Gold's POV

This is the first time the stadium has gone silent since the battle started. Kabutops is kind of a showstopper.

I'm currently standing in its shadow as it examines the field. This is kind of a risk putting it in this environment without any training.

Hopefully it knows who the enemy is.

"Gyarados use Hydro Pump!"

Eric's Pokemon shoots a high pressured beam of water before I can react.

The water sparkles in the sunshine as it rushes across the field. It hits Kabutops directly in the torso.

Kabutops doesn't flinch.

The rock and water type smashes its scythes into the sand, causing the ground to shake. Two towers of rocks shoot out of the other side of the battlefield and strike Gyarados.

The Pokemon roars in pain and floats in the water unconscious. 

"Holy shit," I mutter. 

I may have lucked into this one.

"Kaaa!" The Pokemon roars, raising its scythes in the air.

The crowd is barely cheering, partly because I knocked out Eric's Pokemon and partly in fright.

Even Eric looks a little wide eyed.

This may bring a little too much attention to myself.

"Golisopod let's send them back to the past!" Eric yells and releases his ace.

Golisopod emerges in tis large scaly form. Except even it has to look up to meet Kabutop's gaze.

"First Impression!"

Golisopod disappears it moves so fast. 

"Stone edge!" I yell but the words would've come too late.

Instead Kabutops scythes glow brightly and it defends using a Slash attack. Probably the smarter decision.

The two attacks meet in a stalemate but Golisopod is lifted in the air ever so slightly.

"Slash with your other arm!" I yell not that it mattered.

Kabutops was already doing it.

Kabutops smashes Golisopod into the pool of water in front of it. The water softens the blow as the splash erupts upward.

"Stone Edge!"

Now I'm just following Kabutops lead. It's clearly the more experienced battler but I need to act like I'm commanding it.

The ground shakes and then a pillar of stone forms out of the water with a defenceless Golisopod on top. "Aqua Jet, get out of there!" Eric yells in distress.

He might've been okay losing to Ash, but I know he thought this would be a walk in the park.

Golisopod manages to escape the stone edge attack, becoming a jet stream of water. Golisopod circles in the air and then heads towards Kabutops.

Except it won't make it there.

The rock from the stone edge disintegrates into smaller boulders that becomes shrouded in a strange energy. They're under Kabutops command now as an Ancient Power attack.

One by one, the boulders strike the flying Golisopod, knocking it slightly off course. Golisopod misses Kabutops and slams into the sand beside it. A final boulder, the largest, follows and deals the final blow.

"We won!" I yell, slightly flabbergasted. "Thanks Kabutops."

Kabutops still has the glowing red eyes but it seemed to smile back.

I hop around the pools and meet Eric on his side of the battlefield.

"Thanks for the battle," I bow my head.

He doesn't immediately respond but does shake my hand.

Green and the crew arrive before he responds.

"That was an exciting battle," Green says with a big smile.

"I wanna battle your Kabutops!" Ash exclaims. "I've never seen one so big."

"It may even be stronger than Greninja," Serena comments but Ash shakes his head.

Eric's face flips into a big smile.

"That Kabutops is something," He says, straightening up his sunglasses.

That smile is off.

"I owe you a battle against my legendary beast now," He says.

"Can't that wait?" Green asks and I raise an eyebrow. "What about the after-battle party?"

"That'll be later Green," Eric shakes his head. "It's the middle of the afternoon."

"Right," She nods and her eyes wander off.

She must've enjoyed the party last night.

Eric begins to lead us through a tunnel in the rock. "I'll come find you once Logan is done with his challenge."

"Can we come and watch?" Green asks.

"Yea I want to see who your legendary is," Ash adds on. "Maybe Pikachu and I can have a shot too."

"Pika!" The yellow rodent, who's riding on Serena's shoulder, agrees.

"Sorry guys but only Logan will be allowed in," The District Leader says. "I'll take you all for a nice dinner after instead."

"Aww come on Eric," The brunette girl tugs on his arm. "Can't you make an exception?"

"No," He pulls his arm bag harshly. "Sorry," Eric realizes his mistake. "it won't take long I'm sure."

"I wouldn't be too confident," Serena warns. "Kabutops probably still has lots of strength left."

Out of the corner of Eric's eye, a glare forms towards the girl for a moment. "We'll see," He says.

We get back out onto the streets of Los Lumeles. I've started to pick out the black security cameras hidden on the skyscrapers. Can't wait to get out of this place.

Eric adjusts his sunglasses as the crowds of people get out of our way. They all know the rules.

Green falls back from her position beside him, now walking between Ash and Serena in front of me. Her one hand is tucked in her turquoise shorts, hidden by her long black sleeveless shirt.

I watch her curiously until her hand pops out with her Pokedex. She holds it behind her just barely.

There's words on the screen.

I pick up my pace slightly and use my super vision.

Plan. Meet at House.

She looks back and I nod.

The Pokedex disappears back inside her pocket and she walks back up beside Eric.

I guess that means I'm allowed at the party after.

It doesn't take long for the imposing Triton buildings to rise above us. The blue shades of glass sparkly in afternoon sun and the snake eye glares from the top.

It's a pretty calm day so the waterfall coming from the top of the building reaches the ocean with a large continuous splash. That's be a distortion world of a water slide. I don't even want to go up that high.

Let alone in the water.

A chill goes up my spine.

"Come with me Logan," Eric stands in front of the automatic door. "I'll see the rest of you after."

An air conditioned breeze comes pouring out onto the street.

I follow him through the door, turning around to give Green a small wave. She looks a little worried.

We did say we wouldn't split ways again.

But this will be quick.

It doesn't usually take long for the legendary to wipe the floor with us.

A few steps later we're going through another door, this time the elevator.

We stand in mostly awkward silence.

I would attempt to make small talk but he's clearly not in the mood.

Since we've entered the building the smile on his face has turned blank. His one foot taps against the elevator floor.

Thankfully the walls are glass and I can sightsee. We're a long ways up and I can only see the tops of the other buildings, a collection of squares and other odd shapes.

The elevator doesn't stop at a single other floor. It just passes each one filled with people working at cubicles. Looks like there are people who work in this city.

The amount of people decreases with each floor until we get to the empty top floor.

Dead empty.

We're at the part of the skyscraper that curves across the sky and over the second tower. The second tower strangely doesn't have any floors based on what I could see from the elevator. It's really just an oversized support for the other tower to curve over.

"Something is off about you Logan," Eric stops in his tracks, the beige carpeting rips under his feet as he turns around.

"Hmm?" I raise an eyebrow, staring back at him directly.

Uh oh.

"Y'know I've never lost a battle to a military recruit," He says, stepping forward with a finger pointed out. "Then you show up at the beach out of nowhere."

"I was training."

"So you say," His finger now reaches my chest. "Who   are    you?"

"Logan. Would you like to see my Pokedex?"

"Ha," He gives a sharp chuckle. "Right."

I try to laugh along. 

"I don't care what your Pokedex says," His smile turns into more of a sneer. "Because it won't matter much longer."

Double uh oh.

"I can't have Pokemon like your Kabutops in the wrong hands," Eric takes a couple steps back. "All steroided up or whatever you did to it."

"What!?" I exclaim. "I don't use steroids on my Pokemon."

"Not all of them," He gestures to Vaporeon beside me who bares her teeth.

"You can have Kabutops," I grab the first pokeball I find in my bag hoping it's the right one.

"No need."

This isn't going to end well.

"I mean you could use Kabutops," I say. "It did wipe the floor with your team."

I'll have to battle my way out of here and deal with the consequences later.

Eric shakes his head and pulls out a device.

"Kab--AHHHH"

The floor drops beneath me.

A trap f---- door of all things.

My super vision didn't notice the lines in the carpet.

I can't believe this guy is a murderer.

Am I the first one?

Probably not.

Man falling 100 stories gives you a lot of time to think.

Something grabs me and a shimmer of hope fills my head before reality hits again.

It's just Eevee, clinging on with her front paws in her Vaporeon form, the rest of her body flailing above.

I take a closer look at the pokeball in my hand. It's hers.

"Thanks Eevee," I whisper over the rushing air.

She disappears into the pokeball.

I try not to look down at my impending doom.

Nothing I can do to get out of this one.

Not even a Pokemon could survive this fall.

I can't believe we only made it this far.

Arceus was probably expecting us to make it at least half of the way of getting all the spirits we needed.

Disappointing the creator of life isn't going to do my afterlife any favours.

Hopefully Green can find a way to save Arceus.

I know she can.

My vision goes dark as I close my eyes and take a deep breath of the humid air.

So humid by pants and shoes already feel wet.

Really wet.

I hope I didn't wet myself.

Wait it's a long fall but not this long.

"Oh my --"

I'm not in a free fall.

Swirling pillars of water are holding on to me. If that's even possible.

The crystal clear water wraps around my legs, spinning through the air and slowly bringing me down.

"I can't believe it," I mutter in awe.

In the shimmering water, I can see a faint face of a Pokemon.

Manaphy.

The People of the Water.

I have their back, they have my back.

I give a thumbs up to the Manaphy, not sure if that's how the messaging system works but I'm sure they know I'm thankful either way.

"Here we go," I gulp and my magical water elevator disappears.

I splash rather gently into the water.

I hate the water.

My breath starts to shorten and my limbs lose all coordination.

I can swim right?

My body continues to flail and now I'm actually starting to panic. I want to yell for help but there's not even a door or deck around the pool that fills the bottom of the tower.

I just--

Just ne--

"Kyrrrr."

My thoughts stop to process the growl humming through the water. 

My head falls below the surface as I struggle to tread water. I try to climb back up but between my clothes and the bag and the panicking I can't.

Instead I look wide-eyed at the legendary beast.

And it probably thinks I'm dinner.

The Pokemon swims below me and takes up the entire pool. It's dark but I can make out distinct red lines that trace its blue and white body. I feel each movement of its wide fins below.

Kyogre.

My lungs start to burn as I drop towards the Pokemon. 

A flash of light appears in the dark pool.

"Eevee!" I use my last breath to exclaim.

The water type effortlessly swims into my torso and pushes me back to the surface.

I take a big gulp of air at the surface before coughing out my lungs.

I use Vaporeon as a floaty and catch my breath.

"It's okay," I mutter to myself. "He tried to kill you and now you're bathing with a Kyogre but it's okay."

Down below Kyogre hasn't moved. I don't think it can.

A Pokemon capable of creating oceans doesn't deserve to be trapped here. If only I could free it.

"Lanturn!" I release the electric and water type. "Can you bring me down?"

The blue and yellow Pokemon nods and I grab onto its back. The lamp on top of its head glows and allows me to get a better look at Kyogre. 

Its yellow eyes follow us down but it makes no effort to move.

This is where the legendary typically starts talking to me telepathically.

"Like this?" Words fill my head.

Precisely.

"You survived the fall."

I nod.

"You were saved."

I nod again.

Lanturn's light is overshadowed by Kyogre's glowing, filling the entire pool with a red aura.

The light starts to look familiar and the next spirit forms in front of us. A red and blue swirling marble of power.

It fastens onto my gold bracelet, joining the other four.

"Breathe."

What?

"Breathe."

My lungs start to burn and I glance up at the surface. Lanturn starts to move upwards.

"Breathe."

I gulp before letting out the last of the air in my lungs.

But the empty space isn't filled with water.

An uncomfortable feeling fills my gut as my brain tries to process what's going on. There's no air moving through my lungs but I'm breathing.

Breathing underwater.

Now that's a cool ability.

My breaths are really fast as i try to get over the feeling. My chest feels really tight but I'm obviously okay down here.

Thank you Kyogre.

I focus my thoughts towards the Pokemon.

"The water trusts you. I trust you."

"I want to get you out of here," I try talking but my voice sounds muffled in my head.

"No time. You must escape."

Kyogre is right. Eric now thinks I'm dead and it's probably best he continues to think that.

"Of course I'm right."

"I will be back," I say and start looking for a way out.

The only way in here is typically a one way trip so there's not exactly an exit. The green tiled liner wraps around every side of the pool.

The only difference is that one side has a drain.

"Where does this go?" I asl and Kyogre manages to spin itself 90 degrees. 

"Pipes underneath City."

Stormwater pipes I presume. 

Our exit.