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Of Legends and Secrets - Part 4

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'Of Legends and Secrets' - Part 4

:iconnitron2097: as River, Netta, and their Pokemon.

:iconsonicdash759: as Nicole and her Pokemon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...Nicole!"

River screamed as the floor gave out from under her, rocks crumbling into pebbles. Her Vaporeon grabbed onto her waist as Pokemon and trainer fell through. Netta's Dusknoir tried to reach out and grab River's hand, but one of the psychotic Animareic used Tackle and sent the Ghost type flying.

Rocks pelted River in the shoulders and arms as she cradled Vappy, doing her best to protect her.

The cackling of the horde of Animareic echoed in her ears as she fell, unable to keep from shouting.

The whoosh of water filled her ears, and she opened her eyes to see water gushing from Vappy's mouth she'd used Water Gun to try to soften the landing. She hit the ground shoulder first, but it didn't hurt as much as she'd feared.

"Nicole?! Can you hear me?!" She tried shouting upward.

The only reply came from three Animareic above her, clinging to the crushed rock walls. "Meeeeeraaaaa!" The animatronic Pokemon started to jump down from the ceiling, and with no other choice, River took off running down the cavern. "Vappy, come on!"

Nicole could only watch as River disappeared into the depths below with three other Animareic going down with her. "Not again! RIVER!! WATCH OUT FOR THEIR JUMPSCARE ATTACK!!" she screamed, hoping her warning carried out far enough to be heard.

Aqua stood in front of her trainer, blasting away other members of the Animareic band back with Hydro Pump. "Va Vapor, Napor!! Poreon!" she cried, growing weary of holding them off.

Nicole turned back to Netta with a desperate look. "A little help would be nice! I don't have Static with me this time and Luna's not coming out until we reach Giratina!"

"You think I'm doing any better on my...! Aaaaaah!"

Netta screamed as one of the Animareic rushing toward her unleashed a Jumpscare. The Pokemon's twisted and fiendish face contorted into a hideous expression as the Pokemon shouted enough to shatter glass. "Meeeraaa!"

Inches from her face, the Pokemon went flying, crashing into the wall. Pieces broke off its body and sparks flew.

"Yamask!"

Netta's Yamask flexed its fist, glancing around for any more of the Animareic. The other two that had been rushing them stopped, glancing at each other with confused expressions. Yamask raised its fists, ready for a brawl. "Yam! Yam!"

"Meeeraaaa!" Two Jumpscare attacks and Yamask's eyes bugged out of its head. "Yammy!" The Pokemon collapsed, eyes swirling in its head.

"Yamask!" Netta cried out before creeping back into the rock wall she'd ended up against. The Animareic crept forward, smiling wicked smiles. "Meeeerrrrrrraaaaaaa..."

Netta screamed, covering her head as four wicked claws reached for her.

"Duuuuusk...noir!" A Shadow Ball flew in from nowhere, smashing into the Animareic. The Pokemon almost fell apart on impact, limbs and parts splaying in every direction. The ball hit the rock wall with enough force to vaporize a good chunk of the rock on contact. Pebbles and shrapnel filled the room.

Nicole turned back to Aqua with an expression of hopelessness. "What do I do?? Where's AISaNMA or Sandra when you need em??" she questioned.

The last time they'd seen each other, Sandra wanted nothing to do with Giratina after causing her to break down in an emotional mess. And AISaNMA was too busy with her new lab to even care.

Aqua finally gave out, slumping to the rocky floor, too exhausted to attack. "...Por..." she whimpered.

One of the metallic Pokemon, a rusted red fox-like creature with hook hand and eye patch grinned as it saw an opening. "RIC!" It raised its sharpened hand, ready to unleash a Slash until Dusky intercepted.

Aqua managed to get back up and retreat to her trainer's side. "Vapor! Napor Por Poreon!"

Nicole's mind raced, looking around for anything that could help in some way. Then her eyes fell on a seemingly deep but small puddle. "...Just hope that's enough water..." she yanked off a ball from her belt and tossed it at the little amount of water on the ground.

Aria appeared in a bright flash, soon accompanied by a small but steady stream of water from Aqua.

Nicole gave a weak smile but still looked nervous. "Don't strain yourself too much...You feeling ok Aria?" she asked.

Aria nodded. "Mera!" she acknowledged.

A light-bulb flashed in Netta's mind. "Nicole! Does Aria know Water Spout?!"

Aria tilted her head. "Lulla?"

"Water Spout!" Netta shouted the name of the attack again, hoping Nicole could hear over the chaos in the cavern, "...I have an idea!"

The water sprayed in every direction, covering the cavern in a spray of liquid. "Take cover, Nicole," Netta shouted before pulling out another Pokeball, which she threw as close to Aria as she could. With a flash, her Shedinja appeared. "You get in there too, Dusky!"

Her Dusknoir rushed in beside the other two Pokemon. The force of Aria's Water Spout had some of the stalagmites hanging above them cracking and breaking apart.

"Dusky...use Blizzard!"

The air in the cave became frigid, wind whipping through the space. The streams of water froze, becoming sharp, jagged missiles shooting through the air. Animareic began to shriek and scream as the barrage ripped them to pieces. Netta covered her head with her hands as parts or Pokemon and shards of ice began to hit her body.

"Shedinja...add in a Sandstorm!"

The half ring above Shedinja twirled, and the wind seemed to double in strength. Pebbles, sand, and pieces of rock were mixed in with the icicles, and the wind became a maelstrom pf projectiles. Animareic were shredded by the hail of debris. A Pokemon tried to get close to Netta through the hailstorm. "Meeerrrraaaa...!" The sound cut off as an icicle speared it through the head, and its body exploded. Pokemon soared through the air and smashed into the walls, sparks and pieces flying. A chorus of destruction filled Netta's ears as Pokemon exploded, fell from the ceiling, and disintegrated in the maelstrom.

And suddenly...the sound died away.

Netta lifted her head just enough to see, not daring to completely uncover her face.

The floor had been littered with parts...legs, arms, torsos, heads, ears, tails. Smashed bits of Animareic lay everywhere, some still twitching and sparking. Pieces were embedded in the rocky walls, and broken and pulverized rocks lay everywhere.

"...Wow..." Netta sat up, her eyes hanging wide open, "...I...didn't think it'd work...that well..."

Aria lowered her arms from her face and looked around. "Lul...?" she then sighed, relieved that the tension was over. But Nicole was nowhere to be found and neither was Aqua. "Merla? Amer??"

Two muffled voices could be heard coming from under the rubble.

Aria gasped before cupping some water from the puddle, splashing it on her body, and hopping over to the source of the voices. "Lullamera!!" she called out, feeling shortness of breath already.

"Nicole!" Netta jumped up and ran over to where Aria stood, calling after her Dusknoir, "Dusky! Come help me!" Netta helped Aria dig through the pile, throwing broken Animareic parts and rocks aside. "Nicole! Aqua!"

Nicole and Aqua emerged with some scratches and scrapes but nothing else. The coughed and choked from the dust and debris. "Thanks Netta..."

Aria meanwhile, was rushing back for the puddle before she would suffocate.

"I think we're okay for the time being," Netta said, looking around at the remains of the Animareic horde. "We can probably recall most of our Pokemon." She helped Nicole to her feet before recalling her Shedinja and Yamask. "You should get Aria back in her ball too."

Nicole nodded before returning Aria then turning back to Aqua. "Are you ok?" she asked.

Aqua nodded weakly. "Por Napor."

Netta patted Aqua on the head before looking up at Nicole. "Sorry about that. That was kind of spur or the moment. I just got an idea and rolled with it. I figured I could turn a Water Spout attack into a giant AOE attack." She glanced again at the remains of the Animareic horde. "I...think it worked too well..."

The scraps and bits of the robotic Pokemon were everywhere but with time, they would reassemble into their old bodies...or atleast that's what it said on Nicole's Pokedex. And the ones that had survived the chaos hobbled into the darkness, retreating.

Nicole sighed. "If only I had some Pokeballs on me...I kinda wanted one. Hey! That reminds me! How's that Happet of yours?" she asked.

"Uh..." Nicole put a hand on the back of her head, smiling as she blushed, "He's...fine, but I didn't bring him with me. I...wasn't sure what would happen if he got surrounded by all these other Animareic."

Her face lit up. "Hey, never mind all that! We need to find River!"

Nicole and Aqua turned back to the hole where River had fallen in. "You think she's still down there??"

"Probably not," Netta said, running to the hole. She knelt beside it and peered downward. "River acts tough, but she can be a bit of a scaredy-cat. If those Animareic are still after her, she could be running like crazy." Netta turns to Nicole. "Question is...how do we get down there?"

For a few moments, Nicole thought she could hear the sounds of faint screeches from the wild Animareic followed by a familiar scream. "...Ok...I don't know...All I can think of is flooding it so we can float down there but...I think River's had enough of water for one...month..." she paused before turning to Aqua. "Seriously...if she's gotten herself into that much watery trouble, how is she still here??" she whispered so Netta couldn't hear.

Aqua sweatdropped, not really knowing how to respond to that...

Netta felt a sweat drop on her own forehead. "I'm...not too sure about that myself. She has no luck when it comes to water. But I don't think flooding and floating...!" Her face lit up. "Freaking duh! I've got a Dusknoir! We can just float!" She spun to face Dusknoir, who just flexed his arms, as if to say 'Leave it to me!' "Dusk! Dusknoir!"

He held out his hands, and Netta took one. "Come on, Nicole," she urged the other.

Nicole was hesitant but not about Dusknoir. She turned to Aqua and took a deep breath before whipping out the Water type's ball and sending her back in. "Sorry Aqua! It'll just be a second!" she promised, clipping the ball back on her belt and taking the ghost type by the hand. "Ok ready!"

And already, Nicole could feel the ball beginning to rattle and shake as the water type fought against its spherical container.

"Aqua doesn't like being cooped up, huh?" Netta asked with a chuckle as Dusknoir lifted them up and dropped through the hole in the floor. The sound of shouting and Animareic laughing got louder as they descended. "We'd better hit the ground running," Netta said, peering into the darkened tunnel.

"Well...she doesn't mind sometimes but-" she was cut off by the sound of screams. "RIVER!" she yelled.

Netta looked down...and almost lost her grip on Dusknoir's arm.

"...Bluh...Netta...Nic...glub...Help me!"

Three Animareic had River cornered against the wall in a big opening in the ground filled with water. Two more were on either side of her, dunking her head under the water. The Animareic in the puddle looked like their bodies didn't work on electricity, and the others were dancing on the edge of the water, freakish looks on their twisted faces.

...And a short distance from the puddle, Vappy lay on the ground knocked out cold on her side.

"Argh!" Netta jumped, rushing toward her friend, "...Get away from her you freaks!" She threw her Poke-ball as hard as she could, and it landed right between the Animareic. "Shedinja! Hit them with Shadow Claw!"

Shedinja appeared and took a massive swipe at the first Animareic, knocking it into the air. Before the other could react, Shedinja swiped across its face, and it collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

The Pokemon in the water threw themselves on top of River, and with one last half-shout, they submerged her.

"Damn it!" Netta shouted, spinning around. "Nicole! I need help!"

Ignoring the profanity, Nicole released Aqua and Aria again. She turned to the water/dark type. "Get River back up here!"

Already in the water, Aria dove the second her trainer finished her sentence. She pumped her tail with every ounce of strength in her until she saw the two robotic monsters holding down the struggling girl. With a grin, she took a deep breath and used Siren's Shriek, causing the animatronics to glitch and malfunction. While they didn't run on electricity, they weren't deaf.

River felt the pressure on her arms vanish, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Aria in front of her, smiling. The Animareic floated in the water, twitching. River pushed off the rocks below her and broke the surface, inhaling a ragged breath. "Ah!"

Netta ran to the side of the water and grabbed River's wrist, hauling her to the shore and out. "Th...thanks," she gasped, collapsing onto her hands, dripping wet. "I...I thought they were gonna kill me..."

Aria surfaced afterwards.

Nicole frowned. "Are you alright?" she asked.

River caught her breath and started to look up to Nicole. "Yeah, I think...! VAPPY!"

She practically threw herself at her Vaporeon, still lying on her side on the ground. River cradled the Pokemon in her arms. "Vappy! Vappy!" Tears were flying off her face. "She...she threw herself into...that crowd of Animareic..." She glanced around, almost in a panic. "My bag! Where's my bag?! I need a Heal-Ball!"

Netta glanced around frantically, trying to find the bag. Not finding it around the area, she took off in the direction they'd come. "Hang on! I'll see if you dropped it!"

River watched her go before looking up at Nicole, eyes puffy and still full of tears. "Is...is she okay? She's never gotten hurt this bad before. I...I don't know much about Vaporeon..."

Nicole approached the other Vaporeon and inspected her. "...She'll..." she smiled. "It's ok. She just can't battle. A quick trip to the Pokemon Center or...some sprays or...heal ball will do the trick!" she reassured.

Aqua walked over and wrapped her tail around the small Vaporeon's body in a comforting way. "Por!"

"I'm...really sorry," River said, wiping her face as she tried to pull it together. "I...I totally blew it back there. I panicked when...those Animareic rushed me, and..."

She hung her head, cradling Vappy in her arms, on the verge of breaking out in tears again.

Nicole patted her friend on the back. "River, It's gonna be alright. Vappy's injuries aren't serious or deadly."

"Yeah...I hope you're---"

"Hey! Sorry about that!" River and Nicole both looked up to find Netta running toward them, her Shedinja floating along beside her illuminating the cavern. "We had to look everywhere back there!" She held River's bag in her hand and skidded to a stop in front of the two girls. "Here you go."

"Thanks Netta," River said, giving her friend the most confident smile she could. She rummaged for a moment and pulled out a Heal-Ball. "Thank goodness," she said, her relief evident. The ball took in Vappy, and finally, River's shoulders relaxed.

"Lucky you carry those things around," Netta said, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm never prepared like you, River."

"Yeah...I guess," River replied, slinging the backpack over her shoulder and standing. "So...what's next." She looked up to the ceiling. "Do we keep looking around down here?"

Netta followed her gaze before turning to Nicole. "I'd rather not run into another horde of Animareic like that." She turned to Nicole. "How much do you know about those freaky things? Is there any way we can avoid them? Maybe, like, know where they are? They're mostly mechanical, right?"

Nicole thought hard when another memory flashed into her mind. "...They're Pokemon but they're also still just animatronics...I think I remember back during my field trip...they're attracted/distracted by noise and bright flashing lights mess with their programming or something like that..." she recalled. "But Static's not with me and I don't have a flashlight..."

Netta smiled. "Well, I've got Shedinja here." She indicated her Pokemon. "He can use Sunny Day like he is now, and he can oscillate the brightness so he kind of looks like a flashing light."

Shedinja started to blink as the half ring floating above him changed its brightness like a soft strobe light. "But...it's not the best thing for the situation," Netta admitted, slumping her shoulder. "So...how do we easily make bright lights?"

Nicole frowned. "...I don't know...Wait. What about your Animareic? You captured one, didn't you? That red pirate fox thing?" she asked.

"...Huh...?" Netta's hand went to her chin before her jaw nearly hit the floor. "Oh! Right!"

She dove into her backpack, and her hand emerged holding a Poke-Ball. "I completely forgot about this little guy!" She pressed the button and let the ball fall to her feet. With a flash, the Pokemon emerged.

"Y-Y-YAR-A-ARGH ME MATEY!"

"I haven't done any battling or training with him yet, though," Netta said, a little bit of the joy vanishing from her face. "The only thing I've been doing is playing with him. Oh...I named him too."

Nicole smiled. "What'd you name him? Lemmie guess...Foxy? No...Captain Fox? Uh...Fox-beard?"

"Uh...actually, your first guess was right." Netta blushed as she watched the Animareic look down at them.

Nicole giggled. "Foxy the Pirate Fox! Definitely has a nice ring to it...I swear I've heard that name before somewhere..." she wondered before turning to the withered animatronic, looking up at the tall mass of metal. "Ok Foxy. You remember this old place? We need to find the lagoon again...or atleast Giratina." she informed.

The pirate fox nodded, its joints creaking and squeaking and lower unhinged jaw just flopping and dangling. "YARGH ME M-M-M-MATEY. L-L-L-LET'S WEIGH ANCHOR AND SE-SE-SE-SET SAIL FOR ADVENTURE!" it buzzed with it's prerecorded response.

Aqua chuckled. "Por por!"

The Animareic regarded Nicole with a confused face, glancing around the cavern for a moment.

"You sure he remembers?" River asked, both hands still clutched around Vappy's Heal-Ball. Netta didn't look to sure either.

"Mera? ...Mera!" Foxy's eyes then suddenly lit up and he took off running opposite the direction they'd come, heading for a tunnel in the distance that seemed pretty small.

Nicole nodded before taking after the animatronic. "C'mon!" she yelled as Aqua followed behind her.

They ran into the tunnel after Foxy. "He sure is fast," River said, having to push herself to keep up.

"For sure," Netta replied, not even breathing hard herself, "He's pretty fast on his feet. He plays a mean game of catch!"

The cavern continued to narrow and darken, and soon even Foxy had to slow down a bit. After a long jog down the tunnel, the Pokemon came to a stop...at the worst possible place.

"You...you can't be serious," Netta gasped, swallowing a gulp.

River just stared downward. "How...how far does it go?"

Foxy had stopped just above a drop-off. The rock face plunged down into the darkness, so far the bottom wasn't visible. "We...we have to climb down there?" River backed away from the massive hole in the ground.

Foxy pointed. "Mare! Mera!"

"Yep...going down," Netta replied.

Nicole gulped. While heights didn't frighten her as much as bugs, she still couldn't look down without feeling uneasy. "D-down...ok. I don't think a rope of any size would be enough to get us down there safely...?" she asked.

Netta raised a fist. "No problem. I can have Dusknoir carry us down there. We'll just have to go one at a time so he doesn't tire himself out. Shedinja can float too, so he can keep using Sunny Day so nothing sneaks up on us."

"Shed!" Shedinja, who'd been hovering above Foxy the whole time lightning up the narrow cavern, bounced in the air, the half ring above his head glowing bright.

Nicole nodded. "Ok just...please keep your distance, Shedinja..." she shivered.

Aqua rolled her eyes.

"River, you go first," Netta said. "You have Gyro with you, right? He'll be able to watch your back down there in case any more Animareic show up."

River nodded. "Good idea." She walked to the edge of the precipice and allowed Dusknoir to pick her up, princess-style. "Just don't go too fast, okay Dusky?" The Pokemon nodded, and once River had taken one last deep breath and closed her eyes, he floated over the edge. Shedinja followed, and after only a few moments both Pokemon vanished into the darkness, Sheddy's light fading until even it vanished below.

Nicole watched them go. "How far do you think it goes...?" she asked.

"I...have no idea," Netta said, looking over to Nicole before adding, "And I'm pretty sure you don't want me to guess."

Nicole just shrugged.

Netta watched Nicole for another moment before looking back down below, then held up her arm to check her watch.

...A minute went by, and no sign of Dusknoir.

"Dusky?" Netta tried calling his name over the edge. Her voice echoed several times off the rock around them.

Nicole peered down then quickly shot backwards. "Must be pretty deep then..."

Aqua nodded. "Por Vapor Por..."

"You think they ran into Animareic?" Netta asked Nicole.

"It's like you said, If they run into Animareic, River has that Garyrados of hers." Nicole recalled.

Netta waited a little longer and then shouted over the edge for Dusknoir, then for Shedinja. After not getting any kind of a reply, she stepped to the edge and knelt down. "Something's definitely wrong down there."

She put her foot over the edge, apparently looking for a foothold.

Nicole approached her and grabbed onto one of her arms. "No! Are you crazy?? Just give them another minute! I'm sure Dusknior will be back! What if he does and he sees that you're not here??" she questioned.

Netta stared at her, surprised. "I think it's pretty obvious something is wrong."

"But still! Going down there without some kind of support like...atleast a rope? That's practically suicide!" Nicole exclaimed.

"If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."

Nicole thought but had nothing in her mind at the moment. "...Touche...?"

"All right then. I'm going. Watch my back, okay?"

Nicole frowned, unable to shake a bad feeling. "Be careful...."

Netta took a look down, breathed a deep breath, and started down, carefully picking out each foot and handhold as easily as she could.

Nicole watched with hopelessness. "Do you seriously think you're gonna make it down there in time?" she asked.

Netta stopped and held on, shooting Nicole a look. "At least I'm doing something!" ...Emphasis on something. Then she kept climbing.

Nicole sighed. "Just be careful..."

Netta didn't even pause to reply, and instead carefully chose her next handhold and continued down.

Nicole and Aqua watched her with anticipation

"Just how far down does this go?" Netta made careful progress down the cliff, making sure each hand and foothold could take her weight as she descended. After what seemed like an eternity, she could see a faint light below.

"Sheddy?" She tried calling out for her Shedinja, but didn't get any reply.

She inched downward, trying to get closer to the light. "Just what is that?"

"What do you see?!" Nicole yelled down.

"Pore Pore Poreon??" added Aqua.

Nicole's voice almost didn't reach Netta's ears, as far down the cliff as she was.

"There's...some kind of...I don't even know what," she called back up, her voice echoing off the rock face in front of her. "It's like...a hole...in the air."

She stared at the ring of azure light surrounding a black disk. "River?" She tried calling her friend's name. "Dusky? Sheddy?" No response came from anywhere around her. "Can you guys hear me? Hey!"

Nicole began to think. "A hole in the...IT'S A PORTAL!" she yelled back down.

Netta almost lost her grip on the rock face. "A...portal...?"

She gazed into the black void. She could just barely see... "There's...something on the other side... Water! Nicole, I can see---!"

Before she could finish, the glassy surface shimmered, and bright electric arcs flashed across the void. The ring of light surrounding the portal flared with color, and without warning, a horde of Animareic came pouring through the opening.

Nicole and Aqua jumped back as the monstrosities burst upwards. "Not again..."

Animareic streamed through the opening, screeching and hissing and snapping and grabbing. Netta held fast to the rocks, hanging on for dear life.

Nicole took a step back as Aqua got in front. 'If I get out of this cave alive...maybe I should just go back to Beya now...'

A group of Animareic started pecking at Netta's hands, their claws biting into her wrists. "Get off, you hunks of junk!" She swiped at the Pokemon, almost losing her one-handed grip. "Crap!"

She managed to sneak another look at the swirling disk below her. The stream of Animareic seemed endless as they poured from the opening.

"...Nicole...jump into that thing!" Netta shouted as loud as she could up the cliff. "Jump into the portal!"

Nicole was shocked. "Are you insane?!" she yelled.

"River had to have gone in there!" Netta shouted back over the noise from the Animareic. "And we can't fight these things without them! They could all be in trouble!"

Nicole frowned still hesitant but after gathering what little bravery she had, she took a deep breath, nodded at Aqua before running off the chasm and letting herself fall down into the darkness below, followed by Aqua. She shut her eyes.

Netta fought off a crazed Animareic and jumped off the cliff at what she thought was the right moment. As Nicole fell toward her, she grabbed onto Nicole's arm.

...Then they hit the portal, and everything went black for Netta.

Nicole and Aqua opened their eyes. The first thing they saw was each other, then Netta unconscious, and finally the world around them…

Netta blinked, feeling the ground under her...which felt a little chilly. Then she looked up.

"Holy... Where the heck are we?!"

"I-I...Didn't you say the portal would lead to water?" Nicole looked around. "Where are we?"

"I just asked you that!" Netta got to her feet and glanced around. The plain gray and brown rock that had been surrounding them had vanished. Instead, they were now surrounded by a sky as blue as Netta's backpack. The ground was soft and covered with a pinkish grass...and there were pieces of land floating around them in the sky, all of them at different angles. The floating chunks of land all were different sizes; some huge and others tiny.

"I think..." Netta tried to gather her thoughts. "Well, we definitely aren't in that cave anymore." Then a memory clicked. "Wait...when we first went chasing after Giratina, back that first time, right? That rumor...that Giratina would appear during the full moon in that cave thingy...the portal the kid said he saw was the same as that one."

"...Are we in Giratina's dimension or something? What about that portal?" Nicole asked, still glancing around.

Aqua looked around for any signs or River or Vappy. "Vapor?"

A flash of light burned across the ground, and Netta looked up just in time to see a big black void high above them, electric arcs leaping across its surface. The void flared brightly with light, and then vanished.

"I guess...that was it, right there." She stood. "Well, assuming River did get pulled into that same portal, she's here somewhere, and she has Dusky and Vappy with her, so I think she'll be safe. The real question is where did all those Animareic that came out of the portal come from?"

"Honestly...I just wanna get outta here. I think I've had enough adventuring for one day...or week..." Nicole complained.

"Well, the sooner we find River and my brother, the sooner we'll be out," Netta told her. "Trust me, I'm no more thrilled about this mess than you."

Nicole nodded. "So where do we go now?" she asked.

"First thing's first...we have to find River."

Nicole nodded again. "Right. We should probably stay together though since our Pokemon are weak."

Aqua frowned. "por..."

"Hey, now's not the time to be so down on yourself." Netta walked up to Nicole and put her hands on her shoulders. "Listen, I don't know what seeing that old rust-for-brains-android-girlfriend of yours stirred up, but you said you'd help me, and I'm really glad you did, okay? When this is over, I'll go back to Beya with you so you won't be lonely."

She looked down at Aqua. "And...by the way, that Vaporeon of yours is probably the strongest Water-type I know of. And strong Pokemon have strong trainers. Don't put yourself down like that, got it?"

Nicole was surprised. "I-I...We-well...I wasn't really putting myself down. AISaNMA isn't really a problem anymore as long as she doesn't go rogue again and you don't really have to come back to Beya! I doubt work will even let me hang out anyway...But still, thanks for asking. I'm glad I have a friend like you..." she smiled.

Aqua's frown never left. "Vapor...??" she asked, feeling a hint of replacement.

Nicole quickly recovered with a smile at her friend. "Don't worry, sis! You'll always be my bestie! And yeah...Aqua is pretty tough..."

Aqua felt better, showing a face of pride and fearlessness. "Vapor Vapor!"

"Wh...what?! Whoa, I didn't mean...!" Netta's cheeks suddenly felt like they'd been microwaved. "I didn't mean go back with you! I just meant get back safe and sound! I mean, you know, it's a long way back, and planes are super cramped, and trains take so long and...!"

She spun away. "Argh! I always do this!" She grabbed her hair and started tugging on it. "She's going to think I want to be her girlfriend! Agh! Talk about out of the blue, you loonie!" She smacked her cheeks, but that only made her blush harder. "Yikes! I'm redder than a strawberry! Aqua, quick! Spray me with water!"

Nicole was silent for a few seconds until suddenly bursting into laughter. "I didn’t mean it like THAT! I'm not really into that sorta thing, Netta! Besides, I already have a boyfriend anyway!" she giggled.

Aqua just sat there, not knowing what to think "...por...?!"

"...Oh...really?" Netta did a quintuple take between Nicole and Aqua, and then collapsed onto her back. "Whew!" The exhale of relief had to be visible, cartoon style. "Thank Arceus for that! I almost worked us both up for nothing!"

Nicole chuckled. "I think I should just stick to the simple 'yes' and 'no' answers...hmm...I haven't talked to Trent in a while..." she said to herself.

Aqua smiled, remembering all the fun adventures the two lovers had together... "Por poreon por!"

Netta giggled at the confusion for another minute, then took a deep breath to calm herself...and then opened her eyes. "So...uh...I don't suppose...Giratina's dimension has any cell towers...or a Pokedex network..." A sheepish smile crossed her face. "Uh...any ideas, Nicole?"

Nicole sweatdropped. "Really Netta? I think we should just look around and see what we can find." she suggested.

"Yeah, you're probably right." She stood up. "Well...I guess we'll head in this direction. And now that I think of it, we do have one thing in our favor. If River let out her Gyarados, we should be able to see him from a mile away."

Nicole and Aqua both nodded in unison. "True! So hopefully we just have to look for a giant Mega Gyarados," she said, starting in the direction mentioned by Netta.

"This place is pretty weird," Netta said after they'd walked for a while.

Nicole and Aqua glanced around as they walked, amazed at the sights. "Floating chunks of ground? Water flowing against gravi-WOAH!" both the girl and her water Pokemon were suddenly on their backs on a floating platform above them that was upside down. "Owgh...and gravity makes no sense here..." she grunted, adjusting to the change in physics.

"Por por por Vaporeon..." whimpered Aqua.

"What the heck? How...whoa!" Netta ended up in the same position. "Ugh...I'm gonna lose my lunch..."

Nicole looked to the ground they were previously on and saw that the ground had broken off. "...Ok...I think we're supposed to keep going this way," she assumed.

Aqua looked ahead after getting to her paws and nodded. "Por Poreon, Napor!" she answered.

Nicole followed her friend's gaze and nodded. The path continued on the ground they were now on. "Yep..."

Netta stepped carefully, glancing around as she did so. "This is...like, totally weird. Who'd have thought that---?"

The ground rumbled, and far ahead of them, a huge geyser of water shot into the air, and a moment later a very familiar bellow echoed off the scenery around them.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say she's over there," Netta said, breaking into a dead run. "Come on!"

Nicole nodded before following Netta with Aqua right behind her. "Hang on, River! We're coming!" she yelled.

Netta ran forward as well, and they came up on a steep drop which led to another wide expanse below. In the center of a wide area with large rock outcroppings on each side stood River, her Mega Gyarados towering over her and Vappy at her feet. The Vaporeon seemed to be just fine after being in the heal ball.

Animareic surrounded the three of them.

And behind River, facing the other direction, were Dusknoir and Shedinja.

"Hey...the gang's all here," Netta said, waving a hand. "Hey, River!"

River didn't look up, but she apparently recognized the voice. "Less hello's and more junk busting! I'm really sick of these stupid things!"

Nicole turned to Aqua. "You feeling ok??" she asked.

Aqua nodded a bit. "Por.."

Nicole nodded back. "You're the only one that's able to help me now so let's give it a shot. Ok?"

Aqua nodded, getting in front of her trainer. "Vapor!" she cried.

The brown haired girl smiled. "Alright! Hydro Pump!" she commanded.

Aqua reared back before unleashing a blast of water at one of the Animareic. "POR!!"

The Animareic closest to River went down for the count, sparks shooting from its body.

"Dusknoir! Dream Eater," Netta shouted to her Pokemon, "Get as many of them as you can!"

Dusknoir unleashed the attack, and after a moment, ix Animareic fell to the ground in front of him, quivering as their eyes swirled in their sockets. "Seven down...and about fifty to go." Netta turned to Nicole. "...And the score is six to one!" She gave her a wink. "Wheee!"

Aqua shot another Hydro Pump at her trainer's command and managed to hit two more. "POR!"

"Hey! Don't forget who has the muscle here! Gyarados...use Giga Impact!"

River's Gyarados coiled its tail before leaping into the air with an ear-splitting roar. It landed in the middle of a group of Animareic and sent them flying. When the cloud of dust settled, eight more Animareic lay motionless on the ground.

"And River takes the lead, but not for long! Sheddy, use Sandstorm!" Netta pointed to her Shedinja, who moved away from River before whipping up a gale force wind, which picked up chunks of smashed rock from Gyro's Giga Impact as well as broken bits of Animareic and whirled them into a maelstrom which enveloped the Animareic around him. The attack took out four more.

"That's ten to eight to three!" Netta shouted, sparkles in her eyes. "I'm winning!"

Nicole rolled her eyes, paying no attention to the two girl's game as she continued attacking. "Now use Swift!"

Aqua summoned a series of star-shaped projectiles before launching them at the robotic horde. "Vapor!!"

"Vappy, use Scald on those two!" River pointed, and Vappy unleashed a jet of steaming hot water that took the two Animareic down for the count.

"Ice beam!"

Aqua aimed carefully and shot a beam of frigid energy at another one of the opponents, knocking it out.

"Dusky, Shadow Ball!" Another Animareic went flying.

One by one, the Animareic fell until there were no more, leaving Nicole and Aqua exhausted.

Gyarados had bent his body forward to help hold River up, and Dusknoir held Netta by the shoulders to keep her from falling over as she panted.

Animareic lay scattered over the whole area.

"Man," Netta said, sucking air, "I'm never going to look at another robot when this is over."

"I...know...what you mean," River replied, sitting down on the ground, "...I'm never going to be able to watch anything sci-fi ever again once we're out of here." She then looked at Netta. "How did you guys find me, by the way."

"A...Well, a bit of a leap of faith, sort of," Netta told her, throwing another wink at Nicole.

Nicole just showed an expression that was a mix between happy and annoyed.

"What the heck happened to you anyway?" Netta sat up and looked toward River. "Did you get pulled into that portal too?"

"Yeah. Dusknoir saw it and tried to get away from it, but it started pulling us in before he could do anything about it. Next thing I knew all three of us were sitting in the middle of this...whatever this is, and all those Animareic were surrounding us. I let Gyarados out and most of them ran off as soon as he appeared." River laughed. "It was pretty funny. Then the rest decided to pick a fight and that's when you showed up."

Nicole smiled. "Glad we came when when we did. Now let's find Netta's brother and get out of this hell on earth so I can finally go home and never have to worry about anymore life-and-death situations EVER again!!" she blurted out...then realized. "...Uh...I-I uh..."

Aqua frowned, seeing her trainer clearly stressing out, something she would never usually do. "Napor...?"

Nicole sighed, covering her face with her hand. "I'm sorry girls...It's not you it's just..." she couldn't say anything else.

"Hey," River says, getting up and walking over to Nicole. "Is...something still bugging you?"

Nicole sighed. "I'm just so tired of everything trying to kill us. I came to Unova for a vacation, not to die over and over again. It's not you girls, really! You're some of the greatest friends I've ever known! It's just...ugh...I don't know! I guess I just want an actual vacation with no danger, no robot Pokemon, no legendary beasts, no anything!"

Aqua felt sympathy for the girl, nuzzling her leg as an attempt to comfort her. "Por!" she cried with an optimistic tone.

River listened, unable to reply.

Netta sat still for a moment, then stood and strode over. "Well...I guess we'll just have to get out of here and take you on a real vacation then!"

Nicole didn't really know whether to believe her or not. With a sigh she walked forward. "Let's just get your brother back, Netta."

Aqua's fins drooped as she felt the disappointment leak from her trainer. "Napor...?"

Nicole frowned. "We have more important things to worry about, Aqua!"

Aqua hesitated. "Por por, Napor...?"

River looked between Nicole and Aqua, and after a moment knelt next to the Vaporeon. "Aqua...is something wrong?"

Vappy pranced over as well. "Por? Vapor!"

Nicole suddenly snapped at the two. "She's fine!! Let's just go already!!"

Netta smiled. "I think someone needs a little cooling off. What do you think, Vappy?"

The Vaporeon almost jumped straight upward. "Por! Por!"

River chuckled. "I think...someone wants to have some fun. Okay then..." She turned to Nicole, just enough to see her out of the corner of her eye, and her face twisted into a wicked smile. "Aqua... Water Gun!"

Aqua refused to attack her own trainer. "Por por!!!" she cried, shaking her head.

Nicole suddenly dropped to the floor as an ominous black mist emerged from her body.

Then it morphed into an equine-like shape with a long, pointed, sword-like horn on its head as well as large wings.

Aqua growled as a flood of memories from the caverns washed over her.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA”

Knightmare was back!
Part 4
© 2016 - 2024 sonicdash759
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Nitron2097's avatar
Wow...I forgot how epic that tag team attack by Netta and Aria turned out. :D Animareic WRECKAGE!