***A/U: Hey people just letting everyone know that I am trying a couple different writing styles and would love any feedback you have. Enjoy the chapter***
(Claire 3rd POV)
Claire felt her heart throb, a sudden pressure covering the entire forested area.
In what felt like an instant Leo had reappeared in front of the cloaked figure. Both people seemed to freeze for a moment.
The sound of clashing chains and exploding energy vanished, making Claire start moving towards the cloaked figure in concern. Only for the figures hood to catch alit as Claire watched.
The platinum flames burned everything it touched with an unnatural hunger.
It quickly ate through the dragon leather hood, only for the girl who had seemed trapped to shatter like broken glass.
Leo was secretly impressed. It was easy for him to see that the girl in front of him had extreme talent in Spatial manipulation.
Even so, since this girl had started this game, it was only fair that Leo finished it.
"I hope you can continue to surprise me." Leo muttered, a savage smile slowly spreading across his face.
(SAPHIRA 3rd POV)
Saphira (mew) watched the ongoing altercation with a detached interest. "Every time someone lands a solid blow, he goes bloodthirsty."
She knew he was still in full control, but looking at the slowly expanding bloodline projection behind him it was doubtful that he would maintain that control.
"Honestly the suppression is more for his mental state than anything else, yet this idiot managed to find a way to fuck up his own suppression.
At this point I think it might have been better for him to develop the blood and slaughter Origins instead."
Saphira's eyes rolled as she casually floated high above the chaos, close enough to respond to Leo instantly but far enough that nobody was paying attention to her. Well, almost nobody.
Saphira could feel a perception lock on her that she had not been able to escape from ever since she was summoned by Leo earlier.
Making a lazy circle in the sky, she secretly took in the surroundings again.
Her eyes caught a flash of purple, and she turned just in time to see Bertha smiling up at her.
Squinting her eyes at the unfathomable old lady, Saphira could barely make out a few Dreepy swimming around in the lady's shadow.
Saphira saw Bertha's eyes crinkle as she smiled up at her in genuine amusement. She nearly teleported away when the old woman's voice abruptly resounded in her mental space.
"Now little hatchling I know this is all very stressful for you, but I promise you and your partner are absolutely safe here." Saphira snorted when she heard that.
"I assure you neither I nor my partner believe us to be in any mortal danger. I find it foolish to needlessly brag but, I can say with certainty that even if this whole universe were to be destroyed right now, we would be perfectly fine." Saphira retorted, a cute little smirk on her face.
Bertha's eyes seemed to gleam with an intense curiosity, making Saphira secretly sweat suppressing a shudder, worried for a second that the old lady was about to test her claim personally.
Thankfully Bertha didn't act upon her thoughts only filing the info away for now. Focusing on Saphira again, Bertha waved a hand for the fearless little mythical pokemon to descend.
Feeling no danger Saphira slipped through the shadows to the old woman's side.
She kept a wary eye on the shadow directly connected to the woman, knowing better than to assume she had seen all that lurked there.
Even so, Saphira was speechless to see Bertha casually waving a hand and somehow grabbing onto her body.
She had to temporarily numb her connection with Leo to prevent disturbing his concentration with her own emotional spikes even as a yellow light enveloped her.
Bertha gently beckoned, the shadows solidifying in a way that Saphira had never seen.
Before she could think about how that was even possible, she had already found herself staring into the warm brown eyes of Bertha as she was held like a baby.
"Like I was saying there's no chance of anything HARMFUL happening. Let's give these 2 a couple more moments to introduce themselves. Afterwards we'll see just how ready you 2 hatchlings are."
Bertha hugged the somewhat despondent mew to her chest as she spoke with a laugh.
As Saphira resigned herself to her fate she realized that there was something off about the surroundings. With a trembling voice she spoke "M-m-My Lady b-Bertha how long have we been here?"
Bertha grinned as she gave the mew an approving head pat. "I see you are more observant than you let on. To answer your question, we've been here since the moment you all saw me."
Saphira was stunned by this. It was obvious to her now that this world was far from a normal level 10 reality. "Is this a transcendent Origin region?" Saphira couldn't help but ask, regretting it almost instantly.
"I am not sure what those terms mean, but I can tell you that this universe is not restricted to the power of a level 10 reality." Bertha's kind smile held a predatory undertone.
"We can discuss such matters in more depth later. For now, little one, we must observe this historical moment. And prevent these 2 from accidently killing someone."
Bertha turned her attention back to the confrontation, asking her friend to readjust reality to ensure they didn't miss anything. Saphira sighed internally but decided to let things play out for now.
(LEO 3rd POV)
Leo had noticed that Saph seemed to be preoccupied with the dangerous old woman.
Given her genuine kindness thus far, Leo wasn't too concerned about Saph at the moment.
He was beginning to get frustrated by the fact that he still hadn't found the cloaked figure after nearly a whole minute of spreading his senses.
He could feel his bloodline rampaging inside his body celebrating its release. It was controllable for now, but if he didn't find a use for his energy or suppress it soon, he would end up losing control again.
He could tell that there was something wrong with the environment. His father had explained the lower-level abilities of his bloodline.
Based on his growth and ability he should have had complete control over this whole forest area.
Yet, he could feel multiple presences watching him causing his already limited patience to thin further. Knowing that this couldn't continue, Leo resolved to make a move too big to dodge or ignore.
He idly wondered if he would get to have an actual pokemon battle anytime soon. As fun and exciting as this whole fight had been, Leo was more than ready to make friends with all the pokemon.
(CLAIRE 3rd POV)
His eyes carried an unfathomable abyss, platinum flames surging so brightly that his pupils disappeared. Within a blink the energy blazed, surging out of his eyes only to be reabsorbed by the tattoo like markings gradually lighting up on his body.
Claire could feel the temperature starting to rise all around them. As she watched, a hazy image appeared in the air behind Leo, showing a person covered in chains, struggling to break free.
A few moments passed, the markings glowing brighter as they continuously absorbed the plasma like energy. *CLANG*... *CLANG*...*CLANG* A sudden chorus of chains clashing rhythmically startled the 3 onlookers.
The cloaked figure watched with growing interest. "Oh? Is that a manifestation of his bloodline?" The young woman under the cloak muttered just loud enough for Claire to hear.
"My lady Cynthia don't you think it would be wise to end this test of yours now? Before everyone starts taking this too seriously."
Claire mustered her courage and spoke imploringly to the cloaked figure.
"Nah, there's no need to stop just yet. It's obvious this guy is still holding back, and I want to see just how talented this so-called super genius really is."
Cynthia spoke with a calm, almost amused voice yet Claire knew from years of experience that the girl had to be fuming internally.
Claire could tell that the elder's decision had bothered the girl more than she let on.
More than that, Claire knew the elders were using this moment to observe and test the qualifications of Leo, wanting to see proof of his abilities both in combat and leadership.
That was part of the reason why Grand Elder Bertha was personally overseeing this operation with her strongest partners.
Claire was glad that Cynthia had hidden her otherwise she feared she would have ruined the whole mission by getting caught earlier.
She knew the girl only had the best intentions, but as she felt the power and heat continuing to come from Leo, Claire knew the battle was already over.
She wished she could have told Cynthia about the elder's whole plan, but they had expressly forbidden her to tell anyone else.
"You should at least have gone for a standard pokemon battle. As it stands, he has every right to kill you on sight.
Come now, don't be dramatic all I did was cut him in half. You just said he's still not taking this too seriously, which means he is obviously not REALLY as upset as he seems."
Cythia words drawled out, sounding relaxed enough for Claire to question her own panic, for a moment.
"His level has not changed as far as I can tell. Yet somehow his combat capability seems to have shot up to about a level 30 and is steadily rising."
Claire spoke as she observed the seemingly limitless release of power and energy start to physically alter their environment.
"What bullshit bloodline would give this kid so much power so easily?!" Claire's heart skipped a beat as she realized that she couldn't feel Leo's rampaging energy anymore.
She forced her head towards the brilliant lights only to see them all vanished, apart from what looked like a solid band of light that floated in Leo's hand.
As she watched, Leo raised his hand to observe the band for some reason. Then he lightly tossed the ring upwards.
Claire only had enough time to hear Kingdra freaking out about how the distortion realm shouldn't be changing like that.
The next moment, before her eyes could adjust... the world exploded.