It's time for a very important chapter. I worked hard on it, so I hope it's to your liking!
Chapter 54: An Explosive Awakening
Team Radiance stood side by side, tensed and ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Healer and Spike-Skull both wavered, stepping cautiously back toward the path and holding each other's hands. "Why does the Volcano God lack color?" Spike-Skull asked, voice ripe with worry.
"Because I relieved him of his life," Serperior declared, patting the dead Legendary's back with her bladed tail. "He had something I was looking for, see?" She hoisted her tail into the air, revealing a large crystal fragment that shimmered with gold and silver energy.
"The Sizzle Shard!" Shane gasped. "You drop that right now!" He immediately shot a sparkling, multicolored beam ahead of him. But his eyes widened as he noticed the attack weakening before it even reached Serperior. She opened her mouth and, to Team Radiance's abject horror, spewed a torrent of fire. It easily suffocated Shane's ice and sent Team Radiance scurrying back to avoid the flames.
"Simmer down there, hot stuff. Seems to me like you're losing your cool. Wouldn't be the first time, I suppose. You've been nothing but a stuffy little prick since day one, after all," Serperior sneered. "I'll be honest… from the day I met you, I've wanted to wrap you up and squeeze you until your head pops off your shoulders."
Shane shuffled backwards, ears folding against his face. 'She doesn't really think that. It's the Prism Virus talking,' he told himself.
"And that's not the Prism Virus talking," Serperior said, chuckling. A dumbfounded expression overtook Shane's face. His teammates assumed fighting stances as a cloud of black mist surrounded Serperior. "Sneaking around the veterans' quarters? Going to spy on someone in the shower? You're a creep! And I ought to skin you alive!" She flicked her slender tongue at Shane. "But I'm not about to waste my time with you losers. I've got what I need. So, I'm going to be on my w–"
The mist formed into the shape of a familiar Absol. His glowing-green scythe pierced Serperior's back, causing her to scream in pain and drop the Sizzle Shard. "Gallian?" Tessa gasped, jaw dropping. "What the–? How the–? When did you even get here?" Gallian scooped up the Sizzle Shard and leaped away from Serperior, dodging a retaliatory swipe from her tail. "Wait! What are you doing? We need the Sizzle Shard!"
"No… you don't," Gallian growled, eyes flickering purple. "Your dopey team getting a hold of these would spell disaster for us all! So, buzz off!" He looked over his shoulder and barked, "Do it, Sticky!"
Sticky's head popped up from behind a rocky slab. A small rainbow tile fell to the ground and shattered. Gallian turned to give his sister one last derisive snort before he and the Sizzle Shard disappeared in a bright flash of light. "No!" Serperior roared. "You can't be serious here! I did all the hard work. That Dawn Hourglass fragment is mine!" Flames wreathed the end of her tail and she lashed it against the ground, leaving scorch marks. "You explorer-types are nothing but a bunch of lowlife, glory-hogging, ingrates! Nighty was right… you all need to be put in your place!"
"What are you talking about, Serperior? You're supposed to be one of us!" Tessa said, a hurt look in her eyes. "How can you say something like that? What would Primarina say if he saw you acting like this?"
"Aha ha ha ha! You seriously think I care about him anymore?" Serperior gave a dismissive shake of her head. "He's washed up, just like this stale, pathetic world. Once we perfect this place, Team Captivate won't be measly explorers. We'll be the vaunted defense force of a Legendary-free world! The dazzling queens of a beautiful new reality." She narrowed her eyes at Team Radiance. "And I'm not about to have a sniveling little Riolu and her sorry excuses for friends stand in my way."
"Hey! That was totally uncalled for," Tessa growled. Blue flames of aura flickered across her paws.
"Oooh, yes. That's good. Get all fired up. It'll make this all the more exciting!" Serperior taunted. She lashed the ground with her tail again.
Before Tessa could respond, however, Shane dashed forward. The gemstone in his Naturia Looplet glowed brightly, surrounding him in orange light. "Not if I have anything to say about it! You don't insult Tessa like that and get away with it!" He hopped into the air. A giant glacier rushed up from the ground to meet him, shooing away volcanic smoke and embers in the process. Shane stood atop the glacier and glared down at Serperior, who twisted her facial features into a sinister smirk.
"Eat this!" Shane hollered, ice swirling around his body. It coalesced into a huge beam that streamed down toward Serperior. She coiled her body up and launched herself back across the face of the volcano. Serperior landed safely on a sloped patch of rock, watching as Shane tried to steer the subzero vortex toward her.
Tessa's aura feelers jolted upright. "It didn't work!" she gasped as Shane's attack died out before it could reach Serperior.
"Aha ha ha ha! What? Nobody said I had to just stand there and take a Z-Move to the face," Serperior said, laughing gleefully. "Why… you'd have to be a complete and total moron to do something that stupid!" She turned her gaze onto Espeon, who wilted at the gesture. "I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this. Say hi to Incineroar for me, Tessa!"
Flames shrouded Serperior's tail and she swiped the air in front of her. A crescent of fireballs launched toward Team Radiance. Espeon's eyes widened and she shot a psychic beam from her forehead gem. It snuffed out two of the fireballs. Silvally blasted apart four more with a pillar of water. But Shane's pink wave missed their mark. He turned to his right and dove on top of Tessa. They fell onto their bellies, watching the fireballs soar over their heads.
"Ouch! Watch it!" Tessa growled, shoving Shane away from her. She rolled back to her feet and looked over to where Serperior had been standing. Her eyes widened. "Wait, she's gone!"
"Auuuugh!"
"Salazzle!"
Alarm overtook Team Radiance's faces. They spun around just in time to see Healer crumple to the ground, with Spike-Skull looking on in horror. A sizeable welt sat on her head, with a small amount of blood trickling down her face. Serperior stood on top of her. Volcanic rock had encrusted her tail blade, transforming it into a molten sledgehammer.
"You fiend!" Spike-Skull roared, brandishing his bone club. Purple shadows encircled it and he threw it at Serperior. She turned around, swinging her tail in the process. It came into contact with the bone club and shattered it into hundreds of white, splintery fragments. Spike-Skull's eyes widened and the fight drained right out of him as the club's remains rolled back toward him.
"Dude, look out!" Shane shouted, breaking into a run. He shot a frigid aurora ahead of him, but it completely evaporated in the sweltering heat. Serperior bore down on Spike-Skull and brought her tail-hammer crashing down onto his skull. A large crack splintered down it and cinders raced down the sides. Spike-Skull dropped to his knees and flopped onto his stomach, unconscious.
"Cut it out, Serperior!" Tessa barked, running up toward her. Silvally dashed ahead, golden light erupting around his torso. Serperior hopped backward and slammed her tail into the ground. A large crack wove its way toward Tessa and Silvally, with orange light spilling out of it. Silvally's eyes widened and he quickly dove to his left, knocking Tessa out of the way. Orange rocks jutted out of the fissure, radiating with fiery energy. Silvally's gathered energy raced down his forelegs, covering them in water. He lashed out at the rocks, shattering them and flinging fiery shards in Serperior's direction. She uncoiled herself and slithered forward, deftly dodging the rocks.
However, this limited her maneuverability, leaving her vulnerable to a Shadow Ball that raced in from her right. Serperior hissed her displeasure but kept up her charge. She coiled back up and opened her mouth, unleashing a stream of fire. Silvally stomped the ground, sending up a plume of water that negated the Flamethrower. Tessa raced out from the hot steam and socked Serperior in the jaw with a glowing fist. Serperior recoiled from the blow, but her tail curled up behind Tessa as she landed. Serperior's tail wrapped Tessa up.
"Nowhere to run," Serperior taunted. The flames on her helmet grew larger and the blue markings all over her body glowed like neon signs. Serperior's tail heated up, torching Tessa. She screamed in pain, prompting Serperior to squeeze her tighter.
"Let her go!" Silvally snarled. His cheek bolts whirred in their sockets and green energy made of tiny glowing bugs bathed his forelegs. He reared up and slashed Serperior's side. The bug energy hurt Serperior enough to get her to slacken her grip. Shane popped up to Serperior's left and screeched at her. Tessa fell to the ground as Serperior skidded back along the volcano's rim. She dug her tail blade into the ground and anchored herself into place. Serperior pointed her head forward and a torrent of flaming leaves raced toward Team Radiance.
"A flaming Leaf Storm? Are you seriously kidding me right now?" Shane whimpered, trying to run outside of the attack's range. He wasn't fast enough to escape. Burning leaves peppered his hide. Shane yipped in pain and fell onto his side, trying to put out the smoldering leaves. Across from him, Silvally had curled up around Tessa, hissing painfully as flaming leaves sliced through his fur. Espeon was the only member of Team Radiance to escape the attack. She fired a retaliatory pink beam toward Serperior. But Serperior pivoted and unleashed another Flamethrower, swallowing up the beam and sending Espeon jumping down from her perch.
"You suckers are making this all too easy!" Serperior gloated. "I don't know how you managed to accomplish much of anything. Especially if this is the best you can do when you actually like each other!"
Silvally got back to his feet and opened his mouth. A multicolored waveform beam raced toward a bewildered Serperior. She dug her tail deeper into the ground and a glowing shard of rock shot up and deflected the attack. Serperior withdrew her tail, allowing molten rock to swirl around it and form up another giant hammer. She smashed the rock, sending flaming chunks toward Team Radiance. Shane's eyes flashed pink and rippling psychic waves smashed several of the rocks apart. Silvally and Tessa charged forward in unison, ducking underneath the rocks.
Serperior's brow furrowed. She turned toward Silvally, figuring him to be more threatening, and swung her tail hammer around. But Silvally screeched to a halt, ceasing the flow of bug energy to his legs and instead shooting air crescents directly into Serperior's face. She swayed back and forth uneasily, groaning in pain. Tessa successfully approached her and hammered her back with her bright-red fists. Serperior flopped onto the ground, tongue falling out of her mouth in the process.
A sudden burst of orange light spilled out from behind Silvally and Tessa. They looked over their shoulders and both blanched. Gigantic, ectoplasmic arms shot up out of the ground. They quickly ran away from Serperior, who had managed to blink the stars out of her vision just in time to see the ghostly limbs crashing down toward her.
"Noooooo!"she roared, before the shadowy arms piled on top of her and erupted in a burst of ghostly energy.
"Wh… what the heck was that?" Tessa gasped.
"Unnngh… s-so that's what using a Z-Move's like…"
Tessa looked over her shoulder to see Espeon stagger out from behind a torn-up portion of the ground. Light faded from her Naturia Looplet, leaving the central gemstone colorless. "Nice work, Espeon!" Silvally chirped. "That was some quick thinking."
"Th… thanks…" she panted. "I figured… if she could dodge the Z-Move… I just needed… to wait… until her guard was down."
Shane's muzzle stiffened. 'I guess I'd be wise to keep that in mind going forward,' he thought. He walked toward Espeon. "Are you doing alright? You seem pretty out of it."
"I'm jussssht a bit dazed," Espeon slurred, blinking her eyes rapidly.
"Nnngggrrrgggggghhhaaaaaaa!"
The ground began shaking. Team Radiance all backpedaled in surprise, watching in horror as a portion of the ground gave out before their eyes. A flaming Serperior shot out of the hole in the ground, eyes bright red in rage. She unleashed another bloodthirsty screech.
"B… but that's impossible!" Espeon gasped. "The Z-Move is supposed to cure her of the Prism Virus. That's how it worked for me."
The fire surrounding Serperior swarmed the end of her tail blade, turning it into a giant, flamng falchion. Serperior drove the blade into the ground. Silvally immediately ran forward, a golden wheel of light surrounding him. But he only made if half the distance toward Serperior when a massive flaming vine jutted out of the ground. It speared Silvally's underbelly. He screamed in pain as he careened across the volcano's rim, coming to a stop by the unconscious forms of Healer and Spike-Skull.
"I'm not rolling over for your pathetic little Z-Moves!"Serperior snarled. Flames danced around her body and shot down into the hole made by her tail blade.
"Everyone… run!" Shane screamed and bolted from his location. Tessa and Espeon both shot off in opposite directions. Espeon looked back in horror as another flame-coated vine shot out of the ground where she had previously stood. Her fear intensified as a second vine shot up even closer to her. She turned back around, only to feel the ground give way beneath her paws. Flames spread across her lower torso, followed closely by one of Serperior's vines jutting out of the ground. It speared Espeon's groin, triggering a shrill wail of pain. Espeon sailed through the air and crashed into the ground, writhing in agony.
Similar pained cries echoed across the rim, as Serperior struck Tessa and Shane with another set of vines. Shane's legs trembled and he collapsed onto the ground, eyes widened in shock. Tessa fell to one knee, clutching the burnt fur on her chest in pain. "S… Serperior. Please… stop this! You've got to fight it!"
"I don't want to resist this!"Serperior crooned. "You're all a bunch of fools. Fighting a battle for a group of 'mons who don't give a lick about any of you!" She yanked her tail blade out of the ground and dusted debris off her body. "You should just give up. Mistress Zero has no desire to hurt normal Pokémon. If you'd just stand aside and let her do her job, we'd finally know what real peace and happiness are like. You could make friendships that actually matter. Not flimsy little ones where you wander around dungeons and cry into each other's arms every night!"
"That's a load of crock and you know it!" Silvally snarled, dashing forward in leaps and bounds. Tessa looked at the burnt patches of fur on his underbelly and winced. But she saw Silvally's eyes glowing and his cheek bolts sparking in their sockets. He uttered a battle cry and thrust his head forward. A flurry of wind blades darted toward Serperior.
Her eyes flashed red and she swung her tail blade around. A trail of fireballs arced ahead of her, burning through Silvally's attack. This only intensified his anger. Silvally roared and fired a waveform beam at Serperior. She retaliated with a Flamethrower. The two Pokémon engaged in a beam struggle, only for it to break off as a wayward pink laser struck Serperior's backside. She screeched her displeasure, but the sounds were hastily drowned out when Silvally's beam struck her lower jaw.
Shane staggered forward, clumsily firing a psychic blast that served to upend Serperior. He cast a glance at Tessa. "What are you waiting for? You've got the only working Naturia Looplet. Use your Z-Move!"
"W… what? Right now?" Tessa squeaked. She looked at her right arm and stared into the glowing gem on her looplet. "But… but I thought it's not working."
"I guess we need to use a Z-Move to make her faint. That's how we freed Espeon and Umbreon," Shane said. He looked over and saw Serperior meeting Silvally's water-coated talons with her tail blade. The two clashed their appendages together and bounced back, staring at each other with vicious hatred spread across their faces. "Come on! Don't just stand there… hurry up!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Tessa insisted. "C'mon… work you stupid thing." She bonked the looplet with her left paw, but it didn't respond. "How did you get yours to work, huh?"
Shane gave her an incredulous look. "Are you serious here? I don't know! You just… uh… gotta think about it or something." He looked back as Silvally's pained roar echoed across the mountaintop. Shane flinched at the sight of black blood staining his friend's chest plume. Serperior glanced at the blood on her tail blade and smiled.
"Some God Killer you turned out to be," she taunted.
"Shut up! I can't believe you'd do this to us! You make me sick!" Silvally shouted.
"The feeling's mutual, freak!" Serperior spat. "You guys are a bunch of blind, sorry nobodies! Honestly, you four probably have the single worst track record I've ever seen for an exploration t– AUUUGH!"
Air blades battered Serperior, slicing through her leafy scales and coating her body in nicks. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt you?" Silvally said mockingly. "It's just… I was worried if I didn't do something, all this heat would make that swell head of yours pop."
A vein bulged out of Serperior's forehead. "Well, aren't you a little jokester? Let's see you say something funny when I rip your tongue out of your mouth!" She slammed the ground with her tail and spires of glowing rock shot up. Shane and Espeon darted forward, each firing off explosive pink blasts. Horror took over Serperior's face as she watched Silvally leap through the dusty remnants of her failed attack. The golden wheel around his body burst into microcurrents of air that swished around his forelegs. He raked Serperior's face with his claws, sending her to the ground, squirming about in pain.
Shane stepped to the side. "Now, Tessa!"
Tessa's aura feelers jolted stiff in surprise. "I… I… I…" she stammered, looking down at her looplet. The gem briefly sparked, only to return to its normal, soft glow. "I can't do it!"
Shane stamped a forepaw on the ground. "Yes, you can. Don't think of this as your old friend. Think of it as Necrozma! Think of it as the guy keeping your mom prisoner!"
Tessa looked up at Serperior, trying to channel the mental image that Shane spoke of. But to her horror, Serperior got back up, forcing Tessa's teammates to flee and dodge an explosive burst of fire that erupted around Serperior.
"Aha ha ha! Please… you're relying on Tessa to finish the job? How stupid can you possibly be, huh? Look at her! She's the walking definition of weak. A spineless little runt who wants everyone to feel sorry for how sad her pathetic little life is. She's a disgrace to her mom– no, her whole species!" Serperior locked eyes with Tessa, flames gathering in her mouth. Tessa squeaked and slammed her eyes shut, thinking back to similar sentiments that Shane had voiced about her during the Mellath Bog mission.
"Th… that's…" Tessa whimpered, paws quivering.
An enraged roar from Silvally cut her off. He charged Serperior, a killer look in his eyes, but she whirled around and fired the Flamethrower intended for Tessa at him instead. Silvally skidded to a halt and his blue eyes flashed. A water geyser erupted underneath him, carrying him over the Flamethrower to Serperior's shock. Espeon sniped her from behind with another psychic beam, leaving her vulnerable as the water crashed into her from above, carrying Silvally with it.
Black shadows coated Silvally's beak and he bit down on Serperior's neck. He thrust his head into the air and started jerking it back and forth, whipping Serperior about as if she were a balled-up sock.
"Silvally, stop! Stop!" Shane shouted, running over toward him. "We're not trying to kill her, remember? If we push her too hard, she'll have the life drained from her like the other infected Pokémon."
Silvally froze. His pupils expanded out from their feral slits. He slackened his jaw and released Serperior onto the ground, blood trickling from his beak. She violently coughed up a mouthful of blood and tunneled underground, to Team Radiance's surprise. "Are you kidding me? All that and she's still not backing down?" Shane groaned. "C'mon, Tessa! We need you to pull through right now!" He shot a pleading look back at his teammate.
"I can't do it!" Tessa blurted out, tears streaming down her eyes. "I don't know how! She's right… I just…" She lowered her head. "I'm too weak."
"Ex… actly…"
Tessa's aura feelers shivered. She looked up to see Serperior leaning against Volcanion, panting hard. The bite marks on her neck had closed up, leaving dry splotches of red on her scales. "Aha… ha… see? I knew it. You four… you're never gonna succeed. You don't… have the stomach for this. If you were really… committed to protecting… your precious gods… you'd have done me in." She looked down at Volcanion. "But you blew it. And if I can't have… the Dawn Shard…" Her expression darkened. "Then you and the rest of this valley can burn!"
She spun around and clubbed Volcanion with her tail-blade. His corpse tumbled down the rim of Mount Supernova, falling into the bubbling magma. "No!" Shane shouted, eyes widening in horror. "What have you done?"
Ruuuuuuuuuuuumble!
Shane fell onto his stomach and bounced around on the ground. "W-W-What's g-g-g-going on-n-n-n?" he asked, the ground's vibrations making him stutter.
"What's going on is that this volcano's about to blow sky high! I'm gonna flood the Wastes with lava. And all you worthless Legendary-worshippers will drown in it!" Serperior shouted. "Enjoy the spirit realm, assholes!" She produced an ominous black sphere with the winged heart insignia. Serperior slammed it onto the ground and a black Ultra Wormhole swallowed her up.
Espeon sprinted toward Tessa, panic strewn across her face. "The volcano's gonna blow! Quick, we've got to use an Escape Orb and get out of here!" Before Tessa had the chance to respond to that, the item in question appeared in Espeon's mouth. She spat it onto the ground and destroyed it with a forepaw.
As light started surrounding the six Pokémon to carry them off the mountain, Tessa's gaze fell to the ground. 'This is all my fault,'she thought. 'My teammates were counting on me… and I failed them big time!'
~Volcanic Rim~
"Dear gods! What happened to you all?"
Torkoal ran at Team Radiance, looking aghast at the group's sorry state. "M… Marowak!" she cried. "Are you okay? Say something, man!"
"What are you doing here?" Shane asked. "I thought the tribes were trying to evacuate." Behind him, Tessa tended to Silvally's wounds with mushed bits of oran berry. Espeon hovered over the unconscious forms of Spike-Skull and Healer, pushing Reviver Seeds into their mouths and an oran berry onto Healer's swollen head. They both sat up, clearly looking dazed.
"The Totem ordered me to wait here in case you all returned. They're still gathering the necessary supplies to–"
"What?! No way, forget it! This volcano's about to blow! You've all gotta get out of here right now!" Shane hollered.
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The ground shook so violently that everyone except Silvally fell down. Torkoal looked up at the peak of the volcano and her legs flailed about in a panic. "Th… the volcano!" she shrieked. "Oh, gods… it's not just erupting. It's exploding!"
Lava didn't merely spew out from Mount Supernova's mouth. Cracks and fissures appeared across the mountainside. Lava geysers burst forth from the inside, blowing apart chunks of rock and sending them hurtling down into the lava pools below. "Ahhh!" Shane's tails shot between his legs. "What are we gonna do? Where do we go? We've gotta get out of here!"
"B… but the villages…" Torkoal muttered. "We're not ready to leave. The Totems are still helping our tribe."
"Wait, does that mean Mother's with the Western Tribe?" Healer asked. Torkoal nodded and Healer's eyes widened. "We can't just leave everyone here. We have to do something!" She looked around at the group of assembled Pokémon. "Please… outsiders. I realize I have no place to ask you for assistance. But I must save my family!" She looked over at Spike-Skull. "I must protect our tribes."
Silvally looked at the lava pouring out of the volcano. "I think I have an idea," he said, glancing at Shane's Naturia Looplet and noting the color had returned to its gemstone. "We transported to a new area. So, all your Z-Moves are back!"
"How does that help with anything?" Shane said, hopping in place with a panicked expression on his face.
"We can block the lava!" Silvally declared. "Shane and Tessa will go to the Eastern Tribe. Shane's giant iceberg thingy could cool down the lava and stop it from burning their village. Meanwhile, Espeon and I will go with you three to the Western Tribe. That attack Espeon used when we were fighting Serperior might be able to blast the lava away."
"I'm not sure I really like this idea," Espeon whimpered.
The ground started rumbling again. Everyone looked up and noticed the amount of lava making its way down the mountain growing steadily larger. "There's no time to debate this one! Everyone needs to get going now!" Silvally ordered. He shoved Shane and Tessa down the path leading to the Eastern Tribe's village. Both of them ran along the path, their eyes remaining fixed on the metaphorical rival of hot, molten death streaming down toward them.
"Ohhh… this is terrible!" Tessa cried, throwing her paws up over her eyes and shaking her head. "Why did I have to just freeze up like that? We could've avoided this!"
"Hey!"
Tessa's aura feelers tensed in surprised. She poked her digits apart to see Shane looking back at her disapprovingly. "Don't say stuff like that! Serperior was lying through her teeth to throw you off!"
"Well, then it worked! Which means it's true!" Tessa retorted. "I couldn't do a thing to help you guys in that battle. All because I can't attack if I'm not in close range. Serperior's right… I'm useless to the team like this!"
The duo had reached the village. Shane ran up toward the edge of the plateau and looked down. Lava was quickly filling up the ravine that used to sit between the village and the mountain. He shot a glance back at Tessa. Her face was a mix of defeat and dread. "Tessa! Look at me!" he shouted, jolting her to attention.
"H-huh? What is it?"
"I don't care what Serperior or any Prism Virus Pokémon says! Silvally told me something yesterday. Even with all the ups and downs, we've made it this far together. And it's going to stay that way!" Shane declared.
Orange light surrounded his body. The various Salandits and Salazzles scurrying away from the mountain in terror paused and looked back with widened eyes as a giant glacier hoisted Shane up off the ground. Frozen air spilled out in front of the giant slab of ice, flash-freezing the surface of the lava. The ice rapidly melted and the lava crusted over, abruptly coming to a stop.
Shane launched his massive ice storm, sweeping it along the side of the mountain and freezing over the lava pouring down the mountainside. Like the lava filling up the ravine, the ice melted away, revealing massive baubles of igneous rock sprouting out from the mountain like pimples protruding from skin. Steam and smog rose into the air, swirling around each other to thicken the storm clouds lying over the mountain.
Tessa's jaw slackened as the glacier melted away. The cold water rushed down into the ravine and snaked its way toward the mountain's entrance, crusting over the lava in the process. Shane staggered backwards but managed to remain standing.
"S… see?" He shakily turned toward Tessa and gave her a smile. "As long as I've got you around… I'm not backing down. Not anymore. I'm… I'm gonna try to do a little better… every day."
Blood rushed into Tessa's cheeks. She bit down on one of her digits and looked to her left, where the assembled lizards of the Eastern Tribe had burst into applause. Many of the Salandits were hugging each other, while some of the Salazzles scooped up their unevolved brethren and smothered them in big hugs.
~Eastern Volcanic Wastes~
"I cannot believe you manipulated me into this!" Totem Salazzle screamed, shoving Totem Marowak away from her. All around her, the members of the Western Tribe piled things into baskets and wooden boxes. They started running away from the mountain, with Spike-Skull directing them toward the hills overlooking the southern part of the village. "You've sentenced us to death!"
"Mother, control yourself!" Healer shouted, pulling her off of Totem Marowak. "This isn't the time for exchanging petty insults. We have to help the outsiders stop the lava flow or we're all going to die!"
"Stop it? Stop it?! Look at it!" Totem Salazzle pointed up toward the mountain. "That is not just an eruption. That is the very foundation of the mountain crumbling. Not even Volcanion could stand up to that. We would need Groudon to come to our rescue!"
"That kind of talk will doom us to the spirit realm," Totem Marowak shouted, slamming his bone club down. "We don't have any other choice here. Our tribes need us. It's time we used these Totem Crystals for what they were intended for." He extended a hand toward her. "Now, are you with me or not?"
Totem Salazzle looked over to see Silvally and Espeon standing on a ridge facing the mountain. Light from Espeon's Naturia Looplet spread across her body. Her eyes turned bright orange and she flicked her head and tail skyward. Gigantic ectoplasmic arms funneled out of the ground and launched toward the oncoming lava. They started to form up a large dome around the lava.
Worry spread across Espeon's face. "I don't think this is going to be strong enough to work, Silvally!" she cried.
Totem Salazzle took Totem Marowak's hand. Their Totem Crystals flared up with bright light in unison and they sprinted toward Espeon. Bright orange auras appeared around their bodies, matching the one Espeon struggled to maintain. They took their positions beside her. Totem Marowak raised his bone club skyward as shadow-fire engulfed it. "Hear me, spirits! I call upon you! Give me strength so we may defend our home!"
He drove his bone club into the ground. The instant it struck, a fresh wave of spectral arms launched forward, joining the pile made by Espeon. It swelled up, trapping even more of the lava trying to flow down into the village. Totem Salazzle released her grip on Totem Marowak's hand and turned around. Her tail flaps opened up and sickly-purple juices bubbled up on the end of her tail. The toxins dribbled onto the ground, forming a circle around Totem Salazzle. She spun her tail around, launching the circle of poison directly at the giant pile of swirling arms.
The toxins reached the large hill of ghost energy just as it exploded. Totem Salazzle thrust her tail upward and the ring transformed into a massive whirlpool, drawing in the lava that hadn't been destroyed by the ectoplasmic blast. Espeon and Silvally backed away slowly, eyes widening as Totem Salazzle's poisonous whirlpool swallowed up the lava and dragged it down into the ravine. The lava quickly crusted over, removing any lingering toxins and leaving nothing but thick clouds of black smoke behind.
Totem Salazzle staggered backward. Her Marowak counterpart immediately appeared at her side, catching her before she collapsed onto the ground. Totem Salazzle's eyes widened at the gesture. "Y… you! I can't believe you're doing this after you manipulated me!"
"I'm sorry I had to resort to using Attract like that," Totem Marowak exclaimed. "But it was a desperate situation."
"And look at what happened under your guidance. Everything spiraled out of control. If not for my help… we all would have perished!" Totem Salazzle exclaimed. "I–"
"That's quite enough, Mother!"
Totem Salazzle stood back up, watching Healer run up toward her with Spike-Skull at her side. "Don't you get it? The two of you working together… that's what made the difference!" Healer declared. "You combined your Z-Power with the outsider's and saved us from a catastrophe. How can you possibly stand there and continue to judge the Western Tribe so harshly? It wasn't that long ago that we all lived together. There are good Pokémon amongst this tribe. There are," she continued, reaching out and clutching Spike-Skull's hand, "Pokémon that I love here."
Totem Salazzle's jaw dropped. She stared at her daughter and then at Spike-Skull. She continued swiveling her head between the two of them, saying nothing. Totem Marowak stepped in front of her. "You are not the only one at fault here," he said. "I foolishly let this status quo persist for the sake of my own pride. But perhaps the young ones are right. Perhaps it's time we put this sorry feud behind us."
"But… but my people. How can I hope to keep them fed?"
"Well, this might sound silly," Silvally interjected, poking is head between the two Totems, "but in the process of stopping the lava, we turned that ravine into a gigantic stretch of land."
Both Totems went wide-eyed and turned around. Totem Salazzle walked up toward what had been the edge of the ravine. "There's mostly igneous rock," she said.
"But there's bound to be sediment mixed in there. Which makes that land a good candidate to use for growing more food," Totem Marowak exclaimed.
Totem Salazzle looked stunned. She slowly nodded. "Yes… you're right. Why, I think this could even double the size of the fertile land we have in the western half of the Volcanic Wastes." She looked over at Totem Marowak. "But what does this mean? It's so close to the mountain. Wouldn't it be too dangerous?"
They looked up at the mountain. The once proud peak that jutted majestically into the sky had collapsed on itself. Now it was just an extremely large pile of uneven, pitch-black rocks. "The mountain…" Totem Salazzle whispered.
"It's entirely possible that last eruption may have caused such a tremendous outpouring of energy that there are few, if any, ley lines left," Espeon said, her brow furrowed. "I'm… honestly not sure what that would mean. But we have a way to get in touch with Tapu Bulu. He could come investigate this."
The Totems exchanged astonished looks, only for Totem Marowak to hold up a hand. "That would explain the use of Z-Power," he muttered. "So, the Tapus have judged you worthy." He let out a sigh. "You'll have to forgive us. It would seem we made some pretty boneheaded decisions today."
"It's in the past," Silvally said. "Why don't we go regroup with the Eastern Tribe? Then you guys can start talking about how you're going to move forward."
Totem Marowak nodded. "I'd say that's a splendid idea."
~Western Volcanic Wastes~
Tessa helped Shane back toward the Eastern Tribe's village. "I'm fine. I can walk myself over," he insisted. But when he tried to step away from Tessa, he stumbled. Shane would've face planted had Tessa not managed to grab two of his tails and keep him from falling over. Shane yipped, uncomfortable with having such a sensitive area grabbed.
"You're not fine, Shane," Tessa scolded. "You've used two Z-Moves pretty close to one another. And that's on top of battling Serperior and climbing the volcano. You must be exhausted." She pulled an elixir from the team's item bag. "Here. This should help you get some of your kick back."
Shane graciously accepted the vial and gulped down its tangy, glowing contents. The empty elixir dissolved into thin air. Shane nodded his thanks to Tessa. "So, I guess we should find Espeon and Silvally. We have to figure out our next move, after all."
Tessa flinched, recalling Gallian swooping in and scooping up the Sizzle Shard. 'If we're going to gather them all, then I'm gonna have to face down Gallian again.' She gulped.
"Hey, what's the problem?" Shane asked. "Wait… you're worried about Gallian, aren't you?"
"How did you–?"
Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuumble!
The Salandits and Salazzles stopped cheering. They turned back toward the remains of Mount Supernova, as did Shane and Tessa. "But… but we stopped the eruption from spreading over the village! How could there possibly still be something wrong?" Shane shouted.
"I don't know. Maybe it's some sort of earthquake?" Tessa proposed, worry plastered across her face. A new crack suddenly appeared in the mountain's remains. It grew wider and wider until it burst apart, launching a gigantic volcanic meteor down toward the Wastes.
Shane backed away. "No, no, no! After all that… the village is still going down!" He turned to Tessa and the Eastern Tribe Pokémon. "We've gotta run east! If we're lucky, we might get out of the blast range!" He sprinted past his teammate, heading for the Volcanic Rim. "C'mon, Tessa! What are you doing?"
Tessa stood facing the ridge, watching the meteor slowly drift down toward her. She slammed her eyes shut and balled her paws up into fists. 'This isn't fair!' she thought. 'Every day… every mission. No matter how hard we try – how much we struggle – it doesn't make a difference. We always end up coming up short! And I'm tired of it!'
She thought of Gallian swooping in and taking the Sizzle Shard, telling Team Radiance to buzz off. Then mental images of Serperior and Totem Salazzle appeared.
She is but a child! Even if she is female, her opinion is not worth my time and energy. Perhaps if she were a Lucario, her words might hold meaning. But the day I trust a baby Pokémon is the day I turn over my Totem Crystal.
Aha ha ha! Please… you're relying on Tessa to finish the job? How stupid can you possibly be, huh? Look at her! She's the walking definition of weak. A spineless little runt who wants everyone to feel sorry for how sad her pathetic little life is.
'Everyone keeps calling me useless,' Tessa thought. 'Team Radiance can barely tread water… and I can't even hold my own in battle. Tapu Lele nearly killed me. And I couldn't even do anything against Serperior…'
But then the mental images dissolved. In their place, Tessa imagined Shane standing in front of her.
Silvally told me something yesterday. Even with all the ups and downs, we've made it this far together. And it's going to stay that way!
'My teammates,' Tessa thought. 'My friends! Even with how bad things have gotten, they still haven't given up on me…'
"That's enough!" she shouted. Her eyes opened up, revealing vibrant blue irises that flickered like a campfire. "I'm tired of not being able to do anything in these situations! My teammates are right! I'm not weak! I'm… I'm… a strong explorer!" Blue flames encased Tessa's paws and her Naturia Looplet flared to life, bathing her in orange light. "I am not having another day end in complete failure!"
"Tessa, what are you doing?!" Shane cried, watching in horror as his teammate charged toward the edge of the ridge.
The orange glow around her intensified. A war cry escaped Tessa's lips and she leaped into the air. Tessa proceeded to rapidly punch and kick the air in front of her. Each move she made resulted in a giant hand or foot made of raw orange energy speeding forward. The giant constructs struck the meteor one after the other, leaving multiple large welts and cracks that quickly connected to one another.
With the meteor baring down on Tessa, she wound up and punched the air in front of her as hard as she could. A massive fist of orange energy shot forward like a comet, with a trail of aura streaming behind it. The final fist connected with the center of the meteor, obliterating it before it could strike Tessa. She dropped to the ground, orange steam rising off her body.
"Oh my god. Tessa, that was amazing!" Shane fawned, running toward her. He slowed his pace, however, as he noticed that Tessa's orange aura failed to die down. Instead she took two shaky steps forward, and then fell to her paws and knees. "Tessa? Is something wrong?"
Tessa buried her face in the dirt and screamed in agony. White light swallowed her up, orange aura and all. Shane's muzzle went agape. "Th… that light," he gasped. "Tessa… she's…" But Tessa's cries of pain caused Shane to stagger backwards. He stared dumbstruck at the glowing white sphere laying in front of him as it doubled in size. "Tessa! Say something!" he shouted.
He took one cautious step toward his teammate, only for the light to fade. When it did, the Riolu he had come to know was gone. Tessa's rainbow scarf lay in the dirt. And kneeling beside it was a Lucario. A Lucario with an extra tuft of fur over each ear, rings of black fur around her tail, and aura feelers that went all the way down to her shoulder blades.
"Tessa, you did it! You evolved! You're a Lucario!" Shane cheered, a big grin erupting across his face. He ran toward Tessa, expecting to embrace her. But he skidded to a halt when he saw her fix her wide-eyed gaze on the blue aura flames flickering in her paws. "T… Tessa?" he squeaked. "Is everything all right?"
Tessa slowly opened her muzzle, but all that escaped was a weak cough. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she toppled over, face hitting the dirt.
"Tessa!" Shane cried, tails shooting up in alarm. He sprinted up to his teammate and nudged her repeatedly with his snout. "Wake up! Wake up! C'mon, this isn't funny!" He looked up and noticed the Salandits and Salazzles looking over in confusion. His ears twitched and he realized he could hear footsteps in the distance.
"Heeeeeeey!" he shouted, waving a forepaw. "Somebody… anybody… help!"
Fiery Maiden, Ultra Serperior
Exposure to the Prism Virus flooded Serperior's life energy with raging wildfire, resulting in her gaining the fire-type, alongside a hair-trigger temper. She now wields powerful magic, letting her tap into the earth's volcanic core and use it to mold attacks no average Pokémon is capable of. Little does she know, her body is filled with napalm from an explosive Ultra Beast. If she pushes herself too hard, the napalm will spontaneously combust, bringing a violent end to her life. Be careful, Team Radiance!
Yup, that just happened. What? You thought the happiness evolution would be sunshine and rainbows? What fic do you think you're reading here? Aha ha... ha... ha. Maybe I should just get to the reviews.
Another guest: lots of crazy stuff in this episode, yes. If only I could've had these chapters coming out around Valentine's Day.
Anon Omega: I think what the pheromones smell light are best left to the imagination.
SuperOmegaGuest: I imagine popcorn would just get sold at a store, like a Kecleon Shop.
Veralix: you're welcome to theorize whatever, but I can't just alter the story to do that. That'd be a bit weird.
And some reviews from other chapters. Hopefully you folks see these responses, because I have no other way to contact you if you don't have an account...
I only eat meat: bonus chapters are optional, so don't feel compelled to read them. Sorry the main cast isn't to your liking, but I can't please everyone.
Striker: glad to hear you're enjoying things. I can't really say what'll happen to any of the characters, alive or dead. If I did, you wouldn't have a reason to keep reading. You'll have to stick around and find out.
Shawn vermilion: I'm flattered, but I don't really think there's any way to work for them. Especially since I don't know any Japanese.
Phew, that's it. Next time: some serious changes need to be grappled with.