down from his head, and then over at Kadabra with an expression she couldn't quite settle on.
That light had been so bright.
The Hydro Pump tore into the incoming stones.
"Huh?" Nanami 's eyes narrowed. It hadn't stopped all five.
"Aqua Tail."
Gyarados sheathed his tail in rushing water and smashed the rest of them out of the air.
"Another one. Doesn't matter." The cloaked man's laugh dripped contempt.
Heracross could take a Gyarados even in the state it was in.
"Sure. Right. You want to Mega Evolve? Two can play."
"Gyarados—Mega Evolve!"
His tone had gotten under her skin enough to make her laugh, and she turned her wrist so the band showed.
The Key Stone flared and reached for the Mega Stone under Gyarados's jaw.
When the light peeled away, his entire upper body had swollen larger, a horn of hard stone had grown from his brow, and red and black had bled into his coloring. The fins along his back stood up like the sails of a warship.
He looked a great deal more like the Atrocious Pokémon he was classified as.
Even Nanami had to stand up on his head and hold on to the horn.
"How inconvenient," the cloaked man sighed.
Behind him, Heracross's Mega form collapsed, and pain showed on its face.
"We'll do this again another time."
He gave Akiyama one long look, stepped back into the brush, and was gone. Heracross went after him.
With the battle over, the progress bar surfaced.
It dropped straight to 40.
The overwhelming majority of the golden particles poured into Kadabra. A thin stream went to Gardevoir.
Gyarados got nothing at all. Only Akiyama's own Pokémon were on that list.
"Say goodbye for us." Nanami slapped the horn under her hand.
The Hyper Beam that answered was pure, silent devastation, and it leveled a wide swath of forest.
"Gone." Nanami sounded genuinely disappointed. She released the Mega Evolution and settled back into her cross-legged perch on Gyarados's head. "How'd you manage to get on that guy's list?"
"Tell you on the way. My bag's in my room—all my Potions are in it." Akiyama scooped Gardevoir up.
"I'd offer you a ride, but he doesn't like being touched." Nanami patted Gyarados's snout.
"Understood." Akiyama wasn't going to push it.
He turned and ran for the Pokémon Center with Gardevoir in his arms.
The aurora was thinning out, and the energy seemed to be draining down into the earth. Grass and saplings were visibly climbing. Without Gyarados clearing the way ahead of them, they wouldn't have made it a hundred yards.
Even so, they reached the Center fast.
There was a whole operation going on out front—several Scyther were cutting back the new growth to keep the building from being buried alive.
Nanami recalled Gyarados and went in with Akiyama. The Scyther didn't spare them a glance; this was routine.
The Nurse Joy on night shift saw the Gardevoir in his arms and had a gurney rolling before he'd finished crossing the lobby.
"What happened? These look like Fighting-type wounds." She was already steering toward the treatment room.
"Counter. From a Heracross."
She really did know her work. She'd read the type off the injuries alone.
"Rookie Trainers shouldn't be sending their Pokémon after—" She stopped, eyes landing on the broken heart on Gardevoir's chest. "You're Akiyama Miki, aren't you. So this was an ambush."
Great families didn't let their own make low-level mistakes like that. And the Mikis in particular were famous for loving the Gardevoir line down to the bone.
"I'll contact Officer Jenny. Wait here."
The treatment room door closed. Akiyama stood in front of that big white door and waited.
She'll be fine. For a Pokémon, that's a minor injury, Kadabra offered.
He'd taken hits like that regularly during his years on his own.
"I know that. Doesn't help." Akiyama exhaled.
Kadabra didn't understand.
But he was beginning to suspect this was what a bond looked like.
Nanami , standing off to the side with her arms crossed, understood a little better.
"Akiyama? What are you doing here?"
Someone was coming down the stairs.
"Uncle Hikaze?"
"Leader Hikaze? What are you doing here?"
Nanami and Akiyama spoke over each other.
"I live here." Hikaze's smile was mild and easy. "Nobody can sleep at the Gym—the plants would have me wrapped up by dawn. I heard the commotion and came down."
"Right." Akiyama's brow creased.
"So what happened?" Hikaze came closer.
Nanami got there first. "Akiyama's Gardevoir got jumped by some Trainer with a Mega Heracross."
"Team Rocket," Akiyama added.
And watched Hikaze's face while he said it.
Nothing moved. That same gentle smile stayed exactly where it was.