Trevor could only let out a weak, quivering chuckle as the monstrous Skarmory slowly raised its crimson wings and began flailing them wildly, creating a gale of wind powerful enough to send both Trevor and Aiden flying backwards and come crashing into a nearby wall. The pair found themselves unable to breathe from the waves of air crushing their chests, the onslaught of wind keeping them pinned and unable to move. Trevor was teetering on the brink of unconsciousness when the Skarmory finally stopped from fatigue, granting the pair an opportunity to move again and catch their breaths.
"You'll...pay for that!" Aiden gasped as she began charging headfirst towards the Skarmory with fiery eyes, her feet leaving charred imprints on the stone floor. One lazy swing of the crawler's wing was enough to create a gale which sent her hurtling backwards violently. Trevor, in turn, tried throwing a blast seed towards the Skarmory, only for another swing to send it completely off course towards Aiden's position. She was forced to lunge sideways to avoid the explosion.
"Hey! Be careful with those, that almost hit me!" Aiden shouted.
Trevor barely had time to apologize before the Skarmory began flapping its wings once more, creating another unstoppable barrage of wind. Through a sudden bout of quick thinking, Trevor pulled an iron thorn from his bag, and with all the force he could muster, plunged it into the earth and held on for dear life. Aiden, rapidly losing her footing, grabbed onto Trevor's tail to avoid being swept up by the powerful gale.
"OW! Aiden, that really hurts!"
"Sorry Treph, but you gotta hang on!"
The strength of the Skarmory's wings as well as the agonizing pain of his tail being pulled steadily took its toll on his grip, loosening it little by little as the gale continued to rage on.
"I can't hang on...much longer!" was all Trevor could mutter before his grip on the thorn finally slipped and the pair were sent helplessly tumbling backwards yet again. His morale rapidly decreasing, Trevor's strained efforts to rise back up were interrupted by Aiden shoving him back down shouting, "TREPH, DUCK!" as several sharp, metallic feathers were hurled towards them. As the honed knives hit an adjacent wall, sticking to the stone like darts to a cardboard target, Trevor couldn't help but notice a peculiar stinging feeling in his left ear followed by the sensation of something traveling down his face. Trembling, he put a paw to his ear and felt a gaping cut which burned relentlessly when touched. He then moved the quivering paw in between his eyes, now stained in a dull red. The metallic smell of his own blood was enough to make him crack down.
"Aiden, we can't fight this thing! We have to run! If we stay here, we'll die for sure!"
"What?!" Aiden yelled, turning towards Trevor with an incredulous expression.
"Aiden, please!" Trevor desperately pleaded, "This thing is too strong, fighting it is a lost cause!"
"If we leave, the kid'll be left all alone! He'll die!"
"There's no way we can beat this thing ourselves! We can come back - we can get out and find a stronger team who can save him! We don't have to-"
"Trevor!" Aiden screamed, "You can't have both! Either we confront this thing head on, or we leave the kid to die!"
The Skarmory bellowed yet another earsplitting cry, yet Trevor suddenly found himself focusing solely on the cowering Mime Jr. cowering behind it. His pink arms shakily pulled a massive hat over his eyes as he tried coping with a perilous situation haphazardly thrust upon him, helpless and alone.
"Just like me when I came to this world," Trevor thought to himself, digging his claws into his palms, "How could I possibly think of running away? I'm no better than the human before me - how could I be so cowardly? I...can't leave the kid to die!"
"Hey, you ought to run," Aiden declared loudly, breaking Trevor out of his headspace, "I can handle this thing on my own."
"You can't," Trevor protested as the Skarmory began storming towards the pair, preparing its next attack, "We have to work together!"
"You got any ideas, then?!"
Trevor heaved a deep sigh as he rummaged through his bag and pulled out the Blackgoggles and Luminous Orb he had purchased earlier. "I've got one," he answered with glinting eyes.
As the Skarmory began closing in, its massive wings threatening to crash down on the pair, Trevor rubbed the Luminous Orb and raised it into the air. The orb shone brilliantly, emitting a radiant white light which sent the crawler staggering backwards, screaming as it struggled to see anything beyond an endless expanse of white. Trevor, his eyes shielded by the protective layering of the Blackgoggles, now set his sights on the crawler's wings. Taking two blast seeds from his satchel, he swiftly aimed, then tossed them with all his might; the blast seeds hit their mark, causing severe damage and rendering them immobile. Shrieking in fury, the Skarmory opened its powerful jaw and lunged its beak towards Trevor, seeking to tear him to pieces with its array of spiked teeth. As it closed its head in to strike, Trevor shoved a blast seed into his mouth, and with a resounding crunch, spewed a billowing jet of fire which sent the Skarmory rearing its head back in agony.
Despite all the damage it had sustained, the Skarmory nonetheless recovered quickly to find Trevor kneeling on the ground, clutching his throat amidst a fit of coughing. A stream of smoke erupted from his mouth as he tried in vain to cease his uncontrollable hacking. Eyes widening in animosity, the crawler lumbered to Trevor's location and raised its talons over him, his back now completely covered in the crooked shadows of its clawed feet. Just as it was about to strike, however, Aiden's voice rang out from behind.
"Hey! Eyes over here!"
The Skarmory rapidly twisted its head to find Aiden standing confidently, one foot placed firmly above a brilliant ball of fire. Before it even had a chance to widen its eyes in surprise, Aiden swiftly aimed her foot behind her head, then sent the ball soaring straight towards its exposed body with an earth-splitting kick. Sparks flew in every conceivable direction as the fireball struck the crawler's side, then erupted into a vast sea of blinding light. The crawler's cries were drowned out by the roars of the unquenchable fire which fiercely pierced its thick, metal hide.
As the swelling flames gave way to wisps of smoke, the Skarmory bellowed one final, terrible screech before collapsing to its side with a resounding boom. Its steel exterior and imposing features quickly dissipated as the body of the once mighty crawler transformed into a gargantuan mound of gray dust.
-
Both Trevor and Aiden took a moment to lay and catch their breaths in silence before rushing towards the Mr. Mime still huddled against a nearby wall.
"You okay?!" Aiden cried as she began inspecting his body for any noticeable wounds.
Sunny began trembling as the pair closed in, his eyes wide and mouth agape. "Y-you..."
"You...what?" Trevor asked nervously, "Is there something else we need to be worrying about?"
"You...you're the coolest! What're your names? What was that shining ball thing you brought out? Can I have one? And can you teach me how you did that crazy kick? Can I have your pawprints? C'mon, pleeease?" Sunny's eyes sparkled with admiration as he shot forwards to inspect the pair from every conceivable angle.
Trevor and Aiden collectively breathed a sigh of relief, then awkwardly smiled at each other. "Well," Aiden muttered sheepishly, "At least the kid's safe. And full of energy to boot. We did good, didn't we Treph?"
"I guess we did," Trevor rasped happily, rummaging through his satchel and handing the Mime Jr. a plump Oran Berry.
"Sure, you really did. Got lucky, that is."
The two quickly shot up as they heard a voice which belonged to neither of them. Aiden motioned Sunny to stay back, which only made him lean forwards in curiosity.
"That voice..." Aiden murmured disbelievingly, "There's no way..."
Loud, echoing footsteps roared from the narrow corridor from which the pair had come from as three silhouettes emerged from the shadows. The pair noticed Alpha's giant, jagged outline glowering down on the two from the middle, his pale fangs contorted into a cold smirk which was visible amidst the darkness.
"Well, your luck's run out. The Supernovas'll take it from here."