Time for the next chapter, and more of Poka's creativity.
Chapter 36: Poka versus Cyrus
Poka's POV
"No… Dear sweet Arceus NO!" I thought backing away in shock.
"It… can't be…" I muttered in disbelief. In front of me was the last Pokémon I expected, first friend, my best friend. And the one who was supposed to be dead.
Mirora was alive. And worse, she was a Shadow Pokémon.
"Kill him," Cyrus commanded, and with a roar, the Shadow Pokémon surged forward.
"Shit." I leapt backwards as the Dragonair crashed into where I had been standing less than half a second ago.
"Miro, it's me! Stop attacking!" I called out to my first Pokémon, trying to get through. No matter what I did, however, I couldn't seem to get through.
"Shadow Rush." The serpentine dragon seemed to absorb the light as she flew forward. Black flames surrounded her as hurtled herself at me repeatedly.
"Argh! I'm going to have to do something! I can't keep this up forever." I dodged again, but wasn't quick enough, and was hurtled into a pillar.
"(Poka!)" Inferno cried out as I hit the stone.
"Inferno, stay back!" I wheezed as I clutched at my chest. Okay, that kinda hurt… With a grimace, I put away the X-blade as the Shadow Dragonair rushed me again. This time, I took the hit head on. Unlike last time however, I used her momentum against her, spinning around and throwing the serpent into the same pillar I had hit. A loud crack was heard and the column was obliterated as she was thrown through it, completely shattering the stone.
"I'm sorry Mirora. I'm sorry it turned out this way. If only things had been different…" Turning back to Cyrus, I stalked towards the man who had made my life hell. My rage was slowly rising with each step I took.
"Cyrus, you will die today, by my hand."
"It's not me who's going to die today. It's you – and by the hand of your best friend too. Oh how ironic!" the blue haired man replied, with a mad grin, before laughing cruelly.
"Wha -?" was all I had time to say before an earth shattering roar sounded from behind me, and the shadow Dragonair ploughed into me from behind. Taken by surprise, I was unceremoniously slammed into the stone ground, bouncing like a ball across the battlefield. With a groan, I rolled onto my front and pushed myself to my feet.
"I can't hurt you Miro. I WON'T hurt you," I coughed, turning to face the serpentine she-dragon.
"She can't here you Poka. She's lost all reasoning," Cyrus said with a smirk. I spat out a glob of blood in reply.
"I can live in hope."
"No, you can't live at all." He gestured, and once again, I was thrown across the battlefield, flipping end over end over end and landing in a heap.
"(No!)" Inferno roared, dispatching her opponent with a swipe of her claws and running towards me. Zero looked over too, swore and ripped off his foe's head, following the Legend Pokémon's lead. Cyrus just laughed as the two canine Pokémon stopped in front of me, facing the dragon type protectively.
"Dispose of them." In the blink of an eye, Miro moved behind the two, blowing them both away with a Dragon Pulse and leaving them unconscious.
"No…" I said as I watched helplessly as the two canines were hurtled unceremoniously to the sides, fur singed and smoking. They weren't moving.
"Kill him." Once again, the golden Dragonair made to attack, charging a ball of energy in her mouth. A Hyper Beam. Cyrus smirked.
"Do it." Miro's aura flickered. The Hyper Beam continued to charge. All around us, the battlefield had fallen silent, each combatant watching… waiting… wondering… How would this end?
And then I saw it.
Time seemed to slow for an instant. A brief flicker of emotion behind her eyes.
Miro was fighting back.
The air began to crackle with power, and I forced myself to my knees, then to my feet. And hugged her. Our auras flared and blasted outwards, and the ground beneath us was torn asunder.
And then everything exploded in a brilliant white light.
Pain. There's nothing quite like it. An almost sweet sensation, one that is an almost distant memory for me. Pain reminds you that you are still alive, reminds you that you still have things to live for, to protect. It's only till you lose that ability to feel pain that you can't help but wonder – is this all a dream? Am I still alive?
I haven't felt pain for at least three years. Not until today.
Pain was all I could feel in my body, my nerves experiencing something for the first time in a long while that they hadn't been able to feel for many a year. Despite the amount of pain I was in, I couldn't help but revel in the feeling. I was alive. I was still here, still fighting. For myself, but most of all, for my friends. Scarlet and Brian. Inferno and Zero and Featherblade and Tara.
I cracked open an eye. Mirora lay still in front of me, a white aura surrounding her. The slow rise and fall of her chest indicated that she was still breathing. Still alive. The Shadow had been purged.
Rolling over, I took in my surroundings. We lay in a smoking crater. Rubble littered the ground around us. Bodies lay broken and bleeding. Slowly, my hearing returned to me, and I could still hear the roar of battle surrounding the two of us.
I got to my hands and knees before pulling a single Poké Ball off my belt. It was Miro's Poké Ball. I had kept it as a reminder of her. Making my way over to the golden Dragonair, I tapped the Pokéball against her, pulling Mirora inside.
"I'm not letting you go again. I thought. I can't fail you again." With that thought, I stood up. Battered and bruised though I was, I stood tall, though my head was bowed. The battlefield was in chaos. Quietly, I took note that Zero and Inferno had rejoined the battle, thankful I hadn't lost them. My tattered trench coat flapped in the wind as I walked forward.
The fighting stopped.
I looked up at Cyrus, my eyes narrowed. My aura, blacker that the darkness itself flared and became visible, writhing around me like flames. I shifted into my Dragonair form and my eyes went from their piercing blue to a deep blood red, glowing with power and insanity.
"Cyrus, I'm coming for you," I growled. In an instant, the battle restarted all around me. Foes charged from all sides, yet I merely floated by, my aura blasting them away.
"Fuck," Cyrus swore. I cackled madly and bolted forward obliterating any foe stupid enough to get in my way. The blue haired leader began to glow, before suddenly shifting himself. I took no notice of this, slamming into his midsection as he grew, and threw him backwards. Cyrus landed on his feet, powerful claws digging into the ground. Fins had sprouted on his arms and back while his skin became purple and his front turned a deep red.
He was a Garchomp, and a mean one at that.
With a roar, he dashed forward in a Dragon Rush and ploughed into me, wrapping his claws around my serpentine body and driving me into the ground. His claws began to glow with blue flames. Over and over he slashed at my body tearing at my skin with his Dragon Claw attack. Finally, he stopped.
"Hmph. Pathetic. After that display, I expected much better from you," he spat. I cackled, floating up from where he had left me.
"And here I was thinking you might actually hurt me," I replied, my aura visibly knitting the flesh back together. "You don't see it, do you? You don't see what's happened? You've pissed me off." He raised an eyebrow and folded his arms.
"You slaughtered my family and tortured my friends." My eyes flashed and the ground underneath him exploded throwing him into the sky. Instantly, I vanished and reappeared above him, smashing him in the head with an iron tail and sending him back to the ground.
"What you have done – it's unforgivable." I appeared below him and hit him again, sending him flying sideways.
"Ack!" he cried out, spitting up blood as he hit another pillar, obliterating it. Wind began to blow and it began to rain. Hard. Lightning crackled overhead, followed closely by the boom of thunder.
"And now... I'm going to make you pay for everything that you've done, for everyone you have harmed," I said, grinning sadistically.
"Fuck you," he spat.
"Payback is a bitch Cyrus," I replied, firing off an Ice Beam which he narrowly dodged, only to get hit in the face by a Flamethrower. And all the while, the storm continued to grow. The rain bucketed down and froze turning into miniature ice spears which impaled the army over and over again, eliciting screams of pain from them. Inferno revelled in the cold and ice while Zero simply ignored it. Tara laughed, enjoying the change in weather as Featherblade wheeled and dove in the sky above, easily dodging the falling ice spears. Hurricane force winds blew across the battlefield and lightning struck the ground at random intervals, becoming more and more frequent.
"Look around you Cyrus! This is what happens when you piss me off!" I roared. He chose to attack me in response, attempting to hit me with attack after attack after attack, only for them to be absorbed.
"You can try and try, but now, it's time to end this." My aura flared and five spheres appeared around me, one of each element, circling my body before rapidly picking up speed, throwing Cyrus into the generator which was so necessary to their plan.
"Dragon's Wrath!" I cried, and unleashed orbs. The spheres quickly surrounded the Garchomp shifter, creating a black dome around him and the machine which imploded spectacularly, leaving him unconscious and the generator destroyed, bits of debris scattered within the implosion radius. Shifting back to my human form, I drew the X-blade again and moved towards the tyrant leader.
"Goodbye Cyrus. See you in Hell." With that last parting sentence, I sliced open his throat. Imagine my surprise then when his head came off and a hologram appeared.
"Hello Poka, congratulations on defeating the mech." I growled threateningly.
"Cyrus, when I find you, I'm going to kill you." The hologram waved its finger in my face.
"No doubt you're threatening to kill me now but I can't hear you. This is merely a recording. You see, I wanted to test you. To see whether you will live up to my expectations. This," He gestured to the battlefield. "This is all part of a bigger plan. Even Giovanni fits in some way, though he has his own plot to fulfil, his part will soon be over, be it through you or your friends, he has played his part. I leave you now, with this parting gift." The mech began to beep, and I narrowed my eyes, annoyed.
"Oh goody. An explosive. How original," I growled, before picking it up and throwing it off the side of the mountain where it exploded in mid air, raining debris on the ground below. With an annoyed sigh, I dispelled my aura and reigned in my emotions and by extension, the storm, before looking around the battlefield. Turning at the sound of fluttering wings, I spotted Featherblade landing beside me. Soon, Zero and Inferno walked up and Tara surfaced in the lake nearby before swimming over.
"Come on guys. Let's go help our friends."
Looks like Poka's battle with Cyrus isn't over yet, but at least he was able to save Mirora and take out those generators. That just leaves me and Scarlet to take care of our buisness, and you bet we will, so join us for the next chapter of The Shifter Chronicles!
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