I haven't known Erin that long, and we got off to a rocky start, but I'd like to think that I know her fairly well. I may be assuming a lot in saying this, but I know Erin better than the others. We've been through a few trials during our friendship and I've always seen her come out on top, no matter what.
But the look in her eye that I see now… I've never seen that there before. I've never seen that fear there before. It shouldn't be there, because Erin is not afraid to die. She does not fear death. I've seen her face it head on without a thought about her own safety. This man… This man in front of us put that fear there. It makes me want to kill him, and I have never felt that way about anything before. He hurt Erin, and now I am going to hurt him.
Erin was frozen before Turner. She was unable to move her limbs out of fear and was reduced to a spastic shaking. She was truly afraid. Not for her life, though; Erin did not fear the mystery of death. One word was plastered on her mind now, and that word allowed nothing else in. That word was Iso. Iso was the drug with which Erin had been punished at the Agency. It robbed her off all her senses and left her in a state where she screamed for death. Or tried to, anyway: she was not aware if she screamed or not, because she could not hear while the drug was in her system. She couldn't see; she couldn't taste; she couldn't feel; she couldn't smell. She was left in a complete void, and she would not go back there. If Turner wanted to bring her back to the Agency and punish her by using that drug again, then it would be with her in a body bag. She would not return alive.
With that resolve in mind, her fear was now channeled as anger. How dare he follow them here! How dare he attack them again! She took a defensive stance.
Abadon visibly relaxed. She is no longer afraid, and that is good. She now feels anger. Anger is not good, but it is better than fear. With anger, action soon follows; with fear, one in immobile and self-destruction follows.
"Chasm," Erin whispered out the side of her mouth. "You know this land the best. When I give the signal, I want you to run as fast as you can back to your pack and try and convince them to help us. I know you have your differences, but they'll listen to you before any of us. We'll need all the help we can get."
"Right," the umbreon agreed with a swift nod.
"Abadon, this fight will have to end it."
"What are you whispering about over there?" interrupted Turner. "You will not escape me this time."
"He's right, Abadon," Erin continued, still talking under her breath. "We can't all escape, and even if we did, he would continue his mad search for us. This will be the end."
"I agree," said the Char. He, too, took a defensive stance, remembering the unique training that was given to him by Erin that day by the sea so long ago, right before they entered Lilnith city and all this madness began. She is determined now, and when she makes her move, I will be at her side. I understand what she means by "end" and I will protect her until then.
"What do you want with us, Turner?" Erin called to him, trying to buy time and find a weak spot. But there was no weak spot, because Turner knew how to fight and would not leave himself vulnerable.
"Come, Miss Erin, you know exactly what I want. I want you. You are the greatest student ever to fall into my clutches, and the fact that you did not fall willingly does not faze me in the least. You will learn to obey my every command!" Toward the end of his short speech Turner's voice began to increase in volume until he was screaming at her. His pride had been severely damaged when Erin had not only revolted after so many months of careful training, but was then able to escape his facility. He would rectify that lapse on his part today, here on this mountain.
Suddenly the girl moved! Turner had been in a defensive stance that allowed for the quick change to an attack if need be, but he had not thought Erin would have charged him so soon. Less than a second after she began to run toward him, the Char matched her stride and the umbreon dashed off in another direction!
Despite his surprise, Turner had no problem blocking Erin's initial attack. After all, he had her Bo staff and she was without a weapon. He did, however, have to move quickly to avoid the charizard's slash attack. Soon, however, the Char was fighting off his agent's assigned pokemon. A lucky few of the agents under Turner had either managed to find a wild pokemon and, even more amazing, capture them, or saved up enough money to purchase another clone. Turner only assigned his elite agents pokemon, since they were extremely valuable and expensive to create in a lab. Over the years he had been able to get his hands on a few strands of choice DNA from other labs. The others came from stolen pokemon. Either way, Turner had a fair amount of pokemon at his disposal.
But none of them meant anything if he could control this Char! And the girl!- she could be his top agent, if only he could control her. He would control her. After this was over and she was back at the Agency, he would inject her with Iso if she even looked at him sideways at him. She would obey him!
Damn, she was fast. After all this time in the wilderness she should be tired and weak: easy pray for him. Instead she moved as deftly as if she had in their training sessions back at the Agency. Her stance was strange as well; she held her arms oddly, as if she were holding something. As if she were holding a… so that was it!
Erin dodged right, then left, swinging and turning her arms in carefully orchestrated motions, anticipating Turner's moves by pretending she also held a staff. At the Agency, Erin had defeated Turner three times with a Bo staff before he deemed that she no longer needed to be trained with that weapon. She had gotten to where the staff was an extension of herself. She could hold it a certain way that made it easier to anticipate Turner's next move and lead him into traps that would ensure her victory. With the staff, she saw it all so clearly; everything was one fluid motion and she barely ever lost her breath.
So, since Turner held a staff and she did not, Erin merely pretended that she was holding one. Sure, it did not give her the advantage, because she had nothing to hit him with, but it would allow her to conserve her energy and stay a safe enough distance from Turner until she could find an opening. It was the only thing she knew to do.
In her peripheral vision Erin could see Abadon battling other pokemon. There was an ekans and a sandshrew, neither of which would ever stand a chance against Abadon, except for the fact that they were fighting alongside a vemomoth, a staru, and a sealeo. The combined force of all these pokemon were causing him some trouble. He was beginning to get angry. Erin could also see Khyt battling to defend Nero a few yards away. A gulpin and its evolved form, a swalot, combined with a nincada and a mudkip, were putting his scythes to the test. She hoped Chasm would soon return, and, preferably, with backup.
Right, left, right, right again, down and back: Erin kept dodging Turner's attacks, but it was getting to be harder and harder. He had most likely figured out what she was doing and was attempting to throw her off. She had to be aware of so many things at once that a single distraction could be her downfall. Not only did she need to focus on Turner's attacks, but also what he would do next. Besides Turner, Erin had to watch her footing so she didn't slip in the ground that was still slick from the newly fallen rain. Then there was everyone else. She had to be aware of where the other agents were who were commanding their pokemon as well as the pokemon themselves. Backing into either one would not be a good thing.
The fight had moved farther up the mountain in the direction Erin and her pokemon had come. They were getting closer to the caves and the giant lake, as well as flatter ground, all of which would hopefully be better for Erin than Turner.
What was taking Chasm so long? Was it possible that Terr and his pack would not come? She had hoped that at least Sel and Jasper would help the umbreon, but perhaps duty to the pack was greater than to a single member. If Terr forbade it, then the others probably wouldn't disobey him.
"You are wearing down, Miss Erin," said Turner smugly. "I have backup on their way, and they will be here shortly. You and your pokemon may have been able to hold out thus far, but when our numbers double, you will all fail." His smile was making Erin sick, but she suppressed the urge to lash out and beat his face in. She wouldn't be able to get close enough.
It was strange, thought Erin, how easily she reverted to the state of mind she held in her later days at the Agency. Then, after her third and last Task, she had repressed all emotion. Even when Turner had mentioned something sadistic about Abadon's containment, her face didn't even flinch. It wasn't just an act that she put on to throw off Turner, Erin realized at some point before she escaped; she truly had been going insane. The constant fighting, the Iso, the containment, the training, barely having any time to rest: it had all begun to take its toll on her. If she had been forced to continue that lifestyle for much longer, she most likely would not have been able to revert back.
The scariest thing about it was that, when Erin had realized this earlier, it didn't bother her. It wasn't until she saw Chasm that she began to come out of that recession, but only seeing Abadon again truly healed her.
But now Erin was going back. For the sake of this fight, she was allowing her mind to revert back into that state. She couldn't allow herself feel any emotion. That way she could fight him like she did before. That was the only way she would be able to win.
"What's the matter, Miss Erin," Turner taunted. "Not feeling well? You don't look too good."
So, her inward change had been physically prevalent as well.
"What's the matter, Sir, don't you recognize me?" It was as if the Erin that met Abadon and the Erin that entered the Agency were two different people. Turner's eye twitched at this question. He knew something had changed.
Then, over Turner's shoulder, she saw another agent. Then two. Then three. More were behind them, and they were all holding a pokeball. Turner's backup had arrived. But a giant black shape jumped out of the bushes next to them and latched on to the agent in the lead, taking him down with no struggle. The shape lifted its head, ripping out the agent's throat in the process. It was Terr! The other agents backed up in surprise, only to end up in the midst of Sel, Jasper, and the rest Chasm's pack. They had come!
Most of the agents had managed to release their pokemon, and in the confusion of the ensuing fight, had also managed to release the pokemon of the few who had been killed upon Terr's arrival. Turner may have backup, but now so did Erin.
Turner seemed slightly unnerved by this.
"What's the matter, Sir," said Erin, her voice a hallow void. "Can't play by your own rules?"
He yelled and fought her with more vigor than ever, pushing her farther and farther up the mountain, away from the rest of the fight. Erin back-steeped and rolled to the side to give herself a second of freedom. But that was all she needed. She pulled out her sole pokeball and pointed it toward the lake to her right. Now was as good as time as any to find out if she grabbed the right one. A stream of red light sparked from the center of the ball and reached to the lake, forming the giant shape of a milotic before becoming solid. It was Celeste!
"Celeste!" cried Erin, who was now once more engaged in battle with Turner. "Help the others!" The milotic turned her head and spotted the other pokemon battling farther down the mountain. With her assistance, they should have an even greater edge.
Erin was tiring down, but she was trying not to show it. She did have a weapon to fight him with! She couldn't win against him like this. She had seen a number of openings that she could have taken if she had also had a staff, but with empty hands she could do nothing. It was beginning to get frustrating.
Suddenly a pillar of fire erupted into the sky along with a mighty roar that could only have come from Abadon. Seconds later the Char leapt into the sky, small streams of fire trailing from his mouth. The battle down the mountain must be going well enough that he was able to get away to look for her, though the explosions and attacks still seemed as constant as ever.
"Abadon!" Erin yelled as loud as she could, so that Abadon would he able to hear her and come to her assistance.
"Oh, no you don't," said Turner. He then lashed out at her viciously with a heavy string of attacks, forcing Erin to back away. Turner then took this moment to reach into his pocket and pull out… a pokeball! He had a pokemon on him this whole time!
He unleashed it in a stream of light that formed into a rather large shape, at least a head taller than Abadon, and the Char was large to begin with. Erin took a step forward to renew her fight with Turner but then halted in her tracks.
"Oh…gods…"
"Amazing, isn't it?" asked Turner with a malicious smile.
Standing a few meters away, ready to take on Abadon, was a tyranitar! But this one was horribly deformed in a way that must have been painful. A normal tyranitar had spikes covering its back, but this one had an innumerable amount, all sizes and sticking out at odd angles, making it seem larger and more grotesque than it should have been. Its muscles were budging so much that it seemed as if they would rip the tyranitar's rock-hard skin if it moved. Teeth protruded from its mouth with no sense of order. Its eyes harbored no pupil that Erin was able to see.
"I thought those were extinct," said Erin.
"No more than your charizard, Miss Erin, though that will soon change. Nothing is impossible in a lab. We were even able to improve it, as you can surely tell. Tyranitar!" he called. "Kill the Char," Turner said with stern clarity.
Abadon paid no attention to the tyranitar and flew strait at Turner, nostrils billowing smoke. His course was drastically changed, however, as he took a powerful Hyper Beam attack directly in his chest. The blast from the armor pokemon knocked Abadon out of the air and he slammed into the side of the mountain. He would have his hands full with this new opponent; Erin would have either have to by more time or find another way to defeat Turner by herself.
Seeing Abadon again had served the same purpose as it had last time: it brought Erin out of her mind's recession. When the Char flew to help her she was filled with joy, and when he was hit she felt fear for his wellbeing, as well as anger toward Turner for commanding the mindless drone of a pokemon to do such a thing.
According to Turner's teaching, the only way to fight was with no emotion, and when Erin fought like that, as she had been doing, Turner knew what to expect. Emotion was good, Erin decided, but only when used right. She had to channel her emotions to give her strength and clarity. She would fight for the safety of her pokemon, which was something Turner could never understand, and that would give Erin an edge.
He came at her again, content that his tyranitar could deal with the charizard easily. She dodged and dove to the side, grabbing and chunking a rock in his direction in the process. He was easily able to knock it aside using the staff, but she didn't give up. She was persistent, and fighting with a new vigor. What had initiated that, Turner couldn't figure out.
The rain fell harder; the storm was picking up again. Suddenly, the mountain shook with tremors caused by his fight with the tyranitar. It was said that, in the old days, a tyranitar could move mountains. Erin didn't know if that was true or not, but she didn't doubt their strength.
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Abadon snarled in pain as his opponent delivered an Iron Tail into his side. But the tyranitar's next attack, a Dynamic Punch, was deflected sideways as the Char came back with a Fire Punch, striking the armor pokemon directly between the eyes. The tyranitar recoiled, howling, its whole head consumed in flames. It doused them by performing Sandstorm. The dust and dirt in the air quickly put out the fire and provided an easy cover it could see through more easily than Abadon was able. But Abadon sensed this and let out a heavy Smokescreen, making the playing ground even.
It wasn't that way for long. The rain settled both the dust and the smoke almost as soon as they had appeared. Both pokemon were soaked, but neither noticed.
The tyranitar Roared, causing a shockwave that blew Abadon off his feet, but he quickly righted himself and flew at his opponent, hitting it with a Steel Wing. Once he passed, Abadon breathed deeply for his next attack. He landed deftly, not loosing his footing in the mud and letting loose with a Fire Blast at the exact moment the tyranitar blasted another Hyper Beam in his direction. The two energies hit each other and created an explosion. Abadon and the tyranitar were now on opposite sides of a small crater. This fight was far from over.
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Erin was busy concentrating on the art of stealth. She was evading Turner at every turn, still looking for that much-needed opening. Whenever she was given the chance, Erin hid behind a boulder or tried to blend in to the mountainside so Turner would over look her. When he came at her she threw rocks and sticks at him. At one point she had discovered a stick she thought she could use as a weapon in the Bo staff's place. It was nearly the right size and fairly straight, but was not nearly sturdy enough, as she soon realized when it was split in two by Turner. Currently, Erin was up in a tree, hiding between the branches and hoping that Turner would not look up. Fat chance.
He charged toward her and was able to throw his weight forward enough that he took one step off the side of the trunk and was then on her same level. At least, he would have been, but Erin leapt backward, performing a back flip and landing silently in a crouch a few feet away from the base of the tree. Then she turned and ran. Turner was right behind. When she could hear his footsteps right behind her (damn his longer stride) she faked left and then dove to the right, sticking out her foot at the same moment, hoping to trip him. But Turner had taught Erin everything she knew and had the staff ready.
He blocked her attack and then swiftly brought the other end down toward her head. It was almost the exact same situation that had occurred at the Agency. Turner almost smiled in victory, but he wasn't the only one who remembered that time. Erin, instead of attempting to block it directly, angled her arm so that the brunt of the blow would glance off, then she grabbed the staff and twisted it to pull it out of Turner's grasp. But he still had a hold on it! Instead, Erin kicked out with her right foot, and Turner brought his up to block. Only, Erin wasn't aiming at him directly, but at his end of the Bo staff. The sudden reverse pressure on his grasp jarred it out of his hands. Erin had her Bo staff!
Erin gave Turner no time to think of a counter measure, but instead flew at him with a flurry of attacks. He dodged and evaded as best he could, but Erin got in a number of good strikes to his body to cause some serious harm. Now he had cuts and bruises to match hers. Erin couldn't take the time to look, but she assumed that she was bleeding as much, if not more, than Turner was. But now that the weapon was in her hands, she couldn't loose!
"I'll tear you apart!" she screamed. But she didn't have the chance, for the next second, both Erin as well as Turner lost their footing in the earthquake that followed. The battle with the pokemon was heating up.
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Almost directly after the Earthquake attack the tyranitar performed, it then used Rock Smash, crushing all the newly formed boulders in to smaller pieces and sending them in all directions at blinding speeds. Abadon was able to bypass the earthquake by taking to the skies, but there was nowhere to hide from this attack. He turned his back and ducked his face but was still hit multiple times. When the onslaught of rocks stopped, Abadon turned back around quickly, in case the tyranitar was about to initiate another attack. Instead it was standing quite still, aside from its deep breaths. Abadon, too, was growing short of breath, but he would not let this opponent have any time to regain strength. He shifted his weight in the air and flapped his wings in a different direction, pushing himself toward the tyranitar in a spiral motion. This allowed for greater speed as he passed the tyranitar, causing greater damage as he raked it with his claws. It was Areowing, and it normally would be a devastating attack, but the armor pokemon barely even flinched.
Abadon flew back around and landed nearer the mountainside in front of the tyranitar. He needed to catch his breath and at the same time he was trying to figure out what it was that his opponent was doing. A pokemon didn't just stop during a battle unless… unless it was gathering power!
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Erin and Turner finally had their balance back and were now at a standoff. Turner knew the danger he would be in if he attacked the girl while she had that weapon in her hand. Then again, there was no way to get it away from her unless he tried something. Erin had not fully recovered from her time at the Agency and then traveling in the wilderness with barely any food. The one night at Artemis' house had not healed her of everything. She was out of breath and bleeding from numerous cuts. If Turner didn't attack her for a while, then that was fine with her. When he did, she would be ready, but for now she was content on resting.
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The tyranitar was gathering energy for a powerful attack! Abadon couldn't let it do that. What if the attack was so devastating that it hurt Erin? What if it killed Erin? No! He wouldn't let that happen! He would stop it!
Abadon felt a growing pressure behind his eyes, and a familiar burning in his lungs. He had felt this way at the Agency, when he broke free of his bonds and rescued Erin. He knew what was happening and embraced it. The tyranitar was building in power, but now so was he. He would be able to cancel out any attack that it could throw at him; he knew this in his bones.
Suddenly the tyranitar threw back its head and spread its arms with a mighty roar, the earth shaking around it. As its bellow increased in intensity, the quaking at its feet increased as well. It glowed with an eerie light that wasn't natural. Abadon's eyes began to glow as well, as a testament to the energy that was building inside him. He could feel what was coming and knew it would be greater than the time before. He was ready.
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Erin felt the rumbling beneath her feet grow more prevalent, as if the quake itself was yearning to be known.
"Feel that?" asked Turner, a wild look in his eyes that was very un-Turner-like. Usually he was either calm and collected or raging mad. This… this was a crazy glare. It made Erin wary. "That's my tyranitar. It's about to perform its greatest attack: Ancient Power. Do you know what that attack looks like? No? That's because nobody does. Anybody who's around to see the attack is consumed by it and doesn't live to tell the tale. Just like YOU!" At this last syllable, Turner broke the stalemate and raced straight toward Erin. Erin, sensing the move, also ran toward him, determined to defeat the man once and for all.
But neither of them got the chance to make the first strike, for at that moment the ground beneath their feet rolled like a wave, sending the two sprawling in opposite directions. The elevated level of the quake came so suddenly that, as Erin hit the ground, her Bo staff was knocked from her grip! But because the ground continued to sway in such a fashion, there was no way for Erin to stand up and get her balance, let alone look for the weapon. She had never seen anything like this. What was happening?
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Huge chunks of rock broke off from the mountain that were easily three or four times as big as the tyranitar itself. Rather than crashing down to the ground below, however, they floated in mid-air, a byproduct of the ambient energy from the Ancient Power attack. The tyranitar was tapping into a power that had not been used in decades; maybe even centuries. He would destroy the whole mountain if things kept up at this rate!
But Abadon would not let that happen. His eyes were white now, glowing from the energy within him. His tail flame was black and the air around him was wavering from the vast amount of heat that was generating from his body. He snarled and the inside of his mouth was a black hole of light. If anyone was there to witness the sight, they would swear that the Char's black stripes were growing to consume his entire body. This wasn't actually happening, but the dark energy was growing so strong around him that the darkness was spreading like a virus, devouring all it touched. It was building; he was ready to let everything go. He would protect this land!
Abadon and the tyranitar moved at the same time. The Char lifted his head to the sky and roared, the ground around him rupturing. The darkness spread suddenly, its tendrils reaching outward in all directions. Then the two pokemon braced themselves for the backlash of their own attacks. Giant beams of light and dark each headed toward the other faster than the eye could track. They met and the two forces at first seemed to collapse in on each other, but then they exploded outward.
For a moment, everything was silent. The humans and pokemon that had been battling on the mountain didn't know what to do: the light was blinding, but the darkness was all-consuming. The wind made no sound as it blew by them in torrents, pushing them farther away from the epicenter. It was almost a peaceful chaos.
Then, suddenly, there was too much sound. The wind screamed and howled and the giant boulders came crashing down, breaking into smaller pieces and then tumbling down the mountain.
When the commotion finally settled down, Erin's breath caught in her throat. She was lying at the rim of an enormous crater! The middle of the crater harbored a small lake of molten lava that was created when Abadon's fire attacks melted the rock. She pulled herself achingly to her feet and looked around. Where was Abadon? Erin had more bruises and cuts than any other time in her life; she should have been sitting back down and resting or risk collapse, but with all the adrenaline pumping through her system, there was no chance for that. No, she had to find her pokemon.
She staggered around the rocks and boulders in her path, searching the edge of the crater. "Abadon!" she called. Why couldn't she find him?
Then, there he was, just like that. He was lying unconscious in the midst of some rubble, but he was alive. Erin began crying with joy. Even the sky had stopped its downpour in celebration. Both of them were ripped and shredded, covered in blood, and completely exhausted, but they would live. Erin's statement earlier had been true: this fight would end it. Erin glanced over to the other side of the crater and saw the remnants of the tyranitar. She had seen some nasty things in her life, but the sight of that mangled pokemon, barely more than a bloody pulp, made Erin cringe and turn her gaze. She looked down at Abadon once more and hugged what she could of his neck.
The Char cracked his eyes enough to see her and smiled weakly. "Do you still blame me for destroying the table at that Pokecenter?" Abadon said, his voice barely audible.
Erin broke into a grin. "Who else has a flame on the end of their tail?" she asked, remembering their conversation from the first 'Center Erin had ever been to. It wasn't just the table, though; a chair or two and at least one vid-screen had been demolished as well. Gods… It seemed like another lifetime. "Listen, knob head, you stay here. I'm going to go see how the others fared and then look for my Bo staff and backpack with the healing supplies. Then I'll come back, get you fixed up, and we'll decide where to go from there. More than anything, you need rest." Despite Abadon's banter, he had come extremely close to dying, and Erin didn't want to chance anything. She patted him on the head for good measure, then turned-
right into an exceedingly livid Charles Turner, Bo staff above his head, already in mid strike. Before she had any time to react, a large pillar of white-hot fire rushed past Erin and completely incinerating Turner where he stood. He didn't even have the time to scream. Within the flames, Erin saw his skin, muscle, and even his bones reduced to nothing but ash. And fire was too hot for even the ash to survive. But the most amazing thing about it was that, at the exact moment when the flames reached Turner's body, he dropped the Bo staff, which landed right at Erin's feet. Fire resistant the weapon might be, but most anything would melt under those conditions.
Erin looked back at Abadon, eyes wide from the shock of what had just happened. "Abadon, you saved my life again! Abadon?" Erin's voice suddenly turned fearful. What was wrong with him? The Char's eyes closed slowly as he rested his head back down on the rock. "Abadon? Abadon, are you okay? Stay with me, knob head." She cradled his head in her arms, settling down. Everything would be okay. Abadon just need rest. And healing potion. She would go find her backpack and get the healing potion that Artemis had given her…
"The table wouldn't have caught on fire if you hadn't tried to take that thing from me…"
"Abadon!" Erin cried. The Char had given one large, emotional sigh, and then stopped breathing. As the last breath of life left Abadon's lungs, his body had turned to ash.
"ABADON! NO, ABADON! COME BACK!" Erin was in hysterics, entirely frantic at watching her best friend die in her arms. How could this have happened? Everything was fine just a minute ago. They had been talking and smiling. They had won! They were free! WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE, GODSDAMMIT!"
Erin lifted her head to the sky and screamed with all the energy left in her body. Then she lay down on the ground and began to cry. She cried long and hard, and it was quite a while before she was able to open her eyes and look about her once more. What she saw calmed her down enough that she could breathe somewhat normally again. On the other side of the pile of ashes that used to be Abadon stood Chasm, Khyt, Nero, Terr, Sel, Jasper, and the rest of the pack, all with their heads bowed, morning the loss of a great warrior.
Great Warrior? That phrase triggered something in Erin's memory. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The pokemon looked at her, respecting her part in this momentous battle by their silence. Erin stood, picking up the Bo staff, retracting it, and hooking it at her side. She looked about her for something important, then walked off sauntered off back down the mountain. Chasm followed.
"Erin, what are you doing?"
Still searching, Erin answered without looking at the umbreon. "Artemis. She told me this story about warriors. I have to search for the fire gods' home, probably in some big volcano. I have to go there and then everything can be alright again."
"Erin, you are babbling, that you are. You are not making any sense."
"There!" Erin had found her backpack. She grabbed it and threw it open, jogging back up the mountain while she searched through it. She knelt down by Abadon's ashes and took out a container whose that wasn't being used any more. She put the ashes inside it. "Artemis told me about this story about warriors."
"You said that already," said Chasm.
"About Great Warriors of pokemon. What… what happened to… to Abadon, that was part of the story. She said that if this happens then someone who cares about the pokemon can travel to the resting place of their god and bring them back to life." She looked up at Chasm. "I have to do that! I have to at least try." Tears began to once more stream down her already red cheeks. "I need Abadon!"
"I understand, Erin, that I do, about needing someone," said Chasm. Jasper glanced up when she said this, and Erin noticed.
"I want you to stay here, Chasm. You need to stay with your pack. Stay with Jasper."
Chasm looked longingly at the jolteon. "I will return here some day, my love, if the pack permits it, but please understand what I must now do."
Jasper nodded in agreement. "You need to go with the girl. I will wait a while longer."
"Chasm, what-"
"I will eventually return to my pack, Erin, but now I will help you search for the resting place of Abadon's god. Do not argue with me about this any longer; it is settled."
"Me too," said Nero, hovering to rest on Erin's shoulder.
"As will I," added Khyt.
"Thank you, all of you, for your help," said Erin, truly grateful that they were her friends.
"What will the first course of action be?" asked the umbreon.
"We have to go back to Artemis. I have a few questions for her that need answering."
Terr, Sel, Jasper, and the rest of Chasm's pack walked with Erin and her group until they reached the base of the mountain in the direction from which they had come. No one said a word. Erin had her Bo staff, a retrieved milotic, a jar filled with Abadon's ashes, and three friends at her side. She would return to Artemis, ask her if she knew exactly which volcano she would have to travel to, and start off. Erin would travel to the ends of the earth if that's what it took to get Abadon back, but she doubted that would be necessary. She had a pretty good idea of where such a mighty volcano would reside. She just needed to be certain.
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A/N: To Bone White Butterfly: I know it's a pokemon fic. But, if you read my bio (which you probably didn't, because no one reads those), it states that I hate the show and felt that so much more could be done with it. That's why I started this story in the first place. And I also know some parts get confusing and whatnot. One reason is because sometimes I forget certain things I've written in past chapters, so it conflicts (or it makes sense in my head and I think everyone should understand it the way I do). Another reason is because it's not supposed to make sense yet.
To all my other readers (shout-outs to Keleri, Luna Nightraven, VulpixTrainer, Yawgmoth, and all the others): thanks for staying with me this long! There's one more chapter to come. It probably won't give you any answers, but it will leave you with more unanswered questions. It's my gift to you. Bwahaha.
And if anyone was wondering, the attack Abadon used against the tyranitar was called Judgment Day. That's some crazy ass power there.
Also, I really liked writing this chapter. I think my skill on narrating fight scenes has improved over the course of this story. Actually, I think a lot has (and the chapters have increased immensely in length). I went back and read the first few chapters a while back and –man- could they do with some improving. But I won't revamp them, because I have something else that I'll start on shortly. That is, if the rest of you want to know what happens…