Garret's leading the charge at the head of the pack of Charizards flying through the darkening sky on the way to Po Town. Every last person from Tapu Village who possessed a ride pager had joined him, and each pokemon was carrying two people. Between them and all the pokemon they've brought, he hopes it's enough to take down Team Skull.
His impassioned speech to the villagers had gone by in a blur. At this point it feels like he can barely even register what he said. It didn't matter. He'd say whatever it took to get what he wanted, and in this case that meant saying whatever lies would scare the village most. "A whole pack of them! Vicious, wild things!" Garret had yelled. "I've seen them! Nearly killed me and maimed the Charizard I was with."
He's so animated and rabid as he soapboxes that it's a miracle he's not foaming at the mouth. All the noise and excitement had brought out every nosy neighbor. People were knocking on doors and beckoning others to join the growing crowd. After all, who doesn't want to see Garret, champion of Alola and pride of Tapu Village, give a speech? Who wouldn't believe the local golden boy? He was champion for a reason, right? So if he says it, they will listen. "How many of you have children on the island challenge?" He had asked them.
There's many murmurs from the numerous parents.
"What happens should they go too close? Don't you remember that night three of our kids went there and came back crying and frightened? We cannot allow this threat on our island. On our children!"
The crowd is growing louder and more restless. If you want to inspire quick action, one of the best ways to do it is to show someone that their most vulnerable and precious are in danger. That was something this village full of families could never resist.
"I know; we've all heard the stories. 'We don't go to Po Town.' Well, I'm here to tell you that our inaction will lead to tragedy. That pack just keeps getting bigger and more bold. How long till someone is killed? We can't wait on this!"
Now some are starting to shout in agreement.
"We can't wait for bureaucracy and authority to handle this. If they were any good they would have already done it. We nip this in the bud before the pack spreads! Before anyone dies! We take them out now!"
More voices join the yells and cheers. Garret's speech is a siren song to them, making them call for blood.
"Will you stand up for your home, your family, and your island? Are you with me?"
"Yes!" they tell him. The crowd has nearly become one in anger, fear, and righteousness.
"Then get your ride pagers, take with you who you can! Kill the beasts!"
Tapu Village goes wild as Charizards begin to descend from the sky.
It wasn't long before Po Town was within their view.
Guzma, Liam, and Plumeria are still sitting in the round window staring out at the sunset. From the look of Comfey, it might well be the last one they see as humans. She looks so rough. It had been a while now since she had been active at all, but now she barely moves. She doesn't seem to have the strength to do so anymore. Guzma pets her tiny head, trying to comfort her. He'd always had such mixed feelings on this particular pokemon. The resentment he occasionally bared wasn't her fault; she couldn't help what her existence represented. She was a living hourglass who's life counted down the moments till theirs was changed permanently.
"You see that?" says Liam, his eyes squinting into the distance.
Guzma looks up from the weakened Comfey. Shadows were on the horizon in the twilight. It takes a moment to realize that they're Charizards - a whole flock of them heading towards Po Town.
"What the hell?" Plumeria mumbles, confused.
They draw closer and there on the back of the Charizard leading the way, is Garret. A cold dread spreads throughout Guzma. "I don't think this is gonna be a friendly visit."
The three of them stand, Guzma placing Comfey gently down.
Guzma removes his jacket saying, "Get everyone ready to defend the mansion."
Liam and Plumeria leave the room as Guzma continues to disrobe. The sun sets, triggering the transformation.
Another petal falls from Comfey, leaving her with just one.
Charizards are landing within the gates of Po Town as Guzma stands out on the balcony. He watches as people dismount and call out their pokemon, many of them gasping, pointing, and murmuring when they see him. In the mansion below him, Lycanrocs are taking position in the lobby should anyone try to enter. Things had happened so quickly that there hadn't been time to do things like reinforce the door. So they wait, like guard dogs ready to pounce.
Guzma spots Garret approaching the mansion and pulls his lips back into a snarl as rage seeps into him. Why this? Hadn't he already won?
Garret points to him and addresses the crowd. "You see! And there's more inside. They've made a den in the mansion!"
"Go back home!" Guzma roars at them. There's more gasps at the revelation that the beast can speak. "We don't want to fight you. There's no reason for this. Leave."
"No reason?" Garret says, "You kidnapped someone from our village. Your mutts attacked children. And me!"
Guzma is silent for a moment. These things were technically true, but not in the way Garret presented them. "Don't get it twisted. That's not how it went down."
"Nothing twisted here other than you and your pack of wolves. This ends tonight! It ends now!" Garret rushes the door, bringing people and pokemon with him. There are some who seem shaken that Guzma is capable of speech, hesitating and milling about as their friends and neighbors head for the mansion's entrance. But when the door comes crashing in, they cautiously join the fray.
Guzma curses. He never was good at giving speeches or anything close to that and this was no different. He doesn't want to fight; that part was true. But what choice do they have? They can't leave and now these villagers are attacking their only home. His stomach turns at the thought of taking any casualties from this. He finds himself to blame once again for the trouble that's been brought to Po Town and Team Skull.
But he can't sit around feeling sorry for himself now. If he survives the night, there would be plenty of time for that later. He turns back into the mansion, heading for the stairs and steeling himself for what he'll see. He can already hear the cries, crashing, and chaos coming from down below.
But "chaos" feels like too soft a word now that he's taking it in. All around the bottom of the mansion Lycanrocs are fighting the pokemon of the villagers. But these are not fights until fainting; they're fights to the death. The humans egg their pokemon on viciously. Some are even two on one Lycanroc. Shady House had not been in the best shape for a long time, but now it's being torn apart in the numerous battles.
It's a confusing, horrible mess of claws, teeth, limbs, and elemental attacks. Guzma ducks out of the way of a burst of fire that nearly hits him. There's an electric wave from a Raichu that causes the lights to flicker, casting a strobing effect on the struggle below the stairs. Growls, roars, and cries of pain fill every ear. All he can do is stare in horror and disbelief at the violence taking up the entirety of the downstairs.
emWhere is Garret?/em He's strangely missing after leading the angry villagers inside. Guzma moves further down the stairs, looking all around for Garret in the uncoordinated free-for-all. A Growlithe comes charging at him, but he catches it within his massive canine-like jaws and hurls the snarling, snapping pokemon over the railing of the stairs. He hasn't even regained his barrings from that attack when a Marowak is suddenly on him, catching him in the stomach with the bone it's wielding. He's about to retaliate when one of the Lycanrocs steps in, taking its attention off Guzma.
He catches movement from the corner of his eye up the stairs, back where he came from. He turns and finally finds Garret.
The fur on his back bristles and his teeth become bared. He must have slipped past him while he was distracted. But why? Where was he going? Garret gives him a menacing smile and shouts, "Now!"
There's noise above him and he looks up to see the massive chandelier crashing down. He raises his arms in a vain attempt to protect himself as it falls on him, knocking the wind out of him and pinning him to the ground. A Scyther buzzes away from the ceiling where the chandelier once hung.
Guzma winces, painfully trying to push the downed fixture off of himself. He'd taken a hard fall, but he was relatively unhurt. Where was Garret going? He couldn't possibly know about-
Comfey. He's going for Comfey. Guzma struggles harder in his panic, kicking his legs and pawing at the object pinning him until he's wriggled his way out from underneath it. He gets to his feet unsteadily at first, several parts of him aching from the chandelier, then he's back up the stairs after Garret, leaving the villagers and Team Skull in their mortal battles.
Guzma tears through the mansion, heading for the far east room, but he sees no sign of Garret along the way. In the hallway leading to the room, he notices there's more glass than usual. The other busted mirror had finally fallen out of its frame. In a rage he had punched both mirrors years and years ago, but only one had actually shattered while the other had simply dented and cracked. If Garret's in there, it must have broke when he threw open the door. He slowly approaches the handle, paw outstretched, carefully avoiding the new pieces on the floor.
He opens it to find the room just as he left it, with Comfey still sitting peacefully near the window. Outside the storm has grown the worst it's been in a long time. Wind howls and lightening strikes so vibrant that it lights up Po Town bright as day for a split second. Thunder booms and echos throughout the mansion. He approaches Comfey heaving a sigh of relief that Garret didn't seem able to find the room. He's about to pick her up when something outside catches his eye. There's another Charizard making it's way haphazardly through the storm and coming for the balcony of the mansion.
He watches it struggle in the dangerous weather trying to get a look at the rider in the rain. Who had arrived this late to the party? It alights on the balcony railing and in a flash of lightening he sees who's aboard. He can't believe it. It's her! She came back! She looks frantic and worried. There's a younger girl that he can only guess is Alana sitting behind her. Had he gotten things wrong? Garret clearly wasn't above manipulation. Had she possibly come back for Guzma? His chest lightens a bit at the thought; a small ray of hope suddenly returning.
Then there's a sharp, horrendous pain in his side. A piercing agony that makes him roar in surprise and drop to his knees, clutching at the new wound. He pulls his paw away and looks at it, his breathing labored. It's covered in his blood. He tries to turn to find his attacker, and as he does, he's hit again in the stomach. He yelps in pain, and looks up to see Garret above him, holding a long bloody shard of the broken mirror. His own hand is cut from grasping it, streaks of blood trailing down his arms. His dark hair is slick with sweat and sticks to the sides of his face in an odd way, making the disgusted grimace he has that much more pronounced.
Garret sneers down at his panting and damaged form. "Aww, what's the matter?" he taunts him. "Get your little beasty heart broken? Did you really think she was gonna choose you when she had someone like me?"
As Garret talks, Guzma slowly wraps a paw around the leg of a chair.
"Look at you! Can't even get up and fight!"
Guzma tosses the chair at him full force. Garret stumbles, raising his arms as the chair hits, the legs of it cracking and splintering around him. Guzma roars and launches himself at Garret, but he quickly recovers from the chair and is brandishing the shard in front of himself. It buries into Guzma's chest as the two meet.
It's a wound even worse than the two before it, but Guzma manages to stay on his feet. He slowly pulls the shard from himself and tosses it aside. It's hard to breath, and he knows he's bleeding so much.
Garret's standing and watching him, waiting for his next move. Guzma takes a step toward him, raspily telling him, "Leave! Take everyone and go! We don't have to do this!"
But Garret doesn't leave. He doesn't even break eye contact with Guzma - until he goes for the bag of golf clubs, yanking out one of them. He takes a swing at Guzma, but misses him as he narrowly ducks out of the way. Guzma stumbles backwards and falls as Garret strikes again, once more missing him, but shattering the frame of one of the remaining family portraits.
He advances on Guzma as he lies on the ground. "You see, beast, we do have to do this. Wanna know why?" He raises the club above his head as lighting strikes, glinting off the shiny silver and illuminating the blood running down it from his hands. There's an unhinged look in his eye. "Because you tried to take what's mine!"
Guzma is absolutely immobilized. It's as if it's suddenly years prior and he's out on the balcony with his father about to bring the club down on him. All he can do is stare wide-eyed and wait for the blow.
"Hey asshole!" It's a girl's voice that he hasn't heard before.
Garret stops and turns. Guzma looks and there she is. She's standing there with her sister who's got a Yungoos in her hands.
"Yeah, that's right, you, emasshole/em!" her sister yells, saying the last word with as much emphasis as she can muster. Then she drops the Yungoos.
The pokemon hisses and rushes straight for Garret. It scurries up his leg and bites at his neck and face as Garret stumbles about tripping and crashing into things, trying to remove the Pokemon.
She orders her sister to stay back and then rushes over to Guzma, kneeling down and looking panicked as Garret struggles around the room.
"You came back!" he gasps out to her.
"Told you I would! Can you stand?"
Before he can answer her, Garret tears the Yungoos from his neck with a scream of pain. The pokemon flails in his grasp, his mouth and claws wet with blood. Garret hurls him at the wall, and he hits with a loud, sickening thud, neck twisting at an odd angle, before crumpling into a lifeless heap on the floor.
Alana screams and runs to the Yungoos.
Garret turns on them, his arms, face, and neck covered in bleeding bites. "Guess I forgot about the fucking Yungoos."
She stands protectively over Guzma, hands clenched into fists.
Garret rolls his eyes. "Really?"
"Garret, stop!" she yells at him.
But he continues to advance.
Guzma's mind is running on overdrive piecing things together. He'd been wrong. He should have never doubted her. She really had come back for him and it hadn't all just been a game. He finds new strength in this knowledge. It's shaky at first, but he slowly gets to his feet. He can't stay down now when there's still this asshole to take care off. Lightening strikes again as he begins to growl. The both of them stare Garret down in the light, his hulking wolf-like frame standing behind her, red eyes glowing.
Garret regards them coldly. Nobody moves, waiting for one another to make a move. All that can be heard is Guzma's low growl, Alana's crying, and the thunder and rain outside.
Garret launches himself not at them, but at Comfey.
She breaks from Guzma, and grabs Comfey, holding the old pokemon to her chest, the last petal wavering dangerously. She stumbles out of Garrets reach. Guzma steps between them.
Garret circles them, wiping sweat and blood from his nose. "From the looks of that thing, your boyfriend here's gonna be a permanent attack dog soon. Hope you're into that."
There's blood running down in a steady streams from Guzma's wounds. He's becoming light headed and it's hard to stay upright. He falters on his feet. It's taking all his concentration just to stay conscious.
Garret laughs. "If he even lives that long." He picks up broken shard of mirror that had been discarded earlier, shifting it in his hands.
"Garret this is enough!" she says.
But Garret just glares at her. Then he suddenly moves, making the both of them jump, but instead of going for them, he tears Alana away from her deceased Yungoos, dragging her to her feet and holding her in front of him while the shard hovers over her throat.
She gasps. "Garret, don't!"
"Sorry, kid," he says to Alana. "I know we had a lot of fun while your sister was gone."
"If that's what you want to call it." Alana snaps at him, trying to pry his arm away from herself.
He ignores Alana and addresses her sister. "Put the Comfey down."
She looks apologetically at Guzma, tears forming in her eyes and slowly lowers the pokemon to the ground.
"Now get away from it."
She takes a couple steps back, tears silently falling down her cheeks as she grits her teeth at Garret. Guzma reaches out for her, wanting to reassure her, let her know it's ok, but the effort just makes him stumble.
Garret marches Alana towards the Comfey. He stares down at the elderly pokemon with its one petal just barely hanging on. Then he tosses Alana aside, and raises the shard in both hands preparing to bring it down.
Guzma tries again to reach for her. It's ok. It's... ok. His vision is growing fuzzy. She's so focused on Garret that she doesn't notice. She screams, "No!" and charges at Garret, away from Guzma's reach.
But Garret sees her coming and shifts focus, preparing to bury the shard into her. It glints in his bloody hands as he raises it above his head. The sight of it brings everything within Guzma back just for a moment. With all he's got left, he leaps towards Garret, reels back an arm, and smacks him sideways.
The force sends Garret flying bodily through the air. He hits the round window, shattering it, eyes wide, and screaming, one hand still desperately clinging to the shard of glass. Then he disappears from view as he falls into the night and storm outside and down to the ground below, his shrieking suddenly ending.
Guzma collapses.
Outside the storm seems to weaken, lightening no longer lighting up the sky and thunder ceasing its echos throughout the mansion. Charizards take flight, heading away from Po Town. The villagers were retreating.
The door opens as Lycanrocs appear in the room, anxious to make sure their boss is alright now that they're no longer engaged in battle.
Guzma can just barely make out their forms coming into the room. He sees Alana pick up the Comfey and hold it to her, avoiding looking at her fallen Yungoos. There's the gentle pitter patter of rain dripping into the room through the shattered window. The wind makes the curtains lazily sway.
There's a hand holding his paw and she comes into focus above him. "Hey, doll," he tells her, voice just above a whisper.
He feels her tears falling on his fur. "It's gonna be ok. You'll be alright! You just gotta heal and-"
"Don't - don't think I'm making it out of this one."
"Just hold on! Don't leave," she sobs. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault!"
He shakily raises his other paw and brushes her hair behind her ear. "No, no it's not." His breathing is so shallow. He feels as if he's starting to drift away. All the pain and struggle of the night seem so far off now. But all he can feel in that moment is grateful that she had come back. That she'd ever come to Po Town at all. That at least he'd known her and loved her in the time that he had. "I'm just - just glad I got to see you... one last... time."
His paw falls back to his side and with a sigh, he's gone.
"Please, please don't go!" She falls onto him sobbing. "I love you." she whispers.
The last petal falls from the Comfey in Alana's hands. It drifts down and lands on his lifeless face.
Two Lycanrocs appear on either side of her and begin to howl.