Child of Thorns - A Pokemon Sinnoh Reimagining

Maylene took a single, perfect step forward, and waited.

In her current situation, there was no reason not to. As her mother had so thoroughly tried to beat into her thick skull, patience was key.

Never attack first against an opponent you're not sure you can beat, her voice echoed in her mind. Wait, observe and make decisions from there.

She approached with slow, careful steps and Lucario did the same from behind Mars. They both shared the same pose: left leg and arm forward and knees slightly lowered. A stance which left very few openings, one which she'd practiced to perfection.

"So young and already a Gym leader, eh?"

Mars scratched her cheek, tilting her head to the side in a casual manner. Her apparent unwillingness to fight didn't fool Maylene, who noticed the way those cold red eyes were completely focused on her.

"And you look so much like Mary, too," she continued, forming a lopsided smile. "Did you know I faced her during my own League challenge, way back then? I remember it like it was yesterday."

A burst of heat grew from her chest outwards through her veins, but Maylene didn't let it affect her. So she was trying to taunt her? Or she genuinely didn't know her mother had…?

Whatever the case, it didn't matter. Words, sharp or dull, had no place in a proper fight. She would not let a serpent's tongue sway her from her current objective.

"I respected your mother. She was a good, honest woman, and one of the few people who could really see the big picture." Her expression softened for a moment. "Your eyes tell me you're no different from her. A bit younger and more naïve perhaps, but you certainly deserve to live more than the trash you just rescued." She pronounced those last words with utter disgust, her nose crinkling. "I would hate to harm someone like you. Step away and let me escape, for your own good."

Maylene didn't move an inch, her expression as stalwart as it'd ever been. At least five heartbeats passed before Mars gave up, sighing.

"One after another, I just keep running into stupid kids ready to throw their lives away." She shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. "Oh well, broken bones and cut limbs can be a good learning experience I'm sure."

Dear god this woman loves the sound of her own voice, Maylene thought.

"You said the Association's forces would be here soon?" Mars asked. "Then I guess we better get started."

Mars swatted at the air with her right arm, which had started melting into a shapeless, pink gum. Maylene's body reacted automatically; she dropped her stance and leaped forward with all the strength in her legs. Both eyes were entirely focused on the woman's transforming arm, while one of her hands grabbed what hung behind her back. She brandished the two bokken, cutting the air in front of her. They felt reassuringly familiar in her hands.

A distinct blue glow caught her attention from behind Mars; that of Lucario materializing his own weapon. Both of them closed their eyes at the same time and, without words, understood perfectly what the other was thinking.

Terrible waves of… something she couldn't describe exuded from Mars' body, which she could feel a lot clearer than anyone else. Its weight was wide and massive, but unlike Inyssa she could bear it without her body faltering, thanks to the way Lucario had trained her.

She stopped a stone throw's away from Mars, her bare feet sliding on the soft dirt. Her fingers spun the wooden blade on her right hand until its tip was pointed at her thigh. She raised it to the sky and, with the strength of her previous momentum, threw it like a lance. It flew directly towards Mars' chest.

Mars took a sudden step back, her sharp gaze set on the bokken. She raised her left hand and shielded herself with it, attempting to catch it.

Lucario appeared behind her in a flash, a glowing staff of blue energy held by his raised paws. With a powerful roar he lunged down, aiming at her spine. Mars' eyes went wide as she felt his presence, and almost too fast to follow she threw herself to the side. The wooden blade crashed against the Pokemon's weapon, shattering into a dozen splintered pieces.

The transformation was completed then, and Mars smiled. Landing somewhat unevenly, she stomped the ground with her feet, and spun in place.

Maylene barely had time to duck. The dark tendril ruffled her hair as it passed over her like a bullet. Lucario wasn't as lucky; his feet touched the ground a second too late as he saw it fall over him. He shielded himself with the aura staff, which took most of the hit and shattered into a puff of light. Gasping, she looked up at what had attacked them. From the tip of the woman's right elbow grew a black, uniform tentacle as thick as her torso and as long as she was tall. It squirmed and coiled into itself, bouncing on the floor with a wet and unpleasant sound.

She'd only seen a Tentacruel once, but she would've recognized one of its tendrils anywhere.

No time to step back now. Mars wound back her shoulder and threw the tentacle forward in an arc. It came at her from the right with a speed that by all means it shouldn't have had, leaving her unable to dodge. Gritting her teeth, she raised both arms and waited for the impact.

Blue flashed across her eyes as Lucario jumped between them, stopping the tentacle with both paws. Its force raised a cloud of dust between them, almost knocking him off his feet. His muscles were as tensed as an iron bar, and his legs shook from the impact.

That thing would've broken my arms, Maylene realized. I can't get hit by any of her attacks. I need to act as a support.

Lucario bared his fangs and snarled at Mars defiantly. He grounded himself and with all the power in his arms tugged at the tentacle backwards. It was sudden enough to startle Mars, making her body tumble forward.

She's out of balance, this is my chance!

Her fingers grazed the handle of one of the small knives hidden in her belt, and without hesitation she threw it forward. It flew like an arrow towards Mars' face, and if it weren't for the way its metal glistened under the light of the sun the woman might have not noticed it. The tentacle grew inwards, shrinking until it was small enough to slip through Lucario's hands. Now back to normal, the fingers of her left hand clasped around the knife's handle, so close to her face it almost scratched her nose.

That's when their opportunity came. Mars jumped back to gain distance, and the back of her heel hit a thick root sprouting from the ground. Her eyes went wide as she extended both arms to the side to regain balance.

"Aura Sphere!"

Ignoring the pain thundering through his body, Lucario jumped up towards her. Both steaming paws joined at his side, and in the space between them materialized a swirling, pulsing ball of pure energy. It's weight and power were so intense it rustled the grass and burned the fur on his palms.

Roaring from the depths of her chest, he threw the sphere forward, releasing it upon Mars. It fell like a bullet toward her face, burning the air in its path. In the fleeting moment before the impact she saw her raise her right arm.

The explosion sent gusts of wind in all directions, rustling Maylene's hair and forcing her to cover her face.

A metallic, gong like sound reached her. Mars stumbled a few feet back, her newly transformed arm covering her face. It was silver and square-shaped, with a distinct metallic gleam as sunlight reflected off it. She lowered it slowly, revealing the small circle of purple over her now broken nose. Dark threads of blood traveled from her lips down to her chin, staining the ground beneath her as they fell.

A Golisopod's arm? Maylene thought, narrowing her eyes. Good shield as any, I suppose.

"That was one hell of an attack," Mars laughed, brow furrowed in pain. "I actually felt it inside my head."

Maylene looked at her partner, worried. His arms hung to the side, blood falling from his palms to the ground. His eyes were dull and tired, and his breathing was too heavy. She gulped and pushed down the panic building inside her. She had to think her way out of this fight.

She seems to only be able to transform one limb at a time, the rational part of her mind told her. Though... why does she choose her right arm every time? From the way she's been fighting I could've sworn she was left-handed. And... now that I'm looking more closely, why is her right arm much paler than the other one? She narrowed her eyes, then shook her head slightly. No... that doesn't matter. From what I've seen transformation takes at least a full second to finish; if we both attack at the same time then she'll only be able to block one of us.

Lucario understood her plan by reading her aura, and with enormous effort started walking towards Mars' side, while Maylene did the same in the opposite direction. They couldn't be too careful, not with the opponent they were facing.

"Already formed another plan?" Mars smiled. "Good; kids your age should be lively and smart. Thanks for letting me catch my breath, by the way."

She could counter attack, Maylene thought, paying no mind to her rambling. I'm sure she wants to take me out first. I can't approach carelessly, I need to use my bokken in the exact moment...

Her eyes went wide with realization. There was only one moment where she'd know exactly how Mars would act; when she launched an attack.

She nodded, and Lucario understood. Lowering his knees, he threw himself towards her and wound back his right arm, though the punch came a lot slower than his previous attack. Mars noticed this, and thinking it a result of his exhaustion lowered herself just enough for his fist to fly over her head. As she did so she extended her right arm back, which started shifting once again.

A slight change in the wind alerted her of Maylene, who'd ran to her blind spot with her wooden blade in hand, ready to break it over her face. In her current position, one leg back and the other lifted, it seemed too late to even try to dodge, and the Gym Leader knew this. A slight grin formed on her face.

A dark shape began to form on Mars' lower back, and a second and a half later something long and sharp lounged toward Maylene's face. A terrible sense of dread fell over her body as realization hit her; Mars had used her own trick against her. She couldn't stop her momentum. Thankfully Lucario aimed his left paw at her just in time, expelling a powerful gust of aura toward her.

It felt as she'd been hit with a small hurricane. Her body flew to the left, and as the blade passed over her it only managed to scratch the skin under her left eye. Through the pain she saw the floor approaching rapidly, and with a twirl of her legs she landed one hand on the ground and pushed herself up, falling on her knees. She grabbed the left part of her abdomen, where Lucario's attack had hit. It was painful, yes, but surely not as much as the alternative. Her thumb caressed the slight cut at the side of her nose, cleaning some of the blood off.

If not for Lucario, that would've taken my eye.

The thing which had attacked her now moved from side to side from Mars' lower back, coiling around her body. It was a thick, black tail with a jagged red blade at the end; a Seviper's tail.

Realization hit her then, with enough force to make her shake. With urgency she looked down at the thumb stained with her blood, though she didn't notice any strange color on it.

"Don't worry, it's not venomous like the real thing," Mars assured her. "I can only copy shape and consistency for now, I'm afraid."

After reeling for a second at the stupidity of being told such a weakness, Maylene stood straight and started walking around her slowly. If she could create limbs from any part of her body then she had basically no blind spots, as long as she could feel where an attack was coming from.

That time it formed slower, though. It seems the transformation is only that fast when she does it on her right arm.

She grit her teeth, a nervous drop of sweat falling down her forehead. The woman standing before her was a tough opponent, more so than any she'd faced before. In terms of stamina, focus and technique Maylene knew she had the advantage, but she couldn't even come close to matching Mars' strength, speed and overall flexibility.

She didn't adhere to any martial arts style, which was bothersome to deal with due to unpredictability alone. But worst than that was something she'd realized after only exchanging a couple blows: Mars was insanely more experienced than her. Whoever she was, she'd surely been fighting her entire life, which put Maylene at a clear disadvantage. A fighter needed either technique or experience, preferably both. The more you had of one the more you could compensate for the other, and she wasn't sure she was skilled enough to offset the balance in her favor.

That's why you have Lucario, she assured herself.

Still, attacking from a distance wouldn't suffice anymore. Her only realistic choice was to put herself in danger and act as a decoy with her remaining bokken, while Lucario tried to hit her from another angle. The risk was too big, and she figured she'd have a ten percent chance of surviving unscathed.

Smiling, she wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her palm. Her brow furrowed as she lowered her knees in anticipation.

It was a risk she was willing to take.

"Dust cloud, now!"

Lucario's paw fell with enough strength to embed itself in the ground. He roared, expelling a massive quantity of aura through the clearing. The dirt and dust around them vibrated for a moment before exploding upwards as if the ground itself were erupting. Thick enough to obscure everyone's view, which is exactly what Maylene had planned. She closed her eyes and concentrated as she ran forward. Ripples of energy grew outwards from Lucario and Mars' aura, pinpointing their exact location. The woman had taken a step back and started transforming her right arm into something long and smooth, with no specific shape to it.

Another tentacle? She was probably planning to use that spin move, both for protection and to clear the cloud of dust. They needed to act fast.

The tentacle lunged at Maylene, and just before it connected she slid under it with one foot and one hand on the ground, while Lucario jumped up, winding his arm back.

Mars realized she hadn't hit anything, and even when while out of balance she was quick to react. Raising her left leg she kicked the air in front of her. Maylene felt this and moved slightly to the side as she jumped up, avoiding the kick by less than an inch.

"NOW!"

Miraculously, Lucario's punch actually connected with Mars' head. She felt the impact echo all around them as the woman's body veered down, eyes and mouth open wide in pain. Wasting no time, Maylene jumped behind her and with a well placed elbow on her kidney got her to slightly turn. She grabbed her from under her arms and forced her torso up, giving her Pokemon a perfect target.

This wasn't part of their plan, but she couldn't waste such an opportunity. In those short, fading moments she thought clearly about what she wanted Lucario to do, and he understood. Doubt and fear tainted his aura, though it wasn't strong enough to surpass his loyalty towards his trainer. With a sorrowful nod he planted his feet firmly on the ground. His aura traveled from every part of his body towards his right arm, and before Mars could react he threw a devastating punch, hitting her in the sternum.

The energy exploded in a cone in front of him. Maylene felt it in her insides even though she'd been shielded by Mars' body, and the intense pain told her at least one of her ribs had probably been broken. Not that she had time to think about it as they were expelled backwards like a cannonball. She landed on her side, cheek bouncing against the dirt beneath it.

The world turned into a blur of colors and waving shapes. She rolled to the side and breathed in deeply, trying to force her vision back to focus. The pain in her abdomen was pulsing and burning, almost unbearable, but she couldn't allow herself to collapse yet.

At her feet lay Mars, barely holding herself up to her knees and one hand over her stomach. Her face was twisted into a terrible mask of pain and rage, a spider web of red clawing from the edges of her eyes. She was breathing heavily through her mouth, under which was a huge pile of blood and vomit.

Stumbling on every step Maylene got to her feet, her sense of balance almost nonexistent. If she could just restrain Mars…

"Ha…ha…" The woman's laugh reached her. "Nice one, Gym…leader."

She couldn't help but take a step back, eyes wide open. How could she…?

Mars looked at her, and Maylene could swear the temperature dropped to zero. The skin of the woman's face was stretched unnaturally into an enormous grin. Her teeth were stained with blood.

"You think… that's enough…" She pushed herself to her feet, her entire body shaking. "…to put me down?"

The full brunt of her malice fell over the clearing, and Maylene barely protected herself as a shiver ran down her spine. Lucario stared at the woman incredulous, snout down and paws shaking. His chest rose up and down with his jagged breathing, as the last attack had drained all but the last remains of his strength.

Mars took a careful step forward, both arms hanging under her. Maylene and her Pokemon moved back a few inches, shock alone preventing them from attacking.

She tilted her head to the side, dark shadows falling over her eyes. "People stronger than you… have tried before. I'm not going down until…"

A violent coughing fit fell over her, and more drops of blood stained the grass in front of her feet. At some point her coughs shifted into a high pitched, soft laughter. When she raised her head again Maylene saw her right arm start to bend and re-shape itself, though it seemed a lot slower than before. It finally shifted into a longer one, covered in white fur. Enormous black claws grew from her fingers, looking sharp enough to cut her into ribbons. The back of her mind recognized the Zangoose's arm, but she couldn't do anything with that information. She was getting closer, almost on top of her and…

A sound like thunder broke through the forest, snapping Maylene and Lucario out of the spell they were under. Mars' eyes went as wide as possible as a scream of pain got caught in her throat. Balance left her as her knees hit the floor violently. A small circle of dark red appeared in the middle of her left thigh, which grew in size as the blood stained the cloth covering it.

Maylene took a step back. "Wh-"

Lucario's sensitive ears picked up on the sound of dozens of footsteps approaching from all around them, and she caught up a few seconds after. She saw a figure appear from the darkness of the forest, a pistol in her hand and eyes brimming with fury. A woman in her forties, with short black hair and stout complexion. Before she could ask who she was at least thirty more figures emerged from all around her, all dressed in the same black and blue uniform, brandishing similar weapons as that woman.

The Association's forces, Maylene thought as a smile of relief formed in her lips. Sure took their sweet time.

"I can't thank you enough for your service, Gym leader." The woman's voice was soft and polite, though she could feel the raw anger behind it. "We'll take care of it from here."

The woman raised her free hand, and every one of her employees pointed at Mars with their respective weapons. Mars struggled to even move, a low growl of pain escaping her lips. Her eyes were sunken and pale, as if she were struggling to stay conscious. Even still she lightly raised her head to look at the person who'd shot her.

"It's… you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Sarah… huh? Long time no see. Sorry for what I did to your son's Pokemon."

Maylene couldn't believe the nerve and confidence Mars still displayed, even in such a perilous situation. Sarah's nostrils flared, and the hand holding the gun shook ever so slightly. Her finger caressed the trigger.

"You are accused of stealing, kidnapping, terrorism and murder. In the name of the League Association I hereby place you under arrest." Her statement was almost a growl, and her eyebrows were so close they almost looked like one. "However that doesn't mean I don't get to shoot you again if you misbehave. I'm willing to do it as many times as it takes, you bastard."

As consciousness left her, Mars let out a faint, confident chuckle.

"Oh well, what can you do."

And with those words her eyes shut, and she collapsed to the ground, limp.