Chapter 36: Dark Skies
September 7, Ambrette Town, 5 pm…
Latias and Latios "skidded" to a sudden halt a couple of meters above the ground. They briefly scanned the area and upon determining that the immediate area was safe from danger, descended towards the grassy hill to drop the two passengers, who were still holding on for dear life.
Emerald slid off of Latias and fell onto the ground while X stumbled off before collapsing as well.
\ \You okay, Rald?\ \ Latias asked as it lowered itself closer to the Hoenn Dex Holder.
"… Next time… warn me about the g-forces…" he groaned out. "Just because you can fly at mach speeds… it doesn't mean you have to fly at mach speeds. And did you have to twirl while flying?"
\ \Depending on the minute differences of air pressure, a specific mid air roll momentarily increases our flight speed,\ \ Latias explained. \ \Thanks to the three rolls, we were able to arrive at our destination approximately 3 seconds faster.\ \
"… And we're wasting that right now because those rolls made me sick," Emerald said as he groggily sat up.
\ \You would have been disoriented regardless,\ \ Latios said. \ \I estimate that your current disorientation lasted 2 seconds longer than normal.\ \
\ \A net gain of 1 second,\ \ Latias said.
"Not worth it," Emerald grumbled. He slowly rose to his feet and took a shuddering breath. "So where are we, exactly?" he asked as he took a glance around him. "This immediate area isn't flooded or burning, so not where Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are fighting."
\ \Correct. We are currently on the outskirts of the town where those two are fighting. At the moment, we are safe, so take this time to prepare.\ \
X climbed to the very peak of the grassy hill and looked off into the distance, towards Ambrette Town. Emerald followed and immediately he spotted the two Primal Legendaries in the ruins of the town. Although he couldn't see that clearly, he figured that Ruby and Sapphire were still riding the two Legendaries.
"So, what's the plan?" X asked.
"We're not going head-to-head against Primal Groudon or Primal Kyogre, that's for sure," Emerald said. "Yveltal is still here too, which only complicates things. Groudon and Kyogre are too strong for any soil sample to calm them down. And with Primal Reversion, they're even stronger." He crossed his arms and took a deep breath. "… Okay. So as far as we know, Ruby and Sapphire might have some traces of the Red and Blue Orbs in their bodies, which is why Groudon and Kyogre underwent Primal Reversion. So if we were to knock them out or take them away from Groudon and Kyogre, the Primal Reversion might be undone. At the very least, they may provide clues as to how to deal with them. But we can't snatch Ruby and then Sapphire or vice-versa. We can't risk having either of Groudon or Kyogre undoing Primal Reversion. They both have to return to normal, or the remaining Primal will be free to focus its powers. We can't risk disrupting the balance that's cancelling out their powers right now. So we have to snatch both Ruby and Sapphire at the same time."
"So we fly in, grab Ruby and Sapphire and fly out?" X asked.
"I assume that's why you two came all this way to Kalos," Emerald said, looking over at Latias and Latios. "You two are the only ones fast and strong enough to do this."
Latias and Latios extended their arms to reveal something they've been holding on in their claws.
"… Are those…" X began, looking at the two shining orbs.
"Their respective Mega Stones," Emerald said with a nod. "Let's do this, then. Latios, you're going to have to trust X if you're going to Mega Evolve."
Latios looked over at the Kalos Dex Holder and eventually nodded. \ \Very well, then.\ \
"Good. It's time for a good old fashioned snatching," Emerald said as he climbed onto Latias again.
"So are we color coordinating?" X asked. "Latias takes Ruby off of Groudon while Latios takes Sapphire off of Kyogre?"
"Not really. Latias and Latios turn purple upon going Mega," Emerald said. "And while Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are usually red and blue respectively, right now, they're… black."
\ \Primal Groudon will retaliate and to effectively approach it, we will need to return fire, to overpower its attacks and to deal enough damage to disturb new attacks,\ \ Latios began. \ \I am stronger in offense thus I will fare better against Primal Groudon.\ \
\ \And Primal Kyogre's attacks can hit from anywhere, whether it comes from the clouds above or the water below. Since I am better in defensive capabilities, I will do better against Primal Kyogre,\ \ Latias said as well.
"That settles it, then." Emerald pressed the button on his Mega Bracelet, and closed his eyes as Latias began to glow bright while Mega Evolving. The Mega Latias took a brief moment to check over itself before nodding.
X glanced at his Mega Ring, temporarily being reminded of Y's last moments. He soon clenched his teeth and shook away the flashing memory. … He would do her proud. It was the least he could do. He'd use the Mega Ring that she returned at the cost of her life to save this region and countless people. And he'd survive this, as her resurrected form wished.
\ \Something wrong?\ \ a voice echoed in his mind.
X blinked in surprise and looked over at Latios, who was looking at him intently. He then realized that it was talking to him via telepathy, as it had with Emerald until now.
"No," he replied. "… Nothing. Let's do this." He activated his Mega Ring and soon climbed onto the Mega Latios.
\ \Hang on tight, Rald,\ \ Latias warned as it prepared to fly. \ \I'm much faster now than I was before. And I will have to dodge incoming attacks quickly. And once I do get close to Primal Kyogre, you will have to grab your friend. I can't risk attacking her as I may kill her.\ \
"So I have to stay focused. Got it," Emerald said. He took a deep breath. "Let's go."
Mega Latias and Mega Latios glanced at each other and synchronized their movements. And in a blink of an eye, they activated small invisibility fields around themselves and charged straight towards Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon respectively.
…
Lumiose City…
…
…
… …
What is that noise? … …
Red slightly frowned. He felt like he was dreaming. Floating in nothingness, feeling so oddly relaxed… And now something has interrupted that dream. What was that noise? … Someone was calling his name… but… who?
He tried to open his eyes. … Nothing happened. He didn't even feel like he had a physical body. At the very least, he couldn't feel anything.
"Red!" came a voice, echoing all around him.
The voice said something else, but he couldn't understand. The words sounded muffled, and the sound was echoing too much.
He suddenly felt a jolt of pain from his shoulder. It was the same type of tingling pain that he felt when his circulation got cut off in his arm while sleeping. He began to feel the jolt of pain all over his body, as if his whole body had been cut off on circulation. Somehow.
The voice was saying something still, but Red still couldn't understand. But as the tingling pain grew, his hearing became better and better, as he was slowly returning to consciousness. The voice… was feminine and very familiar. … Was she crying? He could barely understand her words. But he could tell enough that she had just sobbed out his name.
…
Red slowly opened his eyes. His vision was quite blurry and… red. Apparently some blood had gotten into his eyes. He looked to his side, towards light filtering from the gap of debris. He couldn't see clearly, but there seemed to be someone between him and the light.
Red blinked to clear his vision. When he opened his eyes, his vision had cleared just enough for him to recognize his surroundings.
A girl was on her knees right next to him, with her hands over her face, crying while trembling violently. Red watched as her tears dripped off of her chin and hit the ground next to his head. For a while, he couldn't tell who this was, as his vision hadn't been cleared enough. He looked at her long dark brown hair, wondering where exactly he had seen this hairstyle.
Red snapped into focus as he suddenly realized that he was looking at Blue. And that she was crying – wailing – in front of him. Each of her sobs seemed to stab at his heart, as he realized that he hadn't seen her cry since the aftermath of her battle against Prof. Oak in the Pokémon League.
Blue had always tried to hold back her tears. At best, she'd shed some tears without making a sound but quickly wipe them away and calm down. She always maintained composure. She never wailed like this. And now she was crying her heart out, out loud, with her tears streaming down her face. And Red couldn't take it any longer.
"… Blue?" he managed to say, surprised at how hoarse he sounded.
Blue stopped crying and slowly lowered her hands. Red could now see her tear-streaked face and realized that seeing her like this hurt him more than hearing her crying.
"R – Red?" Blue said, her voice shaking badly. "A – Are you… okay?"
Red slowly struggled to sit up. Blue quickly reached over to help, but stopped before her hands made contact, as if she was afraid to touch him. Red finished sitting up and looked down at his shirt. He could see a lot of blood, even though he didn't feel nearly as injured. Maybe there was a gash or two, but he didn't seem to have any broken bones or anything. But at a glance, he sure appeared to be hurt as hell.
"Yeah, I'm okay," he answered after briefly checking himself. "I don't think anything's broken." He let out a short sigh of relief. "What hap-"
Blue suddenly embraced him tight, and buried her face between his neck and shoulder. "… Good… … good…"
Red winced at the sudden tight embrace. He was about to say something when Blue began to cry again.
"Blue?" he called, pulling his head back a bit to see if he could look at her face.
Blue trembled as her tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was so afraid… I thought I lost you…"
Red remained still for a couple of seconds before he gently put his arms around her, giving her a gentle embrace. "I'm… sorry?" he said as he patted her on the back.
He suddenly recalled what Blue had said to him two days ago in the outskirts of Lumiose City. "… I can't bear the thought of losing you. Just… be careful." Well… it appeared that he had failed in that, though it wasn't really his fault. He couldn't have known that the building would fall on him, after all.
Blue steadily calmed down as the relief began to flood her mind. She soon stopped sobbing and for a while, simply relaxed in Red's warm embrace. She rested her head against his and took a deep shuddering breath. Red kept patting her back, patiently waiting for her to calm down completely.
Blue's eyes snapped open as she suddenly realized what she was doing right now. She quickly pulled her arms back and broke free of Red's gentle embrace.
"S – Sorry, Red," she murmured as she backed away a bit, giving him plenty of space now.
Red chuckled a bit. "It's all right. I guess you were really worried about me, huh?" He glanced around at the pile of building rubble all around him. "I suppose it was valid too. Good thing Poli was there to save me. And thank you for digging me out too."
Blue smiled sheepishly. "No problem. But seriously, Red. Be more careful."
"Yes, ma'am," Red said with a nod. "Huh, your eyes are red again," he remarked, looking into her eyes.
"Oh, right." She turned away for a brief moment to remove her red colored contact lenses. "Sorry. … I guess I don't need these anymore, anyways."
Red smiled as he now saw her deep blue eyes once more. "That's better. Now you look like the Blue I know." His expression suddenly turned serious. "But seriously, what happened? I remember there being an explosion. Is everyone okay?"
"Dia and Platinum are unconscious. Dia might have broken a few bones, but is stable. Platinum… hasn't broken anything, somehow, but she needs medical attention. Pearl is also a bit injured, but nothing serious. Everyone else is perfectly fine." Blue hesitated a bit before continuing. "… Ruby and Sapphire have returned. And they brought Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre with them. Right now, the two Legendary Pokémon are wreaking havoc in Ambrette Town to the southwest of Lumiose City. Emerald and X were dispatched to Ambrette Town to see what's happening exactly."
"Just those two?" Red asked. "Isn't that really dangerous?"
"Yes. But everyone else needs time to rest their Pokémon. So until then, Emerald and X are only there to scout and see what can be done."
"I guess we'll have to go over there too the moment we've rested enough." He slowly began to rise. "So come on, let's get to the lab and rest…" he suddenly trailed off as he glanced past Blue.
"Is something wrong?" Blue asked as she looked behind her.
Red quickly but quietly crawled over towards a pile of rubble, gently nudging Blue towards it as well. The girl obeyed him for now, wondering what was going on. Now that both Kanto Dex Holders were crouched behind a wall of rubble, concealed from view from the streets of Lumiose City, Red carefully peeked around the obstacle. Blue dropped to the ground and crawled forward a bit to peek around the wall as well.
"Hey, is that…" Red began in a whisper, squinting to get a better view while being careful to not step on Blue's prone body.
Blue scanned the streets and soon saw what Red was looking at. She recognized the Mega Hunter walking down the street several meters away from the rubble that concealed her and Red.
"That's Peter," Blue whispered as well. "… What's he doing here? I thought he already left."
"He did," Red said, recalling the final events of the previous battle. "He should be long gone by now. … So why is he here? … And where is he going?"
"It looks like he's going towards our base," Blue said. "You know, that professor's lab."
"How would he know that the rest of us are there?" Red asked.
"… The mind controlled victims," Blue said after a moment of thought. "They were everywhere in this city, before you engaged Peter. They must have scattered and watched as the other Dex Holders retreated to the lab. And surely by now, Zygarde would know about Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. And the mind controlled victims would've seen Emerald and X heading towards Ambrette Town."
"So the Mega Hunter would know that our forces are divided," Red said, catching on. "… So he came back to strike at us when we're not expecting it. And when we're most vulnerable."
"This is bad," Blue said worriedly. "Right now, Dia and Platinum are out, Pearl is a bit injured, and Gold, Crys, and Yellow are worn out. Even if Peter's Pokémon are mostly down for the count, he still has a lot more, and this time, he's not the one trapped in a narrow confinement."
"… We have to go help them," Red said, fully rising to a stand. "At the very least, we have to make sure that everyone escapes safely."
Blue quickly rose to her feet and stood in front of Red, effectively blocking him from the rubble's "exit". She hesitantly put her hands on his shoulders, being careful to avoid touching an injury.
"You're hurt, Red. You shouldn't do anything strenuous." She glanced past the rubble once more. "… I'll go towards the lab to fight Peter and save the others."
Red looked down at the dried blood on Blue's shirt. "… You're hurt too, you know."
"But I'm not worn out from battle," Blue argued. "You've been in an exhausting battle against Peter for a while now. I haven't. So I'll go save the others. You should retreat to somewhere safe and wait."
Red's expression hardened. "No. You can't expect me to run and hide somewhere while the enemy is attacking our friends and our juniors. Especially if some of them are hurt right now. Take Platinum, for example. You said that she was unconscious and that she needs medical attention. If she's being attacked right now, she's going to be killed. I'm not going to lose her because you told me to run away to safety. If I go fight the Mega Hunter or at least distract him, I can save her life. I will not retreat to safety while knowing that I can make a difference."
Blue winced at the harshness of his tone. Red seemed to have noticed his tone, as he quickly lightened his expression. Blue lowered her head a bit but kept her grip on his shoulders.
"Please, Red. … Just… don't…" she pleaded, tightening her hold on his shoulders. "I… I can't… risk losing you. Please…"
"Why?" Red asked with a frown. "Why me, specifically?"
Blue began to tremble again. "Red… … Have you… ever considered what you mean to me? What you have done for me in all my life?" She bit her lips for a bit as she visibly hesitated on whether she should continue or not. "… Listen. … If… I had to choose between saving you or saving everyone else… I'd rather save you. … Do you understand? I – I would rather lose everyone else than lose you."
Red stared at her in shock. … Was she saying that the juniors were expendable? He felt anger rising inside him and was about to express it when the meaning of her first words hit him. "… What I mean to you?" he asked.
Blue lowered her head again as she didn't want to explain her deepest thoughts and feelings. "… Think about it deeply," she said quietly. "And right now… you're all I have left. I can't lose you. … If anything happened to you when I could've made a difference… …" She briefly closed her eyes as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. "… Please. Just… don't go fight Peter right now."
Red visibly calmed as he realized he had misinterpreted her words. He still didn't look thrilled about being sidelined, though. "… I would like to point out that you won't lose me, even if I did go and fight the Mega Hunter right now."
"I can't risk it," Blue said. "… Listen. A few days ago, I had a nightmare. All the Dex Holders were fighting Peter in Lumiose City, and… died. I watched the juniors get killed… one by one. Y, Platinum, Black and White… Crys… And at the very end of that nightmare… you were being attacked. I woke up before I saw what happened, but… later that day, I found Y's dead body. … I just… can't shake the feeling that something terrible will happen if you go and fight Peter in your current condition." She wiped away another falling tear. "So please. Just this one time… listen to me and… don't fight Peter right now."
Red stared into her watery eyes as he thought about a lot of things. He soon let out a long sigh and nodded. "Very well then. … I'll do as you say. I can't stand around and do nothing while the juniors are in danger, but I won't engage the Mega Hunter, or risk myself."
Blue exhaled the breath she had been holding and lowered her head as relief flooded her mind again. "Good… … good…"
"So… am I just supposed to hide under a rock or something?" Red asked.
Blue let go of Red's shoulders and rummaged through her bag for a bit. She looked over at him once more and gave him a small handheld device.
"This is the Pokédex Scanner," she said once Red took it. "I will go fight Peter and lure him towards the center of this city. Once I do, you can use that scanner to locate the other Dex Holders and lead them to safety. That way, you won't be in danger by facing Peter, and you'll still be doing something to help the juniors."
Red frowned as he stared at the device. "But you don't have your Pokédex right now. I won't be able to find you. And you'll be in tremendous danger, taking on the Mega Hunter by yourself in your current condition. You worry about me, but… what about you?"
"I'll be okay," Blue assured him. "This time, he's not the one doing the ambush."
There was a loud explosion in the distance all of a sudden, making both Kanto Dex Holders jump in surprise.
"Looks like he's begun his attack," Red said with clenched teeth.
"Then there's no more time to waste," Blue said as she prepared to leave. "Wait 10 minutes after I'm gone, then go and save the others. And whatever you do… don't risk yourself."
Red nodded. "… Be careful, Blue. … I'll see you once I save everyone else."
Blue looked into his eyes for a brief moment before she nodded and quietly ran out of the little "shelter" between the piles of debris. Red watched her leave before he sat down on the rubble. 10 minutes… He would use that time to think about Blue and her current situation. And figure out what exactly she meant about his meaning to her.
…
Ambrette Town…
…
Mega Latias came to a sudden halt, almost sending Emerald flying off. A giant bolt of Thunder narrowly missed as it streaked past right in front of the Eon Pokémon's face. Mega Latias resumed its flight towards Primal Kyogre, narrowly dodging another Thunder in the process.
The Primal Kyogre was definitely aware of its presence and had now shifted its full attention towards it. The heavy downpour became stronger. Ordinarily, the insanely heavy raindrops would prevent other Pokémon from flying entirely, but Mega Latias was strong enough to withstand it without much difficulty. And to protect Emerald from the rain bombardment, it had created a small barrier around itself. It wasn't strong enough to withstand any direct attack, but it was enough to negate rain damage.
\ \Are you doing okay, Rald?\ \ Latias asked after a quick glance backwards.
"Sort of," Emerald managed to reply. "At this rate… even if we do get close to Primal Kyogre and snatch up the possessed wildchild… Primal Kyogre would still blast us. And Sapphire is going to be struggling. I can't exactly overpower her. And I can't ask you to restrain her without diverting your attention from evading attacks."
\ \True. Thoughts?\ \
"The moment we reach Primal Kyogre, I'll send out my entire team to attack. Or at least just Sceptile, given the situation. It'll be standing on Primal Kyogre, so it would have no problem landing hits with Leaf Blade."
\ \I don't think that will accomplish anything. It'd be like hitting a rock with an egg. Or hitting a diamond with an egg.\ \
"Have you ever thrown eggs at Diamond?" Emerald asked, referring to the Sinnoh Dex Holder.
Latias didn't understand. \ \No?\ \
"Neither have I. Let's give it a whirl. At the very least, we'll cover that diamond up with egg bits and be a giant nuisance."
Mega Latias suddenly swooped down to avoid a giant Ice Beam. The Eon Pokémon twirled yet again for the slightest speed boost and was able to reach Primal Kyogre a fraction of a second faster than it would have normally.
Emerald forced his mind to stay focused as the black Primal Kyogre rapidly approached in his perspective. On its center, standing perfectly still despite the violent movements was Sapphire. The girl was facing his direction, her visible eye burning with dark blue energy.
Emerald sent out his Sceptile on top of Primal Kyogre, so that it could continuously scratch at Primal Kyogre with Leaf Blade. Meanwhile, Mega Latias flew straight towards Sapphire, and Emerald prepared to snatch her.
But when Mega Latias came close, Sapphire quickly sprung into motion. She sidestepped directly into the Eon Pokémon's path and punched it in the chest with enough power to knock Emerald off and force the Mega Latias to crash onto Primal Kyogre.
Emerald rolled on top of Primal Kyogre but quickly scrambled up to his feet. He winced as the heavy rain bombardments were now hitting him all over his body. But he didn't have time to think about that, as Sapphire was charging at him now.
But Emerald was prepared for such an incident. He already knew that wrestling with Sapphire was not going to work, ever. So the only way to restrain her was with Latias's Psychic or Psyshock. However, given Sapphire's nature, it was possible to stop her or at the very least, stun her.
Sapphire leapt towards him, forcing him to jump backwards. Primal Kyogre rapidly moved the moment the two Hoenn Dex Holders were off of it, so that both of them were now in the air right above the chaotic ocean. With Sapphire currently immune to water, she would be fine in the chaotic torrents. But Emerald would not.
Emerald cursed as he saw the waters below. But he still had a job to do. He reached into his pocket and took out his old E-shooter. Though effective against non-Legendary Pokémon, with Sapphire's enhanced senses, her loyalties towards her home region, and the fact that she had lived in the same town all her life…
Emerald aimed the preloaded Littleroot Town soil sample right next to the visible burning blue eye of Sapphire. The soil sample hit the girl right on the forehead and in that instant, her expression changed. Her mouth changed shape from a snarl to a blank gape state. Her visible eye blinked while retaining the burning blue energy.
"Think, Sapphire!" Emerald yelled over the pounding rainstorm. "Think of your beloved hometown! The one you destroyed! Snap out of it!"
His words successfully reached Sapphire, and not just the possessed body. The girl blinked again and her expression changed once more. She started screaming. Not from physical pain or terror, but from the horrors of her memory.
The two Hoenn Dex Holders crashed into the ocean surface, and quickly got swallowed by the chaotic waves. In an instant, Emerald couldn't see anything. Thanks to the dark rainclouds, the scorching sunlight created by Primal Groudon couldn't reach the ocean surface. The hellacious waves also blocked whatever light was reaching the water, making it pitch black.
All he could see were the bubbles of air escaping from his mouth and a single burning blue eye a couple of meters in front of him. He tried to swim to the surface, but the water didn't allow it. He kept sinking while being swept around endlessly. … Was this how the Hoenn Gym Leaders fell? Not even in combat, but simply pulled underwater and swept around?
\ \Hold on, Rald! I'm coming!\ \ Latias's voice echoed in his mind.
Emerald held whatever breath he had left and swam towards Sapphire, who had fallen motionless. The bandage wrapped over her eye slid off, and Emerald could now see both eyes burning with dark blue energy. He momentarily stared at her eyes, wondering if her vision was just dark blue now. Regardless, he grabbed onto what he perceived as her arm and once he felt that she wasn't going to thrash around, he held on, waiting for Mega Latias to save him.
He soon heard a loud splash from above, and a strange white light reached him. He looked up and saw Mega Latias rapidly moving towards him, with a small ball of light in its hands. It wasn't Luster Purge as Latias wasn't able to use it, but Mist Ball still emitted some light.
Once it got close to the two Hoenn Dex Holders, Mega Latias shot the Mist Ball at Primal Kyogre above (because why not) and grabbed the two Dex Holders. Emerald climbed on top and held on, preparing for yet another high speed flight.
Mega Latias soon broke surface and Emerald was able to recall his Sceptile that was still scratching away at Primal Kyogre, being enough of a distraction to prevent it from actively targeting Emerald and Latias.
Mega Latias briefly checked Sapphire in its arms. The girl offered no resistance in her weird trance like state, so the Eon Pokémon simply held her tight and flew at top speed to get away from Primal Kyogre as fast as possible. Once it was sufficiently far away, it shrouded itself in a small field of invisibility for additional protection and headed to safety.
At the rendezvous point, Mega Latios and X were waiting, with Ruby lying on the ground in front of them. Mega Latias dissipated the invisibility field and set Sapphire down next to Ruby.
"Is everyone okay?" Emerald asked as he got off.
X nodded, although some of his clothes were scorched black. "We're fine. Latios had to knock out Ruby with Psyshock, but he's stable."
"Sapphire's fine too," Emerald said. "… I think. But more importantly, I'm sure these two are now out of range of Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. So… are there any changes?"
\ \No. They are still in their Primal Reversion state,\ \ Latios answered.
\ \My guess is that this is because they are still in combat. The other entity, Yveltal, is still engaging them,\ \ Latias added.
Emerald sighed. "Great. Now we have to get that thing to back off for a chance of getting Groudon and Kyogre to calm down." He looked over at Latias and Latios as they reverted back to their normal states. "Any ideas?"
\ \No. But Rald, there is a bigger concern,\ \ Latios said grimly.
\ \Ruby and Sapphire are not the reason why we are here, Rald,\ \ Latias said as well.
"They're not?" Emerald asked in shock. "Then… what?"
There was a loud dragon's roar in the distance and the skies suddenly turned dark as thick clouds appeared out of nowhere. Primal Kyogre's heavy rainclouds dissipated and Primal Groudon's intense sunlight were blocked as well as their weather abilities were negated.
\ \It's here,\ \ Latias warned as it looked up at the darkened skies.
"What's here?" X asked, looking alarmed.
The skies seemingly opened up to a huge barrage of meteors that began to bombard what's left of Ambrette Town, striking Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Yveltal. Emerald recognized the meteor bombardment as Draco Meteor, and stared up at the darkened skies. He soon spotted a large green snake-like Dragon Pokémon appearing within the thick clouds.
"… Rayquaza…"
…
Lumiose City…
…
Blue followed the loud noise of a structure collapsing in the distance. She quickened her pace and was able to reach Prof. Sycamore's lab building within a minute. She hid herself in an alley between two buildings nearby and peeked around. As expected, she could see the Mega Hunter using a shiny Goodra and a shiny Flygon to blast the lab building from a distance.
Blue considered in attacking right now, but chose to remain concealed. She didn't know what exactly the Mega Hunter was attacking. The other Dex Holders could have already escaped.
The Mega Hunter suddenly changed focus. He began to quickly move around the collapsing building, as if looking for someone in particular. Blue silently followed, being careful to remain hidden as much as possible.
The Mega Hunter resumed attacking, and this time, was attacked back as well. Blue quickly realized that there were some Dex Holders here, and moved to assist. As she rapidly approached, she could see a Flamethrower and Solarbeam being used against the Mega Hunter's two Dragon type Pokémon. Not the best attack choice, but perhaps the Dex Holders didn't have a choice. Given the attack types and strength of the attacks, Blue guessed that it was Gold and Crystal retaliating against the Mega Hunter.
Blue quickly considered her options. She could attack the Mega Hunter from behind right now, which would divert his attention away from her juniors. But he could also choose to ignore her and advance towards Gold and Crystal. In that case, she could move around the battle and attack the Mega Hunter with Gold and Crystal, which would allow them to retreat without the Mega Hunter being able to chase after them.
Blue made her decision and quickly ran around the battle. She took out a small ball from her bag and threw it at the Mega Hunter, which exploded in a large cloud of smoke. That way, the Mega Hunter couldn't detect her approach or attack her, and the sudden cloud of smoke distracted him. As expected, Gold and Crystal ceased their attacks and resumed moving. Blue continued to run so she could catch up.
"Ah! Blue!" Crystal said once she got close.
Blue noticed that there were more Dex Holders than just Gold and Crystal. Pearl was supporting Diamond in the front of the group, and Green was carrying Platinum in his arms. … Where were Black, White, and Yellow? The group briefly stopped in their tracks to look at Blue in surprise.
"Keep moving," Blue said as she glanced at where the Mega Hunter was. "I'll hold him off. Just keep running, and Red will come to meet you."
There was a screech from behind as the shiny Flygon flew out of the smoke, resuming its pursuit. The shiny Goodra soon followed, and the Mega Hunter appeared as well.
"Go! Now!" Blue said to the others as she took out a few more smoke grenades from her bag. She tossed them towards the Mega Hunter and put her modified Silph Scope over her eyes, switched to thermal settings to see through the smoke. She then sent out her entire team for battle.
"Blue…" Green began as he approached her. "… Thanks for coming back."
Blue hesitated a bit before turning to look at him. "I didn't come back for you," she said, almost snapping at him. She glanced at Platinum's unconscious body in Green's arms and her expression softened. "… I came here to help save the juniors. So save them. I'll distract Peter and prevent him from chasing after you."
Green glanced at Platinum in his arms and eventually nodded. "… Okay. Thank you."
Blue watched him and the other Dex Holders leave and let out a sigh. So it seemed that Green didn't really want to have a confrontation with her either. Normally, he wouldn't listen to her and stay to fight. But this time, he didn't even put up an argument and left. … Which was good for now, as she didn't really feel like she was ready to talk to him.
Blue activated her Mega Ring to Mega Evolve her Blastoise. She spotted the heat signatures of Goodra and Flygon in the smoke and pointed directly at them so her Mega Blastoise could attack them through the smoke. The Mega Hunter sent out some more of his Pokémon. A Reuniclus and Whimsicott appeared, both presumably shiny. It seemed that the Mega Hunter's main Pokémon were either all downed or weakened enough that he was forced to use the non-mainline Pokémon.
The two Pokémon used a combined Energy Ball, which missed thanks to the smoke. A Scyther appeared next, which immediately began to flap its wings to clear the smoke. Blue's Blastoise blasted three Pokémon with a stream of water using all three of its cannons while her Nidoqueen and Wigglytuff used whatever ranged attack they had to hit the other two.
Blue glanced behind her a while later. The other Dex Holders were probably long gone by now. So she could slowly pull out and lure the Mega Hunter towards the center of the city before she would lose him.
"Hydro Cannon," she ordered, aiming to push back the Mega Hunter's Pokémon so that she could start pulling out.
The attack was met by a combined attack from the Mega Hunter's Pokémon, providing Blue enough time to return her Pokémon and start retreating. The Hydro Cannon was soon neutralized by the combined attacks and the Mega Hunter caught a glimpse of Blue running away. The girl paused a brief moment and saw him beginning to chase after her, and resumed running.
Something felt off, though. While the Mega Hunter was chasing after her like planned, he wasn't sending out all of his Pokémon. And he hasn't said anything to her, especially after what happened the last time they met. And he was just chasing her, not trying to cut ahead or send out any faster Pokémon to cut her off.
He was behaving like one of the simple mind control victims. It meant that Zygarde was currently pre-occupied in doing something and was not directly controlling the Mega Hunter. But then… what was Zygarde doing? Dealing with the Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre incident in Ambrette Town? But… the Mega Hunter was sent back to Lumiose… so it wasn't completely distracted. Which meant…
There was a loud explosion from afar, causing Blue to halt in her tracks. She looked over and saw a thick column of smoke rising near the edge of Lumiose City, and there were sounds of Pokémon attacks being used. … Were the other Dex Holders in combat? But with who?
Blue gasped in horror as she suddenly realized what was happening. … Zygarde was here in Lumiose, wasn't it? And it was attacking the other Dex Holders. … And Red was going to meet up with those Dex Holders, because it wouldn't be risky. But if Zygarde was there…
"Oh no…" she muttered. "No, no, no… Red…"
Blue quickly began to sprint towards the column of smoke. She had to save Red from Zygarde. Sure, he could take care of himself ordinarily. But right now his Pokémon were worn out, and he was injured. And with the other Dex Holders in a similar state, they couldn't take on Zygarde and expect to win.
Blue turned a corner around a building and collided into something, knocking her off of her feet. The impact knocked the wind out of her, as her Ice Shard wound hadn't been fully treated yet, but just briefly patched up. The sudden impact was bound to worsen the injury.
She gasped in pain and clutched at her wound as she looked up at what she just ran into. Standing in front of her was the Mega Hunter's shiny Flygon. Blue then realized that she was so worried about Red that she had backtracked to get to the source of the explosion… thus running directly into the Mega Hunter who was still chasing her.
The Flygon screeched as it was about to lunge at her. Blue quickly rolled to the side to dodge the incoming attack, wincing as her wound felt like it had just been ripped open once more. She rolled up to her feet and pressed her hand on her wound. … She felt her blood spilling out from the newly opened wound again.
Blue grunted and backed away, trying to get some distance between her and the Mega Hunter. She reached into her bag to take out her Pokémon again but she couldn't move. Her arms remained frozen at her side. She then realized that the shiny Reuniclus was using Psychic on her.
The shiny Flygon suddenly began to violently thrash around, spinning a bit to gather up momentum. It moved closer towards her and the moment it was close enough, it struck her telekinetically frozen body with Outrage.
Blue gasped in pain as she felt the heavy impact in her chest. Her vision tunneled almost immediately and she tasted blood in her mouth. The shiny Reuniclus released her from Psychic and charged up a Shadow Ball. Blue dropped to her knees and tried to breathe, but could only cough out the blood beginning to clog her throat.
The Reuniclus shot the Shadow Ball forward, which hit the girl in her heart. Blue felt as if the Shadow Ball hit her soul. She didn't feel any physical pain from the attack. Instead, her whole body felt cold and she felt her strength completely drained. She fell forward and collapsed onto the ground.
Blue struggled to look towards the column of smoke in the distance that felt impossibly far away now. She tried to reach towards it but her arms refused to move.
"Red…" she managed to whisper. 'Please be careful…' She looked ahead of her and saw the Mega Hunter's Flygon approaching her to finish her completely. 'I'm sorry, Red…' The shiny Flygon raised its foot to stomp on her head. Blue glared at it for as long as she could before her vision faded and she passed out. But she was glad that she lost consciousness, as she didn't want to see the attack that would kill her…