A/N: Holy shit, 100 chapters. I never thought I'd get this far, and we're so close to the end of the fic too! I honestly can't thank all my readers and friends enough; you really are the reason there are these many chapters!
The Nine Swords of Sinnoh
It was a hot, humid night in Pastoria, and only the occasional Pokemon cry could be heard as the entire city slumbered, mostly undisturbed.
There was one exception. Near the edge of the dilapidated docks, in between two of the concrete hangars, a young blonde girl fell to her knees and closed her eyes tightly, her long curtain of hair falling over her face. She shook, pained, for a moment before grabbing the long needle-like projectile stuck in her arm and pulling it out alongside a violent spurt of blood.
"Hngh… this… t-this is how a coward fights."
Cutting off her only route of escape was a woman, tall and lanky, dressed in messy black garbs that wouldn't have looked out of place if worn by the grim reaper. Her face was pale and her cheeks hollow. Two Beedril furiously buzzed their wings beside her, and in between her and Cynthia stood a large feline creature coated in a terrible stench.
The woman formed a lopsided smile and shrugged. "I honestly didn't think you'd fall for it. And here I'd already come up with a couple contingency plans in case you didn't come to this little meeting."
Cynthia rose to her feet, the fire in her eyes cold and hungry. She held her bleeding arm with one hand, breathing fast, looking straight at the long strip of leather the woman held in her hands. Her belt. Every one of her Pokeballs, out of reach.
"I'd heard many rumors about Pastoria's Gym leader," Cynthia snarled. "But none of the insults that I heard flung at you could have possibly done you justice. You really are a Seviper in human form, Kayn."
The woman's smile exacerbated, amused. Cynthia knew she stood no chance of fighting or even fleeing, so all she could do was try to buy time. For what, she didn't know. But it was better than dying.
"I am nothing more than a concerned citizen, doing her job," Kayn said.
"Hah… right. L-luring a defenseless girl to an abandoned stop and attacking her… is that what a true Gym leader would do?"
"It is, in this Sinnoh that we live in," said Kayn. "Problems arise, and problems are dealt with. That's how politics work, right? And you, Cynthia… you've been causing more than a few problems for those who sign my checks."
Cynthia smiled proudly, not backing an inch. "Finally realized that the impossible challenge they put out might not be impossible after all?"
"You are an incredible trainer, I'll give you that. But you were careless, too eager to show yourself, to show off. And now, you pay for it." Once again, Kayn shrugged. "No hard feelings, of course."
Cynthia swallowed. She looked around, trying to find anything; an exit, a weapon, a way to slip through…
"If you kill me, it's your head next," she said, getting desperate. "The clan of lorekeepers will not take this lying down."
"What your family doesn't know won't hurt them," Kayn countered. "For a young, beautiful girl like you to be ambushed and attacked by a bunch of vagabonds as she roamed through the city at night… it's a tragedy, but an expected one in times of war. Your tale will be very, very sad, I'll make sure of that. I'm a great storyteller, you see."
Cynthia grit her teeth, fear and anger rising up her stomach to her throat. "Y-you piece of…"
"Shut your mouth," Kayn cut her off. "The dead have no need to speak. Now, Beedril, Skuntank… dispose of her."
The buzz of wings grew faster, louder, and the three pair of red eyes gleamed maliciously, set squarely on Cynthia. The young girl gasped and, despite her previous bravado, jumped back and almost hit her head on the concrete wall, forgetting she was trapped. Panic rose up her body, and tears began to well up in her eyes.
No… no, not like this! She screamed inside her mind. S-stop shaking! If I die then I'll do it on my feet, not… n-not cowering! I will not…!
But there was no time to think. In a flash the two flying bugs shot toward her, and the large feline soon followed, murder intent clear in their eyes. Cynthia wanted to run, to scream. But before she could try any of that, another sound broke through the night.
A scream. A familiar voice.
"Haze!"
First came the wind, then a massive cloud of pearly mist crashed against the Gym leader's back, rolling through the narrow hallway and rising up the sides in violent, curly mists. The Pokemon stopped their charge and looked around, confused. Unable to see their surroundings.
"What!?" Kayn turned around sharply, but had to raise a hand to protect against the mist. "Wh–who is ther–!"
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Cyrus' voice echoed like a storm, like a bomb going off. He sounded desperate, out of control, and as his silhouette became clear and cut through the mist at running speed, it was clear that the rest of him was the same way.
"What… w-wait, sto–!"
It all happened in an instant, to fast that neither Pokemon nor Gym leader nor Cynthia could react to it. Fueled by a fear that only came with the possibility of losing a loved one, Cyrus screamed at the top of his lungs and threw himself at Kayn, slamming his fists onto the woman's stomach.
There was a wet, visceral sound, and it took both the Gym leader and the girl behind her longer than it should to realize Cyrus hadn't attacked with empty hands.
Kayn stumbled back a few feet, and with wide, disbelieving eyes looked down at the knife buried in her gut.
For a few short seconds that stretched out into an eternity, the peak of Mt. Coronet was deathly silent. None of the Gym leaders spoke or moved. All they could do was stare gormlessly at the thin, disfigured creature before them, standing in the middle of the air as though the laws of gravity didn't affect it in the slightest. Psychic energy flowed from its body like heat from the sun, sinking into their shoulders. Weighing them down. It was in and all around them, like pressure, like the feeling of being underwater, drowning in a lake's cold, icy grip.
It was like falling deep into a nightmare. This creature was power incarnate, and its Will was now that of their enemy.
"It… can't be…" Roark whispered, beside himself. His eyes were wide and unbelieving.
"What in the hell…?" Gardenia's expression was no different. She sounded angry, fearful.
"Ah… it is as I feared." Sanbica took a step back, a nervous smile forming on her lips. "This is what I get for interfering, I suppose."
The creature lowered its head, and its gaze fell on them. A current of something like electricity ran through their bodies, freezing them in place.
"Look at yourselves. The protectors of Sinnoh, shaking in fear like Caterpie." Cyrus' voice echoed with unnatural strength. "You… have lost."
Those three words brought them back to reality, back from that suffocating feeling. And with the weight of realization falling on them so strongly, there was nothing left to do but act.
"We'll see about that!"
Gardenia was the first to act, her scream echoing with the ferocity of a wild Pokemon struggling for its life. Two Ultraballs flew through the air. And before the flashes of light had vanished, she was already bellowing her orders.
"Leaf Storm!"
Standing side to side amidst the light that had materialized them, the Roserade and Torterra looked up at their opponent and obeyed without question, the pure and unfiltered energy of life flooding from the ground up through their bodies as they aimed, then fired.
And a storm it was. Almost as wild and all-encompassing as the blizzard from before, a torrent of knife-sharp leaves exploded forth from Roserade's hands and Torterra's back, swirling against each other and combining into a single barrage the size of a hurricane, easily ten times as wide as the creature it swallowed whole. There was a sound like that of thousands of knives scraping against metal, but it was drowned by the roar of the attack. For a few moments, no one could see anything. The force and volume of the swirling leaves filled their vision completely.
Then they dispersed, vanishing into the horizon, and what she saw made something sink in Gardenia's stomach.
"W-what…?"
A sphere of semi-transparent light protected the creature's body. Not a single crack or scratch mark could be seen across its surface. Equal looks of horror and confusion crossed the other Gym leaders' faces.
"That's… that's impossible," Gardenia muttered to herself. "A dual Leaf Storm should've... there's nothing that could've resisted it."
"I said so before, didn't I?" Cyrus' mocking voice echoed. "You've lost. There is no limit to the amount of power M3 can output. All of you could attack it over and over for as long as you wished, yet never leave a single scratch."
For a moment, the weight of those words seemed to sink into his enemies, shock and fear and hopelessness tinting their expressions. But one voice called out against it. Fantina's voice, echoing louder than it had any right to, broke them free of the spell.
"Do not listen to him!" she bellowed, raising a hand toward their enemy. "If this thing is like the original clone of Mew, then I know for a fact it can be defeated! Stand your ground!"
"She's right!" Candice followed, light and darkness starting to pool around her. "Besides, Lucian and the rest of the Elite Four and on their way! We have to fight!"
The shadows behind Fantina seemed to twist, then stretch into an enormous blanket of darkness as six creatures emerged from behind her. Two Gengar, two Mismagius, a Drifblim and a Dusknoir made a ring around their trainer as they looked up toward their opponent, expectant.
The sight of those powerful Pokemon was enough to return everyone else to their senses. With a 'Yeah!' that boomed like a gunshot, they threw their Pokeballs up in unison and a cacophony of light and motion momentarily blinded them as dozens of Pokemon materialized throughout the mountain's peak. Lucas, who still held on to the wounded professor and Saturn, who stood alongside him, were the only ones not to release their Pokemon.
"Never knew you fellas to give up so easily!" Byron's deep voice boomed. "It's just as the lady says; against all of us, that thing has to go down eventually."
"Damn right!" scoffed Crasher Wake, lifting his chin up proudly. "We're the eight swords of Sinnoh! This is what we're here for!"
"And there's no way in hell this botched experiment is going to get the better of us," Volkner muttered, eyes narrowed.
Cyrus and his thrall looked upon the small army that had formed before them, Pokemon of all shapes and sizes, each one no doubt powerful and with the training to match. Against such a sight, all he could do was smile.
"Very well… you might continue to struggle, if you wish," he said. "But it is time for me to take my leave. M3… keep them at bay, no matter what."
And with that, Cyrus turned its back on them. He knelt to grab the three vats containing the lake siblings, but they couldn't pay much attention to that as suddenly the creature behind him extended its arms to the side, and its eyes burst alight with unparalleled psychic energy. A wall of pure lit cut through the ground and sky and everything around it, separating them from the path leading to Spear Pillar..
"We've no time to waste," Fantina declared. "I doubt we have more than twenty minutes before he reaches Spear Pillar."
"Then we hurry," Candice clicked her tongue, then looked over her shoulder. "Saturn! Tell your Pokemon to keep Maylene and Rowan safe! Lucas…!" She glanced at the object in his hands, lips pursing. "Please tell me that is what I think it is."
Lucas swallowed nervously, then nodded. He lifted the needle-like device so all could see it.
"Y-yeah, it is," he said. "If we stick it into that thing, it should remove its psychic powers at least. But…"
They didn't need to be geniuses to understand the problem.
"But it's not going to be that easy," said Fantina. "We'll need to immobilize M3 first, if only for a second."
Roark laughed nervously. "Aren't' we getting a bit ahead of ourselves here? We have to break that barrier first."
"Then let's get to it!" yelled Byron, raising his shovel and pointing it at M3. "Lad, have that thing ready just in case. Everyone else… come on, in unison now!"
"YEAH!"
They yelled out their orders and their Pokemon moved swiftly, coordinated like parts of a well-oiled machine. First was a flash. In the moment it took the rest of them to catch up, a pair of yellow blurs cut through the air in an instant and materialized under M3, then jumped. Volkner's Jolteon landed atop their enemy's dome of energy, and with a proud roar it lit it up like a star, an burst of electricity exploding in all directions. Electivire didn't make himself wait, winding his arm back as he jumped, ready to cleave the barrier in twain.
"Brick Break!"
His fist came down, but the beast wasn't there anymore and both Pokemon shot past, hitting nothing but air. M3 had teleported past them, now surrounded by a ring of Pokemon.
"Hold it in place!" Gardenia yelled. "Vine whip!"
At least a dozen vines as thick as threes shot up from the ground in front of Roserade and Torterra, shooting up at lightning speed and coiling around the barrier, holding it firmly in place.
"Now!" Wake and Fantina yelled in unison.
"Give'im hell!" Byron followed.
Four more Pokemon immediately jumped to attack. Floatzel, Gengar, Dusknoir and Magnezone converged in a circle around the barrier and shot it point blank with an explosive combination, bolts of lightning and waves of dark energy sizzling against the pressurized water to create a cloud of steam that covered the sky for a moment. Even then, looking up from where she stood, Fantina could tell that hadn't been enough.
"More!" she yelled. "Gengar, Mismagius, shatter the barrier with Dark Pulse! Volkner, get ready to stun it with electricity! Roark, Byron, hit it with as much brute force as you can!"
"Got it!"
"You heard her, boy!"
The four Pokemon retreated and two massive ghosts appeared in their place, the dark outline of their bodies waving and shaking as though they were holding onto something uncontrollable. They saw right through the mist, past the vines and into the barrier itself. M3 was still there, still immobile. With that confirmed, the Gengar and Mismagius grinned to themselves and attacked. A dual shockwave of pure darkness slammed against the barrier from opposite sides, burning through the vines like paper and shattering the dome into a thousand tiny slivers.
Still in mid-air, M3 shivered and seemed to lose some of its balance, looking surprised. Its eyes shone and its body began to dissipate, but not fast enough. There was a flash, and then a bolt of lightning slammed against its back, interrupting its attempt to teleport.
Father and son raised their hands toward the sky in unison and gave their orders.
"Mega Punch!" yelled Roark.
"Heavy Slam!" Byron screamed.
Dark, titanic silhouettes appeared from within the cloud of mist, their eyes a pulsing crimson, their arms wound back as they threw themselves forward with the speed of a train and the size of a mountain. The Aggron and Tyranitar let out a roar that shook the skies and punched with all their strength, their fists easily dwarfing M3 as they slammed against it.
But there was no impact, no crunch of bones shattering. Their fists simply… stopped, all their momentum vanishing into the air. The two massive beasts froze in shock, and the trainers below were no different. At first they thought M3 had somehow stopped them with another quick barrier, but when the next gust of wind came and blew the mist away, the sight that met them sent shivers down their spines.
"T-that's…"
"Give me a fucking break," Roark breathed out, eyes wide.
Fantina swallowed. "How…?"
M3 had simply stopped both fists with its bare hands. Even though it should have been impossible, even though both beasts dwarfed it in size, the truth was clear as day. Its thin, stick-like arms shook slightly with the effort of holding both of them back, but other than that it didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
The shock that wracked through the group of trainers gave M3 all the time it needed. By the time Volkner, Roark and Fantina had come back to themselves, another pulse of energy had begun to grow from within the beast's chest. They heard it in the air, like a second heartbeat. The air shook, pulsed, and then M3's skin went from white to purple as a powerful light enveloped it whole.
Candice and Sanbica both gasped beside her. "Shit!"
"Quickly!" Fantina yelled, panicked. "Use Protec–!"
The light burst, like a bomb going off, like a second sun forming in front of them. Quicker than lightning, the crushing force of the shockwave slammed against the Pokemon first, and then the Gym leaders.
Their vision went black, and all they could feel was the sheer motion and vertigo as their bodies flew through the air like leaves in a storm. Deaf thumps and distant cracks were heard all throughout the mountain. The landing was rough, violent. Many of the Gym leaders were unable to move for a few seconds, half buried in dirt and snow and pieces of the ground itself. Their Pokemon lay all around them, collapsed and shaking, though not entirely out of the fight yet.
"H-hey! Is everyone…!?"
Lucas' concerned voice reached them from behind. He and Saturn had been far enough that the shockwave hadn't hit them so badly, same with the wounded Rowan and Maylene. For a few seconds, only pained coughs and mumbled insults came as answers. Fantina was the only one who could fully reply.
"I'm… w-we're fine," she said with effort.
She, Candice and Sanbica were the only ones that had escaped mostly unscathed from the shockwave, and as they pushed themselves back to their feet with great effort, the rest figured it had something to do with the wall of pure darkness that had risen in front of them. If the glow of her eyes and the shadows dancing at her feet were any indication, Candice had been responsible.
"I… I don't know if I can d-do that again," Candice breathed harshly, dropping the barrier and almost falling to her knees.
"A-agh… that pale-ass son of a bitch…" Gardenia's voice was heard.
"I-is everyone still standing?" Roark asked through the massive cloud of dust that had risen from the shockwave. "Are all the Pokemon…?"
But Roark couldn't finish his sentence, and soon the rest of the trainers saw why. As the dust cleared, the sight that met them was mostly what they'd expected; all of them and their Pokemon scattered in a big circle due to the shockwave. There was… one exception, however.
One of Roark's Pokemon hadn't been thrown back. In fact, it didn't seem as though he'd been affected in the slightest by that attack.
"Ty… Tyranitar?"
The titanic beast stood in the same spot as before, its fist still being held in place by M3's palm. Surprise was, most likely, the only reason he hadn't moved yet.
Realization dawned on Fantina and Volkner first, then on everyone else.
"Of course… Dark types are completely immune to psychic assaults." she whispered out loud. "
"We have to focus our offensive around Tyran–!"
Unfortunately, M3 seemed to have come to the same conclusion, because its gaze was soon turned to the beast itself, and its grip on his fist became firmer.
It was the work of an instant. With strength completely unthinkable for a creature of its size, M3 raised its hand and threw the Tyranitar up in the air like it was a ragdoll. The massive Pokemon groaned in shock as it was lifted, his body making an arc above M3. He was held there for only a short instant it slammed him against the ground with enough force to create a tremor.
Then, before Tyranitar had time to move, it happened again. And again. The only reason Fantina and the others didn't react right away was because what they were seeing was… impossible, unthinkable. Like a scene straight out of a nightmare. One of the heaviest, most powerful Pokemon species being thrown around and slammed against the ground repeatedly without an ounce on effort on their enemy's part…
The cracking was what finally brought them back to reality. It was a well-known fact that very few things could even put a dent in a Tyranitar's rocky shell, yet all of them saw and heard clearly as shards of him cracked and flew in all directions, their dark green tinted with blood.
"TYRANITAR!" Roark's scream echoed with fear and panic.
"Stop him!" Byron ordered. "Iron Tail!"
"Thunder Punch!" Volkner followed.
Electivire shot like a bullet from the right, and on the left the ground cracked and opened up, a massive Steelix emerging and coiling around itself before whipping at M3 with his tail.
M3 moved inhumanly fast. Reinforcing its muscles with psychic energy, it raised the Tyranitar high and spun it in a circle around itself, not only deflecting the iron tail but also slamming the behemoth against the electric blur as though it were hitting a baseball with a bat. The impact was brutal. A crack resonated throughout Electivire's body as he flew through the air, and yet another echoed when he hit the ground, half burying himself into the blanket of snow on the edge of the mountain, the bones on his left arm and shoulder shattered. Tyranitar landed not far from him, a multitude of cracks and bruises littered all throughout his blood-soaked body.
Byron could only swallow at the sight. "Dirty son of a bitch…"
"Tsk. Electivire, that better not have knocked you out!" Volkner yelled. "Wake, give me some backup, we have t–!"
But M3 was no longer there. It vanished in a blink, re-materializing only a few feet in front of Candice and Fantina, its hand raised forward, a ball of pulsing psychic energy forming in its palm. Aimed straight at them.
"Ah–!"
"NO!"
Candice stepped forward and slammed her shadow-hemmed hand against the ground, raising another black barrier in front of them. But it was only raised forward, nothing more than a wall. With a mere thought, M3 blinked out of existence and reappeared again, this time behind the two women and the small army of ghost Pokemon protecting their rear.
"Gengar, Dusknoir!" Fantina yelled, turning around sharply. "Protect!"
A double barrier formed in a dome around them, but it was but a formality to M3. The other leaders yelled orders to their Pokemon, but none were fast enough. Holding the glowing sphere between its hands, it dug its fingers into it and opened it up instead of throwing it forward. The energy that had previously been thickly condensed spilled forward like a flood of power, slamming against every inch of the barrier and burning it away in an instant. There was a flash, and then the impact.
Dust and snow exploded in a cloud, and beneath the ground itself shattered into thousands of shards that flew everywhere. Fantina threw herself on top of Candice and Sanbica, trying to protect them with her body. Using what little power she shared with her ghost companions, she cloaked her back in a mantle of darkness, but while it weakened the energy that slammed against them, it did little to stop the slivers of sharp rock that dug onto her legs and lower back, piercing her like arrows.
The three of them fell, and M3 jumped on the offensive once more, raising its hand to strike. But it was stopped in mid air. A pair of thick vines closed around the creature's wrist, stopping it in place, and not an instant later water and electricity shot from its left and right, converging against it.
M3 blinked out again, and the attacks crashed against empty air.
"Dammit!" Gardenia spat out. "Oi, Fantina! Candice, are you okay?"
Fantina's reply came in the form of a pained cough. She could only rise to her feet with Candice and her daughter's help, and even then it didn't feel like it'd last long. Pain shot up her legs to her back like needles of fire.
Candice clicked her tongue. "You… you shouldn't have."
"…Guess you still have some motherly tendencies left, huh," Sanbica muttered.
She smiled, despite herself. "I have to set up an example for my disrespectful daughter."
"Just try not to die in the process. There's someone waiting for your return," her daughter retorted. "Eyes up. Behind you."
She glanced over her shoulder, and gasped. Only two of her Pokemon, the sturdy Dusknoir and her strongest Gengar, had withstood the attack. The other four were sprawled out in a crater behind her, limp and unconscious.
An idea came to mind, and she didn't like it one bit.
"Wait," said Candice, realization clear in her voice. "It targeted us first, so…"
Fantina nodded, then turned toward the rest of the group as the dust and snow began to dissipate.
"It… it can think logically. It's targeting all of us who have a way to break through its psychic barrier!" she explained. "Volkner, we need a strategy here!"
The blond man looked up at the sky where M3 stood, looking down upon them, analyzing its next move. Unfortunately for the malformed creature, not even it was a quicker thinker than Volkner.
"We'll attack like this!" he exclaimed, raising his hand up at their enemy. "All Pokemon with dark-type attacks, make a cross formation! Stay close in case that barrier needs to be broken, but far apart enough that it can't take you all out in one blow! Gardenia, pair one of your Pokemon with each one of them! Be ready to hinder its movement if necessary!"
Gyarados, Gengar, Steelix and Luxray stood at exact opposite ends of a somewhat confused M3, whose gaze went from one to the other, unsure of what to do. Soon they were joined by one of Gardenia's Pokemon each, their vines whipping through the air, ready to shoot up at a moment's notice.
"Resistant Pokemon in the front, sweepers and heavy-hitters in the back!" Volkner yelled. "Those with flying-types, provide some aerial support. And Lucas!" He turned to look at the boy in the distance. "Whoever thinks they can stick that device into M3, give it to them!"
"I'll do it!"
Candice stepped in, raising an expectant hand toward Lucas. Her eyes shone pink and blue, and light and darkness pooled at her feet as power enveloped her. The boy didn't even hesitate. He gave her the device and she turned around once more, looking up at M3.
"I can travel through shadows," she said. "As long as you can immobilize it for a second…"
Volkner smiled. "That's what I like to hear."
All the remaining Pokemon rose up in a circle around M3, waiting for orders, ready to attack. Three of them joined in the sky. Breaking through the clouds of dust and snow rising up from the previous attack, a Jumpluff, a Skarmory and an Aerodactyl lifted their respective trainers on their back, raising them to their enemy's level.
M3 looked up at them, its eyes narrowing ever so slightly, power starting to flow outwardly from its body. Below, Volkner raised his hand one more time, and smiled.
"And here I thought with Cynthia's resignation that I wouldn't get to have some fun for a while," he whispered. "Guess I better get my fill of battle while I still can!"
The Gym leaders gave their orders, and their Pokemon echoed the ferocity in their voices with roars of their own as they threw themselves at their opponent.
Nyss stepped closer toward them, slow and uncoordinated, unused to moving after so long. They expected her steps to echo. The ground to shake and crumble under her feet, but it did not. They were weightless, delicate steps, like feathers falling on snow, because she was not entirely there. The ashen of her hair, the ebon of her armor, the furious lines of red running across her arms, they looked pale and insubstantial, as though the woman were only an illusion, yet one willing itself to occupy space.
The three behind Cynthia stared gormlessly, out of words, and Nyss stared back at them, curious. Confused. Like someone who'd just woken up from a long slumber, trying to remember what the world was like.
Inyssa opened her mouth to say something, but the words caught in her throat. She couldn't take her eyes off Nyss. She was… striking, all-encompassing. In that taut, scar-ridden face, in those exhausted eyes and in that rusty, dirty and misshapen suit of armor she found more awe and beauty than any tale or painting could ever hope to invoke.
The woman before them was not the painting of a fire, but the fire itself. A legend, in the flesh and bone.
Even with the proof in front of her eyes, though, Inyssa could hardly believe it.
"Are…" She swallowed hard. "Are you really…?"
Those golden eyes fell on Inyssa, and she instinctually recoiled at the intensity behind them. Like opening an oven and having her face blasted with heat.
"Inyssa… Dawn." She pronounced the name softly, lovingly. "I've felt your presence through the veins of Sinnoh as well."
"Y… y-you have?"
"And the same goes for the two of you," she said, passing her gaze through the rest of them. "Barry… and Metchi."
Both of them shivered at the sound of their name coming through Nyss' lips, as though hit by an electric current.
"R-really?" Barry whispered.
Metchi chuckled only out of nervous instinct. "W-well… always nice to learn I've got a tall handsome woman keeping her eyes on me."
Nyss' expression softened and she let out a short 'Ha'. It was only there for a second, but the way the corners of her eyes wrinkled with laughter looked so incongruous with the mental image they all had of the woman, yet so natural at the same time.
"I've… stood here, in the heart of Sinnoh, for longer than I can remember. Longer than I could care to count. Holding Chaos… Giratina, at bay." She looked down, wistful. "I kept myself sane… for a time. I am aware that only a few thousand years have passed in the outside world, but this valley, this… depression in between the two realms, exists outside the confines of space and time. That is what allowed us to meet here, for the second time."
That last part caught everyone's attention. Even Cynthia raised an eyebrow.
"Second time?"
Nyss didn't answer, just continued speaking.
"It has felt… so much longer in here. At some point, I had to give up in keeping track of time or I would have lost myself. Faster than I eventually did, in any case." She sighed, then looked up at them with an apologetic smile. "For a long time, I served as Giratina's vessel in our world. They were the instinct, the urge. Pure feeling, without understanding. I gave them context, without allowing myself to feel. And so, we kept each other at bay. It was a much more understanding relationship than I would have expected. But they were eternal, and I, despite my best efforts… was not."
Nyss unconsciously grabbed a tuft of her own hair, and they understood what she meant. Everything about her, from the ashen of her hair to the light in her eyes was… striking, yes, but also faded. Frayed.
"Souls are not meant to linger for so long," she said. "Time, eventually… started taking a toll on my mind, my will, my feelings. I was losing myself. I would sometimes wonder, if what I was doing was worth it, if letting Giratina loose would not be a mercy upon the world, since all was fated to nothingness, in the end.
"And, though I did not expect it… it was Giratina who brought me back from the brink, time and time again. They reminded me that those were not my thoughts. They were theirs, flooding into and slowly filling the cracks forming in my Spirit. They were also the ones to finally suggest I pass the mantle on to another, once my deterioration became dangerous and unstable."
They all blinked in surprise at that, even Cynthia.
"Giratina… aided you in stopping them?" she asked, baffled.
Nyss smiled sadly. "What pleasure is there in cutting a story short, before it has concluded? Perhaps it was simply Giratina's mindless intent filtered through my own Spirit, but they never felt eager or impatient to me. They knew that they would eventually claim all that lived, so why hurry? Living outside of time, outside of space, Giratina knows and has always known the names and voices, the beginnings and ends of all those who draw breath and… at least to my perception, they seemed so enamored with each and every one of them."
"Then…" Metchi gulped. "Then why do we even have to stop them? Can't they stop themselves?"
Surprisingly, it was Barry that answered. "They… can't, right? It's like…"
"Like a natural phenomenon," nodded Inyssa.
"Yes," said Nyss. "When a river offers its water to those who thirst, when a flame offers its warmth to those who shiver, is that not love? Yet when out of control, they cannot stop themselves. A flood drowns, a great fire burns. So is their nature."
The smallest gasp left Cynthia's lips, and in her face there was suddenly a sharp realization.
"Spirit… Spirit is the same, is it not?"
Nyss turned toward Cynthia, and a look of pure sympathy crossed her face. "We know it well, don't we? To love is a wonderful thing, yet it can so easily overwhelm us, growing into an unstoppable flame that consumes all."
"I…" Cynthia's shoulders dropped. "I realized it too late, I suppose."
"No. You realized it just in time," Nyss countered. "For me, it was too late. I cultivated and grew my Spirit until it was so powerful not even death could quench it. You… are close, but not yet over the edge. You have a chance to succeed where I failed."
Cynthia said nothing, or maybe she couldn't, overwhelmed by Nyss' words. For a few seconds, it was silent. Then Metchi spoke.
"You…" She frowned, stopped herself and then continued. "You're not at all like in stories."
Nyss turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, amused.
"You're not the monster legends paint you as," Inyssa clarified. "We read your log. We know you made the world believe you'd done all those horrible things, but…"
"Why?" Barry asked. "Why would you want people to remember you like that?"
Nyss smiled and breathed out something that almost sounded like a laugh.
"It's… hard to remember, the crazed rationalizations from so long ago," she admitted. "Maybe it was self-loathing, maybe it was caution, not wanting others to end up like me. I fed the world an easy lie, and the lorekeepers were more than eager to accept it, after what I'd done to them. But… make no mistake."
She raised her arms slightly, looking down at the chain-like scars running through their surface.
"I… am a monster, though one tamed and muffled through the weight of time and regret," she said. "No amount of time would be punishment enough for what I did. And no apologizing could ever make up for the troubles I've caused you."
Then, she approached. Inyssa's heart jumped to her throat at the sight of the massive woman standing right in front of her, and the other two's reactions weren't much different.
But there was no malice in Nyss' face. With a sad, tender smile she raised a hand and gently pressed it against Inyssa's cheek. It was warm, rough. It sent a hot shiver down the girl's spine.
"You have suffered so much because of the mess I've left behind, haven't you?" she whispered. "To think someone would actually name their child after me. I imagine it's brought you nothing but trouble. I'm… sorry."
Inyssa felt something sting behind her eyes, but she ignored it and… somehow, managed to put a smile on.
"I… think I ended up growing into it," she admitted. "Made it my own."
"As you should," Nyss nodded. "I've seen your triumphs, your struggles. Your compassion. In life… I never had the time nor opportunity to continue my bloodline, but if I had, I would have loved for my child to be like you."
Those words stunned Inyssa, but before she could even think of a way to reply, the woman had already moved on, looking from her toward Barry.
"You… I've felt your presence and your warmth countless times, and it always reminded me of my brother's," she said with love and pain in her voice. "My actions have done you as much harm as they did him, but regardless… I hope you will continue blessing the world with that warmth. I hope you will always be yourself."
Leaving the boy similarly speechless, Nyss then turned toward the last of them, Metchi. Their eyes met, and there was silence for a moment.
"What, you're gonna tell me how much of a special snowflake I am?" asked Metchi, irony in her voice. "Not that I mind being sweet talked to, but…"
"I don't think there is a need for that," Nyss replied with an amused smile. "You already know. You've known it ever since you spoke those immortal words with Azelf at your side."
Metchi's smile dropped, and after a moment of consideration she gave a curt nod of understanding.
"…Yeah. What Will is, and how it's kept me going all this time," she said. "Always forward, without stopping."
"Relentlessly, without looking back," Nyss confirmed. "As we burdened should."
Once she'd spoken those words, she sighed and took a few steps back and away from the three of them, the pressure of her sheer presence easing somewhat. Yet it was still there, impossible to ignore. Like the warmth of a fire that burned just a bit too strongly.
"…Like I said, I cannot ever hope to make up for my failings. And despite that, I must… shamefully, be selfish once more."
She raised her hand as though to show them something, and out of nowhere a thin slab of dark rock materialized between her fingers. The Dread Plate. Cynthia and the three of them tensed at the sight of it.
"I know this is what you seek," Nyss said, looking at Cynthia. "And I know that behind me is the path you three must walk. But before you do so… could I ask a favor of you?"
The four exchanged a few quick glances, and despite the sudden tenseness and surprise of the situation, they all seemed to have come to the same conclusion. They all understood.
"You… are exhausted, aren't you?" asked Cynthia, voice full of compassion. "After so long, it must be…"
Nyss' lips pursed, and a sight that felt almost impossible met them. Tears welled in her eyes. And when she spoke, that deep, powerful voice shook ever so slightly.
"I… I just want to rest," she said, weak and desperate. "I want to see my brother again. I know it's selfish. I know you're pressed for time and it might just turn out just like last time, but… could you please…?"
Inyssa, Barry and Metchi looked amidst themselves, then at Cynthia.
"We got a bit of time left before we go, right?" asked the latter.
Cynthia closed her eyes and smiled.
"…We do, I believe."
In unison, all three trainers produced Pokeballs in their hands while Metchi dug into the hidden pockets of her jacket and pulled out a pair of long, thin knives.
"I assume no easy struggle will be enough," said Cynthia, her voice filled with strength once more. "Only an honest fight, and an honest death, will truly put you to rest."
Nyss nodded. "Only Spirits such as yours could, when combined, burn strongly enough to finally quench mine. However, I won't be able to hold back either, so…"
"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that."
It was Metchi who spoke. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she looked up at Nyss with her usual irreverent smile, as though this was totally normal.
"Like I said, I always appreciate a bit of sweet talk from a beautiful woman, so I figure I can do you a solid this time. What do you two say?"
Barry nodded slowly. "I… don't think you're the monster you say you are. I definitely think you've atoned enough for everything, so… I'll help you out, however I can."
"I know what it's like to live hoping to die," Inyssa followed, gripping her Pokeball tightly. "You deserve to rest, and I'll help you do so, but only if you don't go into this hoping to lose. Stoke that flame one last time. Go out like a true legend would."
The corners of Nyss' eyes shook ever so slightly, and an appreciative smile formed on her lips. She looked down and laughed, wiping her tears away with the back of her palm.
"I… certainly will," she said. "And what of you, Cynthia? Are you willing?"
The look on the blonde's face was all the response she needed. The storm behind her eyes raged, and for a moment the pressure exuding from her matched Nyss' own.
"I am just as selfish as you," Cynthia admitted. "After all the troubles I've caused my homeland, here I am getting all excited for a fight I previously only thought possible in my dreams. But I suppose it is a fine way for this obsession of mine to end." She took a step forward, raising a Pokeball toward Nyss. "We shall put you to rest, and in exchange you'll finally satiate this hunger I've felt all my life. In defeating you, I will finally become the strongest trainer that has ever lived!"
The wild, hungry smile that formed across Cynthia's lips was soon mirrored by Nyss, whose tears from a few seconds ago seemed to have dried up due to the sudden heat and tension between them, the sudden burst of excitement.
"You really know how to stoke the flames of my soul, don't you?" she whispered, closing her eyes and raising a hand toward her hair. "As you wish. If you want to claim the title of strongest…"
Her fingers closed around a single strand of hair, and as she pulled it out it flashed and changed as though it were a mirage, falling hard and heavy onto her hand in the form of a weapon. A long, ornate blade of pure black that looked as natural in Nyss' hand as though she had always had it. Obsidian, the most famous and renowned of all swords.
"…then come!" she snarled, her voice suddenly echoing with power. "Here in the fading twilight of this world, let us flare our Spirits one last time!"
Mt. Coronet's peak was a warzone. Barely anything could be seen or heard amidst the chaos and the sounds of battle. Screams echoed, explosions boomed through the air and pieces of the ground itself exploded everywhere as attacks connected or went astray, bodies of Pokemon littering the battlefield all over. Whenever one would go down, another would take its place, throwing itself at their enemy with renewed ferocity. They fought like beasts possessed, the beating of their hearts echoing as one like the drums of war.
The air was thick with flames and electricity and bursts of dark energy, leaving little space for M3 to move around in. And yet it did. Like smoke filtering through one's fingers, it zipped about at lightning speed in between attacks with more and more difficulty each time.
A bolt of electricity shot through the air, forcing M3 to veer down to avoid it and sending it straight into the path of Aggron's punch. Swiftly, it spun around in mid air and stopped it with its bare hand. As the sheer weight and momentum of the punch exploded around them, a pair of thick vines cut through the air at M3's left, closing around its left leg and arm.
"Now!" a scream rung through the air.
Three massive figures broke through the thick cloud of dust, and M3 found itself surrounded. It instinctively tried to raise a barrier around itself but a quick Brick Break from a bloodied Electivire shattered it into a hundred little slivers. Crimson eyes beset it from the right and left, and it barely had time to look as Steelix and Gyarados opened their maws and shot dual Hyper Beams at point blank.
The attacks collided, and light and force burned through the thick cloud of dust that had risen, dispelling it in an instant with a shockwave that not even the gigantic serpent-like beasts could endure. As they were thrown back by the strength of their own attacks, the light from the clash started to dissipate. All trainers looked up with bated breath, hoping.
"Did…?" Roark squinted through the blinding light as he and Aerodactyl flew back a bit. "Did we get i–?"
His question was answered quickly, with a blink of purple light that burst inches from him. M3 materialized, and Roark soon found himself face to face with the creature, a sudden, piercing fear falling down his throat to his stomach.
"W-wh–!"
M3 raised its hand toward him, but a blur of light and motion crashed against it from the side, earning a pained grunt from the creature. The beam only touched it for a moment before it blinked out of existence again, but that moment was all Roark and Aerodactyl needed to fly away, their sudden brush with death sending shivers down their spine. Gulping, Roark looked to the side, toward his savior. Gardenia kneeled atop her Jumpluff, whose cottony puffs were still glowing from firing that Solar Beam.
"Eyes up, knucklehead," she teased. "I'm not having any of my coworkers die today, got it?"
Despite the shock and panic still wracking through him, Roark found himself smiling.
"Heh… yeah, sorry about that," he said, looking toward the opposite end of the battlefield, where M3 had materialized. "Guess it's time I start pulling my weight here."
"Ha! Look at you, acting all responsible in front of a lady!"
His father's voice, as usual, echoed loudly. He and Gardenia turned around as Byron and his trusty Skarmory joined them in the sky, the man choosing to stand atop him instead of sitting like a normal person would. And, of course, he still had that god-forsaken shovel hoisted over his shoulder.
"Can't believe that's my own son I'm hearing," the man joked. "And to think you're the one that never wanted to be a Gym leader to begin with."
"What can I say? Guess I'm feeling a bit self-conscious," Roark shrugged. "It'll be bad PR for Oreburgh if I don't go all out here."
In unison, father and son grabbed their last Pokeball and opened it, the dual flash of light materializing into a Kabutops and a Magnezone, the former standing atop the latter.
"We came up here to provide air support, so I reckon it's 'bout time we do that," said Byron. "Missy, have that bean of yours ready to tangle that thing with vines! Magnezone will zap it as soon as tries to teleport!"
"Right!" Gardenia roared. "Let's go!"
The four flying Pokemon shot through the air in dizzying, zigzagging trails as they dodged the volley of attacks shooting up and disappearing into the distance. Roark winced at the sudden speed, trying to keep tabs on their enemy. There, not too far from them, M3 blinked out and reappeared back behind them, near Wake and Volkner. Gyarados and Jolteon immediately shot up to intercept it, but M3 was much faster. With a single swipe of its hand, it released a psychic shockwave that sent both Pokemon flying away as though they were made of paper. They crashed against the snow, half buried in it, and did not move again.
"Shit! Luxray!" Volkner cried out. "Use–!"
A Hydropump and a Psybeam were shot by Wake and Fantina's Pokemon, and Luxray chose that moment to jump and attack as well, its black fur gleaming with electricity. M3, however, was too quick. It blinked out just as the two attacks converged, and the force and steam were enough to momentarily blind Luxray.
M3 appeared inches from Volkner's face, hand raised. It brought it down against him a–
"Thunderbolt!"
Magnezone's attack clashed against what seemed like solid air and arced off in all directions, M3 having been quick enough to put a barrier around itself. That'd have to be fixed, Roark decided.
"Rampardos!" he cried out. "Head Smash!"
Far below, a roar echoed through the ground itself as the massive Pokemon stampeded straight for M3, its head down, ready to strike.
The impact was enough to shatter the barrier, but only barely. With most of its momentum stopped by it, M3 took advantage and shot itself forward, slamming a half-formed ball of psychic energy straight onto Rampardos' face. The explosion threw his massive weight back and blew off one of its horns and a part of the rocky shell protecting its head, earning a growl of pain from the Rampardos.
M3 was not done, however. Not wasting an instant, it threw itself on top of the collapsed Pokemon and started battering its chest with a barrage of machine-gun punches, each one echoing like a boulder cracking as more and more pieces of Rampardos' rocky exterior started flying off, accompanied by small spurts of blood the deeper M3 went.
"Stop!" Roark yelled, furious. "Get away from h–!"
He got M3's attention. With a slight look over its shoulder, the creature blinked out and then reappeared high up in the air, facing the three airborne Gym leaders and their Pokemon just as another pair of attacks converged in his previous location. Roark found himself grimacing. That'd been the second time now that this fucking lab experiment had pierced through his Pokemon's defenses. He couldn't let that stand.
Instinctually, all four of them shot forward but in different directions, hoping to overwhelm their opponent.
"Fan out!" Byron yelled. "We have t–"
It was instantaneous. M3 simply raised its hand and waved it lazily, and the three Gym leaders heard… something in the air. A sudden echoing. As though something invisible had appeared before them.
By the time they saw the shimmer in the air and realized it was a barrier, it was too late. They were flying too quickly.
"Shit! Sto–!"
Multiple sounds of crashing and cracking echoed through the air, loud and visceral. Aerodactyl was the only one fast enough to avoid slamming into the barrier, and it'd taken a veer so strong and sudden that Roark had almost flown off his back and onto the ground below.
His vision swam, a spiral of white and black and orange that made his lunch rise up to his throat. He swallowed it down somehow, and looked around in a panicked haze. Was M3… no, it wasn't flying straight for him. He could hear sounds, screams and attacks, but what had… where were his dad and Gardenia? Where–
He finally saw them down below, next to what he first assumed were snow banks, but must have been actually formed by the force of the impact. His heart sank. Jumpluff and Skarmory lay unconscious, crackles of psychic energy arching off their bodies, as though they'd crashed into a giant bug zapper. Gardenia was collapsed against her Pokemon, nose broken, lips and chin soaked with blood. Byron lay on his back, coughing up mouthfuls of dirt and snow. His right arm was bent unnaturally behind him, the bone shattered.
"D-dad…"
An explosion rung behind him. Still only barely hanging onto his Aerodactyl, Roark glanced over his shoulder and paled at the sight of Wake's Gyarados falling on top of the man himself, crushing him. M3 turned around and caught a Shadow Ball from Gengar with its bare hand, then threw it back at the ghost's face with enough strength to vaporize a third of her body. Fantina screamed something in horror. Not missing a beat, the creature blinked in and out of existence, reforming high in the middle of the battlefield, surveying it for its next prey.
Its gaze fell on Byron and Gardenia. Roark's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to scream but M3 was already moving, flying through the air with a ball of pulsing energy in each hand.
"DAD!"
Aerodactyl needed no further orders. The fastest of his Pokemon by far, it actually closed the distance quicker than M3 could, ready to intercept it mid-flight, maw open and brimming with dark energy.
"Get away from him!" Roark yelled, completely out of himself. "Don't you dare to–!"
The change of movement was sudden, almost instinctual. M3 stopped its flight completely and snapped to look at Roark with a speed that would've surely hurt its neck. Not that the Gym leader had much time to consider that, because a second after the creature had blinked out and right in front of them.
"Wh–!"
Thin, boney fingers closed around Roark's collar, lifting him up as though he weighed nothing. Aerodactyl started a screech of protest, but it was swiftly interrupted. A simple wave of its free hand and M3 sent it down with the speed of a cannonball, making him go splat against the ground.
"A-Aer…Agh!"
Roark strained his sight, but it was getting blurrier with every moment that passed, the sheer unbridled pressure M3 exuded too much for him. He couldn't hear anything. Why weren't the others attacking? Were they all already…?
M3's grip tightened. Not on his collar, but all throughout Roark's body. It felt like an invisible force pressing against every single atom in his body, stealing his breath and making the edges of his vision start to blacken. He gasped and looked down, his gaze meeting that of the creature. Red, cold, thoughtless. And most likely, the last thing he would ever see.
D-dammit… is this how it…?
His vision, darkened and blurry as it was, caught something far and behind M3. A figure. A massive creature, slowly approaching. It was a silhouette he had no trouble recognizing.
Despite the feeling of his entire body being squished, Roark found himself smiling.
"Ghk… ha… you know…"
M3 relaxed its grip for a moment, the act of hearing its victim speak confusing it. It looked up at Roark, and saw a pained smile across his lips.
"I don't often get a chance to s-show off… being the lowest-ranked Gym leader and all…" The words were strained, but he forced them out, his smile exacerbating. "So I guess I should thank you."
He looked down, past M3, and bellowed.
"Night Slash!"
He heard the jump from below, and knew that his prayer was answered. A blur whistled through the air, a streak of brown and silver that M3 was too distracted to react to. It was only an instant. Roark saw the Kabutops' scythe as it made an arc upwards, slashing through the creature's arm.
For the shortest instant, nothing happened. Then, with a 'Pop!', the hand holding Roark came off at the wrist, falling alongside the Gym leader while a spurt of pale yellow blood came out of the gaping wound. M3 looked down at it with genuine confusion, yet strangely no pain.
Then, it felt eyes on its back. A massive, powerful presence.
In the short second before Roark landed, he looked up with squinted eyes and chuckled to himself, giving one last order before consciousness left him.
"Light him up."
M3 turned around sharply, but all it saw was a pair of massive crimson eyes and the vague outline of the Tyranitar it had thought defeated, covered entirely by the blinding light exuding from within its maw.
Then, white. Tyranitar opened his mouth and fired a Hyper Beam point blank at M3.
There was no escape, no time to raise a barrier. M3 was swallowed by a pillar of white that easily dwarfed it in size, burning through its body with every last ounce of power and might left inside its opponent. The boom and roar of the attack shook the sky itself, and after a single moment nothing could be seen of the creature within except for a vague black silhouette.
The light vanished quickly, suddenly, like a candle's flame going out after its strongest burst, leaving behind only a charred, smoking silhouette, mired in the stench of burnt flesh. M3 hung in the air for an instant that felt eternal, then began to fall.
Looking from below, the few Gym leaders that remained conscious sprung to action. Instinctively, fueled by nothing but panic. Their screams cut through that short-lived silence and their Pokemon rose to answer that call, wounded and bloodied as they were, putting what little strength they had into one last assault.
"Constrict!" Byron yelled, barely conscious, flat against the ground.
Steelix erupted from within the ground and slithered in a circle below the falling M3. Right before it touched the ground, the steel serpent closed the noose, coiling around the body with enough force to shatter bones, preventing it from escaping. Immediately, two other screams rung out.
"Thunder!"
"Shadow Ball!"
Dusknoir and Electivire shot toward Steelix from opposite directions, arms extended forward. Hemmed in shadows and thunder, the two Pokemon slammed their hands against the front and back of M3's face and released every ounce of energy left in them, creating a swirling pillar of light and darkness that exploded off the point of impact like a hurricane, swallowing M3 completely.
Despite being caught in the attack as well, Steelix did not give way. Inhaling deep, the Pokemon threw its maw down and spat a massive torrent of flames point-blank at M3's head, adding to the already stunning cyclone of power. It burst into a massive explosion, arcs of black and yellow and red dancing amidst each other as they climbed up and up, past the clouds and even higher, like a tower of pure light falling from the heavens.
Fantina, Volkner and Byron were almost thrown back by the force of the explosion, and when the light finally faded what they saw was barely a figure, barely a round, scorched mass that was M3's head, surrounded on all sides by Pokemon that were now utterly spent of power, yet still held it in place as though their lives depended on it.
Then, a familiar voice rang through the air.
"And now down you go, bastard."
Candice shot up from the shadow Steelix cast over its own body, one hand raised, holding Lucas' needle-like device. She spared M3 only as glance before bringing it down with all her strength.
But it never pierced its target. It was only a small crack in between two of Steelix' body segments, only a moment of the beast relaxing its grip from pain and exhaustion, yet it was still enough room for M3 to move its one remaining arm. It shot up like a bullet, sharp and precise. The charred fingers closed tightly around Candice's wrist, stopping it in place before she could inject it.
Then M3 looked up and to the side, its skin and muscles flaking off into ash, its eyes smoking and bubbling as they melted inside their own sockets. Yet they still saw, and they still focused on Candice's face.
In that moment, despite being bonded with two legends, Candice felt true fear grip at her heart.
A light shone. It filtered through the mountain of bodies around M3, arching off in little rays that grew and grew, until the light was so bright and potent that little else could be seen. It was like a miniature sun had suddenly appeared in between them.
Then the light became a storm, an explosion of motion and force that tore through the entirety of the mountain's peak like fire burning through paper, swallowing every human and Pokemon in its path.
By the time Fantina opened her eyes again, all she could see was smoke and dust and… light?
She coughed, and the blood splattered against the ground inches from her face. Slowly, painfully, she pushed herself until she was on her hands and knees, and looked up.
"Wh… Sanbica?"
Her daughter stood in front of her, hands raised as though to shield against the previous attack. She… no, not only she but Fantina as well, they were both… surrounded by what almost looked like a creature made out of starlight, a glowing shell of a figure. A…
"S-shield?"
Sanbica let go of the breath she'd been holding, and immediately fell, all strength gone from her limbs. Fantina shot up and caught her, almost falling herself in the process. Mother and daughter held each other on their knees, breathing heavily, covered in dust and grime and blood.
"Was that…" Fantina swallowed. "Was that your Guardian Star?"
A sound halfway between a chuckle and a cough left Sanbica's lips. Blood began running down her chin.
"It's… all I could do," she whispered. "Told you… I can't have you die. You still…"
Sanbica's shaking fingers pressed against her hand, against the thin golden ring around her finger. A ring that wasn't there the last time they'd seen each other.
"You still got a promise to keep. Someone to come back to," Sanbica smiled. "Me, though… ha. Think I might've bitten more than I could chew with this one."
Fantina swallowed, then glanced up at everything around her.
"You're not the only one."
Even through the expansive cloud of smoke covering it all, Fantina could see that no one had escaped unscathed, not even Mt. Coronet itself. A deep, smoking crater now lay under the Pokemon and Gym leaders alike, each one with the exception of Fantina laying scattered across its surface, limp and unmoving, soaked in their own blood. She didn't want to confirm it by looking, but a few of them might not have been breathing anymore.
And there, floating above the center of the crater, was their enemy. Not unscathed, but definitely still alive.
"Y-you can't be serious…"
M3's body was covered in a pale, gentle glow, one that Fantina recognized too well. Its severed hand was slowly starting to regrow, and she could've sworn she saw its charred skin flaking off one speck at a time, revealing another healed layer below.
"It's healing itself," she whispered, all hope gone from her voice. "It's…"
But she couldn't finish speaking. Partly because the words wouldn't come, partly because just then M3 turned to look at them, noticing that they were still alive. Still conscious.
It didn't rush to attack. Instead, it simply raised its remaining hand above its head, and a black sphere of energy began to form above its palm. She could tell this was different from the ones before. It was smaller, yet it beat powerfully as though it were the sky's heartbeat, exuding an incredible pressure.
It silenced all around it, stealing breath and sound and light, until only it could be heard. Seeing it, Fantina knew. There would be no blocking, no escaping from this one. If it touched the ground they stood on, it would mean death.
Fantina breathed out, tired. She looked down at her daughter, then closed her eyes tight and simply waited for the impact.
But it didn't come. Instead, a distant yet powerful voice broke through the unnatural silence and pressure, slicing through them like a knife on paper.
"Heed my call…"
Fantina's eyes shot open to the sight of a white, furious flame cutting through the air toward M3.
"…Moltres, the Flame of Cinnabar!"
The impact threw the creature off-balance, and the sphere of energy went flying off into the distance, travelling like a bullet and exploding a couple miles down the mountain. Even from so far, the ground still shook under their feet and a massive current of wind clashed against the clearing they were in, dispelling the smoke and dust in a flash.
And what she saw there, Fantina could hardly believe. Reiko stood in the center of the crater, dancing white and blue and red flames around her, wings of light exuding from her back. But she was not alone. Four figures, four people stood on the edges of the crater around her, looking up at the startled, weakened M3.
Fantina laughed, deep, wholeheartedly.
"What the hell took you so long?"
Lucian smiled, but he did not take his eyes off their enemy. Neither did Bertha, Flint or Aaron.
"I apologize for our tardiness. We had a… hitchhiker of sorts to pick up on the way," he said, glancing down at Reiko. "But worry not. The situation is in our hands now."
In unison, the Elite Four threw their Pokeballs up in the air, and the massive flash of light was enough to even momentarily blind M3. As a small army materialized around them, other distant sounds could be heard. Wings beating. The whirr of propeller blades. A second after, a multitude of helicopters and flying Pokemon shot up through the clouds, forming a protective circle around Mt. Coronet's peak.
"Squads one through five, retrieve all wounded and take them to safety!" Lucian yelled out, extending one hand forward. "Squads six through ten, have those dark Pokemon break the barrier separating us from Spear Pillar! Reiko, Bertha, Aaron and Flint…!"
Lucian's eyes, previously hidden by the glint of his glasses, came into view as he glared down at the confused M3 without a hint of mercy.
"...Dispose of the target."