With a magnificent crash, the Ice wall disintegrated. The cold air sunk, whipping up the wind currents to form a powerful tempest as rain drizzled from the sky, the stormy sea of clouds steadily rumbling in anticipation of the upcoming clash.
Nina had wondered, why didn’t the Mahogany Gym just freeze the lake in its entirety? She doubted a bunch of wild, untrained Gyarados, as fearsome as they were, could contend with the full might of the resident Gym Pokemon.
But when the Ice came down, she understood. The lake was incredibly vast and deceptively deep. And for that matter, not a lake at all. But rather, a flooded valley, traces of broken logs and drowning trees still visible near the shore, steadily giving way to an abyssal circle of dark waters close to the center.
“Remember, death or capture. It doesn’t matter so long as their numbers are culled.” Lily’s commanding voice echoed in Nina’s wireless earpiece. “Ashley and Aoi, you two are staying put. Make sure not a single Hyper Beam makes it into town. Nina, keep the Thunder away but let it rain. I’ll take center stage.”
“Osuu~” The lazy drawl of the mermaids came through.
“Alright, you bitches. Get into position!”
The mermaids plus one Justin flew off. And once her subordinates were clear, Lily languidly dropped a Pokeball in a flash of light—
“DOOOOSSS!!!”
—and soared into the skies on the back of a roaring Gyarados.
“Alright, Mizuchi… Time to show them what a proper Gyarados is like.”
“RAAAAAA!!!”
Casually yanking at her top, Lily revealed the shining Key Stone nestled deep in her generous cleavage.
“Gyara…GYARADOSSSS!!!”
A cocoon of prismatic light exploded from the bangle on Mizuchi’s tail to envelop the cerulean sea serpent and her Rider.
Far from the lake, back in Mahogany Town, the distressed residents all cowered in fear from the Gyarados’s cry, timidly looking up to the heavens in dread and prayer.
However, what greeted them was not the destructive light of death and destruction, but the radiant glow of a Mega Gyarados’s rainbow scales and her mermaid companion, dominating the skies like a guardian deity.
“Show them, Mizuchi… That you are not to be feared. That Gyarados are not evil! HYPER BEAM!!!”
A cascade of pure Type Energy descended onto the lake, superheating the writhing mass of wild Pokemon hidden beneath its surface and cooking them alive.
***
Nina gasped at the majestic scene in reverent awe and seared the inspiring sight into her mind as she subconsciously rubbed at the Key Stone in her pocket.
“Yeah, I’m definitely getting myself a Mega Stone after this…” Nina mused, already plotting ways on how to extort a certain mischievous gremlin stalking her journey.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Hey, Nina… What do I gotta do to get myself a Key Stone?”
“Figure it out after this, Janus. They're coming, so buckle up!”
In an effort to escape the indiscriminate slaughter, the wild Gyarados all rushed to escape from the lake, causing a roiling wave of fangs and scales to surge towards the shore.
“Remember the plan!”
Nina tossed out all her Pokeballs, prompting Justin to do the same.
“CLOOOOOD!!!”
“BLAAAAAST!!!”
With determined cries, Sir Clodington charged towards the Gyarados horde on the back of Blastoise. Then, with a whip of his bulbous tail, conjured earthen walls at a diagonal to force the Gyarados into a singular point.
At the same time, Blastoise flared his Aura and taunted them through the middle. The underwater stampede crashed into the stalwart tank Pokemon and further broke apart.
The horde split, their momentum scattered, straggles of Gyarados forced into two thinner streams where Sharpedo was circling, to herd them into one concentrated killzone.
“Brucey! Noivern! Discombobulate!”
“CROOOOOO!!!”
“NOOOIIIIII!!!”
Piercing shrieks resonated in the waters, forcing the Gyarados to splash wildly in confusion.
“DRAGOOOOOO!!!”
Then, with a paralysing coat of Thunder Wave and fists of Thunder, a Draconic meteorite dove into the tumultuous waters and forced its occupants into a chaotic melee.
“CLOOOD!!”
Meanwhile, their makeshift fortress was crumbling, the horde coming in too fast for Sir Clodington’s walls to hold.
“Es.”
But with a mental wave of assurance, Espy stepped in and trapped the rabid horde in an underwater Trick Room, further dampening their advance.
“They're starting to faint! Start tossing, J!”
“Haiyaaa! Take this, you fishy Arboks!”
As the limp figures of Gyarados began to steadily emerge, sphere after sphere of Red Balls landed on them with a flash, sucking them in one by one. The rate of capture was so overwhelming that Nina and Justin barely had any leeway to retrieve their prizes, opting to just let the Red Balls float in place, drifting with the waves.
As always, clean up was going to be a chore.
“Hyper Beam incoming! Full defense!”
One of the Gyarados in the rear, having decided that enough was enough. Forced its way through with Hyper Beam. Only for the destructive light to be met with an unyielding blast of high pressure Hydro Pump from Blastoise, with Sir Clodington tanking the beam in full, right in the middle.
It was reckless and foolhardy. But also perfectly in line with the masochistic Clodsire's personality.
“Hang in there, Clody!”
Nina did not discourage the unnecessary risk. Because as always, Pokemon developed fastest in battle. And in the case of Sir Clodington, it was clear to her that the Clodsire was abusing Blastoise's Hydro Pump and his Water Absorb ability to tank the hit, approaching a near one to one efficiency in health conversion that he was never able to accomplish before.
“DRAGOOOOOO!”
And speaking of rapid development, following Nina's orders, Nitey dove into the main horde with a localised Blizzard and turned the offending Gyarados into a living popsicle with a single Ice Punch, stemming the Hyper Beam at its source.
Unfortunately, the rest of its brethren also fell into the rhythm and unleashed a barrage of lasers of their own, forcing Espy to step up and defend while leaving Noivern, Brucey and Sharpedo to fend for their own.
Chaos devolved once more.
Similar scenes took place all around the lake, orchestrated by the beautiful and highly skilled mermaids of the Cerulean Gym. All while Lily and her Mega Gyarados wreaked havoc in the center.
Like fireworks, the colorful explosion of Type Energy lit up the stormy skies. Clearly visible to the awestruck refugees in the distance.
While initially afraid, once it was certain that the ladies of the Cerulean Gym would not let them come to harm, the looks of fear and trepidation from the denizens of Mahogany Town soon turned into smiles of vindictive glee as they savoured the pleading cries of the culprits that brought brought ruin to their home.
In the end, the entire subjugation took up the majority of the evening. And by the time that Lily and her cohorts were done, night had long descended and they came back to a hero's welcome.
“Welcome back!”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
“Mom! Dad! You can rest in peace now!”
Fervent cheers and tearful gratitude, the denizens swamped their benefactors with heated applause and insistent offers of food and hospitality in spite of their misfortune.
“Ha…” Lily slumped her shoulders with a helpless chuckle. “Seems like we're spending the night. So much for making it back home by today…” Not like she was in any shape for further travel anyway.
Communing with Lugia had left her utterly drained and it had been a long time since the red-haired Cerulean Sister last triggered a Mega Evolution, and never for such a prolonged period of time. So needless to say, she was absolutely exhausted. The only thing keeping Lily on her feet at the moment was pride as the representative of her prestigious clan and the professional vanity of a lifelong performer.
Nina was absolutely drained as well, ultimately slumping into the comforting embrace of Kerry's Chansey. The strain of the past few days had come crashing down all at once.
“Chansey, chance! Chan-sey~ ? chance chance~ ? Chanseeyy chance chance-chance~ ?”
Amidst the soothing lullaby and with uncanny strength, Peppy the Chansey lifted the little mermaid girl into her embrace and carried her over to the still-intact Pokecenter dorm that the locals had prepared for their guest. And at the same time, Kerry reached over to relieve Nina of her Pokeballs for a thorough check up on her team.
“Great work today, Nins. Sweet dreams…”
