Tae groaned in his sleep, a small beam of light from the sun peaking through his tent. Tae turned on his side and tossed his arm over with it.

Tae's arm landed on something soft yet firm, making him open his eyes. It was an unfamiliar cloth, and so he jerked up with a frown.

Tae looked down and saw Penny in her hoodie and shorts, her leggings and skirt removed for comfort. Tae squinted his eyes, rubbed them, and squinted harder to make sure what he was seeing was right.

Tae jabbed her waist, making Penny jolt awake with a yelp.

Tae sat up criss-cross with a glare.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, unamused.

"What does it look like...?" Penny asked, trying to sound sarcastic, but her embarrassment got the best of her voice.

Tae didn't reply and simply shrugged, lying back down and staring at the top of the tent. Penny turned to face him and scooted closer.

Tae closed his eyes with a hum, feeling her arm slink over his chest. Tae tried to ignore her obvious advances, but ended up opening his eyes again to see she was now on top of him.

"May I?" She asked.

Tae nodded slowly.

•

Arven thanked Arceus that he didn't hear what he thought he would last night, and managed to get some good sleep.

He was currently making French Toast for the group with Greedant watching over. He glanced at Tae's tent, but shuddered and turned back to the pan.

However, he was caught off guard seeing Nemona standing across from him. Arven nearly smacked the pan away in fright, but composed himself.

"Wha... what the hell?! How? When?" Arven asked.

"I heard rumors of a branch of Team Star being taken down. I take it Tae was in on it?" Nemona asked with a smile.

"Don't ignore the ques—..." Arven noticed the Hydreigon behind her sniffing the air. "He's not getting any..."

"Where's Tae? I think I've waited long enough for a battle." Nemona smirked.

Arven remembered just how territorial she was over him. It was obvious just by how early she got up to fight him. He glanced at Tae's tent, and was about to warn her, but when he looked back, only Hydreigon was left, hovering around the pan.

Arven sighed, before tossing Hydreigon a piece of bread to keep it busy. "Fine."

•

Nemona unzipped the tent with no warning, shocking Penny enough to throw herself off of Tae.

Luckily, the two were only making out, so Tae was decent enough to sit up with a groan seeing as even more light peeked into his tent.

He looked up and saw Nemona, making even himself jump back in shock.

Nemona smirked with a challenging glare. "It seems there's more than one lesson I have to teach you. I can't leave you by yourself anymore." Nemona commented with crossed arms.

Still in a daze from Penny's passion, Tae rubbed his eyes.

"Is this what I think it is...?"

"Get dressed. I'm going all out today after what I heard last night." Nemona smiled brightly.

•

Tae rolled his neck, finishing the last of his french toast with an annoyed stare.

Nemona did the same with a contradicting eager one, smiling brightly at the opportunity to see what she missed yesterday. She was quick to send back out her Dusk Lycanroc, who was more than pissed to see Tae.

It began growling immediately, trying its best not to lash out after the embarrassing defeat against a fire type.

The group were rather close to Levincia, actually in sight of the nearest Pokémon Station, and a few students were getting ready to watch and record their fight just like last time.

However, Penny's Jolteon suddenly tapped its foot down, making every student's Rotom Phones spaz and jitter.

"I'm making a buck off this." Penny smirked as her Rotom Phone floated in between the two.

"You ready? I'm the strongest in Paldea. Don't expect to win." Nemona bragged, backed with her title and rumors.

Tae glared at her even harder, making Nemona confused. "Yeah, yeah, I don't care about that. You're an obstacle. A wall. And I'm crashing straight through it." Tae replied.

"Oh, ho! I like those words— Lycanroc, use Rock Slide!" Nemona called, ignoring the lack of a Pokémon in front of him.

Alternating from the usual projectiles, Lycanroc's mane became cluttered with stones as it raced at Tae.

Tae snapped his fingers, and Mystic appeared beside him with a smug smile, dashing forward again without further command.

Meowscarada rushed forward with blurred steps even faster than Lycanroc, it's claws glowing dark purple. The two slashed at each other, black and orange sparks flying past the two.

The two circled around and rushed back in, clashing back and forth as a torrent kicked up around them.

"Stone Edge!" Nemona shouted.

"Flower Trick. You know what to do." Tae countered.

Lycanroc slammed its front paws down as spikes of earth erupted around it. Mystic flicked its ears as it slid away from the first spike, dashing around and weaving through the eruption of stone blades firing at her.

With a flip, Mystic landed on the last one, before winking at Lycanroc and snapping her fingers.

Lycanroc tilted its head before and explosion erupted from under its feet, sending it flying back. It caught itself quickly, before rushing at Mystic in a fit of rage.

"Reversal!" Nemona ordered.

Lycanroc roared as it tore through all of its stone blades, clawing its way up towards Mystic.

"Foul Play." Tae ordered as well.

Mystic grinned as it cartwheeled over Lycanroc's blazing slash. The two landed before dashing at each other with glares. Clinks and clanks rang through the rolling hills as the two battled with ferocious might.

Lycanroc dodged a downward slash, heaving its claw up to counter, but Mystic suddenly lazily fell back, dodging the attack. Mystic suddenly uppercut Lycanroc's chin with a sudden burst of speed, before spinning around to roundhouse kick it away.

Lycanroc crashed and rolled back to Nemona unconscious, the devastating attack boosted by the drastic increase of Lycanroc's move Reversal, which was increased even further by its low health.

Nemona squeezed her hands and tried her best not to fidget in joy as she thought about his overwhelming strategies again.

Composing herself, she recalled her Lycanroc and sent out a Talonflame, smiling at Tae.

"Impressive, but your job's far from over." Nemona commented.

"Flame Charge!"

"Foul Play."

Talonflame screeched and burst into a flames, flying forward with a whistle, almost too fast for Mystic. Or so it seemed visually by the worried facade she held.

As Talonflame closed in, Mystic flipped forward in time to stomp on Talonflame's head, leaping off with a wince from its flame body.

Talonflame crashed, but kept its stride with its talons, before flying back with a caw. Mystic tried to dodge again, but Talonflame switched from Flame Charge to Fire Blast in an instant, predicting the move.

Mystic crashed beside Tae with a loud thud making him quickly return her, even if she was fine. It was an undesirable matchup, and she was sure to have taken too much damage from both attacks.

Iron Thorns landed with a bang, the energy in its body crackling out quietly.

"Dragon Dance." Tae instructed.

Iron Thorns began stomping its feet and waving its tail, a purple aura fluttering around, turning the energy in its chest a turquoise blue.

"Steel Wing!" Nemona ordered.

Talonflame flapped it's wings as a coat of steel encased it's feathers, bursting forward with glare.

"Wild Charge."

Thorn slammed its feet down, before rushing forward surprisingly just as fast, the two swiping at each other with sparks and crackles of light.

Thorn landed and slid to a halt before planting its feet and rushing back. Talonflame circled around before nosediving into Flame Charge.

The two clashed heads with fire and lightning whirling around, a gale of wind making Tae stumble back and Nemona fall over. Penny and Arven tried to block the light and wind but fell over too, the spectators all around shielding their eyes.

Tae crouched to hold his position, but suddenly saw Talonflame flying towards him unconscious.

Instead of dodging, Tae braced himself and caught Talonflame, falling on his back with a thud.

Thorn slid to a stop again, a mechanical whir revving up before he roared in triumph.

Nemona laughed at the display as she called back Talonflame, relieving Tae of the weight on his body. He groaned as he sat up before smiling at Thorn, who was finally getting his time to shine.

'I hated keeping him trapped, but now that I have Koraidon, I don't have to hide them anymore.' Tae thought.

"So this is what the rumors were about. It looks like a Tyranitar... is this also from Area Zero?" Nemona asked.

"Yup. He's one of the heavy hitters, so we'll show you what for." Tae crossed his arms and smirked as Thorn roared again.

Penny and Arven recovered from the winds, staying down as to not fall again. Penny gulped seeing Tae stand against the wind, making Arven burst out into laughter.

"Shut up!" Penny shouted with a glare.

Hydreigon appeared on the battlefield, silently levitating in wait for Thorns to continue fighting.

"Draco Meteor." Nemona chuckled, smirking at Tae to see how he'd response. Assuming Iron Thorns was as physically impressive as its counterpart Tyranitar, it shouldn't have the means to counter such a plentiful destructive force.

Tae didn't reply as Hydreigon roared louder than ever, a plethora of flaming meteors falling from the sky to rain havoc on the field.

Penny and Arven immediately began running for the Pokémon Station in the distance as Tyranitar's energetic body began to glow.

Spinning to show its back, the blue thorns erupted over and over, shooting thorns of plasma against the meteors, the two showers clashing and creating bright explosions.

Tae brushed off the dust and ash, watching as the smoke cleared to reveal the two attacks negated each other.

"What move was that?" Nemona asked in shock.

"Call it an ability. I just assume enough energy allows the thorns to be released." Tae shrugged.

"So it seems. However." Nemona closed her eyes sweetly. "Hyper Beam."

With no warning, Hydreigon's three heads released a massive beam of purple energy that crashed into Thorns with a sickening crack of thunder.

Thorns slid back from the beam, falling to a knee with clear damage from such a powerful attack despite the resistance. It's health was already chipped at by Talonflame, so it couldn't take much more.

Tae clicked his tongue at his reaction time, but decided that even with that he didn't have the mobility to dodge such an attack.

Korai leapt over Tae, landing in his Apex Form for battle, grinning with excitement. Tae smirked seeing how ready he was and crossed his arms in response.

'Another physical attacker. He has no way to close the gap. However, I've never seen this Pokémon battle...' Nemona thought with a hum.

Korai's body was enveloped with a raging orange aura as it placed a hand down for its battle stance.

"Flamethrower!" Nemona ordered.

"Get close."

Koraidon took off in a blur, evading the flames that crashed where he stood.

Koraidon raced forward as Hydreigon began to fly back and away from it. Hydreigon continued to spew flames at Koraidon, but it would sidestep and evade in stride to catch up.

"Collision Course." Tae smirked.

Koraidon's wings sprouted from his head as he leapt over another stream of flames, before it spun forward and dropkicked Hydreigon too fast for it to see.

Hydreigon recovered and saw Korai sprinting at it again but suddenly roll forward and slam its fist into its torso. Following with an uppercut, Koraidon leapt up and kicked it further, completely overwhelming it.

"Hyper Beam." Nemona's smile was gone. 'I really thought this fight would be less even. Maybe I should Terastalize.'

Hydreigon screamed from its three heads as Koraidon swung its fist down at it, a beam crashing into Korai'd chest as he smacked the shit out of Hydreigon.

The two were sent flying back to their trainers, but only Korai was standing from the clash— sliding back to Tae with a growl.

'If he hadn't finished with Drain Punch, Korai would've been finished. She's incredibly strong...' Tae thought.

Hydreigon was still conscious, but Nemona returned it regardless since it was her main source of transportation across Paldea.

"Yikes. I didn't want to use him yet, but man do you have some powerhouse Pokémon. Don't get mad at the face of defeat." Nemona threw up a Pokéball and out came a very intimidating Annihilape.

It's body was colored differently than Tae remembered, so he realized it was a Shiny Pokémon. It's blue palette was cool at a glance, but even more ominous than the usual dull grey.

The Annihilape was silent as possible as it put up its hands for battle.

"Damnit. I know we're in a bind, but let's give it our all, Korai." Tae whispered, knowing he couldn't use Fighting type moves.

"Dragon Claw!" Tae shouted.

"Rage Fist!" Nemona replied.

Korai and Annihilape lunged at each other with their attacks reeled back, the two purples clashing as they swiped and punched at each other.

The two circled around, neither making a single hit on the other with clean dodges, parried that nearly cost their leverage, or clashes that negated the other. The two kept swinging faster and faster, before their limbs became blurs to even their own trainers' eyes.

Having enough of the onslaught, Annihilape reeled back its fists, gaining power from its frustration of dishing no damage, making a purple flame in its hand.

Korai replied by creating an orange and purple blaze of energy, clenching it's claw into a fist as well, it's frills glowing brightly.

The two screamed as they clashed one last time, sending the two skidding back from the massive blast they created.

Tae was sent rolling back but caught himself with his hands as Koraidon panted from the struggle.

Nemona laughed as she got up from her own fall, shocked that Koraidon withheld a max stack Rage Fist.

"You guys are just full of surprises! I love it! Come on! We're can't stop now, ya kn—" Nemona trailed off seeing Korai revert back to his transportation form, making her gasp.

Korai looked at its paws and whined, walking up to Tae with a frown.

"It's okay, buddy. You did great. Me and Wisp will finish what you've started." Tae smiled, rubbing under his chin.

Korai nibbled on his hand playfully as Tae turned back to Nemona.

"Damn... All I've got left, and all I'll need to finish this. Wisp, let's show her our fighting spirit." Tae held up Wisp's damaged Pokéball with a smile.

Appearing right in front of him, Wisp nodded, before turning to the battlefield with a cold stare.

A small whirl of wind blew towards Annihilape as Wisp stood across from it. As it rose its fists in it's unnaturally calm silence, it suddenly felt another small gust of wind.

Nemona was confused by the pulses, and looked at Wisp to see it hadn't moved in the slightest. The only movement was the slight rise in Tae's hair, and a bit of dirt and smoke rising from the ground.

'Take her down.' Tae thought.

'Defeat her.' He continued.

'Destroy her.' Tae continued, seeing only an enemy in his path, his eyes widening as he realized, these weren't actually his own.

Tae felt a pain in his heart as he heard the rambling comments of Wisp's mind, the stinging pain coursing through his veins making him struggle to think clearly.

Clouded by the Vengeful Pokémon's judgement, Tae's pupils began to dilate, before thinning out completely as he clutched his chest in pain.

"...Tae?" Nemona asked with concern, before Wisp and Tae rose their arms.

They thrust them down with Tae's increasingly boisterous scream of anger. The residents of Levincia all look towards the direction of such a hateful scream, seeing only a massive pillar of orange and pink fire.

Penny and Arven stood in shock seeing that Tae was enveloped in this pillar too, frozen in fear for his state.

The pillar of fire suddenly was slashed away with a gale of winds stronger than any hurricane. Annihilape dashed back to protect Nemona, while Arven and Penny cling to the grass to not fly away.

As the winds died, a small flame crackled behind Wisp as it's changed form gleamed pink and orange, illuminating the black armor it now wore.

The flame burned brightly on Tae's chest, right over his heart as he stood limp in exhaustion.

Wisp still stood still, in control of the rage she felt, while Tae began to hold his head in anger and pain.

"Destroy..." Tae muttered.

Wisp's eyes slightly squinted in delight, before disappearing from sight.

Nemona's fear prevented her from issuing a command, but Annihilape disappeared too upon sensing imminent danger.

Wisp and Annihilape met in the center with fist and sword reeled back. The two clashed and locked arms, pulses of wind flaring backwards

Annihilape's other fist was beaming with a spectral purple, the blazing aura of vengeance.

However, the orange and pink flames bursting from the sudden claw that formed from Wisp's right blade shocked Nemona, Penny, and Arven.

The indents and cracks of Wisp's armor suddenly flared in the form of V, the flames surrounding Wisp's armor burning brighter as Tae stared in disgust.

"Perish."