The whole cave creaked as rivers of dust formed along the rock walls. The rock walls fell to the side, and the ceiling folded back with them. Lugia shot up into the air as the ceiling parted.
The night sky appeared as the ceiling fell away. Shimmering stars appeared behind Lugia's wings as the last of the walls slammed against the ground outside. The waterfall flattened into a river coming out of a tunnel with a large cliff hanging over it. A wall of stalagmites that used to be the ceiling surrounded the whole area.
"Everybody keep it moving!" Meowstic Markus shouted, "let's go!"
Flareon Light watched Markus shoot into the air. Lugia blew a violent gale out of its mouth at him.
Everyone broke apart in different directions. Sky Shaymin Ariel followed Light as he ran towards the cliff.
"What do we do!?" Light asked.
"I'm getting you up," Ariel said.
Ariel flew over Light's back and grabbed him under his shoulders. She gripped firm as she took off.
Light turned his head trying to catch a glance, but it was too far out of view. Ariel lifted him up the cliffside and dropped on the rock below. She landed as Light picked up each of his paws and shook off the sting from landing.
Meowstic Markus swarmed around Lugia like a bug. He ducked under its swinging wings and took shots with Shadow Ball at its body. The shots bounced off the gusts of wind coming from its wings and mouth.
"Just support when you can, alright?" Ariel asked.
Something flared up in Light's head, but it went away before he could tell what it was.
"Okay," Light said.
Light watched Ariel fly off towards Lugia. He only had a few attacks left in him after using Helping Hand like that. He needed to let Ariel keep moving and pick his moments to help out.
Furret Abigail darted out of range of the wind. Her eyes scanned the ground and saw Buizel Zen gazing up towards it.. She ran up to him and circled his body with her tail from behind.
"Please do something!" Abigail yelled.
"Calm down!" Zen cried. "Hey! I can't move like this!"
Abigail released him. She glanced up at the sky shivering in place. Zen turned around.
"Hey!" Zen said, "C'mon! We need you to do your thing!"
"Idon'tknowthingspleasedosomethingpleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseweneedhelpwhat'rewedoing-"
"Hey guys."
Abigail turned, gasping for air while shiny Zorua Aaron strutted up next to them.
"So, like, I can't do any illusions cause it's too strong," Aaron said. "Should I just use Memento and make myself useful before I like, die or something?"
"When we have a clear shot," Zen said. "How do we get it on the ground?"
Quilava Gawain jogged up to them. His face contorted more than Abigail had ever seen it, with one eye smaller than the other and sweat on his forehead.
"Help me get under it," Gawain said. "We need to get it in, uh, Abigail distance."
Abigail looked up with her ears starting to fall down. Blow for blow, Meowstic Markus took gusts of wind and fired back. He was already covered in gashes and bruises. He began a retreat back down to the ground. Lugia stalked behind him.
Markus drew Lugia to them by flying right over their heads. As its eyes locked on Abigail's, she glanced at the princes and took off. She moved in a straight line to make sure Lugia would fly over them.
It also ensured that Lugia would catch up to her if Gawain's attack didn't work. Between him and herself, though, she had enough trust it'd work out.
Abigail stopped and turned around when Gawain shouted. A pillar of fire stretched into the sky. The tremor on the ground raised Abigail's confidence to stop her own trembling.
The top of the torch grazed Lugia's belly. It flapped its wings as it screamed and shot up from the fire, hissing the whole way. The fire fizzled out as it retreated back to the sky.
A ring of dying embers on the cave floor surrounded Quilava Gawain. As Lugia loomed over him, his body swayed as his feet scrambled to keep himself standing. His eyes were glazed over.
Furret Abigail made a break for him.
"Abigail!" Zen shouted.
The ground burned her feet and urged her to go faster. Swirling blue light and wind gathered around Lugia's maw. Abigail wasn't fast enough with ranged moved to disrupt it.
A red flash of light swiped across Lugia's face, followed by a trail of green light hitting its back. Abigail reached Gawain. She wrapped her tail around his body and ran away with him.
His body felt cool to the touch. He didn't seem to be in any pain. He grunted with every breath. He seemed like he was in a daze.
"Did... I... get it...?" Gawain asked.
"You hit it," Abigail said.
"Crap..."
Lugia chased from behind, flying low to the ground. Abigail didn't have a plan besides moving faster. Wind started to push at her back, but it stopped.
A huge crash came from behind. Abigail glanced behind her back and saw the Audino covered in scars with metal feet rolling across the rock floor. She stopped herself just before falling into the water.
Lugia had been knocked down flat on its belly. As Abigail stared, Gawain shifted in her grip.
"Go," Gawain coughed.
Abigail set Gawain down. He held onto his head while taking deep, fast breaths in and out.
A barrage of attacks from above pinned Lugia to the ground. Abigail had never seen or experienced a series of attacks like what the Sky-Forme Shaymin above it put out, but there wasn't time to take it in. Lugia managed to push its back up against the barrage.
Abigail ran in head-first now that it had been wounded and she had backup. As it finished standing up, she slowed down to let herself react to its attacks first.
Lugia swung its long wings towards her. Its right wing scraped against the rock floor. Abigail saw through its plan: a bait to make her jump so it could smack her back down when she couldn't dodge.
Instead, Furret Abigail rolled her body over the wing's scratchy white surface. When Lugia's other arm slammed down, she had both feet planted on the ground to dart under.
Usually, it was never a good idea to use full power on single attacks, but Abigail didn't consider this normal at all. In her last leap forward, she put so much energy into her arms that it burned all the way to her back. She did an uppercut into the dark blue mass on its belly.
The impact rattled her bones. It didn't budge. Abigail glanced up in the hopes of seeing Lugia's head reel back or a cringing face.
Lugia stared down right at her eyes. Its breath pushed and pulled the fur on top of her head.
Abigail felt her body get lifted off of the ground from Psychic. She struggled to break free, but the energy more intense than what any normal Pokemon could make. She couldn't compete with it.
Lugia's mouth opened. Its teeth gained a green hue Abigail recognized from Giga Drain.
"Stop!"
Lugia leaned in, but paused and reeled its head back. Abigail lost her breath.
Flareon Light didn't have anything left in him but a shout. It worked, for now.
Lugia stopped and turned around. Furret Abigail, in its grasp, fell to the ground. The Audino near the water on the edge of the cave floor scampered underneath its white wings and picked her up. Light noticed Abigail had gone limp, but it was just another reason to focus. Lugia started to walk towards him, with an offended scoff and frown.
Sky Shaymin Ariel flew down at Lugia.
Light's heartbeat skipped. Lugia snagged her out of the air with its teeth. It whipped its neck to throw her.
Ariel splashed down in the water. Lugia's footsteps started to shake up through Light's paws to his limbs. It stretched its long neck over the side of the cliff.
"You don't understand," Lugia growled. "All of your 'heartache' is different from this."
A cracking sound came. Light lost his breath, falling on his side. He scrambled to his feet, holding his right arm above the ground. Struggling to keep his head up, he grit his teeth to keep a brave face.
"Stop looking at me like that," Lugia said.
Light whimpered as another cracking noise sounded. His left leg gave out. He fell to the ground and couldn't stand back up. He took a deep breath and exhaled a small cry of pain.
"Others have fallen in much worse ways than this," Lugia continued. "Maybe you'll understand after all."
Above the blades of grass, Light saw two metal feet hit the ground. Theyo ran up in front of him.
Audino Agatha raised her arms up at her sides in front of Flareon Light. It probably wouldn't help, but it made her feel a little better.
Lugia's head was like a moon against the night sky. It drew all of her focus and reflected a lot of light back down at her face.
"You had to relearn how to walk," Lugia said.
Agatha was surprised for a second, but not long.
"You lost your family, parts of your body... You understand pain."
"And I wouldn't wish it on anyone," Agatha said. "I don't use it to do… Whatever this crap is supposed to be."
A pull came down on Agatha's body. She spread her feet out to stay standing, struggling to keep her eyes up from Psychic weighing her head down.
"I will bring peace," Lugia said.
"Not feeling very peaceful..."
"Perhaps you need a few more scars after all."
The force increased. It shoved Agatha into the dirt. The pressure from Psychic lifted.
Wind gathered and howled in front of Lugia's maw. She pushed herself up in time to react and get out of the way with her boosters, but didn't move after she stood up.
The White Star was still behind her. Agatha had to root herself in place and take it.
The wind pulled away from her. Agatha squinted her eyes.
The huge Cinccino Hannah stood in front of her. She held the Keldeo's horn pointing towards Lugia with her feet further apart, in a defensive stance.
Agatha didn't know why she decided to help all of a sudden, but it gave her a chance to turn around and see how Light was. He stood back up, somehow. After Agatha saw his face, she turned her attention back to Lugia.
Disappointment leaked out of its bleak, blue eyes. Lugia's mouth stayed shut as its posture curved.
"Fine," Lugia muttered.
A bright white light overtook the world. Cinccino Hannah's ears rung with her eyes closed, and added to the sudden nausea in her stomach. She held her head with both of her paws, applying pressure to keep herself standing and bearings straight.
Her headache came and went. She swiveled around in a circle.
She was standing on solid water, orange, as it reflected the sky. Every step she took sent gentle ripples outwards on the surface. On the horizon, long clouds floated in the air, outlined by pink and orange light.
The other pokemon were scattered around her in random places. Hannah noticed the Furret with gold fur surrounded by the three princes, being held up while unconscious. Her breath went cold.
"A Reality Shift."
Hannah's head snapped into Lopunny Luke's direction.
"Is everyone ready?" Luke asked.
"No."
Hannah turned. The Audino with metal feet tried to push herself up, but fell back down again. Pain washed over her face. The Sky-Forme Shaymin and Meowstic were covered in dirt and didn't reply. Shaymin looked over to Flareon Light, who rubbed his arms as he stood up.
A wave of ripples accompanied by a crashing sound came from in the distance. Lugia landed with its wings towering up to the sky. In between it and them, the Keldeo's horn stuck up from the water. Everyone glanced towards each other.
"I got this," Luke said. "I got this."
Luke shook out his shoulders. He swung his arms as he walked forward. He bent down with the tips of his fingers touching the water. With his right arm, he reached and grabbed his tail.
Hannah blinked when he drew out a small orb from it; deep brown and caramel, but it started to shine with a rainbow light. The light spread and covered his body.
It seemed like he was evolving, but it felt different. Luke's eyebrows lengthened and formed an X-shape on his head. His ears rolled up with rings of cotton-like cream fur, and flung out like whips. The cream fur on his arms and feet sturdied, and his legs and fingers became covered in a smooth black color.
"I got this!" Luke screamed. "I got this!"
Hannah jumped from the booming noise. Luke shot forward like a comet straight for Lugia, blazing a trail of water shooting up and falling behind him. Along the way, he snagged the Keldeo's horn. It glowed a fiery orange and lit up like a torch.
Luke lunged at Lugia with the horn. Lugia shot out wind from its gaping mouth. His figure drowned in cerulean light.
"There's nothing else we can do."
Hannah turned. It was Flareon Light's voice.
"He saved me from Glass Reshiram the first time," Light said. "I have to help him…"
"Make a wish."
Light didn't imagine the voice. The pokemon around him put their heads on a swivel. Eventually, their eyes settled on the same point low in the sky.
A green butterfly made of light flapped up higher in the air. It quietly followed behind a golden, shooting star in the sky. They spiraled down together, and left a golden trail of dust that fell like snow.
Everyone stayed silent. When it touched Light's body, his fur brightened. He picked his arm up as the brittle feeling started to fade. He flexed the muscles on his limbs as his fur puffed up from heat.
The butterfly spiraled into the air. A tiny, gold ring with strange, swirling pink and blue colors inside opened up in the sky. The butterfly flew into it and disappeared. The shooting star followed.
The ring closed. As the last of the glitters fell, Light's body glowed with heat and new energy. Sky Shaymin Ariel smiled at him as her posture straightened. Furret Abigail stood up, with a grimace. Hannah was standing awestruck, shading her eyes from the white light coming off of his body.
"Is everyone ready?" Light asked.
Buizel Zen, Quilava Gawain, and shiny Zorua Aaron lined up next to each other. From there, the Meowstic Markus, Furret Abigail, and Audino strut forward. Ariel bounded next to Light with a wide, energized smile.
From the corner of his eye, Light noticed Cinccino Hannah hung back from the front line. He glanced at her eyes, then turned back.
It wasn't going well. Lugia blocked every strike with its wings. It was stronger than it had been back then, and Lopunny Luke had a feeling he knew why. A good guess.
Luke backed up to get a better grasp on his battle. He cartwheeled to the side to get out of the blast radius from another blast of wind, but got slapped after by its rough wing. The solid water stung on Luke's feet as he struggled to keep himself from falling over.
He was ready again, but Lugia stopped. Its eyes focused past him, so he risked a quick swivel with his head.
A mass of white light was heading his way. Rows of pokemon charged on either side of it. Luke chuckled to himself, in relief.
Lugia glared at him. He just shrugged and raised his arms. He could hear how close they were and tell from the ripples and reflections in the water. Some of them were faster than others, but he got curious who'd win the race.
"Okay, guys!" Luke yelled. "Who gets the first swing!?"
Audino Agatha watched the Lopunny toss the Keldeo's horn in the air.
It was Lugia's turn for some scars.
A loud explosion went off under her feet. Sharp wind stung her body. She doubted if she'd be able to catch it at the speed she was going.
Thankfully, she slowed down enough to snag the Keldeo's horn in the air. Through the wind, she felt a warm energy on the horn's surface. She angled her feet to point up, triggering the boosters again to shoot down.
Lugia opened its maw, but it couldn't even begin to gather energy before Agatha struck.
She was off the mark for Lugia's head, but she swung the horn right at its shoulder. After the blow, she bounced off back onto the solid water.
Furret Abigail wanted to make the most of the horn, stuck in its shoulder, but she'd need to get an opportunity to get close again. Lugia had started to wave its wings back and forth, pushing their charge to a standstill. She covered her eyes with her arm, but needed a way to push through.
Meowstic Markus used Light Screen to put up a blue wall between them and the wind. He immediately struggled to keep it up. Through the wall, Abigail watched Lopunny Luke sprint, jump, and punch Lugia's side. She ran past the side of the wall as soon as it happened, and she could hear the others follow.
Luke got hit by Lugia using Hydro Pump. He stood with his arms crossed in front of him as he was pushed pack until he was finally swept away. In the time he stayed standing, Abigail got into burst range.
Markus and Sky-Forme Shaymin Ariel went on either side of her, protecting her from Lugia's wings. Abigail jumped on Lugia's belly and up to the horn in its shoulder with a few pull ups.
Abigail grasped the horn and got her feet on its shoulder. She ripped down as hard she could, drawing a flurry of red. As she fell off, a flash of white light blinded her.
"Reality shift!"
Audino Agatha kept herself together. Although everything drowned in sudden light, she stretched herself out to get ready to move again.
When the light vanished again, Agatha was still on the solid water. She looked around to see what was different.
Giant trees towered beyond sight into the sky. Dozens of scarlet covered weapons in the distance were falling down. The sky and water became a foggy red that swirled around her feet.
"It's on the defensive!" Luke's voice called. "This is our chance!"
Agatha's eyes snapped to where Luke's voice came from. Her face sighed.
Somehow, Luke ran up the side of the tree. His back was straight and horizontal from the tree's rough bark, moving side to side as he avoided branches tipped with red, dripping leaves.
"Okay," Zorua Aaron said, "so, here we are in my dreams on a Saturday night. Who would like to run up the side of the tree after him first?"
"Whatever," Agatha mumbled to herself.
Agatha stalked up to the side of the tree and put one of her metal feet on it. It stayed put without her having to engage her muscles.
It was like the tree itself had gravity. Once Agatha stepped up with her other foot, the water behind her seemed like a wall.
Behind the water, weapons rose. Lances, axes, swords, and halberds of various sizes were speeding down towards her. She shifted to dodge a lance as it fell past her, shivering at the touch of the air it pushed.
The lance fell on top of a pile of thorns. Agatha backed up, then ran away as black thorns burst out from the water.
"Hey guys!"
On a tree running parallel to what she was on, Buizel Zen, shiny Zorua Aaron, and Quilava Gawain ran side by side. Zen glanced behind himself every other second.
"Hey Zen!" Aaron called, "you've been doing cardio, right?"
"Yes!"
"Cool!"
Up ahead, Lopunny Luke bashed and dodged falling weapons. By staying directly behind him, Agatha was able to avoid the infinite rain of weapons coming down on them.
Lugia's shadow appeared at the end of the trail. The wings of the shadow flapped. Agatha squinted to look further ahead.
A wall of arrows dropped down. Agatha burst past Luke, amped up her energy using Secret Power, tackling through the lines of arrows as her body glowed pink. They broke apart into splinters and fell into the creeping wall of thorns as she kept running.
Agatha looked over to the other tree to see how the trio was doing. Cinccino Hannah had come out of nowhere in front of them with her fur flying around in their faces.
With energy in her arm, Agatha slapped a crude axe away spinning like a top as it fell. More weapons started to fall towards them.
While Luke knocked them away, the shadows of Lugia's wings extended out against the sky.
She shouted. Something under her foot nearly tripped her. She triggered her boosters to keep moving and get back on balance.
Shadows from inside the tree splintered the wood. Up ahead, Luke stumbled and fell when a black tendril hit the underside of his foot. Lugia was getting close, along with the wall of thorns coming up from behind.
Agatha boosted with everything she had. Her prosthetic feet got burning hot with every step she took and left fading pink streaks of light in her wake.
Once she got close, she took a final leap up. She punched at the shadow, and it shattered. Glass of different colors swirled all around her body. Everything grew three shades darker.
Flareon Light followed after Audino broke through the shadow. Past the top of the tree, a dark sky blazed with countless stars.
Gravity changed and started to pull on him. When he looked back, the tree had vanished. HE felt like he was floating in the middle of space.
"You've been trapped under the sea for so long," a smooth voice echoed. "Don't you want something more?"
Light spun around and landed on a free floating piece of tree bark. There were other rocks and awkwardly shaped pieces of wood free floating in the sky that the others started to land on.
"There are people you could save. If you could've done something to stop evil and you chose not to, then it's your fault."
An enormous mass of water appeared under them from the night sky and pushed up against the planks of wood and rocks.
"They need you! They need... you! And you're letting them down!"
Lugia sped through the mass of water and stretched out its wings. It glowed like the moon, sending bubbles of water floating in the air. It screeched like a dying animal.
"Go save them! Go save the world!"
"I WILL SAVE THE WORLD!"
As Lugia screamed, foggy red started to appear in the water. They were becoming ensnared in a dome of cloudy, scarlet water with Lugia. Countless shadows of weapons floated around in the water and darkened the inside of the dome.
"This is our chance!" Luke's voice called.
Light didn't hesitate. He rushed forward, and hopped off of the wood onto a floating mass of solid water. Lugia's body started to glow white.
"Use Memento!" a voice called.
Seconds after, a pitch black projectile flew and hit Lugia's body from over Light's head. Lugia stayed in place and shivered from the dark lighting dancing across it. Its glow weakened.
Meowstic Markus flew up next to Light as he ran and jumped to another mass of water. Markus' eyes glowed as he fired a light blue projectile at him in the air.
Light let the Reflect sink in and take effect. A blue hue encapsulated the edges of his body as he landed another floating bubble of water.
"Light!"
Flareon Light kept running ahead, but glanced over towards the outer scarlet wall of the dome. Furret Abigail darted along the side and threw the Keldeo's horn in his direction.
Light snagged it in his mouth. He took the second to last jump before he'd reach Lugia.
His body warmed. A red Fire Blast came down on his body from Quilava Gawain on a mass of water above, getting absorbed from his newfound ability as a Flareon: Flash Fire.
From the side of the dome on a plank of wood, Lopunny Luke sent a white streak of energy to his body with Helping Hand. His body nearly burst open with energy. His own white fur started to hurt his eyes.
Lugia flapped its wings and flew at him with Sky Attack. Two beams of white light shot at it from below. They scraped the ends of its wings and made it fall.
Cinccino Hannah and Sky Shaymin Ariel looked up at him from the bottom of the scarlet dome. Light nodded.
He jumped. He grabbed the Keldeo's horn from his mouth in his paws, and it ignited like an orange torch, which combined with the fire around his body. Light became blinded from all the fire and light in his path. He squinted his eyes, measured the distance, and took a swing.
Everything went white.
