Chương 66: Chapter 53

I'd never tell my knights this, but Mana was definitely stronger than them now. Her Water Gun erupted from the school's mouth like a Hyper Beam, perfectly straight, and screaming through the air with enough force to deafen unprotected ears. It slammed into the ocean in a torrent, scattering water and sending waves rippling towards the steel-gray shoreline. The sheer power was frankly unbelievable, compared to my piscine partner's previous output.

At her maximum strength before, Mana's simplest attack could maybe match the output of a high pressure fire hose. Certainly strong, not something you'd want to get hit by (especially if you were out of syn) but far from devastating. Now, I'm pretty sure I'd be better off getting blasted by an industrial pressure washer than Mana's attack. It was… a humbling amount of power at our disposal.

Evolution was notorious for causing a significant increase in a Pokémon's strength, but as far as I, or anyone else, could tell, Mana was still the same old fish when she wasn't 'schooling.' That was the term my piscine partner and I had agreed on to describe her new form. It seemed appropriate, since the leviathan-like shape she could create was actually composed of an innumerable number of azure constructs (plus Mana's real body, buried somewhere in the press).

Rather like a school of fish, all swimming in concert with one another. An increase in power wasn't all her new form provided, either. She could take hits better too, individual constructs ablating off her form without much detriment to her syn. The only downside was that she was bigger and less maneuverable, and even that we were figuring out workarounds for less than a week after escaping the hospital. With enough focus, Mana could split her school temporarily, letting them disperse around big attacks and reform.

It left her temporarily exposed, but it was far better than eating a Thunder or Hyper Beam, as an example. She could also dismiss the other 'fish' entirely, letting her improve her maneuverability at the cost of power and defenses. Unfortunately, conjuring them back took a solid thirty seconds, which was a far longer span of time than she'd usually be able to find in an actual battle. But bringing them back was free. That was the mind-boggling part. I'd seen Pokémon temporarily assume stronger forms before.

Almost every day even, back when I'd been following Ferrum Battles. It was a mainstay of the high level fights Alyssa and I would watch obsessively on my apartment's boxy CRT TV. Synergy Burst. Not all Pokémon had an alternate form available to them, but it wasn't rare either. Some level beyond the norm that they could climb to when very specific conditions were met. But those conditions were strict.

Both partner and trainer had to have a certain baseline of power, they needed to be connected with Battle AR, there needed to be a great synergy stone nearby, and that great synergy stone needed to be drawing power from a gaia spot. Technically- very very technically- some of these were optional. For example, I'd seen Drake achieve synergy burst with his Salamence during their battle against an aspect of Rayquaza without the assistance of Battle AR.

But, there had been a great synergy stone nearby, and the Dragon's Nest arena was most definitely a gaia spot. And I'd argue that that instance was the very definition of an edge case. Supposedly, some great heroes in Ferrum's past had been able to do the same on bygone battlefields far from synergy stone or gaia spot, but most of those records were disputed by official sources, and those that weren't were often pointed to as dynastic propaganda. And it was understandable why.

Even when every bar was met, using a synergy burst was exhausting, both for the trainer and their partner. Only the most elite battlers could use the technique for more than a few seconds, and the longest ever recorded in an official match was just seventy-nine seconds, one second short of a full round. All of which was to say; while achieving a new, stronger form, independent of evolution, made plenty of sense in my worldview, Mana's capabilities just didn't.

She could change back and forth repeatedly, with no cost other than time, independent of any external factors. Doing so didn't even tire her out. It was like standing up, or laying down. Literally that easy. It was completely mind-boggling. And it was also completely awesome. In the colloquial sense that it was great, yes, and also in the classic sense, in that it inspired awe.

"You really weren't kidding, huh Fe?" Donna exaggeratedly pushed her jaw up with one hand, clicking it shut with the sound of a clamp grinding shut.

"Really something, right?" I nodded, as we watched the school swim back to us from its previous position over the open ocean.

"Just imagine what it'll be like when she learns Hydro Pump." The older woman Mr. Mimed a hyperbolic shudder, and offered a sardonic, "I'd really rather not," before falling silent for a few moments, watching my approaching partner with slate-gray eyes. She was back to wearing a flower wreath again, the six-petaled white flowers comprising it contrasting starkly with her grass-green hair. She wasn't in uniform today, having asked me to meet on what was presumably one of her days off.

Gone was the crimson jacket and black cargo pants, replaced instead with a stylish winter coat and well-fitted, boot-cut jeans. And a noticeably heavy-duty sling, wrapped around a purple cast that immobilized her whole arm and shoulder. Grinder accompanied her, the Ferrothorn's shell polished to a mirror shine. His steel thorns gleamed wickedly in the afternoon sun, but his limbs were oddly thin-looking, and paler than I remembered.

The Grass-type's topaz eyes kept flicking between his partner and mine, his whole steel frame oddly tensed as he held up a crimson duffel bag with one of his legs.

"Fe, thanks for meeting up with me today." The woman's tone was– earnest. Uncharacteristically so. Then again considering the news she'd given me a week ago, I could hardly blame her.

"No problem. It's not like I had a ton going on anyway." I was on day five of my Janine-mandated two week-long vacation, after escaping Central Techne Hospital. Everything… still hurt, but only a little bit! Far, far less than it had when I just woken up, at least. Low bars and all, but honestly, at this point I'd take it. My cuts had mostly healed over, leaving little evidence behind other than a few, scattered white lines on my legs and arms. Scars, some that would fade, others that wouldn't.

The poison had been flushed from my system, and while it was still a bit exhausting to exercise, just going up and down stairs no longer had me panting. My syn was back, and my cracked rib was well on its way to recovering, though I'd need to go back to the hospital in a few days to ensure that everything was well with it.

The bruise on my scapula from when I'd been bowled over would take a little bit longer to heal (unlike the already-recovered bruises on my flesh), but it no longer hurt to raise my arm, so that was a win. All in all, I was feeling– fine. Not great, but every day was better than the last. And I was well enough to meet up with Donna at the beach at least.

"How are things at the station?" I asked my green-haired colleague, my voice barely audible over the winter surf.

"It's– complicated," Donna replied after a few moments, her gaze set on the horizon.

"There was a big incident right after you were hospitalized, and things have been sort of crazy ever since."

"The Gardevoir choir, yeah," I nodded. When Donna turned a surprised look my way, I couldn't help but snort.

"I've been stuck inside on the couch for almost a week. What do I have to do other than watch TV?" The green-haired ranger sighed.

"Well whatever you saw on broadcast, I can promise you, it wasn't as bad as things actually were. Neos One got obliterated."

"That's the best ranger squad in the region, right?" I asked, as Mana arrived back at the beach, dismissing her school and settling in the crook of my arm.

"Yep," Donna replied, the 'p' popping with an exhalation of air.

"They're the big guns, so seeing them get rinsed like that– doesn't exactly bode well." I couldn't keep the frown that formed on my face.

"It doesn't seem fair. I'm mostly better, and I can't go back to the station, but things are desperate enough that you have to work with a broken arm? If we're in such dire straits, shouldn't I go back as well?" Donna shrugged, and then winced.

"Trust me Fe, you're not missing much. Sarge has got me on desk duty, which is exactly a quarter of fun as usual when you can only use one arm."

"You're doing desk work, and Mark's," I hesitated, my throat momentarily clogging up, "gone," I finally choked out, "do you have enough rangers at the station? That just leaves Wilson, Philip, and Janine." Things had already been crazy even before I'd gotten injured. It was hard to imagine they'd improved in the meantime. And indeed, Donna hesitated before replying.

"We're getting pulled a little bit thin, but Janine has some ideas in the works." The doubt must have been clear on my face, because Donna continued.

"We're managing Fe. Things are– bad, I won't lie about it, but we're not going under yet." I still wasn't exactly convinced, but complaining to Donna wasn't going to get me anywhere, since she ultimately had just as much authority as I did when it came to determining whether or not I could return to the station.

"So, if it's not related to work, why did you want to meet up on one of your rare days off?" I changed the subject, glancing between my green-haired colleague and her partner. The older ranger visibly hesitated, before saying, "Look, you told Janine and that Weaver asshole that you beat one of those 'shadow Pokémon on your own, right?"

"Me and my team, "yes," I confirmed.

"We didn't really beat them normally though– they wouldn't stay down no matter what we did, so we figured out an alternate solution."

"Yeah. Yeah that's what Janine said," Donna nodded, her words acknowledging, but there was something uncertain in her tone.

"What can I say? That's what happened," I reiterated, fighting to keep a frown off my face. Mana piped up from her perch on my arm, chirruping out a bubbly confirmation. And several bubbles alongside.

"It's not that I don't believe you!" Donna rushed to clarify, holding up a placating hand.

"It's just…" the older woman trailed off, clearly struggling to find the right words to say. After a few moments, she levered a sigh.

"Look, Fe, just… would you be willing to fight us?"

"Fight you and your team?" I asked, to which I received a nod.

"Like, all-out in a melee? Or a back-alley?"

"Back-alley," Donna nodded.

"Standard rules. Three on three, no switches. I just– I realized that we haven't had a real battle yet. Training and stuff sure, but not an actual match."

"I mean, it's always felt like your team has been a bit out of our league," I acknowledged, though it ground on me a bit to say so, "and are your partners recovered enough to be battling yet?" In reply, Grinder let out a low rumble, his thorns bristling and his eyes sharp.

"Mitt didn't even get a chance to fight," Donna admitted, "and Grinder and Saber got cleared a couple of days ago. I'm the only one still out of commission," she informed me with an awkward laugh.

"I get that," I commiserated, running a hand down Mana's almost-entirely healed flank.

"Well, we're not ones to back down from a challenge. If it's a battle you want Donna, it's a battle you'll get." The green-haired ranger's face took on a serious expression.

"Thanks Fe. I know it's a weird ask. I promise, I'll explain in just a bit." - We ended up tracking down the beach a little bit, getting further away from Techne proper. Neither of us wanted any trouble with the city's overzealous security sub-contractors, but we figured a solid thirty minutes away was probably safe enough. Who'd trek a half hour to find a payphone to report a back-alley on the beach? In the middle of winter?

And even if such a busy-body did exist, chances were that our match would be long over before someone showed up to respond.

"This is going to be a three-on-three," Donna announced for our audience of none.

"Neither side may switch Pokémon, and we'll continue until all three of one side's fighters are recalled or exhausted. You ready Fe?"

"Ready!" I called out, pitching my voice up so it could be heard over the surf.

"Release when this stone hits the ground?" I hefted a chunk of grey rock that I'd found half-buried in the sand.

"Sounds good." Donna called out.

"Huck it!" I hurled the stone up into the air, and grabbed one of the three Poké Balls on my belt. Donna and I released out partners, Pokémon unspooling onto the beach as the hunk of stone landed with a dull thud of displaced sand. Maushold appeared in front of me, eyes alert and bodies rigid, while Mitt erupted into a trumpeting cry on Donna's side of the impromptu battlefield, the huge Copperajah dwarfing my partners to a comical degree.

"I know this looks tough, but I've got a plan," I reassured the three mauses. My eyes were on them but also watching my colleague and her Pokémon, evaluating all five of their reactions.

"Stay sharp, and get ready."

"My turn, Fe!" Donna hefted her own chunk of stone.

"We start when the rock hits the sand. Ready?"

"Ready!" I confirmed, my eyes tracing the stone's arc to its destination. The moment it landed, orders erupted from both sides of the field.

"Galarian Opening!"

"Set the field!" Our respective partners followed through instantly, Maushold scattering across the field and Mitt slamming his trunk into the sand. Two of the mauses dipped forwards, moving diagonally away from one another to form a sort of triangle around their opponent with the last member of their family, who held their ground in front of me. For his part, Mitt reared up, tearing his extended trunk free from the beach and scattering a maelstrom of choking grey sand.

The ferrous particles whirled through the air, and were quickly picked up by a howling gale. The result was an impenetrable iron Sandstorm, from which erupted a volley of glowing stones, like mines, burying themselves around the battlefield. Mitt had effectively blinded all parties on the field, rendering some of our strategies useless. You can't use Encore when neither side can see each other, nor Baby-Doll eyes, nor Follow Me. Luckily, our current plan didn't rely on line-of-sight.

If anything, the obscuring haze of steel made our strategy even stronger. Maushold began puffing up their cheeks, and after a second or so, let loose an eerie, echoing scream that sought to drown out the surf and the whirling sands. The chorus of Echoed Voices pressed in on the sandstorm from three directions, blasting massive gouges in the encroaching wall of iron particles, but you could only do so much by shouting at the clouds, and in mere moments, the entire battlefield was engulfed by choking grit.

The brutal sandstorm would quickly wear away my partner's syn, and the reduced visibility made commanding them harder, but I was pretty sure we had an opportunity here. I couldn't see or hear Donna, and the same was likely true for her, but both our partners were of species that had notoriously excellent ears. Which meant we could both issue commands, we'd just be doing so blind.

"Swap and Cover!" I howled at the maelstrom, instructing my partners to use a move they'd only picked up recently. They still had trouble churning through the earth at speed, like a Ground-type might, but sand was a much more malleable medium than dirt, and the beach was one of our favorite training grounds. The raucous calls of my partners deadened for a moment as they used Dig to tunnel into the sand, but the noise quickly started up again, coming from one corner of the sandstorm, and then another.

I could see the image clearly in my mind's eye, one white-furred head popping up from the gray sand to let loose an ear-splitting shriek, and then descending once more out of reach, only to be replaced on the other side of the battlefield by another sonic assailant. It was a move combination we'd ideated a few weeks ago, and had practiced rather extensively this week. Judging by the increasingly-powerful auditory assaults coming from the Sandstorm, it was one that was working wonders now.

I knew that Echoing Voice wasn't a good choice type-wise in this matchup, but Maushold's special attacks were rather limited variety right now. That, coupled with Mitt's enormous physical defense, meant this was our best option. Luckily, with enough uses, our sonic attack would outpace even the Steel-type's natural resistance. Unfortunately, Donna rather quickly figured out what was going on, maybe aided by a trumpeting cry from her partner.

The sand beneath me roiled, waves of gray particulate going up and down like the tide just a few meters away. Earthquake, for sure, though it seemed weaker in this medium than on normal ground, which hopefully gave us a chance. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Still, even reduced, the attack had me struggling to keep my balance, and the effects would be even more devastating for my underground partners.

And yet, I could still hear Maushold's cries, coming from alternating corners of the battlefield. We were committed to our strategy at this point, and seemingly so was Mitt, as both the roiling in the sand and the whirling maelstrom of ferrous particulate intensified. For five seconds, then ten, the outcome of the battle was uncertain. Then, the interval between each of Maushold's attacks grew longer. One voice fell silent, then two.

By the time the last had choked off, I'd ran around the edge of the sandstorm, waving frantically at Donna to get her to have Mitt rein himself in. A shouted instruction from her saw the sandstorm subside, exposing three facedown grey-dusted forms, and one heaving Steel-type. Mitt looked exhausted, his ears stuck fast to his sides and his trunk drooping in the sand. He was better off than my partners though, who were laid out, clearly unconscious.

I recalled them with a flick of the wrist as I jogged back around the battlefield to retake my position.

"Thanks Maushold. That was a tough fight, and you did a really great job." I wasn't sure they could hear me, unconscious as they were, but maybe they could feel how proud I was of them for standing up to such an imposing opponent. Every time they fought, the Normal-types impressed me with their bravery. Especially since I didn't really get the sense that they enjoyed battle for its own sake, like my knights did, or had that desperate need to get stronger that I saw in Mana.

I stowed their ball on my waist, and pulled another free from its magnetic clasp.

"Knights, let's show Donna and her partners how far we've come." The Poké Ball wiggled an affirmative in my hand, and I felt a gratified smile touch my face as I threw them out onto the field. The device cracked open, spilling six yellow battle balls into the sand. They appeared in formation, bristling and stamping their stubby little feet. Lance and Tristan let out a few warcries, which were quickly echoed by their troops.

A few of the surviving Stealth Rocks floated up, attracted by the energy from the Poké Balls release mechanism. They surrounded my knights, glowing with barely restrained power. The hazards would surely erupt when my partners moved, but I had faith that they could take it. I tore my fond gaze away from knights to my opponent in this battle.

"My turn Donna. When the rock hits the ground?" The green-haired ranger nodded as I stooped to pick up the same stone I'd tossed earlier, hefting it with one hand. I have it a good lob, letting it sail a few feet away before plopping into the iron sand.

"Hammerlocke Game!"

"Charge Them!" Lance and Tristan rocketed forwards, propelled by the troops. Immediately, the Stealth Rocks closed in, exploding and peppering my knights with shrapnel, but they ignored the chip stoically, each part of the formation enacting their plan perfectly. Percy, Galad, Kay, and Bers all began glowing with energy, powering themselves up first with No Retreat, and then successive Bulk Ups.

In the meantime, Tristan and Lance met Mitt in the middle of the field, but instead of meeting the Copperajah's charge head on, they easily ducked around the incoming Steel-type, lashing out at his legs with shields aglow. On level ground, dancing around the more experienced battler wouldn't have been so easy, but the shifting sands, further weakened by the digging and the sandstorm, were struggling to support the immense Steel-type's weight.

His normally devastating charges were stymied by the terrain, which gave my knights some much appreciated breathing room to harass him and boost up. Something Donna very much didn't want to happen.

"Earthquake Mitt, hit the ones in the back!"

"Swap off on Protects! The attack is weakened by the sand!" Mitt reared up, before slamming his feet down on the beach. Waves of displaced sand rushed out, washing over Lance and Tristan, who took the hit with little complaint. The incoming assault rushed past them, flowing towards the troops, only to be stymied by a pair of glowing barriers, Bers and Galad covering for their brothers.

As soon as the attack broke, they were back to boosting up, with Kay and Percy trundling forwards to take their place, and all the while Tristan and Lance continued to harass Mitt, slamming their shields into him for some supereffective Rock Smashes.

"Stop stop stop!" Donna cried from across the field, waving her arms frantically.

"Cut it out with the boosting, I'm retiring Mitt."

"Company halt!" I shouted, causing my knights to all freeze and stop what they were doing.

"Sorry big guy, but I can't let those little suckers get any more setup off, or Saber's gonna have a tough time." Mitt let out a trumpeting cry, misery plain in his tone. The Copperajah's ears and trunk drooped sadly as he turned to face Donna with sorrowful eyes.

"I know I know, it's not your fault, the terrain's not good for you," Donna tried to mollify her partner as she recalled him.

"You'll get yours one day Mitt, don't you worry." She stowed his ball on her belt, before pulling Saber's free. The green-haired ranger released her Skarmory onto the beach, and before the Flying-type had even fully appeared he'd taken off, rising up into the sky.

"You've got a pretty nasty strategy with those Falinks of yours, Fe," Donna shouted over the surf.

"Mess around too much, and they'll sweep through your whole team."

"We've worked hard for it," I shouted back, and it was true. When my knights had first learned Bulk Up, it'd taken a solid ten to fifteen seconds for them to gain maybe a ten percent increase to their power. Now, they could use the move thrice in that same time and more than double their strength and defenses. Normally, buying that much time in a battle was tricky, but my knights could cheat.

Why have all of them focus on powering up and leave themselves vulnerable when some of the formation could instead work on defense or distraction?

"Plus, I can't exactly claim all the credit for the idea." I'd first taken the suggestion from Abigail, the former Stow-on-Side gym leader out in Galar, and while my knights and I had iterated on it since, the core idea was definitely lifted straight from her first few messages to me. Donna shook her head.

"Steal everything you can when it comes to battling. There's no shame in that."

"Do I look ashamed?" I asked, painting a wry smile on my face. That got a chuckle from the green-haired woman, and a shake of the head.

"You look damned proud Fe, and you should be. You better not be counting us out yet though. Saber, let's show them what I mean." The Steel-type let out a croaking caw that reminded me of the time I'd dropped a fork in our garbage disposal. My knights responded with another set of warcries, while Donna knelt down and retrieved her stone from the sandy ground.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Always," I confirmed with a nod, and up went the rock, and then down.

"Golem's Ark!" I shouted, preparing for a blitz from Donna's side. I was pretty familiar with her team at this point, and I knew that Saber was by far her most aggressive battler. A bruiser who'd charge in without care or restraint and trust his metal skin to protect him while he traded blows. Except, contrary to my expectations, the Skarmory didn't tear through the air in our direction when the stone landed. He ascended, instead, flapping to keep himself situated a solid thirty feet in the air.

"Sorry Fe, but we're trying out some new tricks today," Donna warned me from across the beach.

"Let them hear your song, Saber! Metal Sound!" The move must have been very new in their repertoire if Donna had to call it out by name, but it was one I recognized. Metal Sound made its targets more vulnerable to special attacks, which gave me a very bad premonition. Saber kept his wings pumping, staying above us as he opened his beak to project an unearthly racket in my knights' direction.

If his earlier cawing sounded like a fork in a garbage disposal, this one sounded like what I'd imagine would happen if you pushed two chainsaws together. My knights staggered under the noise, sagging as the supernatural sound sapped their defenses and disrupted their formation. I saw something that gave me hope, however; Tristan, the formation's rear brass, hopping up and down, aglow with indignance as he encouraged his brothers.

His chirruping caused Bers and Galad to perk up, evidence that one of my knight's abilities was activating. Defiant. As Drake had explained to me via letter a few weeks ago, wherever my knights were affected by an attack that reduced their stats, they'd get a corresponding powerful boost to their attack. Normally, Saber's elevation would keep him safe from my partners, but boosted as they were, maybe we had a shot here.

"Knights, clip his wings!" I howled over the cacophony, shouting my voice sore so they could hear me over Saber's sonic assault. We'd prepared this move and command for our match against Apex, but my knights never got the opportunity to actually use it to battle the Flying-specialized underleader since Maushold had performed so well in that battle.

My knights seemed particularly eager to reclaim that chance, erupting with a bevy of aggressive cries to counter Saber's raucous noise as they channeled energy through their bodies, and into the ground. With a groaning rumble, the already-churned sand went flying once more, and a couple dozen chunks of rocky iron emerged from the earth, controlled by my knights' and gleaming with explosive energy. The stony barrage loosed towards Saber, hurtling upwards into the air.

Several of the stones fell short, but the majority made the distance, forcing the Steel-type to abort his sonic assault and take evasive maneuvers. My knights didn't let up, hurling another barrage of stone to harry the far-away flier.

"Damn, that's a powerful Rock Slide. Since when have you had that up your sleeve?" Donna complained from across the battlefield.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" I shouted back, before commanding my knights, " Volley fire! Front support rear!" I suppressed the urge to sag as I consumed some syn to make my intent clear, but the result was well worth the effort. Lance, Percy, and Kay lined up behind Tristan, Bers, and Galad, the former offering a Helping Hand to the latter. The rear of the formation took the boost and fired off a round of rocks, staggering their attacks to come out a few seconds away from one another.

The smaller volleys of stone were weaker than they'd be coming out in a huge outpouring, but the Helping Hand Boost mitigated that, and the increased speed and accuracy meant that my knights could start boxing Saber in, forcing him to dodge one group of projectiles before tagging him with another.

"Fire back Saber!" Donna directed her partner, and the Steel-type obliged, diving under one of my knights' barrages and pulling in close. He ate a face-full of rocks for his trouble, but he shrugged off the move well enough and responded with a ranged attack of his own. As I suspected, Donna had figured out some way to teach Saber a special flying move (the cutting blades of wind made me think Air Slash, but I couldn't be sure).

Whatever it was, the supereffective attack sent our frontline sprawling, Tristan, Bers and Galad unable to defend themselves in time. I could tell that Saber wanted to dive into the gap, ready to lash out with claw and beak and wing, but with restraint I hadn't even known he possessed, the Skarmory instead ascended back up into the air, where he let loose another screeching howl. The backline staggered upright, clearly hit hard by Saber's Flying-attack, and I decided we were going to need to change strategies.

Rock Slide would be good enough for most flyers, but Saber's primary typing meant the move wasn't actually supereffective. But it also meant he'd be more vulnerable than the average bird to our Fighting-type moves.

"Knights, staggered cannon, two stacks!" The command was a little bit complicated, but a bit of syn and our prior training made sure I got the message across. Lance and Tristan rolled back, burying their horns in the sand and pulling in their stubby little legs. Percy and Bers hopped atop them, their feet perched atop their brothers', and for a brief moment as the troops sunk down on their legs, the paired Falinks looked like contiguous beings, two spheres stuck fast to one another..

And then, with a cry of exertion, Lance pumped his legs at the same time as Percy, the former pushing up while the latter shoved down and the resulting explosion of force sending the formation's second careening through the air. The whole maneuver had barely taken a couple of seconds, and by the time Saber realized he had a projectile to dodge, he barely had the space to wheel out of the way.

At which point he was struck by the second projectile Falinks, Bers jamming his shields into the Skarmory back and pounding on the Flying-type's steel feathers with his legs. Saber immediately dove, his body and feathers shaking like a drawer of loose utensils, but Bers was my most tenacious knight for a reason, and he stuck fast to the heavy flier.

And while one Falinks wasn't enough to take down the big bird, the second definitely didn't help, as a projectile Galad crashed into the struggling pair, his flight aided by the strange attraction that often worked to keep my knights together. As one part of my mind watched Kay go sailing, propelled by Tristan into the melee, another kept track of the aerial scrum. Saber was struggling to keep altitude while battling the clinging battle balls weighing him down, but he also hadn't gotten a command from Donna yet.

And one wasn't seemingly forthcoming, because I was also watching my human opponent, who seemed rather indisposed at the moment. Indisposed, because she couldn't get an order out past her choking laughs. The green-haired ranger was almost doubled over, cackling uproariously and utterly failing to get herself under control.

I wasn't sure what was so funny about my knights' ferocious assault, but I wasn't above taking advantage of an opponent's moment of weakness, and neither were my knights, judging by the way Lance propelled Tristan off, and then Percy again, resulting in a whopping five Falinks hanging off Saber's bulky frame. And still, that wasn't too much weight for the Skarmory to bear.

I could tell the Flying-type could just keep flapping if he really had to, but there wasn't much point in trying to stay out of reach at this point when most of his opponents had made their way to him. Instead, he whirled his wings (even with Percy hanging off one of them), angling to face the ground and hurtling towards the earth in a spinning roll. To my alarm, this was no controlled descent. No, the Steel-type and his accompaniment were hurtling downwards, blazing with energy like a comet.

Bereft of orders from his trainer, Saber had taken things into his own talons, and he was clearly quite ready to be done. I'd never actually seen Brave Bird before. It was one of those moves that everyone said they'd be using all the time, when they were an elite battle trainer, along with the Hyper Beams and the Zap Cannons and the Overheats of the world. Unacknowledged in those boasts was the inconvenient fact that the number of competitors who could actually use moves like those in battle was vanishingly small.

It was the apex of physical Flying-type moves, the most powerful thing a bird could do. And Saber clearly hadn't quite mastered the attack yet. Energy erupted off of him in uneven spurts, howling winds and rending talons and steel-tipped wings, unshackled and uncontrolled. My knights clung to him for dear life, glowing with a reflexive Endure as they weathered the supereffective power washing over them.

"Saber!" Donna shouted, her voice actually alarmed as the abrupt descent shocked her out of her laughing fit.

"Protect!" I screamed at my knights, my alarm flaring along with Donna's. A glowing green barrier of energy surrounded my knights (and Saber by extension) as the whole awkward formation slammed into the earth like a meteor. The impact sent dunes of iron sand hurtling in all directions, a plume of metallic grit that almost challenged Mitt's earlier sandstorm. I covered my face with my arms, and ended up losing my balance, the wave of overturned iron sending me sprawling.

I sat up with a groan, and had to spit a nail's worth of iron particulates from between my teeth. I blinked my eyes, trying to get the sand out of them so I could see what had happened to our partners. I eventually had to resort to using the inside of my coat to wipe my face, and I still felt like I'd been scratched up by a Purrloin.

When I finally staggered to my feet, I found that my knights had rolled away from Saber's prone form, clearly unconscious, other than Lance, who'd dove out of the way of the incoming calamity. For his part, the Steel-type was mostly buried in the sand, his talons sticking up from the iron beach in a way that would have been gut-bustingly funny if it wasn't so worrying. I only got to see him for a second before a beam of red light hit the overturned Skarmory, recalling him to Donna's Poké Ball.

She released him again, now freed from the beach's clinging confines, only to reveal that he too was knocked out, the recoil from his attack and subsequent impact with the ground rendering him insensate. Donna recalled her unconscious partner again with a chagrined head shake.

"Sorry Fe. We've been working through some stuff, but I didn't expect him to pull a stunt like this." I looked up from where Lance and I had knelt down to check on his brothers.

"No permanent harm done. They're just knocked out, but maybe you should work out whatever you've got going on with Saber before you two battle someone again." Donna nodded, her face surprisingly red. I'd never seen the older ranger embarrassed before, and it felt weird to realize that the woman actually had some sense of shame.

"Lance, great job out there. You're still up, so I count this as our win, especially since we had a pretty rough type disadvantage." The brass raised his shield in a sign of agreement, but he deflated a bit when he realized none of his brothers were awake to mimic his gesture.

"I'm going to recall you all now. Take care of your brothers for me?" I asked, to which I got a full-body Falinks nod. I put word to action, pulling my knights back into their ball. I put the sphere up close to my face and offered some additional thanks for all of their ears before returning the device to its magnetic clasp.

"Well, looks like we're finishing this with a one-on-one." I called out to Donna. Grinder against Mana. Type advantage to Donna again, but I was still looking forward to seeing what Mana was capable of. Somehow, strangely, Donna turned even redder. She started to say something, stopped, visibly steeled herself, and began again.

"Actually, Fe, if it's okay with you, we'd like to test something. I quirked my head, a bit confused about why Donna was being so reticent.

"I mean, sure? It's not something bad, is it?" Even at the distance we were standing, I could see her eyes darken.

"It might be Fe. It just might be. Give me a second." The green-haired ranger released her partner and then went over to the bag the Steel-type had been carrying earlier. She zipped the duffel open and pulled some sort of device out of it. The thing looked like a motorcycle helmet, except that it was covered with glowing electronics, and it connected to some sort of backpack that Grinder helped Donna slip on.

"What the heck is that, Donna?" I called out from across the beach. She gestured for me to come closer, so I walked around the cratered battlefield, releasing Mana so she could accompany me.

"This," Donna said as I got closer, "is a PSS. A Personal Synchronization System." I sucked a sharp breath in through my teeth as the device's design became clear to me.

"Like a BFG, but without the barriers?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Exactly." Donna confirmed my fears as she held the helmet under her good arm.

"And it comes with its own AR, no need for a separate system."

"I've never seen anyone advertising anything like that," I probed, eyeing the device warily. It looked– very professional. If anything, it seemed even better - constructed than the BattleFieldGo. Donna shook her head.

"You wouldn't have. These things aren't on the open market. Right now, RealTech is only officially selling them to city-security and the ranger corps." I felt the ground under me shifting, and it had nothing to do with the unsteady sand.

"So the lower budgets Janine's been complaining about?"

"Someone delivered a box of these things to the station a few days ago," Donna confirmed.

"Along with a receipt stating that the corps had paid for them."

"All without the sergeant's knowledge?" I asked, skepticism colouring my tone.

"Apparently, RealTech was going to announce them this Friday, but recent events pushed the company to send them out early."

"Donna, you remember what that Weaver was saying? About the BFGs? This is just the same thing but even less sa–."

"I know, Fe!" the green-haired ranger cut me off. She'd looked away for a moment as I was talking, but when she turned back to me, I saw unshed tears in her eyes.

"I know it's not safe, that it could create more of those– things." She took a deep breath, and wiped her eyes on one sandy arm.

"But still, I can't help but think, what if we'd had these devices when that Bewear went on a rampage? If they'd been ready just a week earlier? Would Mark still be alive?" I sucked in a reflexive breath.

"Donna."

"So I need to know. You and Mana took one of those monsters down. I need to know how much of a difference these things make. Help test this thing out Fe, please." I took a few short breaths, staring at the device in Donna's arm.

"If that thing works even half as well as Battle AR in an arena, it won't be a fair fight."

"I know," Donna said quietly.

"I know that it's not fair to you Fe. I know." Now she was staring at it too. Seconds passed, and then, with a sad sigh, she lifted the helmet and put it over her head.

"But the world's not fair," her voice was muffled, somehow almost unrecognizable from underneath the device, "and as long as bad people are out there abusing devices like this, we can't let ourselves fall behind." I stared at where Donna's face should be, her gaze impenetrable from behind the darkened screen covering it.

"Fine," I nodded, as I tightened a fist.

"Fine. Let's battle." I released Mana, and the crash of waves intensified, azure forms erupting from the surf to surround my little fish. I walked back to my position across the iron sand, my right ear burning as the little shard of stone I'd affixed to an earring began heating up.

"Like we're fighting for our lives Mana. Let's show Donna just what we can do." Her bellowing roar was met by Grinder's creaking groan, as the device on Donna's head began to glow with power. This time, neither pair of us waited for a signal. With only the sounds of waves counting us off, the battle began.