Locke fished around his bag for Pokémon, considering his options.

As usual, he hadn’t entirely meant to get involved. With the suddenness of it all he’d somehow been swept up in the whirlwind of a situation and thrown into a chase for the beast. Locke was hardly one for battling, but he still felt as though he had to do something.

Ji-Ji was the obvious choice, fighting fire with fire, or dragon with dragon in this case. But the other Pokémon would be at an equal advantage, and if the Drampa got too injured…Better not. An ice-type would’ve been ideal, but De-De was hardly a fighter, with only two moves in her roster, neither of which would be too useful here. That left him with very limited choices.

"Ooh! Hi there!"

“Oh!” The other boy caught Locke off-guard, but the surprise was quickly replaced with a wave of relief. He was around their age and more than a bit hotheaded it seemed, but two was better than one in these kinds of situations.

And a sudden roar told Locke that tactics weren’t going to be an option.

“I suppose it’s now or never.”

Locke expanded a Pokéball in their hand and a beam of red light poured out, forming a Fletchinder ready for battle. They’d just have to try their best.

---

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THE MEGA SCEPTILE BASKS IN THE SUN. its mega forme has been forced by some exposed rock nearby. during a clash with another pokemon, the sceptile had LEAF BLADED the stone, exposing a strain of mega minerals. aggressive and powerful under the sunlight, the grass dragon retaliates with fervor.[break][break]

So this was mega-evolution. Talk about scary.

Locke was thankful he’d chosen a flying-type as the Forretress showered the field with dangerous-looking spikes. A few got caught up in the Sceptile’s massive tail, angering it further as it tried and failed to shake them off. “Now hit it with a good one-two combo!”

“R-Right!” Locke wished they had half this boy’s confidence, but so long as they played to their type advantage, the battle should at least be over quickly. “Chiro-Chiro! Close the distance with Ember, then hit it head on with Flame Charge!”

As the robin charged, she launched a volley of small, bullet-like flames at the distracted Pokémon, striking it squarely in the head. The Ember wasn’t as effective as it should’ve been, but it was too late for Locke to give a new order. Chiro-Chiro’s wings were already catching alight from the speed of her Flame Charge, just as the blades on the Sceptile’s arms began to glow a bright green.

One Dual Chop easily blocked the blow, and the other sent Chiro-Chiro flying back, flames dissipating, but mostly unharmed. The Sceptile continued swiping at the air as she ducked and weaved around it, keeping its attention on her for now.

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Yowch.

The Forretress hit like a tank as much as it looked like one. The Mega Pokemon, seemingly not learning from before, fell further into its rage, striking at the carapace again and again. Though, to be fair, if Locke got shoved into a pile of legos he’d be pretty pissed too. Still, that tunnel vision was their biggest advantage in this fight so far.

Time for a little revenge.

“Acrobatics!”

Without missing a beat, the tiny robin slammed into the Sceptile with enough force to send it on a one-way trip into the broken tree line. Though the damage was far more significant this time, it wasn’t quite enough to slow the beast down just yet. It recovered with another terrifying roar, and used its Double Kick to leap from tree to tree until it was soaring overhead, ready to Slam down on the Fletchinder below.

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"It's time for the secret technique!"

That sounded exciting. The other boy’s enthusiasm must have been infectious, because Locke was surprisingly eager to see what exactly this “secret technique” was. Something cool like Giga Impact or Hyper Beam. Maybe even some kind of Z-Move?

The Forretress started to glow.

“Uh.” Locke took a few steps back as the carapace charged itself more and more. “Wait. Hang on. Are you serious right now?” they sputtered, each word a higher octave than the last. The shock might’ve kept them there another moment too long, had the other boy not taken their arm and bolted.

“Agility! Quickly!” In a flash, Chiro-Chiro blinked out from under the giant gecko. He reappeared above his trainer, close enough for Locke to return the robin to the safety of his Pokéball. The Sceptile’s Slam landed squarely on the Forretress below, and, for a moment, Locke worried the attack had knocked it out before the Explosion could go off.

BOOM.

Locke instinctively yanked the taller boy with him behind a tree, just as three large Spikes-thunk thunk thunk-were embedded deep into the bark. A thick cloud of dirt and debris obscured the entire area shortly after. “Is it over? Please tell me it’s over,” they asked between coughs, almost too afraid to look.

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Locke couldn’t tell if this guy actually knew what he was doing, or was just flying by the seat of his pants.

Maybe it was a little of both.

“Do you live in a Voltorb nest?” They half-joked, side-eyeing the stranger while waving the last of the dust away. Locke did have to wonder just what kind of place he called home to leave him so unfazed by the situation. His optimism was oddly reassuring though, enough to pull them into following the other boy out of hiding.

But not nearly as reassuring as seeing the Sceptile, now reverted to its base form, down and out in an impressively-sized crater. Locke didn’t even bother hiding his relief when the rampaging Pokémon was safely captured. “Will your Pokémon be alright?” He asked, worriedly searching for the Forretress.

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“I guess I do tend to fret,” Locke conceded, though it was hard not to with their luck. They made a mental note to stop at the Pokécenter before they left town.

While the other trainer checked on his Pokémon, Locke bent down to inspect the oddly shimmering minerals exposed by the Sceptile. He only vaguely understood the basic concept of mega evolution; the rare and exclusive process of a Pokémon temporarily unlocking a new evolution. There was a bit of hubbub in the news when scientists first discovered it, and he’d heard few rumors here and there of people who’d seen it firsthand. It was supposedly triggered by some kind of rare stone; he wondered if this was it?

Conrad’s introduction pulled their attention away from the rocks, making them hasten back to their feet and give their own. “Likewise! I’m Locke,” they said as they took the hand offered to them, “Thanks for the help, honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without it. I normally try to avoid…all this.” They gestured vaguely at the torn up battlefield around them.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz