Warning: This story contains blood.

Also, if you can't see one of the images, please let me know.

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(Image #1)

(Image #2)

KIT: What the hell... Don't tell me they actually meant what they said... (Casts an incredulous look behind him, where KID2 and a line of other ragged, beat-up humans are waiting at the edge of the wall. KID2 gives him a sympathetic look.)

SPEAROW: Hey! Are you listenin'? (Lands on KIT's head)

KIT: Gwah! (Falls flat on his face. SPEAROW lands in front of him, snorting)

SPEAROW: Pathetic, even fer a human... Yer fresh meat for sure! Well, we'll get a show, at least.

KIT: (climbs to his elbows) What... What are you talking about? What is this place? What are you—

SWELLOW: (clouts him on the head) Wow, you really weren't listenin'! The fight, dumbass, the fight!

SPEAROW: One human, one Pokemon. You lose, ya die. You win, you claim yer prize.

KIT: Prize?

SPEAROW: Yer life! Cah ha ha ha! (Takes flight)

SWELLOW: Squa ha ha ha!

KIT: Wait! I don't know how to fight!

SPEAROW: Looks like yer gonna be Hershey's dinner, then!

(Image #3)

(Image #4)

KIT: W-what?!

HERSHEY: Are you a knight? Or a fighter?

KIT: N-no.

HERSHEY: (steps forward) Then why do you wear armor? You have sturdy-looking shoes as well... You must be a knight! Or a squire, at least.

KIT: I... I don't know! Please, don't hurt me, I don't want to die...

HERSHEY: ...

BRAVIARY: Hey, Hershey, quit dithering!

CHATOT: Yeah, just tear him to pieces already!

HERSHEY: Imbeciles... Why are so many of my brethren mindless idiots... (Plucks the sword from his harness with his beak and tosses it to KIT) Take this, human.

KIT: (stares down at it) What?

HERSHEY: You humans used to fight with weapons like this, did you not? Go on, take it up — I shall allow you to use it against me.

KIT: Like it would make a difference! I don't know how to use a sword... But... (glances up at Hershey before snatching it up) I guess it's better than nothing!

STARLY: What are you doing, Hershey?

HERSHEY: I've killed an endless amount of humans. The simple act of slaughter no longer amuses me. Perhaps with this, things will be a little more interesting!

KIT: (holds sword out in front of him) I guess I hold it out like this... ...? Huh, this kind of feels famili—

HERSHEY: Here I come! (Leaves the ground like a rocket)

(Image #5)

KIT: Two pieces? He really is trying to kill me... What do I do? I'm scared... I'm terrified... I want to go home!

HERSHEY: No response, eh? Then I'll make the next move! (Blasts towards KIT again, who tries to sidestep, but HERSHEY's too fast — the attack shatters his pauldron, and he goes spiraling through the air, coming down hard a few yards away)

KIT: Gah!

CROWD: Woohoo!

HERSHEY: Another near miss... Congratulations, few humans have stood against me for this long. Though I do confess, I have been holding back until now. Had I wished it, you would be in bloody pieces, but I have long wished to see the skill of a knight...

HERSHEY: (Peers down at broken pieces of pauldron) But it appears you are a knight no more, so I suppose that to tiptoe around your inevitable death any longer would be a waste of time. Hold still now, and I'll make it as painless as possible. (Shoots forward)

KIT: No... Please... Not like this...

(Image #6)

(Image #7)

KIT: How the hell did I...? He was so fast that I couldn't see him, but it's like my arm moved on its own!

HERSHEY: What an intriguing development! That whimpering and sniveling was surely a facade... How exciting! Show me more, sir knight! (Sails towards him)

KIT: Stop! I'm not a knight! I'm not a—

(Image #8)

VOICE: No.

KIT: ?!

VOICE: You aren't the knight — I am.

KIT: I-I know that! That's what I've been trying to tell you! I'm not—

HERSHEY: Who are you talking to, boy? Focus on me — focus on the fight! (A particularly savage Wing Attack actually flips KIT over, sending him tumbling end over end across the arena. He digs his blade into the sand to stop himself, and winds up on his knees.)

KIT: (wheezing) Kah-hah... Agh!

VOICE: Get up. If you don't stay on your feet, they'll start throwing Aerial Aces to get you moving.

KIT: !!! (Stares over at Hershey, who's creeping forward warily) He's not talking... Then who is?

(Aerial Ace strikes the dirt behind KIT, nearly taking off an ankle)

SPEAROW: Gettup, human! Fight till yer dead — them's the rules!

VOICE: UP!

(Image #9)

KIT: Who the hell are you? A ghost? Why can I hear your voice in my head?

VOICE: I... Don't know what I am. I think I'm in this sword... But that's neither here nor there. Do you want to survive or not?

KIT: (frazzled) I-I... (Suddenly, HERSHEY is moving towards him) He's coming!

SWORD: I can get you out of this. I can stop him.

(Image #10)

KIT: (chokes as SWORD knocks him flat on his back — another Aerial Ace slices overhead) Then do it! That was almost my head!

SWORD: I will, I promise. But I need you to promise ME something. Can you do it?

KIT: (staggers to his feet) Anything!

SWORD: First, I need you to promise that when you get out of here, you claim me as your instrument. Me and my sheath — I'll die without it. Okay?

KIT: Okay!

SWORD: Next, you have to promise to make your way to Grinnard. Do you know where that is?

KIT: (dodges another Aerial Ace) No!

SWORD: It's in the jungles, in Hive territory.

KIT: Jungle? Hive?

SWORD: You'll figure it out. Grinnard, and when you get there, find... (pause) Find Gale. No, Gabrielle. Gabrielle. Grinnard, Gabrielle. Do you understand?

KIT: I don't—

SWORD: Say it! Grinnard, Gabrielle!

KIT: (gasping) Grinnard, Gabrielle. (Another Aerial Ace — he barely blocks this one, and feels his wrist pop out of place. Screeching, he staggers and collapses) Damn you, help me!

SWORD: Okay, but you have to let me possess you.

KIT: ?!

SWORD: I need full control of both your arms, and your legs! I can barely get you to dodge and parry as it is. Let me possess you, and I guarantee this battle is over.

KIT: But... What about after? Will you leave after the battle is over?

SWORD: Yes, I promise I'll leave. (Swings him out of the way of another attack) Well?! Do I have your consent?

KIT: (gasping) Yes, I give my consent!

(Image #11)

SWORD: All right... Longer legs than I'm used to, but this should be fine. (Adopts a fighting stance and faces HERSHEY, who's also creeping across the battlefield)

HERSHEY: What's this? Finally finished your prayers, sir knight, and ready to fight again? You picked an odd time to go off your head... But your meditations served you well. I don't know ANY opponent who has dodged FIVE of my Aerial Aces!

HERSHEY: (Shakes his head) This is such a pity... I've never had respect for an actual human before, and it pains me that we are here in this ring today. Perhaps if you had been part of my nest, you would have made a good sparring partner... But alas. The crowd grows weary of our game of tag, and so do I. Now you die.

(HERSHEY blasts forward like a needle in a Quick Attack)

(Image #12)

HERSHEY: GAH! (Regroups, peering down at his injury. It's substantial — the blood pours. He cackles) Damn you! How are you so good?

SWORD: (KIT's body is shaking) Blast. I was hoping to get his wing off... He's fast.

KIT: (worried) Can you still do it?

SWORD: Yes, I think so. I still have two minutes left—

HERSHEY: (scowling) Can I kill a pathetic human like you? Without question. You may have gotten a few hits on me, but don't let your pride blind you. You are well trained, but you're no dragon-type.

SWORD: Goad him.

KIT: What?! Why?

SWORD: Emotional enemies make the most mistakes.

KIT: (shakily) Are you an idiot?! Things are already bad enough without—

HERSHEY: Who are you calling an idiot? Take THIS! (Swings his wing, and a tornado erupts out of nowhere, whipping KIT into the sky)

KIT: Bwaaah!

(The tornado kicks up a sandstorm, and soon he's being whipped around in a cyclone of stinging grit)

(Image #13)

(Image #14)

(Image #15)

(KIT lands and rolls to save his ankles. HERSHEY splatters to the ground a ways away, spewing blood like a flood)

KIT: What...?

CROWD: ?!

With a little help, Kit wins! What does this mean for him... And who is the hero that saved him?

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Thanks for reading Pokemon: Gladiator! Liked it? Hated it? Please feel free to leave a comment, or drop a vote if you did actually like it. XD

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Bonus: Gladiator Pilot Trivia

1) Kit was originally just "KID" in the first draft of the script; when I went and picked it up again in May of 2020, I was thinking about Game of Thrones when I went to actually name him, and thought: "Kid... Kid... Ki... Kit? Yeah, let's name him after Jon Snow." XD

2) It's quite obvious that the sword is Honedge, but originally, the sword was just going to be a sword.

3) Kit's look is modeled after Jim Hawkins from Treasure Planet.

4) I had help with drawing these battle scenes, and that help was called UQ Holder! by Ken Akamatsu.

5) Writing this as actual diction was too hard, and so was making it a full-blown comic. So I thought, "What the hell? I'll split the difference."

6) When I was coming up with Hershey's name, I was f*cking eating chocolate.

7) I took artistic liberty with Honedge's design--the actual Pokemon is too freaking short, in my opinion, so I made him a little longer to make him more aesthetically-pleasing.

8) Coming up with titles is hard (for the Pilot, and the overall story), so if you guys have any better suggestions, I'll certainly take them.

9) Wattpad wouldn't allow me to upload some of the images because they were more than 10 MB, so I had to download an image compressor to fix them, resulting in slightly poorer quality.

10) My hand after drawing all of these images:

Seriously, each one took several hours to complete, mainly because doing the backgrounds and the small little details (like the blood on Kit's face, Kit's outfit, Hershey's harness, etc) took so damn long.