Pokemon Adventures: Where Legends Cross
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon Adventures/Special.
Something that I didn't get to mention last chapter: CRYS KICKS FTW! XDDD
Began writing on August 29th, 2011. Currently drafting Chapter 13 of Arc 2, replanning the last parts of Arc 3 before moving on to Arc 4.
Chapter 31. Vs. Kyurem II: Lich
Green stared up at the enormous monster that now towered over all of their exhausted forms, looking more dangerous than ever. Besides looking more powerful than ever, even after Ghetsis's manipulator was destroyed Kyurem seemed no closer to regaining - assuming that it had any to begin with.
"Something's wrong," muttered Black from behind her, as if speaking for herself. "Ghetsis is defeated, his controller destroyed. Why's Kyurem still like that?"
"What if the controller was just something to add up?" Asked Blue worriedly. "You know, what if it was... like that from the start?"
"Well, we're never gonna find out if it makes dinner outta all of us," said Gold as he called Exbo and Sudobo to his side, ready for battle. "Ghetsis did say that Kyurem's constantly hungry... but I don't really fancy being its meal, so let's... dunno, tie'em up or something?"
"Direct attack is out of the question," analyzed Green cautiously, singalling his Machamp and Charizard to halt the Four Guardians as they tried to launch their attacks again. "Somehow Kyurem's using our attacks to empower himself, so we first have to restrain its movements before - "
"... Fusion Bolt!"
"Look out!" Diamond's cry was almost drowned out by the sudden burst of sizzling noise that had been silent for the last hour, and Green whirled back just in time to see the crackling orb of blue electricity hurtle past him by inches. The Electric-type attack skimmed straight across the floor, exploding directly under Kyurem's feet in a gigantic explosion. Taken by surprise, the Boundary Pokemon tumbled backwards with a shocked shriek, head slamming against the wall which almost fell down further against its weight.
"... Fusion Flare!"
"Incoming!" This time Green shouted the warning, having felt the excruciating heat firsthand. The next moment all the Dex Holders hit the floor as a brilliant orb of crimson flame shot over their heads, hitting home on top of the celingless wall directly on top of Kyurem's head. The already-crumbling wall immediately collapsed, effectively burying the Boundary Pokemon under its own rubble.
"Reshiram! Zekrom! You're awake!" Black exclaimed as he rushed over to the two Energy Dragons in the center of the chamber, followed suit by Green and the rest of the Dex Holders; their Pokemon joined the Guardians in guarding Kyurem's temporary stone prison, some of them (including Terrakion) using their Rock-type moves to reinforce the mound of boulders.
Reshiram and Zekrom were indeed awake, their eyes dull but open and their bodies still on the floor but moving. As the Dex Holders crowded around them Reshiram scanned their faces as if they were her long-lost children, but Zekrom had his eyes only on N's STILL unmoving form.
"Ah... Black, you're all alive..." Reshiram sighed in relief as Black stepped in front of her. With a curious glance at Red she added: "And I see a new comrade has joined you. When Kyurem froze us I thought... I thought you'd..."
"We'd all have been dead if it hadn't been for Master Maro - Red," Black corrected himself hastily as Red ducked his gaze flattered. "Reshiram, Kyurem has to be stopped. You spoke as if you know something about him. Tell us! What is he? Why is he still rampaging after he's been freed from Ghetsis?"
"Yes... you'll have to know..." Reshiram whispered heavily, and Green thought he heard a trace of sadness in the Vast White Pokemon's voice, as if by saying that she was letting go of something dear to her. Judging from Yellow's expession as she heard her words, Green was almost certain of this.
"Listen to his voice, N..." Zekrom's voice suddenly rang out, and Green turned aside to see that the Deep Black Pokemon had managed to crawl right in front of the still-thunderstruck N, his crimson gaze boring into his gray ones with such force that Green was amazed by the Trainer's nonreaction to it. "Listen to him, hear his feelings that he screams out even now! Learn why he is what he is, as a friend of all Pokemon! Isn't that what you are? Answer me, N!"
Zekrom's pleas must have reached the shocked Trainer somehow, for as the Deep Black Pokemon spoke Green noticed N finally beginning to stir, his unfocused eyes slowly travelling over to where Kyurem was busy breaking out of its prison. Green continued to watch as N's expression change (very slightly) from blankness to curiousity, then finally to shock.
"Pain... hunger," a voice trembled, but it didn't belong to N.; the young man himself was staring at Yellow's horrified face with a dumbfounded expression.
"You can hear as well?" He whispered in disbelief, his gray eyes wide.
"No... I only feel," replied Yellow with a sympathetic smile before turning back to Reshiram and Zekrom. "I sense so much hunger from Kyurem... so much hunger that it's causing him pain. Tell us... why is he so hungry? What's he hungry for?"
Reshiram and Zekrom looked at each other, and Green could see that sad expression pass between them again.
"... I suppose we must start from the very beginning," murmured Reshiram as they turned back to face the anticipating Dex Holders. "Be shocked not if the truth is more than what you bargained for, because we will tell you everything from the beginning; our origin, how Kyurem came to be... and the part we played in it. It is not a happy story."
"Then let me heal you as you speak," offered Yellow as she took a step forward, but to Green's surprise Zekrom shook his head.
"Nay, gifted child," grunted the Deep Black Pokemon quietly. "We will bear this wound of ours as a token of atonement, for alas, what evil we have caused, now and then! Us it was that allowed this fell battle to begin, us it was that tore our body in half because of split loyalties... and us it was, the very reason that Kyurem exists at all."
Green narrowed his eyes as flashes of sorrow crossed their expressions again. What kind of a story could be so painful that even the mere mentioning of it caused so much agony?
"You will know of the ancient myths, in which Zekrom and I was once a singular entity," began Reshiram in a whisper. "The myths are correct. We separated our mind and heart to keep our loyalty to both heroes who turned their back on each other... the mind is I, and the heart is he."
"We achieved this split with help from a Higher Power, of which we shall not speak of here," spoke Zekrom heavily as he took over. "But we hadn't taken one thing into account: Our body... and our soul. Apparantly our soul was even then wise enough to realize that we could never be truly made apart from each other, that taking either sides of truth and ideal would be foolish... so it chose neither."
"Or, perhaps, it was because of the curse that had been laid by our reckless split," sighed Reshiram sadly. "Either way, our soul remained behind when we split ourselves, but where had it to go? Lost and ripped apart from its own mind and heart, it drifted back to our old body that we've abandoned... our corpse. There it stayed until the gift of life roused him again, made him what he was... what we've left him to be."
A long silence followed.
"So... so he's one of you?" Asked Sapphire, eyes widening in horror as several Dex Holders - including Green - looked back at the said Boundary Pokemon busily breaking out of his stone prison. (#1) "Then why's he... like that?"
"Our lost brother... the brother we had cursed," whispered Zekrom, his crimson eyes darkening. "Energy is vital for every life that lives, and they either get it by generating it themselves like we do, or storing energy that they gain from comsuming another object that holds it. But born without our reckoning, our blessing... Kyurem had neither ability. He couldn't contain his own energy... and he didn't have any to begin with."
"No... no energy?" Pearl asked incredulously, his eyes wide in shock. "But then... then how can he sustain himself without energy?"
"Of course he couldn't!" Reshiram almost sounded as if she was laughing, but to Green it almost sounded as if she was weeping. "Not only was he without energy from the start, what energy he had managed to obtain would drain out of his body as quickly as a river flows to the sea, leaving him empty once again... and what could he do to survive but to consume everything in his sight until there was nothing left?"
"So that was why he kept freezing everything?" Gasped White. "To drain them of energy to live?"
"If he was drained of too much energy his own body would freeze, hence his habit of freezing himself with his prey; it was the most convenient way for him to feed," mumbled Zekrom. "Naturally, the world came to know him as an ice-hearted monster who comsumed everything within sight indiscriminately... the way we left him to be. It wasn't a fate anyone should deserve, not a life you would wish on anyone... not even to your worst enemy."
"How much suffering our guilt had offered us, it was nothing compared to the agony which Kyurem was forced to live through: a life of eternal hunger and violence in which there could be no escape," murmured Reshiram in remorse. "Countless times he lay before our creator, begging for his existence to be ended... a wish that was never granted. It is our creator's virtue that everyone has a destiny to serve in life, and that no pain or agony can excuse death."
"What Kyurem was granted was sleep, one like in which we ourselves were soon put into," said Zekrom morosely. "A deep, long sleep in which there was no awakening, a semi-eternal getaway from his pain to find peace. And peace he did get... for awhile."
"But how can he sustain himself while he sleeps?" Black inquired, blinking in confusion.
"He cannot," replied Zekrom, his voice now getting flat with sadness. "Even in sleep he needed a constant infeed of energy... which we offered for him. It was the least we could do, after making him... like that. So in peace he slept, sustaining himself through our endless supply of energy... until our foolishness destroyed him once again."
"When we were released from our slumber and revived our battle..." Reshiram took over, only to pause as she looked apologetically at Black and N. "Ah, of course, I meant no word of blame to you. The blame of this disaster is ours and ours alone. While we had awakened from our seals weakened, our fight has drained us of such energy that the flow of energy we had been sending to Kyurem were disrupted and broke, casting him into the abyss of madness again... made him what he is now."
As he heard the two deities' story Green couldn't help but become solemn, bowing his head as the tale of horror and agony weaved itself through his mind. It appeared that the other Dex Holders were feeling the same way, for as Reshiram finished speaking he could only hear silence...
Silence?
Something was wrong.
"Kyurem's not fighting," Green muttered, whirling around to where the Boundary Pokemon was buried minutes ago. From the sounds he'd been hearing there was no way he couldn't have broken out yet -
As he guessed, Kyurem was already freed from his stone cell. However, something was different; Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion was surrounding the great beast in an orderly, triangular stance, while Keldeo was holding back with the Dex Holders' Pokemon with an uncertain expression. Upon a closer inspection Green realized the three Guardians' motive; instead of going for direct attack, the three of them were trying hem in Kyurem without attacking him, leaving him no way to absorb their energy and turn it against them.
And, obviously, it was working: the Boundary Pokemon was shifting gaze (and feet) between each one of them with a confused expression, its moves becoming more frantic and sluggish by every step. The madly glowing yellow light had somewhat dimmed from his eyes, slowly being replaced by that of a vague fear... of oblivion.
"Ah, I see Cobalion had been attentive," spoke Reshiram; strangely, her voice sounded rather bitter. "They're not giving him an excuse to take energy from anyway, planning to let his energy leech out to the limit."
"Then... then what will happen?" Asked White, trembling slightly.
"Who knows?" Muttered Zekrom gravely. "Perhaps he will merely collapse, weakened enough for us to take him back to where he belongs... or the unbearable hunger will cause him to perish, let him find peace at last..."
Green narrowed his eyes. So there was high chance that Kyurem would perish of the Guardians had it their way... was that why Reshiram and Zekrom looked so upset? Because they still wished that their enstranged brother could be saved? But even so, they did not believe it themselves...
"What should we do?" Crystal whispered; Green wasn't sure if she was asking the deities or the other Dex Holders.
"If Kyurem is not dealt with here, this region will surely come to an end in ice," murmured Zekrom, his tone plainly implying that he wasn't liking his words one bit. "If stopping him is your objective, there is nothing you need to do; Cobalion knows what he is doing."
"But I must ask... is there any way to save him?" Yellow asked carefully, her amber eyes swimming as she gazed at Kyurem's shrieking figure; by now the Boundary Pokemon was literally thrashing where he stood, his movements getting weaker and weaker and his fearful wail growing fainter.
"... I do not know, child," whispered Reshiram, looking as if she would cry. "But I certainly hope so. His life is too great a cost for what we've done..."
A heavy silence descended among the Dex Holders once again as they turned to each other; they've heard enough. Now was the time to make a decision.
"What do we do?" White spoke out first, her voice sounding rather panicky. "If we don't stop Kyurem the entire region will fall, but - "
"But can we really let someone like him die for that?" Platina asked worriedly, flinching slightly at Kyurem's unearthly scream ripped through the air.
"He's already suffered so much..." Blue murmured, her eyes cloudy as if empathizing with the Boundary Pokemon. "Would he want to die? And if he does... would it be the right thing to... to let him have his wish?"
"Blue-nee..." Silver muttered unhappily as both he and Green gazed into her murky blue eyes.
"Um... sorry to break the tension here," Black spoke up, sounding a little nervous in front of all his seniors as his gaze travelled over to the suffering deity. "But we don't have much time if we want to interfere. Kyurem's energy's draining fast... and I don't think the Guardians would welcome intruders."
"Point," Green agreed, taking note of Terrakion's fierce snarl as he continued to force Kyurem back whenever he tried to approach their position. "We must decide quickly, whether it is to subdue Kyurem or save him. This isn't something any one person can judge; we need all opinions now! Red, what do you - "
Green halted as his gaze turned to Red, frowning in annoyance as he saw that his friend wasn't paying attention. Rather, his gaze was fixed in shock and stark disbelief as he stared at something in Kyurems' direction -
A very familiar short figure was slowly walking towards the writhing Boundary Pokemon.
"Yellow-senpai!" Crystal's shocked exclamation triggered a whirlwind of dismayed cries from the other Dex Holders, and Green actually had to stop Red and Blue as they shot forward to snatch her back; especially vital since at that moment Kyurem swerved his head in their direction.
"Yellow! What - " "Where are you going, Yellow-senpai?" "Yellow, get back here at once!"
The Healer slowly turned around as the frantic voices getting louder, and Green almost blinked to see an expression of utmost serenity on her face, an expression of someone who was lost but found her way back into the light.
"It's okay," she spoke quietly, yet her voice seemed to drown out what little noise there was in the large chamber - including Kyurem's agonized screams. "I know the path now. This is for me to do."
"What do you have in mind, Yellow?" Red asked concernedly as Green threw a dubious look between them; not that he'd ever doubt those two, but their thoughts sometimes evaded his imagination. Hadn't Red proven that in his fight with Ghetsis less than an hour ago? He sounded as if he trusted her to know what she was doing, or else he would've went and fetched her back right away.
"This is for me to do..." repeated Yellow as she stepped onto the Guardians' blockade. As she walked right past Virizion the Grassland Pokemon gave her a queer look, but neither he nor Cobalion and Terrakion made any move to stop her as she went into the triangle they had hemmed Kyurem inside. To Green's alarm, the Boundary Pokemon's attention was now fixed on the young girl as she came to him, small step by step.
"Yellow - " several voices spoke together - Green's included - as she finally came directly beneath Kyurem's hyperventilating form. Without warning Yellow raised her hand, the same time Kyurem's head suddenly went down, his jaws open and salivating.
"Yellow!" Red exclaimed as he automatically took a step forward, and Green also automatically slammed his hand down upon his friend's shoulder. But the sight that greeted them next made even his jaws drop open, let alone Red's.
Yellow stood there, in the middle of the frozen floor of the throne room, her arms sprayed around Kyurem's large head in an embrace.
"I still feel so much pain from you..." Green barely heard her murmur in his shock. Managing to somehow look around, he saw that all the Dex Holders were staring at the scene dumbfounded; even Reshiram and Zekroms' eyes were round open in shock. Even Kyurem's yellow eyes were wide as he stared down at the little girl that was holding his head in her arms, though with surprise or insanity Green couldn't tell.
"I'm sorry I couldn't understand your pain before. I thought you were just an insane, violent monster, but in reality you were just a Pokemon that suffered too much... I don't think even my powers can cure you completely, but there's still something I can offer you."
"I'll give you what energy I have left, Kyurem. I hope this can offer you at least a good time of peace..."
*sigh* Yellow... you're a saint. Ah well, that's one reason why I like you so much :)
#1. Beginning from this point I start calling Kyurem by 'he' instead of 'it'. A way of showing that he's not a monster after all... sort of.
G.F.T.W, as you can see now, I meant Reshiram and Zekrom :) I've been afraid they'd be forgotten.
PrincessOfDestiny14, N was beside the two dragons all along, and he hadn't moved an inch since Chapter 26... poor guy.
Hmm, I wonder how this story might turn out for everyone? Kyurem's backstory, of course, is my invention. But who knows? Maybe if Gray version comes out we might find out more about what really happened to him... 'till then, I think I'll stick to my views XD
In the next chapter we will see if Yellow's idea was a good one... Until then, R&R!
Writing completed on September 3rd, 2011. This is Yowl of Time, out.