Summary: Human turned Pokémon have suddenly started disappearing without explanation. Their teammates and loved ones are left to scramble about in worry and wonder as to where their missing friends may be. However, the arrival of Celine, a newly human turned Pokémon, suggests that the Pokémon world is in danger once again. As she sets out on her journey, she is blissfully unaware of the darkness that follows her and her team…
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Chapter 23: The Tower of Spirals Part 2
- Tower of Spirals, Level 2 -
Rumi marched ahead of her group proudly. What was once a cowering, cowardly eevee was now a confident sylveon. It was almost scary how confident she felt after her transformation. There were still some doubts in her, but as she looked at her friends, she felt even those doubts go away.
She knew that there would always be a part of her that would dread her departure. But she also knew that her friends would always be by her side. And that was reassuring enough.
To take her mind off of those depressing thoughts, she began calculating what she expected to happen when they entered the room with the orb. She was expecting a boss fight since she had several experiences like it in the past. She was more than certain that her team could overcome the boss battle, but she felt a little unnerved. There was a selective range of pokémon in the tower - from fairy-types to ghost-types. Just what was the boss pokémon going to be?
Her ears flicked in the direction of the conversation happening between her two friends behind her. Nova was bantering Donte about her new looks. Donte pleaded with the dragon/flying cotton ball to drop the subject, but Nova, ignoring him, continued on bantering him. Rumi watched from the corner of her eyes occasionally, chuckling at the strained face Donte was putting on. Perhaps she should assist him?
Suddenly she stopped walking. Her ears perked up; her eyes wide and alert as she examined the room. A sense of strange dread overtook her. It wasn't coming from her anxiety, which meant that it was coming from somewhere else.
Nova nearly crashed into her. "Hey, watch where your- Rumi? What's wrong?"
"You don't sense it?" Rumi asked, baffled.
Donte and Nova exchanged looks. "Sense what?"
Rumi bit her bottom lip. She was perplexed; how could they not feel it? It was so strong! Wait; was it possible only she was sensitive to it because she was a human? Did that mean that her fellow humans could feel it? She stared towards the ceiling. Or was it a connection that linked the trio together to warn them if another was in danger? She shivered at the thought.
"Rumi," Donte put clawed hand on her shoulder, "what's wrong? What do you feel?"
"Dread," she answered, lowering her head. "It's strong, suffocating. Like something bad is about to happen at any given time. I don't know the source of it, but I'm beginning to wonder if something has happened to our friends. It may be a connection I share with Celine and Drexel, but if that's the case then something horrid has happened to one of them."
Nova didn't look convinced. "What makes you say it's from them?"
"Because neither of you can feel it, and I can."
Her eyes narrowed. If something happened to one of the other humans, then they needed to complete their mission as quickly as possible. "We're going to have to make a run for it," she said, getting ready to bolt. "We need to complete this job ASAP so that we can regroup with the others." Without waiting for their answers, she took off.
She could hear their protests, but that didn't make her stop or slow down. She knew that they were capable enough to catch up to her. After all, they were faster than her. There was bound to be some tongue lashing from Donte later, but they couldn't waste a single second standing around and being idle.
Of course, there were obstacles in her path. Various types of fairy, ghost, and psychic pokémon tried to stop her. But she was able to evade all of their attacks; even sparing a few seconds to shot an attack to distract any pokémon that could've thrown her off course. She only came to a stop when she found the stairs to the next level to wait for her friends to catch up. Thankfully they weren't too far behind.
"What the heck were you thinking?" Donte castigated. "Running off like that; you could have been seriously hurt or even killed!"
"I'm not as weak as I was before," Rumi said with a flick of her head. "I can handle myself."
Donte growled. "Just because you evolved doesn't mean that you're invincible!"
She glared at him. "Don't you dare patronize me! We are wasting valuable time by walking! We need to run; we need to find the stairs as quickly as we can so we can ascend to the top and restore whatever is throwing off the balance. We need to hurry up so we can regroup with the others!"
Her anger cooled down when she noticed how shocked he looked. She was a little shocked herself, and regretted how harshly her tone sounded, but she feared the worst. Sitting down and idly pawing at the ground, she murmured, "I'm sorry."
Nova settled down beside her. She placed a cotton wing on her back and offered her a reassuring smile when Rumi looked at her. She gazed back to Donte. Her gaze was apologetic, and she searched his eyes for any clues of forgiveness. She couldn't tell him the whole truth behind her sudden rashness. She couldn't tell him that she feared she might have caused this sudden dreadful feeling.
She'd been thinking about it since her evolution; the words that she had said to Celine on that night. The words of a coward who deemed her love to be wasteful. She feared those words left Celine feeling like her relationships were futile.
Donte released a sigh and rubbed the top of Rumi's head. "It's fine, Rumi. I understand why you're in a hurry: you want to be a part of the action going down against the Dark Army. You're right, now lets go on."
He moved past her with a smile, Nova following after him. Rumi got to her feet, but with a frown etched on her face. That wasn't why she wanted to rush this at all.
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- Tower of Spirals, 3rd level -
From his dark room, a figure watched the team through a floating ball of light as they ascended to the third level of his tower. His head was leaning against the palm of his hand as he examined the team through calculating eyes. His gaze was fixated on Rumi. She particularly interested him.
He watched her as she moved to the sides of her partners. There was a silent form of communication going on between them. After giving them a curt nod, the group was either flying or running down the halls. He chuckled; they must've been in a rush to find his room. The male pokémon only smirked in anticipation. He was looking forward to their fight. He planned to test their wits.
The ball of light zoomed in on Rumi. He inspected the bracelet around the wrist of her paw. He would recognize that item anywhere, but it puzzled him to see why someone like her held one. His eyes narrowed. This must've been one of the human-turned pokémon that Icy warned him about some time ago.
As the ball of light flickered out of existence, he turned to examine the meshed pink and purple orb. There were several large cracks on it.
He wondered: why did the human turned pokémon feel obligated to stop his longtime friend and her father? Weren't they aware that her father was in the right?
He fondly remembered the day she'd told him about the human turned pokémons appearance.
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"We have confirmed the presence of the human turned pokémon called from the other world to stop us," she had told him, intertwining her clawed fingers as she leaned forward on her desk. "Be wary, as they will most likely come to the tower you guard as soon as they discover its location."
He'd settle in his chair, seemingly unafraid of the grave news. She was baffled by his relaxed posture. "Are you taking this seriously?"
"Of course," he told her, "but I see no reason why you should fret."
He saw skepticism pass through her face as she stared at him, patiently waiting for an explanation. He chuckled and leaned forward in his chair. "You should know by now, my old friend, that defeating me is near impossible."
"I would not underestimate them, if I were you. They've been known to show their true force when provoked."
He feigned mock hurt, but smirked as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm hurt that you have such little trust in my abilities."
With a sigh, she shook her head and rubbed her temples. "It's not that I don't have faith in your abilities. In fact, I know you're very strong, but they've repeatedly shown us that they can be stronger if pushed."
"Are you referring to Team Poisonix's' constant failures?" he asked. "No offense, but I don't believe it would take much to defeat those idiots."
"Yes, I am referring to them," Icy said, her glare sharpening. "And I do take offense to that since it was I who recruited them. Nonetheless, I have moved them to spy missions. They are keeping tabs on the human turned pokémon as we speak."
He chuckled. He knew that Icy had an eye for talent, but he was disappointed with the outcome. He should've told her to pick that other team…
"Regardless of how incompetent they are does not change a thing. These humans will come after you. I will try to stop them in their advances when they are in Sparkling Grove," she answered, collapsing back into her chair. "They are on their way there to retrieve the mega stones and bracelets."
He raised an eyebrow. "The mega bracelets of legend? They exist?"
She nodded. "Yes. I don't know if I'll be much of a match against them, but father will be nearby. If he senses anything off, he will retrieve me and we will retreat for the moment. I do hope it doesn't come that though."
"However," she continued, "if I should fail, then that means they will continue on their missions to the towers. As I have told you, I have no qualms on how strong you are. I'm already aware that you're our second best fighter in this facility. But you are still friend to me, and I worry. I don't want to see you get hurt because of my failures. Which is why I request that you follow this one order: if things become too rough, I demand that you get out of here immediately."
He got off the seat and walked to the door, but before leaving, he flashed her a reassuring smile. "Thank you, Lady Icy, for your concern. I will do as you have requested if it comes to that."
-x-x-x-x-
As he left memory lane, he summoned the orb and examined the team again.
In all honesty, it warmed his core to know that his old friend worried over his welfare. It just came to show that she did value their friendship as much as he did. The thought of it made him smile: the second-in-command of the Dark Army, the stone-cold, emotionless weavile cared about him.
His smile faded. He examined the approaching group of teammates through narrowed eyes, his convictions solidifying. This particular group of pokémon had caused her so much trouble and so much grief. Now, here they were, in his tower to try to stop him.
He thought about what would happen if he failed. They would restore order to this tower and then go after Icy. They would hurt her, and destroy the dream of her father. He gritted his teeth at the thought of them harming Icy. The very thought of it made his skin crawl and blood boil.
With a snap of his fingers, the orb in front of him disappeared. His eyes flashed, his psychic powers lifting the two spoons that rested beside him and into his waiting hands.
If they wanted to stop his friend, then they were just going to have to deal with him first.
And he didn't plan on letting them by easily.
-x-x-x-x-
- Tower of Spirals, 3rd level -
Rumi jumped into the air, twisting her body to avoid the psychic blast. The second she landed she immediately started running to avoid the oncoming attacks. Stopping, she charged up a shadow ball to counter her enemies' own shadow ball. She jumped back the moment the two balls impacted to create a mini explosion.
She didn't have much time to rest, however, as her species' psychic cousin rushed through the smoke and towards her. Rumi growled and lowered her stance, wind beginning to stir around her. She unleashed the full blunt of the attack into the espeon's face when it got close before, successfully knocking it away.
The espeon shook its head, growling at Rumi as its eyes flashed. Rumi felt the familiar tingle of psychic energy constraining around her. She remained firm in her stance until she felt the energy shoot at her, jumping into the air and summoning five star-shaped rays to attack the espeon.
She wasn't expecting the sudden grip that took a hold of her, immediately throwing her down into the ground. She felt the wind get knocked out of her as whatever pokémon had attacked her landed on her before scrambling off. A second later, she felt something wrap around her and lift her off the ground.
Just as quick as it had grabbed her, the force was gone and she collapsed back on the ground. Raising her head she watched as Nova and the pokémon that had grabbed her collided into the wall. "Nova!"
Nova reemerged from the smoke, dodging a sudden burst of intense fire. The pumpkin pokémon, gourgeist, also emerged from the smoke. Rumi would have helped, but a psychic ray narrowly missed her. She spun around to see Donte down on the ground, and the grumpig he'd been facing off stalking towards her.
"Rumi, behind you!" Rumi turned her head just in time to see the espeon crash into her. She slid across the room to the feet of the grumpig. She tried to scramble away from the pig-like pokémon to create some distance between them, but she was lifted off the ground and repeatedly slammed into the ground.
She could vaguely hear the cries of her friends as the grumpig finished slamming her against the ground. The world was blurry all around her. She could faintly see the silhouettes of the espeon and the grumpig as they hovered over her. Suddenly, they disappeared and she felt a strong gust of wind. A few minutes later, she saw two more silhouettes hover around her. One of them picked her up and cradled her.
"Rumi? Rumi!"
"D-donte…?" she murmured. "Is that you?"
"It is," his voice responded.
"I don't feel so good…" she moaned, wincing at the slightest movement.
"Don't we have anymore Oran Berries?" she heard him ask Nova.
"We do, but we're running low. This battle really did a number on the supplies. Actually, this floor has been draining them! The pokémon here are so active and aggressive!" Nova said as she reached into the bag she was carrying to bring out two Oran Berries.
"Tell me about it," he grumbled, giving the Oran Berries to Rumi. He placed her down gently, keeping an eye out on the surrounding areas. "At this rate we won't have any supplies left for the last floor."
Nova light up considerably. "Speaking of which, I found the stairway! That mean gourgeist I was facing sent me flying through that hallway," she pointed to one of the nearby hallways, "and I crash landed near the stairs! How convenient is that?"
Her face fell. "There was something off though. I'm not as smart or sensitive to the environment around us like psychic-types, but I was getting a weird vibe near the stairways. I don't know what you'd call those strange feelings."
"That's called instincts," Donte said.
She stared at him blankly, and then giggled. "Okay, then my instincts were telling me something was off."
He sighed. With a small smile, he shook his head. "You're so weird, Nova."
"Thank you!"
Their attention moved back to Rumi who was struggling to get to her feet. "If I was still a human, I'd be dead right now!"
"Pokémon have a lot more resilience than us," she explained, noticing the strange look she was getting from Nova. "Something like what I just experienced would've killed a person - instantly, in fact. Anyway, I heard you saying something about the stairs?"
Donte was taken aback. "Rumi," he began, "you can't be serious. You're still injured!"
She shook her paw dismissively. "I'll be fine. Those Oran Berries really helped."
He didn't look convinced. She laughed nervously and walked past him to demonstrate that she was just fine. She even jumped and did a backflip and landed it gracefully to prove that she was fine. Still not convinced, he stretched out one of his wings an turned towards her.
She watched him curiously, confusion written all over her face. She yelped and ducked when Donte suddenly flew towards her with his wing still outstretched. Hunched on the ground, she blinked in surprise. Did Donte just try to attack her?
Rumi was about to yell at him, but the instant she stood he attacked her again. She jumped into the air to avoid the razor-sharp wind that was aimed at her. While in midair, she noticed Donte had fired a dragon pulse attack her way. She charged up a shadow ball and countered the attack. As she landed on the ground, she winced from the pain springing up her back leg.
"Rumi!" She shot her head up to see Donte's wing stopped right above her head. She stared it in wide-eyed disbelief, instinctively hunching down a little.
Donte tucked his wing away, keeping his eyes locked on Rumi. She was still staring at him in disbelief.
"You're injured," he said. "I saw you wince when you landed on your leg. I was going easy on you, Rumi, but the boss of this tower won't. She or he will be attacking you with everything they got. If you can't stand against my weakest attacks, then you have no hope of standing against the boss."
She seemed to finally shake herself out of her shock. "Yeah, but at least I'll be expecting the boss to attack me! I wasn't expecting you to attack me!"
He shook his head. "I'm just looking out for you. I won't stop you if you want to face against the boss, but I'm going to tell you this right now," he leaned towards her, saying each word slowly, "the minute I believe it becomes too much for you, I'm grabbing you and we're retreating."
Rumi narrowed her eyes and snorted. Flicking her head into the air, she walked past him. "I won't be retreating by any means."
Donte said nothing and followed after her. Nova hesitated, but soon followed. She had a bad feeling about this.
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- Tower of Spirals, 4th level -
Rumi felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up the second she stepped into the large room. She was scanning the shadows carefully, her ears perked in high alert. Her eyes settled on the pink and purple orb hiding in the back of the room. Her first instinct was to run over to it, but she stopped herself.
Donte was right beside her. "It's dark in here."
"There's definitely something or someone here," she said. "The air is tingling with psychic energy. I'm not sure if that's from the orb, or from the pokémon guarding it."
Nova stopped behind the duo. She was feeling that horrible sensation again. She remained quiet, thinking that they could feel it too. But when they said nothing and continued to examine the room, she began to have her doubts.
She'd been so focused on her two teammates and her weird feelings that she never noticed the faded figure behind her. The figure outstretched their hand, the dim light of the room revealing a spoon slightly bending as the pokémons eyes glowed. Nova's eyes also began to glow in the same eerie color. The figure chuckled and vanished into the darkness.
Hearing the faint chuckle, Rumi spun around. Besides Nova, she didn't see anyone else. She tilted her head when she noticed that the cotton bird held her head down. "Nova?"
Kill them, the voice whispered in Nova's ear. Nova lifted her head slowly, a low, white mist beginning to overtake the room. Surprised and suddenly wary, Rumi backed away with her ears held back in alarm. "Nova? What's wrong?"
The mist quickly covered the room, making it hard for Donte and Rumi to see their surroundings. "Donte!" Rumi cried, fear gripping her mind.
He responded a moment later, "Be careful; there's something wrong with Nova!"
I gathered that much, she thought bitterly, keeping an eye on her limited view space. Suddenly, something flew at her and knocked her into what she believed was a pillar. She fell to the ground, coughing from the unexpected attack. She shot her head up, scanning the area again. Damn, I can't see what angle they come from!
An idea struck her. Getting to her feet, she called out, "Donte, use your wings and clear away this blasted mist!"
"I don't think he'll be able to hear you," a voice whispered from behind.
She yelped and jumped away from the pokémon. Standing behind her with a satisfied smug look on his face was an alakazam. His arms were crossed as he regarded her. Standing on either side of him were her teammates. Both of their eyes were glowing in an eerie light. "Hello Rumi."
Rumi's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
"It's not very polite to be asking who I am when you haven't introduced yourself to me! Ahh, but no need - I know all about you and your little team," he chuckled. "Though I was expecting your team to be a little more harder to control."
Her eyes darted from him to her teammates. "What have you done to them? If you hurt them, I swear-"
"Oh goody! I know this punch line! You'll hurt me, right? But how will you do that?" He beckoned to her friends. "When it won't be me you'll fighting; it'll be them!"
"I refuse to hurt them!" she yelled.
He shrugged, indifferent. "Then I guess checkmate."
"Checkmate?" she questioned. "Are you saying I can't save them from your mind control?"
"I don't see how you can," he snickered. "You aren't a psychic pokémon. You're a fairy-type and can be easily brushed aside if you do not fight for your life."
She snarled. "Why are you doing this? Are you the guardian of this tower?"
"No," he said. "I already… eliminated the guardian. So, technically, I guess you could say I am now. As for my motivation," he said, his voice low as his eyes darkened, "you're a threat to a friend of mine, and I promised her that I would get rid of you should you dare to enter this tower."
Friend? She thought, watching both him and her teammates. Could it be Icy? That seemed to be the most logical answer. The weavile, after all, was the one who attempted to stop them at Sparkling Grove. It was only thanks to Jirachi that nothing bad happened.
"Does your friend happen to be a weavile?" she asked.
She noticed his eyes grow darker, pure hatred filling his irises. "I figured. Why are you guys so hell-bent on destroying pokémon like my friends and me? We were called down from our world and into yours! We're here to help, not hurt you!"
He said nothing. She knew she was treading on thin ice. Her heart was rapidly beating; at any given moment, her friends could attack her and possibly kill her. She wasn't thinking how she would counter that; she was more focused on the one controlling them. "I don't understand why you and others hate us when we are simply trying to help your world."
"Yet you stay and cause more drama," he growled. "You humans are too weak of heart. Called down to our world, but once that mission is fulfilled you stay and think you're one of us. Well, let me tell you something: you aren't. You'll always be a human! One of these days you will be the destruction of our kind!"
His answer caused the fairy-type to flinch. "How will we be the destruction of you when we're trying help you?"
"Your presence," he answered. "It's an abomination in our world and it's upsetting the balance!"
Again, she flinched. How was she supposed to counter that? Her mind was racing for answers, but nothing was coming up. Her lack of an answer only infuriated the pokémon before her.
"You may have thought that pokémon forgot the oppression you placed us under thousands of years ago, but we haven't, or at least some of us haven't. You enslaved us, abused us, killed us, and when your kind finally vanished from our world, we experienced true freedom. We were free, happy, and finally had destinies of our own to chase without the inference of your kind. But then your kind appeared again. Not in the forms you previously held, no, you took on our forms…an insult to our kind! You infiltrated our kind and pretended to be one of us. After that first abomination 'saved' our world, they were dubbed as some form of hero," he snarled, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "Now you abominations come more often and dub yourselves as heroes. We were just doing just fine before you came!"
"But we won't just sit by idly and watch as you come to our world to poison it again. We will fight and kill you off, one by one," he said. He began stalking towards her. She could feel the psychic energy in the air about to burst. Panicked, she tried to think of someway to get out of this.
"We aren't all like that!" she yelled. "There are two sides to everything!"
He stopped in his tracks. She backed away slightly, continuing. "There are good humans and there are bad. I can't believe that all humans were evil; there had to be some that fought for you! People that cared!"
"Humans aren't passionate beings!" he snapped. "They're excellent actors; acting as if they care, but they always have ulterior motive! Most of the time they betrayed the very legendary pokémon that helped them! They would capture them, and force them to fight against their own kind! All to be the very best."
He picked his pace up. His hands were tightly gripped around the spoons that he held, his rage engulfing every fiber of his being. "There are no such things as a good-natured humans, or human-turned pokémon!"
"And what about Icy?!" she snapped, her own anger finally giving away. He froze in his steps. "If all human turned pokémon are nasty, evil lurkers, then that includes the very pokémon you're trying to protect! Or has she not told you the truth? The truth given us by Jirachi herself!"
"What truth?" he said. Was she seriously going to try to turn him against Icy? His very own best friend?
"Icy isn't who you think she is. She's just like us – a human turned pokémon!" she said each word carefully, growing louder as she spoke.
She saw the disbelief etch itself on his face. He began muttering, "No, that's a lie. She isn't like you at all."
"Or is it?" she asked, making him look at her. Her eyes were narrowed. She remembered the bruises and scars inflicted on her friends by Icy. She remembered how Icy had boasted how she would kill them; all plans thwarted by Jirachi. "She was dragged into this world a very long time ago. It was an accident. Jirachi was attacked when she tried to summon humans to your world. She never told us why she was summoning humans to begin with, but when she was attacked she lost focus and brought a human child to your world. Do you know who that human child was? It was Icy!"
"YOU LIE!" he screeched, the psychic energy finally bursting. She felt invisible limbs grabbed around her neck and lift her off the ground. She struggled, clawing at the invisible limbs. "How dare you place her in your disgusting category! She is nothing like you!"
She gasped, her lungs longing for air. As the grip on her throat tightened, she spared one final glance to her friends. They were still standing there emotionless. She felt her heart sink and tears build up in the corner of her eyes. As she closed them, she felt warmness spread throughout her body. So this was what death felt like.
Alakazam, despite the wide, crazy grin on his face, was confused. Was what this human-turned pokémon said true? Was that why Icy hadn't answered his call a few nights ago? She always answered his telepathic calls, but she hadn't that night. He figured it was due to work, but now he was having second thoughts. Was it possible she'd known this all along? If this human-turned pokemon's words were truth, then why was she attacking her fellow kindred? And more importantly, was there anyone who knew the truth and could confirm it?
Indulged in his own thoughts, he hadn't noticed his control over Donte slipping. Donte, slowly awakening from the haze he was placed under, shook his head to clear away the haziness. It took him a minute for his mind to register the scene before him. And when it did, he was engulfed in fear.
He flew at the psychic pokémon, using the full force of his body to knock Alakazam away from Rumi. Alakazam, not expecting the impact, was sent barreling to the other side of the room. His grip on the unconscious sylveon disappeared and she unceremoniously hit the ground with a soft thud.
Donte was at Rumi's side in seconds. "Rumi," he shook her gently, "Rumi!" Alarm began to overtake him when he didn't receive any form of response. Shaking her more rougher, he grumbled to himself, "Come on, don't you dare die on me!"
His head lifted when he heard a growl. He growled back when h saw Alakazam emerge from the shadows. Alakazam looked infuriated. "You broke free from my control I see," he spoke. "Impressive, but do you think it was wise to attack me?"
His eyes took on an eerie glow. "Do you have any idea of who I am?"
"I don't give two shits on who you are," Donte snarled.
"You should," Alakazam chuckled, "because I could kill you and your little birdie within seconds!"
A purplish-yellowish hazy beam shot past Donte's head. His eyes went wide with shock and he spun around to see Nova, still under the influence of Alakazam, stalk towards him. She was readying what looked like another dragon breath attack. Refusing to move, he sneered.
"So, instead of facing me like a real pokémon, you use one of your controlled puppets!"
Despite the insulting tone behind Donte's words, Alakazam merely laughed. "I could defeat you and your team easily without any control. I just choose not to; this is far more entertaining!"
With a single flick of his wrist, Nova lunged towards Donte. He braced himself for what was to come. Donte honestly didn't want to fight against his own teammate, but he would be damned if he let either of them hurt Rumi. Grabbing her by the wings, he stopped her sudden rush. He tried keeping her out of reach, but found it hard as she continued to push him forward with her sheer force. Damn, he thought, sweating bullets, don't ever underestimate the power of a ball of cotton!
She let out a screech. Her beak began to glow, starting an onslaught of peck attacks. Donte barely managed to dodge them, but ultimately was distracted. Using this to her advantage, she ripped her wings free from him and flew up into the air.
Donte growled as he stumbled back a bit. He spared a few glances towards the smirking, smug face of Alakazam who watched the fight with amusement. Snarling out of anger, Donte positioned himself on top of Rumi. If he had to, he would act as a shield against his former teammates attacks and Alakazam's psychic onslaught.
Nova opened her mouth, a purplish-yellowish beam of haze shooting directly at him. He moved his large wings over himself and Rumi, enduring the hit. Nova continued the attack until Donte finally caved in and took the full force of the attack. He was sent flying backwards and away from Rumi. Colliding into one of the pillars of the room, he disappeared in the burst of smoke.
Alakazam, certain of his impending victory, waltzed over to Rumi's unconscious body. His smirk and delight only grew when he heard the disgruntled growl emitting from Donte as he crawled out of the smoke. "Don't…you dare touch her!"
"I don't think you're in any position to be telling me what to do. I'll leave you with these final words: I'll make her death quick and painless! Now, finish him my puppet!" he cackled, extending his hand towards Donte. Nova flew past him and straight at the injured noivern.
The psychic pokemon's attention turned to Rumi at the sound of a groan. She was beginning to stir. "Hmph," he scoffed, "you're still alive? No matter; I can easily rearrange that."
Suddenly there was a gust of wind propelling him away from her. He slid away from her, unaffected by the attack. Surprised, he watched as she struggled to her feet. Several star-shaped rays circled around her before immediately flying at him. He summoned up a protective barrier to block the attack.
"If you thought destroying me would be that easily," she spoke, her tone low and strangely different, "then I'm sorry to disappoint." She raised her eyes, a sadistic grin plastered on her face.
Caught off guard, he was surprised by her aura. It was completely different from before. This sensation he felt… it pulsated with a savage thirst for vengeance. He hadn't felt this sensation when he battled against her earlier and it unnerved him slightly.
"Where was this brutality earlier?" he taunted, a mask to hide his shock.
She giggled. "My, were you seriously fooled by such a front? I'm disappointed, Mr. Psychic pokémon," she leaned forward, her grin growing, "I thought you were able to see through such an obvious mask."
"Piss me off good enough," she said with a flick of her head, "and you get the honor of feeling the full force of my attacks!"
He braced himself for her attacks, but instead he watched her jump back and on top of Nova. Her eyes flashed and the cotton-bird pokémon was forced to the ground. Taking on a crescent-colored form, she leaped into the air and released the force. It slammed against Nova, effectively knocking her out. Landing gracefully not far away, she turned to Alakazam.
"You would attack your own teammate?!" he exclaimed in total shock.
"I would," she said, "to take her out of your grasp."
She was standing tall in front of her two fallen comrades. Donte, barely conscious from the onslaught of dragon-type attacks he'd endured from Nova, was surprised to see the blurry outline of his leader. When the blurriness faded away, he was even more surprised to see that the wounds on Rumi's body were gone. That's when it struck him – she hadn't been knocked out earlier, she'd been sleeping! It was a trick he'd seen before back during their first few missions.
It didn't take Alakazam long to figure it out too. He chuckled. "Wonderfully executed."
"Thank you," she smiled earnestly. "I thought so too."
She tilted her head, looking as if she was thoughtful about something. "Should I go full force, or should I test out this beautiful thing?" She lifted her paw for emphasis.
Alakazam immediately became alarmed and got into a fighting stance. She laughed at his reaction. "And here I thought you weren't so easily intimidated!"
He scoffed, but said nothing.
"You've pissed me off," she stated, "and on more than one occasion today. You took control of my teammates and threatened to use them against me, then you force two of them to fight and attempt to kill off each other, and finally, you were delusional enough to believe that you had a chance of killing me. All crimes that have yet to be accounted for."
"Now that you're healed, you think you have a chance against me?" he asked. "Aren't you just the cocky little sylveon!"
"Oh, it's not being called 'cocky,'" she said, several more star-shape rays surrounding her, "it's called being confident!"
He teleported out of the way as she launched her attack and reappeared above her. She jumped out of the way as psychic energy slammed into the ground. Opening her mouth, she summoned a shadowy blob and hurled it at him. His arms took on a bright light as he slashed the attack away from him, causing a minor explosion. He came flying out of it and landed beside her.
Crap! She braced herself for the psybeam. The attack hit the side of her and sent her sliding back. She shook the attack off and jumped away from him. She used her fairy wind to help create more distance between them. Unfortunately, it didn't do her much good as he used his teleportation to get beside her in seconds.
Toxic swirled around her as she stopped dead in her tracks. There was no way she'd be able to keep the distance between them. So, she decided to take the battle to a close proximity match. She shot the toxic after him followed up with a moonblast. Smoke covered the area around him.
She gasped as she was lifted off the ground. She felt the psychic energy begin to suffocate her. From the corner of her eyes she saw him walk out of the smoke, purple substance dipping off of him. He had both hands extended with the spoons bent.
I won't be so easily defeated! She thought, her eyes flashing. She vanished from his sight completely, surprising the psychic pokémon, and reappeared moments later when she slammed her body against his. The impact caused him to slide away from her and eventually forced him down to one knee.
He snarled at her. She snarled back in response. Crescent light began to surround her as she prepared herself for another moonblast attack. A sudden explosion of pain interrupted her. She cried out, almost collapsing as electricity sparked around her.
Her eyes went wide when she realized she couldn't move. She tried moving her muscles, but they refused to listen to her.
Alakazam righted himself, his chuckling gaining her heated glare. "I'm impressed; I guess you aren't so bad at fighting after all. And here I thought that you weren't worth my time. However, that still didn't matter in the end, now did it?"
Thunder wave, she thought bitterly. "It only tells me that you paralyzed me because I was kicking your butt."
He scoffed and waved his hand dismissively. "Think what you will."
Her eyes narrowed into slits. "So, you never told me – what makes Icy so special that you don't hate her? Or did you never know the truth?"
That immediately got his attention. He growled. "Don't you dare say she is anything like you monsters because she isn't. She isn't a hu-"
"Human turned pokémon?" she interrupted. "I hate to break it to you, but she is. Jirachi herself told us the truth! Icy is one of us."
"Jirachi?" Alakazam breathed.
"It was an accident," she explained. "She was brought to this world after a turn of unfortunate events. Whoever your master is must have found her and raised her with this knowledge. You can kill me, but it won't change the truth!"
Alakazam found himself at a loss of what to do. What this human was saying… was it really true? It couldn't be completely false; he'd noticed odd behavioral patterns concerning Icy. He always brushed it off though. He didn't think it meant anything, but the more he thought about it, the more he began to wonder.
"Do you understand now?" asked Rumi. He said nothing. She took it as a chance to continue speaking, "You're being hypocritical if you're after the annihilation of all human turned pokémon."
He looked away. The need for the truth was beginning to eat at him. He needed to know. If it was the truth… if she knew. He shivered at the thought of her knowing, but never telling him. Sparing Rumi one last glance, he came to a decision.
He would let her go for the time being.
"I'll spare you this time," he spoke, "but the next time we meet, I will destroy you." And just like that, he vanished.
Rumi remained on high alert until Donte placed a paw on her shoulder. She looked at him, half expecting him to be under Alakazam's influence. When she noticed his eyes were normal, she let out a sigh. "We got our butts kicked, didn't we?"
"Not necessarily. We kicked each others butts."
She half grinned. Donte pulled out a Cheri Berry and handed it to her. She ate it gratefully, nodding to Nova. "Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine," he said. "What about you?"
Rumi lowered her head. "Crappy. I was expecting a hard fight, but I wasn't expecting that." She eyed his wounds with a frown. "Are you going to be able to get out of here okay?"
"Don't worry about me," he smirked and flexed one of his wings. "It'll take much more than that to bring me down."
"Good," she said, limping towards the orb. "Pick up Nova. We're leaving as soon as I handle this. We need to get back to the others pronto."