Chapter 19
Crystal Crossing
"That should do it," Nigel said as he put the last pack of blast seeds in place. He jumped down off of the ceiling and pulled out his last blast seed. He knew that the exploration teams would be coming in full force, Mespit would've tipped them off about this lake by now.
He had detonated blast seeds in every tunnel to the lake today, over the past few days he had dug a tunnel underground, that way he had a hidden escape route to avoid any potential ambuses. He knew the lake's guardian would be on guard once he detonated the caverns, but he preferred one opponent to dozens.
"Stop right there!" a familiar voice yelled. Nigel turned to see team Go-getters a few dozen feet away, running towards him.
He threw his last blast seed at the bundle causing a massive explosion, collapsing the cave between him and Team Go-Getters. Those rocks would slow them down, leaving only one obstacle in his way, the lake guardian would be a challenge, but one he was determined to overcome.
"No! Not this way! We're so close!" Paul yelled.
"Day ain't over yet, let's smash through this!" Wave said, punching the pile with everything he had.
Vine shook her head and said "that's not gonna work, that is dozens of feet of rock condensed into one pile."
"What do you suggest! Give up!" Paul demanded.
"Give me a second to THINK!" Vine yelled.
Paul sighed and said "I'm sorry, everything is at stake here"
Vine was pondering for about 10 minutes, sizing up the pile before an idea came to her.
"I think I can use a frenzy plant to hold it open for a bit, then you two can make it" Vine explained.
Wave and Paul gave each other a look of uncertainty, they had no desire to leave their teammate behind.
"There's no time to debate! Get ready to run!" Vine snapped. She looked Paul dead in the eyes and said "this is the only way! Take my explorer badge and call for help"
Paul nodded and grabbed the badge off of Vine's scarf. He clicked the center button and said "this is team D, Nigel has gone deeper into the cave, we have found a way thought but only two of us can make it, everyone randevu at this location"
Vine took a deep breath and closed her eyes to concentrate, her body glowing green before stomping her forward feet.
On cue massive vines thicker than trees erupted from the ground, they snaked forward and dove under the pile. Vine sweated and closed her eyes, giving it everything she had. At last the boulders began to rise, lifting until there was just enough clearance to run under them.
"G...go NOW!" Vine stammered, her face full of over exertion.
Paul and Wave ran under, making it through just as Vine's powers gave out. It was up to Paul and Wave now, and there was nothing that Vine could do but fall to the ground in exhaustion.
Nigel got to crystal lake about 10 minutes after detonating the blast seeds. After a long walk on a path around the lake he came to a platform made entirely of crystal, he took in his surroundings, waiting for the lake guardian to show herself.
"I know you're here Azelf, show yourself!" Nigel shouted.
As soon as he said that the crystals around him began to move, the crystals began to form to until there were five crystal golems in front of him, blocks for feet and razor sharp crystal blades for arms. They had no faces or identity except for a glowing orb of psychic energy encased within.
"Impressive" Nigel admitted before rushing forward and slicing one clean in half.
However the construct seemed more angered than anything and put himself back together, the lower half of his body simply walked up and placed his top back on as the other golems charged at Nigel.
Nigel dodged their attacks as best as he could, but he knew they'd hit him eventually. As he dodged he noticed light was flowing from within them, he had deduced their weakness at last. He slashed one in half and immediately stabbed the orb of light within, the psychic energy dissolved and the crystals fell to the ground lifeless and immobile once again. Within a minute he had defeated all of them.
"Enough games! Where are you Azelf!" Nigel demanded.
"Behind you!" A voice whispered, Nigel turned to face the voice, just as he turned around he recognized the blue glow in the Pokémon's eyes.
Everything around him turned dark, he couldn't see anything but an inky black void. He heard screams around him and voices saying, "you failed" "why didn't you save us!"
All of a sudden he was sent flying and landed on his back, as if a ghost had picked him up and thrown him.
Before he could make sense of the situation a new creature appeared in front of him. He couldn't make out all of it but it was at least 17 feet tall with glowing red eyes and legs as thick as tree trunks.
"Primal Dia...NO THIS ISN'T REAL! Focus on what Celebi taught you, your eyes can betray you, calm your mind, and see beyond it!" Nigel said before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.
"I am unbound from fear! BEGONE!" Nigel yelled, causing cracks to appear around him, as if he was in a glass box, the area shattered revealing the same area in the cave.
Azelf stood there with her mouth agape, unable to believe someone had just overcome her illusion with nothing but sheer willpower.
"That's not possible!" Azelf stammered.
"With enough willpower and determination, any illusion can be banished!" Nigel stated firmly before opening his mouth and firing a dragon pulse. Azelf summoned a light screen but the beam was overcoming it!
"NO,NOT YET!" Azlef yelled before unleashing a blast of psychic energy powerful enough to stop the beam and stagger Nigel temporarily.
Hundreds of crystals flew towards Azelf from both sides of the cave. The lake guardian encased herself in them before spawning a ball of psychic energy beneath her. Within seconds a massive golem of crystals surrounded her, the construct was at least 20 feet tall. Azelf was inside its head and the ball of energy in its chest. A final group of crystals flew into its hand, the ball of jagged gems slimming and sharpening until it resembled a sword. The blade was almost half as tall as the golem
"Oh shit" was all Nigel could say as the giant swung its blade down, he dodged it at the last second, the impact creating a trench and a tremor that shook the entire cavern.
The glowing blade came at him again as the golem stomped toward him, Nigel ducked as the deadly weapon passed a mere inch from his face. Azelf was using so much power that she could kill him with a single blow.
Nigel punched the ground sending a frenzy plant at the titan, the vines striking like a serpent pant causing Azelf's avatar to stagger back, as the final one neared however Azelf blocked it with the side of her gargantuan blade.
As Azelf's avatar slashed the last vine away, Nigel clutched the stone around his neck and said "give me the strength I need partner" before activating it and mega evolving.
Nigel summoned another Frenzy Plant, the vines twice as large grabbed the golem's arms and legs restraining rushed forward and jumped up to eye level with the orb of energy in its chest. He slashed completely through the crystal and orb twice, creating an X shaped cut on it.
There was a massive explosion that sent Nigel flying, when the dust settled Azelf was barely managing to stay afloat, clearly the golem had took a lot out of her.
"I'll end this quickly!" Nigel said before channeling both grass and dragon type energy into his wrists, the energy blades growing as long as his arms as he took a running stance.
Azelf summoned a small layer of crystals around her before putting every last bit of her powers into another crystal sword. The blade was bigger than her and simply attached to her small hand by psychic power.
The two blitzed toward each other at a speed so fast neither of them could see the slash connect, in less than a single second they had passed by each other.
For a few seconds they stood motionless, like statues, but as Nigel saw a razor thin cut on his chest,just short of his neck. Azelf had grazed him by the thinnest of margins, but he knew he had hit her. He couldn't help but crack a smile, no battle had ever caused his blood to pump that fast.
Azelf looked down to see a massive, glowing green slash on her chest. Her crystal armor and sword shattered simultaneously, she fell to the ground too weak to move, Nigel had done what no one had ever deemed possible, he had single handedly defeated all of the lake guardians.
Nigel's mega form vanished as he fell to the ground exhausted, he reached into his bag and pulled out a golden seed the size of an apple. He crushed it in his hand causing a green light to wash over him. He stood up, completely healed and energized. The reviver seed doing its job to the letter.
"Now for the time gear, the last one!" Nigel said triumphantly as he walked to the lake's edge
"No, Nigel, you'll never get it!" Azlef said.
Nigel stopped in his tracks and asked "you know my name...how"
"Mesprit warned me, I hoped that I could beat you, but I didn't dismiss the possibility of losing, so I implemented a failsafe and psychically charged it before our fight" Azelf said before her eyes flashed blue causing the ground to shake.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Nigel yelled.
His question was answered by dozens of crystals erupting from beneath the lake, they continued to rise until the entire lake was filled with jagged crystals and the time gear was completely encased.
"No! I've come too far to fall short now! If I have to kill you to get the time gear so be it!" Nigel threatened as he walked towards Azlef.
"Kill me and it will be entombed forever!" Azelf countered.
"You lie poorly, if you charged the failsafe then your psychic powers control it, those powers are gone if you die" Nigel said confidently.
Azelf's eyes bulged, Nigel had called her bluff and knew the truth, if she was dead his failsafe WOULD deactivate.
"Lower it, or I'll have to kill you!" Nigel demanded.
"OH NO YOU DON'T" someone yelled from the distance.
Nigel instinctively jumped back as a ball of fire landed where he used to be, he looked in the direction of the attack only to immediately scowl.
A Feraligator and a very angry Charizard were now standing between him and Azelf.
Paul blew fire out of his nostrils, his every breath filled with fire and rage, he locked eyes with Nigel and asked "Ready for a rematch?!"
Author's note- I decided that Mondays and Fridays are my upload days, if I don't post then that means the next chapters aren't ready. Fans of Naruto will know where the inspiration of Azelf's giant construct came from. The next chapter is my favorite action scene I've ever written.
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