Author's Note: As Chapter 7 is mostly an epilogue, I have decided to post the last two chapters today. I really hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to review it. Hopefully soon, I will be starting my next story.
Misty watched the car drive away, bouncing along the uneven dirt road. After a minute or so, it was out of view. The professor had offered to send someone with her, but she had refused. Whatever happened next, she had to do it alone. She still didn't trust him. The only people she trusted anymore were either in the hospital or… No, Ash wasn't dead, she told herself. She wasn't going to give up on him.
After she and the professor had returned to the house, preparations were quickly begun to stop the Redeyes. It turned out that the professor and the others had a good idea where the Redeyes would go to rest. It was the same place it had used during its last reign in the world of the living. Even if it hadn't arrived yet, it would be going there soon, they assured her.
The next several hours were a blur and frankly, Misty didn't remember much of it. Everything caught up with her and even though she thought it impossible, she had slept most of the way from the house to wherever she was now. According to the map she had been given, she was deep in the wilderness somewhere near Mt. Moon, but further north along the chain of mountains the crossed the entire Kanto region.
As the professor's car disappeared from view, she began to feel completely alone. Although she had faced dangerous situations before, and at an even younger age than she was now, she knew that she had never been in more danger than she was now. She also knew the stakes had never been higher.
She started walking toward the mountain in the distance. According to what she had been told, the place she was looking for was inside the mountain. How she would recognize it she didn't know, but somehow she knew she was going in the right direction.
Last time the Redeyes battled for control of the world, it had taken all of the pokémon gods fighting together to defeat it. What do you think you'll be able to do? a small voice in her mind said. It was the same voice that had been bothering her since she had agreed to try and save Ash.
Honestly, she didn't know what she would do when she reached the ruins. Would she be able to kill Ash if she had to? Even if it meant saving the world? She knew what Ash would want her to do. Even if at times he could be egotistical, when it counted, he was one of the most selfless people she knew. It wouldn't have to come to that, she told herself. She would find a way to save Ash, there were no other options.
She paused to shift her backpack off her still tender right shoulder. The pack was filled to the brim with supplies and was slowing her down, but as she didn't know what would be facing, she was thankful for everything she had.
After about twenty minutes of walking, the trees thinned and she came upon a rock face that formed the base of the mountain. Here and there, she saw evidence of an ancient structure. There was an oddly shaped stone that could have been part of a column sticking out of the ground. Closer to the tree line another column lay on its side.
The feeling of dread inside only grew as she followed the rock face. The forest was silent, as if all the creatures that dwelled there were too frightened to make their presence known. Several minutes passed and then she reached a place where the mountainside looked as if it had exploded outward. Pieces of stone littered the ground and in some cases were embedded in the trees.
Inside the hole was complete darkness. Reaching with her left hand, she grabbed the flashlight that was attached to the outside of the backpack. Shining its beam into the darkness, she saw that the hole continued into the mountain where it intersected with what looked like an existing, man—or pokémon—made passageway.
Misty took a deep breath, gave one last glance at the friendly sky above, and entered the darkness. She had to crouch down to get through the makeshift opening before reaching the passageway beyond. Made of stone blocks, the passage made its way deep into the mountain, further than the light of her flashlight could penetrate. Taking several steps forward, her footsteps echoing dangerously loud, she made her way further into the darkness.
Moving as slowly as her nerves would allow, she followed the hallway until, after several minutes of nothing but stone blocks, she could make out the haze of light in front of her. She knelt down and gingerly slid the backpack off, but not carefully enough to keep her right shoulder from flaring in pain. She clenched her teeth and bit back the pain.
She unzipped the pack and pulled out the wooden box. Reaching into the front flap, she grabbed the leather gloves the professor had given her and placed them on. Only then did she actually open the box. The Gaisaur spike lay on its cushion and even in the dim illumination of the flashlight, its beauty still mesmerized her for several moments.
Finally, Misty tore her gaze from the spike and looked back toward the distant light. A quickly as possible she returned the box back into the pack and shrugged it back on.
As she neared it, Misty realized that the light had an orange hue to it and flickered randomly, generating odd shadows on the stone walls. The closer she came to the end of the passageway, the brighter the room beyond seemed to become. Finally, she peered out into the light. The room was large, roughly the size of the poolroom in the gym back in Cerulean City. Large torches dispersed around the room made it seemed like the daylight outside.
The chamber has definitely seen better days. The stone blocks that formed the walls and ceiling had, in some places, shifted over time, and in others had completely come loose, crashing into the floor below. The size of these blocks, most of which were four feet to a side, boggled Misty's mind. She continued to examine the room, and then she saw something that made her gasp.
Propped in a sitting position against the far wall was Ash. He looked to be sleeping, but the distance was so far, she couldn't be sure. He was no longer wearing his tux, she saw, and instead wore a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt.
She had to reach him, she decided. Quietly, she crept through the room, using various piles of rubble as shelter. She stopped behind a large stone block about eight feet in front of Ash. The whole time it had taken her to traverse the chamber, Ash had made no movement or showed any sign that he knew she was there. She glanced around the block and with a sigh of relief saw his chest rise and fall several times.
Misty could feel tears forming in her eyes and slowly run down her cheeks. When she had first woken up in the hospital and heard the professor tell of what had happened, she had feared she would never see Ash again. Now, he lay only feet away, but in her heart, she felt further from him than ever.
That's not Ash! the voice shouted. That's only the demon that is using his body to destroy the world. It's what took Ash from you in the first place. It's the creature that killed all the people in Pewter and at the hotel. You have to kill it before it can hurt anyone else!
She felt a tear drop from her chin and hit her hand. In her hand was the weapon that could deliver the world from this evil. The spike was pale and beautiful, yet so deadly. She looked back at Ash, his face seemingly peaceful.
You have to! This is your only chance!
No! she shouted back. Ash might be dead, but he could still be in there. And if he is, then there is a chance he could be saved. I'm not going to kill him before giving him a chance!
Winning her internal battle, she stood up, spike in hand. She shrugged off the pack once more and left it on the ground. Before she could lose her nerve she stepped out from behind the stone block and moved toward Ash.
* * * * *
It watched her. It had sensed her approach as soon as she had neared the mountain. At first it had assumed she was just traveling through, but then to its surprise, she had not only entered its domain, she had made her way straight toward it. It could have dispatched her easily, but it found its curiosity getting the better of it. Why had this human girl entered here seemingly defenseless?
It had searched her mind as far as it could without alerting her that it knew she was there. Her mind had been filled with a flurry of emotions but now as she approached it closer, there was only one emotion within her, determination.
Not having to open its physical eyes to see her, it tried to determine her purpose. The only item it could not identify was the object in her hand. It looked like some sort of sharp rock, but at the same time strangely familiar. It could not remember from where, however, and continued to watch her.
* * * * *
Ash woke up screaming, the images of Pewter City still fresh in his mind. He had never seen such horrors as those that continued to haunt him. Forced to watch every horrible moment, his mind had finally just shut down and mercifully he lost consciousness.
The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer in Pewter, but he had no idea where he was now. He could sense that his body was asleep and his eyes closed, but he had learned that he no longer had to rely on his body's senses alone. The link that existed between he and the creature worked both ways. Just as it could control his body and probe his mind, he could use its psychic senses to see the outside world.
He appeared to be a strange room made of stone. Rubble lay here and there within it. The place looked very old and just short of being in ruin.
His surroundings faded away, however, when he saw the figure slowly walking toward him. Misty! At first a feeling of joy flowed through him. She had escaped the terrors at the hotel. But then he became confused. Why was she here? Where was he really? For a moment he thought that perhaps this was all a trick the creature was somehow creating to torment him. The more he stared at her, though, the more he became convinced that she was real and no illusion.
Fear enveloped him. He had to warn her. Didn't she know the danger she was in? The creature that controlled his body would not think twice about killing her, just as it had done to the people in Pewter City.
He tried to shout to her, and even though his voice echoed around his enclosure, his body remained still. All the while, Misty continued to inch closer.
* * * * *
It felt its human host's mind stir, but it ignored him as it continued to watch the girl approach. The host stirred again, this time more forcibly. His emotions were erratic. It could hear him mentally shout, "Misty!"
Misty, was that the girl's name? It sounded familiar as well. Then it remembered. This girl had been the one the psychic had protected. Those actions had confused it at the time and still did. As it probed both minds, it found a link between the two. These humans had been close, lovers in fact. Now that is interesting, it thought. It would have to thank the psychic for preventing it from killing this girl and wasting such a valuable toy.
The next few moments would be interesting indeed. Perhaps it was its host rubbing off on it, but it was beginning to enjoy these emotions.
* * * * *
Ash felt the creature focus on Misty. It knows, he realized. It knows and now it was going to kill her. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life, even back in Pewter. Before him, only several feet away, was the person most important to him. And as he watched, he knew, she would be taken from him forever.
"Misty!" he shouted, again with no result.
He had to do something. He had to at least try. He ran straight toward the solid clear wall, shoulder first. The impact numbed his arm completely and knocked the breath from him. He fell back, the shock of the pain overwhelming him, but he was back on his feet, preparing to do it again.
Unlike before when he tried to break free, this time he had felt the slightest shift in his prison. That was Misty out there, he told himself, and he was not going to give up without a fight.
* * * * *
Ash stirred and Misty stopped. Is he waking up? If he was, who would he be? His eyes slowly opened, revealed not the red horrors she had seen at the hotel, but the chestnut brown eyes that she had fallen in love with.
"Ash?" she whispered.
He stirred again and looked at her. "Misty?" he asked in a scratchy voice.
"Yes Ash, it's me."
"Where am I?"
"You're in a chamber inside a mountain. It's so hard to explain. The creature…"
"It took control of me!" he shouted, struggling to get up, but slipping.
"I know, Ash," she said, trying to help him back into a sitting position with her left hand. She reached to hug him, losing control of her emotions, but he shrugged her off and instead stared at the spike still in her right hand.
"What a pretty toy you have there, Misty," he said, only now his voice was full of anger and spite. It was so twisted that she could scarcely believe it had come out of Ash's mouth.
She stumbled backwards as she continued to stare at him in horror. His eyes began to fill with a red mist until they shone with the crimson hue like before.
"Welcome to my home, Misty," it said in that cruel voice.
Ash is dead! the voice inside shouted. And now you have wasted the only chance you had. You have failed and the world will be destroyed because of you.
No! she shouted back again. I will not give up. Even if Ash is gone, I will not fail in what I have to do. She stared at Ash, his face contorted in a grimace of hatred. I'm sorry Ash.
No matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, she knew that Ash was gone. Only this evil demon remained. She stood up, raised the spike before her, and prepared to attack and end it all, one way or the other.
* * * * *
Ash threw himself against the clear wall again. His phantom body ached, but he didn't stop. Each time, the give in the wall seemed to increase, if only by a very small amount. Another impact with the wall and he fell to the floor. Hope flared past the pain as he felt the wall give some more, and he once again got back up. Again he hit the wall, and this time he felt a crack. He looked and indeed a small fissure had appeared.
He risked another look at Misty. She must know by now, he thought. He had felt his body awake and move toward her. Why didn't she just run away? Misty, just get out of here while you can!
He rammed the wall again, spurred on by his fear for Misty. This time the crack widened. Just a little more, he thought desperately. Before, he had thought escape impossible, but now he wasn't so sure.
* * * * *
It watched her attempts to escape. No, it realized, she wasn't trying to get away. What did she think she could accomplish?
It could feel the mind of its host continue to fight to regain control. Suddenly, it could feel it power faltering. His will is indeed strong. But that was why it had chosen him. That didn't mean, thought, that it would allow such insolence. It would have to subjugate that will for good, and the answer was right in front of it. What better way to gain the extra energy it needed than to use his lover's essence to entrap him forever? The irony delighted it.
It returned its attention to the girl. Again, the pearl colored spike she held seemed familiar. It tugged at its memory until it finally remembered.
It had been during the last great battle of its previous attempt to gain its rightful control over this world. Just before the other pokémon gods had forced it into a fifty millennia slumber, a boy had entered its domain. It had felt the same mixture of determination and purpose in him that it felt from the girl now. The link, it realized, was that they both had known that they could win. Somehow, the girl, like the boy before her, had a way to destroy it.
It must be the spike. Whatever it was, it must be a threat to it. Well, it decided, if that is the case, then these games will end. It would not allow itself to be stopped now. The girl's life would very soon be coming to an end, and after it had accomplished that task, it would forever destroy its host's will to continue fighting. This time it had won. These two humans just hadn't realized that yet.
Now it knew their weapon. Once it disposed of the girl and this artifact, it would search the world until any like it were similarly destroyed. The future was now in its control.
* * * * *
Ash looked distracted. Misty decided this would be the best opportunity she would get. She raised the spike to bring it down, but at that very moment, he turned to her and struck out with his fist. He connected in her already tender side, sending her backwards to the ground. Her ribs, which before had felt sore, now felt as if they had been shattered.
Ash stalked toward her, his red eyes shining with the same hatred that filled his face. She made several feeble attempts to move back but soon she felt the stone block behind her. She knew she was trapped. The spike was still in her hand, but she knew it was too late. I'm going to die, she thought.
* * * * *
The pain threatened to force his mind to shut down, but Ash willed himself to stay conscious. The crack was widening, but it was growing too slowly. If he didn't hurry, he would be too late.
The events outside played before him impossibly slow as if he was stuck in some kind of twisted slow motion horror flick. It's afraid of her! The feelings he was receiving from the creature didn't make sense.
He saw himself strike Misty and heard her cry out in pain. He screamed himself and ran even harder at the wall. This time he felt his shoulder sink into it and he fell to the ground. When he regained his feet he saw that a small area of the wall around the original crack had caved through to the ether beyond.
The hole was small but it was large enough to fit his entire arm into it. He felt nothing on the other side, but suddenly his sense began to return to him. He felt the stone beneath his feet and he could faintly taste the stale air around him.
* * * * *
Ash continued to approach her. No, not Ash, but the creature the professor had called the Redeyes. It was a creature that had killed countless people and pokémon over the eons that it had existed. It lived for only one goal, and that was to control the world as it saw fit.
Misty struggled to her feet, determined that what ever happened next, she would not end this on her knees. Just before it reached her, it stumbled. Now! the voice screamed at her. She raised the spike and was about to strike when suddenly the red vanished from Ash's eyes and he fell limply to the ground.
It's a trick!
Why would it try to trick me now? She tried to reason with the infernal voice. It could have killed me so easily.
"Misty," Ash said softly, still sprawled across the stone floor.
"Ash? Is it really you?" she asked, kneeling beside him. With her free hand she rolled him over and cradled his head in her lap. His face was pale and scratched from hitting the ground.
"Yeah. I don't know how long I will be able to keep it back."
Absent-mindedly she stroked his hair, which was damp with perspiration. "We'll be ok."
Ash struggled out of her lap and into a sitting position. "No Misty! You have to get away from here. Once it takes me back, it'll kill you. It wants to, I can feel its thoughts. You scare it for some reason."
"Ash…" she began. Misty looked down at the spike. She knew he was right. No matter what happened, he would sooner or later lose control. And when that happened, it would win. "Ash, I love you."
"I love you, too," he replied. Suddenly, he made a strangled choking sound and screamed. "Misty!"
She jumped to her feet and took a step back. His eyes again filled with crimson hatred. Too shocked to make another move, she could only watch Ash undergo the transformation as the Redeyes regained control. She almost swore she saw it smile, and then something flashed.
The pain hit a second later. Instinctively she clutched her stomach with her left hand and felt something warm flow over her fingers. The second wave of pain washed over her with the ferocity of a tsunami, and she could feel herself going into shock. Her legs failed her and she fell backwards, hitting the stone block, which propped her into a sitting position.
She looked down and saw the front of her shirt was being quickly stained red. My blood, she thought numbly. Her eyes began to lose focus. She coughed and pain shot through her entire body. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth.
She felt the spike fall from her hand and ring off the floor below. I've failed, she thought. I failed Ash, I failed Brock, I failed my sisters and Togepi, and I even failed the professor.
* * * * *
Ash found himself back in his prison. "No!" he shouted. The hole was gone, erased as if it had never been there. Again, the feeling of helplessness filled him.
Then he saw her. He saw her face grimace in pain. He saw her fall backwards. He saw the pool of blood forming in her lap, spilling over her legs and onto the floor.
Tears burned in his eyes. "Misty!"
Everything blurred and then a bright light filled his senses. Its brightness blinded him. Its hum deafened him. The smell of burning ozone filled his phantom nose and mouth. It burned through him until he thought he would burst into flames.
Then another sound broke through the crescendo. He realized it was his own screaming. Pain, anguish, anger, desire, love, hate; all combined and flowing out of him. It struck the walls around him and shattered them, destroying them like a sapling before a firestorm.
He felt the creature cringe away from this noise. He saw it beyond the light and the walls, hovering within the darkness surrounding him. It cried out, but its sound was driven away by the power of his emotions. It fled deeper until Ash could no longer see it.
The light intensified, blinding him again. Ash thought his eyes would explode, but then it was gone.
Ash found himself in his body, only this time it was different. He had control over everything. He was free!
* * * * *
The pain was more intense than anything she had ever experienced before. This is it, she thought for the countless time in the last hour. But this time it was different. Deep down she knew there would be no last minute savior to come and rescue her from her fate. No matter what happened next, she would die. She would die alone deep within the mountain. And then the world would follow her. She could feel her blood flowing from the wound in her stomach. Whatever attack it used, it did its job.
She tried to focus her eyes, but they wouldn't cooperate. She was going to bleed to death never again seeing the blue sky above or the stars twinkling silently to themselves. No, she decided, she wasn't going to die like that. The Redeyes would come and finish her off before she to worry about that. At this point, she almost wished for it to hurry and end her pain.
"Misty," he heard a voice say, but it sounded like someone had filled her ears with cotton. "Misty," the voice repeated, only louder this time. It sounded like Ash, she decided. Could it be?
It's another trick!
What does it matter now? she argued with the voice. I'm dying anyway, she said with finality. The voice evidently could not argue with her and remained silent.
If it really was Ash, she had to fight back. She couldn't let herself die without seeing him one more time. She struggled to remain conscious, but if was if she was running uphill and the ground was slipping out from beneath her. Slowly, though, her senses began to refocus. Along with them the pain intensified, but she tried to ignore it.
She felt a hand run through her hair. Her vision was still too bad to make out who it was. Someone moved her hands away from here wound and they were replaced by something soft. The pressure behind it made her wince.
Finally she could make out the face before her. It was Ash!
"Hang on, Misty. Please, just hang on!"
She opened her mouth to speak, but she could not form the words. "Ash," she said finally.
"Misty? Thank God!"
She moved her hand over his. He was holding a blanket over her stomach that he must have found in her pack. Its white fabric was already stained red with blood. I didn't know I had so much blood, she thought. She knew her brain was not functioning properly anyway, and knew that she didn't have much time left.
He shifted her away from the stone block so she was lying down. She felt him place the pack beneath her head in a makeshift cushion.
"Misty, why did you come here?" she heard him ask.
"To save you," she said simply.
"But," he began, his sobs unwilling to let him continue.
"I had to," she said, feeling weaker with each passing second. "I love you."
* * * * *
Ash looked down at Misty. Please be all right, he said silently. You have to be.
His foot kicked something and he looked down. It was the rock-like object that Misty had been holding earlier. He reached down and picked it up. It wasn't rock, he realized, but instead looked like it had come from a living creature, like ivory.
Turning to Misty he asked, "What is this?"
He saw her eyes open with fear. "Nothing," she stuttered.
He knew that wasn't the truth by the look in her eyes, but couldn't understand why should would lie. "Please don't lie to me, Misty."
She said nothing for a moment, her eyes wet with unshed tears. "It's the spike from an extinct pokémon." She coughed, a long ragged sound that tore at his heart. He saw that her lips were wet with blood, but she continued oblivious. "It's the only object that can kill the creature that took you. It can destroy it forever, but…" she trailed off.
"But…" he prompted. He had to know the rest. He felt that somehow it was a matter of life and death.
"It will kill you too. That's why I couldn't use it."
He mind was filled with questions, but they all seemed unimportant as he watched the energy slip away from Misty. She coughed again, but this time she went it a fit, each time the force of her coughing sent spasms throughout her body. Ash had trouble keeping the blanket over her wound. Finally, the fit passed.
"Are you free now?" she asked.
"I don't know. I think so," he answered. Since waking this last time, he had not felt the creature's presence at all. Perhaps he had destroyed it.
She looked up at him and smiled. "That's good. At least you got a second chance at life. I only wish I could live it with you."
"Don't talk like that!"
Her eyes cleared and he saw her focus on him. "You look so beautiful," she said, her voice sounding stronger than before. "I love you."
"You're going to be ok. You hear me?" he almost shouted. "You've got to be ok! I love you!"
Misty nodded, never breaking eye contact with him. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."
"Don't leave me," he said in a strangled sob.
She smiled again. "So bright…" she whispered.
He felt her chest rise and fall, but it didn't rise again. Her eyes remained open, but they no longer saw. Her hand went limp and fell slowly to the floor.
At first Ash was too shocked to do anything. "Misty," he whispered, gently shaking her. "Misty?" He reached around and hugged her, bringing her up to him. "Misty! Please don't go! I need you."
She can't be gone. She can't. But he knew she was.
He shifted around until his back was against the block. He held Misty against his shoulder and cried. How had this happened? Why did we have to go through this? What did Misty ever to do to deserve this to happen to her?
"You were the most important person to me," he said out loud. "You know that right? We could have moved back to Pallet and opened up the gym. We would have run it together and we would have been happy. We could have had children of our own, and one day they would have started their own journeys. And if they were lucky, they would have found friends like you along the way."
He continued to talk to her, even though she could no longer hear him. What else could he do? Did anyone even know where they were? Did it even matter? Why should he go on now? What use was there? He didn't want to. He just wanted to stay here with Misty.
Finally he lost control and shouted, his voice echoing around the stone chamber. He screamed hoping the whole world could hear him. "Why?!" he yelled.
The world did not answer. The echoes of his voice faded away and he was once again surround by silence. Then he heard it, softly at first, but then louder. Laughter. Cruel and merciless laughter. Only it was coming from inside his mind. He knew its source instantly.
"Well, well, well. It seems that you are now ready to accept me back. If you apologize, I might even spare some of your loved ones."
Ash could feel it regaining its grasp over his mind. Where it had hidden, he didn't know. Slowly, but persistently, it was gaining its former strength.
There's no hope, now, he thought sadly. I can't resist it anymore. He felt so tired. He knew it was only a matter of moments before everything was like it had been. He found himself not caring anymore. But then he remembered what had happened in Pewter. He knew that it wanted to turn the whole world into a series of Pewter Cities.
No! He couldn't—he wouldn't—allow that. Misty would want me to fight it. Pain flared through him as he felt it reclaiming his body. His senses once again started to fade. Blindly, he searched the stone floor around him for the spike with his right hand. He hand bumped against its base. He wrapped his fingers around it and raised it upward. He brought his left hand over his right, with the point directed downward.
The room was beginning to turn red. He felt more than heard the creature shout when it saw what he was doing. He looked down at Misty, her head still resting on his side. I love you. You did what you had to Misty. Now I have to do the same. If it wasn't for you I would never have broken free from this demon. You gave me the chance to fight back and for that, I'll never be able to repay you. Then he did what she couldn't do. He brought the spike downward, feeling it bite into his chest. There was a momentary pain, but soon that, and everything else, began to fade away.
His arms felt very heavy, but he pulled Misty close and hugged her. I'll be with you soon, I hope.
The room grew dark, but then a bright light filled his vision. It was brighter and purer than anything he had ever experienced. He felt it wash over him, but unlike before than was no burning sensation. Instead it felt as if he had been lowered into a cool bath. A face appeared before him. Her milky features blended in with the light that surrounded her like a halo, but he couldn't mistake her flaming red hair.
So bright… so beautiful…Strangely, he felt as if he was going home. And so he was. Feeling the last of the world slip away, he followed the light home.
* * * * *
This couldn't be happening! The pain! It hadn't felt pain since its first battle with the pokémon gods. How had this mere human done this to it?
It felt the life of his host quickly fading away, but there was no helping that now. It's rage boiled. The world would rue this day. It would make sure of that. The world had not seen the last of it. It couldn't be defeated so easily. It had bided its time before and it would again. It still was strong and it wouldn't be long before the world bowed down to its will. And when that happened there would be no mercy.
Everything began to shrink. It was time to leave, but it found that it couldn't. Its link was gone! How could that be? The link between the living and the dead had survived for countless millennia. What had the boy done?
Then it realized why the girl had been so confident. She had known that she could defeat it. Not just destroy it, but defeat in a way that it would never return. She may not have been the one to strike, but she had provided the weapon.
It felt the boy shudder once more and die. The boundaries of its reality were quickly folding in upon themselves. This wasn't the end, it tried to shout. It continued to scream as everything shrank and faded, finally reduced a point of light residing in a mind that was no longer there. Finally this too was gone.
And thus died the creature known to pokémon as the "one without a name" and to humans as the Redeyes.
(to be concluded…)