Battle of the Heroes

"Sorry? Do you think an apology would FIX ALL OF THIS!?"

Yoake was enraged by Ren's apology. Thinking that she was at fault for not saving them earlier, she continued to bicker.

"I TRIED TO SAVE FIND AND SAVE BOTH OF YOU. BUT I couldn't find where you two are" Ren explained. Yoake realized that Ren was apologizing for not saving them earlier, both couldn't save one another, but instead of feeling apologetic and compassion, he was enraged even further as he thought that Ren was trying to brush off the thing that happened earlier. Anger has fully consumed him. The monster that was within the trainer slowly rises above as his humanity loses its grip.

"You didn't know what happened earlier huh?" said Yoake in a cold yet unstable tone. He calmed down as he looked at the white trainer with an enraged yet emotionless face.

"Earlier? Wasn't the ship's explosion the only thing?" Ren misinterprets everything that Yoake has been saying as she has no idea on what just happened. All she knows is that when she managed to get out of the ocean, she was immediately saved by her goons, she was also given an envelope about going to the gym. She was clueless about it but she insisted. She head to the gym with the only knowledge of not saving Yoake but to her surprise, there was something else that just occured, something that will tear and shred every single imagination and hope that Ren has.

"You didn't check the news?" Yoake asks her in utter curiosity.

"What news?" Ren was puzzled by Yoake but things are slowly getting clear as a door behind her opens and it reveals to be the Blonde woman that appeared for many days.

"Commander, you have to take a look." The blonde woman said in a hurry as if the news that she was about to bring is something urgent.

Instead of being dumbfounded by this sudden revelation of the Blond woman, Yoake shook it off as he already knew the truth.

The blonde woman has a remote in her palm and she pointed it to the large screen to her right. It was odd for a gym to have a massive screen near to the battle arena since it might get damaged from any careless Pokemon attacks. As the screen flashes and opens, the blonde woman quickly shows the news to the two. And that was then Ren realized what Yoake was referring to.

"We're bringing you a live broadcast about the death of Mister Takeshi Katsuragi…"

As she hears the news anchor explain and covers the story and Death of the Father that she was separated from, her heart felt and, just like Yoake, her world shattered. The family that she has been longing to find, was gone in a blink of an eye. The future she craved for, the happy ending that she always strives for, diminished right in front of her eyes.

She always wanted to feel the scenario of going out on the weekends with the whole family, eating pizzas while watching a bad movie, laughing while chatting at the dinner table. All of those are gone. And what was left is the brother that she always wanted to be with. The brother that took her as his own family. The brother that bonds with her, the brother that showed the beauty of this cruel world, the brother that she always desires. They were separated since birth but with Battle Bond, they were united. It was like fate managed to bring them back together.

But tonight, the brother no longer sees her. Yoake only acknowledges Ren's death in the ship's explosion, the person right in front of him is her remains, the commander.

She wanted to cry, kneel down to despair as every bright light that she tried to follow was swallowed by the bitter darkness. She wants to weep in tears but her professionalism alter ego, the commander, made her stoic and self defining at the cost of her having little to no grasp to despair. But as soon as the world destroyed that professional status, she was unprepared for it.

She wants a cuddle, a comfort from someone that she holds dear as she continues to stare at the screen.

"The police managed to find footage of the suspect who murdered the Katsuragi family." The reporter continues as they show the footage of the suspect.

Ren looked at the footage and saw the figure has the same outfit as her, she shrugged it off but as soon as the figure's hair color is white. She was shocked. She finally understands why Yoake was furious about her. She gulped in fear, a fear that she has never felt before. She was mistaken as the person who took away everything from Yoake. From nearly killing him, to nearly killing Leaf, to showing the true nature of his father, to the ship's explosion, and to their family's death.

She looked at Yoake and saw a sad and angry boy, ready to take revenge as a means to justify that he wants the commander dead. He turns around as he doesn't want to be looked up, readies the battle as he grabs a Pokeball from his belt.

When the news anchor finally revealed the name of Yoake in the broadcast, Yoake turned and threw a Pokeball. Initially starting the battle with an unprepared opponent. Something that violates the laws of the Pokemon League.

"DUCK!" Ren said as she threw herself to the woman, making them fall to the ground. She then throws a Pokeball as a means to defend themselves from any attacks from rouge Yoake.

Yoake throws in Victreebel while she throws in Golem. Despite the former having a massive type advantage, Golem was trained to outmaneuver its enemies by rolling as a ball to doge and attacking afterwards. However, there is one problem, Yoake is instructing his Pokemon to attack Ren, not her Pokemon. Ren finally stood up and looked at Yoake with a shocking look.

"Victreebel, use Power whip at Ren!"

"Golem, create a monolith to block the ongoing attack!

As Victreebel jumps out from its Pokeball, it flies through its air and plunges its stalk like tentacles towards Ren but Golem immediately stomps the ground and causes an Earthquake. From the earthquake, massive stones flung to the air, blocking every stalk that Victreebel throws at them. Golem curled itself into a ball and rolled towards 'Flycatcher Pokemon' at an accelerating rate.

The Megaton Pokemon jumps from the ground and launches itself at Victreebl, managing to land a hit and knocking back a supposed threat. Yoake growled as he realized that he had to deal with (Ren) the commander's Pokemon first before finally killing them.

"Victreebel, use Power whip at Golem!"

"Golem, use Self destruct on Victreebel."

Knowing that her Pokemon has no chance of battling him. She has to sacrifice Golem as a means to take down Yoake's deadliest Pokemon. Golem curled itself to a ball and lunged itself to Victreebel but the Flycatcher Pokemon used its vine to grab Golem, trying to distance itself from a deadly explosion. But the rotation of the Megaton Pokemon fought back from the imprisoning vines and headed to Victrebell and exploded, fainting both Pokemon in the process.

"Grrrr. Victreebell. Return."

"Golem, return. Jessica got out of here."

The two brought back their Pokemon to their respective Pokeball. Ren told the Blonde woman to leave immediately as she knows that their lives are in danger if she stays. She followed her commander's order and left, leaving the two trainers to fight out till the end while the screen at their side continues to air the death of their father. A symbolism of how vulnerable the two trainers are with the death of their father and a divided Katsuragi household is what 'he' wanted.

Ren knows that she can counter Yoake but she knows that she's just delaying the inevitable.

He then throws Fear into the arena without even saying something and Ren decides to become reactionary and goes to a defensive style even if her Pokemon aren't meant to be defensive. She throws a Pokemon that she hasn't shown to Yoake, Raichu

Fear charges towards Raichu without Yoake saying anything. Thinking that Fear is an easy target for her, she tells the Mouse Pokemon to use its signature move to attack.

"Raichu, Thunderbolt!"

Yoake smirked as he saw the white trainer fall for his trap. As Raichu charges an electro-ball from its tail. It throws it to Fear as soon as the ball is formed. With the Yellow orb was about to hit Fear, Yoake immediately brought it back to its Pokeball and threw it at King. The electro ball hits King but he was immune to it, he shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"Foolish." Yoake mutters as he taunts Ren's failure to see that he baited her.

"King, use Earthpower."

"Raichu, use Grass knot!"

Raichu charged towards King with precise speed, preparing its tail to use the leftover vines from Victreebel's attack, while King waited for the exact time to stomp the ground so that he could cage Raichu with the stone monoliths. Raichu grabs one of the vines and whips it to the Drill Pokemon. King had enough being defeated by many of his opponents and immediately grabbed the vine whip, raised it and whipped it to the ground, dragging Raichu to the floor and getting injured. King stomped the ground and another tremor occured, a crack opened from the floor and slowly heads to Raichu but the Rat Pokemon notices it and leaps towards King.

"Raichu, distract King!"

"King, shake Raichu off!"

Raichu climbs around King's body and begins to agitate it by crawling around it, trying to avoid getting hit by King's monstrous swings. King begins to shake as it tries to sweep Raichu off from its body. King begins to rotate while trying to sway Raichu off, he was getting irritated for every time he felt Raichu's paws crawling through his thick purple armor. After circling out, King managed to create an idea, he stopped for a moment and both Raichu and Ren were confused by this.

Yoake smirked as he realized what King was thinking and Ren saw the sinister smirk in Yoake's smile, she understood why he was smirking and what King was planning to do.

"Raichu! Get out of there." said Ren. Raichu jumped out from King's body but he was stopped as King was holding Raichu's tail, drawing it closer to Kind and finally, smacking him down the ground, fainting in the process.

Ren was stunned to see how versatile and strong the King has become. She wants to clench her fist in a bit of rage as she slowly understands that she has nothing to create victory on her side, just delaying the absolute. She immediately brings Raichu back to its pokeball and as soon as she did so, Yoake made a doubtful claim about Ren.

"And here I thought the commander of a Team Organization should be the most powerful one, it seems that I just expected too much." Yoake bickered with utter arrogance. He mocked her for seeing how pathetic the commander is, failing to see how Ren's emotions were the one that was weakening her. She could beat him if their family didn't die, but their fate has been sealed as soon as Battle Bond exists.

"Come back to your senses Yoake! This is what Giovanni wanted from you." Ren pleaded to the black trainer as she explained how this was Giovanni's plan. Wanting to use the rage of the Battle Bonding Katsuragi as his pawn to become the most powerful person to ever live. Her, his family and Leaf fear this and today is a nightmare for them.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME! Don't you even dare to use your scapegoat to hide your true intentions." Yoake shouted to the white trainer with utter rage.

With nothing else to argue with as Yoake has dug himself into a hole of anger, creating an echo chamber where he could rant everything and to release his stress and hatred to Team Rocket. The two continue to fight with Ren gaining her composure as she manages to give Yoake a battle that he should run for. From King's fainting to Fear to Urshifu, she only lost two Pokemon because of it. She was gaining her ground until the two Kanto starters fought.

She managed to defeat Charizard with Blastoise by being able to maneuver its Rapid Spin but it was a draw as both Pokemon fainted. Leaving their aces as the only Pokemon they could use. Claudine and Gengar, two of a polar opposite type, both destructive and powerful, both can counter one another but this will be the last time they'll fight, not as friends but as sworn enemies. The anger from Yoake was flowing through Claudine, having a shared anger of distrust and hatred after seeing the commander once more.

"I'm sorry Yoake but you leave me no choice." Ren shook her head as she couldn't believe what she just said. She has no interest in killing him but his actions made her think, one one hand, if she spares him, he can just kill her, on the other, if she killed him, it just justified his anger and made her regret everything that she has done.

"Try me." Yoake taunts her as Claudine walks to the battle, transformer to her Battle Bond form. Ren took a deep breath as she decided to finally use battle bond, she has been hiding it for so long that she sometimes forgets how to use it. She just hoped that Gengar's fast reflexes would be able to delay the inevitable.

Gengar teleported to his place in the arena and he finally transformed to its Battle Bond form. It was like its Mega Evolution form but it was shining in blue colors, flames surrounding his body as it emits a powerful blue light. His knuckles were also surrounded by the blame flame nearly shaping like a Boxing glove. From the disruption of her using Mega Evolution to hide its true nature- its Battle Bond form combined with its Mega Evolution form.

Instead of being impressed or shocked to see Gengar's battle bond form, he was so focused on Ren and his anger. Claudine saw it and felt comfort as her thoughts about Gengar are true, he has Battle bond but he's just hiding it by using Mega Evolution.

Claudine immediately attacks Gengar as she swings her sword with incredible speed. Gengar backs off since he knows dangerous Claudine is, doing everything he can to dodge her deadly blows but one unlucky swing landed on his knuckles- instead of seeing it being amputated, it repelled the attack and emitted a beaming white light.

Realizing that they, Ren and Gengar, could hold off Claudine until she gets tired. She couldn't explain why his knuckles repelled her attacks but she immediately uses it as a means to defend themselves from the deadly blade of the Embrace Pokemon.

Claudine jumped and landed near Gengar- thinking that she could attack him off-guard but the Shadow Pokemon managed to parry it with its flaming knuckles. She effortlessly swings her sword once more, from left to right; finding a weak spot that she could use against him. He held firm as the two continued to fight with Claudine on the full offensive while Gengar was holding on to its dear life.

For every attack of the Embrace Pokemon, there was sorrow. All four of them felt it but none took a single thought about it. It was the heavens' grief. Seeing the two Katsuragi fighting right in front of a screen that is still broadcasting about their father' death. The angels shed their tears and sung a song of grief, sorrow and dividence.

The two continued to fight and for every swing of Claudine's sword, she was releasing both of their anger as their lust of hatred and revenge was eating away their thoughts on finding a better tactic to defeat Gengar. She then decided to do a consecutive strike hoping that she could exhaust Gengar but he managed to parry it- at the cost of him slowly being moved backward.

They were in a tidal lock and Claudine was getting exhausted from the fighting but the two's anger continues to fuel them while Gengar's palms are getting sore as he continues to raise it as his final defense. Claudine had enough and decided that she wanted to end the battle sooner than later. She created a purple orb and threw it to Gengar- catching him off-guard as he was struck by the concentrated power of Psychokinetic energy. He was numbed by this and Claudine took advantage.

She launched herself once more with the sword ready to slice Gengar in half- eager to kill him then Ren. Gengar quickly blocked it with his knuckles, hoping that this weird repellant would stop her. Claudine is trying to push Gengar with the repellant while her sword is trying to penetrate the repulse. While parrying her, he saw the angered, red and glowing eyes from Claudine. He felt fear for the first time. This fear also transcended to Ren. She felt like she was battling the devil himself- but no, it was just hatred. Deprived from the loss he felt throughout the days of their adventure.

Claudine, instead of backing off and continuing to attack, she raised her sword; created a circle as she swung her sword to her feat. She spun herself and used every energy from the Gengar's repulse earlier and swung it one last time. Using the sword as a baseball bat and when it landed on Gengar's knuckles, he was hurled towards Ren. When the white trainer and her Pokemon collided, they were struck to the wall with immense force. Gengar faints and leaves Ren, helpless as she watches Claudine slowly walk towards with her sword ready to kill her.

She panted for breath as she succumbed to her loss. With no Pokemon left to defend herself, she was vulnerable. Claudine's half was clouded with darkness as the other was brightened by the screen, she can see the red eyes looking at her with anger.

But with whose anger is it? Was it his? hers? or Theirs? She couldn't tell who was the one in control of Claudine. Is the Embrace Pokemon doing it or was it Yoake? All of those questions lingered in her mind but instead of finding an answer, she decided to linger on the happiest memories in her life before getting killed by the hands of her brother.

Memories flashing back to the time they met, to the time they ate together, to the time when they trained together, to the time they joked around, sharing giggles and jokes about themselves. She still remembers when Yoake was greedy for her fries, stealing it from her, pretending that she wasn't aware of it and laughing it off. All of those sweet, innocent and golden memories were enough to fill her emptied desire for a family.

She closed her eyes as she felt the presence of the Embrace Pokemon was nearby. She then heard a whisper, a male's whisper.

"I'm so sorry." It was Yoake's voice. There was regret as he can still see Ren in her but his anger is blinding him. She cried as she understands that her brother doesn't want this to happen nor was she, they were just pawns to a bigger threat and the one who killed the other would be used for the worse.

She accepted her fate and waited for her death.

It's been seconds and Claudine hasn't killed her yet, there must be something wrong. She opened her eyes and saw Claudine, reading her sword to kill both her and Gengar but she was stopped by a pink blob that was having a tight grip on her bladed arm.

"Ditto, NOW!" A familiar voice echoed in the distance, it was Leaf.

The pink blob attacked Claudine with its viscous body making a stirn grip on her sword. The embrace Pokemon immediately attacks it and loses her focus on Ren. She looked at the distance and saw Leaf, hugging Yoake with utter tears. She was still in pain from the GSW but she was eager to hug him once more. She knows that if she sacrificed herself today, it would cause more problems tomorrow. She was smart enough to use Ditto instead of herself.

Ren saw Claudine fall to the ground, faint right in front of her and Yoake snapped out from Battle Bond.

"There there now. Everything would be alright." Leaf comforted Yoake.

The black trainer loses his anger as he feels the warmth of love from Leaf. He weeps in regrets as his humanity resurfaces. Yoake hugged her back with a tight grip as if he didn't want to let go. Both Claudine and Gengar were returned to their Pokeball for the very first time. Leaf looked at Ren as if she was inviting her to join them.

Ren slowly walks towards them and Leaf immediately hugged her as well. The two trainers cried as they felt love from a family.

"You two had a rough day today. Don't worry. I'm here." She comforted the two.

Erika enters the gym and sees the most beautiful scenery she has ever seen.

Three Orphans being in family like no other.