I have to admit, for the 900 years I'd been with Lugia, I'd never flown with him before. And if Spark hadn't been missing, I probably would have enjoyed it.. As it was, I was desperately trying to stop Wind from leaping off Lugia. My most recent attempt was freezing him to Lugia's back with my ice. Typically it's very tough, but I could see the cracks forming quickly. He seemed determined, and yet…

He had almost no sense of reason left. It was almost as if his resolve had been blinded. Whether by rage, or something else… I do not know.

I snapped out of my thinking as Wind broke free of the ice. I scrambled to catch him as he bunched to leap again. I caught him with my teeth just as he started plummeting to the ground below. His momentum caught me by surprise and I almost fell off. Thankfully, Lugia banked in time to save me.

"AURORA… YOU REMEMBER YOUR PROMISE TO HIM, CORRECT?"

"Of course, Master Lugia. I may not be a battler… but I will do everything I can to protect him from himself when the time comes," I replied. "I already have a small idea on what I will do…"

"VERY WELL. DO YOU SEE THE CAMP AHEAD?"

I looked where he was referring. While we might be overhead, I could still see a series of small blobs with a larger building more visible at the center. There was also a wall around that conglomeration.

"I do. It looks really well protected."

"THAT IT IS. WE WILL BE LANDING JUST OUTSIDE. IT WOULD BE UNWISE FOR ME TO STAY GROUNDED. I WILL DROP THE TWO OF YOU OFF, AS I MUST RETURN TO MY DOMAIN. THERE ARE SOME CHORES I MUST ATTEND TO. I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK."

Without any further words, Lugia landed behind a decent cliff face. Any closer, and we would have been spotted. I helped Wind off Lugia's back, though he didn't seem to need it. His aura flared up as he hit the ground, indicating he was ready to roll. Lugia took off shortly after.

"Azur… It's not long now. Soon, I'll lose my mind. You have to stop me once Spark is free."

"But… how? I am not a fighter… I lack the ability to defeat you…" I said.

"There is… a way. Azur… Topazei… Topazei is…'' he fell silent as he collapsed. Topazei… what could he possibly mean? I picked him up, still thinking about his message.

I walked for a few hours, carrying Wind through the treacherous and unforgiving mountains towards the Krillian homebase. The wind howled… the mist descended. It seemed as if the world itself was preparing for a massive showdown. I set Wind on the ground, careful not to knock him awake. I scanned the camp defenses from a nearby cliff.

And then… Wind leapt awake. His eyes were glazed over, almost filled with a fury like no Pokemon could ever imagine. His aura burst forth, creating a pair of uneven, jagged blades in his palm. He leapt straight off the cliff and into the camp, shattering the gate into pieces. Knowing what I must do… I followed him.

Deciding not to jump off the cliff, as I likely would not have survived, I made my way down the long way. I walked into the camp to see it set ablaze with blue flames. Pillars were falling, there were corpses strewn everywhere. As I looked around, I saw Wind pierce three bandits with his blade, discarding them as he jumped towards the inner camp. He knocked over a pillar when I tried to give chase, which blocked my path forward.

So this is the power of a Lucario at its strongest… Is there even any way I can help Wind in this state? I turned to look for another way through, though a nagging voice kept telling me to help these poor Pokemon. I tried to reason against it; they were bandits, after all. And yet… I could not bring myself to simply ignore Pokemon who were hurt and dying.. These were still Pokemon… even if they were evil. Espan had taught me never to overlook a Pokemon that needed help

Preparing my limited skills in Water Magic, I began searching for survivors. It was tough, navigating the burning camp. Since so much of it was falling apart, I had to go through buildings and find different paths through. There were a few times I had to jump back to avoid flames… Or dodge a stray Aura Sphere… Or other events like that. A few survivors attempted to fight me, but collapsed quickly, and died shortly after from their wounds.

As I wandered through the flaming camp, finding nothing but dead bodies and discarded tools and weapons, my attention was caught by a few moans under a pile of rubble. I quickly made my way over and started moving rocks, one by one. I reached through with magic to keep them alive for the time I toiled.

By the time I had freed the Pokemon's face from its prison, I was a mess. My pristine fur which I had always kept so clean was now covered in mud and dust… my paws were all scraped up, and I was pretty sure that my hind leg was bleeding. But the Pokemon, Chesnaught, was free, and I was more relieved about that.

"Ugh… and… who are you?" it said. I could see he was in pain.

"Please, do not talk. I am Aurora. I may have saved your life."

"Aurora…? You are not one of us."

"Indeed not. I have come here to help a friend of mine, but I cannot in good faith leave Pokemon hurt and dying. Even if they are famous criminals."

"You are… too kind," he said, out of breath. "I don't deserve your help."

I helped him out of his armor, which was pinned by the debris. "Nonsense. Every Pokemon, no matter how terrible, deserves a chance at life."

"Ah… My thanks… Aurora." He stood up, shakily. "I must … make haste. Our prisoners… they are in danger. I must free them… for her… Roguishness…" He stumbled off. I was tempted to follow Chesnaught. But my concerns fell more onto other matters. He would be fine.

I continued scavenging the camp as I made my way further in. The further I went, the more destroyed everything was. I began to lose sight of where I was due to all the smoke. I had never been one for hearing though, so I decided to cast Detection to watch my surroundings. It was still difficult with all the smoke, but it was easier going. No more lifesigns, though. I remained careful as I pressed on.

"Lady Smeargle! You must flee! It is not safe for you!"

"Nonsense, Kadabra! I will make short work of this Lucario."

I perked my ears, and headed in the direction of the voices. Or… would have. The path was filled with rubbles that would surely tear my paw pads apart. I decided I would need to go the long way. I searched for an empty-ish path, and headed down that road. I stopped at what appeared to be an arena. It was surprisingly untouched, standing tall and proud amidst all the destruction, and yet…

Approaching the agape door, I glanced inside. A sense of eeriness hung over the abandoned room. With no other path through, I gulped and forced myself inside. As I entered, closing the door behind me, I got a clearer view of the scene. Where there should have been corpses… There were instead only scattered weapons and broken orbs. I scanned ahead using Detection, and located three lifesigns beyond the door at the far side of this seemingly endless hall.

I slowly started to make my way across the room. My footsteps echoed around the chamber, bouncing off the walls, only to be interrupted by the sound of my own breath. Although I could feel myself moving, it seemed as if every step took me farther from the other end. I became filled with a sense of dread… As if I would never escape this place.

While my breath quickened from fear, I forced myself to continue advancing. As I grew nearer the door, the floor became strewn with more shattered orbs and discard weapons. Despite my fear, I reached the door. I tried to open it… and failed. Something was blocking it.

I sensed a disturbance as one of the lifesigns disappeared. I leapt out of the way as a Smeargle came crashing through the wall, shattering it. Almost immediately, the feeling of dread took over. I fled to the nearest corner in time to see Wind enter the room, discarding a body from his blade.

"Haack… haack… Seems I underestimated your raw power. If I could tame you… We would truly become unstoppable!" Smeargle ran at Wind. She seemed to truly be an artist as she battled… moving with grace through the air and creating attacks with her tail.

"Taking me into the Krillian Arena to do battle was ballsy, Lucario. But you forget-oomph!" She was cut off as Wind hit her stomach, slicing it partially open and sending her back to the opposite wall. She scrambled away as Wind leapt at her.

"I'm the leader of the Marauders. If you think I'm going to lose to y-" She got hit by another attack, and scraped the skin off her back as she skidded across the floor.

She should spend less time talking and more time fighting.

Smeargle got up again, bleeding, but clearly not beaten. She glared at me for a moment, before turning back to Wind. "You should be helping me, you know."

She ran at Wind, again moving gracefully through the air, despite her stomach wound. This time, however, she seemed to have learned her lesson and actually anticipated Wind's move. In one of the most fluid movements I've ever seen, she dodged his attack, landed behind him, and prepared a strike. Only… She was caught off guard as his tail slapped her.

"OW! Hey, that's not fair! You need to fight by-Oomph!" She got slapped again, as Wind turned to face her. "Ok, that's it." She sketched herself a blade. "It's payback time!"

Wind let out a howl of pain as Smeargle struck him, slicing his right ear in two. I slowly got onto my bleeding paws, preparing to interfere. As Wind and Smeargle continued their fierce battle, I engulfed the room in a Blizzard.

Save him from himself… you can do that, right Aurora? Espan taught you how to deal with feral Pokemon, you just need to remember what it was.

My thoughts were cut off as I narrowly avoided one of Wind's blades. Then, there was a blood-curdling scream. I killed my Blizzard in time to see Wind dropping Smeargle's body on the ground.

And now, the only thing between Wind and total annihilation… was me.