“Can’t you sense that there’s something wrong with your human?”, Ralts asked.

  “I can indeed sense that there’s something very different”, Maestro admitted.

  She then waited but the Abra did not elaborate which frustrated the empath seeking mutual understanding.

  “Then why-”, Ralts began but Abra interrupted.

  “Because I respect the unknown. Everyone keeps secrets and they shouldn’t be pried open just to satisfy your paranoia”, Maestro reprimanded.

  Conjuring up a response, Ralts’ mind filled to the brim with excuses and flimsy reasoning like loud static on an old television but struggled to settle on a solid justification. Maestro then psychically dismissed all of her thoughts.

  “Ralts!”, she then yelped in pain but Maestro continued.

  “You may be more attuned due to being a Ralts but that doesn’t mean you understand other minds better. You are merely more sensitive to open thoughts and emotions. Whether they be depraved urges, intrusive suggestions, or a lingering darkness, that doesn’t mean they will be acted upon but those hidden whispers seem to taunt you”

  Maestro glanced towards Absol and smirked.

  “Fortunately, Dark types are naturally resistant to telepathy or you’d have long been paralyzed by omens or cowering in terror by those that wield Nasty Plot”

  Maestro then turned to look at his trainer.

  With a helpless expression, Harrison then held up his hands and said, “Yeah. I get it. You’re going to say that I shouldn’t have provoked Ralts by exposing my thoughts”

  Of course, humans without psychic abilities were vulnerable to having their mind read but those with experience in Telepathy could obscure their thoughts according to their mastery. As a Trainer with Telepathy, he naturally did not struggle with this but the reaction from Ralts was far more extreme than he had anticipated.

  He then inferred that this Ralts was unlike most Psychic Pokemon which were more accommodating of others due to their tendency to have deep connections. It perhaps even hated humans which could prove troublesome as hostile Psychic types were more dangerous because their influence on others is hard to detect.

  Hearing that, Ralts’ confidence waned as it wasn’t that she was able to see through him but a deliberate ploy she fell for.

  “I’m partly to blame since I did provoke you but a Psychic type shouldn’t solely rely on telepathy to interpret the intentions of others”, Harrison then stated.

  “I thought the strong did as they pleased”, the Ralts responded meekly.

  “Perhaps in a different world”, Harrison muttered. If it wasn’t Pokemon and a world where humans risked their lives for wealth and power, he would not have hesitated to compromise his conventional morals. People were shaped by their environment after all.

  “That is true for many but not always”, he then stated.

  “You deeply fear the strong. Is there a reason?”, Maestro asked.

  Ralts nodded weakly.

  “The predator beats any in its way, the Titan guards only when its own territory is threatened, a- and -”

  “- and your father left you on your own”, Maestro then finished her sentence.

  Ralts clammed up for a moment before continuing.

  “They all do as they please, care not about inconveniencing others, so why would he be any different?”, Ralts almost shouted in a louder volume while pointing at Harrison.

  Before Maestro could respond, Harrison smirked.

  “Perhaps they do. Perhaps I am similar to them. We do what we want selfishly and care not about others while you do”, he then stated.

  Harrison then knelt down and brushed aside the green hair which formed Ralts’ cap, to maintain direct eye contact. Her dilated red irises stared back in anticipation and in fear.

  “Then why don’t you become strong? Care for others and retaliate against those lacking consideration. If the strong can do as they please, then so can you”

  After all, you can evolve while I’m fundamentally still just a human. But he kept those last thoughts to himself in the deepest recesses of his mind.

  An ear-rending screech resonated throughout the cave as steel impacted steel with powerful force. The two monsters then roared as they clashed head-on with complete indifference to their wounds which manifested as chipped armor and craters on their formerly pristine and smooth metal armor.

  Despite both being heavyweights, the Steel Titan gained an edge from its great length and managed to create enough momentum by utilizing its entire serpentine frame when striking with a lethal Dragon Tail. The invader then braced for impact with Iron Defense and endured the lashing but had been sent a considerable distance back. It then left the deep crater which created a new opening in another chamber and bellowed a roar which sounded like the harsh scraping of metal against metal.

  A harsh bright searing white sphere of energy then converged at the maw of both monsters before being unleashed in tandem. The two powerful beams of energy then collided with equivalent force, erasing all shadows in their vicinity. The resulting shockwaves unsettled all the dust and debris in the nearby chambers, causing a sandstorm to envelop the escaping Pokemon fleeing from the territorial war.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Colin’s frown and brow couldn’t deepen any further as his concerns were made reality. As the two monsters clashed, they were gradually ascending despite the craters which briefly lowered the elevation of the battlefield.

  He knew that both were far above his level but he needed to do something to stall for time or the entire mine could potentially collapse. He then let out his trusty partner and quickly signaled for it to be quiet. The rocky segmented boulder snake then closed its mouth instead of roaring as it usually did before a battle.

  “C’mon Onix. Let’s go prepare the battlefield”

  Christine and Gavin then finally approached as everything seemed to finally settle. The three had all been communicating telepathically so to the others, it seemed as if they stood still in complete silence for most of the exchange. But the two Pokemon were obviously Psychic types so they assumed that Maestro was resolving any conflicts that Ralts had harbored.

  “You alright?”, Gavin then asked as he had seen the Mawile lunge earlier.

  Harrison turned his hands which were still covered in drool and said, “Yeah. Just got slobber all over my hands. Mind getting some tissues or paper out of my pack?”

  In the distance, the Mawile grinded its worn teeth, slightly indignant. It had sharp powerful teeth but the drool was what caught their attention.

  As Gavin rummaged through Harrison’s backpack, Christine approached the Ralts and briefly stated, “We’re sorry for trespassing”

  Ralts’ gaze lingered on her for a moment before resuming her conversation with Maestro.

  She then went to Mawile to inspect for injuries. Some of the teeth had cracks in them which indicated significant damage from attempting to bite through an incredibly tough material.

  A powerful shockwave then reverberated throughout the cave, causing loose rock from the ceiling to fall like slow rain. Immediately the group covered their eyes and knelt down while the Pokemon braced themselves. But before the Pokemon and people got pelted, a psychic force seized most of the pebbles before gently depositing them in a neat pile.

  When the dust settled, Christine could see a purple aura emanating from Ralts while Maestro had the same to a lesser magnitude.

  “I didn’t expect a Ralts to be this strong”, she then said earnestly as she applauded.

  Harrison then stared at Maestro who confirmed his sudden conjecture.

  “They aren’t. It just hasn’t evolved yet”, Harrison stated.

  “Like your Abra?”, she then asked as she was aware that it was quite powerful but more importantly, most of Harrison’s other Pokemon had already evolved while Abra still hadn’t even though it was his Starter. Even if Abra wasn’t in battles as often as the other Pokemon, it should still be close to evolving or already evolved.

  Maestro eyed Christine and then scoffed.

  “Very different. Maestro likes a challenge and is holding back while Ralts’ growth is being hindered by its own timid nature”

  Without a proper impetus for growth, the Ralts was at the level of Kirlia with a notable increase in power but not enough to rival the power of evolution which is surprising as Kirlia was still a weak Pokemon in terms of stats compared to other evolutions. Ralts seemed to actively avoid battles which is a problem as battles were the perfect catalyst to advance regardless of whether it was a casual spar or a battle to the death. The latter was likely far better for gaining experience but it was something to avoid especially in a relatively peaceful world like this one.

  He then thought that scenarios similar to this one were the reason that the wild had overleveled first stage Pokemon and how Level 100 Magikarp could exist naturally. Even if that existence sounded absolutely miserable.

  “Sol”, the mostly quiet Absol then suddenly stated in what seemed to be a foreboding tone.

  The atmosphere of the room then seemed to change as all the Pokemon present tensed up and others quivered in fear.

  As they were about to run, Absol then roared. The riled Pokemon then calmed down before beginning to move towards the entrance which they took to get into the Dazzling Cave.

  Ralts then connected to Harrison and stated, “I will try to learn to be strong even if that is not in my nature but that will take time. And more importantly, the Titan and the Predator are closing in”

  Harrison was unaware of who the two Pokemon were but he could infer from the Pokemon’s reactions that they were the cause of all the hardship that the Pokemon were currently undergoing.

  Harrison then turned to Gavin and Christine, “Help the Pokemon evacuate. It seems that there will be trouble soon”

  The two then turned to him as if to ask, “What about you?”

  “I need to warn Colin as well”, he sighed.

  “Ma-Choke”, the bodybuilder then stated as if affirming that its Trainer would be okay.

  He did not know Colin’s contact information and thought of rushing to look for him but that would be a terrible idea in a time sensitive situation such as this one. Besides, this was a mine and they would probably need Colin’s help to leave the mine after all the paths they went through just to get to the chamber. He then thought of something.

  Harrison took out his Poketch and utilized the HM Function which would request for assistance from rangers and likely miners in the mine. With his additional privileges as a collaborator to the company, he changed the request to the closest in the vicinity and set it to Actual Emergency mode which would increase the intensity of the vibration to alert the caller but would mute any ringtones that were set up. The ringtones were muted in order to avoid situations where the person being called wouldn’t alert or attract any unwanted attention like situations in a crappy horror movie. He then forced the call through and said, “Is this Colin?”

  On the other side, Colin was using Onix to create an arena filled with Stealth Rock. He then felt the intense vibration from his wrist and jumped in fright as he had thought the two monstrosities had arrived ahead of time.

  He then heard the voice.

  “Oh - phew. It’s just you guys. Did anything happen on your end?”, Colin asked. He considered asking how he got his number and thought of Machoke but decided that there were more pressing matters.

  “Yeah, but the situation has already been resolved. More importantly, we’re evacuating the Pokemon right now because two strong Pokemon are on their way”

  “I’m aware of that but I’m working on something because if those two get here. It might compromise part of the mine”, Colin stated in resignation. He was previously observing the two but stopped when the Hyper Beam caused the dust to obscure the tunnels.

  “...Will you be alright?”, Harrison then asked as he couldn’t just request Colin to help them escape if that was the case.

  “Well… probably not but Roark is on his way. Hopefully, he gets here in time. Tell me if he-”

  The entire chamber then shook as if inflicted by a powerful Ground type that unleashed a Magnitude 9. A humongous serpentine silhouette then emerged from the ground and sent a large form flying by using its tail at full force. The force of the strike was considerable as it eroded an entire half of the Titan’s tail.

  Colin grimaced as the Steelix emerged out of the dust and towered above not only him but even his Onix.

  “Fuck”, he muttered in despair. This is above my paygrade.