Sunday, 2nd January, 1966

The ground beneath Aaron's feet shook, and the water's sloshing stole his attention for another moment. His fingers could barely maintain their grip on the quarterstaff. The pokémon began to move towards their target. He looked across the battlefield at the Colran ruler, whose expression had not changed. A stark realisation crossed his mind, and he stepped back. Oh no.

Lord De Jou's eyes turned pink, and his hair started to move on its own. With a slight flick of his right ankle, he kicked up off the ground into a low hover. He took the quarterstaff into his mouth and held it tightly with his teeth, leaving his hands free. He turned them upright to face the sky.

Lord Bradford rushed toward him, his quarterstaff in his right hand and his cinderace beside him. "Damn it! Sir, do something!" he called out to Lord Interrogator Phillipe, shouting over the energy that was being formed around the Lord Elite.

"I need not stop it. I can win despite our differences in strength. Let him use his powers. Show these Elkran why Colran is supreme." He glanced over at Aaron and Clarence and placed his hands behind his back.

Now, now, Kinhixo, your youth and arrogance may be your folly. Lord De Jou threw his arms back, releasing a vibrant pink wave of energy. Behind him, his pokémon started to glow, warp and transform.

"He did it!" Usek called out over the microphone. "Multiple mega evolutions at once!"

David nodded at his colleague's excitement. "He used his empathic bond to mega evolve his pokémon without mega stones. For those of you in the crowd who do not know, this ability is incredibly rare in general and is often associated with powerful psychics."

"What the fuck?" Aaron snapped at the Lord Interrogator before looking down. "Sorry, Lord Interrogator..." he muttered. However, the man was gone already.

"Head in the game, son," Lord Bradford said.

Lord Interrogator Phillipe sprung forward, grabbed hold of his hydreigon's wing and pulled himself onto her back. The large dragon pokémon flapped her tri-wings, catapulting them both towards the Lord Elite. No need to mega evolve just yet, he thought, as he pulled his quarterstaff back and swung forward. "Ha!" he shouted out, unphased by the ongoing sandstorm.

The mega chandelure phased back to avoid the strike from the quarterstaff, spinning his black and twisted body around before his body amassed a large black and purple ball of energy. His eyes locked on to the large hydreigon and the Lord Interrogator on her back.

Good move, Kinhixo. You have learned so much, Lord Interrogator, Lord Elite De Jou thought. His eyes locked briefly onto the hydreigon, who dived back down behind Lord Interrogator Phillipe's aegislash for protection.

The large shadow ball darted forward, cut through the air and collided with the defensive form's shield. The aegislash let out a cry of victory, blinking its single purple eye and waving its green tassels around.

Clarence raised his arm to block the sand stream from entering his eyes. "I don't get it!" he called out. "Why not tank the hit or try to dodge it and counterattack‽" To his horror, a long blue tail appeared through the sandstorm, aimed for his head. He jumped back, wobbling on his feet. That feraligatr... It looks like it is a water and ice type. His eyes glanced over at the ice skull that had covered the feraligatr's head, and the red fins that once would sway in the water were now solid and ice-blue. "Mitix, use bite!" Clarence called out.

The mawile swung around, opened her large jaws on top of her head and snapped wildly at the feraligatr's tail.

"Calling out one's commands can put one at a disadvantage!" Lord Elite De Jou called out. "You are psychic, boy. Use your mind! Or find another way of giving out orders. After all, I can read you like a scripture." He ran forward with speed, despite his age, and moved into a more spacious area.

The feraligatr waved its tail in the air once more, side-swiping Clarence's mawile with aqua tail.

The mawile staggered backwards, losing her footing. Her yellow coat by her tiny black feet waved in the air as she hurtled toward the barrier and into Lord Bradford's sceptile.

"Mitix!" Clarence shouted, rushing over. However, Lord Bradford's hand yanked on his collar, pulling him back.

Lord Elite De Jou's luxray sprung from seemingly nowhere, exposing the sandstorm's power. The mega luxray's jaws clamped down on themselves, almost disappointed not to get a chunk out of the sceptile or Clarence. The pokémon's once electric yellow eyes were swirling with newfound darkness, and the dimmed coat emphasised its type change. The creature's tail had split, revealing dark energy.

"Pay attention!" Lord Bradford shouted. Remind me why there are kids on the battlefield... He clenched his right fist, and the ring on his fourth finger started to glow.

"I get it..." Aaron muttered under his breath. Lord Interrogator Phillipe sacrificed his aegislash's freedom to attack and forced it to take two pokémon on at once because he has faith in his aegislash. Also, it would free himself and his hydreigon to move around the battlefield unrestricted. The downside to his is... Aaron glanced over at the tyranitar, who was dancing and chanting. As it swayed its green-brown body from side to side, the extended parts of its body swung around, too, threatening to clip any individual who got too close.

Lord Interrogator Phillipe must have a plan... Aaron looked at his haunter, who had been cowering behind him. "It's okay, we g-" Aaron swivelled to see the luxray charging him down, lit up with electrical power. "Wild charge!" Aaron called out and stepped in front of his haunter to protect him.

The charge from the luxray was zapped away, and Aaron swung the wooden quarterstaff with all his might, striking the luxray across the face. A thud rang out as the luxray hit the floor and rolled back up onto her black and blue-grey paws. She shook her mane and snapped her jaws at the sceptile.

"That right there is lighting rod! The ability to take electrical attacks, remove their effectiveness and boost one's strength! What do you think of that Usek?" David called out over the microphone.

Can those two shut up? Aaron thought, gritting his teeth. "Do what you need to do!" he called out to his haunter. Aaron's haunter nodded and faded into nothingness. His eyes scanned the sandstorm-infested battlefield as he clenched the quarterstaff tightly. Aaron inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes. Calm. He focused on his breathing, trying to ignore the chaos around him. The slams of pokémon striking each other were almost too much for him to forget, but then a creepy sensation wafted over him as if he was being stalked. He turned around and swung his quarterstaff, striking something squarely in the mouth.

Chomp.

"And it looks like Elkran's future Lord Captain is in big trouble! But there's a surprise. Who brings a pre-evolved to a Lord's fight?" Usek jeered, and the crowd chanted. "Once again, it shows Elktan's failure. Remind me why this brat is even here?" He slammed his fist on the table, making David jump.

The crowd started to chant a word Aaron didn't understand, but he shook his head and kicked back as hard as he could. He could feel the sensation of the mega scovillain's smaller grass type head biting into his shoulder through his clothes.

"Fuck!" Aaron shouted out. Wait, this is the grass head, so... his eyes widened as he saw his broken quarterstaff. It's sharp! With his fists, Aaron swung at the pokémon's fire head. "Drop me, you bastard!" He punched as hard as he could, and desperation strained his voice.

Suddenly, some smoke appeared, and the twisted, sharp claws of the haunter reappeared, slashing the cheek of the scovillain's grass head.

"Vekullt!" Aaron called out as he was dropped onto the wooden boards. The stomping sounds surrounded him, and he saw a large foot coming and crashing down towards him. He rolled back and out of the way, finding himself lost in the sandstorm once again. It's starting to get dark...

The tyranitar's stomping feet made the boards wobble beneath the feet of anyone who touched the ground, as the sand stream from its body continued to run.

The stomps sent shockwaves up through the floor, making Lord Bradford's muk wobble. It reached out with its large, purple, toxic hand and jabbed forward. However, to its frustration, the gallade bounced out of the way and slashed through the air with its bladed arm. The muk let out a howl of pain as the psychic energy dug into its toxic flesh, making it attack itself.

"That's some critical damage to Lord Bradford's muk!" David called out over the microphone. The crowd instinctively roared with excitement. "Who'd have thought we'd have the Lord Interrogator and Lord Elite battling here in our little festival stadium? The battlers had better be careful; night is just around the corner. In fact, the sunset is already here! In that sandstorm, the pitch-black darkness will make it far harder for them to see."

Usek chuckled into the microphone. "Don't worry, beloved viewers. You'll be able to see the action just fine thanks to a mixture of light screen, reflect and trick room."

"Piss off!" Aaron shouted, trying to get his bearings, knowing the commentators couldn't hear him from their nice, cosy, safe position away from the action. As he glared at them, he heard the sound of fire in the distance. A brief glow from the scorching purple, orange and green flames made him swallow. Where are you, Vekullt?

The mega chandelure's fire spat up, scorching the wood around itself and the aegislash. The glass part of its body flared up, and it swivelled, building up fire energy to stripe the sword and shield pokémon with its flames. Its eyes glanced over at the tyranitar, closing in on the aegislash from behind, leaving it no choice but to fight both head-on.

The aegislash gave a quick scan of the stormed-out area, hoping to find sight or sound of Lord Interrogator Phillipe. Unable to spot him, it took matters into its blade and slashed towards the tyranitar with unparalleled speed and precision.

"Sacred sword lands a nasty blow on the mega tyranitar! I guess we now know why Lord Interrogator Phillipe is so revered as a member of the Guard. What stats can you give us about our amazing Lord Interrogator Phillipe, David?" Usek shouted into the microphone in an attempt to be louder than the crowd.

"Well, Usek, Kinhixo Phillipe was born in 1943, making him one of the youngest ever Lord Interrogators – he is relatively new to his job. Despite his title, he is known for being empathetic and understanding towards his prisoners – but don't like his friendly and kind demeanour fool you – he was the butcher of the Naelluix Affair. That's right, folks! He single-handedly took out over fifty militia members from an off-shoot army. To top it off, he has access to the dark stone! That means all of his dark-type attacks can be boosted! He can also drain dark-type pokémon or manipulate dark energy to create a hellscape for anyone who dares to interfere! His hydreigon is his most famous pokémon, but his aegislash isn't anything to forget." David stood up and gestured as he spoke, getting the crowd even more riled up.

Clarence caught a glimpse of the fight in the distance as the sandstorm whipped up into his eyes. When will this shit end? He raised his hand and created a small psychic field in front of his face. Better. Now that his face wasn't being bombarded by grains of sand, he opened his eyes fully. His hands gripped his quarterstaff, and he ducked under the mega sceptile's tail as it swung at the mega luxray. He took another step forward on the wooden planks, only for something to shoot up in front of his face. "Ice? Oh no..." Clarence clambered over the small ice structure that had broken through the wooden planks with a crunch. With a hand reached out, he psychically grabbed the feraligatr by its tail just before its large jaws could crush his mawile.

Instinctively, Clarence's mawile let out a delighted cry before swinging her heavy jaw around and striking the feraligatr in the face, again and again. Despite the mega feraligatr's thrashing with its tail, Clarence focused. His psychic hold tightened, and he felt the nausea boiling up inside of his stomach.

"Oh, my." Lord De Jou stepped through the gap with his quarterstaff. "You can control your abilities, then? You aren't as weak as I thought." A sly grin crossed his mouth, and he lowered his left hand while his right remained tightly on the quarterstaff. "I cannot harm a mawile with my abilities, as you probably could guess. But you know what I can harm? You."

Clarence felt his limbs stiffen up, and his head ached.

"Let's see if you have the power to break free of my grip, boy!" The Lord Elite flicked his hand, and Clarence was sent flying back through the air and into the barrier.

As his back smashed into the wooden barrier, Clarence felt his bones compacting in his spine to avoid breaking. The muscles started to release again, and he relaxed for a moment, pulling himself back onto his feet.

Smack. The feraligatr slammed its spiny tail into Clarence's face, sending him into a backflip from the impact. Clarence hit the floor unconscious.

"Damn it!" Lord Bradford shouted and planted his feet. With one eye on the pokémon fight, he raised his quarterstaff to face the Lord Elite. He heard a growl coming from his right. With a quick pivot and a roll, his quarterstaff met the jaws of the feraligatr, whose tail was slowly returning to a standstill behind him.

"Medic!" Lord Elite De Jou called into his holo device on his wrist before creating a protective field around Clarence's unconscious body. You have a lot to learn, kid. On the other side of the battlefield, he heard the sound of scraping metal, followed by the hollow cry of his mega chandelure rang out. "One apiece, but the advantage is all mine," Lord Elite De Jou said to Lord Bradford, creating a second quarterstaff with his psychic abilities. Still, that mega sceptile is a problem.

The mega sceptile danced around the mega luxray, its long tail swinging from side to side, with its eyes locked on to the opposing pokémon's sharp fangs. The mega sceptile shuddered at the thought of the luxray's ice fangs digging into its leafy scales.

The luxray's claws dug into the wooden boards as she pounced from place to place, and with a wide jaw she predicted the sceptile's movement, crunching down on the pokémon's tail. The mega sceptile roared in pain, shaking from side to side. However, Lord De Jou's luxray refused to let go. Instead, her grip intensified as the sandstorm battered them both in the darkness.

Suddenly, she let go and rolled back. Lord De Jou's feraligatr's jaws clamped down on the sceptile's neck from the other direction. The sceptile let out one final shriek before collapsing onto the floor.

Lord Interrogator Phillipe emerged from the dust on the back of his hydreigon behind the mega gallade. "Here you go, Bradford!" he called out as dark pulses surged from beneath the wooden boards, attacking the gallade from every angle they could. He breathed a sigh of relief as the hydreigon's attack captured the gallade's attention.

"Thanks, Lord Interrogator!" Lord Bradford shouted and narrowed his eyes. "Toxic the battlefield!" The muk let out a gurgle, spilling out toxic sludge across the wooden boards.

Lord Interrogator Phillipe nodded at the order and, on the back of his hydreigon, flew further back. He extended his arm, gripping the quarterstaff tightly as he rapidly approached his target.

"Kinhixo," Lord De Jou acknowledged. He raised his quarterstaffs and nodded at his opponent. "Do you want to see how this will end?" He hovered above the toxic wasteland that had been created beneath his feet. "You certainly tried to give yourself an advantage. Alas, at the end of it all, it will be just you and me. Old and young, dark and psychic, Elite and Interrogator."

The sound of toxic slushing around beneath their feet was sickening to him, but Lord Interrogator Phillipe put on a fake smile and said, "Oh? I'd love to hear this prediction of yours, sir." He took a deep breath and looked on at his country's ruler. With the dark stone, I will protect my allies.

Indeed, you shall. Lord Elite De Jou grinned back at him. "Shall we?"

"I am ready!" Lord Interrogator Phillipe called back as he got closer with speed.

"Kill him. Take him down. Become Lord Elite. Take his power."

I shall never bow down to such a primal whim, but... Do me a favour... Lord Interrogator Phillipe sprung forward at Lord Elite De Jou. Their quarterstaffs met with a swoosh through the air, and a rattling of wood echoed.

"Woah, is that the dark stone at work?" Usek shouted down the microphone.

The tyranitar wobbled forward towards Lord Bradford and Aaron, grabbing them by their collars with a single hand. With a pained roar, it stuck two rocks into the ground and stuffed them each on top of one.

Aaron squeaked as he was dropped and looked for his haunter. Finally, as the sandstorm started to die down, he caught a glimpse of his small ghost pokémon in the skirmish below. This toxic floor isn't too bad for us. He caught sight of a fireball flying towards the mega beedrill. "Alright!"

"And the toxic has now covered the whole battlefield! Poison has been inflicted on the cinderace, tyranitar, scovillain, hydrapple, feraligatr and luxray." David leaned back in his chair from the commentary box. "The stars are shining in favour of the challenging party! Oh, for those of you in the crowd who don't know, toxic is a special type of poison attack! The longer the poison is active, the more potent it becomes!"

Indeed, and that's what makes it such a good truth serum, Lord Interrogator Phillipe thought in agreement with the commentator. His quarterstaff swung toward Lord De Jou. However, a small shield blocked his staff, and the psychic quarterstaff struck him in the stomach. "Hm," he grunted, grabbing it and flying back up.

So, on our side, cinderace is inflicted with toxic, and hydreigon isn't able to land at risk of being inflicted. Also, we cannot touch the floor. The Nidoking is struggling to keep up with the hydrapple, even though it has an advantage. Aaron crouched down on the rock in thought. His small frame made it easy for him to stay put. His eyes widened as the Nidoking slammed into the toxic sludge below, and the hydrapple hissed in celebration. Its loud cheer made Aaron's eyes narrow.

"No!" Aaron called out, seeing the large dragon pokémon's heads raise out of its apple body and fire a stream of beams towards his haunter. From behind, the poisoned mega scovillain snapped at his haunter, cornering the smaller pokémon.

"Kid!" Lord Bradford shouted, turning his head away from Lord De Jou.

Lord De Jou pulled one of his hands behind his back and slammed his quarterstaff into Lord Bradford's knee, knocking him off the rock and into the toxic sludge down below.

Lord Bradford's reach emerged moments later, choking and reaching up for the rock, desperate. His face looked sore, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, "..lp!"

Lord De Jou instinctively raised his hand and wrapped a psychic shield around him, pushing the sludge away. "Medic!" he called out. It is a good thing this field has imposed restrictions on the damage a pokémon can do – but still, that's going to be really sore, and he will have to take pecha medication for weeks – still... his own mistake. Lord De Jou recalled it was Lord Bradford who ordered his muk to turn the field into a toxic wasteland.

Clinging to his rock tighter, Aaron screamed, "Help!" His heart was racing, and this was nothing like he had imagined the festival to be. Things had really changed in the blink of an eye, from the puppet show to a dangerous battlefield.

"Come on, Aaron!" Erik shouted from the stands.

"Yeah! You got this, Aaron!" Clarence called out from the stands, his injuries bandaged and his memory fuzzy.

Mylious gave him the thumbs up, tilting his head down.

"Right." Aaron shook his head again and stood up on the rock. "Lord Interrogator, help me out!" Before Aaron could finish shouting, the hydreigon swooped in, firing an array of dragon pulses towards the and hydreigon.

"Thanks!" Aaron shouted.

"And tyranitar is down!" David's voice called out over the microphone, drowning Aaron out. "What's this? The small haunter is still going?" He stood up, shocked. "Who'd have thought it, folks, but the Elkran kid is not out yet. With Lord Bradford out, his cinderace and muk have been forced out of the battle!"

Lord De Jou stepped closer to Aaron, using small psychic platforms. "So, young Piscar, how are you coping, or are you not?" He side-glanced at Lord Interrogator Phillipe. He grabbed Aaron's quarterstaff and whispered, "Show me your best, young Piscar." He pushed Aaron back. Not many pokémon are left: Phillipe's hydreigon and aegislash, the boy's haunter, and my scovillain, hydrapple, feraligatr, beedrill and luxray. But first... Lord De Jou took a deep breath and shouted, "Torch the ground!" At his beckoned call, his scovillain swung its fire head around, setting the toxic wasteland below on fire. "Now, let's make this a little more... interesting..." He raised his poké balls and withdrew his beedrill, feraligatr and scovillain from the battlefield.

Back in the stands, amongst the crowd, Clarence, Mylious and Erik sat beside Lady De Jou and the somewhat exhausted Lord Bradford, who had been given an adrenaline shot and a heavy pecha injection for his troubles.

"What's he doing, my Lady?" Clarence asked Lady De Jou, nursing his sore spots. His blue hair was still covered in the sand from the sandstorm.

"He's giving them a chance, sweetheart. He doesn't want to hammer them into the ground. After all, this is an event." Lady De Jou shuffled over so Clarence could get closer. She gently dusted the sand out of his hair. "I hope you weren't too hurt." Lady De Jou placed a small bowl of berries in his hands. "Eat up. You'll need to replace the energy you used up."

Clarence nodded at her, turning his attention back to the battlefield. I will never lose like that again. I will be more aware of the pokémon on the field. "Come on, Aaron," Clarence said.

"He's doing fine, kiddo," Lord Bradford said, itching one of the blotches from the toxic wasteland he fell into earlier.

"Aaron is s-strong, and he w-will think of something..." Mylious said. "I wish I c-could have battled."

"Me too..." Erik said, looking down.

Lord Bradford, noticing the boys' disappointment, got up from his seat and walked off, returning a few moments later with some sweet berry treats. "Here you go. Now, let's see how this ends."