The Human Species Ch. 82 - Cardinal Master Red
#86 of The Human Species
Humanity has finally gotten fed up with their fragile position in the world of Pokémon. Gathering the best of trainers, they have decided to subdue or dispose of every powerful Pokémon in existence.
The strong will expire as a large conflict between Pokémon and humans arises... But which side of the conflict will you end up on when you are neither Pokémon nor human...?
The exotic Raikou stood tall and proud, not showing the slightest hint of discomfort in the biting chill. He lowered his head as Red adjusted his winter coat and climbed up upon the beast's back, covering himself in the warm, cozy mane.
"Sweet ride. How fast does it go?" Pikablu asked with a mocking tone. He could not shake the feeling that he was but a rat barking at a tiger, and was certain that anyone else in his position would be running for the hills right about now. Even so, Pikablu was not about to falter. Earlier in his life he had matched and perhaps even bested Celebi, a legendary a whole tier above the one currently in front of him.
A frown crossed Red's expression as the Pikachu suddenly made a small hop, stomping down and sinking into the snow. They layer of snow was a good decimeter thick, and so the small rodent found his entire lower body submerged. As if eager to further worsen his predicament, he crouched down and placed his hands against the frozen soil.
"... Reducing your own mobility? Raikou..." Red said with a dull tone as he patted the side of his Pokémon's head, "... Stomp."
Raikou showed no hesitation as he made a ferocious lunge, bringing his forepaw down on Pikablu. As it hit the ground, the lack of moisture in the air caused massive sparks of static electricity to stem from the mighty slam, making the snow around the impact site to scatter in all directions. Raikou lifted his paw, witnessing the crater that had swallowed up the hole as well as the small electric rodent within.
"Actually, I was increasing my mobility. You know, 25%?" Pikablu said while calmly leaning up against Raikou's other foreleg, prompting a startled expression from Red. The electrical charge from Raikou's attack seemed to have latched on to the Pikachu somehow, sparks emanating out of his body in steady pulses.
The legendary dog spent no time figuring out what had happened, instantly sweeping the ground with his great claws. Pikablu did not bother backing away from the fierce attack, instead running directly between the large beast's front legs. Raikou halted his swipe in the last second as he noticed his target disappearing from view, Pikablu suddenly jumping up with all his might and headbutting the great tiger's stomach. An audible cough came from Raikou as he temporarily staggered, Pikablu taking the opportunity to headbutt his foe once again. The legendary dog had apparently had enough of the rat's assault, discharging all of his stored up electricity and surrounding himself with a powerful veil of lightning. However, Pikablu had already escaped from underneath him, crouching several meters away with a sinister smile.
"That's two attacks..." Pikablu said with a voice rattled by the strong electricity running through his body, "... Hmm, you used three? Strange, you seemed pretty damn slow to me!"
"... You..." was all Raikou was able to say, still reeling and feeling queasy from Pikablu's raw force. Red continued staring at the Pikachu while gauging the situation. A moment passed before the old trainer lowered his head and sighed in dismay.
"How unfortunate. I was going to let you go free..." he whispered as he reached into his backpack, bringing out a regular Pokéball from one of the pockets, "... But after such a magnificent display, how can I?"
"Ugh... Do you smell that...?" Lucario muttered bitterly as he clutched the end of his long snout. His group had just passed the gates of Pokémon Stadium, and as he was not busy experiencing a long-winded flashback this time around he was fully aware of the awful waft coming from inside. It smelled like burnt hair, and there was a defined hint of gore mixed into it. Seeing Zoroark's and Zerobi's equally disgusted expressions, he could tell it was not just his imagination. At the same time, it occurred to him that Zoroark had made them all visible once more.
Meanwhile, Zerobi was dealing with a problem worse than the stench. Her heart palpitated at an alarming rate and her body was tingling all over with the same kind of feeling she got after just having finished carving up an unfortunate victim, about to take her first dip into the bloodbath. It was a good feeling, and that is what worried her.
"There's so much blood in the air!" she tried to whisper, but was unable to hold back the urgency in her voice, "It wasn't this bad before!"
"Hmm? I did trash Torana pretty badly, I guess," Lucario replied confidently, hoping they would not point out that the fiery bird had no hair to be burnt in the first place, and that he had bled a whole lot more than she had. Zoroark felt troubled by the heavy musk of death hanging over them, and quietly ran a claw over her lips to see if they were sticky. It was a common effect from lingering fat in the air, which in itself was a common effect of someone exploding. Sensing nothing, she hoped their sentient blood-detector would continue to keep her informed.
"Follow me," Zoroark ordered as she moved ahead, "And remember that we are here for the virus. We can worry about anything else later, and that includes corpses."
"Right, let's drop the illusion and charge in like real men!" Lucario said while clenching his fists as his excitement quickly turned into worry, "... That is why you dropped the illusion, right?"
"Men?" Zoroark snapped back before suddenly realizing she still had her regular illusion activated, "I mean, yes. Like men."
Zerobi felt left out, being the only girl in the group. She knew groups of three usually came all male, such as the three legendary dogs and the legendary trio. Tugging her mind away from the lingering blood, she found herself wondering how the latter was holding up against the former.
"Raikou..." Red muttered with an uncaring flick of his wrist, "... Thunderbolt."
The mighty legendary roared and spat out a ball of lightning, the mass of electricity grazing Pikablu as he used his 25% to zoom past it.
"You call that aiming?" Pikablu asked while lowering his hands once more, letting the excess electricity flow out of his body and into the ground, "Probably used to facing bigger targets, huh? That stupid mask is obscuring your vision; let me help you with that!"
Once more he made use of his superior agility to make his way to Raikou unhindered. Not even waiting for Red's commands, Raikou tried to bite down on Pikablu but only got a mouthful of air as the speedy rat jumped up and headbutted the underside of his chin, his teeth crashing together painfully.
"Watch your tongue... Both of you..." Red muttered words of warning as Raikou slowly staggered backwards, not even bothering to strike out at the untouchable Pikachu in front. Pikablu felt his body reaching its limit and decided to temporarily deactivate 25%. Letting all the electricity flow out of him, he smiled as he felt amazed by his own abilities.
"I knew it!" he shouted and crossed his arms in a prideful gesture, "You legendaries are too damn lazy, doing nothing but relying on your inherent abilities! All it took was some training plus a few new skills, and even a guy like me can usurp your throne!"
"... Training..." Raikou repeated slowly with a certain harrowed tone to his voice. It was at that point Red realized the gravity of the situation. He was not simply one command away from going back inside to his warm fireplace and comfy chair, unlike with most of his encounters. For the first time in years, he was actually being met with resistance. Standing up on Raikou's back he gazed down at the creature in front, analyzing his every detail.
"I must say, I am impressed that a wild Pikachu would know of such a high level move..." Red said loudly as he reminisced, "... A most impressive technique. I still remember when I first taught it to my own Pikachu. Blaine's called me a 'cheater' for using it to defeat his Rhydon..."
"... Taught...?" Pikablu repeated with a confused expression. Red sat down again with a slight bit of effort as his knees refused to bend properly, and grabbed onto Raikou's mane once more.
"But for maximum efficiency, you really should apply the technique to a body with greater bulk..." Red explained as he patted the head of his Pokémon and lowered himself, disappearing inside the fluffy mane, "Raikou, show him how it is done."
Something changed in the eyes of the tiger as Pikablu could not help but take a step back, still trying to comprehend what he had just heard. Raikou relaxed his muscles for a moment before slamming the front of his body into the ground, lightning stemming from the impact with a loud crash, surrounding the legendary dog in an aura of flashes and whirling electricity. Throwing his head to the skies and piercing the blizzard with an intimidating howl, Raikou activated the same technique that had led Pikablu through so many battles before.
Unable to do anything but stare in disbelief, Pikablu noticed that he was trembling, and it was not because of the cold.