CYOA 2 – To The Victor Go The Spoils – Chapter 29: Chaos

Last time: Hanzo found out more about Cole's backstory and he and Winston unwittingly found themselves in the middle of a dangerous encounter.

Warnings/content: typical Pokémon violence

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Kikuri ignores Hanzo. Her hind legs propel her forward, small claws poised to dig into the huge bird Pokémon with electricity crackling around it like a shield.

She wouldn’t survive a hit from it, Hanzo is absolutely certain in that moment. While his mind draws a shocking blank, all the blood leaving his face, his body is moving on pure instinct, pulling her Pokéball from his belt and calling her back inches from her poisoned talons hitting the angry Pokémon’s barrier.

Her ball vibrates in his hand and quickly becomes too hot to handle. The anger radiating off of it is palpable. He puts it down on the ground with a hiss, just shy of letting it drop to the floor entirely.

The bird Pokémon, Zapdos, shrieks once more. Hanzo feels like his eyeballs are vibrating in his skull, his insides freezing up in an all too familiar way. He’s been terrified of his father’s Corviknight for so long now… he had hoped that his fear would have abated with his travels, but… apparently not.

“We uh… we uh… we should leave!” Winston calls out next to him. He grabs Hanzo by the shoulder and pulls him forcibly back up on his feet just in time to move his head out of the way of a blinding bolt of electricity hitting the ground just where he had been a split second earlier.

Hanzo twists his head, peering behind them but the door they had unwittingly strolled through is practically gone, blocked by many, many angry Pokémon.

“We can’t,” he whispers breathlessly. His fingers grab a Pokéball from his belt and throw it unceremoniously. His gaze is stuck on the Zapdos but his mouth is dry and his tongue feels too swollen to talk.

When the white light dissipates, Maddox is standing there, his short legs braced for impact and the fur along his back standing on edge. There are sharp little rocks peaking out from all over, trembling with intensity.

Winston’s large hand is now curled around his bicep; hard enough to bruise. He has put himself half behind Hanzo and fallen very quiet. He didn’t bring any of his own Pokémon on this outing. He’s a lover, not a fighter, after all.

It is Hanzo’s job to protect them… and suddenly there is just him and his little dog Pokémon standing against an opponent that feels as if it is the size of a house in this moment.

Another bolt of electricity shoots out from the crackling shield Zapdos has erected around itself. Maddox jumps out of its way. The tag on its collar is glinting in the light and briefly irritating Hanzo’s eyes.

He knows exactly what is engraved on that tag. He never bothered to change it, after all: Maddox on the one side and CC on the other. Cole Cassidy. His former trainer.

Would another of Cassidy’s Pokémon… die? Hanzo’s throat constricts and he can feel himself becoming nauseous.

No. No, he couldn’t let that happen. He curls his hands into fists and takes a small step forward, forcefully pulling his arm from Winston’s grasp.

.oOo.

“You need to find higher ground, Maddox!”

Hanzo briefly considers asking him to use Agility, but despite how capable Maddox had shown himself during the trial on Akkala Island, he does not think that that particular skill is in his repertoire.

Maddox barks and immediately runs toward a pile of boxes. Zapdos shrieks again, its head following the advance of the Pokémon and the electricity around it crackling louder once more as if it is rearing up for yet another attack.

Hanzo’s heart jumps into his throat. He looks around himself hectically and grabs an old, dusty stapler from one of the abandoned factory desks that ar piling up in the cellar of the building.

He rears his arm back and before he can think better of it, lets the missile fly. He watches it zoom through the air and getting obliterated by Zapdos’ electric shield before it can hit it in the head.

Still, Zapdos notices. The crackling of electricity ebbs as it jerks its head around to stare back at Hanzo with pure malice in his eyes. At least that is what Hanzo sees as he takes a step back, his throat tight with panic.

His ears are ringing but even through them he can faintly hear his father’s voice from one of his seemingly unending lectures. Standing next to his huge Corviknight with one hand wrapped around her pitch black beak, holding it easily closed.

Do not show them weakness, Hanzo. They are deceptively intelligent… most of them, that is. If you show them weakness, they will try to subjugate you.

They are antiquated thoughts in this day and age but Hanzo remembers very well how he had been barely able to listen to what his father was saying as he stared at his hand around his Pokémon’s beak. It had been too easy to imagine his Corviknight pulling free of his grasp and biting one of his fingers off without even trying. She had been mean enough to do it, he’s been absolutely certain of it at the time.

Zapdos looks much like her in Hanzo’s opinion. The same unblinking stare, the cocking of the head, the ruffling of the feathers. He hadn’t thought the beast could look even more spiky, but there it is. He’s really pissed it off.

He takes another step back, his heart in his throat. He’s completely forgotten about Winston standing behind him and watching it all quietly until his elbow slightly nudges the other man’s belly. He startles and almost turns toward him, but in that moment Maddox has finally found a perch high enough that the sharp pebbles he hurls at Zapdos hit the Pokémon right in the side of the head.

Zapdos’ head jerks around, its long beak only inches from Rockruff’s growling face. It screeches again but the plump little guy, bless his heart, is undaunted as the fur collar around his neck ruffles again and another volley of pebbles hit their attacker in the face.

Hanzo doesn’t know where he takes the courage from but… he does feel braver himself. He bends down and snatches Kikuri’s cooled-down ball up from the floor, eyes never leaving the sight of the two fighting Pokémon.

Zapdos’ beak starts glowing and a second later it’s head snaps forward and it is hacking away at the already precarious perch Maddox is standing on.

“Get down!” Hanzo cries out while waving his arms over his head. He tries to be louder than the angry screeches of the bird.

Maddox, tongue lolling out, looks about a bit helplessly before suddenly taking a leap of faith and landing right on top of Zapdos’ head. Hanzo’s heart plummets again.

“Not onto the thing!” he groans and watches with horror as Zapdos wildly throws its head around until Maddox is flung back to the ground where it hits the tiles with a sickening thud.

Hanzo inhales sharply and takes a step forward, intent on hurrying to his partner’s side – but Winston’s large hand around his forearm stops him from any such thing. While he fights against the surprisingly strong grip, Winston grunts: “That would be suicide!”

Maddox had gotten back up on all four trembling legs but he’s swaying… still, Zapdos does not look too thrilled that he got back up from the rough throw at all. It is awkwardly fluttering its wings in the enclosed space of the factory. The wind that comes up because of that prickles on Hanzo’s skin and tastes like batteries on his tongue. He can feel the static causing his hair to stand on end.

All around Zapdos, arcs of electricity can be seen for a split second before vanishing again. The moonlight streaming in through the holes in the various upper floors is dimmed out as thick, gray clouds draw together faster than should be naturally possible.

“It is preparing for a Thunder attack,” Winston croaks behind him. He is gripping Hanzo’s arm so hard it feels like he could snap the bone like a twig any second. Hanzo’s attention is on his Rockruff, though, brain drawing complete blanks as he realizes that the attack would be too devastating for Maddox to do… anything against, really.

“P-protect!” Hanzo calls out with a brittle voice. He has no idea whether Maddox even knows the attack. He certainly never tried to teach him.

On his hip, his Pokéballs have all gone very still all of a sudden. While they had been fighting against their prisons, trying to get out and help their trainer, they seem to all hold their breath.

The thunder jerks down through the holes in the factory in a thick pillar of lightning, blinding everybody. Hanzo feels nauseous. He rubs at his eyes profusely, digging his fingers against his closed eyelids and willing himself to be able to see again while his ears ring after the thunderclap that accompanied the attack.

His knees feeling quite weak, he takes a few stumbling steps forward, blinking his tearing eyes open and trying to see something through the dark splotches still dancing in his vision.

He dreads what he will find; but a ball of rocks is… not what he expected.

“Maddox?” he croaks. His ears slowly open up as well, alerting him to the strange stillness in the room. A small glance around confirms that the Pokémon that had been crowding the room and making it feel quite claustrophobic had suddenly vanished as if they had just all been a bad dream.

“Maddox?!” Hanzo calls out again. He takes another step forward but before he can come anywhere near, Zapdos keeps him at bay with a claw suddenly coming down from above right in front of him.

The large bird Pokémon is settling down, eyes maliciously regarding the orb of stone. In an instant, it jerks its long drill-like beak down, cracking the stone as if it were naught but an egg.

Hanzo holds his breath. His hand is clutching at the Pokéballs on his belt, just needing something to desperately hold on to while he stares at the hole in the rock shield.

He doesn’t think he’s ever felt as much relief as in the moment he sees Maddox poking his head out.

His breath rushes out on a whispered: “Oh my God…” His knees give in after all, arms stretching out so Maddox can come to him for a hug he feels like they both really need in that moment – but of course the fight is not done. Nowhere near it.

Zapdos screeches again, sounding seriously enraged now as he sees that the small Pokémon has actually managed to survive the devastating attack – and from the looks of it, quite easily.

It pushes itself back up into the air, the movement of its jagged wings pushing Hanzo backwards and on his ass.

He can only watch in shock as Zapdos suddenly snatches Maddox up in its claws. There’s a small yip of pain audible as sharp claws dig into the chubby Rockruff’s body.

Hanzo scrambles to his feet, jumping forward while Winston calls for him to come back. He won’t. He can’t just let his Pokémon get snatched up like a little morsel.

Zapdos has turned its head upward, peering through the holes in the ceiling, wings fluttering harder.

Hanzo gets his hands around Maddox’ front paws. He can see the wide-eyed shock in the little guy’s face. They lock eyes in a long, panicked moment as Hanzo pulls, trying to drag him out of the iron clutch of Zapdos…

But his hands slip the moment the bird Pokémon shoots upwards, leaving him impotently staring after it as it takes his Rockruff out of the factory.

Determination flooding him, Hanzo whirls around and runs toward the no unblocked exit. He grabs Winston’s sleeve as he hurries past him, throwing himself shoulder first against the cellar doors to push them open as they make their way out of the factory.

“What- what are you doing?!” Winston gasps, trying to keep up with Hanzo’s sprint.

“We have to follow!” he replies impatiently. What kind of question is that even?!

Winston is wheezing by the time they have made their way up into the ground floor of the building and are moving toward the huge gates that they had squeezed through earlier. Hanzo has lost all sense of time. How long have they even been inside this cursed place? Zapdos is still near; they can hear its continued screeches.

Winston suddenly puts in the breaks, pulling his sleeve free of Hanzo’s grasp. Hanzo turns to stare at him. His own lungs are burning as well; he hasn’t really exercised in a long time.

“Go! I just.. I just slow you down.”

“But you don’t have your Pokémon with you…” Hanzo takes a step back. The sky through the grimy factory windows keeps lighting up outside. His whole body thrums with the need to get out there and help Maddox.

Winston just shakes his head, hand on his knees, fighting for breath.

Hanzo curses quietly under his breath and pulls a Pokéball from his belt, releasing Kikuri out once more.

“Protect him!” he orders her, praying that she will actually listen to him as he hurries out of the factory and throws King’s ball as he does so.

King is dragging his hoofs impatiently against the ground waiting for Hanzo to awkwardly pull himself up onto his back and is off like a shot once he feels him close his legs around his ribs.

Hanzo can’t even cry out in surprise. He tries to take a hold of King’s mane but the fire, while not hurting him, simply slips through his trembling fingers. So he lies himself over his Pokémon’s neck, arms curling around it to hold on for dear life while King races through the forest, swaying expertly around trees.

For the first couple of minutes, Hanzo can still feel the thrum of his hoofs against the ground but that too vanishes into the background of his fast pounding heart. It feels as if King isn’t even touching the dirt beneath them anymore.

There is not a drop of rain and the sky up above is completely clear of clouds, yet it is lit up by lightning strikes every few seconds. When Hanzo peers up through the canopy he can just about make out a huge dark shape in the sky, still quite a ways away… though not as far as he feared might be the case.

As his body becomes accustomed to King’s movement and the smooth sways he does around the trees, he finds himself staring at the dark shape more often, eyes watering from the occasional flash of light.

Whatever is happening, Zapdos has trouble. Its enraged screeches have Hanzo’s hair stand on end. They need to be closer still, though, for him to be able to make out Maddox, twisting in the crushing grip of the Pokémon’s talons. Every now and then, Zapdos will jerk its head down to poke at Maddox with its long drill-like beak but whatever he does to keep it at bay makes it screech more in rage and shake its head wildly.

Against the sky it is difficult to see much of his Pokémon, but when the dark blob suddenly slips out from between Zapdos’ talons and swings there by what Hanzo assumes is the tip of his claws, his heart plummets right down to his feet. He curls his legs tighter around King’s body, heels digging against his ribs.

“He’s going to fall!” he cries out against the wind. He doesn’t know where King takes the boost from but his body seems to get longer as he stretches himself into his strides which become longer and faster, steam pooling from his nostrils and burning Hanzo’s face as it rushes past him and into the night sky. It must look like a train is passing through the middle of the forest.

Zapdos tries pecking at the dangling Pokémon once more and now Hanzo can see that he keeps flinging sharp pebbles at his assailant; a rain of rocks pelting Zapdos again and again to keep him from ripping him into pieces.

It can only be a thing of seconds until the Pokémon’s continued flinching and struggling will cause Maddox to lose whatever grip he has.

“Maddox!” Hanzo cries out, voice breaking in the effort – he doesn’t think he’s ever screamed like this. “Maddox, I’m here!”

Whether Maddox has heard him or not – he is falling… and Hanzo’s heart stops when he sees it.

King is rushing as fast as he can and yet everything seems to slow down to a crawl as Hanzo keeps staring at the dark splotch in the sky plummeting downward. He tries to calculate whether they will be fast enough to let him catch Maddox and how much damage that would cause to all of them, but a small voice in the back of his head keeps chanting ‘no, no, no, no, no’ and is quickly drowning out the rest of his thoughts.

They’re close… so close. He is already letting go of King’s neck and stretching himself out, ready to do… something. Anything. Catch Maddox right out of the air, maybe-

When all of a sudden, the dark splotch in the night sky plummeting down toward the ground is no longer all that dark. In fact, Maddox’ descend is briefly, inexplicably halting mid-air as the light engulfs him and begins to change.

Hanzo has seen it before… but he had not expected it to happen now. And for the lazy little Rockruff of all Pokémon.

He is evolving…

King has noticed as well. His steps are coming to an awkward halt as both he and Hanzo strain their necks, staring up at the evolving Pokémon pretty much right above them.

Zapdos is watching as well, quiet for now as it hangs in the air even higher above.

The evolution is… quick. It seems to go by way faster than those of Hanzo’s other Pokémon; but maybe that is simply because he’s so worried about what will happen once it is over with. He slides off King’s back, trying to gauge where to stand to catch Maddox once he inevitably has to resume his fall… but when the light vanishes it leaves them with a much larger and heavier Pokémon than before.

King snorts and whips around, pushing Hanzo back with the side of his horn just in time for Maddox to keep plummeting down and crashing into the ground just an arm’s length from Hanzo. The shock of the impact travels through Hanzo’s legs and nearly topples him to the ground.

A spray of dirt hits him and he takes an involuntary step back before pushing through the shock of the evolution and the subsequent fall. Hurrying toward the lump of white and red fur, he rips his backpack open and searches for his Super Potion with numb fingers.

He can’t take his eyes off the motionless Pokémon, cold creeping through his veins. King has followed him and is lowering his head to sniff at Maddox.

Hanzo tries to remain calm but all logic dictates that Maddox is dead; all his bones shattered and his neck broken from the height of the fall. He can’t make heads nor tails of what he is seeing; there are just limbs and fur and where is his head?

He nearly fumbles the Super Potion to the ground before he begins spraying it liberally onto his Pokémon. The moisture is glittering on Maddox’ fur.

Hanzo does not expect him to move. Of course not. His legs still shake from the tremor of the impact. In his mind’s eye he keeps seeing Maddox plummeting to the ground in an endless, grueling loop, which is why when he does move, it does not really want to register as something actually happening.

But Hanzo is not someone imaginative… and that is true right now as well. Before his blankly staring eyes, Maddox shifts, then shifts even more and shakes himself mightily, small rocks and dirt flung from his fur every which way.

He has to shield his face from the pebbles unwittingly flung at him. By the time the dirty shower has stopped and he slowly lowers his arms once more, Maddox has stood up from the small crater he’s put into the earth with his impact.

He’s a lot taller than he was before. He’s also a lot taller than Genji’s Lycanroc.

Hanzo stares blankly as Maddox peers back at him past a droopy lock of fur hanging over his face. While his sheepish grin looks quite wicked indeed, his red glowing eyes are droopy and docile, blunting the somewhat frightening look he now has.

Rockruff’s evolution form is dependent on the time of day.

Hanzo had known that fact but never actually pursued the knowledge to educate himself on just what it meant. He had not been prepared for the stark difference.

Maddox’ body starts swaying a little and so do his long arms, large paws tipped with claws the size of Hanzo’s palm. The next moment, he moves forward with a soft growl and curls those long arms around Hanzo’s hips.

“Oh,” Hanzo whispers and after a moment of hesitation hugs him back. He had half anticipated him being more… feral, but it seems Maddox being more of a lover than a fighter is true in any form he takes.

“You look unharmed,” he says softly. “I am so glad.”

Maddox makes an odd sound that is like a chuckle but more growl-y. Hanzo has never heard him make noises like that. As King carefully stretches his neck to sniff at Maddox, Hanzo suddenly remembers Zapdos.

His head shoots up and he peers into the night sky… but the huge bird is nowhere to be seen. The night sky is dark and peaceful, any dark clouds that had pulled up because of the Pokémon’s power have dissipated and let the moonlight shine down on them once more, cool and serene.

Hanzo would almost question his own sanity if he wasn’t holding Maddox in his embrace, a stark result of tonight’s ordeal.

Still, it feels like a bad dream.

“Let us… go back,” he says softly. “Collect Kikuri and the Professor.”

.oOo.

“Fascinating. It would seem that his nature is so dominant, it has reigned supreme over his evolution. Literature suggests that Lycanroc evolved at night are much more volatile than that…”

Winston seems to have forgotten all about the terror from just an hour ago as he eyes Maddox up and down. He and Kikuri have been waiting for them some ways away from the factory. Her face upon seeing Maddox’ evolved form has been… less than thrilled and she retreated into her Pokéball without hesitation.

Hanzo gets the feeling she is pouting.

“Well, I have to admit I am thankful he is the way he is,” he murmurs while uneasily looking back at the quiet factory. “Why don’t we… move along for now? I do not feel comfortable being in the vicinity of this place.”

Winston nods but Hanzo gets the feeling he did not really hear him since he isn’t moving from his place watching Maddox who keeps grinning awkwardly and menacingly, probably without meaning to.

So Hanzo grabs the professor by the arm and starts gently urging him into the forest.

“I do wonder where Zapdos suddenly went,” he mutters after a while.

“Oh… It went back into the factory,” Winston readily replies. “I think it was just feeling threatened by our presence and tried to get us to leave.”

Hanzo shudders. Well… it did that quite wonderfully.

.oOo.

As they get up the next morning so Hanzo could drop Winston off close to Lumiose City and be on his way himself, he checks out his phone and is quite dismayed to find a message from his father.

It quite ominously reads simply: “Call me at your earliest convenience.”

Feeling uneasy, he immediately dials his father’s number and waits for him to pick up which he does within the next few rings.

“Took you long enough.”

“I am sorry, father… I did not see your message.”

“Hm. It does not matter now. Do you know anything about your brother’s whereabouts?”

Hanzo frowns, the back of his neck starting to prickle as he steps a bit further away from the camp.

“No… I have not heard of him since Akkala Island, I believe.”

“He has not been contacting me in a few days and does not answer to any calls or texts. I want you to find him and make sure he is well.”

“How… am I supposed to find him?” Hanzo asks after a moment. He is unsure whether Genji’s behavior is cause for concern or not.

“Do not talk back to me. You are the oldest and you will find your brother,” Sojiro hisses.

Hanzo’s frown deepens. “I’ve not been…” he stops himself before he can finish the sentence. He knows that he won’t win this one, so he just sighs deeply. “I will do what I can, father.”

.oOo.

It takes the better half of the day of him continuously shooting Genji messages and calling his phone for him to finally pick up and then he has the nerve to sound exasperated.

“What is up with you people? I’m not on my phone for a few days and you’re all going apeshit.”

Hanzo’s mouth turns down at the tone before he slows his step as he processes Genji’s words.

“What do you mean, you are not on your phone for a few days?”

“What the Hell do you think I mean? Are the words that difficult to parse?”

He certainly sounds like Genji, but the concept of his little brother not being on his phone for a few days at a time does not really compute. Still he dutifully says: “Father has been worried. You should answer his calls.”

“I…” Genji hesitates on the other side of the line. Hanzo tries to hear the sound of any voices or some… party going on, but there is absolute silence. “I don’t want to talk to him right now. Later, maybe. I’ll call you back, Hanzo, okay? Later-”

“Wait what? No, hold on, wait- why do you not want to talk to him?”

Genji sighs deeply before he just lamely replies: “You just know how he is sometimes.”

Hanzo notices that Winston keeps shooting him weird little glances. He holds his finger up in a ‘one minute’ gesture and steps a bit away, lowering his voice as he says: “Genji, did something happen? Are you in trouble?”

“What? No, I’m not; the Hell? I’m old enough, you know. I just got… other things going on at the moment.”

“What kind of things? … are you taking drugs?”

“Oh my fucking- bye, Hanzo. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait! Tell me at least where you are, alright? I need to tell father something.”

Genji hesitates for long enough that Hanzo does not expect him to give him an answer, but in the end he mutters a reluctant: “I’m at Zenyatta’s gym. See you around.”

And then he just hangs up.

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Next time: Hanzo visits the temple!