Leo desperately wanted to flee this beast. It seemed impossible to defeat such a thing. There was a half-rotten...dragon here, and it was hellbent on trying to kill him! The reality was that this thing was between him and any exit, save that hole he fell through. He had no choice but to fight the Pokémon-thing. Leo looked down to Flare. His confidence sunk when he saw that she was cowering behind Shawn, yelping and whining in a rather pitiable way.

Leo almost envied her.

"Damn my luck!" Leo spat angrily, "We gotta do something!"

"I got your back!" Sarah leaped down, landing nimbly behind Leo.

"What should I do?! Guys!" Leo heard Amber shout from above. "Don't leave me here all alone!"

"Stay put, Amber!" Sarah called back, "Back us up if you can!"

"Okay, but..."

"We'll be alright if we just work together!" Sarah looked back down at the others with a confident smile. "Right everyone?"

Leo swallowed hard. "Uh...right." Even though he was agreeing with her, Leo was unsure about his own declaration. This wasn't just a ordinary Pokémon. This was...a...well...

What the hell was he fighting, anyway?

Leo turned and called his Pokémon. "Flare, come! We...we gotta fight!" Poor Flare was clearly frightened, but the Growlithe slunk over to Leo's side, trembling in fear. Leo quickly considered his tactics. This thing seemed like it was using ice-based attacks. Maybe a fire-based move would work well, assuming it was also an ice-type.

"Flare! Use Flamethrower!" Leo declared, pointing at the approaching dragon. Flare shot Leo a wide-eyed look of uncertainty. Then she charged the dragon, spewing fire as she rushed it. To Leo's surprise, Sarah joined her, glowing white as she matched Flare's charge. Leo recognized the move: Helping Hand. Flare seemed just as surprised as her fire intensified, hitting the dragon square in the face. It moaned again, and those violet eyes flashed as it shook itself. Leo could see that the flames singed its face, partly revealing a stark, white skull under rotting flesh. Leo's revulsion intensified as the beast rumbled irately at him, baring its many fangs at the party.

"I don't think that did much. Let's try a different move!" Sarah suggested, "Leo, have Flare do some more stuff! I'll back her up!"

Leo nodded. "Speaking of backup," he looked back at Shawn and Gloria, "do something you two! Help me!"

Gloria threw out a Pokéball of her own. "I know, I know! Luxray!"

Shawn shook his head, apparently snapping out of a a shocked and frozen stare. "Oh, right! Chikosu!" He threw out the Flygon's Pokéball, releasing the green dragon within. "Let's go! Dragon Tail!"

"I got this!" Sarah chimed in, "Leo, you know what to do. Gloria, cover us!"

"Got it. Use, Charge!" Luxray's fur started to crackle as she built up an electric charge.

Leo pointed to the angry zombie. "Now! Fire Fang!" Flare charged again, sinking her flaming maw into the dragon's right foreleg. Its only reaction to her bite was to fling the Growlithe aside, ripping a mouthful of its skin off as she was flicked away. That left the Pokémon completely blindsided by a vicious-looking tail-slap from Chikosu. Even the Flygon looked surprised at the added power from Sarah's boost.

"Oh crap! Watch out!" Shawn shouted, pointing a finger at the dragon.

Leo spun around just in time to see that monster raise a paw. The beast swatted both Sarah and Flare aside with one swipe, knocking them both back into Leo painfully. He couldn't keep his footing, and he fell down on his butt. Leo quickly scrambled to his feet, glaring at the formidable enemy before him. To his alarm, the beast seemed to be regenerating, and the flesh on its face and paw soon healed over right before his eyes. Its body seemed to regrow too, and it seemed even stronger now.

"T-t-that isn't working!" Shawn sounded like he was on the verge of panic, "Nothing's working! What'll we do now?!"

Leo thought out his options. If he continued to attack, this thing would just keep healing itself, possibly becoming too strong to fight! Retreating down that tunnel was impossible with the dragon in the way. His only choice was to defeat this Pokémon somehow. There had to be a way...

"Guys! It's too strong! Fly away!" Leo heard a frightened Amber calling from above.

Shawn shot her an equally scared look, "We can't! If we fly, it'll just ice us! It'll going to kill us! You run!"

"Oh for Mew's sake, get a grip, all of you!" Sarah growled, flattening her ears against her head, "I refuse to be killed by some stupid zombie! This thing's not invincible! It has to have a weak point..."

A weak point! Of course! "Good plan, Sarah!" Leo agreed, "Let's spread out and keep trying! Flare! Aim for that tail! Shawn, go for the legs! Sarah, try hitting it in the chest!"

Her ears drooped further. "I don't like the look of that fog, Leo. I don't want to get anywhere near it!"

"Got a better idea!?" Leo shot back, "We gotta try!"

Sarah nodded grimly. "Yeah. Sorry. Here goes!" She shot a spray of sharp Ice Shards at the enemy. When the ice slashed at the dragon, it roared in protest, falling to the ground at last. Leo froze in place, watching his fallen foe with wary caution. Was it actually over? Not quite, it seemed. The dragon pulled itself to its feet, rising to its haunches and slashing at Flare with its claws. Leo cursed under his breath. What a pain!

"Time to finish this freak!" Gloria swept a hand at the weakened Pokémon, "Do it! Thunder!" Luxray yowled and released a massive lightning-bolt at it, knocking the dragon down the tunnel several feet. Leo didn't take his eyes off the thing. He wasn't going to let his guard down again. This time, the Pokémon didn't get back up and laid still. The fog surrounding its body never let up though, instead it seemed to be getting thicker and darker. Leo suddenly realized why; the dragon's form was actually evaporating away into this weird miasma! Leo backed away, both repulsed and baffled. Luckily, the fog was dissipating quickly, leaving no sign of the strange Pokémon. Leo stood shocked, his mouth agape in astonishment.

What the hell just happened?

"I-i-is it over?!" Shawn sputtered, "D-did we beat it?"

"I think so?" Gloria scratched her head, clearly no more convinced than anyone else. "Its gone...?"

"Hey!" Leo looked up at Amber's shout and saw her holding a Pokéball at the ready. "Everyone alright down there?!"

"Yeah. We're OK now. We beat it..." Leo turned back to where the Pokémon had landed, still not entirely sure he believed what he just saw. No Pokémon should have been like that. Trying to convince himself that it was over, he walked over to the spot that it vanished from. Sure enough, it was completely gone. Leo turned back around to leave, and noticed a gleam of metal on the ground. He bent down and picked it up. The more he looked at it, the more puzzled he became. It was a dark square of plastic the size of a coin, surrounded by countless, silver prongs. He turned the thing over in his hand, wondering why such a thing would be in this cave. Leo saw some tiny markings on the back of the chip and held it up for a closer look.

"What's that, Leo?" Shawn asked from over his shoulder, making Leo jump and nearly drop it. He'd been so distracted by the find that he didn't notice him come and peer over his shoulder until just now.

"Looks like a microchip." Sarah said, returning to her human form, "Where'd you find that?"

"It was right here where we beat the Pokémon." Leo gestured at the icy ground, "I dunno where it came from either..."

"Lemme see." Leo handed her the object. As she looked it over, Sarah's expression grew more and more uneasy.

"What's going on down there? Don't forget me!"

Leo sighed at Amber's protests and looked at Shawn. "We'll come back. Quit fussing!" Leo looked at Sarah again. "Do you know what that is?"

"Sort of. There's some writing on it that really bugs me though..."

"What's it say?" Gloria suddenly pushed Leo aside and squeezed in next to Sarah.

"Uh..." Sarah seemed reluctant to speak suddenly, "Well...take a look for yourself."

Gloria impatiently snatched the chip from Sarah and examined it herself. Then, she too seemed nervous and froze up in uncertainty. "What the...?"

"Speak up, dammit!" Leo was beginning to lose patience with these two, "What's gotten into you guys?!"

Gloria simply handed him the chip again. Leo looked closely at the tiny chip, mildly peeved why they'd be so worked up. As Leo read the tiny silver letters, he realized why they seemed so suddenly upset.

Species: Druddigon

OT: Solstice

ID: 856741

Subject Age: 7

Submission Level: 91.37%

Installation Date: 5-7-52

Version: 1.7.3

"What the hell!" Leo almost dropped the chip again. "'OT: Solstice'?!"

"Didn't you notice what else it said?" Sarah brushed her hair out of her face nervously, "'Species: Druddigon'... Don't you realize what this means?!"

Leo handed a puzzled Shawn the chip and looked back at Sarah. "So, what does it mean?"

"Wait...you mean...?" Gloria bit her lip, cutting herself off.

"That dragon used to be a Druddigon, if this thing's any indicator. This microchip..." Sarah shook her head, sighing in dismay, "I think it did something to that poor Pokémon. This must be part of Solstice's work..."

Leo was dumbstruck. Just how could some random computer chip do something like this? It couldn't be possible, right?!"So, let me get this straight," Leo scratched his head, trying to piece together his thoughts, "You think this thing did all that? Bouffalant shit. There's no way that's possible."

"What happened just now is 'impossible' too, but it's real..." Sarah shook her head. "There's too many coincidences to ignore..."

For several uneasy moments, everyone simply exchanged looks back and forth. There was a lot something like this could mean. How many Pokémon were like this? Just how far had Solstice taken this? Worst yet, had she done this to a human? A sudden drip of water from above snapped Leo to attention. Right before his eyes, he saw the ice covering everything thawing out. Leo guessed that the strange Druddigon was the one who froze this cave. He bit his lip in a start, realizing something. With the ice melting, that meant the place could collapse again, just like earlier!

"I seriously think we better go now. This place isn't holding up too well..." Shawn seemed to notice what Leo did. "C'mon guys, let's ditch this place." Shawn clambered onto his Flygon's back, pulling Sarah up behind him. He flew her up out of the hole, returning to fetch Gloria, and then Leo last.

No sooner did he dismount from Chikosu than Amber greeted Leo with a bear-hug. "I was afraid for you guys! Don't do scary stuff like that!" She pulled back, looking between everyone, "I don't like what I heard... Is everything okay?" Leo did his best to recap what happened down there. Even to his own ears, it was a crazy story.

By the time he'd finished getting Amber up to speed, she seemed perturbed. "Do you think this is what that so called 'ascension' is?"

"Ascension? You mean what Silicon wanted to do to you?" Amber looked down at the floor, answering Leo's question with an awkward silence. Leo felt a bit stupid for stating the obvious. He made to speak up again when a loud whistle got his attention. He searched for the source and found a now familiar orange Pokémon floating in the chamber.

"Thank you for saving me! It was so cold inside that ice..."

Leo's eyes went wide and he nearly tripped over his own feet. Did Victini just talk?! He barely had time to think about that before he heard its voice again.

"Are you afraid of me...? I'm sorry!" Victini seemed a bit upset, but it continued on, "I realize this is sudden, but I need help."

"You need help?" Amber asked the Pokémon, "What's wrong?"

Victini's expression grew even more nervous, and it started wringing its hands in worry. "It's Arceus. It wants war."