Duel of the Duos! (PokéTales)

'Duel of the Duos! 'is the seventh chapter of the PokéTales entry Kalos Rejuvenated, created and written by 15bowdenc. It follows directly on from, and continues the story of, the sixth chapter, Sylvia Seeing Stars!.

Story
Three people kicked out of two separate teams. Who would’ve thought they would come to work together?

Jessie, James and Bruce had spent almost an hour going over the plan to infiltrate the Team Flare hideout after their previous individual failures; Bruce, with hi knowledge of the layout of the area surrounding the hideout, would find a way into Sylvia’s test chamber to save her (much to the relief of Jessie and James, who had memories of her vicious psychic powers ingrained into their brains) while the two former Team Rocket members would clear a path for Bruce and Sylvia to escape from, defeating any trainers they came across.

“Ready?”.

“Ready.”.

“Let’s go.”.

Bruce was first.

He went down the side of the mountain the hideout was located on and swiftly disappeared without trace, while Jessie and James snuck through the hideout’s regular entrance.

There were no guardsmen on the door, like last time. They secretly hoped to be able to retrieve the stolen Pokémon they had originally been contracted to find in the Team Flare hideout in addition to saving an innocent Pokémon trainer.

It wasn’t long before they encountered opposition.

“Who in Lysandre’s name are you?”, an odd-looking woman decked out in a red suit questioned, her hands on her hips. A few steps behind her was another woman in a similar outfit, blocking the doorway.

“I could ask you the same question!”, James exclaimed proudly, before releasing a Poké Ball in unison with Jessie. In response, the woman blocking the door cried, “We are Gia and Chiara of Team Flare, and we will defeat you! Go, Noctowl!”. In tandem with her partner, Chiara sent out her Kingdra, to face off against Jessie’s Gourgeist and James’ Chimecho.

“Chimecho, use Extrasensory!”.

“Gourgeist, use Seed Bomb!”.

“Kingdra, use Hydro Pump!”.

“Noctowl, use Air Slash!”.

The explosion of power that occurred in the corridor was enough to dampen anyone’s senses but seemed to have a profound effect on the two Team Flare grunts, and it wasn’t long before their respective Pokémon were defeated.

“Fine. You defeated us,”, panted Chiara, looking dejectedly at the floor. “We’ll take you to our leader.”.

Jessie and James smiled to each other and followed them down the path to Malva.

Meanwhile, Bruce shot through the ventilation shaft of the hideout and landed triumphantly in a room marked “test chamber” on a sign next to the door. A young girl was sitting on a chair on the far side of the room, facing away from him.

“…Sylvia?”, Bruce questioned, hesitantly inching towards her with open hands.

She suddenly turned, and he flew backwards.

With no time to react, he fell with a crash against the wall on the other side of the room, and four women with oddly-coloured hair grabbed his arms and legs. He then heard Sylvia utter:

“Mable, Celosia, Aliana, Bryony – take him to Malva.”.

It was then that Bruce lost consciousness.

As Gia pressed her key card against the door, causing it to immediately open, Chiara beckoned them in and stood before a short flight of stairs leading to a red and black throne, upon which a pink-haired woman sat.

“So, you’re the duo who have been causing so much trouble for my organisation,”, Malva shouted with envy. She then nonchalantly gazed towards a button on the arm of her thrown and gave it a subtle push.

Bruce was then revealed to the duo, held in an iron telekinetic grip by Sylvia, who was grinning maniacally with empty eyes.

“Give me your Pokémon, or watch your friend become like Sylvia.”.

It was then that the unthinkable occurred.

Two young trainers who looked around the same as Sylvia accompanied the Cyllage Gym Leader Grant, who was confidently striding down the corridor; behind him were two beastly Pokémon – Tyrantrum and Aurorus.

“Stand down, Malva, or I will destroy you and your organisation without hesitation,”, Grant said, with a tone of authority neither Enzo nor Mathilde had heard from him before. His two fossil Pokémon roared threateningly.

With a flint in her eye, Malva chuckled, and sent out all six of her Pokémon: Torkoal, Pyroar, Talonflame, Mienshao, Honchkrow and Chandelure, but before she could even begin to call an attack, a rain of elemental rocks came thundering down upon her creatures.

Only Mathilde and Enzo were close enough to Grant to hear him yell, “use Rock Tomb!” due to the cacophony of sound in the room, but it was clear enough to the others what had occurred. In five seconds flat, all of Malva’s Pokémon had been defeated.

“You’re a disgrace of an Elite Four member,”, Grant tutted, before sending his pocket monsters back into their balls. He then turned to Enzo and Mathilde, and cried, “now!”.

Enzo sprung forward, sprinting towards Jessie and James holding a bag full of Poké Balls – evidently, the stolen Pokémon that the Daycare had asked them to retrieve, while Mathilde grabbed Bruce, who had been dropped by Sylvia amongst the commotion.

“Sylvia, come back to us!”, Mathilde cried desperately. The only answer she got was a gruff smirk as her former friend walked towards Malva, who had collected her Poké Balls and opened the roof of the hideout. The beautiful blue sky was then cut away by the horrible sound of a helicopter lowering into the base, which the members of Team Flare then promptly climbed onto.

With a smile, Malva called, “We’ll meet again”. With that, they were all gone.

All but two.

The authorities quickly arrested Chiara and Gia, thanking Grant for his service to the city and Enzo and Mathilde for assisting him. Bruce was taken to a hospital where he was quickly given the all-clear and disappeared back into the mountains. Jessie and James went on the long trek to the Daycare next to the Battle Chateau, and the two rival trainers set their eyes on the next gym, but decided in unison that a return home could do them both good.

Appearances

 * Bruce
 * Mathilde
 * Enzo
 * Sylvia
 * Malva
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Chiara
 * Gia
 * Aliana
 * Grant
 * Celosia
 * Bryony
 * Mable
 * Lysandre (mentioned only)

Pokémon

 * Gourgeist (Jessie's, series debut)
 * Chimecho (James', series debut)
 * Noctowl (Gia's, series debut)
 * Kingdra (Chiara's, series debut)
 * Tyrantrum (Grant's, series debut)
 * Aurorus (Grant's, series debut)
 * Talonflame (Malva's)
 * Pyroar (Malva's)
 * Chandelure (Malva's)
 * Mienshao (Malva's)
 * Honchkrow (Malva's)
 * Torkoal (Malva's)

Trivia

 * The appearance of James' Chimecho implies that at some point he retrieved the Pokémon from his grandparents in Kanto.
 * Like the chapter before it, Duel of the Duos! does not feature the series debut of any new trainers, but does include the series debut of several Pokémon.