Author's Note: Hi there! Thank you for checking out my fanfiction. It's been a long time since I've written anything, so I hope that you enjoy what I'm creating. This is meant to be an easy way for me to get back into writing for myself, and because of that, please don't judge it too harshly. Feedback is still appreciated though!
The world you are going to read about takes place in a Pokemon world that is almost the same as the one we know and love, but peopled with gijinkas, humanizations of Pokemon. All of the characters you will be reading about are OC's created from Pokemon on various teams I've had or inspired by information given by the games, movies, and anime.
Happy reading!
Chapter One
Archeology is dirty work. Everything being worked with is either buried, or caked with two thousand plus years of dust and various levels of grime, all of which depends on if the site is somewhere relatively pleasant. In more rigorous conditions, an archeologist must worry about whether they will be going home with all of their fingers and toes, risking bodily loss from frostbite or jungle rot, or returning with several new diseases under their belt. Along with these dangers there is the potential lack of food, shelter, and friendly neighbors. Despite all this, archeology flourishes in the Johto and Sinnoh regions thanks to the active investigation of the many abandoned temples found all over the countryside in between growing towns. The list of dig sites continues to grow as people push the boundaries of their cities and roads more and more into uncharted forests and deserts.
The Ruins of Alph were most likely one of the most hospitable environments Yukime had ever worked in. While it was certainly dusty, damp, and muddy in some areas, especially in the lower levels, he couldn't really complain about where his research had taken him. He specialized in the ancient connection between all the known regions and the ancient language that was used, researching how the ancient peoples interacted with each other, specifically those in Johto and Sinnoh, and what effect it all had on developing civilizations. He had finally worked his way to getting into the Ruins of Alph, and after years of being in the freezing temperatures of Sinnoh's half-buried temples, he was extremely grateful for Johto's mild climate. Even as a Glaceon, he had had to bundle up in his home region, but the most he had needed in Johto was a thick hoodie on chilly, early mornings.
Violet City was within walking distance, making it easy to get general supplies or good food, and the Unown were friendly enough when they decided to poke their heads out to see what he was doing. It had been unnerving at first to be working with only his lantern there for light while he translated another slab of writing, and then turn around to find himself being watched by a few curious black shapes and big, unblinking eyes. They were relatively harmless though; only seeming fascinated by this strange man and his constant scribbles and sketchbooks. Once in a while he was sure he would see more then the strange symbols floating around, and instead see the flash of a dark, little body or hear the patter of quick feet in the dirt. This was usually when he would get up and get some fresh air. There was only so much mystery he could take in one go, and the ruins had plenty without adding the tricks of Psychic Pokemon to it all.
It would have been a completely different story if he was alone in all this. He would have had a dozen heart attacks from Unown phasing through walls and landing on his head whenever they felt like it, and ran for his life back to Snowpoint on the first day without Clara and Peregrine.
The Ruins of Alph were a protected archeological site, and while most research was conducted in teams, the government of Johto had become increasingly picky with who and what they let onto the culturally revered grounds. While the civilization that had built them no longer existed, and no community could claim special privilege over the strange monuments and halls, the ruins were a source of Johto pride. A majority of the people whom he had spoken with in the nearby city about his work, and why he was there, talked about the ruins with a feeling of protectiveness and the desire to keep the place as close to it's original state as much as possible. They were glad archeologists from all over the world were interested in cracking its mysteries, but if anyone were to overstep their boundaries, it wouldn't take long for them to be ousted from the country. Which was why, even though he was a single archaeologist and linguist conducting research on the ancient link between Sinnoh and Johto, he had been assigned two helpers by the country; combination bodyguards, assistants, and general watchdogs over his work.
At first, he had questioned the sense in assigning International Police agents to watch over him since he highly doubted a couple of cops could help him with his research. He had expected that all they would really do was just hold the lights for him to see, and complain, loudly, about how their time could be better spent chasing down some high profile criminal or another. The local authorities he had dealt with on the few occasions he was required to have legal officers with him had always been gruff and generally disinterested in what he was doing. The only thing they seemed to care about was when they could switch assignments.
Clara and Peregrine entirely surprised him when they arrived to pick him up from the airport. Clara was tall and lean, smokey black hair cut short and bangs swept across her face in an attempt to look professional but keep it low maintenance. The Typhlosion exuded a quiet confidence that promoted approachability, but warned that any kind of law or rule breaking would be dealt with quickly and mercilessly. He had found out very quickly that she liked things to run smoothly, and for people to do exactly what they were supposed to. Peregrine was most likely the friendliest Togekiss he had ever met. He made up for Clara's strict judgement with enthusiasm for anything and everything. Yukime had never been asked so many questions about his research, himself, and where he came from in one hour then by anyone else he had ever met as Pippin, the name Clara called him, craned his head around the passenger seat of the car and chatted at him the entire ride to the hotel. He was thin and wiry, with mismatched red and blue eyes, and a tumbleweed of white blonde hair that sat on his head and looked like it hadn't made contact with a brush in months.
It didn't take him very long to figure out why they had been assigned to him. They knew the area like the back of their hands, and they were incredibly fast in dealing with any kind of trouble. Yukime was on two time limits; the one created by the government and then the one created by Sinnoh's natural climate. There were only about three to four months out of the year where he could safely conduct his research in the frozen temples high up on the sides of Mt. Coronet and in the deep forests of Snowpoint City, and the season was fast approaching. If he was able to time everything perfectly, he could have a huge amount of data available to him by the end of the year and be able to condense it all into what would probably be the most complete history of Johto and Sinnoh's interactions they had to date. Because of his time limits, he couldn't wait the two or three days, or even a week, to get replies from fellows or libraries.
The first time he had ran into a problem, and needed immediate assistance from a colleague in Sinnoh, Clara had questioned him about where his friend was and then made a few phone calls while he frantically emailed and left messages with secretaries. She had come back fifteen minutes later, and handed him her cellphone, the professor babbling away on the other end about how he swore up and down that his samples from Hoenn were ethically procured. The second time, he had needed books that had gotten sent to the wrong library on the other side of the region, and nearly broke down into hysterics. That's when he found out why Peregrine's hair was a constant disaster. Once he understood what had happened, the Togekiss strapped his goggles to his face, and took off without so much as a warning or a goodbye. He was back within an hour, grinning at Yukime as if this was completely normal, and handed him his mis-shipped books.
It was thanks to his unexpected companions that he had been able to move so smoothly from one monument to the next, translating all that he could before going to the next building in the ruins. There were four main structures, and he had begun work on the very last one. It was one of the least investigated, mostly, from what he had been able to figure out, because of how very mixed the language was. It was nothing short of a blast for him.
Yukime intently wrote in one of the many notebooks arranged around him, another filled with symbols and their corresponding translations open next to him, and only moved to either glance up and down the wall he was set up in front of, or stand up and stretch once every ten minutes or so. He was so close to figuring this place out and its connections, he could taste it! Although he was starting to wonder if he could taste much of anything soon; he was on his seventh cup of tea that morning and his tongue could have turned into a brown-stained prune by now. It was an unseasonably cold morning, still chilly enough for a sweater at around eleven in the morning, and even Clara had noted it when they had set out around seven to begin the day's work. He didn't mind, of course, being an Ice type, but the Typhlosion had narrowed her eyes and buried herself closer to the fur that lined the neck of her jacket in annoyance. She had been more then happy to run and grab the trio lunch boxes back in Violet City when he had suggested it.
He stood once again, raising his arms with a grunt and bending from side to side. Perhaps a chair was in order… He thought he could feel the support in his shoes wearing down the longer he insisted on crouching down and resting all his weight on his feet like some sort of determined statue. No wonder the Unown would stop and stare at him sometimes; he probably looked ridiculous to them.
"Heyyyyyy, I've got lunch!"
He paused in his stretch, turning in place until he located the woman. The ruins had the unusual ability to direct sound in a different directions then where it came from. Clara walked over to him, a full looking plastic takeout bag hanging from one hand, and a carry out tray filled with most likely warm lattes in the other. The smell of something marinated in soy sauce and hoisin wafted towards him from the bag, and his mouth immediately flooded.
"That smells amazing!" he said, abandoning his spot and walking to meet her. "What is it? Did you pick up bento boxes from the sushi house…?"
Clara handed him the takeout bag for him to inspect.
"Nope. Spicy marinated beef rice bowls with veggies and a fried egg. It's a regional specialty; I figured I should grab us some before you head on out of here in a few weeks," she explained as he carefully explored the contents, taking out one of the steam filled containers and peeking inside.
She looked around at the buildings as Yukime ooed over the food, taking a sip from her latte. Someone was missing.
"Where's Pippin?" she asked. A frown was starting to itch at her face; she had a good idea as to where he could be. Hopefully she would be wrong.
Yukime looked up from drooling over the rice bowl. "Huh? Oh, uh, I think he went inside the building… He said he wanted to check the lower levels for booby traps, or trick doors," he said, sheepishly straightening his glasses.
"Oh sweet Amaterasu, not again," she groaned. "He needs to be out here doing his job, not playing Helioptile Jones! Ugh…"
Yukime nervously chewed his lip; he knew he should have given Peregrine some inane task to keep him busy. He had a tendency to wander off when left to his own devices. Which, according to Clara, never ended well. Pippin was a magnet for trouble, even if nothing had happened to him in the ruins, but that was mostly due to his partner intervening like she was intending to do now.
Clara ran a hand through her hair, flipping the black bob into a soft tumble. "How long has he been gone?"
"...Not long. He's been gone maybe fifteen minutes, tops, I think," Yukime said. "I was going to get him if he didn't come back in five minutes. The Unown have been pretty active today."
Clara grumbled wearily, and tugged her jacket tighter around herself as she walked into the ruined building. "I'll be back! You go ahead and meet us at the research lab," she said, waving a hand at the Glaceon. All she would probably have to do was follow the sound of oblivious chatter as Peregrine liked to talk to anything that moved.
A few levels down underneath three stories of dirt, Peregrine cheerfully walked through the chilly halls of the last monument. He had been meaning to explore it a bit before letting the Glaceon into the lower levels. The Ruins of Alph may have looked harmless on the outside but there were a number of dangerous things littered throughout the insides including trap doors, sand pits, and trick rooms that could send you right back to where you started. Flashlight in hand, and a carefully marked up piece of paper in the other, he progressed down the stone hall. So far, he hadn't found much of anything except for a few puzzle rooms that he would leave to the doc to figure out, but the building was definitely deeper than the others. He was so far down that he had started to see his breath when the flashlight caught it.
He paused at an intersection, and quickly stuck the flashlight in his mouth. He took the pen out of the folds of the scarf wrapped around his neck, and scratched another intersection onto his makeshift map. It was coming along quite nicely, if he said so himself.
The sudden sound of crumbling rock and odd chirping after fifteen minutes of uninterrupted silence nearly made him swallow the flashlight.
"PLEH! Agh-! Awghjeez…" Peregrine coughed, dropping it from his mouth. The taste of metal spread down his throat, making him wish he had brought a waterbottle just for this instance, as he quickly bent down for the light.
He snatched it up, and held it up towards the sound. A few Unown floated innocently down the hall, stopped in place by the sudden brightness, and blinking in confusion and near blindness.
"Oh jeez, sorry fellas!" He quickly pointed the flashlight towards the side so that the light bounced off the wall instead, hopefully making it less harsh.
But then it didn't.
Instead, the light bent around a corner, completely unseen unless you happened to direct a light source towards it. The Unown phased through the wall opposite as Peregrine quickly rushed towards the mysterious wall, the creatures twittering as if nothing had happened. Even as he stood right in front of what he knew was an entrance, a break in the wall, it was invisible. The bricks had been carefully laid and arranged to camouflage a door into another room. The Togekiss carefully ran a hand down the wall beside the supposed entrance to make sure he wasn't somehow walking straight into a brick wall after all, and his hand dropped from the stone into the doorway. He could practically hear Clara, who really was about half his self-restraint in physical form, telling him sternly (in that voice she used on lawbreakers and loud children in restaurants) to go back upstairs and let Yukime look at this strange doorway before even thinking about walking in.
But since Clara wasn't around, and his curiosity was stronger than whatever bits of self-preservation he had left, he eagerly walked into the room, a smile starting on his face. New places, especially secret places, were always interesting. He held the flashlight high above his head, expecting a room full of puzzles and statues, but… There didn't seem to be any of that.
The light revealed a square room, about the size of two small cars put side to side, and a wall straight ahead filled with symbols. There were three podiums, waist high, that looked as if they were meant to hold something. The left and right were empty, but the middle had something sitting on top of it.
Peregrine walked forward, looking up at the wall. Yukime had taught him what some of the symbols meant, and he recognized a few from the quick lessons. He thought he could make out 'time,' 'space,' and something about an egg… There was definitely something else in the carvings though, something that came after time and space that he didn't recognize; even he could tell it was new with his limited knowledge of the language.
He finally looked down at the pedestal in front of him, and saw the strange object sitting on top. It was covered in centuries of dust and bit of rubble, but he could see something very faintly glittering underneath. It almost looked like gold. Peregrine bent down, peering at the shape, which looked like someone had taken a huge chunk of raw gold and twisted it into a misshapen diamond.
He tapped his foot in thought. Should he blow on it to remove some of the dust and see more of what it could be, or should he leave it alone until Yukime could get a better look at it? He didn't want to accidentally destroy a newly discovered relic of the past by doing something stupid. Maybe if he was very gentle…? His main concern was keeping the doctor safe, and he wanted to be sure that whatever this thing was couldn't do anything dangerous. The traps laid out in the ruins had been disguised as a number of things; he wouldn't be surprised if this was one of them.
He took a breath.
"What the hek are you doing?!"
Peregrine squawked, nearly falling into the podium, and blew all the dust off the object in one panicked gust. He didn't even get a glance at it as he whirled around, flashlight pointed towards the door. Clara put her hand up, flinching at the bright light, as she stood in the entrance.
"Oh sweet Amaterasu, it's just you," Peregrine wheezed, leaning against the wall as he felt his knees shaking under him. She was really good at scaring him when she wanted to. He grabbed onto the podium and straightened himself up.
Clara strode towards him. "No, seriously, what are you doing? I told you to stay with Dr. Yukime!"
She shivered, rubbing her arms as she walked in. "Ugh, it's freezing in here! How are you not frozen?"
"I was just-! Um-! Here, look-!" He gestured around himself as she drew nearer, his map flapping around in his hand. The Typhlosion rolled her eyes, and grabbed the arm holding the flashlight, steering him towards the door with a firm grip.
"Come on, I brought lunch. Let's get out of here before you turn blue, or something," she said, guiding him out of the room. Peregrine whined in defeat as she lead him away from the writing on the wall.
"No, but, really! I found something cool! Aw, come on, Clara, it's not that col-! YOW! Don't do that Fire type thing, hey-!" He twisted his arm out of her hot hold, rubbing the spot where she had begun to feel too warm for his own liking. He knew she hated the cold, but that was no excuse to take it out on him to make him move faster.
"I am hungry! I am cold!" Clara said as they walked down the hallway, and up the stairs that would lead them towards the exit. "And I shouldn't have had to come down here to get you! Come on, these are orders, Pippin! You're supposed to stay near the doc; what would you do if Meru or Ra decided to pop by for a surprise check in? You know they love to do that…"
"That might be a little hard considering they're all the way in Kalos."
"Oh please, like that's ever stopped them…."
Clara stopped on the stairs, and looked from side to side. Her mouth was scrunched up like she had smelled something funny in the musty air.
"...Do you hear that?"
Peregrine stopped staring at her in annoyance, and listened. It wasn't obvious unless a person was looking for something, but underneath the calm quiet of the ruins, a whine had begun. It was like air being let out a balloon; sharp and constant with the slow threat of leading to a loud finale. It made Peregrine's stomach drop out from him.
He locked eyes with Clara, and they both leapt into a run.
They thundered up the stairs, Peregrine leaping forward and grabbing his partner's hand to help her move quicker up the flights. She was generally fast, but she let him lead when they had to get out of some place quick. The small whine had only gotten louder, and had been joined by an alarmed chattering, like a flock of sparrows in a tree that had spotted a cat underneath them.
Clara glanced behind them, and saw a huge swarm of Unown coming up the stairs after them.
"Ohlords, Pippin, go faster!"
The Togekiss skidded to a halt for half a second, and was about to scoop her up when the swarm rammed into them. Clara shrieked as they surged forward, grabbing onto Peregrine's scarf as they were caught up in the torrent, and the Unown hurtled them up the stairs in a panicked stream.
They were spat out into the sunlight, the Psychic Pokemon scattering in all directions like bees from a shattered nest, as they dumped the two agents into the sand. Clara pushed herself up as soon as she hit the ground, and grabbed Peregrine, tugging him out of the dust.
"Clara! Peregrine!" Yukime was running towards them, and barely stopped short of another stream of Unown pouring out of a different monument.
Clara waved her arms at him.
"Run! Go back to the research lab!" she shouted over the din, desperate for the archeologist to listen.
Unown were flying everywhere in a frenzy, the sentient characters still coming out of the monuments and threatening to block out the sun. Clara hit the dirt, unable to keep up with the deluge, and peered around her. Why was she so cold, her hands felt like ice. She panted, starting to panic as she realized she could see her breath in the air like down back in the lower level of the monument. It had been chilly today, but was nothing compared to the biting cold that had followed them out. She glanced back at Peregrine, who had had the sense to also take refuge on the ground.
Her immediate reaction was to yell at him about what he had done this time but the deep, twisting feeling of fear in her gut stopped her. They had gotten themselves into and out of catastrophes before, but none of them had made her feel like this. It was as if the earth had been given telepathy and was screaming that something was very wrong. She was terrified.
The Unown whirled faster and faster, whipping the air into a windstorm around them. The whine became louder, turning into a screech like an airplane was taking off right on top of the ruins. The Pokemon suddenly changed direction and rushed towards the same point in front of the last monument. The chatter drowned out the screech, desperate and afraid, as the Unown gathered into a tight ball and seemed insistent at jamming themselves against an unseen hole.
The Unown's chatter and the unearthly screech reached a fever pitch, both sounds vying to be heard over the other. The screech changed key, careening up and then diving down, shaking the earth and throwing off the Unown's drone. It went deeper and deeper, gaining volume the lower it went.
Then it stopped.
Everything went silent and still, the Unown vibrating in place, and Clara realized she couldn't breathe. She couldn't move; the only thing obeying her command was her pounding heart. The air was gone though; sucked into a black hole the Unown struggled to keep shut, and out of the world.
An ear-splitting shriek broke the silence like a banshee screaming at the top of her lungs. She clapped her hands over her ears, the sound digging into her head and filling it with a blind rage. It wasn't hers though, it didn't belong to her at all; it was a boundless fury that was reaching out and looking for a handle to latch onto and drag itself out with. The earth cracked underneath the black ball that had formed, buckling under the pressure the incoming presence created.
The Unown went flying, thrown everywhere as the black void burst open in a strange flash, and then disappeared just as quickly. The scream was gone, the air had returned, and the remaining Unown had been scattered across the ground like alphabet blocks. Clara cracked her eyes open, and slowly removing her hands from her ears.
A woman was standing where the ball had been.
It was hard to see her, either from the dust in the air or the way her form seemed distorted for the first few seconds she realized she was there, but from where she lay, she could see her clothes were in pieces. Her hair streamed from her head in a golden wave, weightless as it floated in the air around her. Something gold glittered just above her head. Before she could get a better look, and figure out if the newly appeared Pokemon was hostile, the Unown descended on the newcomer in a giant swarm. Clara jumped back onto her feet, only to be nearly knocked off of them again by Yukime grabbing her by arm, and dragging her behind the closest solid object. He was dragging Peregrine by his scarf, the Togekiss too shocked by everything to even protest or get himself up off the ground.
"We need to get out of here! Now!" the Glaceon whispered, terrified. Clara finally found her voice again.
"Why? Do you know who that is?" she asked sharply. In the face of the unknown, she defaulted to turning everything into an investigation; time to gather information and then move towards a solution.
There was a screech like the furious scream from before, though not as oppressive, but definitely as violent. Clara peeked around the wall to see the woman lashing out at the Unown, bursts of dark shadows whirling around her, and swiping black claws at any that came near her. The Psychic Pokemon still seemed determined to push her back to where she had come from, but were failing. Little bodies were being littered everywhere, the darkness coming in larger, and larger waves around the woman.
"That's Giratina!"
Clara looked back to see Yukime with his eyes squeezed tight and doing his best attempt to melt into the wall they were hiding behind. "She was sealed away in an alternate universe thousands of years ago by Amaterasu for causing untold destruction and violence! It's a Sinnoh legend, but I never imagined it was true! It's supposed to just be a folktale!"
She could feel a pit open up inside her as Yukime explained who had suddenly appeared in front of them. A Legendary, and a destructive one at that. They weren't equipped to handle this in the least; they may be International Police but Legendaries required special care and negotiation. They were ancient beings with amazing powers, basically gods in their own right. One wrong word and the whole earth could be knocked out of balance. She remembered the stories of what had happened in Hoenn; Johto did not need a natural disaster that nearly destroyed a city or two.
"How bad is she?" Peregrine had finally pulled himself back together, asking questions. "Can we talk to her? Maybe calm her down?"
Clara leaned back out to watch Giratina in action. The Unown had continued to throw themselves at her despite how every single one that came near, or managed to make some kind of hit, was smacked into the dust by the strips of darkness that came from the Legendary's hands. A wave of her arm, and a barrage of shadow balls were sent out with a snarl. She could see the Giratina's red eyes gleaming with rage; she somehow doubted that she would be interested in talking. They had to figure out a safe way to get out of the Ruins and call for backup.
"Talking?!" Yukime balked. "Are you kidding?! She'll kill us! We need to get out of here! We need to-! Oh my Arceus."
The Glaceon seemed to freeze in place, his eyes going wider than they already were, and he grabbed a hold of Clara's shoulder with a shaking hand. She jerked back to look at him. All the color had drained out of his face as he looked from her to Peregrine.
"Sinnoh. She'll head straight to Spear Pillar when she's done here!" he said, the panic replaced by horror. His hands opened and closed as if he was imagining grabbing someone. "We have to warn them! She will kill everything on that mountain!"
Clara stared at him for a moment, the size of the potential disaster sinking in, and then turned to Peregrine. The same silent conversation that had happened on the stairs passed between them, only this time Peregrine had started shaking his head as her amber eyes bored into him.
"Nu-uh! No! I'm not leaving you here-!"
"You have to." Clara said with finality. "You have to fly as fast as you can, and I'll only weigh you down if you drop me off in Violet City. Nefertiti and Loki are stationed at Snowpoint; tell them to get everyone they can to Spear Pillar. I'll buy you some time."
He still didn't move, biting his lip and his eyes wavering from Clara to the half-hidden battle raging behind their hiding spot. Unown were hitting the ground with heavy thunks. He wanted to pick Clara up and get them both as far away from the ruins as possible. She had continued to stare at him, her face still and determined, and his stomach was doing somersaults in confliction.
Finally, he stood up, his mouth pressed into a hard line of frustration, and snapped his goggles onto his face.
"You better be in one piece the next time I see you!" he said, pointing a finger at her. He sprinted away and took off, the air cracking from the force of it barely heard over the din of Giratina.
Clara turned her burning eyes away from the now empty spot to Yukime, who was still shaking beside her.
"I need you to tell me everything you know about Giratina," she said. She then pointed past him, towards the unseen research lab set up at the beginning of the ruins. "And then I want you to run to the research lab, and lock yourself in."
Yukime seemed to shake himself out of his terrified stupor, her commands reaching in and calming him. He wanted to object to leaving her alone to face Giratina, but knew it was useless. He was no fighter, at least not outside of a gym, but letting her do this by herself seemed more risky than it was worth.
"Yukime!" Clara put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Tell me everything you know, now! Those Unown won't distract her forever!"
Yukime hesitated once, and then everything he knew started spilling out of him.
"Giratina is a dragon type like Ite and Nara of Spear Pillar Temple, but we don't know about the secondary typing like we do for them. All evidence has either been destroyed or is barely legible thanks to environmental damage to ancient temples in Sinnoh but what has been found leads us to believe she may be dark, ghost, or poison. She was sealed away in another dimension, a kind of reverse world filled with darkness, by Amaterasu for the destruction of the Shaymin race thousands of years ago. According to legend, once freed from her hellish prison, she will seek revenge on Palkia and Dialga for betraying her while destroying everything in her path."
The Glaceon gasped for air near the end of it, rattling off everything like she had asked as if reading nonstop from a textbook. Clara thought, replaying everything he had said in her head to be sure she had been able to keep up with it. She was beginning to regret sending Peregrine away now; she was only a fire type. What could she possibly do to try and stall such a monster? She took a shaky, deep breath, and patted Yukime on the shoulder.
"Alright. Okay…" she glanced down, trying to think of a strategy. She looked up, realizing that Yukime was still standing there with her.
"What did I say?" she said sharply, making him jump. "Go! Run! Go, now! Before she notices you!"
The Glaceon hesitated again, opening his mouth to protest, but then Clara grabbed him by the shoulders again, spun him around and shoved him in the direction he needed to go. He stumbled forward and then started running, glancing back at her only once.
Clara swallowed hard as she watched him go, and then peeked around the wall to see what Giratina was up to now. She was running out of Unown to bring down, the huge swarm that had been there before now reduced to a few stubborn Pokemon that dived at her like insistent hornets. Clara took another deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to brace herself for what she was about to do.
She jumped out from behind the wall.
She could see Giratina more clearly now. Her form had been hazy before, as if the world was resisting her coming back into it, and the swarm of Unown had made it hard to see what she really looked like. Her clothes were definitely rags, what looked like the remains of a kimono barely there and faded to a dirty grey, and she was barefoot. Her yellow hair, that floated around her like a liquid gold cloud, seemed frayed and dirty in patches around the ends. Now that she was closer, there was unmistakable layer of grime on her as well.
Clara could feel her heart threatening to beat out of her chest, but underneath the fear of being destroyed where she stood there was a small amount of pity for her. She had seen legendaries before, Ho-Oh to be specific, during the annual fall festival in Ecruteak. They were dazzling beings meant to be colorful and full of light. Wherever Giratina had been sent to had drained whatever wonder that must have been part of her at some point and replaced it with desperation. Instead all her presence did was instill a deep rooted feeling of fear that the Typhlosion was fighting just to be able stand where she was.
She was running out of Unown to swat down though, and when she was finished with them, the legendary would take off for Spear Pillar Temple. Peregrine couldn't possibly be anywhere near Snowpoint yet.
"HEY!"
Clara's voice rang out like a shot across the ruins. Giratina stopped what she was doing, and turned towards her. Her red eyes burned in her face like coals, and Clara felt her chest involuntarily constrict as she was caught in the stare. She couldn't move again, just like when the legendary had first appeared, and a ringing started in her ears. It was like her gaze alone were powerful enough to destroy someone from the inside out.
An Unown suddenly crashed into Giratina's head, knocking her gaze away, and Clara shook her head, regaining the feeling back in her body. Without wasting a second, she spread her feet, filled her lungs full to bursting with air, and then breathed out a torrent of fire at her. The blaze roared across the space between them, and she heard the faint screech of anger as Giratina was caught in the blast.
The fireblast was blown away, Giratina ripping the blast away from her with a snarl and a wave of her hand, a black hole swallowing the flames. Clara ducked and rolled as a barrage of shadow balls were sent at her, and threw herself behind a wall. She covered her head as the balls followed her and slammed into the crumbling wall, shaking her temporary cover. Breathing hard, she checked her watch; Peregrine needed more time than that. That had barely been five minutes. Clara rolled up her sleeves, thinking of what else could work to distract her but keep the legendary at a distance. Her fire breath would only work if she was preoccupied and couldn't get rid of it.
Clara snapped her fingers, her hands bursting into flames, and darted out from behind the wall. She threw balls of fire in the legendary's general direction, flinging dozens onto the ground around her, behind her, and at her. The balls burst upon contact, scattering embers and smoke into the air. She heard a shriek as a few sparks hit her, and could see through the smoke Giratina trying to put out some flames on the end of her ripped kimono.
Clara filled her lungs again, the air heating up as she concentrated on the feeling of fire deep within her chest, and breathed another torrent. This time she heard a scream, the sound of pain sending a shiver through even though she was beginning to sweat from how hot her own attacks were making her. She finally ran out of fuel, and paused in her immediate plan to jump for cover as soon as the attack was done to see the damage. She didn't want to kill Giratina, or seriously injure her, just stall for time. The legendary was crouched on the ground, panting as smoke rolled off of her. What had once been grey had been turned black, and scorch marks covered her arms. Her floating hair threatened to start burning at one end like the beginning of a match. She felt a fleeting spark of triumph; if she could keep it up, Peregrine would have plenty of time.
Giratina's head snapped up, and Clara threw herself behind another ruined wall, squeezing her eyes shut to avoid the paralyzing stare. She quickly discarded her jacket, and looked at her watch again. Five more minutes and then she could run. She would have preferred ten, but knew that was pushing her luck. Giratina would only be pushed around for so long.
The ground suddenly shook as wave after wave of pulsing darkness hit her current protection, the blasts of pitch black making the wall crumble behind her. She jumped and rolled to get behind another wall, and saw the waves follow her and then stop short of the rock. Thinking quickly, she lit her arms up, fire blazing from the elbow down, and jumped out to send a wave of heat towards the legendary.
Giratina flickered as if she were a projection instead of a person, and the wave of fire missed her entirely as she reappeared a foot away from where she had once been. Clara paused for a second in fleeing for another patch of cover.
"The hell-?"
She blinked and the legendary had disappeared once again, leaving only a whirl of dust where she had been standing. Panic gripped her, the Typhlosion looking all around for where her opponent had gone, and then, at the last minute, dashed for cover. She couldn't stand around for that long, what was she thinking?!
Giratina burst into being right in front of her, rushing at her from the shadows. They collided, the legendary driving her fist into her stomach and up into her rib cage, and used the force to pick her up. She flung her down into the dirt, flat on her back, to be sure to completely knock the breath out of her, rendering her fire breath useless. Clara gasped for air, trying to force herself to ignore the pain blooming in her stomach and get up. They only had minutes left.
Hands were suddenly around her neck, squeezing, as Giratina grabbed her out of the hole she had made when she had thrown her down. Clara choked, the fire cloaking her arms extinguished completely, her feet kicking in the air. She clawed at the hands that were tight, too tight, as the red eyes blazed in her face.
"Who-!" Giratina growled, the sound of her voice banging around in her head while she struggled to breathe. "Are you-?!"
"Giratina! Stop!"
Clara peered where the faint voice had come from and saw the blurry image of Yukime standing away from them. The red eyes that were taking up her whole mind turned away. The world was beginning to go dark, her heart desperately banging against her ribs and her body feeling terrifyingly cold. She had told him to run, why hadn't he run?!
Giratina dropped her, the Typhlosion crumpling to the ground and coughing as she tried to breathe freely again. She was in front of Yukime without moving, red eyes locked onto his face, and before he could try to get away, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He yelped as he was quickly lifted off the ground and brought up to eye-level with her, shaking and breathing in panicked bursts. Her mouth twisted in barely held back rage that suddenly came out all at once as she roared at him.
"WHERE AM I?!" she demanded. Yukime fought to keep himself from fainting, his vision swimming.
"J-J-Johto! You're in Johto!" he squeaked.
Confusion flickered across her face, and she relaxed her hold for a moment, dropping him about an inch away from her.
"Johto…?" she repeated. She looked up at the clear, blue sky as if seeing it for the first time since she had arrived and then at the ruins around her. She let go of Yukime without any warning, dumping him on the ground as she turned around to see everything surrounding her. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, going still for a moment. The ruins seemed alien now without the constant noise of battle, and Yukime was afraid to breathe too loudly and break the spell of peace that had come over the place again. The raging legendary he was terrified of had disappeared and had been replaced by a woman savoring her surroundings. Her face had become serene, no longer warped with fury and spite, as she breathed the clean air.
Shadows suddenly erupted underneath her, and she was gone in an instant, the darkness swallowing her up and then vanishing. Yukime watched it all with an open mouth, his chest heaving as he tried to stop his heart from jumping out of his body. The moment had disappeared.
He shook his head, and shakily got to his feet, stumbling over to Clara who had finally been able roll herself onto her back. Panting, she struggled to sit up straight, but couldn't for the pain that stabbed her middle every time she breathed too deeply. She hoped that nothing was broken, but knew she would be very lucky if it there wasn't.
She squinted at Yukime as he knelt next to her, offering a hand to help her up.
"I thought… I told you to run," she said between gritted teeth. He looked down, guilty, and wiped at the sweat that was still running down his face.
"I couldn't just leave you to face her alone…" he said quietly. He didn't want to look up to see the disappointment and frustration on her face.
Clara sighed, and grabbed a hold of his hand. He very carefully pulled her up, trying to offset the strange balance she had to manage in order not to further injure herself, and saw that she didn't exactly seem disappointed but didn't look happy with him either. She was definitely in pain, which seemed more important.
"I was just stalling for time; I wasn't going to stick around longer then I needed to…" she grumbled, checking her watch again. They had barely scraped by how much time Peregrine could have needed. "Our mission was to keep you safe while working in the ruins. When I tell you to run, you run."
He looked up at her, feeling that he had no choice as she sternly spoke to him, and had to stop himself from ducking his head down as he saw the quiet fury in her amber eyes. She continued to stare him down as he meekly looked up, feeling the guilt well in his chest, and he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. This felt almost as bad as being scolded by his grandmother for trying to take cookies before dinner.
"Understand?" she asked him. Yukime looked down again, and nodded his head.
Clara softened her expression, knowing that the archeologist had most likely only been worried about her being on her own, and gently hit his arm. He jumped the slightest, startled by the friendly tap, and saw her nod her head behind him.
"Now, go get my jacket for me. I need my phone and I think if I bend down to get it, I won't get back up again," she said, giving him a weak smile. "I need to call Snowpoint and make sure Peregrine made it there alright."
Yukime only stared at her for a moment, not sure what to do in the face of her sudden forgiveness for not listening to her, and then quickly went over to the wrecked wall that he had seen her roll behind during the fight.
Clara looked down at her watch again, biting her lip as she tried to focus her attention on making sure she had read everything right. Her partner should have made it to the station in Snowpoint by now, but if Giratina's ability to appear instantaneously in different places was any sign for how fast she could travel, it might not have made a difference. For all the knew, Giratina had already gotten to Spear Pillar Temple, and was destroying it completely while they stood thousands of miles away in Johto.
Yukime jogged over with her jacket in one hand, and her cellphone in the other, and she snatched it from him. She punched in the number for the direct line to the station, and motioned for the Glaceon to help her start walking out of the ruins. She was able to stand on her own just fine, but was afraid that walking might prove to be too much. If she was lucky, the local police station would be able to help them both get on their way to Sinnoh, or would at least let them rest while she waited for international back up to come pick her up. She was more concerned with sending the rest of her luck towards Spear Pillar though, trying to will the situation to freeze in time long enough for Peregrine to get a team up there and stop whatever disaster that Giratina wanted to cause.
