"Oh, no," I breathed.

Reshiram and Zekrom were readying their attacks, huge chunks were falling from the ceiling, and N was lying unconscious in the middle of the hall. Right in between the two hostile creatures.

I may not have liked all of N's ideals. I might not have approved of his methods. I may not have liked that he was the leader of Team Plasma or that his father was one of the Seven Sages. But he was still human. He had kind intentions toward Pokémon. He'd been raised in a cold, analytical environment without any real human companionship; he didn't know humans like he knew Pokémon.

"Reshiram! Stop!" I cried.

But it was too late. The two Pokémon let out ferocious roars that shook the building. Their attacks were charged and about to be let loose. In the precious seconds before the attacks collided right on top of N, I leapt out, intent on dragging him out of the way. Pokémon could survived these kind of assaults; people couldn't. I meant to haul him away, but he was heavy. I only managed to drag him a few feet before my straining arms gave up.

"No, no, no," I muttered, looking up to see the dragons' mouths gaping, glowing with fire and electricity. I looked back down at N.

I could leave him. I could still leap out of the way of the attacks, and live. I could win, Zekrom would be free, and Team Plasma would disband. If I left N there. But I couldn't do that, could I? Leave him to his death? That was the equivalent of murder. And I was not a murderer. So I did the only thing I could do. I threw myself on top of N, tucking his body beneath mine to shield him. After all, what better way to die, than by saving someone else's life? Maybe, after I was gone, N would realize what he was doing was wrong and stop. Not likely, but that thought, and my last-ditch attempt at being noble, was the only thing that kept me hunched over him as the creatures let out their most fearsome snarls yet and allowed their power to burst forth. I braced myself, gritting my teeth.

But all the tensing up in the world couldn't have prepared me for just how excruciating it would be. An agonizing, burning pain exploded over my back, scorching my clothes to nothing in milliseconds and charring my skin. Then there was such a huge electric shock that I was frozen; paralyzed. But I could still scream, and scream I did. I shrieked in agony, a long, harsh cry that echoed through the hall even over the sound of roaring flame and crackling lightning. The pain was exquisite, all-encompassing, and inescapable. So lost was I in the searing pain that I didn't hear the soft whooshing sound that accompanied the opening of a poke ball. I didn't realize that my Pokémon had broken free of their carriers. Not until the source of that snarling, furious pain vanished. My back was still eaten by pain, by blazing, white-hot hurt, but no longer was there that thing making it worse. That was when I became aware that my poke balls were hanging, open, from my belt, and that something thick and warm was wrapped around me. Several other "somethings" were crouched over me, rubbing slightly against my mangled back. I blinked, trying to see which of my friends had broken free of their poke balls to help me, but my vision was dark and foggy. Dimly I was aware that the roar of the dragons was gone, that their attacks must have ceased.

I was breathing hard. My limbs were shaking so violently that it was a wonder they still held me up. I reached out blindly, fingers brushing something soft and velvety. An antler. I wrapped my hand around it.

"S-Sawsbuck," I coughed. A soft, warm nose nuzzled my neck, followed by a quiet chuff that blew some hair out of my face. "Help me up."

He obliged, gently tugging his head up until I managed to rise on shaky legs and wrap my arm around his neck. I felt a very slight weight on my shoulder and blinked furiously, trying to clear my vision. Slowly, the world came into focus, and I saw a little red-and-gold impish creature perched near my neck.

"Victini," I acknowledged, smiling. The big-hearted Pokémon licked my check concernedly. Looking around, I saw that all of my Pokémon had some out to shield me. Serperior had been the one to wrap around me, and was now slumped on the ground, unconscious. Apparently Victini had been crouched over my neck, and Sawsbuck had been crouching over me. Darmanitan stood a little ways away with Zorua on her shoulder; I think those two had been using detect over all of us. My poor Purrloin was slumped over Serperior's body, having fainted as well. And Reshiram was now watching me, eyes dark and guilty.

I looked down at N. He was still laying on the ground, but he was stirring feebly. Looking back to the brother dragons, I staggered between them, Stantler beside me as my brace. I knew without looking down that my clothes were hanging onto me by threads, more like rags than anything.

"Look at yourselves!" I shouted to them. Darmanitan lumbered to my side, and I rested a hand on the shoulder that also served as a perch; Zorua licked my hand. "You two are brothers! Two parts of the same whole, literally!"

They shared a look.

"Everybody has differences. Yours led to breaking into two separate beings. But that doesn't mean that you have to continue to fight! Stop this. You're hurting everybody with your foolish feud, even yourselves. Please," I whispered, eyes stinging from a combination of acrid smoke and my own tears. "Please, stop this."

Zekrom cast a look at N. I followed his gaze, and found the young man already sitting up, watching me intently with an indescribable expression. Serperior had come to, and was slithering to me, Purrloin still sprawled over her back. The edges of my vision were starting to blur; I gripped a handful of Sawsbuck's thick ochre neck fur to hold myself upright.

"N, Zekrom's waiting for you," I said softly. The room had gone deathly quiet. "Please, be smart. Be reasonable. Tell him it's okay to stop."

He blinked rapidly and looked at my scorched Pokémon.

"Y—You commanded your Pokémon to guard me," he mumbled, then said, more strongly, "You forced them to take the attack!"

"No!" I shouted, exasperated. "They were in their poke balls, N! You were unconscious in the middle of the hall, about to be hit by their attacks," I gestured to Zekrom and Reshiram, "And I tried to pull you out of the way, but you were too heavy. So I threw myself over you. I blocked the attack. They came out on their own when I screamed to protect me. I never asked them to! They could've died—I would never have asked them to do that!"

By then tears of frustration were streaming down my grimy face, making my vision even more blurry. N blinked and looked at me, confused.

"You shielded me?" He said it with a strange expression, as though the words tasted funny in his mouth.

"Yes."

Slowly he rose to his feet.

"Why?"

I sighed, digging my fingers deeper into Sawsbuck's fur to steady myself on my wobbly knees.

"Because all life is important," I answered.

"But you don't like me."

"I don't have to like you," I replied. "But you believe that what you're doing is right. You have kind intentions, and you care about…about Pokémon." My consciousness was starting to slip. "And I wasn't about to let someone get killed in front of me."

Black spots were popping in my vision, but I had to hold on a little longer. I had to convince N to release Zekrom from his bloodlust.

"N, please. Tell him it's okay to stop fighting."

My Pokémon, seemingly sensing that something was wrong, crowded closer around me. Victini licked my cheek again. But I wasn't going out yet. My gaze was fixed on that green-haired teen's emotionless face. His steely green gaze flickered from me, to Zekrom, and back, the first sparks of indecision flaring in his eyes.

"Please N," I whispered, clutching Sawsbuck for all it was worth. "They don't need to hurt each other anymore. This has gone too far."

He gave me a long look, and held out Zekrom's poke ball in front of him. His gaze never wavered from mine as he slowly, oh so slowly, crushed the ball in his hand. The contraption sparked and smoked. I smiled tiredly, feeling tears of relief now well up in my eyes.

"Thank you."

He nodded just as my knees finally gave out. Victini cried out in alarm, and Sawsbuck snorted when I slid down his side to the ground.

"Touko!" N exclaimed in alarm, clearly startled. He sprinted to my side even as I slumped completely against the cold stone ground. He started to say something, but cut himself off abruptly when he saw the condition of my back. With a feather-light touch that still made me cringe, he brushed a hand across the burned and bleeding skin.

"You really did save me," he murmured.

"Told you," I mumbled.

Darmanitan growled and Victini bared his teeth when N touched me.

"No, guys. It's…okay," I said softly. Serperior nuzzled my hand.

I couldn't see anything anymore; it was only blackness. I could only feel the biting, stabbing pain and hear the worried sounds of my Pokémon.

"Touko?" N said. "Touko, stay awake. I can help you."

"Tired…" I muttered. "Hurt…"

"Touko!" he said firmly. "Stay awake."

But I couldn't.