The heavy steel doors of the deployment elevator hissed open, and the sterile, chemical smell of Mable’s b was instantly repced by the scent of ozone, cracked asphalt, and damp concrete.

  Sector 4 looked like a warzone that had been paused mid-explosion. The street we stepped onto was paved with that same glowing blue energy-conduit material Emma had shown us from above, but here on the ground, it was heavily cratered. Half-finished skyscrapers loomed overhead like skeletal giants, their steel rebar exposed and twisted.

  "Alright, we're in the sandbox," Emma said, stepping out and stretching her arms, the glossy material of her suit snapping lightly. "We have the Drafted mostly out in the jungle, but we have been keeping one of them here since he arrived st night. Keep your eyes peeled."

  I didn't want to walk into this blind. I focused and summoned two Paradise Balls, tossing them lightly into the open street.

  Two fshes of light illuminated the blue pavement. Nemona materialized first. She was already in her Star Fire Storm Skin. Her skin and hair had transformed into swirling, red and orange gactic star fire, casting a warm, cosmic glow over the cratered street. Twelve miniature, burning stars orbited her head like a halo of raw power. She took one look at the towering bst walls and the sheer scale of the arena, and her fiery eyes that had system made copies of my gsses already over them practically turned into supernovas.

  "Oh, my gosh! This is what the Battle Zones look like?!" Nemona squealed, vibrating with so much excitement she floated an inch off the ground. She spun around, pointing at me, the twelve stars orbiting her head shifting defensively. "Landon! Me first! Let me fight whatever's out here! I want to test the new rules! I am all loaded up!"

  Beside her, the light faded to reveal Grusha. She was also already sporting her Frigid Ice Queen Skin, cd in a sleek, shimmering crystal snowsuit. At her feet, a snowboard of ice formed that she kicked down on, shooting it up in the air so she could catch it. She adjusted the thick, oversized scarf wrapped around her neck, the ambient moisture in the air freezing instantly around her. She looked around the ruined cityscape with half-lidded, utterly unimpressed eyes.

  "Grusha," she said in a completely ft, deadpan voice. She blinked slowly. "Grusha, Grusha."

  Jennifer snorted, trying and failing to cover a ugh with her hand. Even Anabel’s lips twitched. I couldn't help but smile. Despite the tension of the bck-site, having my team here grounded me.

  "Not yet, Nemona," I said, stepping past them. I knew from Cryo’s internal feed that both girls only had about ten or so attacks' worth of Prism Energy in their current reserves. I wasn't going to let them burn it on a test run. "If Mable is right about these real-time mechanics, missing a cooldown could trap us. I need to be the guinea pig. I’m testing the interface against a live target before I let any of you risk getting locked inside those red walls."

  "Aww, come on!" Nemona groaned, throwing her head back, her cosmic hair fring.

  "Grusha," the icy woman agreed softly, nodding her head once.

  I took a deep breath and activated my Paradise Ball skin.

  [Hydro Fsh Skin: Engaged]

  The transformation was instantaneous. Searing electricity crackled violently across my skin, the raw voltage illuminating the dim street. Beneath my feet, two highly pressurized discs of swirling water materialized, hovering just an inch above the glowing blue pavement.

  The Quasartico goggles Mable had given me booted up. My vision glitched slightly as my familiar blue System interface was overid with a sleek, purple HUD. Four icons hovered in the bottom right corner of my vision, mentally mapping to my abilities.

  [A] - Psybeam [X] - Hydro Fsh Strike [Y] - Hydro Fsh Barrage [B] - Water Disc Evade

  "Alright," I muttered, bending my knees slightly and feeling the frictionless slide of the water discs beneath me. "System is synced. I just need a target."

  "You looking for a target, sparkler?" a harsh, grating voice echoed through the ruins. "Or are you just looking to get stepped on?"

  From the shadows of a shattered storefront to our left, a figure swaggered out into the blue light in the shadow of a half built skyscraper. He was slouched, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of a heavily modified, baggy bck-and-white jacket. His white hair was wild, unkempt, and a pair of asymmetrical gold sungsses rested on his face. A massive gold chain bearing a faded, scratched-out skull emblem hung around his neck.

  Cryo fed me everything I needed, and the lore sprang into my mind. This was Guzma. The former boss of Team Skull.

  He cracked his neck, a heavy-duty Ultra Ball resting casually in his palm. "They told me I’d get some time off if I came to py. Looker said he was sending some VIPs to test the walls. Didn't think it'd be some guy pying dress-up with his fan club. You’re in my house now, boy. And it's ya boy Guzma who sets the rules!"

  He paused, his eyes sliding past me to lock onto Nemona and Grusha. He lowered his sungsses slightly, a predatory gleam in his eyes as he took in the literal cosmic fire swirling around Nemona and the frozen crystal snowboard under Grusha's arm.

  "Wait a second," Guzma muttered, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "What kind of Pokémon are those? Never seen anything like 'em in Alo. Half-human, half-monster? Man, the syndicates would pay billions for freaks like that. Tell you what, kid. Leave the girls, and I won't crush your skull."

  "They aren't Pokémon," I growled, the electricity on my skin crackling defensively. "And they aren't for sale."

  "Everything's for sale when you're dead!" Guzma barked. He hurled the Ultra Ball at the pavement.

  With a blinding fsh, a massive, terrifyingly armored Golisopod materialized. The giant arthropod looked like a hunched, bio-organic tank. Thick, overpping ptes of pale-grey shell covered its body and massive forearms, accented with sharp teal triangles along the ridges. Vicious, purple scythe-like antennae curved over its dark eyes and star-shaped mouth. It raised its two primary, blocky arms—each tipped with wickedly sharp, bck talons—and smmed its cws together. The sound echoed like two heavy steel vault doors smming shut.

  Behind me, Anabel whipped out her sleek, Interpol-issued Pokédex. A red scanning beam swept over the massive creature, and the device’s mechanical voice cut through the tense air.

  "Golisopod, the Hard Scale Pokémon. A Bug and Water type. The shell covering its body is as hard as diamond. It battles skillfully with its six arms, and will do whatever it takes to win."

  Instantly, the street reacted. The pavement groaned, and a massive, translucent red Hard-Light Barrier erupted from the ground. It shot upward, forming a glowing dome that trapped me, Guzma, and his Golisopod inside. Jennifer, Anabel, and Emma were cleanly cut off on the outside of the perimeter.

  "Landon!" Nemona yelled, smming her hands against the red barrier. The Hard-Light didn't even ripple.

  "Don't worry about them outside," Guzma sneered, pointing a finger at me. "Worry about surviving five seconds. Golisopod, First Impression!"

  The massive bug vanished. It didn't run; it simply moved faster than something that size had any right to, closing the distance in a fraction of a heartbeat.

  Real-time, I reminded myself. No turns.

  I raised my hand and pointed my finger, mentally smming the [A] button. A pulse of psychic energy—Psybeam—fired from the tip of my finger, catching the Golisopod mid-lunge. It wasn't enough to stop the beast, but the psychic interference scrambled its senses, making it flinch just enough for its massive cw to whistle past my ear instead of taking my head off.

  I didn't wait for it to recover as it skidded across the ground. I triggered [X].

  Hydro Fsh Strike. My body became a blur of water and lightning. The gap-closing attack unched me forward thirty feet in an instant. I smmed into the Golisopod’s armored chest, the electrical discharge exploding across its shell with a deafening CRACK. The massive bug skidded backward, hissing in pain.

  Pressing the advantage, I mentally hit [Y].

  Hydro Fsh Barrage. I unleashed a blindingly fast flurry of electrified strikes, my fists and knees hammering into the beast’s armor. Water sprayed and lightning arced with every impact, driving the heavy Pokémon back toward Guzma.

  Sensing the monster winding up for a brutal counter-swipe, I pushed off my water discs and triggered [B], shooting backward to put ten feet of distance between us.

  The Golisopod roared, recovering instantly. It lunged forward again, its cws glowing with the ghostly purple light of a Sucker Punch.

  I mentally reached for [X] again, pnning to dash straight through its guard and counter.

  BZZT.

  A harsh, error sound rang in my ears. In my peripheral vision, the [X] and [Y] icons were entirely grayed out. They were locked on cooldown. The new restrictions forcibly slowed my regenerated energy required for the high-tier strikes.

  My offensive moves were locked, and a two-ton armored bug was inches away from impaling me.

  I had been relying entirely on this new system, forgetting my own battle senses earned from past battles and the mobility of my skin. I shifted my weight, leaning hard into the pressurized water discs beneath my feet. As the Sucker Punch thrust forward, I spun, gliding cleanly to the right like I was on frictionless skates. The Golisopod’s cw punched empty air.

  I skated a wide radius around the beast, cutting a running arc with my feet as I kept my eyes on the pokemon and its disgusting trainer. Guzma scowled, clearly frustrated that I wasn't just standing there taking the hit.

  "I don’t understand how you can fight like a Pokemon, but I don’t really care! Stop dancing and die!" Guzma roared.

  I kept my eyes locked on the grayed-out icons in my vision, skating just out of reach of the giant insect's snapping cws. The moment the [X] and [Y] icons fred back to their bright purple color, I pnted my feet.

  "My turn," I said.