The Voices drifted over from the clearing, low and measured, carrying clearly in the still night sky.
The shorter figure—Xerosic—hunched over a tablet-like device, fingers tapping rapidly on the screen. He muttered under his breath, voice low and technical, like he was lecturing himself through a puzzle.
"Wave amplitude exceeding thresholds again. The collar's signal is overpowering the neural pathways. No bond synchronization means no stabilization. It's rejecting the forced trigger entirely. Vital signs erratic, aggression levels off the chart. Another iteration down."
The taller figure—Lysandre—stood motionless beside him, left hand raised. A strange glove covered it, metallic and angular, glowing faintly with purple light.
He watched the thrashing creature without expression, voice calm but laced with quiet disappointment. "This was supposed to refine the process. Yet the results remain the same. Unrestrained power, but no control."
Xerosic kept murmuring, adjusting his goggles with one hand while the other poked at the tablet. "Frequency modulation isn't compensating. The Keystone in the glove activates the collar, but without the trainer's harmony, the Pokémon's instincts overload. Pain feedback loop. Structural strain on the subject is too high. We'll need to dampen the initial surge next time."
Lysandre lowered his hand slowly, the purple glow dimming but not fading completely. He kept watching the Mega Gyarados thrash, head tilting slightly as if studying a disappointing experiment.
"Continue the adjustments. The vision demands perfection."
Xerosic nodded.
The Mega Gyarados coiled and uncoiled in violent spasms. Its scales gleamed under the moonlight, but its eyes burned solid red—no pupils, no recognition, just raw fury. It slammed its tail against the ground again, sending another tremor rolling through the earth.
Dirt sprayed upward, trees shook, and the air filled with the low roar of its pained thrashing.
Satoshi stayed crouched, breath shallow, eyes locked on the scene through the bush. Zigzagoon pressed close behind to his side, fur bristling. Froakie remained on his shoulder, still and silent, watching with the same focused intensity.
Satoshi's thoughts raced through his head in complete shock.
'Why are these guys… Out of all the people I have encountered in this world, all the way out here… IT HAS TO BE THEM??' His fingers tightened into a hard fist against the dirt, knuckles pressing down until small bits of soil pushed up between them.
Froakie stayed completely silent on Satoshi's right shoulder, but anger showed clearly in the way his body tensed.
His eyes locked onto the Mega Gyarados, watching every painful thrash and hearing every strained roar from the forced experiment. The frog Pokémon's webbed hand moved slowly toward the glands on his neck, fingers already starting to gather Frubbles as he prepared to act.
Before he could release anything, Satoshi's left hand lifted and gently but firmly pressed against Froakie's small arm, stopping the motion completely.
"Stay calm," Satoshi said in a low, steady voice that carried no room for argument. "Don't be reckless."
"Froa—! (But—!)" Froakie started, the protest sharp in his throat.
He cut himself off the moment he turned his head and met Satoshi's gaze. Satoshi's face had gone serious—eyes narrow, mouth set in a straight line, staring straight ahead at the clearing without blinking.
The look said everything: wait, watch, think first. Froakie's shoulders dropped slightly. He let his hand fall back to his side, reluctant but obeying, the Frubbles he had started forming dissolving back into his skin.
Snap!
The single, sharp sound cut through the night like a crack in glass.
Both Satoshi and Froakie went pale at the exact same second. Their heads turned slowly, dramatically, eyes opening wide as if hoping it is something else.
Zigzagoon stood frozen exactly where he had been crouching a step behind them.
Sweat rolled down the sides of his face in thick drops, his whole body stiff, front paws still raised halfway like he had been about to move again.
His ears flattened tight against his head, and his tail hung motionless. Under his right hind paw lay the broken remains of a dry twig—split cleanly in half, the fresh break pale and obvious even in the dim moonlight.
Somehow, out of every possible spot in the entire forest floor covered with leaves and dirt, he had found the one stick that snapped louder than anything else.
Satoshi and Froakie stared at him for a full second.
"Zigzagoon... (I did not knew I swear...)"
Then, at the exact same moment, both of them brought one of their hands up and smacked their own foreheads in perfect unison.
"You got to be kidding me…"
They muttered together, voices low and filled with the same tired disbelief.
Then Lysandre voice came.
"Who's there." he said, the words calm and even, carrying clearly across the small clearing.
Xerosic moved up beside him, still holding the tablet close to his chest. He adjusted his red goggles with a single finger.
"Sir," he added in his flat, matter-of-fact voice, "it seems a certain individual was attracted by the sound that our experiment made."
Satoshi stayed low behind what remained of the bush, body pressed flat against the dirt. "Agh…!" A short, quiet grunt of frustration escaped him, barely louder than his own breathing. His mind raced in tight circles.
'Damn, i was hoping the two of them didn't notice… But what do I do now! WHAT DO I DO!' Panic clawed at the edges of every thought, making his pulse thud hard in his ears and his fingers dig deeper into the soil.
Before he could force any kind of plan together, Lysandre lifted his left arm again. The sharp purple flashes as he pointed straight toward the bush where the noise came from.
"Gyarados," he commanded, tone unchanged. "Use Fire Blast."
Satoshi's stomach dropped. "Huh?"
There was no time left to think or move properly.
The Mega Gyarados, still locked in its pained, uncontrollable state, jerked its massive head toward the sound of the order. Its red eyes flared brighter for an instant. Then its wide jaws parted fully.
A tremendous burst of fire erupted from its mouth. The flames formed a huge, five-pointed star shape that roared forward in a single violent surge. Heat blasted the air ahead of the fire itself, bending grass flat and sending loose leaves swirling upward before the actual blaze arrived.
BOOM!
The Fire Blast struck the bush and the area around it with full force. Orange light exploded outward, consuming every dry leaf, twig, and patch of undergrowth in seconds.
The ground blackened in a wide, uneven circle. Smaller fires sparked to life on nearby branches and fallen logs, catching quickly and spreading with steady crackles as the flames climbed higher into the trees.
The entire spot where Satoshi and his Pokémon had been hiding disappeared under the roaring heat.
"Hm… No one was there," Xerosic said after a short pause. He tilted his goggles slightly, lenses reflecting the growing orange glow. "Apologize for the false alarm, sir."
Lysandre did not answer right away.
He kept his eyes on the fire, watching the way it moved faster now, jumping from tree to tree along the dry canopy edges. His expression stayed blank, almost thoughtful.
"The test will be postponed." he said finally.
He snapped the fingers of his gloved hand once. The sharp sound cut through the noise of the burning forest.
The Mega Gyarados let out one last low, ragged roar. Then its body shuddered hard. The glowing energy around it faded in a ripple, scales dulling as the forced Mega Evolution reversed. The strange collar on its neck dimmed and went dark now that it was deactivated.
The large pokémon collapsed onto its side with a heavy thud that shook the ground one more time, breathing rough and uneven. Lysandre raised a standard Poké Ball without looking away from the spreading flames. A red beam shot out, pulling the exhausted Gyarados back inside. The ball clicked shut quietly in his palm.
Xerosic nodded once.
"Right, sir. Let's get back to the hoverplane I have specifically prepared just in case."
They turned together and walked away from the clearing without another word. Their footsteps faded quickly into the shadows of the trees. A low hum started up soon after—the sound of engines powering on.
Moments later, a sleek hoverplane rose above the canopy, its underside lights cutting thin beams through the smoke before it tilted forward and flew off into the night sky, disappearing over the distant treetops.
Meanwhile, in the same spot where the bush had once stood—now nothing more than a wide patch of blackened earth and smoldering stumps—Satoshi lay flat on his stomach a short distance away.
"Holy crap! I almost died…!" he gasped out, chest rising and falling fast.
His voice shook with leftover fear, words coming between heavy breaths. Sweat ran down the sides of his face, mixing with streaks of ash and dirt.
Both hands clutched one Poké Ball each—Zigzagoon's in his right palm, Froakie's in his left—fingers wrapped so tight that his knuckles showed white under the grime.
A few moments earlier, he had managed to throw himself sideways just as the Fire Blast reached them.
His body rolled across the uneven ground, shoulder slamming into dirt and roots, hand insinctively grabbing two balls at his belt. In the middle of the tumble, his right hand found Zigzagoon's Poké Ball. He immediately pull it out and pressed the button in the center.
The red recall beam flashed out and absorb the raccoon pokémon inside before the flames could close in. His left hand did the same for Froakie at almost the exact same instant, as the heat rushed overhead, then burst into a scattering blast of flame as the return on both Poké Balls clicked shut with less than a second to spare.
Before coming to a stop on his front with lungs burning from the hot, smoky air he had sucked in during the escape.
Flames kept spreading outward from the blackened circle where the Fire Blast had landed. They moved slowly at first, licking along dry grass and fallen leaves, then picked up speed as they found more fuel.
Crackling sounds grew louder, mixing with the pop of sap heating inside branches. The wildfire was starting in earnest now, and a steady orange glow built behind Satoshi, lighting up the trees and ground in shifting patterns he hadn't noticed yet.
His own shadow stretched long and dark in front of him, sharper and clearer than it had been a second ago. Satoshi paused mid-breath, confused for half a second. Then he looked up.
Fire surrounded him on almost every side. Tall flames climbed the trunks nearby, jumped from branch to branch overhead, and closed in from the direction of the clearing. Heat pressed against his skin like an open oven door, and smoke thickened the air, stinging his eyes.
"Uh oh." he said quietly, the words slipping out flat and surprised.
He clenched his teeth hard enough to feel the pressure in his jaw. "Hngh! No time to stand around." Satoshi pushed himself up from his stomach in one quick motion, knees bending then straightening under him.
Both Poké Balls stayed gripped tight in his hands—the one for Froakie already selected. He drew his arm back, snapped his wrist forward, and tossed the ball high into the smoky air above him.
"Froakie, come out!" The ball burst opened with a flash of red light. Froakie materialized midair, body curling slightly as he dropped.
At the same time, Satoshi broke into a sprint, catching its capsule in the process so it wouldn't be lost.
His shoes dug into the soft dirt and ash, kicking up small clouds with each step as he headed back the way they had come from—toward the camp, toward Bonnie. He shoved Zigzagoon's pokéball into his right pocket to free that hand, then raised his left arm to shield his face.
Thick smoke rolled toward him in waves, burning his nostrils and making every breath feel raw. He kept his sleeve pressed over his mouth and nose as best he could while running.
"Quick use Water Pulse!" Satoshi called out between heavy breaths. "Clear the path—we have to get back to Bonnie and bring her to safety!"
Froakie twisted his body in the air to face forward. "Froa! (Got it!)" he answered sharply.
Both webbed hands came up in front of him. Blue energy gathered fast between his palms, swirling into a tight, spinning orb of water that grew larger with each second. The orb pulsed with faint ripples on its surface.
Then Froakie thrust both arms straight out. The Water Pulse shot forward like a cannon blast, a solid stream of pressurized water that cut through the nearest wall of flames ahead of Satoshi.
Splash!
The fire hissed and shrank back where the water hit.
Steam exploded upward in thick white clouds, and a narrow corridor opened through the burning undergrowth—charred plants bending away, embers scattering to the sides. The path wasn't completely clear, but it was enough to run through without getting burned right away.
Froakie dropped straight down after firing the move. His small feet landed right on top of Satoshi's head with a solid thump. The sudden weight pushed Satoshi's chin forward for a split second. His knees buckled slightly, steps stuttering as he fought to keep his balance mid-stride.
"Geez! Great landing!" Satoshi managed to say, voice strained from the run and the smoke. "Although you should've fall more gently next time! And keep using Water Pulse!"
Froakie adjusted his stance on Satoshi's head, knees bending to stay steady as Satoshi kept moving. The frog Pokémon's throat sac pulsed once while he gathered energy again.
Another Water Pulse formed between his hands, smaller this time but ready to fire at the next patch of flames blocking their way.
Satoshi's lungs burned with every breath he took. Smoke kept trying to get past his raised arm, forcing him to squint against the sting in his eyes. His legs pumped harder, boots pounding the uneven ground—over roots, through patches of ash that puffed up around his ankles.
'Can't believe this is happening…' he thought, the words bitter and sarcastic inside his head. 'What a coincidence. I could have easily put all these flames out if I wanted to, but no—I left my backpack at the camp. So now I'm very unlucky.'
He gritted his teeth again and pushed forward faster, following the wet trail Froakie was carving through the fire, every step taking him closer to the edge of the spreading blaze and back toward the safety of the camp.
*
To be continued...
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