In the manga, when Yveltal drains life energy a Pokémon collapses. In the movies, they turn to stone. I went with the former, since turning to stone was a little over dramatic for what I had in mind.

Polaris-Ponyta, Shanjin-Greninja, Yarak-Talonflame, Nelly–Auroros, Anakri-Dragelge, Lenaren-Noivern

Shira-Reshiram, Phantom-Darkrai

Chapter 25: Antler and Wing

Lysandre dropped his gaze. "I see. Well, I take it back then. You won. Now what?"

"How do you shut down the machine?" I demanded.

He glanced around, finally realizing that Fleur and Looker were missing. "I would imagine your friends are already working on that. Although they may be too late. The rest of Team Flare has the sacrifices prepared at the standing stones. The weapon could activate at any moment."

"I wouldn't count on that."

Both of us looked up to see someone stepping out from behind a fallen house. Grant.

I exhaled a sigh of relief. "You made it!"

"Yes! Some of the other gym leaders joined me. While the police kept the sky trainers occupied, we freed the Pokémon on Route 10. Your 'sacrifices' are gone." Grant spat that word in disgust.

"Well then," Lysandre said, sighing, "Perhaps you did best me. But you'd better check on your friends. They may need help."

As if on cue, the earth began to rumble. A strange screeching sound came from the opposite side of the crystalline weapon. I let out Polaris and Lysandre scoffed. "Your last Pokémon is a Ponyta?"

I ignored him. When he saw her in action, he'd see that she was no pushover. Grant sent out his Tyrantrum. Lysandre didn't even flinch as the huge toothy Pokémon loomed over him. Tyrantum kept watch of our prisoner as Grant and I ran toward the strange sound. Lysandre followed, seeming almost bored. A tunnel lead into the ground beneath the weapon. Once more, a rasping shriek echoed from the depths.

"Look out!" Polaris cried. She shoved me out of the way as something hurtled out of the tunnel. A massive red and black bird.

"So," Lysandre said. "Your friends managed to deactivate the weapon. But they also awakened the bird of destruction. Yveltal is said to drain life force. I'm not sure what you hoped to gain by releasing it."

"Yveltal," I murmured. They had been using it to power the weapon, in addition to the other Pokémon sacrifices.

The great bird circled overhead, screaming in anger. She knew someone had imprisoned her and tried to drain her energy, and I could feel her rage overpowering her reason. She used Dark Pulse and Air Slash, leveling even more of Geosenge. Then she saw us and her eyes narrowed. Grant and I backed away. If we dove into the tunnel, would we be safe? Or would it cave in when she attacked?

Something white shot through the air and tackled Yveltal. Reshiram and Yveltal tumbled through the air. Shira had come, looking tired from her fight against Team Flare. A moment later, Phantom the Darkrai joined her.

"Cara," Polaris said. "There is still something very powerful in that tunnel. Find out what it is. Shira, Phantom and I will stall Yveltal."

I nodded. "Okay. Grant, Can you back up my Pokémon? I'll be right back."

Before he could respond, I took off down the tunnel. Someone had strung up dim red lights along the ceiling. My eyes weren't adjusted to the dull light, and I could barely see. I almost tripped over something in the path. A Team Flare grunt. There were more ahead. Fleur probably had her Vivillon use Sleep Powder to knock them out.

The tunnel opened into a large room beneath the crystal weapon. A black pedestal stood in front of me, red tubes winding around it. That must have been where they held Yveltal. Two more figures were on the ground. I thought they were more people from Team Flare until I got closer. It was Fleur and Looker. I gasped and ran to them. I shook Fleur's shoulder and she gave a low groan. Looker was breathing too. Lysandre's words came back to me. Yveltal drains life force. Is that what had happened? Yveltal had broken free and then knocked them out. How could I revive them?

I started to reach for my backpack to get some water, but paused. I sensed something. A bright, pure energy. I stood, disoriented by the unexpected feeling. That was right. As much as I wanted to help Fleur and Looker, I had to stop Yveltal first. Before her rampage caused the kind of destruction we'd been trying to avoid.

I followed the bright energy to the back of the room. There were more red pipes sprouting from the walls and ceiling, circling a tree. A tree, underground. It made no sense. Especially considering that the tree was the source of the energy.

I grabbed one of the tubes and yanked it out of the wall. I tossed it out of the way and moved onto the next one. When I'd jerked all of them loose, I reached out and placed my hand on the trunk. It was slightly warm, and softer than I expected. It felt alive. The bark burst into light and I stumbled back, hitting the pedestal. The tree was shifting. I shielded my eyes as the light grew, blinding me.

A keening cry filled the air. I lowered my arm, squinting as after-images dazzled in front of my eyes. The light faded and a slender blue stag stood in front of me. Xerneas, an ancient being from Kalos legend. The two of them had been dormant all this time. Team Flare had somehow found them. 3,000 years ago this weapon had destroyed most of Kalos. Now with both legendary Pokémon, in addition to the other sacrifices, Team Flare really could have destroyed everything.

"Xerneas," I called. "Please, help! We need to calm Yveltal down before she hurts anyone! Can you stop her?"

He examined me with his deep blue eyes, then knelt. I stared for a moment before I realized what he wanted. I climbed into his back. He stood, and I steadied myself against his neck. He was so much taller than Polaris.

Xerneas headed to the exit, pausing and touching his nose to Fleur and Looker. Then he took off bounding up the tunnel. I looked back to see my friends stirring. Then I had to face forward so I wouldn't fall off.

Xerneas leapt out into the open air and let out his keening cry again. Shira and Yveltal were above us, and they both paused to look down. Yveltal seized Shira's moment of distraction and blasted out a column of flickering red and black energy. Shira fell, crashing to the ground. Yveltal spread her wings and cried out, looking stronger than before. She had drained Shira's energy. Phantom and Polaris were slumped together, already drained by Yveltal. Grant was near them. He'd tied Lysandre's hands behind his back, but his Tyrantum was nowhere to be seen. He must have been knocked out too.

Xerneas leapt into the air and we alighted on top of the crystal structure. He reared up and bugled out his challenge, tossing his antlers.

Yveltal returned the battle cry and dove toward him, talons outstretched. Xerneas bounded out of the way, striking with Moonblast. I held on for dear life, hoping that Xerneas brought me along because he knew he could protect me.

Yveltal struck with the energy-draining Oblivion Wing, but Xerneas dodged. The bird's attacks were slower. She must have gotten tired from fighting Shira. Xerneas dodged with the ease of dancing wind as Yveltal dove and clawed at him. He leapt off of the crystal and to the ground, sending out Moonblast whenever he had an opening. There were no other conscious Pokémon for Yveltal to draw energy from, and none of her attacks were hitting Xerneas. Her frustration peaked and she bombarded us with Air Slash. These attacks came faster, and were harder for Xerneas to doge. He pranced out of the way until one struck at his feet. He staggered and the force of the wind tore me off of his back. I yelped as I flew through the air, seeing the ground rush up at me. By some amazing instinct, I managed to tuck into a roll. I hit hard and went tumbling across the grass.

…

Someone was calling my name. I opened my eyes, dizzy and disoriented. I'd passed out. But it couldn't have been for more than a minute or two because I could still hear Yveltal and Xerneas fighting.

Grant, Fleur, Looker, Ben, and Hari were all there, looking concerned.

I sat up, testing my arms and legs. I was sore all over, but everything worked. My reflexes had saved me from any real damage.

"Are you okay?" Everyone seemed to ask at once. I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, what's happening?"

"Their fighting is getting more destructive," Looker said. "Everyone's evacuated, but at this rate even that might not be enough."

I didn't want the rest of Geosenge to be destroyed, and I especially didn't want any of the evacuees to get caught up in this battle between legends. But if Xerneas beat Yveltal, then what? Whenever she recovered, she would continue her battle against humans. She thought all humans were responsible for her capture. It was just like Mewtwo. Fighting wouldn't fix this problem. It had to be something else. I grimaced as I thought of how I'd stopped Mewtwo. That was not something I wanted to risk a second time. Not that I'd done it on purpose…

I had an idea.

I dragged myself to my feet, wobbling a bit. I felt bruised all over, and was still dizzy. Ben helped support me as I limped toward Phantom. If I could revive him, then this might work. But Phantom wasn't just knocked out. Yveltal had drained some of his life force. Normal healing items might not work.

"Look out!" Hari shouted.

Yveltal shot out Oblivion Wing, missing Xerneas and aiming at us. We leapt to the side as the grass exploded. I could feel the attack trying to pull away my energy, but we managed to dodge the full force of it.

"Is everyone okay?" I shouted as dust billowed up around us. I couldn't see where anyone had gone, but they all called an affirmative. I stayed low, crawling toward Phantom. I could feel where he was through telepathy. I found him as the dust was beginning to settle. He was slumped against Polaris. I shook Phantom's shoulder, but his head lolled and his eyes stayed shut. I pulled a Revive from my backpack, hoping it would work. To my relief, he opened one eye and looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"Nngh, I can barely move. I feel like an empty husk."

I hissed. "I was afraid of that. Yveltal drained your energy. Revive isn't enough to restore you. Listen, Xerneas is over there. See, the blue deer? He woke Fleur and Looker when Yveltal drained their energy. He should be able to do the same for you. But let me tell you my plan. We won't have much time once this gets started." Phantom had a feather tucked in his hair. A Lunar Wing. Usually anyone asleep near a Darkrai would get horrible nightmares, but the Lunar Wing negated that. This was so he could live peacefully on Avalon without accidentally hurting those around him. But this time I took the feather and hid it in my backpack. I put my pack next to Polaris. Phantom gave me a questioning look.

"Defeating Yveltal won't make her want to stop fighting." It might have been easier to try to catch her, but I had agreed not to catch Pokémon without their permission. I gave a lecture on the subject. If I didn't follow my own advice, why should anyone else? "We need to talk to her. But she won't let us. If you put her to sleep, can you give her a dream?"

Phantom nodded. "I'll be ready. The moment I can move, I'll use Dark Void."

I hesitated. "Phantom… do you think you could patch me into the dream?"

He glanced at me sharply. "Into the dream? Through Telepathy? Do you think your telepathy is strong enough to enter the dream of an irrational legendary Pokémon?"

"When you put it like that…"

"I think the only way I could manage that is if I put you to sleep too. But I don't have full control over these dreams. Especially against a Pokémon as strong as Yveltal. You may not be able to tell that you're dreaming. And while I can direct a dream, it will still have the nightmare quality to it. You'd think you're living that nightmare."

I bit my lip. "I hear you. But I think I need to be there with her. To befriend her before she wakes up. And it's just a dream. Even if it feels like it lasts a long time, it won't last that long in reality, right?"

"No. And knowing you, even if you don't remember why you're there, you'll do what's needed. You did it even when you lost all of your memories. And if you do realize you're dreaming, you can call me so I can wake you up."

I bit my lip. I sucked at recognizing when I was dreaming. Sometimes I could figure it out, but if I was having a dream where I got to do something really cool (like meeting my favorite actor, or something) I convinced myself that I was awake, even if the dream itself was illogical. Like when I was talking to a singer that died before I was born. All the usual things didn't seem to work for me. They say you can't hurt in a dream, but I have. I dreamt that I cut my hand, and I could feel the pain even though my real hand was fine. Phantom saw me shaking. He placed a hand on my arm.

I looked up at him, setting myself in determination. "Do it."

He stared at me a moment longer, the nodded.

I shut my eyes and called out to Xerneas, using telepathy to explain my plan. He glanced toward me and gave a brief nod. Now he just had to find a moment to break free from Yveltal so he could revive Darkrai. That would be the hardest part. If anyone sent out Pokémon, Yveltal could drain their energy and get her strength back. But that was a risk we'd have to take.

"Ben, Fleur!" I shouted. "Send your flying Pokémon up there to distract Yveltal. Looker, can you get Salamence back to help?"

They nodded and waited for Salamence to return. Then Ben sent out Pigeot and Fleur sent out her Vivillon. The three Pokémon flew at Yveltal. The huge bird barely flinched. She turned and immediately used Oblivion Wing. Everyone scattered, dodging the attack.

Xerneas slipped away as Yveltal swatted at the irritating newcomers. He dipped his head and touched his nose to Phantom. Instantly Darkrai sat up. Yveltal glanced over and saw Xerneas was distracted. She flapped her wings, gusting away her foes, and shot Oblivion Wing down at us. Phantom launched forward, grabbing me and carrying me free. Xerneas stalled for a moment to avoid crashing into Phantom. But that moment's hesitation meant that Oblivion Wing hit him full on.

Yveltal screeched in triumph as Xerneas staggered. She flexed her talons and dove toward us. Phantom set me down, and blasted out Dark Void. One of the glowing black orbs hit Yveltal, engulfing her. Half a moment later, Dark Void plunged me into darkness.