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Back pedaling a step down I keep eye contact with the crane with feathers like aluminum sheeting. I push Naomi back with one hand while my right is poised at my side. The bird of prey stalks us one step at a time.

I can hear battles continuing throughout the expansive atrium while I consider my options. I don’t have a fire type, well, aside from a few locked and untrained ones for the breeders. Electric will have to do, but Tesla is also bug type...

As soon as Naomi reaches the base of the stairs I reach for Tesla’s Netball and the Skarmory makes a lunge!

No time to think! Ducking under the snapping beak I grab the steel crane by the extended neck. Wings flap and pull me forward into a stumble.

“Shit!”

Talons shred my left shoulder.

Blood sprays across the glass escalator siding as Naomi screams, “Kurt! Delphi We need healing!”

Letting go of the sharp bird I can see the flash of a pokeball in the reflective feathers. A cool sensation brushes against my back accompanied by Floette’s whistling.

Jason looks back from his fight against the royals at the top of the stairs, “Resilient I see, well, I’ll just up the danger.”

With a flash a bipedal cactus with a hat appears and I can swear I see it’s needles flexing towards me. “Watts, get clear!”

Hundreds of dark needles the size of toothpicks spray down the stairs as I jump the railing to evade. Naomi mutters an ‘Eeep!’ as I land beside her.

Right in time I spot Ed and Tommy rounding a nearby giant planter.

“Welcome to the party boys, now get out your fire types!”

“Kurt!” Ed stalls at the bloodstains coating my side but Tommy elbows him while releasing his new Pignite. Ed follows up with his Litwick that floats on a little black saucer.

Both point at the menacing pair on the stairs and shout, “Ember!”

The initial gout startles Skarmory and Cacturne back. Tommy shouts, “Flame Charge!” while Ed commands, “Fire Spin!”

Figuring this guy won't keep his pokemon in the heat I hop back over the railing and move up. Sure enough, I spot more pokeball flashes past the flames and charge ahead. A brief moment of surprise on Jason’s face as I leap past the Pignite and through the flames.

His higher position makes the first punch a miss as he side steps me, “Easy now old timer, you might fall and break a hip!” He lashes out with a vicious kick to my face. I really do almost fall leaning back to dodge but catch myself a couple steps down.

Edgar’s grey Corvisquire flys up and makes Jason duck or take a drill peck to his head. More trainers round the plants below. His dark furred Persian yowls down at its trainer.

Jason chuckles, “Yes I was thinking it might be time to go as well.” The brat has the nerve to give a salute, “Till next time ladies, and Mr. Bodyguard.”

Before I can climb back up to grab him, Jason returns all his pokemon but Persian and both leap over the railing from near the top. I quickly look over the side to see him grab onto Persian’s fur as both splash into a shadow on the floor like it was just dark water.

Grace Ketchum rushes beside me, looking down, “Damn! It’s always one way or another!”

“Was he not with the assholes attacking the tower?”

Iris Cerulean is quickly brushing bits of poisonous sludge from her Glaceon’s fur, “No, Jason is a thief from Kanto. We spotted him leaving the vault where the League stores Z crystals farmed from the region.”

An explosion rocks the building from somewhere up in the tower, “Let's regroup and then chat.”

Crystal points at my shoulder, “Ya, you're still leaking red stuff there boss man.”

My arm has gone completely numb which can’t be good, “I think I know where I can find a good trauma doctor.”

Naomi stays within arms reach as we navigate up two more floors, only stopping to have Tesla web some punk with his Alolan Raticate long enough for Grace’s Mightyena to wreck it.

Deciding to cool the tension a bit, I ask, “Are you girls planning on sticking to monotype teams in every region?”

Grace smirks but Iris beats her to the answer, “We’re going to replace the elite four of Kanto one day, all of us… and I guess some random fourth wheel.”

Chuckling, “I’m calling it now, that Jason guy will take the last spot just to mess with you.”

All three teen girls look sick or pale at the idea.

Crystal groans, “His parents would be all for it too, oh Arceus, now I can see it happening.”

“You know his parents?”

“Ya,” Grace seems to be trying not to look at my shoulder, “He’s from my hometown. His folks are friends with my old man.”

Noooo! “It can’t be Jessie and James?!”

Iris raises a brow, “You hear of those cringelords?”

As we make it up the last stairs and approach the area where Zapdos is being kept I spot Jane rounding the corner ahead of her aunt Lucy and the folks from the tower broadcast.

“Kurt!” Her eyes catch the trail of blood along the floor behind me, “What happened?!”

Tommy finally pipes up, poor lad has always been shy around the Kanto queens, “He wrestled a Skarmory!”

Lucy smirks, “Of Course you did, remind me to slap your head once your pretty doctor finishes stitching you up.”

The presumably real Guzma, being held up by Professor Kukui and Barry groans, “Can we chat after someone finds me a couch?”

We all head inside a pair of sliding doors that only unlock after confirming everyone’s identity. I'm instantly wrapped in a hug from a goddess of a redhead, which sends spikes of pain rocketing all up and down my side.

“Mind the shredded bits love.” I barely whisper through grit teeth.

Lacy’s eyes go wide in seeing the blood covering her arms as she pulls away, “Over there! Lillie can you help please?!”

“Certainly.” Miss Stone-faced Director opens a glass door to a room for human patients. This part of the pokemon center is built for longer staying patients. Away from the noise of the floors below, a glass dome ceiling allows sunlight to highlight a center garden surrounded by glass walled patient rooms.

The young Zapdos sits in the center garden, excitedly flapping her wings and softly cawing for Naomi who rushes into the bright yellow feathers of her legendary guardian.

A woman, too old to be rocking those twin tails, trailing the broadcast team complains, “Lils, what about my Guzma!”

“He’s not leaking blood on my floor.”

Face down on the pad I feel both ladies start to clean up my cuts and stitch things back up while applying the human version of potions.

A nearby screen turns on by itself to reveal a bull sized fellow in a space suit, “I have control of the tower Lils. You’ll need to hurry, Faba’s Xurkitree is trying to cook the entire mainframe!”

Director Lillie gives the man a rare smile and steps into the lobby so that Zapdos snuggling Naomi is in the background as every screen in the tower and across the broadcast comes to life centered on her.

“People of Alola and trainers within the tower. Once more Team Ultra have masked their greed and destructive ways behind a cause they care nothing about. All throughout this complex trainers from all regions are fighting to stop this evil. This violence only benefits the enemy, a weak Alola makes it all the easier for them to achieve their goals.”

The broadcast displays dozens of trainers battling it out in the tower and pokecenter lobby. Brock’s Alolan Golem smashes into an Arbok, Kiawe’s Talonflame takes out a Bisharp, Misty’s Blastoise is hydro pumping Alolan Raticate left and right.

“The League will always support our Kahunas. I grew up on these islands, I, am the League Director for Alola, the line stops with me. I say that Alola must step beyond the shadow of the world. We are not a weak region to be exploited and looked down on. It is in the Alolan spirit to welcome friends into our community, to make them feel like family. Just as your Kahunas did for me decades ago. Together, as friends and family, we will kick these destructive miscreants out of our tower! This is the Alolan Battle Tower! The peak will not crumble!”

The glass above the garden shatters as a familiar black Charizard with it’s rider crashes into the room!

Lillie raises a silver pokeball and a strange metal doll appears, “Maggy, Fluer Cannon!”

Gears float into the air, spinning rapidly as they line up, creating a barrel, a bright rainbow beam of light fires across the room and tears a hole straight through the chest of the already limping dragon. I notice that the cameras caught everything.

“NO!” a man crawls out from under the wing of his dying pokemon, “You’ll pay for that bitch.”

Clearly this man has no care for league rules as eight flashes of light stream out from his jacket. A Weavile brandishes it’s claws, a Garchomp roars, Electavire and Magmortar radiate with sparks and flames, a Poliwrath cracks it’s knuckles, a Staraptor caws, a Dustclops bows and finally the imposing figure of a Mega Metagross floats in the air near the shattered dome.

Right, problems, “Lacy, am I closed up?”

Her hand tightens over mine, “Stay out of it Kurt, if we just wait in here they may not even notice us.”

“You're forgetting something,” I sigh as I sit up and grab my red shirt and torn black jacket, “The girls and the new brat are out there.”

Sure enough I see a very angry Zapdos already frying the Staraptor and keeping the Electivire occupied while Jane and Citro stand beside the Pike Queen, Crooky the Krokorok is backing up Lucy’s Seviper against Magmortar while Citro’s Thwacky is helping Lillie’s Alolan Nintails dominate the Garchomp. Kukui’s Incineroar is beating down the Dusclops. Guzma’s Volcarona is sending heat at the Metagross alongside his wife’s Emboar and Barry’s Infernape. Poliwrath is trying to stall the fire types to some effect.

The Kanto girls are getting into the chaos with their own pokemon as well. Barely any space in the holding wing isn’t filled with battling.

Finally, contrary to my fiance’s expectation, a sinister bipedal cat appears in my room. Weavile flicks out it’s icy claws.

I pull out my Joltik’s netball, “We got this Tess, Lacy get out Archy and keep safe.”

Tesla’s spiderwebs fly around the room as the quick little bastard moves to close in and slice my red bug, Archen’s gusts barely stall the ice weasel just before it hits Tesla and that's all I needed. I’m not playing by the rules today either!

Grabbing the unsuspecting pokemon by its scruffy red mane, I slam it on the ground and drop kick it right out of the room. Nasty bugger manages to get a cut across my leg on its way out the door.

I start hobbling forward as Lacy shouts, “Kurt!”

Not sure if she’s aghast at what i just did or concerned about my leg, now's not the time, “Get to The Pike! I’m going for Naomi.”

As I approach, I can see Alain standing in front of the Wattson girl, “Put her in the ball and hand it over, I won’t leave here empty handed!”

Watts smirks as she sees me limping forward, “Go fuck yourself!”

I grab Alain by his burnt jacket while looking at Naomi, “Language, Princess.”

The man's gray eyes narrow at me over his shoulder, “You’ll wanna let me go. This is way over your head, bodyguard.”

As I’m considering feeding this ass to my Golbat. A silver ring appears in the air beside us.

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