Hmmmm... another new chapter.

Enjoy.

Land & Skye: Living a Legend

Chapter 25: Showdown atop the Pillar

Continuing through the cave, Kendel found that it was more like a simple tunnel… and it simply kept going up. He plodded onwards though, continuing to disregard the stiffness he was feeling from his time out, trying to tough-out the cold mountain air.

I just hope the peak isn't so snowy if Mew is up there.

The tunnel continued to stretch onwards and it didn't take long for Kendel to start wondering how much further he had to go before he reached the end of the tunnel.

The air was getting somewhat thin, but his time up in Snowpoint had given him a little experience with the altitudes and his small body did not demand a whole lot of air in order to breathe. It was a little taxing, but not overly straining on him.

-0-

After several minutes, he finally arrived at a new opening in the cave and paused before it to brace himself for whatever was ahead.

I'm gonna beat Mew this time… get him to turn me back and get me back home. Then I can talk to Mom again… I hope she's doing okay so far.

It was yet another reason for him to get himself turned back as soon as possible.

This ends here. I'll make sure of that!

He then marched forward out into the open air.

And almost immediately let out a small gasp of wonder at what he saw.

Before him, was what appeared to be a massive set of ruins on the very peak of Mt. Coronet. No one could possibly see these ruins from the base of the mountain as it was a wide mountain and this place seemed to be above any clouds that obscured the peak. The sky was overhead with the sun shining down on the area.

The ruins themselves seemed to be mostly columns that had collapsed or some unknown force had torn them apart. The pillars and their large fragments were scattered all over the area.

As he slowly approached the field of pillars, Kendel realized they were all of rather fine craftsmanship and even damaged as they were, they were beautiful pieces of architectural work.

Oh man… I wish I could scale this mountain as a human now. This place looks like it's full of adventure. Full of discoveries, waiting to be found.

He took a closer look at one pillar, examining the grooves, the wind-blasted stone which had been worn smooth by time and perhaps some ancient event. He looked at the jagged end of the fragment, contemplating what could've broken it so completely.

This place was nearly as good for adventure as the Chateau in Kendel's mind. He found himself immediately liking the place.

I have GOT to find a way to visit this place again after I get turned back.

Once Kendel finally had looked around enough to satisfy his adventurous urges, he refocused himself on the task he had come for.

Right… Mew. Where is he?

During the course of his brief exploration, the sun had warmed Kendel and despite the cool air around him, the boy found he actually felt comfortable again as far as temperature was concerned. The pain from trudging through snow had finally faded.

It didn't take long for Kendel to spot Mew. The pink feline was hovering over an open space of the ruins, waiting and watching Kendel. He had been there the entire time and was simply entertaining himself while he let Kendel explore the area.

Taking a brief moment to ready himself, Kendel marched up to Mew and stopped a short distance from him.

"…Hello Mew." He said rather quaintly and sprouted leaves.

Mew looked up from playing around with the tuft of fur on the end of his tail and released it a moment later to focus upon his opponent.

Kendel willed the leaves at Mew and attempted afterwards to generate more to hurl at the cat.

Mew's response was to try and fly out of the path of the leaves (which didn't work of course, as the leaves simply chased Mew), shielding himself when they hit, then sending a psychic pulse at the attacking Shaymin.

Kendel continued to grow more leaves, his mind enduring through the mental blast that hit. He had already suffered pain from that attack several times before now, he had gotten used to the pain and was better prepared to endure it now. He launched more of his leafy offensive at Mew, trying to overwhelm the cat.

His opponent was more resourceful though. Mew came at Kendel and attempted to wallop him like he had back in the island mine.

The former human scurried out of the way, gathering energy from the plants on his back, and turned around as the energy formed a sizable ball, launching the orb of energy at Mew, catching the feline clean in the face with the attack.

Letting out a surprised yelp, Mew tumbled through the air backwards and came to a halt, shaking his head.

Then Mew seemed to actually become somewhat angry.

Kendel found himself feeling unsettled when Mew quite suddenly was glowing with power.

Then, several rocks lifted themselves from the ground and proceeded to pitch towards Kendel like several invisible hands had thrown them.

Guh! How am I supposed to compete with force like that?!

Kendel tried to scramble out of the way, but his small form's only advantage was that he was a small target. He couldn't completely avoid the onslaught of rocks and had to take a moment to unearth himself from the pile afterwards.

"Turn me BACK!" Kendel yelled and hurled yet another volley of leaves at his target.

Mew used one foreleg to shield his face from the leaves, and then Mew launched a very powerful psychic attack upon Kendel.

"Gargh." Kendel staggered under the mind-blast but, determined to beat Mew this time, he gathered another energy ball and launched it at Mew.

The cat was done fooling around though and nimbly dodged around the attack. He then wordlessly launched another blast of psychic power against Kendel.

The boy couldn't stand up under this assault forever and he knew it only too well.

I got to beat him! I have to beat him now!

He launched more leaves, trying to wear down Mew before the cat did likewise to him first.

The psychic attacks continued to pound on Kendel's mind like a giant's fists.

Kendel attempted to gather another energy ball to launch at Mew, perhaps catch him in the middle of one of his attacks. His attack was rather cruelly shut down by a harsh blast of psychic power that finally cracked Kendel's attempts to stand up to the assault.

With a pain-filled yell as the attack tore his mind apart, Kendel collapsed.

Not… again… argh.

Mew let up on his attacks and regarded Kendel without a word.

I have to beat him… I don't want to have to hunt him down again. Not again. I need to end this.

Kendel shakily got to his feet. Mew sagged, visibly sighing.

"You're determined, I have to give you credit for that." Mew commented, his tone uncharacteristically mature, "But if that's all you've got, you need to get stronger before you can take me on. You need to know more."

Kendel's breaths came hard but he managed to remain on his feet.

"I have to beat you. That's the rules of your game, right? Well, I'm just going to have to give my all." Kendel said bluntly.

"I did that say that," Mew admitted, "But…"

Kendel was floored once more by a psychic attack from Mew.

"-You're not going to beat me at this rate. I'm getting bored with you." Mew said, somewhat petulantly.

C'mon, STAND UP!

Kendel tried to force himself up again. He was flattened back to the ground and had no energy left to move.

Mew remained silent as he waited for Kendel to try and get up again.

After perhaps a minute of trying to stand again, Kendel was unable to get up and his consciousness was fading away into darkness.

"Is this round over? Shall I go find another place to wait for you to find me at?" Mew asked, his words echoing into Kendel's head.

Kendel wanted to stubbornly declare "no". He wanted to get up again and keep trying to take down Mew… but his legs wouldn't respond and he was falling unconscious. He didn't want to have to hunt this cat down again for a fourth time.

"I've already hit you enough that you CAN'T move, Kendel. Don't force me to 'cause more permanent harm to you. I like a good battle, but even I've learned when it's better to stop."

"N-no… I don't… want to have to… hunt you down… again…" Kendel said, in his mind, struggling to stay conscious.

However, his struggles failed, and he fell away into the blackness of his own mind.

-0-

Mew was there when Kendel began to dream.

The boy remained silent… a sullen, depressed air about him. The cat simply hovered before him, watching.

"…I've had enough." Kendel said, his tone flat, "I couldn't beat you, not even after three attempts, and I don't want to hunt you down again…"

His word came out rough and sharp. He was on the verge of tears… of crying in sheer despair.

"You're giving up?" Mew asked, his tone back to its childish manner.

"…Yes."

Kendel hated himself for admitting it, but he couldn't take anymore. He had put everything he had into that last fight, and he had failed. If he couldn't manage to do it after all he'd been through…

"Silly then, silly now… don't you ever change?" Mew asked.

"SHUT UP!" Kendel snapped, "I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask to be changed! I didn't ask for you to TURN ME INTO A FREAKING POKEMON!"

Mew was rather unperturbed by Kendel's outburst… or if he was surprised, he hid it well.

"You could've given me more while leaving me human! But NO! You had to take away everything I had and drag me into this blasted game!" Kendel continued to rant, yelling at Mew and letting loose with all the frustration he had encountered over the last several days.

When he finished, Kendel was breathing very hard… and he was sobbing.

"And what was I to give you, Kendel? What could I give you without completely changing what you were?" Mew asked, "You humans are just as capable of exploration as myself. You don't need flight to be able to go places. You have your own abilities. You even have things I don't." Mew's tone steadily changed until it was clear Mew's tone was accusatory.

"You, Kendel, are ungrateful." Mew said bluntly, "You take far too much for granted. How many things have you looked at, or thought of as you pursued me… things that you lost and now wish you had again?"

Kendel could think of plenty of things as an answer to that question: his parents, his ability to run with any speed, his ability to live among people without fear… those were just a few things.

"You had all those things… some traits I have myself and some I don't." Mew continued, his tone icy, "And you wanted to be more like me. You said as much. Well, you could explore like myself, you didn't need flight for that. You talk with people like I can talk with other pokemon, or even humans like yourself. You could play. You could have fun. All those things, I could do too. The only real difference between us, Kendel… was the fact you were human. So that was all that I could change to fit your desire."

At first, Kendel looked up to argue back against this point but as he attempted to think of a response, he realized something rather shocking:

Mew was right.

Looking at Mew as Kendel had interacted with him over this time… Kendel realized that the pokemon may have had more abilities than Kendel… but Kendel was no less capable. As a human, Kendel would've needed to put in more effort… but in the end, he would be capable doing almost anything Mew could do, given the right equipment. Equipment that Mew probably could use as well if it so pleased him.
Granting Kendel an ability he normally couldn't do such as the use psychic powers likely would've required physically changing him in some way as Mew had done to him.

Mew's expression was one of pure offense, like he had been unforgivably insulted.

"If you're giving up, I'd like to take you somewhere, you might like it. But I suppose I shouldn't come to expect a 'thank you' from the likes of you. So… do you want to go?" the feline said, his tone harsh.

Kendel was still in a state of mild shock from the realization he had just had forced upon him...

Mew waited a moment… then sighed and his expression softened.

Then he vanished from sight without a sound and Kendel was left to think over what he had just been told.

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Heh, heh... hope I surprised you.