Chapter 44
Boost
The arena exploded into motion. Moves that Wartortle had never seen or imagined were launched by the Pokémon of the Resistance at the trio of Legendary Birds. Green spikes. Beams of raw energy. Spores, powder. Purple wads of slime. Fire of various colors and shapes. Luminous rays. Distortions in the air like vibrations. Globules of light or water.
Fewer landed physical blows. Punches. Bites. Chops. Scratches. Stabs. Headbutts. Many had an element associated with them, as in the whip-like strikes of a vine, or the thwacks of Bein's bone.
The attacks of the three boosted elements were spectacular. Hayzin's electricity, as it jumped toward Moltres, threw a flash of shadows on the ice that even Moltres' innate glow had failed to produce. The gargantuan icicles that Beartic of the Twins produced above the head of Zapdos shattered into hundreds of tiny glistening shards as they crashed down on her. The vigorous explosions against Articuno's wing caused by Quil's deluge of white embers were no less incredible for all the times that Wartortle had seen Quil use the boosted technique.
The initial onslaught by the Resistance was devastating. It was breath-taking. A cacophony of visual and auditory noise that had Wartortle closing his eyes and covering his ears with his hands. Despite being the furthest Pokémon from the action, his body was assaulted by pulses of heat and cold from the use of Fire and Ice techniques. In that opening salvo, Wartortle fully believed that Pokémon could hear and see the battle all the way from Iyrodenin.
The Legendary Birds held their ground as they withstood it all. Then they retaliated.
Zapdos flung herself high into the air with a single wing-beat. On her next, a bolt of shining yellow lightning with a white core arced into the air and down to the icy bowl. A massive hole appeared in the battlefield as icy chunks were blasted away with a resounding thunderclap. Three Pokémon of the Resistance were also flung away, electricity jumping around on their fur and scales. Each of them landed hard on the ice, bouncing then rolling to a stop. None of them rose again.
Moltres raised her burning wings as if to enfold the Pokémon beneath her beak, and her wings' fires raged. The air in front of her warped and wavered from what could only be immense heat. A huge patch of ice five feet deep hissed as it sublimated directly into steam. The four Pokémon in Team Moltres caught in the technique crumpled. Only one of them got back up. The bodies of the three others rested in the wet pit.
Articuno, in the center of the bowl, drove herself back toward the ice bridge some thirty feet using a hard flap as thrust. She glided on her talons like an ice-skater. Her balance was flawless despite the sudden and speedy maneuver. She then flapped up a howling blizzard with but a few beats of her frosty wings. Snow-laden air rushed past a large portion of Team Articuno, coating their forms with frost. Most fell to their knees if they had them, and their sides if they didn't. The Resistance's Swalot stopped moving entirely as his purple body became encased in ice. He'd been frozen solid. Wartortle hastened to the side to avoid the blizzard, far away as he was.
Chando was making a pass over the entire plateau. He shouted nonsense in a voice that would be too loud for anyone to ignore.
"Your world denied my happiness! I shall reduce it to zero, to NOTHING!" He carved a straight line across the Resistance with white flames from his mouth. Due to his rambling, almost everyone was able to hear the attack coming and get out of the way, but one or two Pokémon were engulfed in the unimaginably hot fire. When Chando finished his pass, a deep fissure extended across the bowl. Wartortle could hear a moat of liquid water boiling at the bottom. "If I cannot feel joy, no one will!" Chando wailed.
"Team Moltres, watch out for the moat!" Wartortle called as loudly as he could to be heard over the battle. "Oran carriers, now would be a great time to use them!"
He flinched as a Prinplup slipped and fell backward into the fissure created by Chando. Most Pokémon present weren't used to hearing and obeying orders in battle, like Quil was. To them, doing anything but surrendering to one's fighting spirit in a battle was a foreign concept. It was fortunate that Wartortle had given everyone a role to ingrain into their heads before the chaos had begun. For the most part, the Resistance was sticking to the plan.
The four Pokémon chosen to carry Oran Berries rushed about the battlefield like medics, administering bites of the berries to any boosted Pokémon who were downed or critically weakened. In the time it took a Pokémon to use two attacks, most of the boosted Pokémon who had fallen were getting up, ready to keep fighting.
The furious battle was too chaotic, loud, and flashy for Wartortle to understand most of what was happening. He could only see bits and pieces. The Boldore named Gigor was tossed into one of the ice structures that resembled saplings by the hurricane winds summoned by Articuno. It shattered into a myriad pieces from the impact. Chando tucked his wings and descended on Bein's partner Choppa, slashing him with wicked claws. The Machoke dropped like a rock as Chando flapped effortlessly higher into the air.
Wartortle thirsted to charge into the fray, lending his own strength to the Resistance's efforts, but he recognized that he would be more helpful as a commander in this case. One more Pokémon among twenty-eight others, especially one not outstandingly potent in battle, would not tip the scales. If Water had been boosted, it would be a different story. Instead he put all of his efforts toward shouting orders and advice to the three teams. When he wasn't obeyed, he darted closer to ensure they heard him. Even then, oftentimes he was ineffectual. Yet he did see that the times his words were taken into account, the results ranged from somewhat to very beneficial. Even his repeated reminders to stay spread all around each of the Legendary Birds were proving to be very useful, as the Legendaries could often not bring their full force to bear on many Resistance members at once. They had to waste time turning around, and avoiding friendly fire.
A minute into the battle, Moltres took to the air proper, and made a pass around the rim of the icy bowl. Embers trailed her ever-burning wings as she circled. From her beak, white fire blasted holes through the mist to envelop Pokémon of the Resistance. Team Moltres responded with a barrage of ranged techniques that interfered with the flapping of her wings. She soon landed, but not before reaching out her talons toward the nearest mountainside as if to grab at the cold, rocky slope. It cracked and burst open. Jagged pieces of rock rose at her command. When she alighted on the plateau once more, the rocks followed, smashing into a few unlucky individuals in Team Moltres.
Articuno, much like Moltres had near the beginning of the battle, raised her frosty wings before Mahow the Drowzee. Mahow, whose trunk had been waving hypnotically but apparently uselessly at Articuno, abruptly shivered and dropped to the icy ground. Frost crystals formed on his skin.
The sheer cold she produced was the attack? thought Wartortle, disturbed. If we keep on like this, we won't last long. I need to stay positive; everyone, everything is riding on this battle. But facts are facts.
Already, half of the Resistance was down for the count. He scanned the remaining Pokémon for the chosen Oran carriers. Only three remained standing, and one of them was now empty-handed. While the Resistance had suffered heavy losses, the Legendary Birds finally looked like they were growing tired. However, everyone in the Resistance would have fainted by the time the Legendaries collapsed, at the current rate. Chando needed to be accounted for, too. Wartortle had not yet seen the Charizard take any hits, which was how he wanted it. What could be done about the fiery menace though? The Resistance needed to focus its efforts on the Legendary Birds, but that wasn't working fast enough.
Another minute, and the battle would be decided in favor of Victini's servants.
Don't give into despair. Quil's right: we're the Resistance. We don't submit. He raised his head to search for a certain Medicham. I wanted to wait longer for this, but we don't have time anymore.
As he looked around the chaos, he saw the first attempt at someone trying to pry a talisman away from one of the Legendary Birds. A Frogadier named Rook hopped up and gripped the base of Moltres' neck. Her thick tongue squeezed between Moltres' neck and the talisman's short cord. Moltres was not blind to the attempt to remove the source of her boosted power. Her neck began to arch, placing her beak above Rook's head. The Frogadier gave an admirable effort, her legs wobbling from strain as she pulled the talisman away from Moltres' neck. But the cord would not snap.
A stream of bright white flame bathed Rook where she struggled. Moltres returned her attention to the others pestering her, as Rook fell to the ground and curled in on herself with her eyes shut.
If the talismans even can be removed, thought Wartortle as he eyed the Frogadier with regret, we'll have to try once the trio has been greatly weakened. Otherwise they'll easily freeze, electrocute, burn, or smack away anyone who tries. He shouted a warning to the Resistance against trying to remove the talismans. Hopefully he would not have to witness another unnecessary loss in their losing fight. Finally, Wartortle located the Medicham he'd been searching for.
Luckily she was still tightly gripping the Sleep Seed that Wartortle had given her. He called out to the Psychic-type, telling her to use the item immediately instead of waiting. As Articuno sent a line of sharpened ice shards hurtling toward a pair of Steel-types harassing her from afar, Meddie leaped high and tossed the seed at Articuno's head. Like Totter Seeds, Sleep Seeds would supposedly release chemicals into the targeted Pokémon upon the rupture of the membrane, quickly resulting in a harmful condition.
Articuno cut off her technique prematurely, letting the remainder of her ice shards drop to the ground and shatter. She whipped her wings at the seed, causing a gust of ordinary wind to send it hurtling through the mists and into darkness.
Wartortle grimaced as the seed was lost. It was a shame to see such a valuable item wasted, even if he remained skeptical of any seed's ability to affect a Legendary's constitution. Especially one who was not yet close to fainting. He'd seen how quickly Moltres had recovered from their battle on Iyrodenin. Why would a mere seed harm one of the Legendary Birds?
He blinked. Why would Articuno have taken the time to deflect the seed if it would have no effect? Surely at her age, with her accumulated wisdom, she would know of the strange seeds of Preserve Alpha. She would know whether or not they had any effect on her.
Wartortle once again took to scanning the battlefield for a certain Pokémon. Maybe the seeds would work!
The Totter Seed was in the paws of a Cinccino on Team Zapdos. If that seed was going to land successfully, Zapdos would need to be completely distracted. Wartortle ran to the rear of the team, keeping an eye on any incoming attacks.
"Team Zapdos, stop your attacks for ten seconds! Hold on!"
Most of them heeded his words, repositioning or catching their breath instead of attacking non-stop. Laying off the pressure would cost them, but the price would hopefully be worth it. As he had that thought, Zapdos elegantly flung herself into a beak-first corkscrewing motion just above the ground. Black and yellow alternately flashed as she spun, drilling her beak against a Sunflora. Zapdos settled back onto her talons, eyes darting to her next intended victim, as the Sunflora slid limply along the ice into one of the many crevices on the scarred battlefield.
"Chia," he said to the Cinccino. "Get ready to throw it, on my go." Then he raised his voice to all of Team Zapdos. "Everyone aim for Zapdos' face, attack now!"
In the confusion of noise, light, and motion from Team Zapdos' assault, Wartortle motioned for Chia to throw the Totter Seed. It was an excellent shot. Unnoticed in the chaos, the seed struck Zapdos' neck and broke open.
Zapdos's head twitched in response to the impact, but she was too preoccupied with the Resistance's attacks to focus on it. In the next few seconds, her eyes took on a feverish cast. Wartortle had once seen that look on someone very sick in bed. The look of someone seeing things that were not there. Hallucinations. Zapdos unleashed one more devastating bolt of thunder at Team Zapdos, forcing Wartortle to shield his eyes. Then, her head rolled wildly until she fixated on Articuno. Wartortle could see her eyes narrow knowingly.
Articuno was completely blindsided by the orb of crackling electrical energy that Zapdos flung at her. The Ice-type shrieked in surprise as white lightning danced on her form. Her neck straightened, her talons clenched, her wings went rigid. She keeled over.
Articuno had been Paralyzed.
"Now!" Wartortle shouted as he ran toward Team Articuno for them to better hear him. "Get that talisman! Pull on it, slash the cord, burn it off, whatever it takes!"
The few remaining members of Team Articuno swarmed over the downed Articuno. Wartortle saw a couple of them use their battling techniques on the small rock and its cord to no effect. Then by unspoken agreement, a variety of appendages reached in to grab at the talisman's cord. Pincers, teeth, claws, fingers, vines. There was not enough room around Articuno for everyone to help, so only Keng the Gengar, Kay the Togekiss, Piora the Pikachu, and Vin the Bulbasaur were able to take hold of the cord. Together, they heaved and strained to pull Victini's rock away from Articuno. The empowered cord resisted their efforts.
Wartortle stared intently at their progress, or lack thereof. If they could just get that talisman, perhaps the tables could be turned. But the cord wasn't snapping! He wanted to suggest some brilliant approach to removing the stone, but none came to mind. The cord was tied too tightly around Articuno's neck to be slid up off her head. If there was any knot on the back of her neck, he could not see it, and if they could have untied it they would have by now. He forced himself to look away, to find somewhere in the battle he could be helpful.
Moltres took one look at Zapdos and seemed to know immediately what was happening. The sight of Zapdos facing away from the Resistance and firing a bolt of electricity onto unoccupied ice probably clued Moltres in. She waded into the mass of Pokémon not part of the talisman removal effort and began knocking them away with calculated strikes of her wings. Moltres may have been typed as Flying and Fire, but the power of her own talisman granted her blows strength beyond any physical Fighting or Rock move. One by one, Pokémon were batted aside as Moltres tried to get a clear shot at the Pokémon standing over Articuno.
Wartortle gripped the ice beside Articuno and prepared to use his Water Gun to slow Moltres down, but somehow she'd already pushed through to him. She was seconds from reaching the Pokémon struggling to remove the talisman. Wartortle barely had time to Withdraw and brace against his shell before the incredible strength of Moltres' wing smashed him aside. After bouncing against the ice, he emerged somewhat dazed. Had he not had a shell to protect him from such attacks, he was certain he'd be unconscious like many of the others who'd been smacked away. He peered at Articuno, about forty feet away, as his vision stabilized.
Keng, Kay, and Vin were in a heap near Articuno. Moltres was staring at Piora, her beak parted. Two strings drooped from the Pikachu's hand. She looked down at it, her expression surprised, before a look of supreme confidence swept that surprise away.
In her palm was the talisman.
Moltres raised her wings and the ice in front of her became steam from the extreme, shimmering heat. But Piora was gone. She'd leaped high into the air. Already she was preparing some Electric technique in response, even as she fell back to the icy ground.
White sparks spewed out of Piora's cheeks as she descended toward her opponent for a contact technique, but Moltres had thrown herself aside with a swift beat of her wings. Piora struck the ice with a fountaining of sparks and thunderous retort. A web of cracks appeared in the plateau around the Pikachu, and yellow light shined out of each of them as the electrical energy was discharged.
For a moment, Wartortle was mesmerized by what he was witnessing. A battle between two talisman-bearing Pokémon, with both of their elements already elevated to unnatural levels. He wondered if Moltres would prevail due to her status as a Legendary, or if that designation didn't even matter anymore. Judging by that last technique, Piora had already far surpassed Raizula's frightening capabilities. As Wartortle had been when he held a talisman, the Pikachu was currently a unique category of Pokémon, one that might be able to win against a talisman-boosted Moltres.
Wartortle again forced himself to look away, to focus on what needed to be done. He shouted at the remaining few Pokémon of Team Articuno, all of whom had been watching the battle between Piora and Moltres. "Team Articuno, knock out your namesake while she's still Paralyzed. Hopefully as the talisman's energy fades from her body, so will her defenses and endurance. Team Moltres, leave her to Piora; help Team Articuno!"
As most of them nodded eagerly, he glanced to a different part of the plateau to see how the battle fared between Zapdos and the Pokémon assigned to battle her. Only three of them remained standing. And Zapdos seemed once again in full control of her senses. None of the Pokémon still fighting in any of the teams were holding any items. The Blast Seeds and the rest of the Oran Berries must have been used without Wartortle's notice, or they'd never been used at all.
Wartortle scowled, his eyes roving the sea of Pokémon who were either unconscious or too weary to keep fighting. Wily the Mawile was among them. Either her Metal Burst hadn't worked, or she'd never gotten the chance to use it. All three Pokémon who had been picked to wear the enhancing bands were also among the defeated. Those certainly hadn't been able to grant the edge the Resistance needed, though they may have helped slightly. He couldn't see any berries or seeds among the fallen to retrieve and redistribute. Doing the same for the bands probably wasn't worth the time and effort, Wartortle figured. The battle was ending too quickly.
A glow swept over Team Zapdos. Wartortle looked up in time to see Chando loose a white-hot fireball toward the melee around Zapdos. As it met the plateau, it exploded, sending out a flood of flames that rolled outward across the ice like a tidal wave. Chando's placement of the fireball had been perfect. All three remaining Pokémon in Team Zapdos were engulfed. When the flames cleared, what remained was three unconscious Pokémon in a watery crater. Bein was among them. Team Zapdos was finished.
Chando's words were so deranged that Wartortle wondered if somehow the Charizard had also been struck by a Totter Seed. "The shadow in my heart, I feel it tearing through me! Battle is what it craves now, destruction! ALL WILL ENDURE MY PAIN!"
Chando needed to be dealt with, and fast. Yet the Legendary Birds remained the greatest threat. Articuno had at last been overwhelmed, and Moltres was still dueling Piora on the part of the plateau near the ice bridge. Wartortle jumped and waved his arms to grab attention as he shouted.
"Team Articuno, Team Moltres, your sole objective now is to take down Zapdos! Go!"
The remaining battle-ready Pokémon of the Resistance hurried toward Zapdos. Wartortle dashed forward to join them, hating the lingering weariness from the Moltres' blow against him. Of the twenty-nine Pokémon who had crossed onto the icy plateau, eight were left, and one of them was busy fighting Moltres. Wartortle, Quil, Viper, Keng, the Twins, and Vin the Bulbasaur were to take on Zapdos and Chando by themselves.
Seven against a somewhat weakened Zapdos, and an untouched Charizard? These are impossible odds.
Any semblance of formation was forgotten as the eight tried to find an empty spot to place themselves around Zapdos. The damage to the battlefield at that point from all of the spectacular attacks was staggering. Wartortle leaped across a thick crack, scrambled over a pile of ice chunks, then jumped another crack to land in a large puddle of ice-water. Dodging any of Zapdos' incoming attacks would be out of the question; the area was nearly unnavigable.
Wartortle was accordingly amazed when Quil navigated the battlefield with ease after turning himself into a wheel of white fire.
Like Cyndill the Quilava had done in Cavetown's diner against the Hariyama, Quil now threw himself forward using his front paws while exhaling flames onto the ice below his snout. He tucked his head and rolled along his back. The exhaled flames merged with Quil's fiery mohawk, then the spiky fires on his rear. Flame poured from Quil's mouth as he rolled along his spine again and again, gathering momentum. The flames coating his length grew larger, brighter, thicker.
Unlike Cyndill's, the Flame Wheel that Quil had become was a glorious white inferno. The bits of ice in Quil's path melted into water as he rolled toward them. A plume of steam was left in his wake as the ice and water he rolled over boiled away. Quil rolled right over the small gaps in his path, as if his form were now as weightless as a feather. He somehow jumped the larger gaps, gaining speed all the while. He was the first to reach Zapdos.
Zapdos' talons clenched furrows in the ground with icy popping sounds. Then she threw herself beak-first into a spinning blur of yellow and black to meet Quil head-on.
Her beak pierced the continuous waterfall of Quil's boosted flames, digging into his body. Even as she did, however, the fires slammed down onto Zapdos, driving her hard into the ice. Quil was knocked clean out of the Flame Wheel by Zapdos' beak. He bumped and bounced, finally coming to a rest against Hayzin's limp body with a groan. His eyelids fluttered.
Six.
Wartortle fought to keep his rage in check. He was only partially successful as he snarled the words, "Take her!"
The assault on Zapdos began anew. Wartortle added his Water Gun to the mix, though his concentration was almost broken when his tongue tingled from the modicum of electricity that traveled from Zapdos' body to his mouth via the stream of water. It was almost broken again when Vin was plucked from the ground by Chando and carried high into the air. The Charizard's fangs had become long, wicked hooks of blazing fire. He plunged them into the Bulbasaur's bulb. Wartortle finally lost control of his flow as Vin screamed in pain while his vines waved uselessly. Chando dropped the smoking Bulbasaur back down to the ice, where he made a crunch.
Five.
Only five of them were left. Five Pokémon would decide the fate of the battle, and of every Pokémon counting on them. Everyone who had fallen thus far had done so to grant the others time to keep fighting. If they could not succeed, all was for naught.
Wartortle banished the encroaching thoughts of hopelessness and fear. The words of Quil's grand speech still resonated within him. For Quil's sake above all, he would not give up. Not now.
While he prepared his next move, Wartortle watched as Viper landed a beautiful slice of her poison-coated tail blade along Zapdos' back. The poison was bound to have no effect, but the damage would. The Twins attacked Zapdos from both sides. Beartic slashed with his great claws, and Sealeo slammed against Zapdos with the full brunt of his body. For once, Zapdos actually stumbled.
Keng the Gengar took a few running steps toward Zapdos with what room he had. His hand dipped down, as if to scoop ice from the moonshadow of one of the plateau's thick icicles that now lay on its side. When he straightened, he was holding what looked like a ball of congealed shadow, which he hurled at Zapdos. Even as it struck her bright plumage, she returned the favor with a bolt of almighty lightning. Keng's entire body turned yellow for an instant before he collapsed.
Four.
Wartortle used his Bubble, what he imagined would be the final move he would use this battle. Either Chando or Zapdos was bound to attack him in the next few seconds. He would have sighed in acceptance, if bubbles were not streaming from his mouth to burst against Zapdos' wing. He'd given it his all. No regret would touch him as he went down fighting.
Piora then seemed to appear next to Beartic of the Twins, so great was her speed. Wartortle's eyes flicked to where Moltres now lay motionless on the ice near the edge of the bowl, far behind the Beartic. His eyes flicked back to Piora.
Two talismans now rested in her hand.
The Beartic snatched one of them up with a fierce smile that quickly grew to a fearless grin. Even as Chando glided overhead, blasting Sealeo of the Twins to unconsciousness with a line of flames, Beartic fell to all fours and let out a majestic roar brimming with confident defiance.
A wall of icy wind blasted from his maw into Zapdos. Every inch of her that was facing the Beartic was instantly coated with chilling frost. Her beak, her breast, her wings, her talons. The force of the wind caught her wings and forcefully pulled them open like a sail in storm. Zapdos squawked her dismay as she was blown backward, her tail following her head. The breath from her beak condensed into thick vapor. The cold from the technique swept past Wartortle. He clenched his claws and narrowed his eyes, but refused to turn away from the triumphant sight.
At last, Zapdos came to rest among the mists near the bowl's western rim. The color of her feathers was completely obscured by the film of white frost now coating her entire body. One wing twitched feebly, but she did not make any move to stand.
Zapdos had been defeated.
Wartortle 's head jerk left, then right.
All of the Legendary Birds lay defeated. Only Chando remained. The Charizard flapped hard to turn himself around in the air above the distant eastern rim of the bowl. He glided toward the remaining combatants of the Resistance, yelling nonsense as a fire's glow lit his throat past his fangs.
Wartortle leaped into a run toward Zapdos' still form. Viper was just ahead of him. The same thought must have occurred to them both at the same time: the talisman! The battle was not over. While Zapdos had been nearing her limit when she'd been dealt the final blow, Chando was still perfectly healthy. And they were but four. The third talisman would be needed if the Resistance was going to defeat the calamity of Port Rein.
Viper hooked her bladed tail-tip between the cord and Zapdos' neck. Her whole body contorted as she strained to sever the cord. Wartortle gripped the cord with his claws, then threw caution to the wind and chomped down on it with savage intent. He added his pull to Viper's. The cord refused to snap. When Piora and Beartic came up beside them to lend their talisman-enhanced strength however, Wartortle felt the cord immediately give way.
He ended up on his belly, skidding along the ice next to Viper. When they came to rest, Wartortle saw the talisman resting on the ice right in front of his nose. The cord loop had been cut in half. One of the cord halves was pinned underneath the thinnest part of Viper's tail, near the blade. The other half was draped over top.
The flapping of Chando's wings grew loud in Wartortle's ears. The Charizard had almost arrived.
Wartortle immediately grabbed the two severed cord ends and retied the loop with his claw-tips around Viper's tail. He glanced at her face for a reaction to see if it had worked.
Oh, it had worked.
"Bring him down!" Wartortle yelled as Piora and Beartic rose to their feet nearby as well.
The Beartic squatted on his stocky legs, gathering power. Piora raised her head to the approaching Charizard with a glint of anticipation in her dark eyes. She, too, crouched low in preparation for a monumental leap. Viper hissed with pleasure as she coiled herself up.
As one, the Beartic, Pikachu, and Seviper fired themselves skyward. Fifty feet up in the air, the three talisman-bearing Pokémon converged on Chando.
The flames that Chando reflexively released as the three approached were cut short by the trio of tremendous blows dealt to his unprotected back from above. Viper's entire length uncoiled to whip around and slash across the skin between Chando's wings. Piora's Electric technique produced a flash of light that illuminated the clouds and sent thunder crashing against the bowl. And the claws adorning Beartic's heavy paw were a blur as he twisted sharply to rake them against Chando's back.
The Charizard rocketed downward and crashed into the ice. The three landed lightly beside him. Wartortle joined them as Chando struggled to rise, grumbling something about his joy being smothered by confinement.
When he finally regained his footing, the Charizard was greeted by Wartortle's Water Gun, another poisonous slice from Viper's tail, a ball of deafening white electricity from Piora, and Beartic's icicles crashing down on him from above.
This time when Chando struck the ice, he did not rise again.
Wartortle cut off his water's flow to survey the broken battlefield. Articuno was down. Zapdos was down. Moltres was down. Now Chando was down.
Was it...
Was it over?
Had the Resistance truly won?
The sudden stillness felt like a lie after he'd just partaken in the most dazzling and confusing battle he'd ever seen. His mind didn't know how to react to the lack of matters demanding his urgent attention. He felt like he needed to analyze, to move, to shout. But there was only quiet. The abrupt shift from insanity to peace was highly disconcerting. He took a slow, anchoring breath.
No.
No, it wasn't over. That much he knew right away. Bit by bit, he recalled the thoughts and plans he'd had before the battle. He recalled the strategies he'd made to counteract Articuno, and why removing the talisman of one of the Legendary Birds was necessary. Yet he also recalled why that was only a temporary fix. He recalled speaking to the Twins about some essential tactic. He recalled even further before that, the purpose in coming to Articuno's domain following a bluff he'd made. The reason the Legendary Birds needed to be confronted. The reason the Legendary Birds were important at all. The reason Wartortle was here. The reason Wartortle had become a Pokémon in the first place.
Victini.
It was all because of Victini.
He whirled on Beartic, shouting, "Hail! Use your Hail now! Now, now!"
Wartortle hopped from foot to foot as anxiety coursed through him. Say he wasn't too late! Say this entire struggle wasn't for nothing! The Beartic nodded and raised his arms above his head. With the Sealeo half of the Twins down for the count, Beartic would be alone in using his technique. Not as they'd planned. However, they also hadn't planned for the Beartic to be holding one of Victini's talismans. Hopefully the talisman would make up for the Sealeo's absence.
A pillar of cold rose from the Beartic to the light cloud cover drifting across the sky. Ice crystals floated upward in the nigh-invisible beam. The placid clouds darkened to gray and swelled in response. The skies above the plateau became a winter storm in miniature. Seconds later, a sprinkling of hail clattered against the ruined battlefield.
The Twins had said before the battle that the hail would not last long; Wartortle needed to be very fast. Every second counted. He raised his face to the sky and scanned the curtain of hail.
Victini's behavior matches my theory, just as I thought after leaving Iyrodenin. He never participates in any battling. He never uses any moves. All he's ever done is imbue the talismans with his power, and turned himself invisible.
The tiny balls of ice dropped straight through the sky, unhindered. Each followed a straight course from the clouds to the plateau. The hail was perfectly even as far as he could see.
I'm certain now it's because he's unwilling to engage in any fighting himself. Victini never accepted his Pokémon aspect as I did, because he despises the creatures. He's completely unwilling to utilize his new instincts or use his Legendary strength in battle.
Wartortle held up a hand to protect his eyes, ignoring the unpleasant feeling of the ice peppering his exposed skin. He turned a slow circle, his eyes jumping around to different sectors of the sky.
But whenever he can, he hovers nearby to gather intelligence. He stays close enough to the action to witness every detail, but far enough away to stay safe. Victini's cautious, through and through, but also completely unwilling to miss a thing.
Finally, Wartortle saw it. A break in the pattern. A small spot in the air where the hail did not fall perfectly straight downward. The hail in that place stopped, bouncing upward, then finished the journey to the icy plateau. The place where the hail bounced was not stationary, it was moving. Rising slowly in altitude, from twenty feet, to twenty-five feet, to thirty feet.
That's why I knew he'd be here now to witness the defeat of his pawns.
Wartortle dropped his gaze. Time was critical. All of their preparation and effort came down to these last few seconds. Victini could not be allowed to escape, and boost the Legendary Birds anew at some later time. He pressed his claws to his head, thinking faster than he'd ever thought in his life.
All the Flying-types were down. No move among Wartortle, Viper, Beartic, or Piora had a large enough range to reach Victini any longer. The only way to get to him would be to jump. Jump very, very high.
There was no time though. No time at all. Not even seconds to communicate to the Pokémon around him what was happening. Why he'd wanted the hail. To point out the discrepancy in the falling hail. What he wanted them to do. By the time one of the new talisman-bearers was set to jump, Victini would have escaped into the boundless sky.
Wartortle's eyes shifted around the bowl as his thoughts raced like they never had before. No items were remaining to use, nor would they be of service. The last talisman was still tied to the unconscious Chando's neck. He couldn't take the time to get it off.
Then his eyes fell on Quil. Quil, where he stood on all fours by Hayzin, not ten steps away from Wartortle. Conscious. The Quilava had been craning his head to watch the skies, but now his neck relaxed. His expression was surprised. He'd seen it. Quil had seen where Victini rose invisibly through the hail. Wartortle was sure of it.
Quil's eyes met Wartortle's as he looked down. Wartortle could not say how, but his gut knew that Quil understood. That Quil understood what Wartortle wanted.
Wartortle was out of options. Out of time. He was not convinced that this would work, but there was no time to hesitate. He dashed a few steps toward Quil and leaped into the air to descend onto Quil's back.
Quil bent his four limbs, placing his belly against the ground. Wartortle tracked the movement of the discrepancy as it rose higher into the sky. At least fifty feet now. Maybe sixty. Right before landing on Quil, his head snapped down as he gathered his focus to his bending legs.
Quil's own legs straightened with explosive speed. His back arched sharply.
Wartortle thrust downward against Quil's back. With all of his might, Wartortle jumped into the sky. Toward the gap in the hail. Toward Victini.
Their motions could not have been more perfectly in sync. The combined effect of their pushes actually caused Wartortle's legs to recede partway into his shell before popping back out. Never had he accelerated so quickly, moved so fast. Not even when he'd launched himself from Iyrodenin toward the airborne Moltres. He narrowed his eyes against the hail pelting his face as he soared upward toward the dark clouds. Each ball of ice seemed to glow from within due to the light of both celestial bodies. The full moon was setting behind Snowcap Crags, far to the west, as the glow of the coming sunrise in the east began to fill the world with light.
Wartortle plowed through the motes of light toward that sole blemish of untouched darkness. His aim had been true, but he felt his momentum running out.
Make it. Make it!
He reached out with one hand, opening it wide to enclose his claws on Victini's invisible form.
Victini yelped in surprise. The discrepancy stopped rising.
And Wartortle grabbed him.
Victini's body shimmered into being as Wartortle pulled him closer with both hands. The Legendary was not going to escape his grasp. Victini struggled, but Wartortle grimly held on. Gravity held on as well. Wartortle pulled Victini along with him as he began to descend head-first back to the plateau.
"No no no no, let me go, let me go!" Victini wailed as his small form writhed in Wartortle's grip.
Wartortle leaned his head back to look earthward. Quil, Piora, Beartic, and Viper all watched his swift descent. The luminescent hailstones appeared almost motionless as they rained down around him; he fell at a similar speed. He lowered his chin to look at Victini, whose eyes were squeezed close. Wartortle felt hatred mingled with disgust cross his features.
"I win," he snarled into one of Victini's ears.
Then he jerked Victini below him, drew upon his Pool, and fired his Water Gun point-blank into Victini's chest.
Victini was blasted away from him, directly toward the ground. He smashed into the ice with a a loud CRACK despite his light weight. Bits of ice were flung away from the impact site. Cracks webbed outward.
The Water Gun slowed Wartortle, but not enough. Fast as he could, he pulled himself into his shell and braced for impact. He landed on something soft, bounced off, and struck ice. When he gingerly emerged, shaking his head clear of dizziness, he found himself standing in a small crater in the ice of the plateau.
Wartortle slumped to the ground, letting out a slow breath, as the four Pokémon around the rim of the crater cheered in exultation.
Victini, bane of the Resistance and author of all its sorrows, was sprawled unconscious at the center of the crater.