Rayquaza was awake. That was the first thing Fen realised. He could tell that the Pokémon was looking at them long before they stood before him.
He had expected to be struck by Rayquaza's size, or how brightly his scales shone, like the gate in his image. But what stood out most was his eyes, entirely black except for two electrifying yellow pupils. They commanded such power that Fen was grateful the eyes only landed on him for a moment, as Rayquaza examined them all.
It was clear that Rayquaza caught his look of awe; perhaps that was all of their looks. He smiled slightly, then lifted his arms up and spread them apart. As he did, the ceiling of clouds around them followed. Moving them aside revealed a perfectly clear sky.
The seat Rayquaza sat in – though sat was hardly the word, for his body was coiled around it like a spring – was wider than it was high, and without any rests. The longer Fen looked, the less it looked like any chair and more like a bed, though a very padded, comfortable bed at that. Other than Rayquaza and his throne, the area around them was empty. But Fen felt as if putting anything more in this smooth, impossible formation of cloud would have ruined the sight.
"I am sure you know who I am," Rayquaza said at last. His voice carried a low growl, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time. "In all the ages I have resided here, the number of Pokémon to find their way to the dimension of trials is few, and those that have overcome it even fewer. I have been keeping eyes on all of you since you entered. I know that you came here together, and now stand here together. After all the trials you were subjected to, you persevered. So." He cast his eyes over them again. "Who might you be?"
His words had sounded appreciative, but Fen struggled to work out if that was the case. The best he could do for now was answer the question.
"I'm Fen." He gestured to the others. "And this is Zephia, Ryu and Savi. We come from Kyunn."
Rayquaza's eyes narrowed at that, but he nodded. "You lead this group, Fen?"
"No," he said. "Well… if you had to choose a leader, it might be me. But we're all equals, really."
"I see." Rayquaza smiled. "Well, Fen. However you got here, there must have been a reason for it. I can tell how valuable it is to you. What do you seek from me? I am intrigued to hear."
Rayquaza smiled at him! Could this be right? After what Mesprit had said, Fen was anticipating a brooding, angry monster waiting here. Rayquaza had the whole dungeon of trials be built so he wouldn't be disturbed, had threatened other legendaries to help construct it… this wasn't the manner of a Pokémon like that.
But equally, Rayquaza had just given him the chance to make a request – what was he doing, thinking about all this?
"We seek your… help, Rayquaza."
"My help?" Rayquaza repeated. "Please, elaborate."
"We need to you calm Groudon and Kyogre."
Rayquaza's expression changed for a split second; his whole body seemed to rumble in his throne. His face seemed to conflict over whether to smile again; when at last he replied, it wasn't there. "And why must I calm them?"
"Because… because they're out of control!" Fen exclaimed, Rayquaza's question surprising him. "Because on Hoenn, the place they were reawakened, their fighting has reduced the climate to constant extremes, which nothing can live in. All the humans there that didn't manage to flee are just waiting to die, and the Pokémon… the weather has driven them insane, into… barely Pokémon at all! Groudon and Kyogre's effects are spreading more every day, to a constantly greater landmass… to more and more Pokémon, and I don't know…"
The thoughts seemed too frightening to be verbalised. On his last day on Kyunn, he'd seen how the weather was causing Pokémon to act more aggressively than normal. Their behaviour could only have escalated from then. He thought of Scout, that dozy, somehow ingenious shopkeeper; Lucxa, Savi's brother from whom Ivysaur found courage to fight for his life; and Cyan, wonderful, kind Cyan, who smelt of ash and whose fur was so soft and warm… were they alive anymore? No, forget that – were they themselves anymore?
Stay calm! he told himself, grimacing. This is not the time to lose composure.
"I don't know if it'll ever stop," he said at last. "Which is why we need you, Rayquaza. For humans and Pokémon, you're our last hope, our only hope… please."
He looked up at Rayquaza, whose eyes had been fixed on him. But now they were cold, and his smile had truly vanished.
"A passionate speech, it must be said," Rayquaza said. "However… you seem to take me for a fool, Fen. Do you believe that I am unaware of what takes place at your surface? You suppose that for all the ages I have sat here, I am content to just rest, passive to the world? Tell me."
At first Fen was too stunned to reply. What was happening? Had Rayquaza heard him properly?
"I know almost nothing about you, Rayquaza…"
"Hmph." Rayquaza smirked at him. "Understandable, I suppose. I can assure you, then, that over the eons I have looked down on your world, I have watched societies form, grow, modernise, collapse; all of it. I am well aware of the havoc you describe."
His tone darkened. "However, there are things about you I do not understand. You say you came here from Kyunn. When did you arrive?"
"About eight days ago," Fen said, more firmly. "We flew across the sea, on a Salamence."
"Eight days." Rayquaza scowled fiercely at him. "Then you lie. If that was so, why do you talk of saving humans, as if they are precious to you? This is a species not native to your island. Hated by many of your kind. They should mean very little to you."
Fen hadn't a clue how to reply. Rayquaza's scrutinising glare seemed to freeze up his mind. The Dragon continued. "Let me ask an easier question. You seem quite knowledgeable. How were Groudon and Kyogre awakened, exactly?"
Fen hesitated again, wondering if it were some kind of trick, but Rayquaza showed him nothing. Eventually he had to answer. "Some humans found two rocks underwater, that had really strange properties. After some testing, they deduced the rocks were storing Groudon and Kyogre, and then did everything they could to awaken them again… there was another rock too, a meteor that shared some properties with–"
"Quiet!"
Rayquaza's voice suddenly tripled in intensity. His mere presence in front of them suddenly felt terrifying.
Rayquaza leant forwards from his throne, his body straightening out until he was at eye level with Fen, almost touching his muzzle. "You're one of them, aren't you?"
When Fen didn't immediately respond, Rayquaza suddenly whipped his head around, and one his head wings smacked Fen in the face.
"Don't gawp at me, boy!" he snarled. "Answer!"
"Yes!" Fen cried, feeling his cheek tenderly. "I'm a human! Or I… I used to be. Not anymore. These three are just Pokémon," he added hastily, gesturing again to his teammates. "And they're aware of who I am."
Rayquaza looked satisfied, then laughed. "Very well. I do believe this is a first, then. I always wondered if such a transformation were possible. How did it happen to you?"
Fen, seeing an opportunity, answered at once. "It happened because I was running to save–"
"Actually, stop," Rayquaza said. Fen had no choice but to do so. "I don't care how it happened. We have other matters to discuss." He noticed Fen's frustration and smiled wickedly at him. "I have waited for so long to speak to one of your kind. This is a wonderful time for it. Where were we again…?" His gaze wandered for a moment. "Ah, yes. Groudon and Kyogre. Unfortunately for you, human – not that I would have done so anyway – I cannot calm them for you."
Silence. Then Ryu blurted, "What? What do you mean?"
Rayquaza's eyes flicked his way. "Excuse me?"
Ryu gritted his teeth. "Why can't you help us? You are able to control Groudon and Kyogre, aren't you?"
Rayquaza leaned forwards, for a moment looking like he would strike Ryu, too. But he quickly composed himself.
"Of course I can control them," he said. "They answer to no-one but me."
"Then–"
"Your answer is not one of cannots, Lucario. I will not control Groudon and Kyogre at this moment because I do not wish to."
"WHY NOT?" Ryu cried. "I don't understand! You know how bad it is, it's in your power, so how–"
"Enough!"
Like Fen, Ryu backed down the moment Rayquaza raised his voice. He didn't lose his indignant expression, though.
Rayquaza turned back to Fen. "The story you told me was true, human, but for one crucial detail. It was not the actions of your kind that awoke Groudon and Kyogre. It was mine."
Rayquaza seemed to wait just to see how he'd react. Fen stared at him, disbelieving. "But… there were the rocks that Groudon and Kyogre had been sealed in, humans were trying to awaken them–"
"No." Rayquaza sighed heavily. "No, no, no. Your kind always thinks they know it all. Tell me, do you at least know the circumstances of Groudon and Kyogre's first war? You know who it was that sealed them underwater?"
"Yes… it was you."
"It was me. Consider this. Do you think, when I subdued them then, that I would leave anything to chance? That I would let it be possible for Groudon and Kyogre to be woken again by… what, the attacks of mere mortals?"
"…No…"
"Of course not. Groudon and Kyogre are, and always will be, under solely my control. Those rocks exist merely because I needed a vessel for their souls to be stored. But that does not mean I wanted the rocks to be mined, to proudly be held up by humans in some grotesque exhibit of theirs. I put deterrents in place in stop them. When attacked, the rocks would attack back."
He mused for a second. "On reflection, I regret not making their retaliations stronger. See, I have observed humans for long enough to know what they desire. They want power, wealth, control over everything possible. Yet even I did not expect them to look at Groudon and Kyogre's fossils, with the war between them written in every one of their historic texts, and see only what humanity could gain from their living.
"Perhaps, human, you are not aware of the lengths your kind went to. Of how many Pokémon, driven to mindless obedience by the humans' training of them from their very hatching, went down into the sea – the sea that was dried up, killing thousands more Water Pokémon – and were grievously injured, all in an attempt to fulfil their masters' greed. It went on for moons without stopping. Oh yes, the humans had something – some useless space rock they found – that they attributed value to in the middle of all this. Perhaps that lunacy gave them the belief to continue their torture.
"One day, I decided it was enough. I would give them what they wanted. They would see where their obsession with controlling Pokémon would take them, when the most destructive pair ever to walk your earth laid waste to their little island. I knew what awakening Groudon and Kyogre would do to the Pokémon, too. All Pokémon, even the most gentle, have a permanent kind of rage held within… what you might call a 'wildness'. Pokémon brought up well are able to contain this… under normal circumstances.
"But Pokémon and nature are so closely intertwined, that when Pokémon lose their embrace with it, this rage bursts out of them. So it was when Groudon and Kyogre first rose." Rayquaza smiled again. "If you think you have seen extreme weather here, human, you are mistaken. The days after they woke were beyond comparison. That is what drove every Pokémon here to their current state. And once in that state, with the weather never settling… Pokémon will not recover unless it does.
"Alas, if I could have avoided harming Pokémon, I would. But the humans needed to be shown what would happen when the creatures they had manipulated for so long turned, so suddenly, against them."
Fen felt like the world around him was crumbling. He had feared before that Rayquaza was already aware of the fighting happening below them, and for some reason hadn't stopped it. But he had never even considered that Rayquaza himself could be responsible. It was worse than the worst-case scenario.
But he couldn't give up. Everyone was riding on this. The Pokémon of Kyunn, though they didn't know it. The survivors in Fallarbor. Most of all, the three Pokémon with him.
"You did this so that the humans would suffer," Fen said slowly. "But you've seen what's happening below us. Haven't we – humans and Pokémon – suffered enough already?"
At that Rayquaza lurched forwards again, extending his neck until his head was hardly a foot from Fen's.
"You are not the judge of anything, human," the Dragon spat. "I have been here from the moment Pokémon and human crossed paths for the first time. I will decide when they have suffered enough."
"But what's the point of suffering if you can't learn from it?" Fen countered. "Rayquaza, if this goes on much longer, there won't be any humans left in Hoenn at all! And the Pokémon, behaving as they are, will wipe each other out soon after that."
Rayquaza, who had retreated back to his throne, gave him a look that seemed equivalent to a shrug. "You are making judgements again. Besides, your kind are slow to learn. I have been fair."
Fen became aware of the flaring fire from his tail. "Why are you the only one who can judge, anyway? We only made it here thanks to Mesprit's help. She's been alive just as long as you, hasn't she? Yet she did all she could to try and stop the fighting. The same goes for the other guardians, Uxie and Azelf. So why do you–"
"Be quiet!" Fen could hear the angry breaths escaping Rayquaza's jaws. "I have nothing in common with those pathetic lake-dwellers. They think that eons of sleeping gives them some profound wisdom? No. As for you, human, no amount of pleading will help you. I have made my decision. You have already irritated me enough."
Strangely, Rayquaza hesitated after saying this, as if thinking about what to do.
"Rayquaza," Zephia said.
The Dragon grunted, turning to the Zoroark. "What?"
"I have a request," she said, sounding impossibly calm. "A different one."
"Too late! You already had your chance–"
"You'll reconsider when I tell you what it is."
Rayquaza paused, then snarled at her. "You dare play games with me, child?"
Zephia said nothing, her stony expression unwavering. Her defiance seemed to unnerve Rayquaza, for he did not argue either. Finally, he rasped, "Go on, then. Say it."
"We'll fight you. All four of us."
Fen stared at her, realising a second too late that Rayquaza would notice him. But he couldn't help it. Neither could Ryu or Savi. Zephia had surely gone insane. Challenging Rayquaza to a fight was the severely painful equivalent to challenging a Linoone to a footrace. Impossible.
Rayquaza looked stunned at first, then he started laughing. "In all my time here, no mortal has ever challenged me to a fight. I am happy to accept, though your friends appear to disagree."
"Good," Zephia said. "Here are the conditions. If you win, then you can do whatever you like with us. But if you lose–"
"Oh, child," Rayquaza interrupted, grinning. "There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity, you know. You stand no chance against me."
Zephia ignored him. "If you lose, you'll do as we ask. Do you accept?"
"Yes, I accept! I will take much pleasure in seeing you suffer." He glanced at Fen. "Especially this one. Let us begin, then. Right… now."
From his throne, Rayquaza waved an arm, and in an instant the calm, clear warmth of the clouds was gone. A gale brewed so sudden and fierce that it threw Fen off his feet. It felt like he'd walked under a waterfall, one that angled itself horizontally. The rain was impossibly thick, every droplet fist-sized. He was drenched the moment it started falling.
By the time he found some stability on all-fours, he had lost several metres of ground on Rayquaza. He turned left to find Ryu and Zephia in a similar position. They were fighting merely to stay where they were, let alone move forwards.
Even if we could move, what would we do? Attack Rayquaza? Rayquaza's the most powerful Pokémon alive; we wouldn't leave a scratch on him!
He screamed a curse into the sky. Of all the ways they could have failed, succumbing to an endless rain monsoon was one of the worst imaginable. He would keep trying, he would give everything he had until he was incapable of more, for they had come too far for anything less. But this, surely, was the end.
Zephia jerked an arm from her side and gestured that they come closer. But Fen gestured at himself, to say 'I can't!' His legs were already numb with pain. He was almost glad now to have experienced the trial with the canoe, for the pain was similar. Though even then, he'd had the help of–
Someone shouted beside him, then grabbed his hand. Savi.
"We can make it together," he said, having to scream himself over the elemental roar. "My vine's stronger than my paw, though."
Fen understood. He looked to Savi's bud and a vine shot out, just long enough for him to hold. Any greater length would have unbalanced them both.
Miraculously, having something to tug onto worked. Though he could still only crawl, they had only ever been paces from Ryu and Zephia, who stood together. Ryu held out a paw to Fen, and he could almost reach out and grab it–
Suddenly, the rain and wind shifted 90 degrees. Straight into his and Savi's faces. Fen lost balance, and the Ivysaur followed.
But then a clattering of limbs landed beside them. Ryu and Zephia had come to them, somehow.
Zephia addressed them at once. "To stand any chance, we'll have to move together."
"You think we have a chance?" Fen cried.
"Yes, I do! Rayquaza is… not as strong as he wants us to think."
Fen pulled a look of disbelief. "How do you...?"
Zephia gritted her teeth. "Hear me out. Why did he stop after saying he wasn't going to listen to you? Why didn't he just kill you? He was angry enough."
"There's… many possible reasons–"
"Okay – what about his size? What is he, the size of Shaice? That's nothing compared to Groudon and Kyogre. He's just a large Pokémon."
At that, Fen paused. She was right…
"And right now, he hasn't even left his stupid chair! If he's so powerful, he should be able to fight us himself, instead of this cowardly weather–"
Fen registered a tiny pop in the air; but if it wasn't for Ryu yanking him backwards, the warning wouldn't have mattered. A huge, wide lightning bolt pierced the space the four of them had just been. Zephia and Savi had managed to pull themselves away in time.
For a moment, there was no rain. The air was still. Fen looked up and saw Rayquaza wave his arm; then the wind turned shudderingly cold, and a thousand tiny hail bricks pounded them.
Zephia stomped back to them. She reached out and pulled Savi closer, as he was wincing from the ice.
"See, he can only control one type of weather at a time; that's another limitation we've got."
"How about a limitation that helps us win?" Savi cried.
Zephia didn't say anything, just looking pointedly at Ryu. The Lucario seemed to understand and began moving his arms… but in the wind, Fen wasn't sure what he was trying. It wasn't working. Eventually Ryu dropped onto his side, yelping in pain – the ground itself had turned hard as ice – and said to Fen, "Get the scarves out, would ya?"
There was no time for him to register surprise or consider how foolish he'd been to forget them. It was lucky that almost everything else in Ryu's bag had been depleted; it made the scarves easy to dig out, though his shivering hands were slow to get a good hold.
"If one of us can hit him, he might lose control of the weather," Zephia said. "That's what we've got to aim for right now." She frowned. "But… what do your scarves actually do?"
There was another pop. "Ryu!" Savi yelped.
Ryu looked up just as a gleaming, white-hot bolt descended straight into him.
Except… it didn't. The lightning hit something blue, but it wasn't his chest. It was like an invisible wall. The lighting squirmed and fizzled for a second, as if caught by surprise, but then dissipated into the air. The blue barrier disappeared the moment it stopped, and Ryu fell backwards, gasping.
Rayquaza made a rumble of discontent. "You will die a slow and painful death if you continue to merely stand there," he said, voice laced with derision. "Either face up to me or surrender!"
He waved a dismissive arm and the hail returned, somehow even thicker and heavier than before.
"Ryu," Savi said, his voice straining, "did your aura just…?"
"Block it? I… think so." Ryu managed a smile, getting back to his feet. "It's thinking faster than me."
"Can you do another barrier like that?" Savi asked, speaking with urgency. "Like, consciously?"
Ryu blinked. "It took a lot of energy, but I guess–"
"Could you put it around one of us?"
"I…" Ryu frowned. "I don't know, 'mon."
"We have the scarf – here, it's this one." Savi snatched the red material of the element scarf out of Fen hand to give to him. "This'll help."
Still, Ryu was unsure. "Will it give me enough energy…?"
"It basically made me Celebi. It should do."
But Ryu can't move with it on, Fen thought. He looked at Savi, suddenly the strategist; he had switched on his fighting mode at the right time. "You're thinking that one of us tries charging Rayquaza alone, with Ryu giving them a barrier?"
"If we only need one hit to stop the weather, then yeah, why not?"
"It's a good plan," Zephia agreed. "Fen, you're the fastest. Is there a scarf which makes you even faster?"
"The evasion scarf… but…"
Zephia had been about to speak, but his tone of doubt left her mouth hanging open. "But what?" she pressed.
Fen wasn't sure if they had gotten more used to the weather, or if Rayquaza had been easing off. In any case, a fresh ice-blast of wind hit him then, taking the words of reply from his mouth and sending him tumbling even further from the Dragon. Hitting the ice-coated ground only added to his pain.
Zephia tried to get him up again, but his body wanted to shut everything out. It was only when she slapped him around the face that he woke up again. She and Ryu seemed far more in control of themselves than he. A little distance away, Savi was trying desperately not to get pushed any further from them, digging his paws into what little grip the ground offered.
Fen had been about to highlight more precisely the drawbacks of the evasion scarf, but there was no point now. Rayquaza's impatience with them was clear. They had to attack while they still had a chance.
"There's no room for error," he told Zephia.
She grunted. "Well, can the third scarf help us too?"
"That's the…" Ryu paused, and Fen met his gaze. He knew that they were thinking the same thing.
"It's very powerful, but you'll kinda lose your mind if you wear it," Ryu told Zephia. "Maybe just hold onto it for now."
He passed the red scarf over, but Zephia hesitated. "There's no point in holding it. I may as well take the whole bag. Especially if you won't be able to move."
Ryu gave her the bag without argument – though removing it from his shoulders was a task in itself – and Zephia pre-tied the scarf to slip over her head. Her paws' dexterity when Fen couldn't feel his own fingers was remarkable.
"Ryu, sort out your barrier thing," she said. "I'll distract him."
"Distract…?" Ryu said, as Zephia stood up and turned to Rayquaza's throne. She placed herself so Rayquaza's view of Fen and Ryu was blocked.
"Is this the best weather you can do?!" she screamed.
Fen was about to crane his neck around her, but stopped himself. Rayquaza will hit us if he sees what we're planning, he realised. That's what she meant by distracting.
Sometimes, Zephia was so far ahead of them tactically that she seemed to forget that it wasn't a one-Pokémon game.
"Do the barrier, then," Fen repeated to Ryu, as Zephia shouted some more expletives he didn't take notice of. Ryu put the element scarf on, and his initial wide-eyed response was as Fen expected.
"Take my paws," Ryu said, a new assurance in his tone. Fen did so, and the Lucario closed his eyes.
Fen heard a roaring of Rayquaza's laughter, and the weather shifted from hail to a more powdery, blizzard-like snow. Even more difficult to see, or move–
Then he felt a sensation that was strangely like being wrapped in a film of plastic. It started from his hands, then spread quickly until his whole body, save for the fire on his tail, was inside the protective bubble.
Ryu stepped away from him, but still grimaced with strain. "It's done, but something's wrong… I can feel the barrier getting pushed against…"
Fen looked at his hand. Snow was bouncing off it. The barrier must already be in effect. It wouldn't last long in this weather.
He slipped on the evasion scarf and turned. Zephia and Savi looked significantly clearer, like he'd put on glasses.
"Zephia?" he said. The Zoroark was still facing Rayquaza. "I'm ready."
She glanced backwards. "I'll go with you. Two targets are harder to knock down than one." She glanced at Savi, who was still simply bracing himself against the new snowstorm. "Stay with Ryu."
Savi nodded and started inching in the Lucario's direction. Fen offered his arm to Zephia, which she accepted without hesitation. Then they set off.
They ran as fast as they could into the snow. Fen was quite amazed that Zephia could move forwards at all; as it was, running with her only slowed him a little, and made him feel far more assured about their mission.
Fen noticed Rayquaza's eyes lock onto them as they approached; before he could think, he yanked Zephia forwards with him as another flash of lightning came down.
Zephia screamed. In the brief lull of weather, the sound seemed magnified. As Fen looked back, he had to bite his own mouth to stop himself doing the same.
From below her right knee to the bottom of her foot, Zephia's leg fur had been completely seared off. The skin underneath it was burned a deep red.
The weather changed again. There was no rain, snow or hail this time, but the wind was stronger than ever.
Zephia rolled onto her front, then very slowly began pushing herself up. When she reached her burnt leg, she cried out again.
"Zephia, don't!" Fen said.
After a moment, she somehow stayed upright, and grimaced at him. "It's better than it looks."
"But your– better than it looks?! What does that mean?"
"It means–" She spat viciously, the contents of which disappeared immediately in the wind. Her mane was like a parachute behind her. "It means you're wasting time with me! You can move, can't you? Go!"
Fen looked forlornly at her, but knew he had no choice. He turned into the wind and started running again. It only held his boosted limbs back a little.
As he neared Rayquaza's throne, the Dragon finally uncoiled himself from it, and with a thrash of his tail kicked it far into the mist behind. He was within reach now, looking truly like the Rayquaza of myths; floating two feet from the ground, his body lifted straight behind him.
Why isn't he flying higher? Is the wind affecting him too? Fen could feel his mind going into overdrive with anxiety. Where should I hit him? What if he attacks first? What if he's too fast for me?
His eyes were drawn to Rayquaza's arms, the lowest part of him. That would have to do. He started drawing fire into his wrist, readied his legs for a leap. His focus meant that, even with the scarf, he didn't see the tail swoop until it was too late.
It sliced through the gale like it didn't exist: the fastest attack he had ever seen. But an inch from his neck, the tail stopped dead. Ryu's barrier lit up and pushed it back, sparks of aura flying off. For a frozen moment, Fen saw the tail's magnificence closer than surely any mortal had before; the thousands of tiny green scales, the razor-sharp fins at the tail's tip–
The barrier burst. Fen recoiled, but so did the tail. Rayquaza hesitated. It must've been a tiny pause in normal time, but the scarf took Fen beyond normal.
He changed plans. With one lunge forwards, he jumped towards the outstretched tail, moving so quickly that he barely had time to re-engulf his arm with fire. But he did. His right hand grabbed hold of one of the fins at the tail's end, and his left crunched into the base of it.
The dense scales didn't bend or smash, but Rayquaza roared at the impact. He swung his tail furiously, and Fen held on desperately for a moment, both hands clutching the fin, before realising what a bad idea that was.
Rayquaza realised too. The tail stopped moving, and Rayquaza's head bent around in front of him, jaws open and gathering heat. Fen shoved himself off just before the blast of dragon-fire could reach him.
But the ground was hard and unyielding, the pain of hailstones into his back magnified by the scarf. Ryu's barrier was definitely gone. Fen scrabbled to try and loosen the scarf, as Rayquaza loomed over him and gathered another mouthful of fire–
But, in concentrating on Fen, Rayquaza had forgotten the weather. Which meant that, though her leg was still burning, Zephia could find the strength to jump onto one of the sets of wings that hung from the Dragon's body. As her good foot dug into the scales for balance, her shadowy claws slashed at him faster than ever before. The surprise made Rayquaza twist around, losing control of his fire.
Now it was Zephia's turn to scramble away. Just as she freed her feet, Rayquaza's wing flicked upwards, throwing her into the air. She felt half her mane get sliced apart as the Dragon's claws raked across her, shoving her hard into the ground.
Her breath was knocked out of her, and she could only look hopefully behind them. But the hope wasn't misplaced. Savi and Ryu, now scarf-free, hared towards Rayquaza.
Ryu saw the alarm in the Dragon's eyes, as he tried to watch their approach while keeping track of Fen, who had backed away a few paces. Ryu wasn't sure himself what he and Savi would do, but it was best to look confident.
Suddenly Rayquaza's wings flexed and he moved away from them. At the wave of his arm, a new snowstorm started up. There was little wind on this one, just a monsoon of snow. Ryu gritted his teeth and kept moving; Rayquaza had come to a still, as he seemed to when controlling weather. But the Dragon suddenly let loose a jet of ice from his mouth. It sprayed in a semi-circle to target all of Ryu, Savi and Fen. Ryu had no time to dodge, nor Savi.
But Fen did. Though he winced as Ryu and Savi were glaciated, Rayquaza had telegraphed the attack as far as his scarf was concerned. He'd simply moved forwards under the blast, then moved straight back as it passed.
Rayquaza looked at the frozen 'mon for a second, then his head snapped back at Fen, the Dragon's jaws bared in fury. "ENOUGH OF YOUR MAGIC!" he roared, glaring at the scarf. "FIGHT ME WITH YOUR TRUE STRENGTH!"
Fen would struggle to remember the following moments even with a clear head. Rayquaza lunged headfirst at him, gaining an impossible velocity so quickly. Fen just rolled under him. As he did, he saw Rayquaza's tail scoop to try and catch him. Too close to get out of the way, he jumped towards the tail, using it to push off again.
With his back turned, Rayquaza lunged behind himself with an arm; Fen scrambled away on all-fours. Rayquaza's jaws moved towards his tail; some unknown muscular reflex jerked his tail away. Rayquaza paused, re-balanced himself and approached Fen once more. His body began a slight circular motion, then suddenly spun towards Fen like a spring. The attack was surprising even for Fen. He managed to somersault over the 'mon, but this move was a little too improvised. He flew out of control and landed flat on his back.
As he gasped for breath, Rayquaza loomed over him, snarling triumphantly. He forced his hand upwards to his neck, and with a final desperate effort wrenched the scarf away from it. Whatever's about to happen, he thought briefly, at least it won't hurt as much.
Rayquaza's tail kicked him into the air and away, like Ryu throwing a stone. Fen had intended to hold onto the scarf, but the impact took it from his grip immediately. His flight was so flat and so fast that he skidded for a few seconds on the hard ground before stopping. But he was lucky; Rayquaza had mainly caught his chest, and nothing important was broken. Though that still left a deep soreness in his bones, not to mention the freezing snow he had been covered with.
Ryu had thawed himself out of the ice just before Fen had been kicked. When Rayquaza turned his attentions to him, Ryu was struck by the 'mon's speed. It was slower, only by a fraction, but noticeable.
The weather was still too, which he assumed meant that Rayquaza wasn't controlling it. Ryu glanced at Savi beside him, who himself had just broken free of the ice. "Any ideas?" he said.
Savi looked at the element scarf in his paw. "Use this? We don't have anything else." Zephia was holding their bag, and Fen's scarf had been lost.
"Could you restrict Rayquaza with your vines?" Ryu asked.
Savi frowned. "I have no idea."
"Even just a little would be huge for us." Ryu didn't speak his biggest concern: We're already in a far worse shape than Rayquaza. I didn't expect to have any chance, so it's going better than that, but… we have to win this!
"If you distract him, I'll get around his other side and have time to put the scarf on there," Savi said.
Ryu nodded, and they began running in arcs around each of the Dragon's sides. But as Rayquaza weighed up them both, he focused immediately on Savi. "I told you, NO MAGIC!"
With a lash of his tail Rayquaza swatted Savi aside. The scarf fell from his grip and Rayquaza snatched it, then smouldered it with purple fire until it melted in his hand.
Amid the despair at what he saw, Ryu noticed an opening on his left. He sprinted towards the nearest piece of Rayquaza, one of his small wings. But as he was about to reach out a fist, Rayquaza swivelled impossibly fast, and suddenly he was facing the Dragon's mouth that was still holding its stream of fire.
Ryu screamed. It felt like he'd been dropped into a lava pool. He scrambled away and dropped to the ground as soon as he was beyond the fire, frantically rolling in the mercifully cold slush.
The fire didn't follow him, but he didn't dare look back at Rayquaza. He turned and searched for anything, anyone else, and found… Zephia. His mind had cast her aside after watching her leg get fried and body pummelled by their enemy.
She was on her feet now, gesturing furiously for him to come closer. Ryu eventually staggered over, seeing Zephia's bad leg hanging limply in the air; she was doing a good job of balancing without it.
"I've got an idea," she said.
"Really?" Ryu was genuinely surprised, but Zephia seemed to take it as sarcasm, judging from her irritated hiss.
"You can do a thing with physical attacks, can't you? Where you rebound onto the attacker."
Ryu looked gravely at her. "I'd already thought of countering. The problem is that Rayquaza could use his tail, or he could burn me. Only the first one would work. If I prepare a counter and he doesn't use something physical, I'll be finished."
"But he won't," Zephia said. "Have you noticed how he hates scarves? Fen and Savi have both lost theirs because Rayquaza was so determined to get them off."
It hadn't occurred to him, but Zephia's observation put the pieces together in his head. "Okay, so what?"
"He physically has to get them off you! If you're holding a scarf, he'll definitely slap it away, or something like that."
Ryu's eyes lit up; then dimmed. "We only have the mad scarf left though. I wouldn't trust myself to do anything with that, plus if we lost it–"
"No," Zephia interrupted. She grabbed hold of his arm, almost startling him, and stood so her back was to Rayquaza. "Watch this."
Ryu did so, and… he blinked. Dangling from his paw was a glowing white scarf. Bewildered, he reached out with his opposite paw–
"It's not real!" Zephia said quickly, swatting him away. "Don't touch it. It's a different kind of illusion. As long as we're in contact, the scarf will appear to everyone. Unless I get hurt, but that's irrelevant. All we need is to be attacked."
She glanced at Rayquaza, who was low to the ground. "He's not doing anything. He must be tiring already."
Ryu just nodded, amazed. At that moment he heard pawsteps from two directions. Fen and Savi were both reaching them, both moving with grimaces.
"What's happening?" Fen asked at once. His eyes burst open at the sight of the scarf. "What's–?!"
"Stay here!" Zephia barked, then threw Ryu's bag into Fen's hands. "Both of you."
Ryu shot Fen a hopeful look as he turned back to Rayquaza with the Zoroark. They ran towards him, and when the Dragon saw the scarf he didn't say a word, simply roaring with anger.
Ryu had been stilling himself for the counter as soon as the scarf was noticed, but it still took every ounce of focus not to bolt at the sight of the massive tail flying towards him. When it connected, there was a small, white eruption around him. Every one of his muscles felt like it was being ripped open. Zephia was thrown off him, despite the tail not touching her.
Yet he endured, knowing that failing now would surely end all their hopes. He screamed with agony, black spots appearing in his vision, his body begging for him to stop…
The tail recoiled. Ryu was engulfed in a whiteness so huge and harsh that it blinded him. But he knew where Rayquaza was.
Fen watched an alarm, even terror cross the great Dragon's face. When Ryu tackled him, it made a deafening bang, an explosion of light. Then a crash on the ground he could feel from metres away.
When the light cleared, Ryu was flat on his stomach, unmoving except for his twitching tail. But Rayquaza was on his stomach too. His eyes remained open, but he was down.
Fen and Savi exchanged a glance. We can do this, Fen thought, for the first time. He ran forwards with Savi to where Zephia was picking herself up. She too wore a look of delighted surprise.
"Give me that," she said, gesturing to the bag.
Fen did so, before he could think about it. "Wait, why–"
She pulled out their final scarf, the real scarf, and gave him an urgent, 'yes or no?' kind of look.
Fen still didn't understand how she wasn't writhing in pain from her burnt leg. But he conceded that there would probably never be a better time, or Pokémon, to wear this scarf. Ahead, Rayquaza now seemed unable or unwilling to fly, simply propping himself up with his arms. His eyes still burned with anger. He wasn't finished yet.
"Can you fight?" he asked Zephia.
"You know I can."
"What about you, Savi?"
The Ivysaur grimaced. "Well enough?"
It echoed Fen's own thoughts. That'll do. "We'll attack as one, then. And, yes," he nodded to Zephia, "put it on. But…"
From some deep reserve of energy, he found the strength to think. "Give Savi and I... a moment to approach first," he said. "We'll distract him from you."
Zephia nodded, then seemed to give the smallest of smiles. "Go, then," she said. "I'm ready."
Fen and Savi ran at him. Fen spat the strongest flamethrower he could at Rayquaza's left, while Savi sent a barrage of seed pellets at his right, at least a dozen a second, which exploded as they hit.
Rayquaza screeched in anger, and his mouth filled with more purple flames. But the instant his jaws opened, they were forced shut again. Newly scarf-clad, Zephia leapt onto his head, claws practically dripping with the shadowy aura she commanded, and she slashed furiously at Rayquaza's face. The Dragon writhed his head in defence, but Zephia managed to grab onto one of the rudder-like wings above it. She bit into the base of it, and Rayquaza screeched twice as loud as before.
The sight in front of Fen and Savi was so remarkable that they paused for a moment. Then Fen averted his gaze and saw Rayquaza's arms visibly shaking under the weight of his huge frame. "Go for these!" he told Savi, gesturing.
He gave as many fire punches as he could manage to Rayquaza's left. Savi assaulted the Dragon's right with more seeds, before throwing his whole weight into it for good measure.
Fen heard a cry from Zephia, then a thud on the ground. A moment later, Rayquaza's arms shuddered, and the arm closest to Savi collapsed. The Dragon began falling. Savi's vines shot out, Fen grabbed them instinctively, and pulled with all his remaining energy. It was just enough to haul Savi to the side of the collapsing body, and then scramble away for good measure. The ground shook again when Rayquaza fell. He didn't move.
Zephia had ended up by their side. By the way she was wheezing, bloody and with several chunks of fur missing, it wasn't by choice. She still wore the scarf, so Fen leant over and yanked it off her head before she could notice. Zephia's pupils constricted, she looked at him briefly, astonishment and confusion on her face, then sank to her knees.
Fen heard pawsteps beside him. Ryu could hardly stand himself, but he looked at them with a weary, disbelieving smile as if to say, 'We did it.'
Then there was a quiet groan. With some effort, Rayquaza flicked his head up at them. Spittle sprayed from his jaws as he tried to speak.
"You… you cannot… YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!"
The four wings on his head suddenly glowed white. Then with one great flex of his body, he jumped into the air, smashing headfirst into the ground as he landed.
It created an earthquake. In that moment, all Fen could do was try to endure the pain and panic that came with it.
Savi, however, could see more. He saw the centre of the cloud-like floor splinter and then break apart from Rayquaza's impact, chunks of hail and slush falling through. And next to him he saw Zephia, still dazed from all her injuries, standing right where the rift was about to reach.
Savi just had time to throw both his vines out and wrap them around the Zoroark. What he didn't have time for was to pull her safe.
Zephia seemed to realise just as the ground parted what was happening, but her desperate scrabbling was too late. She fell, taking the vines with her. Savi screamed, jamming his claws into the ground desperately, and they managed to hold right at the edge of the rift. He looked down and saw endless, endless sky beyond Zephia and his vines. Who knew how far up they were? How long the fall to earth would take…?
He stood there stranded for a few moments before hearing Fen's voice behind him, faint and shaking almost to the point of incomprehensibility.
"If I pull you," Fen managed to say, "could you lift her out?"
Savi didn't have time to consider the odds. It was a matter of seconds before he'd lose Zephia. "I don't know, but try."
Fen saw no need to reply either. He tried to steady his spinning vision enough to be sure he had a good hold on the Ivysaur's back. "Okay… now!"
Giving Savi a yank, the Ivysaur used the momentum to throw his vines into the air, flinging Zephia upwards. The angle was just great enough to make her safe; Zephia had to scramble her legs away from the rift as she landed. All of them lay down then, including Ryu, who looked between them quite disbelievingly.
As did Zephia. "T-thank you," she gasped at Fen and Savi.
Fen looked back to Rayquaza warily, praying against another surprise attack. Despite their cumulative exhaustion, Ryu very slowly got up and started approaching the Dragon again.
"Don't attack!" Rayquaza said suddenly. His eyes were wide, and voice hoarse and cracked with pain. Ryu stopped at once, stunned.
Rayquaza breathed heavily for a few moments. "I… should not have risen to your request. I did not think that, already… I thought it would be much longer before I became inadequate…"
Fen frowned. It sounded like Rayquaza was rambling. "What do you mean?" he said, putting on his strongest voice.
Rayquaza took a long time to reply. "My strength comes from the sky, nanoparticles in the ozone layer," he said. "Groudon and Kyogre are disturbing this. In this way, their fighting… it affects me as much as you mortals. I knew that, but sitting up here I had underestimated how much power I had already lost."
So Zephia was right… about pretty much everything. They had not taken down the real Rayquaza, not really. But what they had defeated had agreed to a deal with them. Fen struggled to find much sympathy for the Dragon's own arrogance.
"You agreed to this fight," he said. "And since we won, you have to calm Groudon and Kyogre."
"That… that is the problem," Rayquaza croaked. He looked up, straight into Fen's eyes. They were not commanding any more. "They only listen to me if I have transformed myself into my most primal form. But the transformation requires energy. Energy that has been fought out of me."
The weight of his words slowly began to hit Fen. "But… you'll recover, won't you? You're not grievously injured…"
Rayquaza's look told him the answer. "I would recover, but Groudon and Kyogre still fight. The scales are not tipped in my favour. I can only grow weaker." The Dragon's great head slumped to the ground. "I still believed I was in control. Perhaps the pain I felt simply escalated my determination to continue to spite your world, to punish… and I took things too far."
"But you're – you're Rayquaza!" Zephia said. There was a fear, a panic in her voice that Fen had never heard before. "There must be something you can do! You can't just… just die! Not now!"
"There is nothing to be done," Rayquaza said, almost whispered. He closed his eyes. "I have made a terrible, terrible mistake… if only I had realised… before it was too late…"
Rayquaza lay still. The four Pokémon looked at each other. They were unable to find words.
Rayquaza may have been growing weaker, Ryu thought, and he may have refused to put an end to his own mess... but we've killed him. We killed the only thing that gave us any hope.
He screwed his eyes shut. No, he thought desperately. He can't die. He can't die! He can't−
Ryu was bawling. Partly from the cuts on his arms where he'd been caught by thorns, and the dull aching on the back of his head, but also from fear. In the darkness, all he could imagine was that purple, floating, evil face appearing in front of him again. Screaming.
He was held tightly in his father's paws, as the Lucario's feet darted up the mountain slope to their cave. Rycaro had whispered a few words of comfort as he had run through the Forest, which had helped a little, but not sufficiently.
Finally, they arrived back in the cave. Home. His mother was over to them at once, and Ryu was passed over to her. She laid him gently on his bedroll.
"Oh dear," she murmured, looking over his arms. "Where does your head hurt, Ry?"
Ryu tried to motion with a paw, but couldn't reach. "It's just here," Rycaro said, touching a bumpy-feeling area on the back of his head.
Arcia nodded, then her paws started glowing. Ryu instinctively let out a little whimper.
"It's alright, pet," she said soothingly. "This will ease the pain."
She put her hands where his head hurt, and Ryu suddenly felt a great heat flow through him, like the warmth of a hug, or of sitting next to a fire on a bitter day. The pain gradually melted away with it, and he felt much better. His mother was smiling adoringly up at him.
"Do you need any help?" Rycaro asked, motioning to Ryu's arms.
"His cuts are only little, so I wouldn't think so," Arcia replied, then added with a chuckle, "Hold me if I look faint, though."
They both laughed at that, and Ryu did too, though only because he wanted to join in. His mother's paws glowed again, and the cuts slowly faded until barely an outline was visible. The relief was wonderful. As the last of them was healed, he sighed contentedly and closed his eyes, only vaguely aware of his mother almost losing her balance over him.
As the memory faded, Ryu felt like a different Pokémon. Suddenly, there was something he could do. He'd forgotten that that ability of his parents even existed. He had never asked them about it.
But that worried him. That memory was the only time he could ever remember it being used; not even with any of his siblings. If that was the case, why? Why had the ability been withheld when it seemed so miraculous? More importantly… how did Arcia do it? She used her aura to heal him. That was a big difference from throwing it at someone, or creating a barrier. He knew what he wanted to do, could see his paws gain that pink light in his mind, but…
There was no time for doubt. He looked at Rayquaza again, but nothing new came to him.
C'mon, he thought, gritting his teeth. What does saving Rayquaza's life mean? Why is it so important?
There were so many reasons. Stopping Groudon and Kyogre. Calming the Pokémon of Hoenn – and those of Kyunn, if they had become the same. Giving him a chance of seeing his family again. Saving the rest of the world from all manner of destruction and death.
And, on the most basic of levels, this was what he and Fen had struggled for almost from the very start. His friend had overcome unimaginable traumas just to make it this far with him. They were not, after all of that,about to watch their last shred of hope fade away in front of them–
Then he felt it. A different kind of heat in his paws. That pinkish light glowing within. It was startlingly intimate, like this aura really was him, more so than ever before.
He heard nothing as he walked forwards. The rest of the world had been passed aside. He looked up at Rayquaza's huge figure and a jolt of panic passed through him. He almost lost the energy. Rayquaza was not a scared child with a bump on his head… but no, that was irrelevant. He could only give what he had.
He put his paws on Rayquaza's head and started pushing the energy onto him. Rayquaza's eyes opened almost at once, staring at him. But Ryu couldn't let himself lose focus. He kept pushing, feeling himself weaken, until… until–
"T-take him!" Rayquaza cried at the three of them. "Take him off me, now!
Startled, Fen leapt forwards and pulled Ryu away. His paws stopped glowing at once, and he fell limply into Fen's arms.
"Ryu?" Fen said. "Ryu!"
The Lucario's eyes were closed. But Fen heard a soft breath from him, and practically sagged in relief. At least he was alive.
Fen looked back at Rayquaza. "W-what just happened?"
Rayquaza looked almost as surprised as him. "Your Lucario… wanted to give his own strength for my own." His voice was firm again, though he also seemed quite lost for words. "If he had kept going, I fear he would have killed himself trying. I wish his sacrifice could be worthwhile... but one mortal's strength is far from the energy that I require."
Fen's heart sank again. Ryu's efforts were not enough. Just how Ryu had known to do such a thing was impossible enough in itself. For some reason, Fen was reminded of finding Mesprit at the beach in Lilycove, when simply touching her released energy that he had never knowingly had access to. Sadly, he knew that, after he'd wanted to save Ryu after the Scyther attack and been unable to, he would never have that kind of power again…
He stopped. I don't have that kind of power… but Mesprit does. Uxie and Azelf, too.
"Rayquaza," he said carefully. "Are you able to get to Sky Pillar from here?"
Rayquaza blinked. "We sit directly above Sky Pillar," he said. "Why?"
"Mesprit is there. She's in contact with Uxie and Azelf too. They… have energy, do they not? Energy to heal you with?"
Rayquaza's eyes widened; he understood. Then they were drawn to the crack running through the room, which his own earthquake had opened.
"I cannot fly you down there," he said. "But I think I can fall in the right place." He half-squirmed, half-crawled across the ground, using his arms for support. The others followed, Fen gingerly carrying Ryu, until they all stood in front of the abyss.
Rayquaza made his body almost flat. "My wings will give the best protection," he said, coughing as his voice almost failed. "If I cannot explain the situation to Mesprit, one of you must do so. This fall will hurt me the most, as long as you hold on."
Fen felt a nudge. "I'll hold onto him," Savi said, gesturing to Ryu. Once they were on Rayquaza, Savi wrapped his vines tightly against one of the wings above Rayquaza's head, with Ryu squeezed in between them. Fen took hold of the other head wing, while Zephia gripped the next wing down of many on the Dragon's body.
Rayquaza gave them a glance, and when they nodded, he pushed his arms away into the gap. Then, they were falling.
Rayquaza started nearly vertical. But for his hands on the wing, Fen's body was hopelessly airborne, disconnected from the world. At first, he saw nothing below them but clouds, felt nothing but the wind breaking their fall. Some time later – it felt like hours – shapes of sea and land appeared. Rain began hitting them.
As they continued to plummet, Rayquaza lowered his head and moved his tail horizontal with it. Their fall began to slow, and Fen felt a little more secure in his grip. But then the ground approached all too quickly. He could see the shapes of Groudon and Kyogre in the distance, and the huge waves the sea was throwing up, and below them–
Rayquaza smashed into the spire of Sky Pillar. The old rock didn't hold up, crumbling beneath them. Fen fought to keep his grip, before one particularly great convolution threw him off. He screamed…
But barely fell at all before hitting the ground. He was on land, the thin rock platform that led up what was the spire. The sea was either side of him, but by some miracle he'd missed it. He looked behind him; Rayquaza and the spire remains were covered in a dust so thick that almost nothing could be seen of them.
"Fen?"
He had never been so glad to hear a telepathic voice.
Mesprit looked quite astonished to see him. She was dripping with water, and the pinkness she had radiated previously was dimmer. "What's… how did you–"
Fen tried to reply telepathically, then realised with a jolt that he no longer could. "I'll explain later," he said, though the dust made him wheeze a little. "Are you still in contact with Uxie and Azelf?"
"I can reach them telepathically, if that is what–"
"Good. We need your help. Rayquaza's dying." He couldn't say the words fast enough.
Mesprit stared at him. "You mean, the changing weather is–"
"Yes! He can't calm Groudon and Kyogre!"
Mesprit took a moment's pause. "I understand," she said. Then without another word, she vanished into the rain.
Just then, Fen heard a distant calling from where Rayquaza was falling. He stumbled back towards the dust and heard his own name. "Fen… Fen! FEN!"
Fen didn't want to risk his voice again, but he couldn't see Savi either. They ended up finding each other at the same time. "Here I–"
The dust turned his words into coughs almost immediately. Savi grinned, and wisely chose not to reply. Despite lying flat on his stomach, he didn't look in serious pain. Zephia too was no more hurt than before, but Fen's smile dropped at the reminder of Ryu, still unconscious, sprawled across her body.
Then there was Rayquaza in the centre of all of them. His eyes were very slightly open, but he didn't move. The end of his tail was bobbing in the sea, too long for the platform.
Fen turned behind him, just as a trio of pink, yellow and blue figures shimmered into view. The rain seemed to have driven some of the dust away now; they saw him at once.
"Oh my," Azelf murmured, as they flew towards them. "This will take some doing…"
"You can help him, can't you?" Savi asked.
Mesprit looked over Rayquaza, then addressed the Ivysaur. "We will manage, Savi, don't worry about that…" Her eyes were drawn to the 'mon Zephia held. "What happened to Ryu? Is he alive?"
Her fear and bluntness startled Fen. "He was tr-trying to heal Rayquaza himself," he said. "I pulled him away before he could… exhaust himself any more."
Mesprit hovered closely over him. "A heal pulse, hm… and he has never created one before…" She turned to Fen. "He merely seems to be in light sleep, nothing worse. You did well to stop him."
Fen was about to say, 'it was only because Rayquaza told us to,' but then Mesprit exclaimed again. "Zephia, your leg!"
Zephia looked down at it herself. "It does hurt," she confirmed. Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you worrying about me...?"
"I… right, of course," Mesprit said, seemingly flustered. She refocused on Rayquaza with her sisters, hovering over him. Fen noticed how much dimmer Mesprit's body was compared to the other guardians.
The three of them murmured some words in a language Fen didn't understand. Then as Mesprit stayed back, Uxie and Azelf flew lower until their hands were on the Dragon's head.
Their whole bodies started glowing yellow and blue respectively, and the auras seemed to melt into Rayquaza from their hands. At first nothing seemed to happen. Then Fen noticed the guardians' bodies losing colour like Mesprit; and simultaneously Rayquaza was gaining it. His scales' green started to glow again, and his eyes opened wider, looking between the two tiny Pokémon with wonder.
Rayquaza lifted his body off the ground, but still they continued. Then they began straining; their bodies shook as they continued to pour energy into the Dragon, and Fen thought he even heard grunts of effort from them. Mesprit flew forward and put her hands between them both, and her own pink glow joined the fading others.
The yellow marks on Rayquaza's scales started crackling. The wings on his head became sharper and longer. He suddenly spat a single word. "STOP!"
Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf had just enough time to disconnect themselves before Rayquaza flung himself upwards from them. Uxie and Azelf fell all the way to the ground and stayed there, and while Mesprit fell too, she could still stand.
"Guardians!" Rayquaza's voice was suddenly a notch deeper and stronger than it had ever been. The slowness of his speech suggested he was quite unused to it too.
He looked to address the three guardians, but upon seeing the states of Uxie and Azelf, focused solely on Mesprit. "What you have done is a debt that I will never be able to repay you for, and that shames me. It was a long time ago that I cast you away from me, and now I see that I was wrong. So from this day, I will hold no barriers to you, nor any other of our kind. Hopefully that will prevent mistakes like mine ever being made again."
"Appreciated," Mesprit rasped, leaning heavily on some rubble.
Rayquaza turned to Fen, Savi, Zephia and Ryu. "You four may be mortals, but your actions today were of a bravery and determination that I had not seen in many eons... for that, all I can give is my admiration. Given how catastrophic my intervention on your kind almost was, I will leave your fates to yourselves from now." He gave Fen a glance. "But I hope humanity will learn as much from this as you believe, Fen."
Then he addressed them all. "You cannot stay here. I can take you to whichever safe place you like. Kyunn is your home, yes?"
"No!" Mesprit said at once. "Take us directly north, to the edge of Hoenn."
"W-what?" Savi said. "Mesprit, why would–"
"Savi, listen to me," Mesprit said. Despite her weakness, and how much it pained her to speak, her voice had a steeliness to it. "Rayquaza, there will be a Salamence and Floatzel on the beach. Land us as close to them as you can."
The words were such a surprise that it took Fen a moment to make sense of them. His heart filled with elation. Savi's expression, and even the little smile Zephia wore told the same story. They're alive…
"Very well," Rayquaza said.
He moved further from them, then the yellow sparks on his scales suddenly expanded into an explosion of light. When it cleared, the Dragon was unimaginably huge, practically the length of all of Sky Pillar. Ribbons of white light trailed from his head-wings, and his scales were patterned with such a dazzling array of black and gold that it would have taken hours to admire them properly.
He made a circular motion with his hands. "Gather here," he said. Now his words reverberated from every direction, rumbling like thunder.
"Wait!" Savi cried. "Rayquaza, can I… ask one more question?"
Rayquaza's eyes narrowed. "What?"
"You said you can see down below us… how is Kyunn? And Sanguin Town? The l-loved ones we have there, are they okay?"
Rayquaza gave him such a cynical look that Fen was worried for a crazy moment that he would change his mind again. "I do not have time–"
"I know," Mesprit wheezed. "Savi, Sanguin Town is a wreck, most of the north is, and many Pokémon are desperately hungry, or injured; but they are alive. And they will recover, now."
"How… how do you know this?" Savi stuttered.
Mesprit gestured to Azelf's body. "I sent her to look, while you were in the fortress. I was just as worried as you." She smiled grimly. "You were up there for almost a day, you know."
Zephia limped over to the position Rayquaza marked, Savi helped her take Ryu, Fen carried Uxie and Azelf, and Mesprit was already there.
Rayquaza picked them all up in some scoop of his arms. His hands closed, putting them in complete darkness, other than Fen's tail. "Brace yourselves," Rayquaza said. Then he moved.
With nothing to hold, they were thrown helplessly into the front of his grip, making a heap. But only for a second, after which they stopped moving just as suddenly, and fell backwards the other way.
"That was fast," Savi murmured, then made a wheezing sound that might have been a laugh. No-one had even had time to cry out.
Zephia groaned. "Does that bastard realise I've got a broken leg…?"
"Here," Rayquaza said above them. Fen heard the arms brush sand, then they gently opened.
In the lashing rain, the dim, grey sky, he would never forget looking up to the sight of Faoz, without her floatation sac, fur ragged from a combination of starvation and sleep deprivation. She dropped to her knees, eyes welling up at once. Behind her, Shaice's wings had so many cuts around the edges that they were more akin to a pair of torn, broken kites than something that could lift a creature of his magnitude. But he smiled at them too, and his face at least was not so misshapen.
"All of you," Faoz gasped. "I… I never thought…" She stopped to wipe her eyes. "Oh, this is silly, isn't it? I've barely known you…"
Before anyone could reply, a crack behind Fen made them whip their heads around. Rayquaza flew like a green-and-gold lightning bolt. He stopped at two distant glows of red and blue in the sea, hovered above them, and roared.
In response, Groudon and Kyogre loosed torrents of fire and water into both sides of Rayquaza. So powerful were the attacks that Rayquaza disappeared from view. Fen found himself holding his breath as the two gods' attacks did not relent.
Then there was a flash of gold; the attacks broke off and Groudon and Kyogre recoiled a step. Rayquaza remained between them, but now his body radiated so much glowing energy that it barely resembled its serpentine shape. He lifted his ribbons of light into the air and brought his whole body down into the sea between the gods, making an explosion that swallowed all three Pokémon.
When the dazzling light cleared, Groudon and Kyogre were still standing, but the yellow energy glowing from them had vanished. Rayquaza made a gesture, and they obediently moved closer to the Dragon until his arms could grip them.
For one second, Rayquaza looked back across the sea to their watching party. Then, after checking he had Groudon and Kyogre under control, the three of them disappeared in one more flash of light.
The rain suddenly stopped, as if a tap had been pulled. Silence fell on them. It felt like the first time in weeks there had been one.
"Is Ryu okay?" Faoz asked, gesturing to his still-unconscious self. "It is Ryu, isn't it?"
"He is fine, yes," Mesprit said. "Just exhausted."
Faoz nodded, apparently undeterred by the Psychic 'mon's presence. "Zephia?" she asked next, in a tone that implied both 'are you Zephia?' and 'are you alright?'
"I got off lucky, Faoz," Zephia answered dismissively.
Then Faoz noticed, for they were easily missed in the dusk, Uxie and Azelf's bodies on the sand. "Are… are they–!"
"As with Ryu, my sisters will live, Faoz," Mesprit said.
Faoz allowed herself a smile. "I'm glad." She did not press them any further.
For some time they just laid there – Fen could not have said whether it was for 10 minutes, or several hours. The rain clouds cleared, and it became still and warm, a warmth that for once was not overwhelming. He slowly worked backwards from the last calendar date he remembered, eventually concluding that they were currently somewhere in June. Which meant this weather made perfect sense. At last.
"H-hello?"
The sound of an entirely new voice almost made Fen jump out of his skin. It belonged to a Manectric, though he nearly didn't recognise the species. The little fur still left on her stomach didn't hide any ribs, and her bony legs trembled as she stood.
As they turned simultaneously to her, she gasped and skittered backwards a few paces. But after none of them made a further move, she swallowed and stepped closer again. "You… you're not… mad, are you...?" She hung onto the last words, as if afraid to even say them.
"I don't know about mad," Faoz said, but paused – the Manectric whimpered the moment she spoke. When the Electric 'mon didn't move away further, Faoz smiled and added, "But we wouldn't ever think of attacking you, no."
The Manectric looked at her, still unsure. In reply, Faoz reached behind her back and pulled something from her tail. It was short but thick, had visible teeth marks in, and white fibres coming out from both ends. "Chew on this," she said. "It's not food, but it'll help you."
"She is right," Mesprit added, at the Electric 'mon's hesitation. The Manectric's eyes widened at the sight of such a small, odd-looking Pokémon, but after a moment's more thinking, she leant over Faoz and picked up the root in her mouth.
Fen had no idea what it was, but despite it not giving an inch under the Manectric's gnawing, her shoulders seemed to loosen at the action. "What's your name, Manectric?" Fen asked.
She paused chewing. "Manectric."
Fen frowned. "Trainer's name?"
Manectric looked at him a little oddly, but nodded.
Fen understood; not everyone gave names to their Pokémon. He spoke carefully. "Manectric, were you… 'mad', before just now?"
"You mean, before that happened?" Manectric gestured out to sea.
"You saw that?"
Manectric gave him a shaky smile. "It was Rayquaza, wasn't it?"
"I… yes," Fen said, then added, "we think so." Manectric seemed unaware of the role they had played in Rayquaza's intervention. It seemed easier to keep things that way.
Manectric nodded. "Well... I know I hadn't been myself. The ground has been so unstable all the time, I've hardly been able to move for…" She paused, then shook her head. "I don't know. I was playing dead, because there was nothing else I could do… but when I heard a roar coming from this way, something told me I needed to see it, despite how awful I felt, so I got myself up and…" She looked helplessly at Fen, tears in her eyes, as if it were impossible to explain. "I feel better now than I have in so many days… even given the hunger…"
Fen's heart leapt. She's really back to normal. "Don't worry, you're safe now," he said. "We all are."
Manectric gave him a curious look, but as she opened her mouth something caught her eye behind him. "Tales?" she gasped, barely audible. Then she bounded past them. "Ninetales!"
A golden-coloured Pokémon was standing a few metres away. Though as ragged in fur as the Electric 'mon, he looked a little healthier than her. At the sound of Manectric's voice, he growled and spun around to them, fire already gathering in his mouth. Savi yelped in fear, and Fen's heartrate tripled.
But then Ninetales' eyes found Manectric. The fire disappeared, and his whole body shuddered for a moment. "Manectric," he said, as if he couldn't believe it. He shook his head. "Manectric, I… gods, I am so sorry… what happened to you?"
"I could ask the same," Manectric said, her voice cracking with emotion and laughter. "Where have you been?"
Ninetales choked out a laugh of his own. "Never mind that," he said. The two of them walked a little to reach each other. Ninetales gave their group a cautious look for a moment, but it softened when he turned back to Manectric, and the two of them suddenly slumped onto the sand, embracing each other.
It wasn't just them. Up and down the beach, though it was only a smattering, there were Pokémon. Some stood alone, some furtively exchanged words with each other, and others still were clumsily embracing, just as the two 'mon before had. All appeared quite stunned to be there, and many were looking disturbingly at the wreckage of the city they had left. But none of them fought.
For so long they had been battling wearily against the weather, against other Pokémon, against the threat of starvation, that Fen had barely considered what the true goal of this had been, the one thing that mattered above everything. But now, watching this scene of dozens of different species, he understood. Pokémon could regain control of themselves. It was a beautiful sight.
His thoughts were distracted by a rustling of fur. Ryu propped himself up in the sand, blinking sleepily.
"W-what happened?" he mumbled. He looked dimly around at Fen, then to the vast, now empty sea, then at Faoz and Shaice. He did this several times, as if trying in vain to make sense of it.
"Did we… do it?" he asked finally.
Fen couldn't suppress a grin, such was his relief to see the Lucario awake. "Yeah," he said. "Rayquaza's calmed Groudon and Kyogre. Everything's stable again."
Ryu remembered nothing of the events after his own intervention on Rayquaza, so they relayed the crucial details to him. He couldn't hide his envy at having missed so much.
Later, Faoz explained how she and Shaice had stayed alive, with a significant help from the roots she had found underwater in a lake. Hoenn's other Water Pokémon had been apparently unaware of their healing benefits when chewed, but she remembered them from an adventure with Shaice many moons ago. It meant that when Uxie had met them the previous day, while Fen's party were in the fortress, they were already well enough to fly to Lilycove.
The rest of their day was spent entirely on the beach, and many of Lilycove's Pokémon had the same idea, though they kept peacefully to themselves. As the day wore into night however, a different, new thought entered Fen's head. It was a simple one, but the doubt and worry it created grew so quickly that he soon felt no happiness at all for what they had done. When Faoz raised the idea of leaving Hoenn in the morning after a good rest, which was quickly agreed upon, the worry only intensified. He was glad for the darkness around them, preventing anyone seeing him and asking what was wrong. He curled up to sleep as soon as it was acceptable.
Because in stopping Groudon and Kyogre, they had achieved what he'd been striving for almost from the moment he'd woken up in Cheri Forest. From before he'd known anything about himself, or Mesprit, or even Hoenn. Now, it was all over. That left only one question.
What now?