This is the third of four chapters today.
Keldeo ducked, as a rock soared towards him. "Whoa! What the heck was that?"
"It's a Pokémon skeleton!" Cubone told him. "It's a Machamp!"
He blinked at the four-armed Pokémon skeleton, now visible striding towards him. "Oh. Hold on!"
Keldeo braced himself, and crouched. Then he used Hydro Pump.
Cubone squeaked in surprise, and clung onto his mane as they went rocketing into the air.
The Colt Pokémon wasn't great at flying. His legs waved wildly as he tried to control his path, resulting in the two of them pitching back and forth and wobbling as they crossed the sky – though they certainly cleared the Machamp skeleton, which seemed to be as nonplussed as a reanimated Pokémon skeleton could be.
As they flew, Keldeo saw another momentary flash of – something else.
It was – him, his horn broken as before, seen from nearby and almost from the side. He and the viewpoint were watching as a young human climbed into a train cart.
"I'll distract the Cryogonal," the human boy said. "Save the Swords of Justice, Keldeo!"
Keldeo blinked, as the image faded. "That's what's important..." he said to himself.
"What?" Cubone asked, voice raised to be heard over the ongoing cacophany of the battle some way off. "Can we land now?"
Keldeo nodded. "Sorry – sure!"
He spotted a pool of water, and aimed for that as he powered down his water jets.
Their landing nearly led to their being hit by the claws of a large Kingler.
"Wait!" Keldeo said, as he landed in a plume of side-splash. "I'm not a skeleton thing!"
"Oh." The Kingler's claws drove into the water instead of hitting Keldeo. "Sorry."
Keldeo nodded. "Where do we go now, Cubone?"
"Up that hill," Cubone said, pointing. "There's a lot of them in the way, though!"
Kingler clicked his claws. "I can help a bit – I've been trying to draw them in."
"No," Keldeo said, shaking his head. "I think I can do this."
He smiled. "The important thing – the most important thing – is to help others. To help those who need it. And I think that's what I've been missing all this time. Being a Sword of Justice isn't about being an awesome fighter – it's about saving people, and helping people. Cobalion, Virizion, Terrakion... I'm sorry it took me so long to realize what you were trying to tell me."
The Water-type took a breath. "And that's what I'm going to do now. Take a rest, Kingler, you look like you need it. I can do this."
Aura crackled around his form.
Cubone blinked. "What are you-"
Keldeo concentrated, hardly daring to hope. If this was...
Slowly but inexorably, a blue energy formed around his horn, extending upwards into a long azure blade about two feet long.
"Sacred Sword," Keldeo said, with an air of triumph to his voice.
Then he charged up the hill, Sacred Sword leading the way.
The swirling tornado broke up and dissipated, as the energy Pidgeot had poured into it finally ran out.
As it did, the dark energy began to gather around Marowak again. Cubone jumped back, skidding to a halt next to Ash, and gave him a glance.
"Can Pidgeot do that again?"
Ash shook his head. "I don't know – sorry. What was that? Why does it matter?"
"I.. actually don't know," Cubone admitted. She nodded towards Marowak. "She's normally invulnerable, but for some reason not only can your Pidgeot hurt her but she's breaking the invulnerability when her attacks hit."
Cubone blocked an incoming Bonemerang, and then parried another. "I think that's our best chance."
"Got it." Ash nodded. "Pidgeot!"
Pidgeot slowed considerably, ending the continuous thunder of sonic booms which had been resounding – albeit muted – across the mindscape this whole time.
Now she was moving at a lower speed, she could afford to dodge, and she rolled gracefully away from several attacks as she swooped down to land next to Ash.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Pidgeot, can you manage another attack like that? Cubone says it's our best chance," Ash elaborated.
"I can do one better," Pidgeot said. "Ash – you know Protect, right?"
Ash nodded.
"Good. I'm going to need some defence, but I can manage another Aeroblast. Any preference for where from?"
Cubone thought, blocking more incoming attacks with a casual ease. "Straight overhead, if you can swing it."
Pidgeot cooed. "I certainly can."
Ash climbed onto her back, avoiding the long red plume which continued out past her tail, and twined his fingers into her feathers for grip. "Okay, I'm on. Let's go!"
Pidgeot nodded firmly, turned, and took off in a storm of wingbeats.
Almost immediately, Ash had to block an incoming rock. It bounced off a Protect shield, and the next one went barely astern of Pidgeot, and then she was climbing through the cloud layer and out of sight of the ground.
Ash closed his eyes to see if he could get anything from aura sight, and winced. Still the chaotic mess.
"Can you tell where Marowak is?" he called.
Pidgeot's reply was to waggle her wings slightly. "Yes!"
A bone came flying up at them, unerringly aimed despite the obscuring cloud layer, and Ash barely blocked it in time. "Let's do this quick!"
"Agreed!" Pidgeot then began to inhale, air streaming towards her mouth as she prepared an Aeroblast.
The moment the red beam of light broke the clouds, Cubone lunged forwards.
Her Bone Rush struck almost simultaneously with the Aeroblast – Marowak raised her club to ward off the Flying-type attack, and kicked the Bone Rush attack away with one foot.
Cubone's teeth bared under the skull. She formed another bone to replace the one which had been kicked away, and scissored in two attacks at once. Marowak was forced to block with her thick club, but managed to drive one of Cubone's attacks into the other and avoid being hit.
"Just listen for once!" Cubone called into the maelstrom. "Of course you miss our parents! So do I! But that's not the only important thing in the world!"
"GO AWAY!" Marowak shouted, voice like a rockslide. "LEAVE ME TO MY GRIEF!"
Cubone pushed, trying to force Marowak back into the red beam of the attack itself. She was vulnerable, but not actually-
"Sacred Sword!"
A blade which shimmered like tropical seawater knifed through Marowak, and then there was a soundless explosion of light.
The young Cubone sat in a featureless white plane. "Where... am I?"
"I don't know," said an older voice.
She looked up and saw... herself, but older and surer of carriage, and with a lithe grace that spoke of constant training.
Herself held out a hand, and after a moment she took it.
"What happened?" the younger Cubone asked, after a moment.
"I don't know that either," the older one said. "I... think this happened after something defeated Marowak?"
"Is that the scary one of... us?" the younger one said. "I... I was scared of her. I don't want to be scared."
The older Cubone nodded. "I don't get scared, but... perhaps I need to be a bit-"
A sob interrupted them both. They turned, the older one forming two bones from thin air.
Marowak sat, cross-legged, a few yards behind them. Her head was in her hands, and she was crying.
The older Cubone frowned. "You..."
She blinked. "Wait, what are you-"
The younger one tapped Marowak on the shoulder. "Uh, excuse me?"
"What?" Marowak asked, bitterly. "Do you want to gloat?"
"No!" Cubone said, shaking her head firmly. "I just don't want to forget my family. If we're all part of the same... me... then we're all important."
Marowak blinked. "But..."
The older Cubone hesitated, and then dropped her bones – which dissolved into blue light – and walked forwards. "I think she's right," she said. "For the last couple of years we've been... consumed by pain and loss. But we can be less so without forgetting."
Marowak rubbed at her eyes, and stood. "Really?"
"Yes!" the young one said.
"I agree."
Then there was another bright flash of light.
The moment Keldeo's attack hit home, the Cubone on his back vanished. So did the Cubone and the Marowak duelling in the centre of the blazing storm of light.
The clouds overhead vanished, and a moment later so did the Aeroblast. A huge Flying-type, like a Pidgeot but much larger, spiralled down to land a few dozen feet away from the surprised Colt Pokémon.
"What just happened?" he asked, looking over at the human swinging off the back of the unusual Pidgeot. As the boy dismounted, the Pidgeot flashed orange and reverted to a normal appearance.
"What the-?" was his first reply, the boy sounding utterly astonished. "Keldeo? What are you doing here?"
"Should I know you?" Keldeo asked. He glanced upwards, and realized Sacred Sword was still active – with a moment of thought, he sheathed it.
"I... I guess maybe not," the boy said, approaching. "But... how did you get here?"
"I think I got too close to an Aura technique or something," Keldeo said. "I – wait, I do recognize you. You're the human who was lying on the ground next to that Lucario and Pikachu and the other Pokémon."
"I'm Ash, by the way," Ash said. "And... how come you're in Johto, then?"
He shook his head. "Anyway. That doesn't matter, I guess... oh, hey! My Aura Sight is working again!"
Ash then turned to Keldeo, and blinked. "That means... okay, Keldeo, this is going to sound a bit strange. I met you in the future."
Keldeo didn't know quite how to take that.
"And... well, I helped you. Your horn got broken fighting Kyurem, and my friends and I-"
"I think I saw that," Keldeo interrupted. "I saw... myself, from the outside, with my horn broken. And someone distracted some Cryogonal?"
"That's Iris or Cilan," Ash agreed. "We helped to free the other Swords of Justice, and then you fought Kyurem – you didn't win, but you gave him a good fight. Anyway, there was time travel, and... I think I can restore your memories of what happened."
"It's a good deal," Pidgeot smiled. "It's like experiencing both lives."
"Well..." Keldeo frowned for a moment, then nodded. "Sure!"
After all, if they'd helped the Swords of Justice, and for that matter helped this Cubone, then they couldn't be bad at all.
Ash reached out, and Keldeo held out a hoof to touch his hand-
and blinked. "Okay, whoa!"
Two lives. One where he'd stayed in Unova, learning from the other Swords, and then challenged Kyurem recklessly – and nearly ruined everything. And where helpful humans and helpful Pokémon had made sure the Swords of Justice were freed and that he was alright, because it was the right thing to do. And he'd realized that the Swords of Justice had never thought less of him for not being able to fight alongside them, and learned Secret Sword with that realization.
And one where the four of them had journeyed across half the world, seeking a Pokémon who was the youngest of all Legendaries and yet had inner peace to match only a very few. Where he had realized what it meant to be a Sword of Justice. And learned Sacred Sword.
"...that feels very strange," he said, after a moment. "Thanks, Ash. For... well, for both times you've helped me, I guess."
Ash grinned. "I'm glad to have helped, Keldeo!"
The ground shook.
"What's that?" Bayleef asked, walking over a little unsteadily. "Does that mean more trouble?"
As they watched, the ground shook and changed. It turned from a series of rolling hills into a shallow valley, with the occasional stone marker around it. The fossils and skeletons crumbled to dust, which flowed together around the markers and vanished underground.
The centrepiece of the valley was a large obelisk, formed of black stone, with golden letters written on it.
They shall not grow old, but remain forever young
In the memories of those who loved them.
A moment later, the whole inner-world collapsed completely, as Aura Purge ran its course and ended.
"Ow," Ash said, sitting up. "That was... different."
Pikachu jumped over, and Ash caught him with a quick grin. "Yeah, missed you too..."
He looked around for Noctowl, and smiled with relief. "Good to see everyone's alright."
"Rather," Noctowl said, shaking his head. "That was most dreadfully confusing, I'd say."
Pidgeot stood, inspecting her feathers. "Well, it wore off... Misty? Did I change out here too?"
"What?" Misty asked. "Change? No."
"Oh, yeah..." Ash frowned. Then did a double take. "Gary? When did you get here? And – are those Cobalion, Virizion and... what the heck?"
"They arrived shortly after you went into Cubone's mindscape," Misty told him. "Gary's Alakazam has Teleport now. He had these Pokémon with him for some reason."
"They said they wanted to speak to Mewtwo," Gary said, and shrugged. "Fine by me."
"...right," Ash said, visibly deciding to deal with that later. "Oh, I've never seen that Pokémon before."
Furfrou posed. "I am a Furfrou. One of the best kinds of Pokémon."
Umbreon rolled her eyes. "From what I've seen so far, yes, she is always like this."
Ash snapped his fingers. "Oh, that reminds me... Gary? You know that mega-evolution thing? It happened again, in the mindscape. Pidgeot turned into... Mega Pidgeot, I guess?"
Gary nodded. "That might explain it. Your staff was certainly lit up again, but it wasn't the only thing... what's in your bag?"
"My bag?" Ash touched it. "Uh... almost everything. It's got an Aura trick on it which means it's bigger on the inside."
Gary frowned. "Okay, that makes it more difficult."
He turned to Alakazam. "Tower of Mastery, please. I've got a plan."
A blur, and they vanished.
"...okay..." Ash said, slowly. "I'm sure we'll find out what that was about at some point."
"Cubone?" Jessie asked, anxious. "How are you?"
"I am... better," Cubone said, after several seconds of thought. "I feel at peace."
She held out a hand, and concentrated. A bone formed, though slower than before. "Hmmm."
"Is dat gonna be a problem?" Meowth asked. "Dat ain't as fast as normal..."
"No, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm slower, but..." Cubone shrugged. "Before, it was all instinct. Automatic. Now, though, I suspect I will have to work for my skill."
"Keldeo?" Virizion asked, looking worried. "Are you alright?"
Keldeo nodded. "I'm fine, Virizion. Better than fine."
"How so?" Cobalion asked.
Keldeo looked between the three Pokémon who had trained and raised him for the last few years. "I... I learned something, in there. From the Cubone whose mind it was, and from Ash – the trainer."
"Okay, spill the beans!" Terrakion told him. "What's this something you learned?"
"Two important lessons," Keldeo elaborated. "Firstly – that the important thing in being a Sword of Justice is to be just – to fight for those who cannot fight themselves."
"Well done, Keldeo!" Virizion congratulated. "That's an important lesson."
"Yeah, I guessed," Keldeo agreed. He took a breath, and concentrated.
"Wait, is that-" Terrakion gaped.
The azure blade formed, slowly but surely, atop Keldeo's horn.
"Sacred Sword!" Cobalion pronounced. "Very well done, Keldeo. You have done us proud indeed, to learn that move so young."
"Thanks," Keldeo said, smiling, and then dismissed it. "But from Ash, I learned something just as important."
He looked each of the Swords in the eye, one by one. "I learned that – none of you mind that I wasn't ready. You trained me because that's what I wanted, not because you thought I had to be strong to be worth anything."
"If you ever got that impression-" Virizion began.
Keldeo shook his head. "I did, but that was me being foolish. I know now I was wrong – what matters is me, and what I do with myself."
He grinned. "And that means – this."
Keldeo closed his eyes.
There was a flash of blue light.
"What the-" Cobalion said, shocked, as the light died. "Your form changed?"
Keldeo smirked. His horn was longer, and... different, with three coloured feathers next to it in his mane. "That's right! It's Resolute Form."
Rather confusingly, Keldeo was if anything more comfortable fighting in this form than in his normal one – having spent several months training with the other Swords of Justice in his Resolute Form back in the other timeline.
"Does that mean you know Secret Sword?" Virizion asked. "None of us ever managed to learn it, but we heard you-"
Keldeo put action to words, forming a gigantic orange-brown blade of energy from his horn. "I do."
"...well," Terrakion managed, after a moment. "You certainly learned a lot in a hurry, lad!"
He turned to Cobalion. "Come on, Cobalion! Congratulate him!"
"...just like your father," Cobalion whispered.
Keldeo blinked. "What?"
Cobalion shook his head, seeming to recover somewhat. "Sorry, Keldeo. I was startled."
"What do you mean, like my father?" Keldeo pressed.
"You remember how you came to live with us?" Virizion asked. "We adopted you as an apprentice, after your parents died."
"Yeah... Keldeo nodded, wincing. "I remember."
"I saw your father at the last," Cobalion informed him. "I'd almost thought I was imagining it, but – for just a moment – he changed."
"All of us heard him using Secret Sword," Terrakion said, shrugging. "It echoed off the mountains! But only Cobalion saw, I think."
Virizion concurred. "Terrakion and I were too busy getting you to safety, Keldeo."
"So... that's why you knew I could learn Secret Sword," Keldeo said slowly. He sniffed, and a tear dropped from his eye to splash on the floor. "Sorry, guys, I-"
"It's okay to cry, Keldeo," Virizion assured him.
And, for the next few minutes, Keldeo did.
"Got it!" Gary announced, as he appeared again with Alakazam. "I managed to convince the guy in Kalos that we wouldn't be keeping it. Hey, Lucario! Catch!"
Lucario, somewhat bemused, caught the armband Gary threw him and inspected it – specifically, the glowing sphere embedded into it.
"This is genuine Lucarionite," Gary informed everyone. "It's a mega stone. Now, Ashy-boy has some kind of key stone deal going on, but I don't know what it is. The best thing to do is find out by experiment."
Ash blinked. "What does that mean?"
Gary looked around, and his eyes lit on an open patch of ground. "Empty your bag out over there, and we'll see what glows when you and Lucario use that Lucarionite."
"This seems unscientific," Brock observed.
Gary shrugged. "Hey, I'm only a student. Scientific rigour is next on the syllabus."
"Ha!"
Cobalion jumped back, Keldeo's blade just about scoring along his flank. "Impressive, Keldeo!"
Keldeo panted, wobbling a little on unsteady legs. He may have had several months' experience with Secret Sword, and several years of general training, but his body was still the same as it had been that morning – still young – and had less stamina than he could have hoped.
"Time!" Virizion called. "Keldeo scored two hits, Cobalion three. Close match, you two!"
"I'd hoped I'd do better," Keldeo admitted. He then shrugged. "But – I'm glad I'm able to score on you at all, Cobalion!"
"You've come a long way, Keldeo," Cobalion agreed.
He looked significantly at Terrakion and Virizion. "What say you?"
"Aye," Virizion said at once, just ahead of Terrakion's equally sure "Aye!"
"Then it is unanimous," Cobalion stated. "Keldeo – welcome to our company. Your blade with ours, our strength with yours."
Keldeo blinked, realizing what they meant. "Really?"
"You've earned it," Terrakion nodded. "Hell, you've earned it twice over!"
"Shall we?" Virizion invited, igniting her blade. "Greater than one is two."
"Greater than two is three," Terrakion continued.
Keldeo stepped up, placing his own Sacred Sword together with the others. "Greater than three is four!"
"When the strength of friends is combined into one," Cobalion said, his silver-blue Sword completing the set. He paused, and then all four spoke together.
"Then true power and courage are created!"
For a long moment, they held their horns in place. Then, one by one, they sheathed their Swords and returned them to an inert state.
"I..." Keldeo blinked away dampness from his eyes. "Thank you, all of you."
"Like I said, you earned it!" Terrakion punched his shoulder – lightly, so Keldeo didn't go skidding across the grass.
"Indeed you did, Keldeo," Cobalion said.
An orange light drew their attention. "What-"
"Okay, here goes," Ash said, standing in the middle of piles and piles of his stuff.
It was going to take hours to get all this back into the bag...
Since they were fairly sure the staff was part of it, he had it in his hands. The question was what else would react.
"I am ready," Lucario announced, touching the armband now on his right arm. "What do we need to do?"
Gary frowned, parsing the translation from Dee in his ear. "Well, from what Gurrkin told me... think about what Ash means to you. How important he is to you. And Ash – same thing on your end."
"Gotcha." Ash closed his eyes, concentrating.
That time in Sinnoh, so long ago, when he had helped save a young Riolu from Hunter J.
Then, that shining moment a little over a year ago when he had been chosen for the honour of raising a Riolu – and it had been the same one.
Riolu standing before him, protecting him against Sir Aaron's Lucario – quietly willing to defend his trainer and friend, even against so superior an enemy.
Fighting Hunter J, when she came to Kanto.
Their gym battles together. Cerulean, Vermillion, Fuchsia... the Pokémon League, the first time Ash had ever won one, and with not a little help from the young Fighting-type.
Training together – in a more literal interpretation than usual.
The Orange Islands. Riolu evolving to Lucario, after making the decision to take a hit meant for Ash, and Lucario's first battles in his evolved form – including the one which had closed out their Orange League challenge.
These last months travelling through Johto.
That heart-wrenching moment when Entei had defeated Lucario, and Ash had worried and wondered.
They'd had fun together, fought together... they were friends.
Ash's eyes snapped open.
"Whoa," he said, on seeing Lucario.
Or, to be more precise, Mega Lucario. Shaggier fur, more spikes on wrists, feet and shoulders, black markings on the blue fur... crimson paws instead of black, and much larger aura-sensing appendages on the back of his neck.
Lucario opened his own eyes, and Ash knew – beyond a shadow of a doubt – that he had been thinking of the very same moments.
"Well," he said, inspecting the changes that had swept over him. "This is unusual."
"Aha!"
They turned to Gary, who was holding something up in triumph.
"Look!" the itinerant trainer said, holding up two luminous feathers. "They're glowing as well – they must be what I saw in your bag. What are they?"
Ash peered closer. "Those are... wait, those are the silver wing and rainbow wing. They're feathers from Lugia and Ho-Oh."
"Strange," Lucario agreed. "Perhaps it's because they're powerful Legendaries who have a bond with you, Ash."
"Maybe," Ash agreed. "So, are they my... key stone, is it?"
"Apparently." Gary shrugged. "Maybe I'll ask Gurrkin what it takes to make a Key Stone, see if we can make it a bit less unwieldy. Anyway, there we have it."
He frowned. "Seems a bit of a waste to just undo the mega-evolution now, though."
"Hmmm..." Furfrou walked around the trainer-Pokémon pair, inspecting them. "I volunteer for a demonstration."
"Really?" Ash asked.
"What did she say?" Gary pressed a finger into his ear. "Oh, right. Thanks Dee... you volunteer? Really?"
"Why is this so surprising?" she asked. "I'd like to see how he fights."
"No comment," Gary said sensibly. "Okay, if you want to."
"I most certainly do." Furfrou paced around until she was on the other side of Lucario to Ash, and turned to face her opponent. "On the count of three."
Gary cleared his throat. "One, two, three!"
Lucario exploded forwards. His paws flashed blue with Aura, and he volleyed in a Force Palm at point-blank range directly into Furfrou's side.
She unaccountably failed to be knocked flying.
"What just happened?" Ash asked, blinking. "Shouldn't that have-"
Furfrou spun on one forepaw, and kicked out hard at Lucario – producing a loud clang, and sending him back a step.
"It's the fur," she said, shaking it out. "I know, it looks silly – but it's so thick attacks get lost in it."
She stepped back a pace, and then dove underground in a sudden shower of earth.
Lucario looked down, closing his eyes to see with Aura Sight. He easily identified the subterranean Pokémon, and jumped clear before skidding to a halt.
The ground crumbled away in a small area, and Furfrou's paws could be seen working away in the hole. Then she stopped.
Curious, Lucario looked again with Aura Sight, and watched with some confusion as she went back down the tunnel again – several feet back, then stopping.
Lucario paced over to the hole. "What's that in aid of?" he asked, looking down it.
"Surf!"
Lucario didn't quite dodge the water jet in time.
"I didn't know she could do that," Gary admitted. "You can surf?"
Furfrou burst from the ground. "But, of course."
"Shouldn't you be a bit dirty?" Lucario asked, shaking his head to get some of the water off. "You were underground..."
"Please! Mud?" Furfrou shrugged. "That is so barbaric."
"...that doesn't actually answer how you did it." Lucario shrugged, then burst into motion again. He went so fast that the spectators lost track of him for a moment, and when he slowed enough to be seen again he was winding up for a blow with a Bone Rush staff.
Furfrou gave him an unimpressed look, and once again the blow slammed home without actually affecting her to any significant degree.
"Lucario!" Ash called. "Try using Aura Sphere or something! Stick to ranged attacks!"
"Got it!" Lucario turned to open the distance, and Furfrou sprang forwards – sinking her teeth into his ankle for a moment, until he kicked out and she released him again.
"That looked painful," Ash said.
"More startling than anything," Lucario told him, skidding to a halt some way further from Furfrou. "It's a good thing she doesn't seem to have Fire Fang, though, that could have been pretty bad."
He shook his head. "Right, we've seen mêlée... let's see what happens to my aura throughput."
Putting his crimson paws together, he began to form a shimmering Aura Sphere between them. It swelled with startling speed, until it was almost three feet across and a flickering violet-blue.
Then Lucario fired.
Furfrou dove back underground as the Sphere came thundering in.
Fortunately for her, she went deep.
The Sphere hit the ground, spun in for about half its length, and then destabilized and exploded. The considerable momentum it had transferred itself to the explosion, which blew a teardrop-shaped crater in the ground with the tapering end facing directly away from Lucario.
It was at least fifteen feet across at the widest point, and over thirty long.
"Whoa!" several humans and Pokémon breathed, startled by the sheer scale of the result.
"That... last time I made a hole that big, it took nearly half a minute to charge," Lucario said, remembering Pumello. "That was five seconds!"
"I guess that's Mega Evolution," Ash replied soberly. "Okay, just use really quick ones, I guess... can you do seeker spheres?"
Lucario jumped into the air as Furfrou burst from the ground, barely avoiding her Dig. He formed two small spheres, spending less than a second on charging them, and rammed them together to produce a cloud of seeker spheres.
Furfrou watched them come in, and didn't dodge. Instead, she frowned momentarily and her fur poofed out to an almost comical thickness.
"What's that?" Gary asked, as the explosions of the Aura Spheres hid her for a moment.
Once the barrage ended, and the clouds of lustrous black fur had subsided, Furfrou walked casually out of the smoke. "It is cotton guard, of course. Though a much more stylish version."
Lucario tilted his head, considering.
He drew one leg back, resting his weight on the ball of the foot, and curled in the toes of the other for better grip. Then, once more, burst into motion.
Furfrou rolled her eyes as he wound up for another blow. "This again?"
Then she noticed his fist was crackling with electricity.
The Thunderpunch hit home on Furfrou's side. Like the previous attacks, it didn't hurt much at all... but, unlike the previous ones, it charged all her fur with static.
All her fur.
Her thick, layered coat of fur suddenly became a cloud of electrically repelling strands, coming out of their layering and instead offering relatively little protection.
Lucario capitalized on his advantage, taking fistfuls of the fur and using them as levers – to throw Furfrou into the air, and send her sailing off into the lake with a loud splash.
"Sorry!" he called after her. "Didn't have much choice!"
Furfrou sputtered something unprintable as she emerged from underwater.
AN:
That's Cubone sorted, and in a rather better equilibrium.
Keldeo has earned his sword. Twice over. (The concept of their having been other Keldeo is obvious – Keldeo had to come from somewhere – but can get interesting when explored.)
Furfrou are absolutely amazing tanks, but they do have something of a problem with doing damage – at least, to a Fighting/Steel. They should probably get the elemental Fang attacks...
