Chapter 9: The Legend Comes to Life
"Articuno! Use Ice Beam!" Mephiles cried. Articuno obeyed and charged up an attack. Dawn and I ran to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. We stared up in horror.
"What are we gonna do!" I cried. "We can't take on all three birds at once!"
"We have to try!" Dawn replied, whipping out all her Pokeballs. "Quilava! We need your help!" Her Pokemon leapt out of its Pokeball, crying out its name. "Now, use Flame Wheel on Articuno!"
Quilava curled into a ball, flamed surrounding it, and it flew towards Articuno. But Moltres flew in the way and took the hit, rendering the attack ineffective.
"Take this, Zapdos!" I shouted, using a mind-bending trick on the electric bird. But Articuno rammed into me, causing me to lose my grip on the bird's brain.
"Quilava! Rock Throw!" Dawn cried. Rocks flew forward towards Moltres, but Zapdos took the hit. Though it was painful, the legendary titan of the air was hardly fazed.
"You're no match for me!" Mephiles laughed malevolently. "For all of us...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"
"We need another strategy," I grunted, clenching my fists.
"Let's try distracting one bird while attacking another," she said, pulling out another Pokeball. "Piplup! Let's go!" Her signature Pokemon came out, ready to fight.
"How cute," Mephiles smirked. "Would you like a pebble?"
"Try this on for cute!" Dawn shouted in anger, throwing another ball. "Togekiss, take the stage!"
"Take the stage?" I wondered, scratching my head. "That's a new one."
"I've heard it somewhere," Dawn shrugged. "I don't remember where."
"Before you die, you will suffer!" Mephiles roared.
"Not today!" I shouted back, grasping Zapdos' mind once again. Moltres flew in to intervene, but Togekiss intercepted it, catching it off-guard. Seizing the opportunity, I charged a quick but powerful telekinetic blast and threw it at the ice bird, paralyzing it.
"Score!" I cheered.
"Impressive," Mephiles muttered as Articuno rose back into the air, flapping in a jagged manner. "You managed to inflict damage. But your little game ends here. Moltres! Burn them to a crisp!"
Moltres threw its head back, a massive blast of fire forming in its mouth. "Watch out, Silver!" Dawn cried. I jumped back with her, but Piplup leapt forward and charged a water attack.
"What, are you going to use Water Gun?" Mephiles chuckled, amused. "How cute. Moltres, kill the penguin."
Moltres unleashed its attack, which careened rapidly towards Piplup. "NO!" Dawn screamed in horror as the fire consumed it. "PIPLUP!" Tears brimmed in her eyes.
Suddenly, the fire blasted away as a massive jet of water blasted it back. Everyone was shocked by this.
"What?!" Mephiles exclaimed. "Hydro Pump?! But how –?!"
"Piplup?!" Dawn exclaimed in amazement. The powerful water attack swiftly overcame Moltres' attack, consuming it and dealing significant damage. No sooner had the attacks faded than Piplup fainted, exhausted from the attack. Dawn rushed up to it, cradling it in her arms. "Piplup," she whispered. "That was...incredible. You sacrificed yourself to save us. I'm so proud of you."
"Pip," Piplup uttered weakly. Dawn returned it to its Pokeball.
"Impressive," Mephiles clapped in mock applause. "But I'm afraid this is as far as you'll go. Zapdos! Finish them off!"
Zapdos charged a powerful electric attack. Dawn, thinking quickly, whipped out another Pokeball and chucked it, letting out a mammoth Pokemon.
"Dawn!" I cried in shock. "What are you doing?!"
"Neutralizing the attack! Trust me!" The electric attack was headed straight for Mamoswine!
"IT'S GONNA GET HURT!" I shouted. She didn't respond, and the attack hit. I stared in horror as the electricity consumed it.
But when the dust cleared, Mamoswine was unharmed. "What –?!"
"Ground types aren't affected by electric attacks," Dawn winked at me.
"Gee, I feel stupid," I shrugged.
"Now, Mamoswine!" she cried. "Use Blizzard!"
With that, Mamoswine unleashed a massive snowstorm that consumed Zapdos and the other birds. When the storm settled, Zapdos was completely frozen solid. Articuno and Moltres were still raring for a fight, while Mephiles stared at us, a hate-filled snarl on his face.
"That does it," he rumbled angrily, a menacing dark aura surrounding him. "I'm done playing nice. I'll tear you to pieces! Articuno! Moltres! Destroy them!"
Articuno and Moltres began charging their ultimate attacks. Dawn and I looked at each other in horror. There would be no escape this time. The attack would not be dodgable, and none of our Pokemon would take the hit.
There's only one way to stop it I thought. It's a real long-shot, but it's our only chance. With that, I stepped forward as their attacks neared completion of charge.
"Silver!" Dawn cried in fright.
"Dawn," I looked at her, a sad look in my eye. "If I don't make it out of this, you probably will. Take care of yourself."
"Silver," was all she whispered, a tear falling from her eye. With that, I turned towards the birds, my hands glowing with telekinetic energy. Summoning all my power, I prepared what would probably be my final act.
The attack came, but before it hit, I suddenly generated a massive force field surrounding Dawn, me, and the shrine. The attack pressed on, but so did my field.
"I...will...not...give...UP!" I screamed as the field battled ferociously against the onslaught. The stalemate was unbearable, and it rapidly took its toll on my strength. Soon, I was at the breaking point, and I would have fallen if I hadn't remembered what was at stake. I pushed myself even more, not willing to lose. My muscles were starting to ache now, and my legs started to slide, but I grounded them again. My eyes remained shut so tight, they wouldn't have opened at my command. My muscles began to burn, but still I persisted. The pain was just getting worse, and I started to wonder if this is what it felt like to give birth. My muscles were screaming at me now, and my legs were wobbly as my feet tried with all their might to slip. Tears fell from my eyes as I fought against the field. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold. My full strength was almost gone, and still I persisted.
Then it stopped. My eyes shot open as I saw the birds slowly fall to the ground, exhausted. An explosion blasted Mephiles back, knocking him out. No sooner were they defeated than my weariness consumed me, and I collapsed to the ground and fainted.
What happened next, I recall only because Dawn told me about it. She breathed a moment, relieved that it was all over, but then she turned to my limp form.
"Silver!" she cried, rushing to me. "Oh no," she whispered, tears brimming in her eyes. "Silver...please, wake up." She shook me slightly. "Silver, please! Don't do this to me! Silver, come on! Please!"
I don't remember anything of what happened next, but somehow my eyes shot open, and I slowly stood up, still weary, and slowly walked over to Mephiles' weak form, taking the Ice Orb from him.
"Silver," Dawn said, holding her hand out to take the orb, but I stopped her.
"Don't stop me," I said. "This is something I've gotta do." With that, I walked forward, stumbling as I went, and finally placed the Ice Orb into the shrine with the other two. Then, I fell to my knees and fainted again.
Dawn stepped forward and watched as a pedestal rose from the ground. She saw a small ocarina on it, and something about it drew her to it. Slowly, she picked it up, stood before the shrine, and began to play.
The pillars around us began to glow in rhythm with what she played. She didn't notice, however, as she was too busy playing a serene tune. Magic filled the air as the birds behind us, once defeated, suddenly revived, but their eyes no longer spewed hatred or destruction. No, their eyes exuded peace and reconciliation as the dark sky opened up to reveal its true colors: white and blue. The ground, barren and destroyed by fire, began to teem with life once again as the madness of destruction that had ravaged our world for so long finally departed forever. Though we were far from civilization, the sound of people cheering with newfound hope could be heard for miles. Pokemon soared through the skies, swam through the restored waters, and returned to their homes.
At last, Dawn finished playing, and fell to her knees, sobbing in joy. As she did so, my eyes opened once again. I saw her and was worried a moment.
"Did we...fail?" I asked hoarsely.
She looked at me. Though her eyes were stained with tears, they were filled with joy. "No, Silver. We did it...You did it. Look around."
"Unh," I grunted, looking around. The desolation was gone, replaced only by beauty. My eyes widened in amazement. "We...we did do it, didn't we? We did it!"
"We saved the future," Dawn smiled, embracing me. I embraced her back, relieved that it was finally over. The battle was finished.
"Ungh," a familiar voice moaned. We turned and saw Mephiles struggling to his feet. "I...I don't understand. How did you manage to defeat me? My...my power...is absolute...how –"
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" I shrugged, smirking. "You truly are the most powerful foe I've ever faced. So I can only think of one explanation for how we defeated you."
"And what...is that?"
Dawn and I grinned at each other. "A glitch," we said simultaneously. With that, I picked him up with my power and threw him to the sky, never to be seen again.
Or so I thought.
We looked to the sky, smiling as we saw the birds finally back in harmony. As we looked, we saw another bird join them.
"What is that?" Dawn wondered.
"It could only be one thing," I smiled. "Lugia."
"The Beast of the Sea."
As we stood there, marvelling at the new world that lay before us, a tear fell from my eye. It was hard to believe, but we actually did it. We restored the future to its rightful beauty. At long last, all was at peace.
Or so we thought.
Two down, one to go, then on to the epic finale!
In case it's not clear, the song Dawn was playing on the ocarina was "The Legend Comes to Life" from Pokemon: The Movie 2000. It's one of the most popular Pokemon anime songs, particularly from the movies, and it's truly a masterpiece. In fact, I was actually playing it while writing that paragraph where Dawn played the tune. For everything before that, I was listening to "Iblis: Phase 3" from Sonic 06.
Anyways, what did you think? The ending kinda stunk if you ask me, but it could have been worse. I thought the battle was one of my best yet; what did you think?
The story's not over! To read the full story, read through "Sonic and the Silver Wing" and "Shadow and the Dark Aura Master." Then, stay tuned for the epic last story!