The New Normal - 19-11

The New Normal – 19-11 – The Loyal Three

A.N. Please see the A.N at the end, thank you.

It didn’t take long for everyone else to arrive at the scene of the battle, and as soon as the locals arrived, the shock was clear on their faces as they took in the fallen form of Fezandipiti.

Some even glared at us for ‘daring’ to take down a member of the Loyal Three. Others questioned us for fighting against the Loyal Three in the first place, as they were ‘sure that they meant no harm’. Fortunately, not all of them were like that, and some were just curious as to how the Loyal Three awoke in the first place.

To that, I had no answers, but I did recount to them everything that happened relating to the awakening.

I told them about how the moment that Ogerpon approached the Monument, the Loyal Three had suddenly revived themselves and taken on their ‘titan’ forms – which was another unexplained oddity. Why were the Loyal Three so massive to begin with?

“This might be the true power of the Loyal Three.” One of the locals said.

“No, impossible.” Another denied, “If that was the case, then our myths and tales would not have ended with them sacrificing themselves to drive away Ogerpon. If they were actually this strong, then they would have won the fight.”

“So why did they grow so fucking big then?” Drake asked. “That should be the real question.”

“We should table this discussion for now and leave that for the Professors to find out.” Cynthia said.

I kept my silence. I felt like I knew the reason for their titan forms, but I didn’t know if that was still the case now. Furthermore, it was better to get proper scientific confirmation than to speculate at this moment.

“…Then does anyone else know if Ogerpon would also able to grow to that size?” Another suggested.

“Likely not. If that was true, then your stories regarding Ogerpon would have gone very differently. Someone would have definitely mentioned if Ogerpon could grow to the size of a building.” I couldn’t help but point out, “But we’re going off topic. We really shouldn’t be discussing this when we need to focus on what we do next.”

“Agreed.” Drake nodded, “I’ve already begun organising the strike teams, and we’ve got an entire squad of Flying Pokémon in the air to patrol and keep track of the remaining members of the Loyal Three.”

“Any reports about that?” Cynthia asked.

“No, they seem to be focused on gaining as much distance as possible. Seems like you gave them a good fucking scare.” He chuckled, “The Rangers were looking at if there were any areas of interest that they might be targeting, but so far, we’ve not found any.”

“As long as they’re heading away from Mossui Town, then I’ll be relieved.” Cynthia replied, getting a nod from me as well. The safety of the locals was the biggest priority.

“But what should be done with the evacuated people? We can keep them here, or we can start sending them elsewhere if the situation’s too dangerous.” Drake asked seriously, “Lucian said that they’re ready back at Sinnoh if you need to house them somewhere.”

“…No, I don’t think that’s necessary right now.” Cynthia declared after a moment to think, “The situation is not so dire as to require a full evacuation. At least not for the locals. I’m sure they’d rather stay and try to defend their homes instead of running away from the threat, right?” The locals that were with us nodded firmly at that, “Exactly. But we should offer rides back home for those who were just visitors here. They don’t need to be exposed to unnecessary danger if they don’t want to.”

“Understood.” One of the accompanying Jennys bowed slightly, “I’ll start making the arrangements now.”

“As for everyone else, we need to focus on bringing down the remaining members of the Loyal Three as our first priority.” Cynthia continued, and she put up a hand towards the locals to forestall any possible protest from them, “I know you might find this distasteful. But my duties as Champion is to ensure that those under my authority are safeguarded from any and all dangers that might threaten their livelihood. And like it or not, the Loyal Three present a very grave threat to their lives, and so it is my duty to ensure that they will not pose any harm or risk towards them.”

One of the locals protested this, “But they are on our side—”

“Maybe. Perhaps you might be right, but I’m not taking that risk.” She cut them off, “And before you say anything else, Ogerpon has my trust. She assisted us in that battle, despite not having to, and I fully trust my own Pokémon when they tell me that Ogerpon is not a threat to us. The same cannot be said of the Loyal Three thus far, which is why we should incapacitate them first. If they do eventually prove to be trustworthy, then you shall have my sincere apologies and we can work something out from there.”

That got most of the locals on our side for the time being, but there were still some that looked discontent – they even looked to me as if I would somehow disagree with Cynthia. I obviously didn’t, and I just glared at those who even dared to assume such a thing of me.

They didn’t meet my gaze.

And then we got to work.

Fezandipiti was secured and moved to a safe location, where a whole squad of Rangers came over and placed it under some kind of contraption that kept it contained in some kind of special electrical field.

“We primarily use this device to keep the particularly strong wild Pokémon contained – it’s sturdy enough to hold down the ornery or rampaging Pokémon at Mt. Silver.” One of the Rangers told me when I asked about how reliable this device was at keeping Fezandipiti restrained, “And we’ve further devices as backup in case they break through this one. Don’t worry, as long as it doesn’t grow back to its ‘huge’ form, it won’t be breaking free from this.”

I was satisfied with that explanation, though I reminded them that this was technically still likely a Legendary, so it was best to err on the side of caution. That being said, Fezandipiti and the other members of the Loyal Three were really only Legendaries on paper – their strength couldn’t even match the likes of the Lake Guardians unless they were in their titan forms.

And even then, a sufficiently large group of trainers should be able to take them down regardless.

Therefore, with Fezandipiti secured and declared a problem for later, we could finally refocus our efforts on taking down the remaining two members of the Loyal Three, who had split up from each other into different areas of Kitakami.

There was only one small problem. Knowing that they were being hunted, neither Munkidori nor Okidogi took time to stop. Their survival instincts forced them to keep running, and so they weren’t standing idle in an area waiting to be attacked.

Fortunately, they couldn’t outrun our fliers, and even in their titan forms, they were beginning to slow down as they gradually got more and more exhausted.

This was our biggest advantage over them, and was why the difference in manpower was so important. We literally never had to engage them in a proper fight, because it was just so much safer to wear them down overtime until they eventually ran out of energy.

Was it a glorious method of taking them down? Absolutely not. But it was certainly effective, and that was all that really mattered in the end.

This method was extremely effective against Okidogi, because it had no real way of fighting back against our incredible range advantage. Almost all of its attacks were physical and close-range, meaning that it could do nothing to retaliate against the squad of Flying types firing off repeated supereffective Air Slashes towards it. It was purely relegated to the defensive, and its Rock Tombs were very ineffective at striking down our agile Flying types.

Munkidori was more problematic, as it could actually fight back with powerful Psychics, Sludge Waves, and other notable Special Attacks, so our Flying types had been more defensive against it. Not only that, but as it was actually pretty speedy, especially since its titan form allowed it to cover more ground with its humongous size, which meant that our fliers had to prioritise more on keeping up with it than actually attacking.

So from the reports we received from the Rangers that had been assigned to monitor and accompany our fliers, Okidogi was basically all but neutered. With it being constantly whittled down by Air Slashes and other Special Attacks, it was basically only a matter of time before it went down.

From that, taking down Munkidori was our first and utmost priority. But it was going to be a running battle.

And since Zephyr and Port, my two main Flying types, were already occupied with chasing after Munkidori, that meant that I didn’t have a mount to use. The same applied to Cynthia, who’s Togekiss was similarly preoccupied.

Luckily, the Rangers had an abundant amount of Flying types on-hand that we could borrow from to use. These were mainly Staraptor, and while they were nowhere as trained in combat as Zephyr or Togekiss, they were incredible fliers.

It was different to how I had trained up Port. Port had trained up to ensure that its stamina and endurance was as good as possible, so he was trained up for long-range flights. Of course, he had a lot of speed training as well, but he was a marathon-runner, not a sprinter.

These Staraptor were definitely sprinters. They prioritised speed over almost everything else, although they also had some basic fighting skills so that they weren’t completely useless in a fight, which made sense because these were only used in emergency situations. That made them perfect for now.

So I quickly got myself saddled onto the Staraptor. It was time for Round 2.

=============

After what felt like several minutes of high-speed flight, I finally could catch a glimpse of Munkidori’s retreating figure.

We had received a constant stream of reports about the situation, and its appearance matched that perfectly. It was definitely showing signs of exhaustion, and it was visibly injured – though not enough to hinder its movement.

Upon the arrival of our reinforcements, Munkidori looked at us with extreme alarm as its eyes widened almost comically as it quickly understood the danger that it was now in.

With a look of fear, it scrambled to make a retreat, not even bothering to try to fight back against our completely overwhelming numbers.

But we didn’t give it a chance to run.

Using our fliers’ better speed, we split up our group and circled around to surround Munkidori from all angles.

The only way it was going to escape was going to be through us.

It must have realised that too, as it suddenly let out a roar of determination as it fired off an enormous wave of Psychic at Cynthia’s group as it looked to break through there.

Unfortunately, an entire wall of Light Screens, Protect shields, and Dark Pulses were thrown up immediately, forming an impenetrable barrier that neutralised the Psychic before it could do any damage.

And then an Outraging Salamence came roaring through the skies as it violently slammed into the unsuspecting Munkidori, keeping it pinned in place as the Dragon wrestled against the titan.

But that wasn’t all, as the Salamence had a rider. A rider that was burning with vengeance.

Ogerpon.

The Mask Pokémon came hammering down with a powerful Ivy Cudgel that bludgeoned Munkidori over the head. Even if the blow might be, on paper, not very effective due to Munkidori’s Poison typing, the sheer force behind that attack more than made up for it as Munkidori was hammered into the ground.

And that marked the signal for the rest of us to join in.

Before Munkidori could even recover, Salamence followed up with a deadly Dragon Claw that viciously raked across its face. Simultaneously, multiple Earthquakes began to ripple through the ground, while several Stone Edges erupted out from below, impaling Munkidori in a field of sharpened rocks.

Then Ice Beams, Thunderbolts, Psychics, Shadow Balls, and Dark Pulses came raining down from all angles as Munkidori was completely blasted from literally everywhere. If that wasn’t enough, Tyrant and Mega Garchomp had both pounced forwards as they used their enormous strength to each keep one of Munkidori’s arms pinned down beneath them – preventing it from moving or making use of any physical attacks.

All the while, a barrage of Encores, Taunts, Torments, and other status moves also bombarded it as we did everything we could to disrupt its concentration.

…This was not a fight. Legendary Pokémon or not, this was a beatdown.

For all of its vaunted size, Munkidori was completely, absolutely, and thoroughly overwhelmed at the moment.

For it could do nothing to fend off the sheer amount of firepower arrayed against it.

The most it had were powerful Psychics and Sludge Waves at best. Granted, Munkidori’s use of these attacks were likely to be more powerful than what any of us trainers could achieve with our own Pokémon, but it wasn’t enough against our combined forces.

The massive numbers advantage we had against it was too overwhelming, and it only served as another reminder of just why strength in numbers was so important.

No matter how strong a single individual was, barring a strong enough Legendary, it could never hold out against such incredible numbers.

So while I would say that Munkidori put up a fight before being knocked out… it really didn’t. It spent most of the fight being knocked around and staggered that it could barely even fire off counterattacks of its own, and after a few short minutes, the battle came to an anti-climatic end as we were just able to knock it out of the fight.

I almost felt bad for it. Almost.

Much like Fezandipiti, once it was taken down, Munkidori had also rapidly shrunk down to its normal size as the effects of the titanification ended. The Rangers moved quickly to secure it in the same contraption that was used to restrain Fezandipiti, and we quickly moved to haul it back to Kitakami where it could be properly contained.

The same happened with Okidogi too, though that fight was even easier than with Munkidori. Okidogi was simply too battered and injured so that, by the time we arrived, Tyrant and Garchomp by themselves were able to finish off Okidogi and knock it out as well.

I had a moment where I looked down at Okidogi’s fallen form, and I felt a slight bit of pride at what we managed to accomplish. While the Loyal Three were not as big of a threat as other Legendaries would have been, I was proud of us for being able to react so quickly and decisively in a situation where we were completely caught off-guard, and for the situation to be resolved so soon and without much issue.

And now I was looking forward to discovering more about the Loyal Three, and more specifically, about how they managed to grow into their titan forms.

I wasn’t exactly sure if this was related to the Gigantamax process from Galar, but perhaps the scientists and Professors might be able to figure something out. If there was anyone that could find out about it, it would be them.

Nevertheless, I thought that the crisis was all wrapped up now. The Loyal Three had all been taken out and secured, and now all we had to do was to deal with the aftermath and to reassure the public that the crisis was over.

…But I really should have learnt to be less optimistic, because as soon as I thought that, my radio crackled to life.

“WE’VE AN EMERGENCY SITUATION BACK AT MOSSUI TOWN.” A panicked voice of a Jenny could be heard through it, “THERE’S AN UNKNOWN POKÉMON WHO HAS SOMEHOW MIND-CONTROLLED MOST OF THE POPULATION. TRAINERS AND POKÉMON ALIKE ARE UNRESPONSIVE AND SEEM TO BE DOMINATED BY THIS UNKNOWN EFFECT.”

Oh.

Fuck.

================

(A few minutes earlier) (Carmine POV)

Returning back to Mossui Town was a huge relief, and the familiar sights of her home town finally allowed her to relax as she knew that the situation was over and dealt with.

From what the Rangers had told them, the Loyal Three had awakened, gone on a brief rampage, but had already been driven away and were now in the process of being recaptured. The situation wasn’t fully resolved yet, but the Rangers had said that the situation was basically under control, and it was just a matter of wrapping things up.

Though the residents of Mossui Town would still be under their continued protection for the time being, just in case there were any complications. They would also be allowing them to decide the fate of the Loyal Three once the situation was over.

That was all well and good to her, but at the end of the day, it was none of her business. She was just glad she and Kieran were both safe, and that they could return to their normal lives.

So as she gave a quick thanks to the Jennys who had escorted them back home, she returned to their home and let out a big sigh of relief. Knowing that the crisis was basically over, every single muscle in her body was hurting – likely from the stress. And looking at her younger brother’s tired expression, she knew that he was feeling the same way.

So they both really needed to unwind after everything that had happened.

And that was what they did. They both took a nice hot bath that they both desperately needed, and then they got changed into some fresh new clothes – it was a ritual that they always liked to do to recover after a hard day of work.

With that all done, they were both ready to sit back and enjoy some freshly harvested apples from the orchard when they suddenly heard some distant shouting.

She was instantly on alert, but Kieran waved her down, “Someone probably dropped something. If it was an actual emergency, the horns would be blaring again. So it’s probably nothing.”

That did make sense, so she calmed down again. But even as time ticked on, the nagging feeling in her gut refused to leave her, and she couldn’t relax.

Eventually, there was a knock at the door that had her shooting up from her seat. Checking through the peephole, she saw the top of her neighbour’s head, but otherwise, didn’t see anything else concerning.

So she opened the door.

And the instant that she did, a purple chain whipped forwards faster than she could react and snapped around her neck.

She tried to resist, but that resistance lasted for all but a brief moment before her body went slack and her eyes turned glassy – all conscious thought immediately leaving her body.

The last thing she remembered was the shout of alarm from Kieran, before the exact same thing happened to him too.

A.N. As foreshadowed in the previous chapter, Pecharunt is now here and is making its play, and its going to be quite different from the battles we’ve seen thus far. That’s actually why I wanted to focus on it more than the Loyal Three, because I felt that the Loyal Three were less ‘interesting’ in the way that they fought, as there already has been multiple ‘raid battles’ in this story thus far. But with Pecharunt, things will be different. Hope you enjoyed!

On a completely different note, I am afraid that my health situation was far more serious than I first thought it was, and I will need to be sorting that out. So starting from next week, I am unsure if you will be able to get your chapters at the regularly scheduled time. You will perhaps get your chapter on Monday, but subsequent chapters on Wednesday and Friday are complete unknowns. I will do my best to update you on the situation and will try my utmost to get your chapters to you as soon as possible, but since my health is the way that it is, this might be difficult. So expect some changes to the upload schedule for at least the next few weeks, though I will continue to do my best to make sure you can still get the same amount of chapters per week.

I do apologise for this, and I hate having to break my weekly upload schedule – but I simply do not know if I will be in any position to write or edit with the visits that I will have to be doing. Sorry, and I hope you can understand.