Chapter 28

The Showdown

Part I: Beginning Of the End

There they were, standing on opposites sides of the meadow. It stretched for a few miles, but the tree line was still visible. It should've been enough space for them to battle it out without hurting any innocent inhabitants of Oblivion or the forest. As for the pokemon in the battle, not everyone was going to get out unharmed. Yet, there they were.

The Wild One's team stood closest to the tree line with Xerneas towering next to Abbie. Behind her stood the Gemini, all missing their Crysti, Zen and Cyle. Scattered around were Umbreon, Espeon, and soldiers from the kingdom. Everyone was willing to fight and die for their cause, despite how frightening their opponents looked. The Descending One's team was standing just outside of the kingdom walls. Yveltal stared intensely at his enemy and he twitched as if he was holding back every ounce of himself. His eyes were glowing a sick red, along with the Crysti on the Descending One's neck. Lidia and Oblivion soldiers stood behind them, along with the other four Crysti. They had taken on their own forms, just like the Gemini had said. Each Crysti was made of its own colored light and in the form of the Gemini who had possessed it. A bright red Swellow, an orange Ninetails, a purple Gallade, and a blue Lucario, all with glowing red eyes.

Abbie's paws shook. She was overwhelmed. Everything she was about to do was overwhelming. There was no telling what was going to happen. Her powers were off and on. She still couldn't control them. This battle, everything that was about to happen, wasn't going to end well. Both teams were at a stand still, waiting for the other to make a move.

Cyle walked quietly next to Abbie and nudged her with his nose. "You nervous?"

She looked at him with wide eyes and nodded.

"Don't be. You got this."

Cecilia could see Zen from where she was standing. He looked completely fine, just like he always did, as if he hadn't ruined lives, as if he hadn't ruined kingdoms. The sight of him made her angrier. Her mother told her to wait for them to attack first, but she couldn't wait any longer. She commanded Yveltal and the light beings through the Crysti on her neck, growling loudly as she did.

Yveltal charged his attack in two seconds, firing a red beam surrounded by a silver aura. It was too quick for nearly anyone to react, but Xerneas wasn't planning on losing any pokemon today. As soon as he fired, she sent up an invisible barrier over her team. Simultaneously, her Active form came into play. Her blue tinted antlers turned back to their bark color, and the differently colored crystals shot out. The Oblivion Wing hit the Protect violently, giving the impression that it wouldn't hold, and everyone behind it flinched. But the Protect did its job and dissipated quickly.

The Crysti attacked next, but the Gemini stepped in and took on their own Crysti in battle. Then, the warriors began to charge. Soldiers, Espeon, and Umbreon took the other soldiers from Oblivion. Lidia went straight for Zen, bent on killing him as fast as she could. Xerneas lept ahead of her team and attacked Yveltal head on, bashing her horns against the claws of his wings and tail. Last, Cecilia took on Abbie. Yveltal was by far the strongest on her team, but with him occupied, Cece had to take the second strongest.

Abbie could barely keep up with Cece's attacks. The Descending One had learned how to use her powers quickly, but she relied on rage. Ice beam met Shadow Ball, Hydro Pump met Dark Pulse. Abbie's attacks always fell on the weaker side and she was forced to dodge after releasing them. Cecilia was full of rage to the point where it was terrifying.

Abbie slid to the left, an Ice Beam just barely scratching her side. The adrenaline rushing through her veins prevented her from feeling the cold burn it left. "Cece! Please listen to me!"

The Vaporeon clamped her jaws onto Abbie's shoulder and used her new strength to slam her into the ground not once, but twice. The shock from the Bite caused Abbie to flinch, and Cece used that to her advantage and threw the Umbreon a clear fifteen feet away. As soon as Cece's jaw released her shoulder, Abbie twisted around and landed on her feet, stumbling from the hard throw, but was thrown clear off her paws after Cece slammed into her.

The Umbreon had her breath knocked out of her once she hit the ground. Abbie was already exhausted, but she forced herself to stand. Cecilia came from the sky, tail coated in iron, so Abbie stopped trying to reason and attacked back. Their Iron Tails collided, but Abbie's was weaker, and the Umbreon was pushed back. A Hydro Pump came her way, so she jumped over it and aimed another Iron Tail at the Descending One.

Suddenly, something happened that Abbie would have never expected. The Hydro Pump split into five, snake-like ribbons, and shot back in the direction they came. They wrapped tightly. around the Wild One before she could hit the one commanding them. Abbie looked quickly between the ribbons and Cecilia, and immediately her stomach dropped. She was no match against the Descending One if she couldn't use her powers. Cece commanded the water, throwing Abbie hard against the ground.

By now, Xerneas, Abbie, and the Gemini managed to pull the fight away from the soldiers, Espeon, and Umbreon. Most of the damage was being dealt between the more powerful pokemon, but the remaining pokemon were having their trouble as well, especially Zen and Lidia. Lidia was attacking with just as much rage as Cecilia, and Zen was falling on the weaker side just like Abbie.

Kila received a quick, hard kick to the stomach from her purple copycat. It wasn't enough to throw her off balance, so she was able to land on her feet and dodge the several Focus Blasts that were aimed at her from the sky. Once the purple Crysti landed, it swiftly ran up to her and swung both its legs, picking itself up off the ground. She ducked, avoiding both kicks, and launched a Focus Blast of her own. It jumped, dodging easily, and nailed a Thunderbolt directly on the fighting type.

Swipe darted through the sky, changing direction every couple seconds to throw the Crysti of its tail. It cawed fiercely, tailing him closely with its wings surrounded by a white aura. Out-flying it became less of an option, so the Swellow prepared his own Sky Attack and turned at the last second. The two fell through the air as they clashed their wings and talons against each other, neither landing a hit. They both pulled up and away at the last second. Swipe dove back down, surrounded in a lightning blue aura, while his Crysti clone fired multiple blades of wind at him. He endured them long enough to get close with his Brave Bird.

Luca and the blue Crysti threw a their fists, each preloaded with an Aura Sphere, at each other. Smoke whipped into the air when they collided, but that didn't stop the attacks. Luca pulled his defensive card, taking hits and kicks from the blue Crysti without taking too much damage. When he had the chance, he caught its arm and threw it into the air as hard as he could. Quickly, he drew the aura from his heart and shot more Aura Sphere into the air. The Crysti quickly and easily formed a bone in its paws and broke the spheres into dust. Upon landing, it met a Close Combat from Lucario, and swiftly fought back with the same move.

Flamethrower curled through the air as Zodia dashed around the orange Ninetails. Fire met fire and the flames broke apart with ease. Several Energy Balls came flying from the Crysti, and Zodia was forced to jump over them, only to have them follow her into the air. She blocked the second wave with a blast of fire that formed into a star on impact. The smoke covered her long enough to land back on the ground and get another Flamethrower ready. The Crysti, however, was all too ready for it, and met it with its own Flamethrower.

The Wild One and the Gemini were all backed into a tight circle with their backs facing each other. They breathed heavily, clearly starting to show signs of exhaustion. While the Gemini were matched with their counterparts, Abbie was clearly losing. She might've been able to keep up, but the scratches and scuffs all over her body showed she was struggling.

Kila took a quick glance at Abbie. "Doesn't look like you're holding up well."

"Doesn't matter," she gasped in response.

They flinched as an invisible barrier was thrown around them just as the water ribbons came. Xerneas called to the carriers of her power. "Make a plan as fast as you can!"

Abbie nodded and turned to her team, trying to ignore the bashing of moves against Protect. "None of us seem to be getting anywhere."

"I can't land a single hit." Luca stated.

"Me neither." Swipe added. "And I know how I fight."

"Well that's the problem." Abbie pointed out. "You're fighting yourself. You attack and defend the exact same way so it's a stalemate."

"So we need to swap." Zodia realized.

"Exactly." The Wild One said with a smile. "Switch it up, team up, work like the team I know you are. If you break one Crysti, it'll be easier to team up and break the rest." Finally, the Protect began to break, so Abbie shouted out one more command. "Fight like that Crysti is still on your neck!"

Swipe flew quickly into the air, pulling Zodia along with him. Luca quickly formed a bone in his paws and swung around Kila, putting them back to back. He used his Bone Rush to eliminate Thunderbolt's effect and block the Razor Winds. Simultaneously, Kila broke the Aura Spheres and Energy Balls shot at them with her Psycho Cuts. Swipe twisted upside-down, throwing Zodia higher into the air, and she released a fierce Flamethrower at the purple Crysti. Luca gave Kila a boost into the air, where she used her Focus Blasts to stop the attack blue Crysti. Then, with them all spread out, they split up. Swipe and Luca drove the Swellow and the Ninetails away from Kila and Zodia, where they were teaming up against the Gallade and Lucario.

Kila's Focus Blast and the blue Crysti's Aura Sphere collided, breaking apart and sending vibrations through the air. Using the smoke as a cover, Zodia prepared her strongest Fire Blast yet and sent it through the clouded wall. It made impact on the other side, lighting up like an explosion, and when the smoke cleared the Gemini could see that both Crysti were in the explosion range. They had finally managed a hit, but it wasn't strong enough to take them down. The purple Gallade came running, blades at the end of its elbows razor sharp and glowing with a pink aura. Zodia jumped in front of Kila and shot several rows of flames, but the Crysti avoided them. On the last Flamethrower, it jumped into the air to reveal a blue Lucario just behind it.

Zodia, thinking quick on her paws, shouted to her teammate. "Jump and attack!"

She sent a Fire Blast straight into the ground just as the blue Crysti threw a punch, and Kila jumped into the air. She met the purple Crysti just as fire exploded underneath her, and took a Barren Blade to the shoulder, but used the momentum to flip around and kick the Crysti in the face. She would've counterattacked with her own Psychic Barren Blade, but she couldn't perform it without her gem. She landed back on the ground next to a slightly burned Zodia, who had taken a little damage from her own move just to really deal some damage to the opponent.

"Swipe, dive! Now!" Luca shouted.

Luca jumped off of Swipe's back and the bird pokemon dove down, both narrowly dodging the Flamethrower. Swipe immediately shot back up, ramming tight into the white Crysti's underside and intercepting the Brave Bird before it hit his teammate. While the Crysti was off guard, he let his wings become enveloped in a white aura and swung them at it. He attacked furiously and quickly, trying to hit the gem on its back. The white Swellow recovered and caught both of his wings with its talons, flipped around, and threw him at the ground. Swipe, being the skillful flyer he is, easily regained his balance before hitting the ground.

Suddenly, the wind started blowing harder than it had a few seconds ago. It sped up faster than normal as the white Crysti summoned a thick wall of clouds over the sun. The clouds started to dip down in one spot, forming a funnel in the sky. The wind began howling at an ear-piercing level as the funnel got closer to the ground. As soon as it touched the earth, not too far away from the fight, the wind began violently stabbing each pokemon out in the open. A massive tornado quickly formed, surrounded by a black and red aura, and zigzagged through the sky. No one could stay steady on their paws with the tornado in sight.

Swipe recognized his signature move, Red Wind Dance, almost instantly. He knew the battle just got a whole lot harder, so he called out to his team. "Watch out for the tornado!"

Abbie swayed on her paws, the wind attacking her from one side, and then the other in a split second. She jumped back, avoiding Cecilia's Iron Tail, and nailed the water type with her own. Because of the adrenaline, Cece didn't feel much pain, so she quickly recovered and sent a Hydro Pump at the Wild One. Abbie countered with her Dark Pulse. The moves hit each other with such force that loud boom echoed through the air. Slowly, Abbie was catching up with Cece.

The shadows around her twitched. Under the paws of pokemon they shifted, trying to pull themselves from their two dimensional state. Slowly, in the Wild One's eyes, her pupils starting to form a shape in the middle. Suddenly, the shadows fell back into their original place and her eyes snapped shut, a result of an Ice Beam hitting her chest. It threw her back, knocking her out of focus and forming ice on her left shoulder. Abbie had difficulty getting back up, due to her frozen shoulder, but she got up nonetheless. Cecilia's water ribbons surrounded her and attacked quickly, so the Wild One grit her teeth and threw herself back into battle.

The beginning of the end wasn't going to start until a Crysti was shattered. Abbie couldn't last forever against the Descending One without her power, and it wasn't going to come any time soon. However…

The tornado swept closer to the fighting legends. Almost every time their moves collided, energy waves vibrated through the air. They were evenly matched, so Xerneas got. She pretended to be stumbling at Yveltal's power so he would attack more frequently and closer to her. At the same time, she backed closer and closer to the tornado. Then, when both were close enough to her, she rammed her horns under Yveltal. His two wings were caught between them, and she swung her head around, throwing him straight into Red Wind Dance.

The impact of the move was heard across the meadow. It obviously dealt some damage, but it wasn't strong enough to stop the Destruction pokemon. With one flap of his wings he pulled himself out of the tornado and sent it off spiraling in another direction.

Luca saw his chance. Red Wind Dance swept too close to Swipe and his Crysti counterpart. They lost control of their flight and spun around the outside of the tornado, completely unable to recover. Luca got into a defensive stance and waited until the white Crysti came back around. Then, using his legs, he pushed up as hard as he could and grabbed onto a glowing white talon. Their combined weight pulled them closer to the ground, but the wind kept them in the air. The white Swellow struggled against Luca, but without its balance it couldn't do anything. He swung himself up on top of it focused his sights on the Crysti sitting in the middle of its back, glowing with a red aura. He raised his paw, pouring all the energy he could into the Aura Sphere, and swung his paw back down.

Thus, the beginning of the end came. The sound of impact vibrated through the air, alerting many pokemon of what had just happened. Red Wind Dance quickly disappeared into the clouds above. Abbie looked to where the sound came from, only to see Luca's terrified face as he pulled his paw back to look at the Crysti. The white Crysti, now in control of its flight, flipped around with glowing wings and smashed them into Luca's torso. He hit the ground with a hard thud, cracking the ground.

Abbie spotted the Crysti that Luca had just hit with everything he had. It was on the Swellow's back, perfectly intact. This was the beginning of the end, only it wasn't the end Abbie had planned. This was the beginning of the end of the Wild One and the Gemini.

"Abbie!" Swipe called in a panicked and shaky voice. "What do we do now?"

"Just keep fighting!" She shouted, jumping over an Ice Beam.

"It's didn't break!" Luca stated. "We can't break them! How are we supposed to beat them if we can't break their Crysti!"

"Just let me think of something!"

Abbie couldn't fight and think at the same time. There was too much going on around her to focus. Too many sounds entered her ears, too many sights, to many scents. Too much input and not enough output. As Cece attacked her, though, she couldn't help but feel like her heart was tearing itself in half. This was her sister she was fighting. Cece was her sister, her family.

Abbie growled at herself. She had to try to talk to her sister. Fighting with Cece reminded her of Zen's story, how they were repeating it. Cece may have been the Descending One, but Abbie was not going to react how Zen did. She couldn't fight much longer against the Descending One, but she could talk to Cece.

Abbie let Cece tackle her and pin her to the ground. The Vaporeon opened her mouth, her teeth surrounded with a black aura, but before she could do anything Abbie shouted, "Cece! Wait!"

Her voice reached a spot in Cecilia's heart. She looked down at her friend, seeing compassion in the red eyes, and stopped her attack. She stepped off Abbie and growled, "What?"

Abbie still felt anger from her sister. "Lidia's been lying to you. You're not her daughter."

Cecilia lunged and bit Abbie's shoulder. She lifted the Umbreon with her teeth and threw her. "You're the only one lying to me! Zen killed my dad and deserves to die! Why are you trying to protect him?!"

"I'm not. I'm trying to protect you," Abbie croaked, tired of fighting. Her muscles wouldn't listen anymore, so she stayed on the ground. "Zen killed Leone, but Leone's not your dad." A Hydro Pump sent her tumbling, and left her shoulder in pain, but that didn't stop her. "Lidia wants to kill everyone in Auras Kingdom. If you do this you'll be responsible for all their deaths."

The Vaporeon approached her friend, making an attempt to get Abbie on her side. "We're only killing those who caused our misery, but you don't have to be apart of it."

Abbie coughed, barely able to keep herself conscious. She couldn't move, so taking Cecilia's offer would be the best strategy for her team. But she couldn't lie to her friend, to her sister. "Lidia wants to kill everyone. I wish you would see it. I wish you would see how she's lying to you."

The Descending One had enough. Her water ribbons shot from her collar, the Wild One Crysti glowing its sickly red. The water wrapped around Abbie's neck and ankles, tightening so she couldn't breathe. She couldn't move, so she accepted her fate, knowing it was the end. Cecilia threw Abbie into the air and growled to Yveltal.

Yveltal quickly threw of Xerneas, and launched a deadly red beam at the Wild One. Everyone heard the sound of Oblivion Wing hit Abbie, and it sent fear rolling down their spines. Her lifeless body flew miles away, crashing landing somewhere in the forest.

Now, it was the beginning of the end. The end of life.