Red the Conqueror 33

"Wow, you guys have been through a lot, huh?"

Speaking with Grace was interesting and fun, she had a lot of stories of her own of course, but more than that, she was a great listener and Blue actually felt real good about talking to someone who listened attentively and showed she was paying attention by asking pertinent questions.

Especially as she bragged about her fight with the weird huge and hugely powerful Gyarados, and how she and Red had cooperated with two future Gym Leaders to bring peace to the coast.

"Yeah, but together and sometimes with some help, all our troubles became just cool stories we could tell later," Blue said, running a finger underneath her nose, her other hand on her hip and her eyes close. "And what can I say, sometimes the experience is its own reward!" she added.

"And I bet the sex was a cool bonus wasn't it?" Grace said, wagging her eyebrows.

Blue sputtered. "Wha-"

"Honey it's written aaaall over your face," Grace said, leaning back on her chair and showing off the curves of her body by leaning her shoulders against the backrest of the chair and tilting it back, putting her hands behind her head and spreading her legs just enough to show off her muscles. "You've been looking at me since you arrived and every time you talked about the girls you met, and only the girls, you were blushing like a schoolgirl," she added with a wink, sitting back down.

"W-Well, I-" Blue shook her head and looked at Red, who was drinking from his cup and then returned her gaze, shrugging noncommittally. "I mean," she turned back to Grace, and then to Red, then sighed. "Okay, fine, I just didn't want to sound weird, I know it's a little weird," she admitted.

Grace giggled. "Don't you worry about that, I'm from Kalos, you know? Where I come from you guys are seen as prudes!" Grace said, raising her hands and then putting them together, thumb and pointer stretched to form a frame, closing her right eye and looking through the frame she made with the left, first at Blue, and then, at Red.

"Yep, with just a single scan I can tell you guys are real adventurers," she said, putting her hands on the table and standing up, the sound of her chair's legs resounding in the little log cabin. "You're my kinda people," she said, raising a hand and pointing it at Red. "What do you say? Help me capture and tame the biggest, meanest and fastest Rhyhorn we can find," she said, clenching her hand into a fist, "and I'll show you just what it's like to be ridden by a pro."

"What's in it for me then?" Blue asked, crossing her arms.

"Oh I can think of a way or two to make it worth your while too," Grace said, crossing her arms and leaning on her right leg, offering a smirk at Blue.

The two trainers looked at each other, and then nodded.

"Alright, sounds good," Blue said.

Red nodded. He then raised one hand above his head and drew horizontal circles in the air, expanding with each circle he drew.

"Hmm, what's he saying?"

"He's suggesting we do circular sweeps from the air," Blue suggested. "Basically we're going to look for the Rhyhorn from the sky."

Grace nodded.

Red then gestured at Grace with one hand, then brought it to his face, pointing at one of his eyes.

"Then we'll have you observe them."

"And if I judge them satisfactory, we're capturing them?" Grace finished.

Red sent her a thumbs up.

"Alright then! Let's finish up here and go!"

She was excited, visibly so, almost vibrating on the spot. It was a good thing nobody remembered to call the park rangers because it would be an issue if someone came in and found Red and Blue there, but luckily, nobody really checked the skies of the Safari Zone all too closely.

Most everyone just assumed that anyone who was crazy enough to do so was too stupid to be a poacher. After all, unlike Red and Blue, most people wouldn't have an Eon dragon that could keep the Dragonite mothers soaring the skies from shredding them.

Come in flying on a Pidgeot, and you'd just be dinner for the angry moms protecting their recently born Dratini babies.

So after a good few minutes of rest and getting ready, Red and Grace took to the sky on Latias, while Blue and Latios went in the opposite direction, as the two trainers and their dragons took off in opposite directions, sweeping in spiraling motions.

Luckily, with their size and being so different in their stone gray color to the bright green grasses they were walking through, the Rhyhorn weren't hard to find, though the grand majority weren't what Grace was looking for. Big, sure, but scarcely the aggressive and fast Rhyhorns that she was looking for.

The fourth group of Rhyhorns that Red and Grace found, however, revealed a larger, more animated and more powerful member of a herd, one that was very visibly unwelcome in the pack. Bigger, clearly stronger based on how it seemed to be bullying the others and, for that same reason, notably more aggressive.

"Can we try that one?" Grace asked. "It looks like just what I need to get an edge on the competition!"

Red nodded, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against the back of Latias' neck, the red dragon responded by lowering her speed and beginning to descend, taking a roundabout route until they touched down, not too far from the Rhyhorns, overlooking them from a small cliff that they could just jump down from in a hurry.

"We might need to weaken'im," Grace said, "doesn't look like the sort that lets himself get captured by just anyone."

Red nodded. He fingered the Pokéballs on his waist, then chose one of them, looking at Latias first, who brought her face down to place her forehead against his. Red grabbed her head with his hands and scratched her just under her horns, covered by her feathers, before she took flight once again, using her psychic powers to fly breaking the laws of physics.

"I have a feeling that one would've been a big help to keep around," Grace said. "But you're the battle expert here. I'll be behind you - I just need to toss the ball, just give me a signal when to."

Red nodded, then the two approached the edge of the cliff, and watched as the large Rhyhorn fended off four other Rhyhorn, which seemed to be taking their chances approaching it only to get smacked back when they did.

Some sort of social fight for the pecking order in the pack?

Could be anything. Rhyhorn were not known to be particularly reasonable as far as Pokémon went, they were more the kind that would just charge forward without any regard for anything or anyone, plowing right through trees, rocks and sometimes even walls.

Looking at Grace, Red raised his left hand, catching her attention, closed it into a fist and then stuck his thumb and two fingers out, before closing it again.

Grace nodded.

The Rhyhorns were moving but not far, they were bullish and stubborn creatures and they wouldn't give up a fight if they decided to take it up, which meant the first hit would be vital. They had to make it obvious there was no fight to be had, that the Rhyhorns should run immediately.

The opening would come soon, they just needed the Rhyhorns to get close enough...

The grass was trampled underneath the big one as it stomped about, as if throwing a huge tantrum that was causing the ground to shake.

And that was it, when the other three were just separated enough by that stomping tantrum that they could be isolated.

Red slapped the rocky surface of the cliff with his hand and then vaulted over it, landing with a roll and breaking into a run, Grace not far behind him, landing gracefully, even better than him and demonstrating her own agility as she did.

Red tossed his Pokéball forward and out came a massive blue beast, a Nidoqueen who hit the ground with a mighty stomp, shaking her stuff and slamming her tail on the ground making it shake, before opening her mouth and unleashing a powerful torrent of ultracold energy, gathering into a solitary ice beam that cut through the air causing it to mist up around it.

The Rhyhorn reacted way too late and the cold energy cut through them, leaving gashes of ice all over their bodies as it struck all three of them.

They did, however, react eventually, to an entirely different attack, as the big one rushed them and crashed into two of them, forcing them to both back away lest they get ragdolled.

The third one was so out of it that Nidoqueen had enough of a chance to jump in the air and slam both legs into the ground with great strength and furious anger, causing the ground to shake and quake, all four Rhyhorns being knocked off their feet.

"Eek!"

And Grace, too, was knocked off her feet, landing on her ass.

"Heh, good thing my butt is indestructible otherwise that might've actually hurt," she said. "Also did your Pokémon just win this entire battle without a single command? That's hardcore!"

Red grunted.

Three of the Rhyhorn were out, the moment they got back on their feet, between their wounds and the fact that Nidoqueen was untouched and bashing her fists into her chest before letting out a roar, challenging them to a fight.

Stubborn, yes, stupid, also yes, but brave? Definitely not.

The Rhyhorn turned tail and ran, terrified of the enemy before them.

All but the big one, which turned around and demonstrating it was worthy of being ridden, it actually charged Nidoqueen. She responded to the charge with another Ice Beam, but credit to the sheer power and endurance of the Rhyhorn, it managed to push through, even as most of its front and the natural armor on its face got covered in frost.

It impacted into Nidoqueen and tried to gore her with the horn at the tip of its face, but Nidoqueen was much too strong and tough, stopping its charge and with the same strength and power that it just hit her with, redirected, she threw Rhydon up and behind herself, in the world's most ridiculous suplex ever seen.

However and despite landing on its back, the Rhyhorn managed to find its way up and launched into another rush before Nidoqueen could recover, this time its horn was glowing mightily.

"INCOMING!!!"

But before it could actually hit Nidoqueen again, a purple meteor landed from above, with the force of an extinction event, creating a large crater on the ground with the Rhyhorn and the Nidoking that had just crashed into it at its epicenter.

The dust settled and then Latias and Latios descended from the skies, with Blue grinning widely astride Latios. "Flying cavalry, at your service!" she called.

"Well I'm glad to see you for sure!" Grace shouted, as she pushed herself to her feet, chuckling a little weirdly, "but I don't think my heart can take too many of those."

Red hummed, and before he did anything, a wave of psychic force from Latias dispelled the clouds of dust gathering around him and Grace, and the red dragon flew to his side, making a point to check him all over, prodding him with the tip of her snout and her hands.

"I see- you sent her to call for aid, huh?" Grace asked.

Latias wrapped herself, as much as she could at any rate, around her trainer until Red finally made her let go, gesturing to his body and even patting himself down, as if to make it a point to the red eon dragon that he was fine.

After that, Red gestured with two fingers towards the Rhyhorn, which was somehow STILL Conscious, even though Nidoking was holding it down.

"Oh, right, that, all that's left is the capture, huh?" Grace asked, nodding and then turning to the Rhyhorn. "Don't you worry buddy, I'm gonna make you even stronger, faster and more agile than you are now, and together we're going to take the racing world by storm," she said, "you'll get to show that you're the best around and no-one's ever gonna keep you down!"

The Rhyhorn glared at her, and she glared right back, approaching undaunted, bouncing the Safari ball in her hand, until she was nearly at biting distance.

"Or you can choose to just run right now," she said, turning to Blue. "Let it go."

"You sure?" Blue asked. "These guys ain't very smart you know?"

"I've got a good feeling about this one, and I know my Rhyhorns," Grace said.

"Okay, if you say so," Blue said. "Nidoking - release!"

The large purple monster then stepped off the body of the large gray monster, and separated entirely.

The Rhyhorn stood up as best as it could and snapped its jaws at Grace, but before the others could intervene, she stepped forward and then kicked it right in the horn.

"Stop being a dumbass, you're beat, join or run, your choice," she said, bouncing the ball one final time, and then tossing it at the Rhyhorn, capturing it.

It settled without shaking at all.

"Huh. You really do know your-"

"POACHERS! DROP YOUR BALLS AND RAISE YOUR HANDS!"

That came through a megaphone.

"WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED AND-"

A loud metallic screech rang out and Red suddenly dropped to a knee, his arm on his shoulder and sliding down- the 'bullet' was stopped just centimeters away from where it had just graced his upper arm, a tiny piece of metal warped by the psychic force it was subjected to.

A wrathful roar was the cry that heralded the start of armageddon, suddenly Latias seemed to erupt, light of many colors bursting forth and mixing into a rainbow around her as she suddenly grew larger and changed shape, the red parts of her feathery coat turned purple and her already jet-like appearance became even more overt as she moved at positively ridiculous speeds.

Hissing in pain, Red immediately clamped down on Latias' unstoppable wrath, his nose bleeding as the link of their minds was strained to the limit and especially his own brain as the unbridled fury of a legendary Pokémon ravaged his brain.

Followed immediately by an immense swell of regret, sorrow and horror as Latias realized that the only person her momentary burst of wrath had hurt was her own trainer.

Well, her trainer, and the rangers and the pokém,on she had just caught in the wave of psychic force she unleashed.

But one didn't need to be a psychic to realize that Latias scarcely cared about the damage she might've done to the people who just shot her trainer.

Blue immediately went to check on Red. "It's- it's just a graze, thank Arceus," she muttered.

"THAT WAS A WARNING SHOT-"

Blue grit her teeth. "Latios..!!" she growled, her fists clenching so hard her knuckles were white. "Don't kill them, but make it hurt!" she hissed out.

Red placed a hand on her upper arm, just about where he was grazed, then shook his head.

"Red- no, fuck that, I don't care, these fuckers SHOT YOU!" she shouted, "how can you think I'll calm down when I want to-"

Red pulled her in and kissed her fiercely, then stood up.

He took in a deep breath through his nose, and then despite the bleeding, raised his arms.

The rangers then approached, including the one who had shot red, alongside the Pokémon that had taken the shot, a Steelix, of all things that one would see in the Safari Zone, that wasn't one you'd expect.

It also belonged to a young looking Ranger, the youngest of the lot, as they approached from all angles except from the cliff.

"We're not poachers you idiots!" Blue hissed. "We're just helping her to capture a wild pokémon! Legally!"

Grace grabbed the Safari Ball with the Rhyhorn on it. "See? I'm using the right ball and everything."

"You're not allowed to have your Pokémon here," the Ranger said, gesturing to the Pokémon Red and Blue had unleashed. "So-"

"We were flying overhead and saw she was in trouble, then we came down to help her and save her life," she explained. "We were playing a little too much while crossing the gulf and accidentally wandered into the area and saw her in danger then we came down to help."

Blue's tone was more than a little hostile.

"Then after we did, you fuckers shot us! And you hit Red!!" she shouted.

The old ranger hummed. "You're breaking the law missy-"

"Everyone?" Grace called. "If Red doesn't get some medical attention soon after what he just went through, he's gonna faint, and if he faints, we're all going to fucking die."

"They're threatening us, they-" one of the Rangers called.

"Shut the fuck up Reilly!" the old ranger called. "And someone bandage that boy's arm, and get him checked up for that nosebleed!" he shouted. "We'll talk more about this at the station," he said, "AFTER he gets medical attention and that dragon stops looking at me like it wants to turn me into chunky salsa! And don't think you're getting away unscathed after firing unauthorized, Dolson!"

The rangers began to move, someone brought a first aid kit forward, and soon the atmosphere relaxed as he began to be treated.

The old ranger approached Blue.

"I really want a heads up on what's going on," he said. "I'll believe you for now, but you still have to come with me."

"Fine," Blue said. "But remember," she said, reaching behind herself and rapping her knuckles against the Blue Dragon behind her. "Unlike Red, I don't have the willpower necessary to stop my partner here from turning you all into a fine pink mist if you try your luck."