?
"You are aware of the consequences if you don't fix this, aren't you?" a metallic voice echoes throughout an icy cave.
Bowing before the dragon, Felicia nods her head, "yes, I do."
"Then you know that your life hangs in the same balance as theirs, correct?"
She raises her head and gives the dragon a grave look, "I'm well aware of this, but I'm afraid I can't interfere."
"So you trust in Aphot's abilities that much, do you?"
"If I may, Lord Kyurem, not just his, but in Venomitus, Branna, and as much as I hate to say it, Frost's as well."
The dragon looks at her with disdain, "even though she has failed us, you still trust her?"
"Yes, though only because Cresselia has her eyes set on her."
"She does, doesn't she? Well, even I can't argue with that. Fare enough, then. You may sit this one out, but I want you to step in if anything happens to them."
"Understood," Felicia says, "but are you so worried about? Rayquaza and Jude just showed up on the battlefield."
"Just watch them, I have a bad feeling."
"Very well."
Stepping into a portal, Felicia wonders what Kyurem means, but shakes the thought out of her head. Whatever it may be, I can only trust Kyurem is telling me everything he knows.
STEEL LABYRINTH, NIGHT
Though the weather, much to Frost's dismay, had gotten better, the buildings around her still drip with water from melting ice. In front of her is a large crater with shards of concrete and metal scattered around it. At its center lays a barely conscious Myro. At first, the empoleon stares at a nearby building with no expression on her face, but then slowly moves her head to look at Frost.
"So," she starts, "my finale was ruined thanks to you."
"Yeah, and I'll ruin it as many times as I need to."
She gives the froslass an exasperated look, "why? What makes you want to ruin my show so much?"
"Well, considering the fact that you're putting my friends and the city in danger, I'd think that would be enough reason. Anyway, I don't have time to stay and answer any more of your questions, because I have to clean up your mess. That said, I'm going to leave you here to do whatever you want. I'm only after Lyle, not any of you, thought I'll probably come to regret this decision considering we might have to deal with you again."
As she starts to float away, Myro asks her, "do you have someone that you love?"
Frost freezes in place at her question, "what?"
"Someone that you love," Myro repeats with a weak voice. "Someone that you would die to protect, but not because of obligation like a friend, but because losing that person would be like losing a part of yourself."
Slowly turning around, Frost struggles to answer her, "that's… a complicated thing to-"
"It always is," the empoleon interrupts. "That's why I did all of this. At first, it was for Lyle, but he doesn't give a damn about anyone except you and Branna. That's why I turned to someone that I only started to get to know today. Though, like I do with all my new friends, I tried to impress him by curing his boredom."
Frost's uncomfortable look turns to a spiteful smile, "Lyle doesn't care about us, he's attacked us twice since Branna's been on this continent. Another thing, are you seriously trying to tell me you destroyed half a city out of love?! That's ridiculous!"
"Wouldn't you?"
"Of course not, what kind of-"
"No really," Myro interrupts again. "If someone you loved was in danger, but you could only save them by taking someone else's life, would you?"
Frost shakes her head, "that's not the same. You're talking about destroying things for fun! Under what kind of twisted logic-"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION!"
Myro's sudden outburst makes Frost immediately go quiet. Seeing her reaction, the empoleon gives her a faint smile, "so what'll it be? Would you do it for love, or wouldn't you?"
Cornered by her question, Frost sighs, "I don't know."
"Exactly!" Myro shouts with a wider smile on her face. "Bravo, you figured it out! See, when it comes to love, no ever knows what they're going to do until it happens."
"So you're saying that…" the froslass starts. She is unable to finish her sentence, however, when she begins to choke on her words and tremble. Despite her disagreement with Myro's reasoning, she understands her point. This paradox in Frost's thinking causes her to nearly lose grip on her mind. How could I agree with the enemy? Does that make me the enemy? Are we the same? What would I do if they were in danger? Frost then thinks to herself the most important question, do I love them?
Knowing the fragile state of Frost's mind, Myro tells her, "ever since Lyle was reawakened, I've been watching him. Think back, Frost, to the time you encountered him in Newsport. When Branna fell into the water, he couldn't bring himself to capture her, nor attack her. Again, on this very day, he couldn't bring himself to kill her. Also, don't think I didn't catch her little plan to lure me and Kyogre outside the city just so she could use her moves. What I wasn't counting on was for Zapdos to turn the city into a giant mystery dungeon, but it is what it is. Anyways, I imagine that Branna being outside the city is the reason it took him this long to summon Groudon."
With hardly any vigor in her voice, Frost asks, "he still attacked us several times didn't he?"
She smirks, "no, he never attacked you. He only threw an attack at you earlier, because he knew that someone else would show up. The person he views as his perfect rival."
Thinking back, Frost remembers the fights between Lyle and me. She remembers the extra force he had put into each strike, and the look on his face while he was doing it. This revelation seals the deal for Frost. She wipes the corner of her mouth as a single drop of blood runs down her face. Then, a pokemon leaps onto her from behind and wraps itself around her neck. Frost falls to the ground, as she is unable to find the strength to resist the constriction.
On the verge of fainting, Frost hears the pokemons voice, "you really know how to get inside people's heads, don't you Myro?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Moon," she says playfully.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, that was one hell of a performance you put on."
"You think so?" She asks.
"Yeah, though I think it would be better if I join you next time. Anyways, I think we'd have a sort of bargaining chip if we took this Froslass with us back to base."
That's the last thing Frost hears before she faints.
ASHEN WASTES, NIGHT
"We need to think of something fast, Djinn!" Branna shouts over the sound of several ground-type attacks being thrown in their direction.
"I know! I have been thinking! Our moves aren't powerful enough to take him on, so we'll have to try and gain an advantage with items!"
The serperior looks at him with confusion, "items?!"
"Yes, items! You are wearing an explorer bag, so you must have something!"
A thought occurred to Branna, that's right, Sepullen gave me… She Coils to endure Groudon's Precipice Blades and pulls the Scout Lens out of her bag. She puts it over her eye and turn it on.
"How is that going to help us?!" Djinn asks.
"It's the Scout Lens! It allows me to see an enemies structure, so I can pinpoint their weak spots! That said, I have a plan! Throw up a Smokescreen and I'll take it from there."
As told, the Cyndaquil ignites his back in an uproar of flames. The sudden change in temperature dries the air, turning Djinn's faint grey smoke into thick black smoke. He draws the flames in with Kinesis, then discharges it with a massive explosion. The smoke covers most of the area within a two kilometer radius.
Djinn looks around him to try and look for Branna, but to no use. He turns around suddenly when Groudon roars, then releases several Precipice Blades in multiple directions in fury. Due to the smoke, he is unable to see one of the blades come dangerously close to him. As it's about to hit him, he's pulled to the side with surprising force.
"Stay close," Branna tells him. "With my lens, I can see perfectly through the smoke. Though this still won't be easy if Groudon keeps releasing attacks like that."
Djinn looks up at the serperior in relief. Lifting the cyndaquil onto her back, Branna's eyes glow a strange red. Eyeing Groudon, she plants her vines into the ground, then releases an emanating energy through them. After several seconds, nothing happens and Djinn starts to doubt Branna's plan. Once again, Groudon lets out a roar and collects energy to release another attack. He is stopped however, when numerous treelike roots burst out of the ground and wrap themselves around the continent pokemon.
The roots grow and constrict Groudon until he is completely immobile. Unable to to anything, he lets out a roar that is much louder then any of his previous ones. Branna starts to pant heavily as the legendary struggles against her Frenzy Plant. The lava pouring from Groudon's body causes some of the roots to slowly burn away.
As she continues to lose grip on her target, she remembers Sepullen's words. Push yourself, Branna. You'll never get stronger unless you push yourself. Then, she remembers what Lyle had said only minutes ago; determination is in your eyes. She bares her fangs and exerts all the energy she can into her Frenzy Plant. Suddenly, the roots grow to a massive size that not only constricts groudon, but also begins to crush his stonelike skin.
Branna then notices the artificial sun in the sky generated by Desolate land. Using it to her advantage, she absorbs a massive amount of sunlight into her body. Djinn is surprised when the raw energy starts to burn his body. After a moment, Branna nearly loses consciousness from not being able to handle it, but she continues to collect sunlight anyway.
"You need to stop! You can't handle that much energy!" Djinn shouts to her in worry.
She only looks back at him for a moment and gives him a reassuring, but tired smile, "don't worry, I'll never get stronger unless I push myself."
At those words, she throws Djinn off her back and releases a devastatingly large Solar Beam from her mouth. The sheer destruction and blinding light tear up the ground as it makes its way toward Groudon. Neither her or Djinn see it connect, however. Instead, the torn up land around them caves in, and they both black out.
Just before she loses consciousness, Branna sees a majestic green figure descend from the sky
SOMETIME LATER…
Be patient, Ferion, they will awaken soon.
They better wake up soon, we have a fight to attend to.
I cannot leave them alone until I know they're well.
Why would you concern yourself with them? They're from the ground.
Ground or not, I will not break my conscious knowing that a pokemon in my care is hurt and I ignored them.
That's what I'm saying, why bother saving them in the first place?
You have a long way to go before you could understand, but let me put it simply; Team Gold taught me once that, on occasion, boundaries may be broken depending on the given cause.
I'll never understand you.
As long as you know that you don't need to understand me, you just need to trust me. After all, it is our duty to protect this world.
Yes, Lord Rayquaza.
It looks like your patience has paid off, the serperior is finally waking up.
Branna slowly opens her eyes, but quickly shuts them from the brightness of her surroundings. She reopens them and looks around to find herself in a large room made of blue and white clouds. She notes the fact that the clouds seem to be generating their own light. Above her, the room opens up to a view of the night sky that she would have only thought possible in her dreams.
As she uncoils herself, she notices a few pokemon around the room. Djinn still lay on the ground only a meter away from her. Floating above him is a massive green and yellow serpentlike pokemon that she'd only seen a few times in the past. Clenched around his neck is a Psychic variant of Raichu.
Her eyes light up in surprise, "Jude, is that you?"
She already knows the answer however, when his shiny, light blue eyes reflect back at her. He smiles and nods his head.
"It seems you have awoken, Branna."
Remembering the pokemon before her, she bows her head, "um, Rayquaza, I uh…"
"It's quite alright. You may converse with me like you would a friend."
She nods her head, "thank you. If I may ask, how did we, um, get here?"
"Lord Rayquaza and I rescued you from that Groudon," a voice from behind her says in disgust.
She turns around to see an aerodactyl sitting on top of a cloud with a restless expression on his face. He raises his wings, then swiftly closes the distance between himself and Branna.
"Let me make this clear," he says as he comes uncomfortably close to Branna's face, "I'm not the type of person that likes dealing with ground dwellers. That said, I also live to carrying out my lord's will, therefore I have no choice to protect you at all costs until your friend wakes up. So you better be grateful for our service to you."
Branna nods her head, "yes, of course. I mean no disrespect, but why the hostility?"
The aerodactyl folds his wings and takes a step back, "basic laws of nature. It's the pokemon of sky's job to protect those of the ground from threats to the planet as a whole. The least that those of the ground could do for us is stay out of our way and let us do our job."
"At ease, Ferion. It was you who chose your path as a denizen of the sky, therefore you have no right to condescend those who have chosen a different path."
With a sigh, he nods, "of course."
Branna asks the aerodactyl, "what, uh, happened to Groudon, anyway?"
"Well, you see…" he starts with an uncomfortable look on his face.
"What is it?"
"Lord Rayquaza, Jude, and I were watching your fight and we saw you…" he trails off.
Branna looks at Rayquaza in confusion, "what happened? What did I do?"
Rayquaza shakes his head in amusement, "what Ferion is struggling to say, is that he's impressed that you were able to absorb all the sunlight from Desolate land, and defeat Primal Groudon with it."
Her eyes widen in shock when she hears this.
"Though, while I'm unimaginably proud of you, there are repercussions to your actions. Absorbing that much energy without practicing first has left your body in ruin. Even now, as you freely move about, the damage you sustained will take its toll on you shortly."
"How long do I have?"
"I have a feeling that you have only a day before you are sent into a deep coma. Within that time, you should restrain yourself from entering conflict. You could die if you use any of the energy that your body is using to repair itself."
With a sigh, she asks, "how long will I be asleep?"
The sky dragon gives her a smile, "normally, a pokemon with this much damage sustained would be down for months. However, I sense a certain level of willpower radiating from you. Also, there is a remedy that can be made from an enigma berry that can wake a pokemon up prematurally. Though I don't recommend that you be awoken for at least a few weeks."
"I see."
Branna feels Lorem subtly creep up in the back of her mind. He doesn't say anything, but she can feel him giving her a deceiving smile that seems to say 'there's nothing to worry about, it'll be fun.'
INCONVENIENT LOCATION, NIGHT
Happen, I knew it would, I did. Of course, to me it would happen. Instead of following Frost and Myro's path, Kyogre had drifted somewhat, therefore, I had crashed through the window of a nearby building. Picking myself off the ground, I look around. The building resembles somewhat of a human parking garage, but instead is packed full of machinery. I think for a moment what the purpose of it might be, but then turn my head to the ground reactively as my shadow flickers.
"Curious," I say under my breath.
I stare at it for several seconds, waiting for the strange phenomenon to repeat itself, but it never does. As I start to walk around to try and find a way out, my shadow moves instead of my body. I pause, then try to move again, only to stumble and fall on the ground as my shadow splits into multiple paths. From a corridor somewhere to my left, I hear a familiar static chuckle.
"Of course I would run into you here, sableye."
I bare my teeth at the voice and ask, "what are you doing here? None of the others are around, so I have no problem -KILLING- you here and now."
With a shake of his head, Sepullen fully enters the room, "how do expect me to fight you, when you can't even stand?"
"I've been losing ahold of myself, ever since you -halted- me from correcting my mind."
"So I admit that my little experiment didn't quite work out, but I still don't think you could beat me."
"As I said when we spoke earlier, give me a -vile- persim berry and we'll fight."
"Fine, I have nothing better to do in the first place. I can't even leave until this dungeon goes down."
He materializes a persim berry next to him and floats it over to me. Without wasting time, I shove the whole thing into my mouth. Sepullen watches in slight disgust, as I crudely chomp on it, then swallow it with haste. Almost immediately, my long endured migraine and mental instability fade away. I take a deep breath as a wave of euphoria washes over my body.
I pick myself up off the ground and turn to the Relic Master, and with a calm, but sharp glare, I say, "I might not be as mad at you for that, but I'm still tremendously furious with you."
"Then let's settle it. By now we would be leaving for Mt. Meteora, but given the circumstances, we can't. So, since we can't battle we'll settle our deal over this fight instead."
"What are you…?" I start."
"Originally, we were going to have a triple battle. Since that isn't happening, we're settling it here and now. If I win, you have to do what I say without question as long as you are under me. If I lose, what you said about us being equals will become true, and you'll answer to no one other then-" he pauses, then with spite in his voice he says, "Branna."
"While I wasn't aware that Branna had been made our team leader, I do look forward to being under her. Of course anything's better then being under you. Indeed, I'd rather be under Lyle then work for you."
In an unamused tone, Sepullen says, "I honestly have no clue if you were talking to yourself just now, or trying to offend me. Whatever the case, you are a confusing person to me."
"Let's just get this over with."
"Why the rush, I thought you said you couldn't go anywhere. Besides, you might as well give up now, considering I've already won."
"And how how is that?" he asks doubtfully.
With a smirk I say, "because, I have you surrounded."
"That's not-"
He immediately realizes his mistake when four shadow versions of me come up from the ground and restrain him.
"What is this?" he asks as he struggles.
"It was while we were talking that I realized that the circumstances are perfect. I've been in countless battles and experienced a magnitude of stress today. Those two things are the perfect conditions to learning a new move. This particular move is Shadow Sneak."
"Shouldn't you have learned that a long time ago?"
"You probably already know that I was a subordinate of Lore, the Great Dusknoir. While I trained under him, he made us force our bodies to learn Foul Play, Fury Swipes, and Power Gem. So while I should have been able to learn it sooner, forcing my body to do something prevented it from doing other things."
"I see. So now that you've surprised me with a new move, I suppose think you've won."
"Not yet."
With restored energy, I rush forward at my top speed with my claws out. In a split second, I appear in front of Sepullen, only to be forcefully frozen in place. I recognize the orange energy coming off my body as Sepullen's Psychic. After a moment, I burst into laughter at the scenario.
The claydol gives me a weird look and asks, "what is it now? You're clearly unable to attack me."
"That's exactly it; with the way things are now, you can't attack me, and I can't attack you. Unless one of us is strong enough to break free, this fight won't continue."
"I suppose you're right, but don't think for a second that I am going to let up."
I shake my head slightly, "I wouldn't expect you to, but neither am I."
"So this is a test of wills, then? I expect we're in for the long hull."
"Indeed we are. As it stands now, I can't make any more shadows, and if I let even one of them up to try and attack you, you'll just escape."
"Stop talking, if this is really going to be a test of our mental strength, we need to focus."
I give him a look, "are you… being fair?"
"Well of course. If you're really trying to prove you're equal to me, then we need to be tested on equal ground."
"Fair enough."
?
"What have you come to see me for?"
"i dunno, i guess i was tired of hearing the bone-chilling shrieks of the valley."
"That isn't funny."
"hey, cheer up pal, i got you an apple."
"Did you now? Why would you go through all that trouble for me?"
"i need to travel between worlds again."
"Again? Well I suppose I could let you, but only if you tell me what for."
"or I could tell you a riddle instead."
"That would be interesting."
"alright, here goes; it doesn't care how anyone feels, or what anyone thinks. it ignores ideals, and hearing sometimes kinda stinks."
"Ah, that is interesting. It's also easy. The answer is truth, so you're going to visit Reshiram again."
"yeah."
"Well go right ahead then."