Chapter 28

Sacrifice

Katara and Alistair stared down the Legendary Titans as they recovered from the duo's surprise attack. The three golems, free of their stupor, seemed to glare at the duo, their 'eyes' flashing in apparent anger.

"We will have to be cautious," Alistair said sagely. "We may have the advantage in terms of typing, but they are legendaries and we a down one ally."

Katara withheld a wince and unconsciously glanced behind her at Leaf's frozen form. There was little doubt that the grass type would not last very long like he was. The needed to end the fight so they could free him. With a somber nod, Katara prepared herself for the imminent fight.

"Good," Alistair nodded in response and turned back to the now advancing trio. "Here they come!"

Regirock reached the trio first and swung its arm at them, its body alight with the blue energy of superpower. Both Pokémon leapt out of the way as the stone golem's arm smashed into the ground, clumps of dirt and other debris flying in every direction.

Landing lightly, Katara kicked off the ground and towards the rock type. Just as the the golem was raising its head, Katara was descending upon it, her hands engulfed in a sky blue energy. Slashing down with her hands, Katara slashed at the legendary with two vicious aerial ace attacks. Knowing that the attack did not do much, Katara followed up with a powerful hydro pump that pushed Regirock off balance.

At the same time, Alistair had engaged both Regice and Registeel in combat. With his type advantage, the graying Lucario was able to fight against the two titans to a standstill. With a war cry, the elder Lucario struck at Registeel with a force palm, causing the steel golem to stumble back. Without missing a beat, Alistair dodged Regice's ice beam and rebutted with an aura sphere. With a shrill cry, Regice fell back, but soon came back along with its steel counterpart.

Releasing a series of robotic beeps, Registeel's body took on a bright glow as it raised its hands up. A ball of steel energy formed in between the golem's hands and seemed to absorb the light that had been surrounding Registeel. With a low blast of metallic sound, Registeel released the glowing orb and sent it hurtling towards the Lucario.

Eyes narrowed, Alistair formed another aura sphere and fired it at the metal burst. The two attacks met in the air, creating a large explosion that wafted over the nearby area. Squinting, Alistair stared at the smoke, waiting for Registeel to emerge, but, instead of the steel golem, an ice beam shot through the smoke at alarming speeds. Caught off guard, Alistair had just enough time to lean to the side as to not take a direct hit. Instead, his left arm was hit by the beam and encased in ice.

Hissing in pain and surprise, Alistair instinctively grabbed his frozen limb, just as Registeel burst through the smoke, its body engulfed in the bright silvery light from its iron head. Just as the attack was about to make contact, a torrent of water cut through the air and slammed into Registeel's side, sending it off course and causing it to smash into the ground beside Alistair.

"Thanks," Alistair said gratefully before smashing his frozen arm against Regice as it tried to creep up on him. The ice around the fighting-steel type's arm shattered, allowing for the Lucario to hit the Regice with a force palm, using his now free arm.

"No problem!" Katara called back, not taking her eyes off her current quarry.

Said Pokémon roared mechanically in what Katara assumed was anger. From the ground, several large stones erupted forth, floating dangerously around its head. The golem swung its arms forward, the stones mirroring the golem's movement, racing towards Katara who nimbly flipped out of the way.

Regirock roared again, summoning more stones that, like their predecessors, raced towards the acrobatic ninja frog. Faced with the storm of stones, Katara had nowhere to run to. With no other option, Katara narrowed her eyes and leapt towards the barrage of rocks.

In a display of incredible acrobatics, Katara jumped from rock to rock, avoiding damage and closing the distance between her and the rock titan. If a golem could show surprise, Regirock would be flabbergasted as Katara had, not only avoided its attack, but was now right above it.

Katara, now basically flying right above the legendary, brought her hands to her side. She meant to form a water pulse, but instead of forming a sphere, the water flattened itself, becoming more like a discus. Four sharp points extended from the disk, forming a shuriken. Confused, but unwilling to back out of her attack, Katara threw her new attack at the stone golem, smiling in satisfaction when the attack left a long gash across the legendary's front.

Regirock cried out in pain, its fingerless hands fumbling helplessly across its cut. To caught up in its own pain, Regirock did not see Alistair running towards it until the Lucario had already raked over its stone skin with a metal claw. The Regirock fell forward slightly, caught off guard by Alistair's attack, and fell right on top of Alistair's paw as he used force palm.

A flash of light engulfed the rock type's upper body and Regirock was flung backwards. With a ground shaking crash, Regirock tumbled to the ground, landing flat on its back. It gave of a week series of beeps before its 'eyes' dimmed. The darkness that had once consumed the legendary wafted off its form, curling into the sky like a smoke cloud before fading, leaving Regirock out cold, its colors a light gray and orange.

"That's one down," Katara said, panting lightly.

"And two more to go," Alistair added, turning his attention to the remaining titans.

Regice and Registeel appeared enraged over their allies defeat, their 'eyes' flashing erratically. Not waiting for the two legendaries to make a move, Katara formed another water shuriken, this one much larger than before, and threw it at the golems.

Too slow to dodge, the water shuriken cut across the regis' fronts before dispersing into droplets. Unfortunately, the attack was not as effective against Regice and Registeel as it was against Regirock.

"That won't be enough," Alistair commented teasingly.

"I realize that!" Katara bit back in irritation.

Regice screeched before racing towards the duo, its pointed feet barely skimming along the ground. Arms taking on a bright glow, Regice swung down at the duo with a hammer arm, forcing the duo to leap to the side to avoid the super-effective attack. At the same time, Registeel unleashed a powerful flash cannon at the duo as the dodged.

Katara, being much more nimble and quick, was able to jump away in time, but Alistair did not have that luxury. Crossing his arms over his chest, Alistair braced himself as the attack slammed against him. Thankfully, as a steel type, the attack did not do much, but Alistair was pushed back several feet. Lowering his slightly smoking arms, Alistair glared at the offending steel type.

Unperturbed by the aura Pokémon's glare, Registeel lumbered forward only to be blasted onto its side by a strong hydro pump. Before the steel golem could get back to its feet, Katara descended upon the prone legendary, attacking it with an flurry of sky blue blades. While the flying type move did not do much against the steel type, it did leave several scratched along its metallic body.

As this was happening, Regice decided that Alistair was a prime target. It slowly floated towards the Lucario, who was just getting back to his feet. Forming a large ball of crackling electricity, Regice screeched loudly before launching a zap cannon at the Lucario.

Seeing that attack, Alistair quickly created a glowing bone in his paws. Twirling it around his body to gain momentum, Alistair swung the bone at the incoming attack. The two attacks met, causing sparks to burst out from between the two before, in an impressive display of strength, Alistair batted the attack back at Regice, who was caught off guard. The redirected attack exploded violently against the ice golem, causing it to fly back, its arms flailing wildly.

Seeing Regice moving closer, courtesy of Alistair, Katara smirked as a plan formed in her mind. Leaping over the steel type and landing behind it, she unleashed the strongest hydro pump she could manage. The legendary warbled loudly as it was forced forward by the intense blast of water. It tried to dig in its heels to stop its movement, but Katara's attack was too powerful. It soon found itself stumbling into its ice type counterpart, causing them both to fall over.

"Now!" Katara shouted. "Hit them with everything you've got!"

Not needing to be told twice, Alistair nodded and began forming a large aura sphere. At the same time, Katara was inhaling deeply, her torrent ability activating in response to her need. In unison, Alistair and Katara unleashed a powerful aura sphere and hydro pump respectively.

The two attacks raced towards the slowly recovering titans. Unable to dodge, the two titans were soon engulfed by the combined attacks and the ensuing explosion. When the smoke finally cleared, both remaining titans were unconscious, the darkness curling off their forms, returning them to their original states.

As the shadows curled from the legendaries' unconscious forms, as if responding to Regice's defeat, the ice surrounding Leaf shattered. The grass type stumbled forward before falling to the ground in a daze.

"Leaf!" Katara cried, seeing her friend free from his icy prison. She raced to his side and rolled him over onto his back, his head in the Greninja's lap. "Come on, Leaf, wake up!"

The Grovyle's face scrunched up in discomfort before opening his eyes. Blinking blearily, the grass type's gaze slowly focused on the water-dark type. "K...atara?"

Katara almost laughed in relief, hugging the grass type tightly. "Thank Arceus you're alright!"

"This is the second time you have saved me and evolved in the process," Leaf said, smiling softly. "This proves that you are not weak."

This time Katara could not help but laugh at her friend. "You were right," she said, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "I'm not weak."

Alistair looked at the touching scene, smiling warmly at the duo. He then frowned when he felt a fluctuation of negative energy wash over him and the town. His gaze turned south of the town, towards the direction in which the dark well was situated. "DJ. Hurry up," he said.

-Legend-

DJ growled in annoyance as the now identified Regigigas shook off another one of his attacks. He, Ester, and Luke had been fighting the behemoth for what felt like hours, but it appeared that they were no closer to beating it than before.

"What? You getting tired, pup?" DJ growled as Luke jeered at him from several feet away.

"I'm just getting started!" the mega evolved Pokémon shouted before dashing towards the giant.

Jumping to the side to avoid a heavy slam attack, DJ then used the arm the giant used as a spring board to catapult himself towards the normal type's face. Soaring through the air, DJ's fist took on a brilliant orange glow as he prepared a power-up punch. Before Regigigas could react, DJ's fist had slammed into its face with a cacophonous crash.

As DJ began to descend, he scowled when he noted that the giant appeared unfazed. In fact, it looked as if the legendary had not even realized it had been struck. Growling, DJ, still falling, formed an aura sphere and fired it at the legendary, watching in satisfaction as it exploded against the normal type. This seemed to gain the giants attention, fortunately and unfortunately.

Regigigas' 'eyes' flashed in anger before it raised its arm to smash the mega Pokémon into the dirt. Just before the attack could make contact with the wide-eyed exploration member, a blue glow took hold of his body and snatched the Lucario out of the air, pulling him out of harms way.

DJ winced in pain as psychic energy pulled at him, but thankfully his steel typing protected him from the worst of it. He smiled in relief as the energy left his body, depositing him next to Ester. "You okay, kid?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks," DJ responded.

"Good," she said curtly before sending a powerful moonblast at the giant. "Fighting legendaries is always so tedious."

"You've fought legendaries before?" DJ could not help but ask.

"Now's really not the best time," Ester grunted, using psychic to grab the legendary's arm before it could crush Luke.

"Right," DJ said sheepishly before becoming serious. Without another word he, while gagging on the inside, ran to help Luke.

Forming twin metal claws, DJ lashed out at the giant's legs, trying to get it to fall, but the beast was just too powerful. Undeterred, DJ slammed a power-up punch into the giant's leg, followed by a bone rush. This time, the giant did fall, onto one knee, visibly pained.

Capitalizing on their enemy's stunned state, Luke rushed forward and violently attacked the giant with close combat. The giant gave a shrill cry of apparent pain as the twisted Lucario's punches and kicks made contact with the giant. Unfortunately, the regi recovered quickly.

Eyes flashing in anger, an orange fiery glow surrounded on of Regigigas's hands as the golem raised it into the air. Luke was too focused on pounding the normal type to realize the danger he was in. DJ, however, saw the impending attack.

"Look out!" the mega Pokémon shouted, racing towards the other former human.

Luke had just enough time to turn his head before DJ had tackled him around the middle, throwing them both onto the ground a few feat away. Luke growled angrily, opening his mouth to snap at the other Lucario when Regigigas's hand slammed into the spot Luke once stood. The orange energy from its hand flushed into the ground and a second later, the ground shook with an explosive boom, chunks of dirt and rock flying in every direction.

Both Lucario looked at the crater that was now carved into the ground in shock. DJ overcame his stupor first and got up. "I honestly could care less about you," he said to Luke, "but, unfortunately, we need you for this fight. After that, you can go to hell for all I care."

"Sounds fine to me," Luke growled, getting to his feet as well. "If it were up to me, I'd leave you to fight this thing alone."

"Then why are you here?" DJ growled.

"I told you. I'm here for Ester."

"Oh, so now you care about your friends," DJ scoffed. He then yelped as Luke roughly grabbed his fur and pulled him to meet the murderous red gaze of the elder Lucario.

"Don't you dare," he spat angrily. "Don't you dare act like you know what I think. What I've done, I've done for a reason!"

"Yeah, to serve your master," DJ snarled, slapping the Lucario's paws off him. "Don't act like you did what you've done for anybody, but yourself!"

Luke growled, a visible vein throbbing on his temple. The spikes on the back of his paws glowed separated into three curled claws and he shoved one of them under DJ's chin. "Watch yourself, boy," he growled. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"I know exactly what I'm talking about," DJ sneered fearlessly. "All you think about is power and you don't care about who you hurt to get it. It's because of you that Team SATE broke up and they had to deal with the pain that resulted from it. I don't care about your motives, but what you did shattered the ones that took you in."

Luke snarled furiously, pressing his claws deeper into DJ's chin, hard enough to draw a few droplets of blood. Even so, DJ refused to break contact, his glare matching Luke's. The two Lucario continued to stare the other down before they broke contact when they heard the sound of crackling energy. They both turned just in time to see the giant charging up a large purple beam of energy. With a loud ringing tone, the normal type released a large blast of energy at the duo. Their eyes widened in shock, cursing themselves for their inattentiveness.

Just as the hyper beam was about to hit, a bright green dome surrounded them. The hyper beam slammed into the green shield with an incredible amount of force, but the shield held firm.

"I don't know what the hell you two were fighting about, but now is not the time!" The two aura Pokémon turned and saw a very annoyed Ester glaring at them.

"Yes, ma'am," both DJ and Luke chorused, though they still glared at the other.

When the beam finally died down, and Ester dropped her protect, both Lucario burst forward and attacked the momentarily stunned legendary. Luke unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks while attacked with a multitude of power-up punches. When the Regigigas did overcome its temporary paralysis, it attacked the duo with extreme prejudice.

The Lucario danced in and out of danger, the giant's attacks missing them by mere inches at points. They would run in whenever the legendary paused and race right back out before the normal type could land a direct hit. Ester helped by attacking with psychic and moonblast, doing more damage.

Slowly the Regigigas was pushed back by the combined effort of the three Pokémon. For the first time since the battle began, the normal golem appeared to be taking damage and was feeling it. This however, proved to be a bad thing.

Apparently tired of taking so much damage yet doing none in return, Regigigas roared in anger, the entire ground shaking in response to its rage. Both of its arms took on a metallic sheen before it slammed both of them into the earth. The force of the dual heavy slam shook the ground as much as any earthquake, cracking and tearing at the ground while putting the trio off balance. Then, moving faster than it had previously, raised its arms again, this time an orange glow covering them, and sent them towards the Lucario, who were closer.

Unable to dodge, the giant's three-fingered hands grabbed onto the two Lucario and lifted them into the air. Trapped within the golem's grip, all the former humans could do was scream in pain as the legendary's grip tightened. Then they exploded.

The orange energy that had engulfed the Regigigas' hands, flowed into the Lucario and detonated with incredible force. Relaxing its grip, the Lucario fell limply to the ground, landing with twin crashes. DJ, having already taken a substantial amount of damage that had not been fully healed by Ester's earlier heal pulse, succumbed to unconsciousness, his mega evolution fading in a flash of red.

"Dammit," Luke growled, seeing that the other Lucario had passed out. "Ester!"

"On it," the mega Gardevoir said, rushing forward. She was about to use heal pulse on the Lucario, but Regigigas was not going to allow it.

Before she could react, she was engulfed by hyper beam, sent by Regigigas, causing her to scream in pain.

"ESTER!" Luke shouted in genuine horror. He struggled to get up, but his injuries were too severe. He could only watch helplessly as the beam faded and Ester fell forward, her mega form fading. "No."

Ester groaned lowly, pushing her torso off the ground. She held out her hand towards DJ's, still determined to heal him at least a little bit, but she did not have the energy. She collapsed to the ground again, just barely conscious.

A series of loud thuds garnered the Gardevoir's attention. The legendary that now towered over her, free from its hyper beam induced stun. Slowly, almost methodically, the golem raised one of its arms, stretching out its hand so that the palm was facing Ester. A familiar flicker of purple energy began to pool in the legendary's hand, growing into a orb of wild power.

As the orb swelled in both size and power, Ester could only close her eyes and except her fate. She just wished she could have done more.

From behind her closed eyes, Ester could see the light from the attack that would most certainly be the end of her growing in intensity. She clenched her eyes tightly, not wanting to see the light from the attack. Then, all of a sudden, everything went dark, like something was blocking the light.

Confused, Ester tentatively opened her eyes and saw a Lucario standing directly in front of her. "Luke?"

The darkened Lucario, glanced behind at the prone Gardevoir, his dark red eyes burning with resolve. "Stay down, Ester," he said. "I won't let it harm you."

"Are you insane?!" Ester shouted, wincing as her shout aggravated her injured body. However, this did not deter her. "Even with your type advantage, a direct attack of that magnitude will kill you!"

"Then I'll die protecting you!" Luke shot back, turning back around to face the giant regi.

"Why?" Ester questioned, both confused and angry.

"Because it's what I should have done long ago!" Luke shouted, silencing the Gardevoir before she could say anything else. With her silent, Luke continued. "You took me in when I first came to this world, when I had nowhere to go and no memory of my life, and I spat on it."

Luke's paws curled into tight fists, his entire form shaking. "I spat on your kindness and betrayed your trust for the sake of power," he continued. "I threw the love and kindness that you gave me and went down a dark path that I will never be able to come back from, but even so..." Ester could see a small tear rolling down the Lucario's cheek. "Even so you showed me kindness."

Flashback:

"Ester?"

"Hello, Luke." The Gardevoir stepped out of the shadows and walked over to the prone Lucario, her expression blank.

"What are you doing here?" he growled weakly, to tired to even attempt to get up.

"I sensed a change in the state in the dark well so I came to investigate," she said simply. "Imagine my surprise when I sensed a familiar presence. A presence that I hadn't felt in years."

"Well whoop-de-doo for you," Luke scoffed sarcastically. "You sensed me, now what are you going to do? Kill me? Are you going to finish what you and the others started all those years ago?"

Ester did not respond, her red gaze devoid of any emotion. When the silence persisted, Luke grew agitated before he exploded, "Well?! What?! I'm at your mercy! Finish me! I know you want to, after all, it's because of me that your team fell apart. It was me that broke the team beyond repair! So do it! Exact your revenge and be done with it!"

The twisted Lucario closed his eyes, bracing himself for the attack that was sure to come. However, instead of pain, what he felt was a warm gust of air washing over him. In an instant, his wounds began to fade away to nothing, his energy and aura replenishing. His eyes snapped open as the final rays of a heal pulse faded, Ester crouched before him.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Healing you," she said as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Why?" Luke asked, to shocked to keep up his angered facade.

"Because it's what I do," Ester said, looking Luke in the eye. "It's what exploration teams do. Even if I'm not part of a team anymore, the principles stay with you. It appears that you forgot that."

Luke growled in response and sat up. "I don't need your pathetic principles. I wanted power and I got it!"

"At the cost of your friends," Ester commented dryly, getting back to her feet, dusting herself off, and walking away.

"Where are you going?" Luke snapped.

"To help stop the dark well," she answered. "After all, helping others is what the exploration society is all about."

"You can't stop it, you know," Luke said, causing Ester to pause. "The dark well's activation. It cannot be stopped. My master's plan is perfect. Soon all will be consumed by darkness."

Ester was quiet for a while, before speaking once more, "You know, when we first found you, we had such high hopes. We thought that we could train you to become a force for good."

"And you were wrong!" Luke sneered.

"We thought that by pushing you to be the best, you would be encouraged to become stronger and become a prominent exploration team member," Ester continued, ignoring Luke's statement. "But we pushed you too hard, I see that now. We pressured you to become stronger and stronger, not even noticing how the pressure was affecting you. It is our fault that you turned to the primal aura and the darkness that it brought to your heart. We are to blame for what had become of you. You don't need to blame yourself anymore."

"Blame myself?" Luke laughed. "You think I blame myself?! Ha! I love this power. It fuels me, sustains me! I can't live without it! This darkness, is all I am, why would I ever blame myself for accepting it?"

"Why did you want me to finish you?" Ester countered, causing Luke to fall silent. "You wanted me to finish you off a few seconds ago. Why?"

Luke did not answer.

"And, if you are truly lost to the dark, why have you not attacked me?" she pressed when Luke remained silent. "You say that that darkness is all you have, that it is all you need, but it's not, is it?"

The Gardevoir slowly turned to face Luke fully. "Deep down, you regret what you've become and the bonds that you've broken. I can feel it, drowning under the darkness and pain that has haunted you for years. You've been in so much pain for so many years and it is us, Team SATE, that is to blame."

Ester held Luke's gaze with her piercing one. She bowed her head, folding her hands over the other. "I am sorry," she apologized sincerely. "The pain we have caused you, I can't even begin to imagine it."

At this, a growl ripped its way out of Luke's throat as he leapt off the ground. He rushed Ester, one of his spikes morphed into a metal claw. With a roar, he swung the claw at the psychic-fairy type, who refused to move. She kept her head bowed, seemingly embracing her fate. Just as the steel type attack was about to hit, Luke froze.

"Why?" the Lucario whispered, his voice oddly quiet.

"Because I've hurt you, Luke," Ester answered, head still bowed, a tear falling down her cheek. "You've had to live with this pain for years, deluding yourself by claiming that you wanted this power, but you never did." She finally looked up, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "There's still good in you, I know there is. You never wanted to be a part of this, there's a part of you that still wants to do good."

Luke stared wide-eyed in shock, unconsciously deactivating his metal claw. He stepped back unconsciously, opening and closing his mouth.

"I know I have no right to ask this of you, but please, help me," Ester pleased. "Help me stop this dark well. I know there is good in you, so let the rest of the world see it."

Luke, once again, was silent. His mouth was now firmly shut and his eyes were filled with warring emotions. Ester saw this and smiled sadly. Without a word, she turned and began to walk away.

"Wait."

Ester paused mid-step. Turning around to look at the Lucario once more.

Luke shifted in an indecisive manner, but his wine red eyes held an ember of determination. "I'll help you."

Flashback End:

"You were right, Ester," Luke said. "All these years, I've been beating myself up for betraying you all. Convincing myself that it was all worth it, but it wasn't. It was never worth losing you all."

In the light of the hyper beam, Ester could clearly see all the pain that the Lucario had hidden. All the pain and sadness that had built up within him was now free for all to see. Ester could feel the thin barriers that served to hold his emotions back had fallen, causing his Ester to literally feel his pain.

"All these years, I've let this power, this darkness, run my life in hopes that I could forget the betrayal that I had caused," Luke continued. "In the end, I let myself fall into servitude to a monster, thinking that it was what I deserved after all I've done."

"Luke..." Ester began, only to be drowned out by Regigigas' loud mechanical screech. The energy of the hyper beam was practically exploding with wild power. Seeing the large build up of energy, Ester snapped out of her revere.

"Luke, you need to move," Ester said, desperately willing the Lucario to listen. "There's nothing you have to atone for!"

"Yes there is!" Luke shouted back. "I betrayed you all, forsaking everything you've done for me for power. I may have betrayed you then, but I won't step away now!"

Luke turned to fully face the legendary as it prepared to its attack. "I have forsaken you once and I won't do it again!"

With a monotonous roar of Regigigas shook the ground as it fired the massive blast of energy. The attack bared down on the Lucario, but he did not flinch away.

"I won't let you hurt her anymore!" Luke shouted at the Regigigas, extending his arms as if asking for a hug.

Ester shouted desperately at Luke to move, fearful of what the hyper beam would do, but Luke did not budge. He stared down the incoming attack defiantly, his determination to protect Ester giving him new resolve.

"I won't leave again!"

BOOM!

The hyper beam met its mark, detonating with a cacophonous explosion that shook the earth. Debris, grass, rock, everything in the nearby area was sent flying from the ensuing shockwave, sparing nothing. A large tower of thick black smoke curled into the night sky, blackening the already black sky. The giant legendary seemed to stare at the devastation that it had caused with satisfaction. It turned away, most likely to finish off DJ, but stopped as a large rush of wind, emanating from the epicenter of the legendary's attack, tore through the smoke, revealing a bright blue light.

Regigigas turned back, 'eyes' flashing in both confusion and annoyance, and saw a glowing blue figure standing before it, the earth behind it undisturbed by the normal type's attack., leaving a horseshoe-like crater in the earth.

Closer to the ground, Ester tentatively opened her eyes and gasped when she saw that crater that surrounded her. Baffled as to what was going on, she noticed the blue light that was coming from right in front of her. Looking up, she gasped when she saw a familiar Pokémon surrounded by a blue light that licked over his form like tongues of fire.

"L-Luke?"

Said Lucario, seeming to not notice the energy that was covering him, stared up at the Regigigas, burning hatred in his eyes. "Don't worry, Ester," he said, his voice surprisingly soft. "I will handle this monstrosity."

"What?!" she gaped, snapping out of her shock. "Are you insane?! All three of us have been fighting this thing and, while we've done damage, it beat all of us!"

"I have caused so much pain," Luke said, seemingly to no one in particular. "Allow me to make up for at least some of it. Besides-" Luke looked down, for the first time seeing the light that surrounded him. "-I know what this power is and what it's capable of. I know I can beat this thing."

"Luke," Ester tried to reason, but stopped when she saw the determination in Luke's now crystalline blue eyes.

"I've got this," Luke said firmly. "Just sit tight." Without wait for a response, Luke jumped into the air with speeds that dwarfed anything he had previously shown.

Almost as if appearing out of thin air, Luke was in Regigigas' face. The legendary tried to step away, but Luke had already unleashed a barrage of swift punches and kicks, each hit cracking through the silence of the night. Regigigas stumbled back, both from pain and surprise from Luke's sudden assault. It lifted and arm to bat Luke away, but Luke managed to kick off the offending arm and jettison himself away from the legendary.

Luke landed lightly before rushing forward, his spikes turning into glowing claws. He reached the giant's legs and viciously attacked its legs with a flurry of metal claws, eliciting a shout of pain from the golem. Regigigas swept an arm towards the Lucario, sending the fighting-steel type flying with a heavy slam.

Luke soared through the air, hissing in pain, before pivoting in the air and landing on his feet. Growling, Luke brought his paws together and formed a large aura sphere. Momentarily taken aback from the size of the aura sphere, and the power behind it, Luke grinned maliciously. With a war cry, Luke launched the aura sphere at the large regi. The attack made contact and exploded, sending the Regigigas stumbling, crying out in pain.

Shaking its head, most likely to rid itself of pain, and flashed its eyes dangerously. It stomped towards Luke, raising its fist to smash the Lucario, but when it swung, Luke jumped over it and landed on its wrist. Luke ran up Regigigas' arm, energy flooding into his paws as he preparing to unleash another close combat. As Luke was about to attack, a blue light engulfed the legendary's forehead and, before Luke could put up any sort of defense, the regi lunged forward, slamming into Luke with a zen headbutt.

Shouting in pain, Luke smashed into the ground, momentarily stunned. Beeping furiously, Regigigas began charging another hyper beam. As it was about to attack, an aura sphere suddenly appeared, slamming into the normal golem's wrist, causing the hyper beam to miss Luke. Eyes wide, Luke quickly pushed back his shock and fired an aura sphere of his own at Regigigas, pushing it away.

Getting to his feet, Luke looked over to where the aura sphere had come from and saw a battered and bruised DJ standing wobbly, his mouth open in shock. "Shining aura?" he murmured, more to himself than anyone else.

"You can gape all you want later," Luke snarled, forming another aura sphere and firing it at the Regigigas as it was still stunned.

"R-Right," DJ said weakly. He formed his own aura sphere, significantly smaller than Luke's and fired it as well.

The two bombarded the legendary with vicious attacks, but the regi stood firm. Realizing that it was losing, its attacks became more erratic and vicious, seemingly losing any control it had. It attacked at everything that moved with heavy slams and crush grips, sending debris everywhere and forcing the Lucario back. Luke was undeterred by this, but DJ, who had taken a significant amount of damage, was forced to pull back as to not get crushed.

Time went on at a Magcargo's pace as the two Lucario continued to attack the behemoth with vigor, but the regi proved to be hardy. It was clear that the giant was taking damage, but it just kept attacking, albeit at a slower pace. Unfortunately, however, Regigigas was not the only one that was tiring.

DJ's wounds began to take its toll on the poor Lucario. When Regigigas attempted another heavy slam, DJ was too slow to dodge. With a loud crack, DJ was catapulted through the air like a broken rag doll before collapsing limply to the ground, a few short feat away from Ester.

The Regigigas turned towards the downed Lucario, and Ester by default, and Luke saw red. "Get away from her!"

Luke dashed forward, ramming his body into the giant's stomach. As Regigigas stumbled back, Luke stood in front of Ester, extending his arms like he did before. "I won't let you harm her!" he growled.

"Nice to know where I stand," DJ groaned from his place on the ground.

"Shut up," Luke snapped at DJ before turning back towards the regi. "I can see it now, you have suffered like me, consumed by a power you didn't want."

Regigigas beeped angrily, apparently opposed to Luke's words. It brought both of its hands together and began charging another hyper beam. Even seeing this, Luke did not stop talking.

"Unlike you, I had someone to bring me back from the precipice," he said, a strange multi-colored light began to shine on his right paw. "And I will return everything she gave me and free you from your bonds!"

The regi roared and released the beam of of energy at the same time Luke jumped straight towards the legendary. With the attack baring down on him, Luke roared in defiance, the multicolored light that engulfed his paw bursting forth with the intensity of a wild fire. He thrust the glowing paw forward just as he met the hyper beam. Luke's paw tore through the hyper beam, allowing Luke to continue pushing forward. With a final roar, Luke burst out of the beam and hurtled right towards Regigigas' face, his paw still outstretched.

Luke's paw slammed into the giant and a bright blast of multi-colored light erupted from the point of contact, lighting up the field, forcing both DJ and Ester to shield their eyes. When the light finally died down, and DJ and Ester opened their eyes, they saw Luke, precariously balanced on legendary's head. The legendary was as still as a statue, no flashing eyes, no mechanical tones or beeps, nothing.

After several seconds, the giant slowly began to teeter. Both DJ and Ester watched in horror as the giant fell backwards, Luke still situated on its head, and crashed to the ground, dust and debris filling the air.

"Luke!" Ester cried out, unsteadily getting to her feet and running towards the downed Regigigas, DJ limping right behind her.

As they got closer, the duo could what appeared to be black smoke leaking from the legendary's prone form and flowing into the sky and dispersing. At the same time, Regigigas' form shifted colors, becoming white with black lines.

"Luke!" Ester shouted again, reaching the Regigigas' form. "Are you okay."

"I'm fine," Luke said gruffly, stepping out from behind the legendary, still glowing with blue energy.

Ester sighed in relief, grateful that the Lucario was okay. "Thank Arceus."

Luke walked up to Ester, concern flitting in his blue eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine, Luke," she said. "Thanks to you."

Luke smiled despite himself, his tail wagging lazily in happiness. An awkward cough snapped both Pokémon out of their revere. "Um, I don't mean to intrude," DJ began, "but the dark well is spewing."

True to DJ's words, the dark well was now shaking violently, an occasional flare of shadowy energy leaping out of the stone well. Now that Regigigas was defeated, the trio could now clearly feel the quakes that were shaking the field, stemming from the well.

"This isn't good," Ester said worriedly. "At this rate, the well will gush with negative energy and cover everything in a thousand mile radius!"

"How do we stop it?" DJ asked.

"Well, what did you do last time?" Ester inquired.

"What happened last time, won't work," Luke interjected. "Last time, you light aura overwhelmed my dark aura, forming a creating an attack that was a balance of light and dark. The wells have their own form of defense, stemming from the darkness and negative energy that they store within, and only the energy that they release can even come close to touching it. The darkness within the attack allowed the light to get in close and, together, the two opposing energies were able to, not only destroy the well, but seal of the darkness inside."

"So what, we need darkness to get close?" DJ asked. "Well we're screwed then!"

"Not necessarily," Luke said. "When we came to this world, my master placed a small sliver of the very same darkness from the wells into each of us. This is what caused the primal aura to manifest in us."

"So we can get close and seal it!" DJ exclaimed, gaining a nod from the other Lucario. "Then let's-"

"It's not that simple," Luke interrupted harshly. "If a Pokémon gets close to the dark well when it is activating, or in the process of activating, will be consumed by darkness and end up like Regigigas and the other regis. The shining aura should protect us, but that raises another problem."

"Which is?"

"To seal the well, without the added boost of the darkness attacking, an attack will not be enough to seal the darkness away," Luke answered.

"But, that means..."

"An attack against the well, even from close range, will not stop the well," Ester finished.

"So we are screwed," DJ growled, angry over the helplessness he was feeling.

"As I said, not necessarily," Luke said. "A constant supply of shining aura directly into the well could be enough to seal the well."

"Well that's great!" DJ exclaimed in relief.

"But wait," Ester interrupted, frowning deeply. "To generate that much aura, you would need to..." Her eyes widened in abject horror from some unknown reason. Before she could say anything, Luke was already running towards the well. "LUKE!" she shouted. "NO!"

She tried to run after the Lucario, but tripped and would have fallen if not for DJ caught her. "Ester!" he shouted in alarm. "What's wrong?!"

"In order to produce that much shining aura," Ester began, a grief stricken look on her face, "he'll need to give his very life aura."

DJ's eyes widened in horror as he realized exactly what Luke was about to do. "He's going to sacrifice himself to seal the well."

-Legend-

By the time Luke reached the well, it had erupted. A large gout of dark energy shot from the stone well and entered the night sky, forming a swirling mass of black clouds that slowly began to expand over the entire field.

Luke slowed to a stop a few feet from the well. A thin semi-transparent film of dark energy surrounded the well, slightly distorting and obscuring the well. Knowing that there was no other choice, Luke took a deep breath and stepped through the veil.

Immediately, Luke was met with intense pain, so much so that he nearly collapsed on the spot. Even with his shining aura serving as a partial shield, it was like a storm of needles lancing through all of his nerves. He could not move. He could not breath. He could only think of the pain that he was in.

"I...have to keep...going," Luke managed to say through the pain. However, even with that, he could not find the strength to keep moving, the pain was too intense.

Unable to take it any longer, Luke fell to his knees, his eyes shut tightly and mouth opened in a silent scream of pain. The blue light of his shining aura flickering and dimming to a dull glow.

"No," he growled to himself, punching the ground in frustration. "Not...yet..."

He slowly pushed himself to his feet, opening a single eye to glare at the well. His aura exploded outwards, burning light a wild fire in the midst of the darkness surrounding him. The pain still lanced at him, but he refused to submit to it.

"I can't quit now!" he growled, now standing. He took one step forward followed by another and another, moving slowly towards the dark well.

After what felt like an eternity, Luke managed to reach the well and not a moment too soon as his knees buckled from under him, forcing him to grab the rim of the well to stay up. Panting tiredly, Luke forced himself up, though he still kept a large amount of his weight on the well. The well rumbled threateningly, a particularly large burst negative energy gushing forth, as if the well knew what Luke was planning and trying to scare him off.

"Not gonna work," Luke said through gritted teeth. "I'm not backing down now!" Without another word, the aura that surrounded his body, rushed into his paws before seeping into the stone well.

A loud groan came from the well as Luke's shining aura began to surround the stone work, forming a thin layer of blue energy around it. The ground shook violently, the energy spewing spluttering like a flame in the wind. A blast of wind caring malicious intent rushed out of the well and slammed into the Lucario, almost causing him to lose his grip, but he did not back down.

"I've come too far to give up now," Luke snarled, pushing more aura into the well.

As he pushed more aura into his work, Luke began to feel fatigue. A cold sweat broke out upon his brow, running down his face like a waterfall. His muscles twitched uncontrollably, his eyes beginning to water. He now leaned heavily on the well.

His aura began to wane, fading to a dull glow within his paws. The energy that had already began to cover the well began to recede, the occasional hole popping up and expanding outward as if it were burning paper. If possible, Luke swore he felt glee coming from the well as the energy it was releasing into the sky steadied.

Luke grit his teeth in both frustration and strain as he tried to push more aura into the well, but his own energy was fading and the pain was becoming unbearable. He could not keep it up for much longer.

"LUKE!" Ester's voice echoed, warbling as if going through water.

Said Lucario forced his head to turn to the side so he could gaze at Ester who stood just outside of the veil, DJ a few feet behind her. Even through the rippling barrier, Luke could see pained expression on the Gardevoir's face as she stared helplessly at him.

Seeing her rekindled Luke's fire. He promised that no harm would come to her and he was not going to go back on his promise!

He turned back to the well and with a shout full of determination, his aura roared back to life. Renewed, his aura spread across the well, covering it completely in Luke's aura. The well seemed to roar in outrage, attempting to push more dark energy through, but Luke would not let it.

"I have caused so much pain to this world," he said out loud. "So much so that I'll never be able to atone. But with this, I hope I can make a start!"

He pushed more energy into the well. His entire body began to glow as bright as his shining aura, appearing more like a crystal with each passing second. Luke appeared not to notice this change, too focused in pushing more and more of his aura into the well.

"Luke, you have to stop!" Ester shouted. "It's killing you!"

Luke paid her no mind and kept pushing. Cracks began to form along his glowing body, spreading out from his face down to his feet. He grit his teeth as a new pain began to stab at him, ten times worse than what he felt earlier. As he continued to pump aura into the well, he could feel his very life leave him. His mind began to fade, his breath quickened. This was it.

He gave a final look back to Ester. Ester...Surge...Alistair...Tobias... I hope that you can forgive me.

Luke closed his eyes for the last time, a smile finding its way onto his face, before pushing everything he had left into the well.

A blinding blue light tore through the darkness, forcing Ester and DJ to avert their gazes. The light burst forth, racing along the energy that the well was releasing and encompassing it. The cloud that had been forming froze before receding into the blue light, leaving the sky clear. The now trapped energy pulsed violently within the blue light, but it could not escape.

The light then began to pull back down to the well, the energy in tow. The well seemed to roar in anger as the energy and light were pulled deep into its depth before an echoing explosion tore through the field, the shockwave knocking Ester and Lucario off their feet, the wind tearing through the field.

The light faded, returning the night to its previous peaceful state. Slowly, Ester and DJ got to their feet, slightly dazed from the blast. When their vision finally focused, they could see that the well was once more inert, a thin veil of bright blue energy shimmering around it.

Ester took an unsteady step forward, her head whipping around frantically. When she saw nothing, she cried out in anguish and fell to her knees. Luke was gone.