CHAPTER 10- ALIBI MORTAL

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The night in the kingdom of Argules seemed far from over with the sky completely overcast making it difficult to see the moon and stars, the newly formed renegade team had already committed to the caveats of all its members and now they had a brief quieter moment. Akeldama Zoroark looked calm sitting atop the large dead tree in the same wasteland as always watching the dreary night, the Pokémon sits in peace now being part of a team something the Ghost type feels it has been a part of in the past however when it seemed to remember something:


— Arrrg, ghhuu.... GWWAAAAAH, Aurora watch out, aaarrg these hUURRRTY...Urrf...


Luke Croconaw's screams complaining about the treatment of little Aurora Ribombee took his mind off him, the Fairy type was flying around the Water type passing a very agonizing medicine on his wounds, Luke felt embarrassed at that moment to be being groped by a female without her red scarf being wearing only her lanyard with the water drop pendant. On the other hand, the Fairy-type continued to treat the wounds carefully only sometimes over-passing or squeezing wounds on purpose for Croconaw to feel pain, "this is the punishment for not listening to me" thought Ribombee:


— Luke this is not out of spite, sorry, it's just that it won't be good for the secret if you appear charred by electricity.... After all, the Rubro was charred, Luke should be doing.... Doing... Luke... Have you thought of an alibi?


Aurora asked as she paused her treatment, Akeldama hearing the question came down from the tree with his arms crossed agreeing with the questioning, after all it was too risky for Luke not to have alibis for his outings and as Croconaw his rare species would have his cover blown in a matter of time. Luke just scratches his yellow chin a little, replying that he had not warned anyone about his outing being only seen possibly by the palace guards.

The Croconaw then states that the excuse he had thought of before leaving home was to say he was looking for teams, however unfortunately the ghost Zoroark himself says this is a totally flawed alibi, as all of Lacustre's available teams were scouring the forest looking for Nái Tyranitar as far as he knew. Luke opens his mouth surprised that they mobilized so many Pokémon to find his stepmother, however quickly he sits down on the ground sad to imagine that his father Lucios Feraligatr must have been devastated by the disappearance, the Pokémon's regrets didn't last as Ribombee seemed to speak confidently:


—All available LACUSTRE teams, huhuhuhummm, but Luke tried out for a non-Lacustre team and passed, which is why he is where he is. YAY, WE ALREADY HAVE AN ALIBI!



Aurora flew excitedly between her Pokémon partners, happy with her plan, Luke and Akeldama stared at each other briefly, still confused by the words of their little ally and still feeling incredulous, but the Fairy-type made sure there was no mistake. Croconaw looks still annoyed at Ribombee for being apprehensive about his father's reaction to all that, however the ghost Zoroark gives a small slap on the back of the Pokémon which turns to see him noticing the big smile on the purple haired Pokémon giving a few words to try to encourage Luke:


— I think the best excuse is the one in which it's true with slight omissions, SLEEP POUND CHAMPION!!! If Aurora says she has everything planned let's trust her, after all we are all part of the same team and that's what teammates do, Guihehe!



Luke gives a shy smile looking at his lidar and then faces Aurora nodding his head in a positive way believing in his ally's plan, with that out of the way the Red's alibi seemed assured. Yet Akeldama still wanted to take reassurance, he then takes an Escape orb from his wig and says with a smile:



— Go home Croco, I will return to the forest.... I will create as many illusions of Rubro as possible in front of the Network, so they will think they are dealing with a dangerous and territorial Beserker, see you later fellas!



Shattering the orb with his own claws the phantom Zoroark disappears from the li without a trace, Aurora gives a cute giggle approaching the Croconaw giving him two light pats on his snout then flying into the night sky until he disappears on the horizon. Not having anything to do there, Luke just sits down on the grass looking around first with a serious face which slowly gave way to a smiling one, he then throws himself on his back lying down, the Pokémon then raises his hand towards the cloudy sky closing it under the light of a star then he shouts to himself:


— Papa... Cody... I did it... I DID IT, DAMN IT, I'VE GOT A TEAM AND THEY'RE PRETTY INCREDIBLE! AAAAAAAAAAAAWWWW, YEAH HELL YEEEEAAAAAAAHHH!


Croconaw felt very happy that he wasn't dreaming, never had he imagined actually being called to a real Pokémon team in which he didn't see him as a burden to carry.
Far away from there in the forest, Akeldama scanned the place over the large trees watching the rescue teams taking the Pokémon in which Rubro had beaten earlier. The phantom Zoroark gives a cynical smile using his natural illusion skills he assumes the form of Rubro, his goal was to improve Luke's alibi by making it appear that Rubro Croconaw caused much more terror during the night, he then speaks to himself to confirm the phases of his plan:


— I already have the ideal shape... Now I need to look as Ghost-like as possible and stand out my Normal type, urrrrf, this is the worst part... I hate the taste of this cursed berry...


Akeldama would have to battle the Pokémon below him using the disguise, however since he was half Ghost type certain hits would go through his body, knowing this he turns to Kasib Berry useful to suppress his passive type effect thus allowing him to be hit by Fighting and Normal type moves. Covering its nose to taste the fruit less the Ghost Zoroark eats the first one, that sour and bitter taste was completely undrinkable when consumed by Ghost type Pokémon due to the fruit's effect of weakening them, the Pokémon continues its monologue in order to procrastinate:

— Just the smell of that crap already makes me completely weak...*bluu... But eating... Arrrgg... it's like eating Muk vomit... *Gruuu....UUURrkk... Just one more bite Akel, you can do it.... Arrg, it's for the team.... *NHAC* UUUUUURRRRRRRRRRR...!!!!


The urge to vomit that crap was too intense for the Ghost type with shivering sensations and with his legs getting sluggish almost making him fall from the tree, on the other hand as the bad sensation faded away he felt his powers from his Ghost type reducing, Akeldama decides to do a simple test consisting of going through the trunk of the tree where he was smiling when he saw himself failing without even passing a claw through the solid object.

Hours passed, the ghost Zoroark already disguised as a Rubro caused chaos and terror in the forest, with the help of the orbs he possessed he simulated the use of ice in his movements brutally attacking the explorers and rescue teams. The attacks gradually caused the desired effect, and most of the Networks upon seeing Rubro already ran extremely scared, Lucios Feraligatr was walking in the forest with Trevor Houndoom supervising the work of the teams in the search for his wife, Nai Tyranitar, when the Gadget of Feraligatr rings:


— SIR OUR NETWORKS ARE BEING ATTACKED BY THE HOODED CROCONAW, WE ARE RETREATING, HE IS TOO STRONG, SIX TEAMS HAVE ALREADY BEEN SHOT DOWN AND ... GHAAAAAAAA!!!....*click*


Lucios roared angrily, squeezing the Gadget with his big hand, the Pokémon then punched a tree next to him hard, even scaring Trevor from the red collar who was next to the big Feraligatr in the black scarf:


— ARRRG DAMN, DAMN BESERKER.... Trevor orders everyone to step back, I will crush that Croconaw myself. I'll give him a taste of the power of a Feraligatr!


Lucios was already preparing to run towards the Beserker when an Aura Sphere is thrown in front of his face, the royal advisor and the master of the Lacustre base turned to see where the projectile had been thrown from, Rex Lucario approaches smiling for getting the pair's attention his two pupils Cody Charmeleon and Naz Gabite on the other hand did not seem to like his attitude. The Houndoom begins to curse Lucario for being capable of something so stupid which could take him to a court martial, however Rex says he has no interest in hitting the royal advisor only wanting his attention by continuing his empty justification:


— I humbly ask your forgiveness, councilor Lucios, however, Madame Xerneas gave us the order to take care of the Beserker that you call "Rubro '', after all he is a kind of anomaly needing to be studied ... That being said, I think it's good to get away, we don't need any more fatalities.


Rex's presumptuous speech to Lucios makes Trevor start to growl, furious he alerts the Soldier having fire coming out of his mouth at the words:


- Is that a threat Rex? *voooosh* Who do you think you are? *voooosh* I'll wipe that grin off your face by melting all your iron teeth with my fire, COME ON YOUR BASTARD!!Grrrr!!!


Houndoom had stood in attack position with its mouth open with flames appearing likewise Lucario with its aura burning in its paws both ready to confront each other, however, Feraligatr stepped very hard on the ground to the point where it shook a little. The two Pokémon then stopped staring at each other to pay attention to Lucios with his head down and slowly raising it while speaking in a sensible and calm way, not showing the anger he felt a few seconds ago:


— We cannot go against the orders of Madame Xerneas, she has a hierarchy equivalent to our queen Lencia.... Having said that, you can go quietly Rex.


Smiling still pretentiously Rex disarms crossing his paws behind his head making a signal with the same for his subordinates to follow him, Trevor still frustrated puts out his flame turning his face with disdain not to see Lucario passing by him. The Soldier passed bare handedly by the duo of Pokémon that as Feraligatr said would do nothing to stop them, however, Rex's spine froze when he heard again the calm voice of Lucios which gave him a warning:


— But the next time you try to use a move to get my attention, hit me and pray to Arceus that I pass out. Because if you remain conscious it is you who will never get up again…. I hope I have made myself clear.



Hearing Feraligatr's threat to Lucario made Houndoom laugh a lot for noticing the hesitation in Rex's body which really seemed scared by that, the counselor and the leader of the Lacustre base then turn on their gadget ordering all teams to retreat besides giving priority to the wounded stating not to leave anyone behind. Watching them hidden by the veil of the dark night was a lone Shedinja, upon seeing the teams mobilizing and retreating the Pokémon simply disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared amongst the vegetation.

The trio of Soldier was advancing in the dense forest, Cody walked in front lighting up the dark of the night with his flaming tail while cutting through the undergrowth with his Dragon Claw, in the middle came Naz Gabite who was just watching everything around him watching for strange movements and finally behind both of them Lucario with closed eyes was scanning everything raising his black appendages feeling the aura around, the Pokémon then says quietly:


— I don't sense the presence of even a Network nearby, the Beserkers I sense are either moving away in fear of Cody's flame or sleeping high up in the trees.


The Charmeleon seems apathetic to everything that was happening around him, seeming to have his mind elsewhere, Gabite then gives a big yawn taking advantage of the moment to ask:


— Will we ever see this so-called "Rubro"? The images I saw in his newspaper were scary. I'm a little scared, but I'm also dying for a good fight.


Chuckling, Lucario finally opens his eyes, while touching the thorn in his chest he directs his attention to Naz, answering her cheerfully:


— I hope so, GHRRRAAAAAA, it's been a while since I've brought a Beserker to his knees, it'll be great to change gears and beat one up instead of the usual Hellstalkers, don’t you think.... Uh?!


Rex suddenly without warning uses the Aura Sphere movement in the direction of a tree which explodes with the impact of the blow, from the top of it comes down that red hooded figure standing on the ground. Gabite immediately uses the Dragon Pulse on Croconaw that in turn destroys her movement with the Ice Punch in his left arm, Rex taking advantage of the confusion uses Extreme Speed getting on the back of Rubro trying to give him a kick which was stopped by Ice Punch in his right arm:


— Hehehe, good good, BUT NOT SUFFICIENT!


Using the Bone Rush Lucario hits Rubro in the head throwing him into the trees, the Croconaw seemed to have really felt a lot of pain from that hit as he was dizzy lying under a tree trunk. When Rubro finally regains consciousness, he sees Cody using the Dragon Claw approaching to impale him, Akeldama on impulse uses the Shadow Claw move stopping Charmeleon's move saving himself in the process.

Cody continues to force his movement against Rubro who remained lying under the tree using an opposite force to the tree to get up and avoid being impaled, during the execution of the movement the Charmeleon notices the red eyes of Croconaw which he was trying to pierce remembering those belonging to Luke and consequently the kiss last night. Cody's heart begins to palpitate strongly, his legs and arms begin to tremble and his fire for battle and focus are lost canceling his move, it was the perfect opening for Rubro who tries to penetrate Charmeleon with his Shadow Claw.

However, luckily for Cody, his sacred item, the blue cloak he was wearing realizes the risk to the wearer's life and wraps around Croconaw's Shadow Claw canceling the move, when Rubro tries to pull his hand back closer to his body the blue cloak simply throws him away from the Charmeleon. Croconaw falls on his belly on the grass giving a roar as he stands up staggering, he raises his head seeing Cody still paralyzed looking at where he had previously fallen, Rubro sees this as an opportunity moving forward with his Shadow Claw.

As he advanced the silence of the forest was taken by the peculiar sounds of rattles, the sound that began almost imperceptible was getting louder and louder and as its volume increased it gave the impression that the distance between Croconaw and Charmeleon was greater. When he looked at his feet, he realized that he was kneeling in the bushes without understanding what was happening there and why his senses seemed so strange. Unfortunately for him, there was no time to ask questions, especially because of the large round object that hit his face and made him roll in the grass:


— CODY, ARE YOU OK?! DID HE HURT YOU?


Asks Naz worriedly without taking her eyes off Croconaw fallen in front of her, Cody taps her head lightly, turning her attention to her partner Gabite giving her a positive answer about her condition. Rubro murmurs getting up with difficulty feeling that his jaw had been dislocated by the impact of the object, already facing the Pokémon he watches Naz realizing that he had been hit by an incense burner attached by a ribbon on Gabite's right arm, Croconaw gets up quickly starting to run staggering towards the Pokémon:


— Urrf, damn beserker know your place.... *chiiiinng*


Naz stretches her left arm where there was another ribbon with two small rattles attached to the opposite part of her body, as Gabite moved that arm and the rattles rang the feeling of vertigo returned to Rubro now being sure of what would have messed up his senses earlier. The Croconaw felt trapped seeing that it was only a matter of time before he would be captured, Akeldama felt a lot of pain especially in his mouth and the control he was trying so hard to maintain seemed to slowly dissipate:


— It seems that he is already at his limit, hehehe let's soon end with the suffering of that poor Beserker.


Rex said as he came through the high undergrowth standing next to Naz and Cody, the Lucario then raises his hand creating a large bone from the movement Bone Rush while the Charmeleon made his claws glow in emerald green color, both then look at Gabite moving their heads in a positive sign and as soon as she agrees they start walking towards the apparently incapacitated red. Akeldama's breathing, disguised as Croconaw, becomes increasingly shallow and worried, he has reached his limit of control:


—GRWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH !!!


Looking up Rubro gives a big roar, something that doesn't intimidate the three Pokémon, however they stop walking when they feel the degree of Hellstalker energy released by that Croconaw. Naz is the first one who cancels the movement of its rattles falling to the ground vomiting, Cody feels his legs shaking and his teeth hitting each other emitting even a loud sound like a very primitive feeling of fear:


— A... A beserker hellstalker? And that's strong... How... Impossible... No chance...


Those were Rex's words as intimidated and scared as his pupils, hesitating to advance, Lucario was shouting to himself inside his head in his intention to react to that totally unknown Pokémon, an effort totally in vain. It was when, surprising everyone, a great burst of fire was launched in Croconaw's direction, coming from the Flamethrower movement used by Cody, still feeling terrified by the Matter aura. However, just imagining ending up like his father and never being able to see Luke again gave him the willpower to face the situation.

Rubro was engulfed in flames and the Croconaw beserker's howls of pain could be heard by everyone there as the Charmeleon did not cease its attack, already out of breath Cody finally stopped the movement causing even a small fire in the trees. But neither Rex nor his pupils could feel the Matter aura of Rubro anymore, they approached and surveyed the scene looking like Croconaw had disappeared as mysteriously as he appeared, panting Lucario makes a fist with his left paw punching his right squeeze which softened the blow:


— We lost.... ARRRRRG, DAMN, DAMMMMIT!!! Let's inform Madame Xerneas about this... This freak... We will intensify our training... This Croconaw is now our top priority, we will take him dead or alive.


Already far away from there, Rubro gasps and comes out of the earth almost like a zombie, luckily the effect of Kasib Berry wore off when he was charred by Charmeleon and thus the passive powers of the Ghost type returned. Croconaw leans against a tree and quickly returns to the form of Akeldama the purple haired Zoroark, the Hellstalker feels dirty for resorting to intimidating the trio with his matter aura only he saw no other alternative:


— Shit, shit, I lost...ARRRG... Damn that damn pain, I really lost... Hehehehe, who knew there were such strong Soldiers here in Argules... Shit Luke I am sorry, now you are going to be their target.... I will have to train you hard, I hope you are ready.


Still in the forest in a much more remote place, the Shedinja finally left the shadows of the forest to a place more open to the sky and with the starlight illuminating the Pokémon the lipstick mark on his forehead became evident. Arbustos the Trevenant noticed all the strange movements in his forest a few days ago, so he sent his servant Shedinja to check the whole situation for him.

Facing the presence of Arbustos in the archaic human cemetery the Bug guy began his report, starting by talking about several petrified pokémon both Beserker and Network disappeared without a trace, the news about the wife of the missing royal advisor which made the members of the Lacustre scour the woods, last and not least he talked about Rubro the Croconaw. The Shedinja could not observe the fight closely because of the Lucario Soldier who could detect him using his aura, however he felt a very powerful Hellstalker aura which could come from a level 3 Hellstalker.

Arbustos heard the whole report from his Shedinja sitting on a human tombstone like a throne, he stands up from it taking a few steps forward and destroying a tombstone with one of his hands scaring the Shedinja. Shedinja then looks at the pokémon in a creepy way, with that he says apparently annoyed:


— One more hindrance, what the fuck is going on in this damn continent... SEND EVERY HELLSTALKER IN THE CITY AND FOREST TO RUN AGAIN, WE NEED EVERYONE TO GET AT LEAST TO LEVEL 2... TELL THEM THAT IN TWO MONTHS OUR PLAN WILL START!