“I see you’ve got friendly intentions,” muttered Steven from beside Kenta, shooting him a quick smile. “I’ll take the offensive, then.” He turned his attention back to the battle. “Aim for the Graveler, Skarmory! Steel Wing!”
Kenta didn’t see the attack hit. Skarmory was suddenly gone, and the boulder pokémon on the opposite side was flung backwards by seemingly nothing, with chips of stone flying from its hide. Just like that, Graveler was down, and the officer recalled his beaten pokémon with a grunt of fury.
“No matter,” said another of the uniformed men, pointing at Skarmory. “We don’t need physical attacks. Growlithe, Flamethrower!”
“Growlithe, Overheat!”
Time to unleash that special move . . .
“Do it, Bolt!” Kenta shouted, bracing himself. “Earthquake!”
Even as the flames licked from the Growlithes’ mouths, Bolt shot up high into the sky, then bulleted down with all the force of a five-ton bomb. Skarmory wheeled around the Flamethrower attack, but the other Overheat struck it full on, lighting the bird in an orange glow from the absolute heat. That was when Bolt smashed the ground on all fours, sending a shockwave through the earth that rattled everything within a fifty-foot diameter. Kenta jumped as high as he could to avoid the tremor, and waved his arms frantically as he came back down and felt the ground continue to quake. When it had ceased after about ten seconds, he looked up from his feet to see what damage had been caused. Last time it had been devastating; about sixty or seventy Magneton were jumbled so badly by the tremor that they had disassembled from relentless rattling.
This time, the results were lesser, but still deadly. Both Growlithe were lying on their sides, their tongues hanging out, shaken into submission. The enemy Dugtrio was also down; its three heads were slumped to the ground, and swirls of defeat were present in all six eyes. Still standing, but on all fours with shaking limbs, were the two Sandslash.
Kenta checked beside him, concerned for Steven’s Skarmory. The metallic bird was still up in the air, glowing from its last devastating attack, but holding on with a grimace. Kenta let himself relax momentarily. It’s good my teammate was using a Flying-type, he thought grimly. He’s taken enough damage without Earthquake’s raw power tacked on.
The officers made shouts of angry exclamation, and Kenta heard one mutter something to the effect of “this is why they shouldn’t have taken our guns.” One of the Growlithe trainers pulled out his pokeball and recalled his fallen canine, then looked to his colleagues. “Fall back,” he instructed. “Guard the package.” The others nodded and recalled their beaten pokémon, then turned and raced for their patrol cars.
Steven turned hastily to Kenta, looking alarmed. “They must mean that truck!” he exclaimed, pointing as the entire squad of cars gunned their engines almost synchronously. “That’s where they’ve thrown all the Magneton they slaughtered. They must have over a hundred in there!”
So that’s how we beat them so easily, thought Kenta. They were fighting Magneton before I got here. They must be low on pokémon power!
“Skarmory, return.” Steven held out a pokeball and withdrew his scalded bird into a beam of red light. He glared furiously as the squad cars took off, with three in front of the holding truck and three behind. “Damn it. All I’ve got left is my Aggron, and he’s not fast enough to catch them. They’re going to get away!”
“No they won’t,” gritted Kenta, thinking quickly. I can’t just have Bolt bust open that truck, because what’ll we do then? Knock out six cops and the truck driver? Never . . . I will NOT stoop to criminal actions! There has to be a better way!
His eyes turned to Steven, and suddenly- an epiphany struck him.
“Say . . . does your Aggron happen to know Dig?”
***
The police truck driver noticed that all three cars in front of him were slowing down. He strained his eyes and searched ahead, wondering what could be the problem. He soon saw for himself; something was in the dirt road, taking up the whole driving space and then some. It was black and white, and absolutely enormous; possibly one of the biggest land animals he’d ever seen in his life. But why would there be one here of all places? And why now, of all times?
Kenta and Hibiki watched from behind a rocky outcrop as the squadron of police vehicles inched to a complete halt. Hibiki glanced down at the Everstone in his hand, which until a few minutes ago, had been strung around his Munchlax’s neck. He looked uncertainly at Kenta, who was still watching the dirt road with intense interest.
“Bro?”
“Yeah?”
“I understand that it couldn’t be helped, when Bolt evolved, but . . . but we removed an Everstone deliberately, this time. We’re lawbreakers, no matter how you look at it.”
Kenta shook his head, watching as the police blared their horns in an attempt to scare his brother’s new Snorlax off the road. “The law should be for the benefit of all the people under it,” he answered adamantly. “Not for the few people with the power. Ah, right on time-”
Hibiki looked. The six police officers and the truck driver had gotten out of their cars to go push Snorlax out of the way. Below the truck, out of sight to anyone not looking, the ground pushed up and a metallic horned head appeared. Hibiki watched as Steven’s Aggron raked the underside of the truck with its Metal Claw attack, easily cutting through the softer metal with its power. The steel behemoth of a pokémon hastily began hauling limp Magneton from the hole and pulling each and every one underground. So far, Kenta’s plan was going amazingly smooth. The police apparently hadn’t even noticed the single loud scrape of Metal Claw, from all their yelling to move Snorlax. Feeling he could relax for the moment, Hibiki looked back at Kenta, wanting to return to the issue of being a lawbreaker.
“Even if you say that . . .”
“I know. I know.” Kenta looked at Hibiki sadly, with a defeated expression on his face. He heaved a sigh. “Alright. This is the last time we make exceptions. From here on out, we go straight.” His eyes hardened. “But I have my priorities. When the time comes, I WILL choose the Greater Law.”
“The Greater Law?” echoed Hibiki, curiously. “What do you mean?”
“Love.” Kenta’s eyes burned passionately as he spoke the one word. “No law is higher than a loving relationship. The bond shared between a pokémon and its trainer is exactly that; a love with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. It’s what allows us to endure in battles, when strategy has been stretched to its limit. It’s what makes us do things that the rest of the world may deem strange, such as sacrificing your own life for another.”
Kenta lowered his head. “That’s what Baku was willing to do for me, up to the very last time we saw one another,” he whispered, his eyes brimming. “He threw himself in front of an exploding Electrode, to make sure I wouldn’t get hurt. Greater love has no one than that. I don’t deserve him. I really hope they’re treating him well, right now.”
Hibiki had never seen his brother shed tears before. This in itself was no great surprise, since Kenta probably believed that letting Hibiki see him like this would destroy his macho image. But right now, thought it might have been because of the pressure that Kenta was under, Hibiki still felt distinctly moved by his brother’s show of tenderness. Over their past few hours together, Kenta had seemed little other than cold and formal with his pokémon. For Hibiki, it was good to know that he wasn’t really like this at heart.
The brothers took a moment to glance down at Aggron’s hole, but where the steel beast had been working before, there was now only a cover of overturned soil. Kenta sniffed loudly, hastily wiped an arm across his face, then stood up with a set expression. “Right,” he said, reaching into his pocket, “time to move Snorlax out of their path. Hibiki, remind me to make more pokeblocks after this.” He tossed the red candy cube as hard as he could, and it landed and rolled a dozen or so yards away from Snorlax. Noticing the brightly-colored snack, Snorlax hefted himself to his feet with a deep grunt and pounded eagerly towards the pokeblock, sending the officers and pokémon who’d been pushing him toppling into the dirt. The policemen looked at each other, baffled, and one shrugged. “Looks like he’s distracted. Let’s move quickly, in case he comes back.”
Not wasting another minute, the cops hurried back into their patrol cars and gunned the engines, all taking off at once in a great dust cloud. Kenta and Hibiki watched them until they had become specks in the distance, and only then did they crawl out of hiding. Kenta strode to the road-spot of freshly dug-up soil and stomped his foot beside the hole cover. “It’s okay,” he called into the ground, “they’re gone, open up.” They waited for a couple of seconds, and then Aggron’s horns popped out from below the road, followed by his head. The gray-haired head of Steven Stone also appeared a moment later, turned the wrong way. He twisted around, looking up at Kenta and Hibiki with a somber expression.
“No survivors. I couldn’t even spark one of them back to life.”
“I’m sorry,” said Hibiki softly, and Kenta lowered his head in respect for the dead. Steven’s expression turned slightly colder. “So, ‘Brendan,’ I did what you told me,” he said in a flat voice. “Now that we have them all lumped together in this grave down here, tell me what we’ve gained from this. No-” He put out his hand as Kenta opened his mouth. “First, before anything else, tell me who you really are.”
Hibiki looked at Kenta, wondering what he was going to do. He’d need to make a habit out of lying if he planned on staying alive, but this was different. Steven had helped them. Feeling his head nod, Hibiki realized he was subconsciously urging his brother to do the right thing. Kenta glanced at him, sighed softly, and looked back at Steven.
“My name is Sergeant Kenta Nyna. I was last in service two months ago during the Silph Incident, and the only police officer reported dead. Only a handful of people know that I’m alive right now, including you as of this moment.”
Steven’s lips stretched into an oval shape as his eyes widened, and he muttered a quiet “oh.” Kenta proceeded to explain everything else to him, leaving out the sentimental bits and staying as practical as he could. From the reason he was dressed like Brendan Birch, to the password for getting to Kurt, to the Master Ball replication plan, Kenta explained in as short an order as he knew how. Hibiki listened closely, having heard it all before, but still finding merit in how everything was steadily coming together.
“So that’s why we need these Magneton,” Kenta finished, putting out his arms in a reasoning gesture. “Since they’re dead anyway, Kurt can examine them to see if they’re Master Ball material. If it turns out they are, well . . .” He looked away, sadly. “The plan isn’t ruined, but it’ll be hindered.”
Kenta didn’t see the attack hit. Skarmory was suddenly gone, and the boulder pokémon on the opposite side was flung backwards by seemingly nothing, with chips of stone flying from its hide. Just like that, Graveler was down, and the officer recalled his beaten pokémon with a grunt of fury.
“No matter,” said another of the uniformed men, pointing at Skarmory. “We don’t need physical attacks. Growlithe, Flamethrower!”
“Growlithe, Overheat!”
Time to unleash that special move . . .
“Do it, Bolt!” Kenta shouted, bracing himself. “Earthquake!”
Even as the flames licked from the Growlithes’ mouths, Bolt shot up high into the sky, then bulleted down with all the force of a five-ton bomb. Skarmory wheeled around the Flamethrower attack, but the other Overheat struck it full on, lighting the bird in an orange glow from the absolute heat. That was when Bolt smashed the ground on all fours, sending a shockwave through the earth that rattled everything within a fifty-foot diameter. Kenta jumped as high as he could to avoid the tremor, and waved his arms frantically as he came back down and felt the ground continue to quake. When it had ceased after about ten seconds, he looked up from his feet to see what damage had been caused. Last time it had been devastating; about sixty or seventy Magneton were jumbled so badly by the tremor that they had disassembled from relentless rattling.
This time, the results were lesser, but still deadly. Both Growlithe were lying on their sides, their tongues hanging out, shaken into submission. The enemy Dugtrio was also down; its three heads were slumped to the ground, and swirls of defeat were present in all six eyes. Still standing, but on all fours with shaking limbs, were the two Sandslash.
Kenta checked beside him, concerned for Steven’s Skarmory. The metallic bird was still up in the air, glowing from its last devastating attack, but holding on with a grimace. Kenta let himself relax momentarily. It’s good my teammate was using a Flying-type, he thought grimly. He’s taken enough damage without Earthquake’s raw power tacked on.
The officers made shouts of angry exclamation, and Kenta heard one mutter something to the effect of “this is why they shouldn’t have taken our guns.” One of the Growlithe trainers pulled out his pokeball and recalled his fallen canine, then looked to his colleagues. “Fall back,” he instructed. “Guard the package.” The others nodded and recalled their beaten pokémon, then turned and raced for their patrol cars.
Steven turned hastily to Kenta, looking alarmed. “They must mean that truck!” he exclaimed, pointing as the entire squad of cars gunned their engines almost synchronously. “That’s where they’ve thrown all the Magneton they slaughtered. They must have over a hundred in there!”
So that’s how we beat them so easily, thought Kenta. They were fighting Magneton before I got here. They must be low on pokémon power!
“Skarmory, return.” Steven held out a pokeball and withdrew his scalded bird into a beam of red light. He glared furiously as the squad cars took off, with three in front of the holding truck and three behind. “Damn it. All I’ve got left is my Aggron, and he’s not fast enough to catch them. They’re going to get away!”
“No they won’t,” gritted Kenta, thinking quickly. I can’t just have Bolt bust open that truck, because what’ll we do then? Knock out six cops and the truck driver? Never . . . I will NOT stoop to criminal actions! There has to be a better way!
His eyes turned to Steven, and suddenly- an epiphany struck him.
“Say . . . does your Aggron happen to know Dig?”
***
The police truck driver noticed that all three cars in front of him were slowing down. He strained his eyes and searched ahead, wondering what could be the problem. He soon saw for himself; something was in the dirt road, taking up the whole driving space and then some. It was black and white, and absolutely enormous; possibly one of the biggest land animals he’d ever seen in his life. But why would there be one here of all places? And why now, of all times?
Kenta and Hibiki watched from behind a rocky outcrop as the squadron of police vehicles inched to a complete halt. Hibiki glanced down at the Everstone in his hand, which until a few minutes ago, had been strung around his Munchlax’s neck. He looked uncertainly at Kenta, who was still watching the dirt road with intense interest.
“Bro?”
“Yeah?”
“I understand that it couldn’t be helped, when Bolt evolved, but . . . but we removed an Everstone deliberately, this time. We’re lawbreakers, no matter how you look at it.”
Kenta shook his head, watching as the police blared their horns in an attempt to scare his brother’s new Snorlax off the road. “The law should be for the benefit of all the people under it,” he answered adamantly. “Not for the few people with the power. Ah, right on time-”
Hibiki looked. The six police officers and the truck driver had gotten out of their cars to go push Snorlax out of the way. Below the truck, out of sight to anyone not looking, the ground pushed up and a metallic horned head appeared. Hibiki watched as Steven’s Aggron raked the underside of the truck with its Metal Claw attack, easily cutting through the softer metal with its power. The steel behemoth of a pokémon hastily began hauling limp Magneton from the hole and pulling each and every one underground. So far, Kenta’s plan was going amazingly smooth. The police apparently hadn’t even noticed the single loud scrape of Metal Claw, from all their yelling to move Snorlax. Feeling he could relax for the moment, Hibiki looked back at Kenta, wanting to return to the issue of being a lawbreaker.
“Even if you say that . . .”
“I know. I know.” Kenta looked at Hibiki sadly, with a defeated expression on his face. He heaved a sigh. “Alright. This is the last time we make exceptions. From here on out, we go straight.” His eyes hardened. “But I have my priorities. When the time comes, I WILL choose the Greater Law.”
“The Greater Law?” echoed Hibiki, curiously. “What do you mean?”
“Love.” Kenta’s eyes burned passionately as he spoke the one word. “No law is higher than a loving relationship. The bond shared between a pokémon and its trainer is exactly that; a love with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. It’s what allows us to endure in battles, when strategy has been stretched to its limit. It’s what makes us do things that the rest of the world may deem strange, such as sacrificing your own life for another.”
Kenta lowered his head. “That’s what Baku was willing to do for me, up to the very last time we saw one another,” he whispered, his eyes brimming. “He threw himself in front of an exploding Electrode, to make sure I wouldn’t get hurt. Greater love has no one than that. I don’t deserve him. I really hope they’re treating him well, right now.”
Hibiki had never seen his brother shed tears before. This in itself was no great surprise, since Kenta probably believed that letting Hibiki see him like this would destroy his macho image. But right now, thought it might have been because of the pressure that Kenta was under, Hibiki still felt distinctly moved by his brother’s show of tenderness. Over their past few hours together, Kenta had seemed little other than cold and formal with his pokémon. For Hibiki, it was good to know that he wasn’t really like this at heart.
The brothers took a moment to glance down at Aggron’s hole, but where the steel beast had been working before, there was now only a cover of overturned soil. Kenta sniffed loudly, hastily wiped an arm across his face, then stood up with a set expression. “Right,” he said, reaching into his pocket, “time to move Snorlax out of their path. Hibiki, remind me to make more pokeblocks after this.” He tossed the red candy cube as hard as he could, and it landed and rolled a dozen or so yards away from Snorlax. Noticing the brightly-colored snack, Snorlax hefted himself to his feet with a deep grunt and pounded eagerly towards the pokeblock, sending the officers and pokémon who’d been pushing him toppling into the dirt. The policemen looked at each other, baffled, and one shrugged. “Looks like he’s distracted. Let’s move quickly, in case he comes back.”
Not wasting another minute, the cops hurried back into their patrol cars and gunned the engines, all taking off at once in a great dust cloud. Kenta and Hibiki watched them until they had become specks in the distance, and only then did they crawl out of hiding. Kenta strode to the road-spot of freshly dug-up soil and stomped his foot beside the hole cover. “It’s okay,” he called into the ground, “they’re gone, open up.” They waited for a couple of seconds, and then Aggron’s horns popped out from below the road, followed by his head. The gray-haired head of Steven Stone also appeared a moment later, turned the wrong way. He twisted around, looking up at Kenta and Hibiki with a somber expression.
“No survivors. I couldn’t even spark one of them back to life.”
“I’m sorry,” said Hibiki softly, and Kenta lowered his head in respect for the dead. Steven’s expression turned slightly colder. “So, ‘Brendan,’ I did what you told me,” he said in a flat voice. “Now that we have them all lumped together in this grave down here, tell me what we’ve gained from this. No-” He put out his hand as Kenta opened his mouth. “First, before anything else, tell me who you really are.”
Hibiki looked at Kenta, wondering what he was going to do. He’d need to make a habit out of lying if he planned on staying alive, but this was different. Steven had helped them. Feeling his head nod, Hibiki realized he was subconsciously urging his brother to do the right thing. Kenta glanced at him, sighed softly, and looked back at Steven.
“My name is Sergeant Kenta Nyna. I was last in service two months ago during the Silph Incident, and the only police officer reported dead. Only a handful of people know that I’m alive right now, including you as of this moment.”
Steven’s lips stretched into an oval shape as his eyes widened, and he muttered a quiet “oh.” Kenta proceeded to explain everything else to him, leaving out the sentimental bits and staying as practical as he could. From the reason he was dressed like Brendan Birch, to the password for getting to Kurt, to the Master Ball replication plan, Kenta explained in as short an order as he knew how. Hibiki listened closely, having heard it all before, but still finding merit in how everything was steadily coming together.
“So that’s why we need these Magneton,” Kenta finished, putting out his arms in a reasoning gesture. “Since they’re dead anyway, Kurt can examine them to see if they’re Master Ball material. If it turns out they are, well . . .” He looked away, sadly. “The plan isn’t ruined, but it’ll be hindered.”