It's Your Blood That's Red Like Roses

Unfortunately, with all the power in the world at my disposal, I also gained the kind of knowledge that would have prevented me from doing this in the first place. But I had little time to consider that as reality broke apart above me.

The sky cracked. The sun was snuffed out as though it were the flame of a candle. A deep, impossible darkness rolled over the sky, swallowing everything in its path.

Nothingness. Chaos. That from which all was born. I looked up at the darkness and from within it, a pair of eyes opened, looking down at me.

It was the first time I'd felt true terror.

I raised my hands toward the sky, but neither time nor space nor the power of a god could affect Nothingness, and as such, nothing happened. That darkness began to bleed down toward me. I could slowly feel the power of Dialga and Palkia being siphoned away from me. I knew that if I didn't stop this, all would be swallowed into Chaos.

It shames me to admit it, but it took the end of the world for me to finally do the right thing.


"I know you've never listened to my advice, not once, but…"

Nausea boiled in Inyssa's stomach at the very sound of her sister's voice.

"…this isn't something you can get out of by whimpering and apologizing later. We don't have to fight. Just give me Uxie and save yourself the trouble." Shadi's eyes narrowed as she said that. "You know how this went last time."

It was like a piece of cloth had been lifted from her eyes. Before, Inyssa could have believed there was some warmth or concern in her sister's statement, but now… it was so obvious. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid.

Her Pokemon growled and snarled at Shadi, but she raised a hand to stop them.

"You just want to make this easier for yourself," she replied. "Don't insult my intelligence by pretending you give a shit about me."

Shadi chuckled, though her lips didn't form anything like a smile. "You've always been an ungrateful brat. If I really didn't care about you, I would've destroyed both you and Barry back in that cruise ship, and taken both Lake siblings for myself. Instead, I let you go with a warning. What do you call that if not mercy?"

Inyssa's reply was immediate. "Guilt."

Shadi's expression froze, the lines around her eyes stiffening.

"Excuse me?"

"I remember. Those six months. Everything you said… Everything you did." She emphasized that last word, the corners of her eyes shaking as she spoke. "You abused mom and I."

That word certainly got a reaction. Shadi flinched as though it had slapped her across the face. The shadows rising from her cape began to move and coil more erratically without her noticing.

"That's an awfully big word to be throwing around," she whispered, danger clear in her voice. "You have no idea…"

"I do." Inyssa grabbed one hand with the other to prevent them from shaking. "I know what you had to go through. I know how frustrating it must've been for you. But the way you treated us… the things you did…"

Impossibly, the already frigid hail falling around them felt like it got even colder by the glint of Shadi's eyes alone.

"Johanna deserved all of it," she said, tone sharp and frigid. "She's a waste of space. A parasite."

"And what about me?" asked Inyssa. "Did I also deserve everything you did to me?"

As she heard that, Shadi looked as though she was struggling not to look away from her sister's eyes. Her lips pursed into a pale line.

"That's why I made sure you couldn't remember any of that," she argued. " You could've gone the rest of your life not remembering. Not hurting. You could've just… let go. But you chose to come back to it."

"I did," said Inyssa. "Because you'd left a hole where those memories had been."

"No one forced you to do this, Niss. It's not my fault you can't live without pain to cling onto," shrugged Shadi. "I did what I could because I cared about you. But if you can't see th–"

Laughter erupted from Inyssa. Cold, bitter, yet so overpowering that she couldn't help but place both hands over her stomach, limbs shaking with the effort to keep it down. Both her Pokemon and Shadi simply stared in surprise. But Inyssa couldn't help it. It was just… it was all so funny.

"God… You are so full of shit." She finally managed to catch her breath, wiping a tear of laughter from her face. "It's incredible. I really must've been blind not to see it before."

Still smiling from ear to ear, Inyssa looked up at a clearly uncomfortably Shadi, and shook her head.

"You… Ha, you erased my memories… To help me? Come on; you'd think you could come up with a better lie than that."

Shadi stammered. "I…"

"You did it because you felt guilty." As she said that last word, all joy and laughter left her face. Her smile died on her lips. "Because you feared I might break or get tired of you abusing me. That I might go to mom or Sarah and tell them what you'd done."

Her sister's expression didn't change, but she looked as though she were stopping herself from swallowing.

"You took those memories away because you were scared and ashamed of what you've done," Inyssa spat out. "Like a kid wetting the bed and hiding the sheets in the closet."

Shadows bled under Shadi's feet as she took a step forward, her only hand forming a tight fist. Her lips curled into something that was nothing like a smile. The night pulsed like a heartbeat around her. Inyssa felt the wave of dizziness wash over her, but the golden, crackling coat of light around her protected her from the full brunt of it. Her Pokemon didn't seem very affected either.

"It's not gonna be that easy," said Inyssa. "They know not to look into your eyes. And that trick won't work on me now that I've unlocked all of Uxie's power."

"Yeah, I'm done having this conversation with you, in case you haven't noticed," Shadi replied, voice low and raspy. "Here."

Light pooled from the Pokeball that appeared in her hand, falling to the ground and materializing into a form Inyssa knew very well.

A Kricketune identical to Shadi now stood across her, baring her scythes with a cold, serious look in her eyes. Inyssa's Pokemon froze at the sight. She might have as well, had she not known which member of her sister's team this was, and had she not expected Shadi to save it for her specifically.

"Your Ditto… Patches." A smile formed on her lips. "Let me guess. Teaching me a lesson by beating me with my own team, giving me a taste of my own medicine, something like that?"

Despite herself, Shadi smiled as well.

"Mostly I just want him to get your team out of the way," she said. "So that I can take care of you personally."

Patches took a step forward, his form shifting slightly, as though his body were nothing but a shimmering heat haze. Inyssa swallowed. Outside of Midir, he had to be the trickiest of her sister's Pokemon to fight, which meant it was about time she started working on her plan.

"Kuro! Johnny!" Both Pokemon turned to look at her, the latter only doing it once his brain had processed what was happening. "Leave. Go help Maylene and Candice; you'll be more useful with them."

Kuro snarled and growled in protest, and Johnny's expression, while not changing much, did show the subtlest hints of defiance. Good. Just like they had practiced.

"Neither of you will be able to fight well in such a small space," she argued. "And it'll be difficult for me to command five Pokemon at once. Now go!"

The two of them protested a bit further, but in the end they had no choice but to obey their trainer. Defeated, they left down the stairs toward the base of the tower. Though not before looking back one last time, like Inyssa had instructed them to in order to make this look more realistic.

Eh. Seven out of ten on the acting front, I'd say.

"Well, that's the good thing about Pokemon," said Uxie. "Even when they're bad actors, humans will find it hard to notice."

Across from them, Shadi had raised her eyebrows, impressed.

"How… noble of you," she said, trying not to smile. "Is that what you intended? To look noble? Because I have to say–"

"Shadi, Swords Dance!" Inyssa cried out. "Bret, jump on Steven's back!"

They moved quickly and in perfect unison. Shadi fell to one knee and crossed her scythes in front of her, a dark, red aura covering her body. Patches jumped forward on instinct, trying to stop her. But a sudden, powerful gust of wind sent him stumbling back as Steven took off with a bat of his wings, Bret riding on his back.

"Kgh." Shadi squinted and raised a hand to cover her eyes. "Just going for it, eh? I respect that."

"Power Style: Obsidian Overture!" Inyssa threw her hand forward, her scream echoing around her. "Do not give her an inch! Steven, Bret! You two support her from the air and stop him from trying to morph into something else!"

Her sister blinked, brow furrowing. "Obsidian wha–?"

Shadi disappeared into a blur, and she did not touch the ground again for quite some time. She slashed at Patches in an X. The Ditto raised his own scythes to block the attack but suddenly his opponent wasn't there anymore, a sudden air current shooting up from her previous location. Shadi materialized behind him, seemingly out of nowhere.

The impact sent him flying forward, a scorching slash blooming on his back. Steven and Bret swooped down to intercept him but Patches rolled onto his feet and readied an X-Scissor to interc–

Shadi slammed into him with tremendous strength, knocking him off balance. Just then, a rain of knife-sharp leaves fell upon him with the speed of bullets, and a second after Steven's wing slammed against his stomach, sending him flying back, almost over the edge of the roof.

And all throughout that, her sister hadn't blinked once. The look upon her face would have brought a smile to Inyssa's face on any other occasion.

"Well I'll be damned," she whispered to herself. "I gotta give it to you, sis. Only someone as crazy as you could turn a Kricketune of all things into a competitively viable Pokemon. I'm starting to not mind so much the fact that you named her after me."

"I named her after the person I thought you were," Inyssa spat back. "She's my strongest Pokemon. And she's going to kick your ass."

"Heh." Shadi shook her head. "You're right… I was trying to make fun of you before, by making Patches turn into that. But you have gotten stronger since last time, haven't you? I guess it's time we stop fucking around and actually get serious." Her eyes gleamed maliciously as she said that. She threw her hand forward. "Patches… You know the drill. Turn into something we can beat them with."

Inyssa held her breath, heart pounding, as Patches' body morphed and shifted, the disgusting pink mass turning into something else.

Come on, she thought, anxiously. Come on, make him turn into…

The batting of wings was heard. An enormous, winged creature with bright red plumage shot up into the sky, flames licking at every inch of his body. He had turned into a Talonflame.

It was really, really hard not to laugh triumphantly, but somehow Inyssa managed to keep her poker face.

"A fire-type…" observed Uxie. "Seems that luck is on our side tonight."

Luck? Why do you think I chose to leave these three Pokemon with me? she thought. Though I admit that I wasn't completely sure…

Shadi pointed at Steven and Bret. "Get rid of those two first. The Kricketune won't be able to follow."

Patches shot through the sky like a bullet, leaving a trail of flames behind him. Inyssa tried to force her smile down.

"Dodge and keep providing support! And Shadi…!" She threw her hand up toward the sky. "Flight Style: Emerald Ecclesia!"

Inyssa wished she could've seen the look upon Patches' face as the Kricketune he thought he was safe from started jumping off the air itself, rapidly making her way up to him.

"How'd…" Shadi frowned for a moment, but then realization dawned on her. "Ah… I see. Using the kinetic energy absorption from Bide… Clever." There was no pride or warmth in her voice as she said that. "Patches, use your speed to your advantage and focus on the other two! She'll run out of kinetic energy soon!"

Another breath of relief that Inyssa had to gulp down. Yes, she didn't want to beat Patches just yet. She needed him to attack as many times as possible, shooting the heat of his flames as high into the air as he could. Enma had already shot up a fair amount of heat, but she didn't think that would be enough. This was the only way…

"Steven, keep the high ground! Bret, pelt him with Magical Leaf!" she yelled out. "Shadi, intercept as many attacks as you can and absorb them!"

Even with her eyesight enhanced, it was hard to follow the wild and frenetic dance of wind and flame, impacts reverberating through the air, bursts of heat burning away the hail, sending flurries of melting snow raining down around them. Steven and Shadi were following the plan. They continuously put themselves above Patches so that the heat of his flames would rise up into the sky. Only a little bit more, then–

Something moved in the edge of her vision.

"Inyssa!"

An enormous, clawed hand made of shadows closed around the spot where she'd been an instant before. Inyssa materialized a few feet to the right. The place where the pebble currently resting inside that hand had been.

She swallowed; that had been a close one. If she hadn't imbued part of her memory into as many things as she could find on the roof of the tower, she might've been done right there.

"You didn't forget about me, did you?"

Inyssa scoffed. "Never again."

A chuckle left Shadi's lips. Her shadow arm retreated back into the inside of her cloak, and for a second her eyes seemed to narrow in pain. The blue of her eyes flickered on and off.

She's spreading herself too thin, thought Inyssa. Between making those portals and controlling all those people below, she must be running dry.

"What shall we do, then?" asked Uxie? "Push her so hard that she is forced to release her hold on the civilians below or take advantage of the fact that she can't use too much of her power against us?"

Inyssa knew the answer, though she wasn't particularly thrilled about it. She remembered their last battle on the S.S Anne, how Shadi had put all those people in danger just to fuck with her head. How she'd shamed her for not being able to put the safety of others above her own fear and doubt.

Not this time, she thought, placing her hands together. Her body crackled with power.

Thanks to her enhanced senses, she could hear high above when Shadi couldn't. Air beginning to thin. Thunder starting to crackle. A storm cloud forming above the hail, born from the immense amounts of heat sent upwards. Soon, her weapon would be fully forged.

In the meantime, all she had to do was disguise it.

"You told me you shouldn't have to feel guilt for what you've done," she growled. "Let's see if that's true. Unfold before me: Phantasmagoria!"

She shot her eyes wide open, sending through them as much of Uxie's power as she was capable of. Immediately, the world around them changed. Like in a dream, reality melted away and reformed into something different, a familiar scene from long ago, inside a house that they both knew very well.

Shadi's mouth gaped slightly at the sight. They were back in Twinleaf, in the living room of their own house. And there outside the door leading to Shadi's room, younger versions of themselves stood next to each other, the older girl strongly grabbing onto the younger's wrist.

"Are you mocking me!?

"N-no! I…!"

"If I want the help of a stupid highschool girl I'll ask for it. And trust me, I'm never going to ask for it!"

"P-please…"

A shadow of unease passed over the real Shadi's face, though she was quick to conceal it. She swallowed, then turned to Inyssa.

"Is this your master plan?" she asked, though the mockery in her voice sounded forced. "You intend to make me realize the error of my ways by trapping the both of us in a memory?"

It was hard to talk while maintaining two illusions of such complexity at once, but she somehow managed.

"You've been using your powers for… more than three years," she whispered with effort. "I unlocked them less than an hour ago. I'm not beating you with brute strength, I know that."

"And what? Do you think psychological warfare like this will work?"

To that, Inyssa simply smiled and nudged her head to the side, toward the scene unfolding before them.

"I-it hurts! Please…"

The discomfort on Shadi's face as she heard that was clear as water, something she herself seemed to notice, judging by the way she grit her teeth a moment after.

"Enough."

This time Inyssa saw it coming. As the shadow arm made an arc toward her, all she had to do was kneel and it passed over her, ruffling her hair.

"Pretty slow. I didn't even need to teleport to dodge it," she taunted her. "You might want to consider giving it your all against me instead of fighting two battles at once."

Shadi scoffed. "Keep talking. That's all you're good for, it seems."

"Not anymore."

She took a deep breath and concentrated. The world changed around them once more, a new memory unfolding before them. Young Inyssa stood next to a kneeling Shadi, her body shaking with pain and exhaustion.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I d-didn't know and because of us… I'm so sorry…"

"No, you're not. If you really were sorry then you'd do something about it."

Shadi made a face again. Inyssa smiled; she'd made sure not to block out the sounds of the hail and the battle raging around them, as to not make her sister suspicious. There was only one sound she was trying to block with this illusion.

"You… How ungrateful can you be?" asked Shadi, throwing her hand to the side. Heat was beginning rise up her voice. "I took all this away just so you could live happily. Why did you come back to it?"

"Because this pain is a part of me," replied Inyssa. "And so are you, the real Shadi. I'm never letting you steal yourself from me again."

"I did it to protect you!"

"You can try hiding the truth all you want, but I'm not going to let you. I'll remember you, all of you, the good and bad, even if the pain of it tears me apart from the inside." Her eyes narrowed into a scowl. "Because unlike you, I can live with the mistakes I've made."

Shadi scoffed, ears and nose starting to turn red with anger.

"None of what you're saying makes any sense," she said. "I know for a fact that you were happier once I left. You grew up healthy. You became a trainer like you always wanted! So tell me, how is it my fault that you had all that going for you and still managed to fuck up so badly!?"

"Y-you still think I hate you. That I didn't want you around." Inyssa's voice shook a bit as she said that, lower lip quivering. "Yeah… that would've been better for me. Healthier. But you meant so much to me. When you went away, leaving that empty spot inside of me…" She breathed in deep, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, their light became one with the memory around her. "Here. Let me show you."

The world changed a third and final time. Not because Inyssa didn't think she could show yet another memory if she wanted to, but because this was the most painful one she had. She almost closed her eyes and covered her ears as to not see it again. But no… That was a chance Shadi could use to attack her. She had to keep herself calm, even if…

A sob got caught in her throat at the mere sight before her. Shadi's eyes shot wide open. They were inside their house once more, in the kitchen. A young Inyssa leaned against the sink, looking down at a bottle of pills with empty, colorless eyes. Her body was covered in dirt, snow and a multitude of bruises. Dry blood stuck to her lips and right eyebrow.

Tears welled up in her eyes. Every muscle in her body shook violently.

"S-stop this," whispered Shadi, uselessly trying to sound calm. "If you're trying to…"

"I-I'm sorry…"

The sheer, naked misery in the girl's voice was enough to make Shadi flinch. Her lips pressed into thin, pale lines.

"Shadi… Barry… I'm s-so sorry." A sound halfway between a hiccup and a sob left her lips. "I c-can't take it anymore."

In a quick, sudden motion, she took the bottle to her lips. Shadi unconsciously gasped, turning her head to the side. It was her chance. Her final weapon wasn't ready yet, but…

"Now!"

The memory disappeared around them, and from within appeared Steven, flying down toward Shadi like a bullet. She realized her mistake too late. Cursing under her breath, she took a step back but was too slow to dodge as the Staravia slammed his wing against her stomach. Spit flew out of her mouth as she was thrown back, collapsing in a heap on the floor a few feet back. A few inches more and she'd have gone over the edge.

Steven fell back to her side, accompanied by his two Pokemon companions. Patches flew toward his master, trying to help her up. Inyssa breathed in, feeling her heart as though it were caught in a vice. That last memory… it'd been too much for her, but it was necessary to distract Shadi. But unless Steven had hit the exact right spot…

Her answer came before she could fully think the question in her head. The shadows around Shadi began to shake and trash. She got up to her feet and looked up, the look upon her face nothing short of spine-chilling.

Steven had missed. The Dread Plate was still intact inside her pocket.

But even worse, she'd lost all hopes of delaying or distracting her sister a second longer.

"I'm… done. Playing around." Shadi's voice was laced with something dark and cold as she spoke, her face a mask of fury. "Patches. Extreme Speed."

There was no time to react. The Ditto assumed the form of a Lucario in an instant, and then he wasn't there anymore. There was a sharp sound as he traveled forward like a bullet. Inyssa felt his presence alongside them, but couldn't even turn her head before the next order was given.

"Explosion."

By the time Inyssa turned around, Patches was an Electrode the size of her torso. His body began to glow a bright white before he even touched the ground.

"INYSSA!" Uxie screamed in her mind.

She moved by instinct, raising her hands toward the Pokemon. The air around her shimmered as a psychic barrier materialized between them.

Then came the flash, followed by the impact. Her hearing numbed. Pain shot up all throughout her body and the world around her was dark and blurry, a mess of black and small, dancing dots of white.

She was on her back, lying on the ground. That makeshift barrier had stopped most of the impact, but–

"GHK!"

Shadi's foot came down on top of her chest, making her spit out what little air she'd managed to breathe in. Her vision swam again. The blurry silhouette of her sister appeared above her, looking down at her.

All but her eyes were pure shadow. Her braid had been undone and now her hair flowed free behind her like a crown of dark tendrils. A flurry of snowflakes rained around her, looking as though the light of the world itself were bleeding out, leaving behind a putrid carcass of darkness.

"You're entirely wrong about the way this all works, sis."

The sound of her voice terrified Inyssa to her core. She felt paralyzed. A part of her screamed at her to move out of the way or fight back or… anything. She wasn't the little girl scared of her powerful big sister anymore. She'd moved past that. Seen the truth and understood that all of Shadi's power over her was a simple illusion.

But if she knew that… then why couldn't she move? Why did the Shadi before her seem so different, so much more horrifying than the woman she'd been talking to until now?

Why did she feel like she was about to die?

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" asked Shadi, barely above a whisper. "You'd regain your memories, find the truth and strike me down right after delivering a speech on how much you've grown, on how you've finally surpassed me? And what happens after that? Everyone laughs and dances and goes home, happily ever after? Sorry to break it to you, but life isn't a fairy tale. Triumph, glory, happiness… they're not a prize to be claimed and kept forever."

Her boot pressed more strongly against Inyssa's chest. She gasped, eyes shooting wide open with pain, her breathing coming in ragged and sharp.

"You put so much effort to gain things that mean nothing. You care so much about how others see you or feel about you. Like your stupid trick just now. If you'd really gotten over me, you wouldn't have needed to reassert yourself in such a way." Her lips curled into something almost like a smile. "It's like everyone in the world but me is playing a game, acting out a play. And you simply refuse to drop the charade. You claim to hold the truth while adamantly refusing to pull the wool out of your eyes. But I… have it. The truth. Do you want to hear it, Inyssa?"

There was no way she could answer, but even if she could she doubted she could've found the words. Icy fear gripped every cell in her body.

"The truth… is that there is more than we could ever hope to know. More than what gods or legendary Pokemon could ever see with their own eyes, with all the time in the world at their disposal." She spoke with a calm, passionate voice, almost like she were whispering sweet nothings to the ear of someone she loved. "When I was younger… I dreamed while being fully awake. I dreamed that I flew through the sky. I dreamed that there were no horizons around me, and what met my gaze at the end of the world was the end of the world itself. And there I saw… so many things. Things only one free of time, space and death could see. Mountains being tossed around by the wind. Flames boiling the sea into steam. Thunder breaking continents like glass. I saw the sun burst like a soap bubble and the moon disintegrate as though it were made of dust. And yet none of it affected me. I looked from above like a patient Murkrow hovering above a battlefield, seeing it for the feast it'll soon become. I was the only one left to hear the last silence fall upon the corpse of everything."

Inyssa didn't realize that she hadn't breathed for a few seconds, too distracted, too unnerved by the loving, uncanny tone of her sister's voice.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful, how exhilarating such a sight is? No, of course you don't. None of you do." Shadi shook her head, seeming disappointed. "It was like being something beyond everything. Compared to that… what worth is the touch of a lover's lips against your own? The sound of a friend's laughter? The sight of your newborn child in your arms? Or…" She looked down at Inyssa, face suddenly expressionless. "… The smile of a sister you thought you loved?"

At the sound of that, tears began to well up in Inyssa's eyes. A sob left her lips. And Shadi did not seem to care in the slightest.

"I'm sorry. But this is a fight you never had a chance of winning."

Shadi pressed harder against her chest, and tendrils of darkness began spreading from her foot throughout Inyssa's chest. A pained gasp left her lips. Cold. It felt so cold and sharp and…

The light in her eyes flickered on and off. The whole world felt numb and blurry.

U-Uxie…

"Inyssa!

I'm… I'm sor–

Something whistled through the air. Shadi looked up suddenly, and letting out a gasp she jumped back as quickly as she could just before the blade of the scythe cut her in two.

Inyssa blinked, dazed and confused. What had just happened?

"Y-you!?" screamed Shadi .

"Ah… Just in the nick of time."

The shock of hearing that voice was enough to force Inyssa to push herself up to a sitting position. Eyes wide and golden again, she looked up at the person who'd just appeared. Her mouth gaped.

Mars looked back at her and winked. She held an unconscious Steven under her arm.

"This little guy went over the edge. Lucky I was climbing up; otherwise he would've been toast," she said, letting him fall next to Inyssa. "Anyway, sorry to interrupt the family reunion. But I heard you were in town and… well, I couldn't resist the temptation to pay you a visit."


Percy couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He'd heard of this from Reiko, of course. But in the back of his mind, he'd always found the idea so odd, so fantastic. To tame a portion of Moltres' power… To become one with it…

And yet the proof now stood right in front of him.

Reiko was more fire than human. She was hard to look at, every inch of her body covered in bright red and yellow flames, molding around her like a second set of clothes. Her hair flowed freely behind her, more plasma than hair, really. The sheer heat emanating from her made his eyes water. Spouts of steam rose from her now closed wounds, blood evaporating into a dark red mist around her.

Others might have felt frightened at such a sight. But the only thing Percy could think of was just how beautiful she looked.

"Heads up."

The sound of her voice brought him back to reality. The ground shook as the Charizard took a step forward and threw her head as back as it would go, flames gathering in her maw.

"Shit. Priscilla, use Prot–!

"No," said Palmer, his voice booming in the same uncanny way Reiko's did. "We'll stop it."

The jet-like sound of the flamethrower being fired was heard before he could protest. A massive wall of flames rolled toward them, getting bigger and wider the more it advanced. When it was almost upon them, both Reiko and Palmer raised their hands toward it.

Then, Percy saw the wind. Not for the things that it affected but for itself; an endless array of glass-like multicolored threads moving in impossible to predict patterns all around them. And with a single gesture from Palmer, they all bent to his will.

A roaring gale formed behind them, crashing against the flames with a sharp, sizzling hiss. The humidity in the air boiled. Steam exploded in clouds all around the point of impact, both wind and flame slowly trying to advance against each other. However, Percy noticed that Palmer's arms were starting to shake with effort.

That's when Reiko stepped in. With a swipe of her finger against her arm, she scooped up the few drops of blood that hadn't been vaporized yet. Then, pressing them against the base of her blade, she painted a streak of blood all through its length.

Immediately, the sword burst into flames. Reiko took a quick step forward, raising it over her head as she took in a deep breath.

"HYAA!"

For a short instant, nothing happened, a sudden, unnatural silence overtaking the lake despite the roar of the flames.

Then, the wall of flames parted. It was quick and sudden, like blowing out a candle. From the middle it was split into two streams of flames which rose high up into the sky before dissipating, casting a powerful light down on the lake and making it look as though the sky itself were ablaze.

A short silence followed the death of those flames. Both Percy and the Charizard facing them looked upon Reiko with wide, disbelieving eyes. Something almost like worry crept up the beast's face.

"Percy," said Reiko, finally breaking the silence. "Plan."

He swallowed, then gave her a nervous nod.

"Everyone, split up!" he said, swiping at the air with his hand. "We'll attack it from as many angles as possible so it can't avoid us!"

"Right!" everyone replied in unison.

And from that moment on, it was chaos.

Palmer and Argenta were quick to jump atop Makura's back before it took off, while Reiko had a much bolder, probably stupider plan. She headed straight for Midir.

The crystallized ground exploded around her feet as she jumped forward, clearing half the distance between them in merely a moment. Midir reeled back in shock. Both by her sudden, inhuman speed and also because the Charizard had probably never met a human idiotic enough to run straight at her with a sword.

Midir threw herself up, wings batting furiously as even more flames licked at the inside of her maw. She shot a Flamethrower straight down, which swallowed Reiko whole. A wave of heated wind exploded outwards from that point, pushing everyone back a few feet. Triumph gleamed on the beast's eyes.

And then, Reiko jumped from within the rain of hellfire completely unscathed. Percy knew then that he would never, for as long as he lived, forget the look of sheer panic and shock on Midir's face.

Reiko stabbed Flicker into the beast's thigh. There was a moment of silence; a sharp intake of breath. Then a roar that shook the world itself, pain and rage and indignation joining together into a truly terrifying sound, yet one made less so by the sight of the young woman standing at the beast's feet, determination etched into every one of the flames coating her body.

Her retribution came quick, though. In a flash of anger, Midir brought one of her claws down on Reiko, an attack she wouldn't be able to evade as easily as she'd done before.

"Got you!" Palmer's voice was heard from above.

A loud, deep gong reverberated through the air, and Midir's claw bounced back. A psychic barrier had materialized between her and Reiko.

Percy couldn't see her face, but somehow he knew Reiko was smiling.

"About time you did something useful."

She bent her knees and jumped atop the grip of the blade still stabbed on the beast's thigh. From there, she jumped again, this time leaving behind an explosion of heat of flames as she propelled herself higher than any human should be able to with a single jump. She hovered for a moment, inches above Midir's face. Below, her blade disappeared and then reappeared in her hand with a flicker of light.

"RHYAAAAA!"

Midir took off with a sudden, powerful bat of her wings, but Reiko was quick and managed to grab onto one of her wings. They both rose high into the air together. Makura hovered over them, ready to intercept.

"Everyone!" screamed Percy, rallying up the Pokemon around him. "Send attacks their way, but only when it counts, to interrupt one of the Charizard's own!"

Despite only one of them being his Pokemon, all four nodded and got into position, energy of their respective elements swirling around them as they prepared to attack.

High above, a pained roar shook the air as Reiko sliced part of Midir's wing with her blade. The beast thrashed and spun in mid-air, throwing the girl off her violently.

"Here!" Palmer yelled.

A barrier materialized under Reiko's feet. She landed with her knees bent, then jumped up in a burst of explosive speed, flames spiraling behind her. Midir flew up, whipping down at the airborne Reiko with her massive tail. It came down like a pendulum blade, but before it could connect Makura slammed itself against the beast's side, stealing her breath and throwing her to the side.

Two gunshots boomed through the air. Midir thrashed and screeched and pushed herself away from the Salamence, batting her wings furiously to compensate for the slice in one of them. Argenta's bullets had done little more than irritate her, the dragon's skin too thick to be penetrated so easily.

Palmer raised both hands from atop his dragon, one glowing a bright pink, the other a dark shade of gold. A barrier materialized under Reiko, so that she could land safely. At the same time, a massive gale came down from high above, hitting Midir from behind, counteracting the power in her wings and preventing her from flying away from their reach.

"RRRRHHHAAAAAA!"

It clearly didn't make her happy, if that air-shaking roar was anything to go by. Percy squinted, noticing that she'd thrown her head back once more, a pale, reddish glow forming within her maw.

"Now!" he cried out, pointing up. "Aim to distract, not just wound!"

All four Pokemon let out a determined cry, and then the air boomed with the sound of their attacks. Denki's Thunderbolt was the first to hit, knocking Midir out of her attack. She looked down, furious. She dodged Gamatetsu's flurry of sharp leaves without effort, and would have done the same with the pillars of fire and water thrown her way, were it not because they clashed against each other before reaching her.

A ray of steam shot up toward Midir, hitting her straight in the face and momentarily blinding her.

"Makura; Outrage!"

Salamence let out a powerful roar, and an aura red as blood exuded from his body. The air around him felt like it compressed into himself. Then, he wasn't there anymore. His body became a blur as he flew high above Midir in an instant, then came down upon her like a hammer on a nail, the claws on his front legs digging into the Charizard's chest.

The sound that rang through the air then was inhuman, a screech so loud and deep Percy felt as though the world itself were crying out in agony. Both beasts flew erratically through the air, glued to each other. They bit and slashed and fired bursts of flames and draconic energy at each other with the speed and desperation only wounded and desperate Pokemon were capable of. Gunshots boomed through the air. Reiko had jumped high enough to hang on from Midir's back and, while hanging on for dear life, she slashed at her scales over and over, carving deeper into her with every second that passed.

Blood evaporated as soon as it was drawn due to the intense heat, and a dark, red mist began covering the sky, glowing like infernal clouds against the light of the moon and that of the beast and the girl's flames.

The deadly dance between the two dragons couldn't have lasted long. In fact, Percy hadn't breathed at all from its start through its end, and yet by the time Midir began glowing it felt as though several minutes had passed.

"Wha–?" Percy squinted at the sudden brightness. "Is that…?"

All of a sudden, Midir became a miniature sun. Every inch of her skin went from a dull orange to a dark, blood-like red, the air distorting around her in a strange haze. Makura cried out in pain. Palmer and Argenta followed, and the beast had no choice but to throw himself back, putting distance between them.

Realization dawned on Percy as soon as the wave of heat hit him. His skin burned. His eyes and mouth dried up instantly and for a moment he felt as though he would lose consciousness. Letting out a cry of pain, he took several steps back and covered himself with his arms, though it did little to help. A few yards from him, steam began to rise from the water of the lake. There was only one attack that could cause such a massive and dangerous spike in heat, Percy realized amidst that pain.

"It's Overheat! Get out of there!" he cried out, not knowing if they could hear him or not. "Reiko! You have to–!"

The night fell still. Air and heat were sucked back into Midir's body like a vacuum.

Then she exploded into light, and Percy saw nothing but white.


Palmer was dying. His reckless use of Mesprit's immense power was taking a toll on his already exhausted body, and every second was a struggle not to let his consciousness fade away. His vision was foggy. His muscles cried in agony.

And yet, when he saw the Charizard start readying an attack that would most certainly wipe them all out, he did not hesitate to smile and take a step forward.

"What are you doing?" Mesprit's voice boomed in his mind. "I've told you to stop! You're barely hanging on by a thread; if you continue using my powers…!"

Palmer took another step to the side, out of Makura's back and into the air itself. The shock and panic of everyone around him crashed into him like waves, but were soon replaced by something else. Wonder.

He did not fall. The air danced around him in ribbons of light, no longer holding him down, no longer chaining him to the ground. His eyes shone like beacons; a gold like that of the sun. All of the pain and exhaustion in his body vanished completely. Or perhaps they'd intensified to the point of numbness, but that did not matter.

Mesprit's voice resounded in his head, awed and wary in equal amounts. "P-Palmer?"

Palmer closed his eyes, and time slowed to a crawl. There, in that darkness, he heard and felt them again, for what he knew would be the last time. Their voices. Their sadness, bitterness and anger. The very heart of the people whose lives he'd taken. In the end, he hadn't been able to cross out a single one of their names from his list.

Except for…

He opened his eyes and looked up with a smile, setting his gaze on the girl hanging from one of the Charizard's arms. He had no idea how he could tell from so far below, but he could've sworn she looked back at him.

"I'll stop the explosion," he told her telepathically, using Mesprit's power. "Try to absorb as much of the heat as you can."

Reiko couldn't answer back, but he had no doubts that she'd heard him. For a short instant, their stares lingered, as though they were having a silent conversation. Palmer let out a low chuckle, then nodded.

"H-hey…" Mesprit sounded panicked, scared. "Stop… What are you…?"

"I will take responsibility for what I've done," said Palmer, his voice booming through the air. "If I cannot atone for my actions, then I will make sure no one has to suffer the same fate."

He raised his left hand toward the sky, grabbing hold of all the pain and sorrow he'd absorbed from those he'd killed. He remembered their faces, heard their last screams, smelled the scent of blood and death in the air. The wind swirled and roared around him.

He raised his right hand toward the sky, grabbing hold of that warm, calming light which had always been at his side. He remembered the moment in which Barry had opened his eyes for the first time, felt once more the touch of Sarah's lips against his own, heard the sound of their laughter in his ears. The wind coiled and whistled around him.

"WAIT! PALMER–!"

Mesprit's voice was cut off as the sky exploded with flame and light. Palmer responded in kind, closing his hands into fists, the wind itself rushing to his command.

The sound of the ensuing maelstrom was deafening, bursts of explosive, glowing wind rushing toward the wave of flames as though pulled by a black hole. A swirling mass of threads of light swallowed the explosion whole, forming a dome around it. It spun with the strength of a hurricane, its sheer centrifugal force redirecting the bursts of flame and preventing the heat from escaping outwards. Inside, her scream echoing where no one could hear it, Reiko did her best to absorb as much of it as possible, lowering Palmer's burden, even if only by a little bit.

Palmer smiled at the thought. She really was one of a kind. Maybe he hadn't been ahead of himself when he'd compared her to Sarah.

I'm sorry I'll never get to fulfill my promise, he thought. If you keep hating me after this… That's okay. You don't have to forgive me. This is a pretty shitty way to apologize, after all.

The clouds above parted by the sheer power in the air. The ball of wind and flames glowed like a second sun about to set, both its light and that of the moon reflected below on the surface of the lake.

And just like that, it stopped.

Flames stopped rushing out from Midir's body. Palmer's hands fell, and the wind stilled once more. The heat that remained dispersed into the AIR, distorting the beast's image, as well as that of the woman kneeling atop her back, the previous red of her flames now a blinding, scorching blue, the heat emanating from her so powerful that even the scales on the Charizard's back were starting to blacken.

An exhausted, almost invisible smile spread through Palmer's lips.

Even a dragon can't stand against the heat of a volcano, eh? he thought, feeling an odd burst of pride. Heh… At least that's a pretty beautiful image to go out on.

Palmer closed his eyes with a satisfied smile, and the wind rushed down to hold him as he fell.


Reiko saw Palmer fall as though in slow motion. Makura dove down to grab him between his claws, and as he did, a small, almost imperceptible wisp of golden light left the man's chest, then vanished.

There was a short moment in which the wind ceased completely, frozen, mourning.

Then both girl and dragon opened their mouths, and screams of pure, hot rage boomed through the air. The flames covering Reiko exploded all around her. A star of' blue, furious flames burned atop the Charizard's back, who let out a sudden screech of pain and tried to spin in place to throw her off.

Reiko did not give her the chance. She threw her hand up toward the sky and all of the heat around her manifested upon her blade, turning it a stark, blinding white, the very air itself distorting around it. For a second, the powerful glow made it seem as though it were day.

"HYAAAAA!"

A sharp sound cut through the air. An arc of flames exploded on Midir's back with such force that she was violently thrown down, clouds of vaporized blood trailing above her as she fell. A cry of pain left her mouth, but it was drowned by Makura's roar. The Salamence flew up in a flash, crashing against the falling Charizard. His claws closed around her throat, and with a furious roar he dragged her down with him toward the ground at almost terminal velocity.

Unfortunately, Midir had not yet been defeated. And like wounded and panicked Pokemon often did, she grew more furious and erratic, thrashing in mid-air with enough strength to slip free of the Salamance's grip, though she left a small part of her neck behind, blood pouring out of her all over.

Throwing herself back, Midir kicked Makura in the stomach with all her strength, stopping his momentum and throwing him up into the air while she continued to fall. She tried to bat her wings to stop herself, mere seconds from hitting the ground, and Reiko couldn't do anything to stop her, barely hanging from one of her wing–

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the air, followed by three more in succession. Midir let out a sound almost like a gasp of pain. Several holes appeared on her wings, and as Reiko looked up, barely aware of what was happening as they fell, she saw a familiar figure falling toward them. Argenta.

"Take this, you heinous–!"

Midir raised her hand toward her, and just then she hit the ground. A loud, reverberating thump resounded all throughout the lake, clouds of dust and geysers of water rising high into the air, obscuring her body for a moment.

Reiko flew off by the force of the impact. She heard a crack as she landed on her arm, air being knocked out of her lungs, vision going momentarily black. She could feel the flames dissipating around her, cold overtaking her body once more.

Shit… Come on, no! She forced herself to stay conscious, and somehow managed to open her eyes. This isn't…

She couldn't finish the thought as she looked up toward the fallen beast. Her mouth gaped.

Midir had landed on the shore of the lake, not too far from Percy and their Pokemon. She laid on her stomach, weakened and bleeding. One of her arms were raised toward the sky.

Argenta was suspended in the air above that hand, a long, ivory claw impaled into her stomach. The woman's eyes were wide open in shock. Her hands still held on to the two pistols.

Time slowed to a crawl. For a moment, Reiko thought that this would be Argenta's end.

She really should've learned not to underestimate her.

Argenta breathed in one last time, forcing herself to move. Then, looking down at the beast with a wide, bloodied grin on her lips, she aimed her pistols and fired straight at her eyes.

Midir cried out in agony, eyes closing tight, blood pouring down from them. She batted at the air with her hand and Argenta was sent flying to the side, crashing against the ground like a ragdoll, a puddle of blood forming under her limp body. She did not move again.

"MMRHAAAAAA!"

Salamence fell on top of Midir, slamming his limbs against hers, crushing her bones and keeping her in place. The ruby in his eyes gleamed with pure, unadulterated rage.

"PERCY! NOW!" Reiko yelled out with what little energy she had left. "Gamatetsu; Frenzy Plant!"

The ground broke under both dragons, vines and roots as thick as trees curling all around Midir's body; thick, sharp thorns digging into her flesh. Makura jumped back just in time, getting out of the way.

"R-right!" nodded Percy, throwing his hand forward. "Pedri; Hydro Cannon! Priscilla; Blast Burn!"

"Denki; Thunderbolt!"

Their voices were drowned out by the roar of each attack. Water, fire and thunder curled around each other, joining together into a pillar of light larger than Midir herself, the sheer force around it making the ground crack and the waters part.

Just before the attack connected, before the light blinded Reiko, she allowed herself a small, satisfied smile.

Die already, you fucking asshole.

The pillar of light swallowed Midir whole. Her last gasp and scream were swallowed by the beam's roar, and as she was thrown back toward the lake, its surface shone a pure, brilliant white, like a second moon encrusted into the ground itself.

Then she fell, causing ripples in the reflection. Waves welcomed her body as she slowly sank to the bottom, the beam of light dissipating above her. Her bloodied eyes fell closed. Her charred body stopped moving, limbs going limp, the world disappearing around her.

The beast that could swallow the sun died drowning in moonlight.


Barry woke up with a start. He inhaled as though he'd been underwater for a long time, eyes shooting wide open, the world before him fractured and blurry. Cold and pain clawed into his body, numbing him. He felt as though he would lose consciousness again at any second.

He felt…

He felt empty. Like something was missing inside of him.

"W-wh…"

Slowly, painfully, he turned his head to the side, and saw a mess of colors and shapes that could only be the shore of Lake Valor. At the thought, a gasp left his mouth. Adrenaline rushed through his body, jolting his senses awake and forcing his sight to focus.

Shadi… Midir… Where were they? What had…?

However, as he thought that, he noticed something not too far in the distance. Two people leaning into each other, surrounded by Pedri and another couple of Pokemon he couldn't quite identify. And in front of them…

His blood ran cold. Two bodies lay unmoving on the ground, as though they were asleep.

Barry opened his mouth, lips quivering, but his voice sounded barely above a whisper.

"D-dad…?"