Chapter Text
Paxton awoke, as he did most mornings nowadays, to the sound of his alarm blaring in his ears. He sighed and turned over on his bed, burying his face in his pillow.
“Five more minutes…” he grumbled, reaching a hand out blindly towards his nightstand. Every time he managed to find his Rotom phone, it slipped away from his fingers before he could grasp it. Paxton let his hand fall to the side and tried to ignore the loud, chirping noise, but all that accomplished was the Rotom moving to sit right beside his head.
“Fine, fine, I’m up!” Paxton relented, pushing himself to sit up and grab the phone. They really should sell these things based on the nature of the Rotom, he thought as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.
Nearly a full year had passed since Paxton first arrived in Lumiose City. It still shocked him how much had become a normal part of life since then. All the high-reaching buildings and free roaming wild Pokemon he used to gawk and wonder at were now something he didn’t even blink at. (Except Wild Zone 17. He still refused to set foot in there unless absolutely necessary.)
One thing he was certain he would never get used to, though, was living in a hotel. It had made sense when he’d first arrived. He’d still called himself a “tourist” back then, and Taunie’s refusal to charge him for the room made it an easy choice to make. Now, though, Paxton had to admit that he wouldn’t be upset if he stayed in Lumiose for the rest of his life.
Having said that, any unease he felt about staying at Hotel Z was instantly outweighed by the apartment prices in Lumiose. Not to mention…
“Good morning, sleepyhead!” Taunie giggled as Paxton stepped out of the elevator, yawning. “There’s pancakes in the kitchen, if you want any.” Paxton perked up at the mention of food, which caused Taunie to laugh again. “Yeah, don’t why I even asked. Go knock yourself out.”
There was nothing in the world that Paxton would trade Team MZ for. Being chosen by Zygarde and saving Lumiose was one thing, but Paxton didn’t think he’d ever been luckier than when he met the three of them.
Lida’s eyes widened as she saw Paxton sit down at the table with his plate of pancakes.
“There’s no way you can eat all of that,” she deadpanned. “It’s like a foot tall!” Paxton grinned at her and leaned back in his chair.
“Never underestimate me,” he said. Lida ran a hand down her face.
“That wasn’t a challenge!” she bemoaned. Paxton just shrugged and began chowing down. Across from him, Naveen groaned and dropped his head against the table.
“I’m finished,” he sighed. “I’ve spent the last two days trying to design a new piece and I have literally no ideas.” Taunie clapped him on the back sympathetically.
“You’ll find something eventually,” she said. “Why don’t you watch one of Cannoli’s streams for inspiration or something?”
“Canari,” Naveen corrected flatly, turning his head to the side to glare at her. “And I’ve already tried that! It usually fixes my artist’s block, but for some reason it’s not working this time.” Taunie opened her mouth, but she was cut off by a buzz from her phone.
“Oh, new request from Emma!” she said, jumping up. “A wild Kangaskhan knocked down a couple scaffolding courses, and they need help clearing it away.” Taunie pocketed her phone and turned to the group. “Anyone want to come with?” Paxton shoved the last bite of his pancake tower in his mouth before jumping up, his hand raised. Lida sighed and shook her head.
“I can’t,” she said. “I’ve got to head out for dance practice pretty soon.” Naveen did his best to shake his head from where it was planted on the table.
“I might go up to the roof and see if inspiration strikes me there,” he mused.
“Guess it’s just me and Paxton then,” Taunie shrugged. “Race you there!” Taunie took off, and Paxton scrambled to go flying after her. Lida did a double take at his completely empty plate as he threw open the door.
“HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?”
The race lasted for only a few minutes before Taunie, turning over her shoulder to stick her tongue out at Paxton, tripped and fell face-first on the curb. Paxton came to a screeching halt to help her up.
“Thanks…” she sighed, rubbing at her nose. “Ugh, I’m going to be feeling that all day.”
“Let’s just take a taxi or something,” Paxton said. He was quickly discovering that downing almost a full pound of pancakes before sprinting at top speed was maybe not the smartest idea. Taunie caught the pained look on Paxton’s face and grinned.
“The savior of Lumiose, taken out by pancake indigestion,” she declared. Paxton huffed and glared at her.
“The savior of Lumiose, taken out by a street curb,” he echoed. Taunie’s smug smile disappeared in a huff.
Before Taunie could fully voice her retort, the sound of a distant scream reached their ears. Both Paxton and Taunie turned to the noise, then each other. More screams followed the first, then the sight of people running away from something around the corner. Paxton and Taunie exchanged a glance before both taking off towards the commotion.
The first thing Paxton noticed as he neared the scene was a dull red light pulsating around him. The second thing he saw was the source of the light.
A nauseating feeling took over him, this one unrelated to the questionable way he’d decided to start his morning. No, this was tied to the creeping feeling of deja vu that gripped Paxton as his eyes landed on the creature before.
A Mega Absol. And not just any Mega Absol, a wild Mega Absol. Its frenzied, erratic movements and the lack of any possible trainer anywhere in sight led to the only possible conclusion: Paxton was looking at a Rouge Mega Evolved Absol. He stumbled back as it let out an angered roar. He could hear Taunie’s footsteps slow behind him as she took in the sight.
“A Rouge Mega Evolution?” she gasped. “But… how?! I thought all of that was over now.” Paxton didn’t answer, too busy digging through his bag for his Pokeballs. A dawning horror crept over him as he remembered he’d been trying to train up his weaker Pokemon, and none of them were strong enough to be able to handle this. Not to mention the fact that he lacked any type advantage.
“Any chance you might be able to handle this on your own?” Paxton asked, turning to Taunie. She gave him an incredulous stare back.
“What are you on?!” she demanded. “I don’t think you could handle it on your own!” The Mega Absol reared its head back, and Paxton shoved Taunie out of the way just in time for a pulse of dark energy to shoot past their heads.
“We need to run!” Paxton yelled, grabbing Taunie’s hand. “We can regroup back at the hotel and figure out what to do.”
The pair had only managed to get a few feet away before they realized the flaw in their plan: blocking their only way out was a thin wall of green light that marked the boundaries of a wild zone. One whose entrance they were completely unable to reach.
“Have a better plan?” Taunie asked, turning around to face the Absol again. Paxton’s gaze flickered between the buildings they were trapped between, but there were no ladders or Holovators in sight. They were well and truly cornered.
The Mega Absol roared again. Paxton slowly turned to face it, dread building up in his stomach.
“We’re going to have to get past it,” he said. “Somehow.” He could hear Taunie gulp beside him as the Mega Absol widened its stance. “When it readies its next attack, make a run for it.” And pray to Arceus.
Taunie took a deep breath, let go of Paxton’s hand, and steadied herself. Paxton did the same. The Mega Absol reared its head back to attack.
“Zekrom, use Fusion Bolt!”
“Reshiram, Fusion Flame!”
Twin beams of blue and red ripped through the sky. The crackling of electricity and the roar of fire echoed down the alleyway as they twirled around each other and struck the Mega Absol cleanly in the chest. The Mega Absol staggered back with a cry, its attack dead before it could fire.
A pair of shadows passed over Paxton and Taunie’s heads as two dragons, unlike anything they’d seen before, landed in front of them. One was stark white, the only color being the fire that burned within its tail, and the other was black as the night, it too having only rings of blue electricity in its tail to disrupt its monochrome scales.
Stranger still than the dragons were their riders. Both young men who looked to be in their early 20s, not much older than Paxton and Taunie themselves. The man riding the black dragon would have looked normal in any other circumstances. He had short, brown hair hidden beneath a red and white cap and wore a thick, blue jacket that looked like it had seen better days. The other man was more of an enigma. He, too, wore a cap, this one a simpler black and white, but it was hard to miss next to his long, flowing, pale green hair. A small puzzle cube hung from his hip, jingling as he hopped down from the dragon’s back.
“Get them out of here!” he ordered, turning to the other man. “I’ll handle Absol.” The first man nodded and took to the sky again. Paxton had barely a second to wonder where he’d gone before a large pair of inhuman hands gripped him from under his armpits and lifted him into the sky. A small shriek of surprise escaped Paxton, one he quickly tried to hide by covering his mouth with the back of his hand. Not a second later, a similar sound (equally high-pitched, to Paxton’s further embarrassment) left Taunie’s mouth as the other dragon lifted her off the ground.
“Who are you?” Taunie called out to the man. He shook his head as he glanced over his dragon’s shoulder, analyzing the streets below them.
“No time for that right now,” he said. “First, we need to get you two to safety.” Apparently satisfied with what he saw, the man pointed to the ground, and the dragons followed his finger in a heartbeat. Paxton braced himself as his feet neared the concrete, but the touchdown was surprisingly gentle. The moment he was on solid ground, Paxton whipped out his Rotom phone to switch in a stronger team.
“You two need to get out of here,” the man instructed, turning back to face the way they’d come from. “I don’t know how bad it’s going to get here.”
“Your friend’s the one in danger!” Taunie retorted. He turned to her, an eyebrow raised. She continued, “Rouge Mega Pokemon are no joke. We’ve dealt with them before, and even we struggle with them. Someone with no experience handling them is going to-” The man cut her off with a smile.
“He’ll be fine,” he said. “Trust me, you haven’t seen N do the things I’ve seen him do.”
“I don’t care how strong of a trainer he is!” Taunie insisted. “No one can take on a strong Pokemon like that by themselves when it’s Rouge Mega Evolved. They’re completely out of control!” At that, the man’s smile faltered, and he turned to look over his shoulder again. Taunie seized her chance and pressed harder. “Paxton and I got caught off guard,” Taunie glanced over at Paxton, who gave her a thumbs up, “but now that we’re prepared, we can handle this. Your friend can’t. No matter who he is.”
“Alright, alright,” the man sighed. “Fine, you’ve convinced me. Hop on Reshiram, we’ll check in on N.” With a grin of victory, Taunie pulled herself onto the back of the white dragon, who’d crouched down to allow her up. Paxton followed suit, clinging tightly to Taunie as the dragons roared and took to the skies once more.
Paxton’s hand was on his Hawlucha’s Pokeball before they’d even touched down. He and Taunie jumped down from Reshiram at the same time, readying their Pokeballs.
They both froze at the same moment as their eyes finally settled on the scene before them. They’d expected chaos, attacks being thrown left and right as the strange man and his Pokemon fought for their lives. Instead, the man stood before the Mega Absol, one hand on its head and the other on its side, gently stroking its fur. The Mega Absol trembled and occasionally stumbled from side to side, but it appeared to mostly be in control of itself.
It turned as it noticed the new arrivals, baring its teeth and growling, but the man stepped forward and hushed it.
“It’s alright,” he whispered. “They’re not here to hurt you. I promise.” The Mega Absol continued to growl, but the tension eased from its body. The man smiled and returned to petting it. “That’s it. You’ll be okay. I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
“No way…” Taunie breathed, staring at the man and Pokemon. “Is he actually… in control of it?”
“I told you,” the other man said. He’d dismounted his dragon at some point, and was now leaning against it as he watched the other man with a soft, warm look in his eyes. “N is amazing.” Paxton’s gaze followed the wisps of red energy that emanated from the Mega Absol, and he suddenly gasped and grabbed Taunie’s arm.
“Taunie, look!” he urged, pointing ahead. Slowly but surely, the Mega energy was draining from the Absol and returning to the earth. Before their very eyes, it shrunk to its normal size and transformed into an ordinary Absol. With one final whine, it collapsed at the man’s feet.
Taunie ran up to him as he crouched down to the Absol.
“That was amazing!” she gasped. The man looked up to her, then turned to the other man.
“I thought you were taking them away from here,” he said. The other man held up his hands in surrender.
“It was their idea, not mine!” he insisted. “Didn’t seem like I was going to be able to stop them, anyways.”
“Who are you?” Taunie interrupted. “How did you do that?” The man stood up and faced Taunie with a small smile.
“My name is N.”