Chapter 38

Rival

Wartortle and Quil descended down the eastern face of Iyrodenin until the strangling pressure that emanated from Moltres had completely diminished. Since the lava flows could shift in their course with little warning, they elected to head toward the base where there was plenty of breathing room between the flows.

"I must have misunderstood the conversation," Quil said. "It sounded like you beat Moltres after I was knocked out."

Wartortle recalled the power of Victini's talisman as it had infused his being. That terrible confidence that he had ascended beyond anything a Legendary Pokémon might throw at him.

"I did, Quil. When you produced your Smokescreen, I found the talisman Moltres had dropped. Once I grabbed it..." He trailed off. How could he explain what had happened? What he had done? Quil probably wouldn't even believe him. Wartortle wouldn't believe it if their roles had been reversed. "The energy stored inside let me win," he said, keeping it simple.

"Oh, don't be like that! What did the energy do? What was it like?"

Wartortle glanced back at the smoky peak. Any moment, Moltres could be receiving a talisman. Fire-types would be boosted. Quil would be boosted.

"I think you'll experience it for yourself soon enough. Actually," he amended himself, "I doubt it will be the same. The boosts we've seen have only affected the power of techniques associated with that element. When I touched the talisman, I felt like everything about me was boosted. Speed, stamina, physical strength, balance, all of my moves' power, you name it. Anything was possible."

"Wow!" Quil leaped over a fledgling lava flow only a few inches wide. "That makes sense with what she was saying about Wooper Lake and the rivers. Moltres herself would be boosted, but only the fire that Flames make is also boosted."

"Did you see that Victini can turn himself invisible?"

"I thought so!" Quil said with shrill excitement. "I didn't trust my eyes, but you saw it too? So Victini can fly, turn invisible, and overload 'mon with energy. Amazing! Moltres is still better though. Come on, she was incredible. My mother and father would run away in shame if they saw her flames."

"Quil, you sound awfully happy given that we failed after coming all this way from Cavetown."

His friend's grin faltered only momentarily. "True, but Wartortle, we saw two Legendaries. We talked to one of them. We battled Moltres, one of the Legendary Birds. I never thought I'd see her except when I dream of epic battles between 'mon from stories." He chuckled while shaking his head. "No one will believe us."

He had a point. "I suppose it is remarkable, coming face to face with two Legendaries like that. I should be grateful for the experience."

Quil's eyes were unfocused. Reliving the battle, if Wartortle were to guess. His own thoughts turned inward. Was there any way for them to stop the boost, while they were still at the volcano? Even now, Victini might be handing over one of his charms to Moltres. Though it was possible Victini might still be waiting for them to leave Iyrodenin behind to prevent further interruptions. That's what Wartortle would do, were he in Victini's shoes. It was perfectly possible that Victini was tailing them right now to ensure they left the volcano. Likely, even, the more he thought about it. He could picture the little Legendary floating close enough to hear their conversation, in order to stave off boredom. Any Pokémon that excitable was bound to require something to occupy their attention.

Wartortle felt puzzle pieces falling into place within his mind. Distinct pieces of information were coming together. Victini wouldn't know that Wartortle suspected him to be following. Nor would Victini know of any plans the pair had. Yes, he could use this. By the time they were halfway down the slope, his scheme was as complete as he foresaw it ever being.

When two parallel lava flows forced the pair closer together, he fell into step beside Quil instead of going single file. He muttered some instructions toward Quil's ear as quickly as he could. Seconds later, they were apart again. Wartortle gave it a moment for the words to sink in before raising a new topic of conversation.

"What do you think we should do next Quil?"

"Eh, I don't want to go searching for Articuno or Zapdos. Both of them are way too far away. I wish we could steal the talisman that Victini gives to Moltres, but Victini will be around to make her another one."

Not bad. "Too true. Victini can't hang around Iyrodenin forever though, can he? What if we only pretended to leave? What if the instant that Fire-types become boosted, we find a great hiding place near the base of the volcano. Victini will think we're gone if he looks around to check. Then, after a couple of weeks, when he's flown far away, we climb back to the peak and steal the talisman in a surprise maneuver!"

Quil shot him a questioning glance. "That's actually a really good idea, Wartortle."

"Thanks, Quil. Then that's what we'll do."

His friend's expression grew strained as they silently continued their descent. Wartortle wanted to raise a new and meaningless topic of conversation to make the whole ploy seem more natural, but nothing came to mind. An awkward silence spread between them. Apparently neither of them were accustomed to this scale of deceit. He refrained from looking around. Any outward suspicion on his part would ruin the scheme. Besides, by definition, he would be unable to see an invisible Pokémon.

At last, they began to pass by the location on the slope he'd spotted from farther up. No flows of lava were anywhere nearby. The slope was empty of all obstructions and cover. Time to see if they'd bluffed thin air, or an invisible Pokémon.

"I think I hear something," Wartortle lied. "Attack!"

He spun around to face up-slope as his hands dropped to the rock. Quil was still facing down-slope. The Quilava sprayed embers from left to right in a quick sweep as Wartortle squirted water from his own left to right. The two semi-circles combined covered all three hundred and sixty degrees. Without stopping, both adjusted their angles upward for another full circle of coverage higher off the ground. The concentration of Quil's embers was too low to do any damage, Wartortle noticed, but that was how he'd asked for it. The idea was to find Victini, not knock him out.

On the third rotation, he heard a yelp from Quil's coverage area. He cut off his Water Gun and looked to the source. Victini shimmered into visibility mid-retreat about fifteen feet away and thrice Quil's height off the ground. On his orange crest and one of his wing-like tails, two embers burst into flame before consuming themselves. Wartortle scrambled downhill to put their quarry between him and Quil.

"Great work Quil!" he said, while Victini shook himself in the air.

"Ow ow ow ow," he repeated as the fires burned themselves out. Then his "Ow"s transitioned into chuckling. Then full-blown laughter.

Of course he's laughing, thought Wartortle with a roll of his eyes. It's impossible to rain on this Pokémon's parade.

Victini floated down to eye-level as his laughter subsided. "You got me, you got me. Stand where I can see you both; you're making me nervous!" Seeing Wartortle's expression, he added, "I won't run away, I promise."

Neither Wartortle nor Quil moved. Victini sighed. "Are we going to have a civilized conversation, or a stand-off? I'm not talking with one of you always in my blind spot." He crossed his arms after making the motion of zipping his mouth shut.

Wartortle frowned at the Legendary. Again, he was getting the feeling that Victini was unlike any other Pokémon he'd met. He'd experienced that feeling in Cavetown during their first meeting, and a little bit more while secretly observing Victini's interaction with Moltres. Now, it was stronger than ever. Even though he was a Legendary, a class of its own, Victini was unique. Moltres had not made Wartortle feel this way.

I do want to talk to him, he realized. Maybe more time with Victini will allow me to solve this riddle. He climbed up to Quil's side, past Victini.

The Legendary smiled. "I knew you'd see reason. After all, you had enough reason during your battle with Moltres. What with the strategy and all. And the targeted questions you were asking. And the tactic you used to break my invisibility. And figuring out the connection between the boosts and the Legendary Birds. Aaaand a hundred other itty-bitty instances. It's not how Pokémon are, especially not on this island. All those examples add up to spell out one word."

"What are you saying?" Quil said in Wartortle's defense.

Victini eyed him. "Your pal's a human."

Wartortle froze. How to react? Denial marked him as guilty. Agreement would be disadvantageous. Confusion, then. The most likely reaction from a Pokémon.

"What's a human?" he said, hating how stiffly his words came out.

"Pfft, get a load of this guy! So, 'Wartortle', who are you really?" He made air quotes with both hands. "Lab security? Unova Delta Operations? Some schmuck who volunteered to be the second human ever to undergo a transferal?"

Wartortle shook his head, overwhelmed. How could Victini figure out he was a human when no one even knew about humanity? How could Victini know that Unova had an elite strike force team, or know what laboratories were? How could...unless-

"You're human too!"

Victini closed his eyes and spread his orange hands, palms up. "I am. And proud of it! But don't tell the Legendary Birds, I don't think they like us very much."

"But you're Victini," Quil said. "A Legendary 'mon can't be human. That's not right. You can't be!"

"I don't expect your simple Pokémon brain to understand," Victini returned before directing his full attention to Wartortle. "Are you going to be honest with me yet? I've been honest with you. Who are you, and why exactly were you sent?"

Wartortle refused to answer until he better understood what was going on, but Victini wasn't giving him any time to work it out.

"Fine," the Legendary sniffed. "I'll go ahead and test one of my hypotheses then. Tell me, 'Wartortle', how long does it take for desynapsed human neurons to accept a brainstate imprint?"

"Eighteen minutes," he immediately replied. How many times had he endured the infernal buzzing of the timer set to eighteen minutes? How many trials had he supervised on the lab benches? The number eighteen was impossible to forget.

Victini's mouth became an 'O' of shock. Then his body shuddered and his eyes squeezed shut as his mouth stretched into the biggest grin he'd yet worn. Still small, on a Victini.

"Yes! Yes! I was right!" A torrent of giggles buoyed him higher into the air. "Brayden! It's you! Only my fellow co-lead would answer that quickly and confidently. Oh, this is so perfect, so exciting!" He bounced in the air like a mad creature rattling against its cage.

Wartortle was searching his memories. Co-lead, co-lead. He could recall most of the lab staff, but not all, especially not the personnel involved in the project closer to that day he'd become a Squirtle. There was Mikael, the electrical engineer. You could always find his head in the hardware, hands never idle. Kathleen, a girl as sweet as she was focused. Other than the two project leads, she understood the neuroscience theory better than anyone. Brayden was one of the leads, obviously, but who was the other one? Someone brilliant. Someone ambitious. He mustered all of his concentration to try to recall the man's name, but the exercise was useless. His missing memories could not be restored by force of will.

"Sorry sorry," Victini said as he floated back down. "It's this body, I swear. I get so excited! Anyway, let's get back on track. I see now why you've been trying to stop the boosts. You were Brayden the whole time! And now you've finally found the guy you've been searching for. What are you going to do about it?"

Wartortle spared a glance at Quil. He didn't have any idea what Victini was saying either, and why would he? Whatever Victini was talking about was related to humans and their world. The past. The lab research. If only he had access to his full memories, he might be able to understand what was happening!

His toe-claws tried to curl with his frustration, scratching the hard rock. "I don't understand, who are you?"

That gave Victini pause. "You can't remember? Really really, no joke?"

"I lost most of my memory when I woke up as a Squirtle. Still can't recall the details of that day. Could you please fill me in?"

"Uh, sure, sure I can. Nothing wrong with that. Is there? No. Let's start with what you do remember."

"Alright," Wartortle said as hope welled in his chest. Today he might finally be able to understand what had happened to him! While he felt a tad reluctant to share his vulnerability with the Pokémon who was responsible for the boosts, this was as good a chance as he was going to get. "I remember most of my early life. Shipping off to university when I turned ten, like everyone else choosing the academic path. Applying myself to neuroscience, psychology, eventually fixating on consciousness research. My old studies, past co-workers. The memories start getting hazy around the most recent publication my team put out. Our team, if you really are my co-lead at our lab in Castelia. I remember our research was beginning to bear fruit. I remember a major breakthrough on that day, but I can't remember what it was. I can't even remember what exactly we were trying to accomplish."

"Mmm," Victini droned. "I see. Give me a minute to think of how best to explain what happened, Brayden. I'll help you out."

Wartortle nodded as Victini grasped his chin thoughtfully and his startling blue eyes lost focus. Quil flashed him a small smile even though the Quilava was clearly out of his element. Trying to work off some of his nervous energy, Wartortle took to pacing in front of the Legendary sitting in the air. Victini's explanation had the potential to change everything. Turn foe to friend. Or friends to foes. Why had he become a Pokémon? No, why had they both become Pokémon?

"Alrighty, Brayden old pal," said Victini. "Let's start. Tell me if the name Tristan Pratts means anything to you."

"Tristan. Tristan Pratts. Yes, that's very familiar. Taller man, black hair, glasses, liked to snag people's pens and put them in his lab coat pocket. He always found it hilarious when they finally noticed their own pens sticking out of his breast pocket. Tristan was very sharp, talented. In my field, too: consciousness. My most recent memories of him are from months ago thanks to my memory loss." A realization zapped him like a static shock. "He joined my research team and became co-lead, didn't he? You...you must be him."

Victini's expression was bittersweet. "Yeah. So you really don't remember me. Our friendship, our late hours together, it's mostly just a blank spot now, mm?" Victini took a deep breath. It lasted all of a half second due to his small frame.

Wartortle couldn't hide a wince. "I'm sorry. I never asked to lose my memories."

"Oh, but you did, you did! Although, I don't think either of us thought of this particular consequence. Your memory loss sort of negates the whole purpose."

What? I chose to lose my memories?

"Let me start from the beginning. You might not like what you're going to hear, Brayden, because you seem like a different man now. But I want to help you. Your memory loss has turned the tables, and I doubt you're faking it." He shook his head. "I can't believe you went through with adding memory alteration parameters."

"That's not the beginning," Wartortle pointed out. He didn't want to become more confused than he was already.

"No it's not, sorry sorry." Victini pointed at Wartortle then himself. "Back in Unova, you and I were brainstate researchers. You remember our paper coining that term? Alex, the photography nut with the Simisage pet, he used to call it 'a snapshot of a brain's consciousness'. Our work progressed to the practical applications of that concept. How can we transfer a brainstate from one brain to another? In layman's terms, putting people in different bodies. Even Pokémon bodies."

Memories did not flood back to Wartortle, as part of him expected. His memory was truly absent, as Ralia the Gardevoir had suspected. Yet Victini's words rang of truth. That was what the team had been researching, and that application was a logical follow-up to mastering the theory behind brainstates. He felt a thrill, recalling the process of scientific research he used to perform day in and day out. He missed it, he realized.

"The experiments we had the interns run went well, really really well! Our team was making waves in Castelia. You and I, we bounced ideas off each other all day. We saw flaws in the experimental design that even Kathleen missed. We consulted other studies in fields related to consciousness to further refine the techniques our team was using. From computer science, to psychology, to biology, Tristan and Brayden were on top of it. We both craved success. We wanted to change the world, so badly!"

Wartortle felt an inkling of guilt for Quil having to sit through a retelling of some other duo's close bond and great successes. He let the guilt fade into the background though as Victini continued the story. This was everything. This was the crucial portion of his past, finally unveiled.

"Both of us were at home when the lab finally reported favorable results after midnight. Like a Lillipup smelling its dinner, we were on site in minutes. All night, we reviewed the results. By early morning, we'd confirmed that the brainstate transferal procedure was reversible, and free of errors. We were both out of our minds at the success. Weeks and months and years of dedication had paid off. In the thrill of the moment we decided to play a game using our new tech. I made a bet that I could throw an entire Pokémon reserve into chaos, eventually purging it of inhabitants, and that you couldn't stop me. You agreed."

"What?!" Wartortle said as Quil's mouth fell open. "That's ridiculous! I would never agree to that, and I don't think you would make the stakes that insane."

"Like I said," Victini went on, "you're different now. I didn't think you'd believe me at first. But you and I, we go way back. We were always making friendly wagers and trying to outdo each other. I wish you could remember."

He did remember, in part. None of the more recent developments, but he recalled the friendly, perhaps even cocky rivalry they shared. Even so, there was no way they could have agreed to do something as profoundly maniacal as that.

"The reason I suggested such an outrageous bet is because of how mega-incredible our breakthrough was. Now that we can transfer brainstates at our lab, we have functional immortality. You see now? The world is ours! We can transfer ourselves into our genetic clones once our prime has passed. Or we can transfer ourselves into new bodies. People can even use the bodies of their favorite Pokémon! Health, vigor, fantastic abilities – we've both experienced it first-hand. Consciousness was the conundrum stalling advances in medicine and so many other fields for decades. We solved it. The world is ours now, it's all ours!"

What did one say to that? Victini's crazed reaction initially struck him as disproportional to the feat, but upon further examination, it wasn't. It really wasn't. Victini, or Tristan, was perfectly correct. If they had indeed gotten the brainstate transferal process working, then human society had entered a new era. One in which lifetimes were endless. Bodies could be shed like worn-out clothes. All walks of life, even those of Pokémon, could be trod by the same individual. Cloning technology had been a nifty advancement, but clone bodies were mostly useless to their parents. Until now.

Victini sounded like a mad scientist, but he had only responded with the same amount of exuberance that the occasion merited.

"Why make the bet about ruining a protected reserve?" Wartortle asked. "I understand we were excited, but isn't making a bet like that...off topic?"

"Not at all!" said Victini, spinning twice in the air. "Brayden, what are the biggest issues facing our world today?"

"Overpopulation. Insufficient land for continued urbanization. De-"

"Stop right there. You see why I made that bet? Why I'm working toward this island's annihilation? Humanity can't afford to let reserves like this one remain protected. Not anymore. With this technology loose in society, death by all causes but a few will be eliminated. Our overpopulation problem will explode in severity. Our need for more space and development will rise by correlation. Humans need this land. Once I clear it out, there's no way society will let it go to waste again as a reserve."

Victini rubbed the back of his head with a hand as he continued in a coy tone. "I know, I jumped the gun in making that bet and coming here as soon as we found out the tech works. But you can't remember how excited we were!"

"Excited enough to exterminate thousands of Pokémon?!" Wartortle yelled. "You're trying to erase an original, unique culture! To cause suffering and death on a scale never before seen in history!"

Victini floated backward in apparent surprise at Wartortle's reaction. "Wow, is that really the perspective you have now Brayden? Don't you remember the poverty, the horrible living conditions in places like the suburbs outside Castelia? I'd call them slums, personally. They're everywhere! We both know people affected by it. Humans need the land that this reserve offers."

"I remember," Wartortle nearly spat. "But this isn't the answer!"

Victini looked at Wartortle with his bright blue eyes as if baffled. "We've changed the world forever. Our names will be memorized and our work studied by the children of future generations. Humanity is on its way to divinity."

He let out a disbelieving chuckle. "And you're fretting over a deserted island? What I'm trying to do now, a bet you took me up on I might add, is nothing in comparison to what we've already achieved in the lab. This is a vacation. One we both really really needed after all the hard work we've done. Why are you so worked up over this place?"

"Quil is my best friend," Wartortle snarled at Victini. "I have met Pokémon who are better 'people' than any human I know. This island-" He couldn't find the words to express his emotions. What was he going to accomplish anyway? Victini's mind would not be changed by him sharing his personal experiences as a Pokémon. "I can't begin to describe how atrocious this bet is. I refuse to believe I played along."

Victini raised an arm to point at Quil, though his eyes remained on Wartortle. "Look at that Quilava, Brayden. You know you're not like him. All this time in a Pokémon body, I'm sure you've experienced the differences in our brains' architecture, just like me. Pokémon can't think beyond their instincts. Look at his dull eyes, the simple emotions on his face."

Quil growled at that. Victini eyed him warily, but did not stop his verbal degradation. "They're entertaining to watch in sport, amicable as pets, yada yada, but their monopolization of preserves like this one are an obstacle to human progress at the end of the day. To human life. They're lowly, dumb creatures."

The fires of an Ember attack lit Quil's open mouth. "No!" Wartortle cried. "We need him!" Quil twitched to ruin his aim at the last second. A flurry of embers scorched the air and rock on Victini's left.

"If we try to fight him, he'll just become invisible and leave," Wartortle finished in a low voice. "I still want to hear the rest of the story."

Victini watched the embers burn themselves out before giggling and turning back to Wartortle. "See what I mean?"

"What happened after we supposedly agreed on the bet?" Every now and then, when the thought of what Victini was trying to do rose to the forefront of his mind, Wartortle shivered with restrained emotion. Those emotions could wait.

"Righty-right, the bet." Victini appeared to gather his thoughts with a content smile. "I picked Victini since I read that it was a powerful Legendary with abilities conducive to achieving my goal. Its natural personality and instinctual tendencies are similar enough to my own, too, all things considered. You, though, oh you. You really blew my mind at the time. You were so arrogant!"

"I chose Squirtle." He did not remember the decision, but obviously that's the Pokémon he'd chosen. Why though, when the Legendary Victini was his contender?

Victini nodded. "You said you didn't need the power of a Legendary to win. You declared that a Squirtle body would be good enough to stop me. Do you remember how haughty you were? You chose a Pokémon given to wucky widdle Twainers in Kanto when they start their pointless journeys."

I chose Squirtle...out of arrogance? To prove myself better than my co-worker?

"After that, I tried to make it easier on you to rebalance the scales. I named our battleground Preserve Alpha, because the biggest Pokémon reserve would be the most difficult for me to annihilate. Then, oh-" He burst into giggles. After calming himself as Wartortle watched with growing trepidation, he continued. "Then, to one up me, you said you didn't even need your memories to stop me. That you'd eventually figure out everything that was happening with your so-called genius intellect. I didn't think you'd go through with that boast, but here we are. You've lost your memories after all. Color me impressed!" He laughed once more.

No. No. His memories had been damaged by his own hand? He'd spent hours agonizing over the reason his memory was fragmented. His early nights had been tormented by the question: Why? Why am I here? Why has this happened to me? The answer was not deep or mysterious. The answer was not even meaningful.

A boast. To brag about his intelligence. All of his anguish had been unknowingly self-inflicted. Setting the brainstate transferal machinery's parameters to shatter his memory during the transfer to the Squirtle body had probably been quite easy. A few keystrokes for a devastating effect.

What kind of person had he been, destroying a large part of his identity for the sake of a bet? That sounded like the pinnacle of arrogance. And to allow Tristan to incite bedlam and ruin in an isolated reserve? What he planned to ultimately accomplish was unspeakable. Even encouraging him to take a Legendary Pokémon's body was awful. Had he really been that kind of person? Pretentious? Careless? Merciless toward the lives of Pokémon?

"How did we get these bodies for the brainstate transfer." His voice sounded stony in his own ears.

"Oh, you probably ordered a hollow Squirtle body from some bio lab," said Victini with a wandering gaze. Evidently he was uninterested in or indifferent to these particulars. "Squirtle are a species that modern biology understands very, very well. Mapped the genome, epigenome, and every other 'ome'. Remember that much?"

Wartortle nodded slightly. Most species had been thoroughly studied by Pokémon biologists, even though their moves and capabilities were not yet fully understood. Scientists had gained the know-how to grow or clone many Pokémon bodies from scratch. Soulless shells with no consciousness. Great for anatomical studies. Of the few Legendary Pokémon that were confirmed to exist however, very few had been studied in any detail. Most were theorized to be unique individuals, not species. Wartortle did not know much about Legendaries; they had been neither his field of study nor object of interest.

"From there," Victini went on, still smiling, "I bet you delivered the Squirtle body to this island from a high-altitude air drop, or maybe you had it assembled here?" He shrugged, a gesture Wartortle hadn't seen in a long time. "I don't know much about the process so I can't say. And now neither can you since you dumped your memories during the brainstate transferal."

From what I can picture of this island, Root Forest is near the center of it. That explains why I put myself there. The middle is a great place to start, to survey and select a direction. "And your body?" Wartortle prompted.

"I had to hijack an existing Victini body. Not sure how many there are in the world, if there's even more than one." He waved a hand in nonchalance. "I looked up some information and discovered there was a Victini being studied in a facility that happened to be near Preserve Alpha. I admit it's a shame its consciousness is gone now, replaced by mine. Its 'soul', so to speak. Who knows how old it was?" He shrugged again, looking embarrassed. "We should try not to...intrude on the lives of Legendaries, I think. They're not as worthless as ordinary Pokémon."

"You monster," Quil growled with palpable hatred.

"Is there any more to the story," Wartortle said tonelessly. He had passed anger. Only a frosty determination remained.

"Hmm," said Victini. "Yes, you gave me a head start, too, you crazy guy. You really shouldn't have; I'm winning the bet as of right now! When did you get here?"

"Lightning storm," Wartortle said.

"Ha, that means by the time you'd arrived, I'd already learned how my powers work, designed my talisman scheme, had them shaped to look like my cute face, ascertained Zapdos' location, and given all the Electric-types of the world a boost. Once all three boosts are in place, I can move onto the real destruction. You won't win this bet, Brayden!"

In the wake of Victini's delighted laughter, anesthetized by shock and disbelief, Wartortle stared into the black rock by his feet and made himself a cold resolution. No matter who he had been, and no matter why all of this had happened, Victini needed to be stopped.

"I don't like the look on your face, not one bit," Victini said. "Once we get you your memories back in Castelia, I'm sure we can be friends again and keep achieving great things together. Until then, are we still on for this bet, now that you know what happened? Or are you giving up? It's okay to admit defeat once in a while, Brayden." He smirked, as if he were teasing an old friend.

Wartortle replied with words like daggers. "I do not give up. You will lose." He met the eyes of his former friend, coworker, and partner. "Quil and I will stop you."

Victini bit his lip and drew back. "You're still determined, hm? Even after hearing the circumstances of our arrival here." He murmured his last few words, making them barely audible. Wartortle was unsure of what exactly he said, but the last words sounded like "...couldn't break you."

For a moment, no one moved. Wartortle stared at Victini, and Victini stared back with the expression of someone who had been stumped by a riddle.

"Well," said Victini with no trace of a smile. His form darkened as the color of the slope's rock seeped through from behind. "Good luck."

Wartortle drew from his Pool, but Quil was far quicker. A blur of fur and flame launched toward Victini as he disappeared. Fast as he was, Victini had become fully invisible by the time Quil arrived. He landed the attack, but it was a glancing blow. Quil stumbled, spinning off to the side from the contact with the unseen body. A distortion moved away from the point of contact, rising into the sky as it faded. Wartortle's Bubble streaked unchallenged through the air, probably just missing Victini. The bubbles each glistened in the sunlight before popping ineffectually in the distance.

In the silence that followed Victini's departure, Quil looked at Wartortle. A mix of emotions stewed on the Quilava's face. He opened his mouth twice, and both times he closed it again.

With calm, deliberate movements, Wartortle laid himself down on the slope of the deserted mountainside before withdrawing into his shell.