Chapter 8

The champion and her charge got back to the station to a scene of chaos. Officers were scrambling with their pokemon and she could see smoke rising from the second floor. Her eyes sharpened and she quickly snagged the sleeve of a panicked officer.

"What's going on here?" she asked, eyes narrowed, voice firm.

The officer straightened and did a clumsy mix of a bow and a salute, "Ch-champion," he stuttered, "wh-what an honor!"

Cynthia could immediately tell this officer was new. In situations like these, minimalizing damage was much more important than respect, and from the quiet snort Shadow gave, he thought the same. Or maybe he just thought it was funny how her presence made the officer almost trip over his own feet.

She glanced over and saw the amused smirk Shadow was giving the newbie, it was definitely the latter. Cynthia sighed before directing her attention back to the awed officer. "What, is going on over here?" she asked, giving a pointed glance at the smoke.

That seemed to snap him out of his awe-induced trance and back into panic mode, "It's Team Galactic!" he exclaimed, paling in fear, "They're here!"

Cynthia turned towards the young trainer beside her, "Come on, you're staying with me," her voice was stern and brooked no arguement. Shadow huffed in annoyance but followed her into the chaos without complaint. Though, she made a mental note to drop into the police training camp and see how the other newbies were like as she caught sight of the cowering officer out of the corner of her eye.

They rushed toward the smoke, the champion continuously glancing back to make sure Shadow was still there. The youth had a hand wrapped around Houndoom's pokeball, calculating orange eyes taking in everything. They rounded a corner, almost crashing into a stunned galactic grunt.

He jerked back, surprise and fear flickering in his eyes, "It's the champion! The champion's here!"

That set off a chain reaction. Flashes of light immediately filled the air as pokemon were released from their capsules. It was obvious from the zubats swarming the place, that there were no high ranking members around.

Cynthia reached for Garchomp's pokeball, but stopped when she saw Shadow toss out his own pokemon, "Houndoom battle ready!" Excitement gleamed in his orange eyes and she let her hand drop away, watching in interest as the powerful Houndoom faced off against the crowd of zubats.

Shadow smirked as he threw his arm out, "Let's get rid of these roaches, Houndoom. Fire blast!" Houndoom roared, a spiral of flame shot towards the galactic pokemon and engulfed them in a tornado of fire. Zubats dropped like flies, charred and fainted. Houndoom looked so pleased, reveling in his overwhelming victory, that he didn't see the ball of purple hurtling towards him at an incredible speed.

His trainer didn't notice either, hand held to his face in an effort to shield himself from the increased amount of smoke Houndoom's fire blast had produced. The dark pokemon noticed at the last second, turning his head in alarm as his ears caught the buzz of condensed power. It was a second too late. Skuntank slammed into Houndoom in a devastating giga impact, sending him crashing back towards the wall.

Shadow's eyes widened in alarm, "Houndoom!" the smoke hid his view of the downed pokemon, but he searched frantically with his eyes, hoping to penetrate the thick smoke in the air. The smoke slowly cleared away, and his eyes widened at the purple haired galactic commander and her Skuntank standing beside her. "You!" he snarled, orange eyes blazing, "What're you doing here?"

She smirked, bringing one hand up to stroke Skuntank, "Did you really think we would give up after that small setback?" she purred, eyes gleaming in sadistic glee, "No, you'll pay for what you did to us back then, and if Rocket boy happens to get mad, well, that's just a bonus. Skuntank, hyper beam!"

The skunk pokemon opened its maw, raw power condensing quickly, and speeding towards Houndoom. Houndoom had stood up, staggering slightly, and spotted the hyper beam heading towards him. He dove out of the way, pulling himself up and baring his teeth at Skuntank.

"Do you really think you can beat me?" Shadow snarled, "I beat you once before and I'll do it again! Houndoom, fire fang!"

"Cocky brat! Skuntank, dodge, then iron tail!" Houndoom's jaw lit up with flame and he lunged at Skuntank, snarling. Skuntank dove out of the way, and Houndoom spun gracefully to face the skunk pokemon as soon as his front paws touched the ground. Skuntank jumped, flipping in the air as his tail hardened and headed straight towards Houndoom.

Cynthia clenched her hand around Garchomp's pokeball. Shadow was just watching as the galactic pokemon descended upon Houndoom, if he didn't do something soon, the iron tail would hit Houndoom. She unclipped Garchomp's ball, ready to let her dragon enter the fray, when she saw the vicious smirk that came upon Shadow's face.

"Hyper beam! Full power!" he yelled, throwing his arm out. The champion's own arm faltered at the sheer speed Houndoom had gathered the energy needed to decimate his opponent. A second before Skuntank hit him with an iron tail, a hyper beam exploded out of his maw, contacting Skuntank at point blank range.

Skuntank howled in pain and surprise as the powerful attack slammed him into a wall. The wall was heavily damaged already and the addition of a Skuntank sized hole was too much. It collapsed on top of Skuntank, sending dust and debris flying into the air. Both trainers held up an arm to once again shield themselves from the particles in the air.

There was a flash of red light and a voice shouted, "This isn't over rocket scum! You'll regret the day you crossed Team Galactic!"

As the dust settled, Shadow cursed at the sight, "She's gone..."