Chapter Nine: Smoke On The Water
"Pokémon aren't meant to fight. Not like this." - Nurse Joy, Mewtwo Strikes Back
Just like a Pokémon to challenge you at the worst possible time.
OOOOWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHH
It was the Spinarak's hour when the war horn echoed off the mountainside. The Skarsgards hurried into their positions as if their lives depended on it. Stepping out from beneath the araguaney trees we had a full view of the Varias marching down the purple path towards us. Five minutes away, less, even. If we ran to meet them, we would be fighting upwards on a path. If we remained here, we would at least battle on even ground.
With a bronze-poisoned lake sitting right behind us.
I grabbed Alex up in my arms and dug my claw into the cliff to slow us as we reached the ground. Art lifted a very confused Mikey by the arms and dropped him down next to his partner. Mickey and Spencer stood together, their last remaining soldiers by one side, Fortis and the Renegades on the other.
"It's an honour to fight at your side once more, my lord," Fortis said.
"The honour is mine, my friend," Mickey replied.
"I'm going to be fighting my friends," Titan communicated. Yukiko relayed for her. So that's where I knew her from.
"Yeah," said Harriet, "I know the feeling."
"Just when I thought the fighting was done…" Yukiko said.
Harriet knitted her claws through her fingers, and the Feraligatr let out a breath.
The march of the Varias' footsteps echoed across the platform. Two minutes.
"What do we do?" said Mikey.
"We fight," Evie said. "We're still Skarsgard Pokémon. If nothing else… we're still that."
"You look remarkably calm, uncle," Mickey said to Spencer.
"I've seen the face of God, nephew," Spencer replied. "Dreigo is no dragon-god, he's a jester in lord's clothing."
"… Damn."
"I swear to you, Mickey, I had no idea Ford was such a monster. He was a brute when he was younger, but I truly thought he'd changed… please forgive me."
"Neither of us are responsible for his betrayal," Mickey answered, "I learned that lesson a long time ago."
The Mudkip looked up at him. "We're still family, you know. Whatever name you want to give us. We'll always be family. He doesn't get to change a thing."
"You're right. He doesn't." He drew his hammer, tossed it in his hand. "For the Finleys."
Spencer raised his head high. "For the Finleys."
The entrance curtains to the royal pavilion swished aside. Octavia stormed out, still adjusting the straps to her crown-helmet. A scout Pidgeotto screeched as two furred, whiskered dragons of rainbow light shot her down from the sky. Two Dreepy went slinking back to a waiting Dragapult.
"Smokey!" she called. An Incineroar in Skarsgard armour raised their head. "Sound the horn!"
The Heel Pokémon nodded and hurried back inside a blue-and-orange tent. A flash of orange came from behind. Only a few miles away. Fitzroy and his God were headed straight towards us.
We were trapped on all sides, land, water, and sky.
The Varias marched down the hill, led by Dreigo, Zweil, and Dei. The arrogant smile was gone from the Hydreigon's face. A shroud of rippling black energy trailed the Zweilous as he walked. The young Deino's expression was hardened far beyond his years.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH
The Queen marched to the front of the procession to be the first to face the enemy. The soldiers lined up in their rows, their armour donned and their eyes locked on target, suddenly took on a powerful new energy. It wasn't something you could see, but if you were standing there at that moment, you could feel it in every cell of your body, radiating from theirs. Black clouds of smoke blocked out the sun. The darkest hour had come.
Octavia spread her wings, and with a deep growl shot into the air. Dreigo soared up to meet her. Skarsgards and Varias alike lifted their weapons above their heads and charged at one another. The pounding of thousands of footsteps was drowned out by the clashing of steel, the charge of energy, the cries of bloodlust. From afar, it looked like one big wave of orange entangling itself in a wave of blue. Swords and warhammers and battleaxes, Fire Spins and Dragon Pulses and Air Cutters and Night Slashes flew into the air, Pokémon fell on top of Pokémon, and steam rose where the heat vaporised the wet landscape, shrouding the whole battlefield in mist.
Rainbow light lit the dark sky as three mighty cries cut through the din. Blue flames burned from Octavia's black tail. Braze's wings were wide, torn, and his horns were sharp as lances. A Camerupt's two funnels merged into one boiling volcano. But the same transformation was happening on the Varia side. Spikes sprouted from a Sharpedo's snout, a Tyranitar's back split open as her spine stretched almost two feet, and a Garchomp's fins became terrible blood-red scythes.
Zweil crept along the edge of the cliff, leaving a trail of black wisps behind him. Asa glared up at him from the grass. Both the Zweilous' faces broke out into sinister grins. I recognised a Nasty Plot from a mile away.
"Don't be a fool and think you can match me, Zweil," the Bulbasaur called.
"Do not waste my time on childish heckling, Asa," the Zweilous called back.
A shimmering bubble rose from the ground and closed above Asa's head. The Grande Mage looked around him in confusion. He struck the bubble with one of his vines, and with a bright yellow flash the vine ricocheted away. Five-fingered black hands rose from the ground and grabbed Asa by the ankles. He whipped them away but more and more came. A void-black Shadow Ball cut through the bubble and hit him in the forehead. Asa grit his teeth and summoned a storm cloud of Razor Leaves; Zweil slammed his feet into the cliff wall, and black lightning rose up in a wave, frying them. He struggled against the grasping spectre hands. Another Shadow Ball came, but Asa's vines cross-whipped it away, right back at its user, too fast to dodge. Zweil grunted and bore the attack.
The mage was stronger, there was no question. But the conjurer was better equipped, and his opponent probably didn't even realise what he was up again. But I could recognise that magic anywhere. It had come from the Inner Caverns.
Varias leapt from the cliffs onto the Skarsgard's heads. As the orange army turned their attentions upwards, geysers of blue water erupted from the grounds. Soldiers were tossed into the air or soaked to the skin. Varias grabbed them and chucked them into the streams. I saw a Druddigon holding a Chimchar's head under. I kicked him in the stomach and pulled the Chimp Pokémon free.
"Are you all right?" I asked, cradling him.
He coughed up water and forced a smile. "Never been better."
And without another word, he pushed himself back up, drew his dagger, and went to rejoin the battle. He must have been less than six.
There was a gust of wind that sounded like high-pitched singing, carrying pink sparkles and purple powder that sprinkled over the tops of the Skarsgard's heads. Their eyes drooped and their shoulders sagged and the strength seemed to drain from their bodies. Among them, Varias wearing Pecha Scarves wreaked havoc.
The Camerupt's body shook as the volcano on his back erupted, spewing lava across the ground. Meteors crashed down on top of the Varias' heads, orange-and-black smoke rising in the air. The Mega Sharpedo burst out of the water, spinning like a torpedo. Her Aqua Jet struck him in the side and drove him through another geyser and into the muddy ground.
Orange energy burned in Dreigo's chest. It rose up through his throat, and a glowing dragon snaked into the sky. It broke into a dozen blazing orange heads and rained down over the battlefield. Octavia darted between them and flapped her wings hard. A razor blade of white cut through the air; Dreigo span his body around to dodge. Octavia's tail grew long and green, and sprouted flowing golden feathers. Dreigo's six wings turned to two; his tail stretched too and turned a seafoam colour. Breaking Swipe and Dragon Tail clashed, pushing both parties back a few feet. They dived, clashed again, split apart, clashed again. Octavia growled again, loud enough for the whole battlefield again, as she soared up high.
A meteor of blue fire shot through the sky, spreading rings of flames in its wake, screaming as it tore through the hot air. Dreigo swerved out of the way. Blast Burn hit the ground, a mushroom cloud rising, swallowing the Hydreigon whole.
Midnight-blue energy twisted in a spiral shape to form a wingless, bipedal, skeletal dragon. Octavia flapped her wings hard but it was too fast; a roar of pain escaped as its square jaws clamped around her neck, dragged her down. The lake was coming up to meet her. Octavia flexed her arms and roared, and a flare of bright-blue flames burned from her mouth and tail, surrounding her whole body. He pulled back. She kept falling. The Charizard hit the water.
Even as the battle raged on, the air drained empty as thousands of eyes turned to watch the Queen's fate. Dreigo's Z-Move faded away, and he hovered there, watching the lake.
Octavia emerged thrashing from the water, great clouds of steam rising around her. She threw her head back with a mighty, fiery roar. Her flame burned low, yet still she spread her wings and rose back up. Dreigo tried to pull away but Octavia's Breaking Swipe whipped across his torso, sending him spinning through the air.
"Khan!"
It was Alex. Three Pokémon had spotted us, one of whom I recognise. Prometheus, the Incineroar. He was looking at my student with bloody murder in his eyes. On either side of him were a Chesnaught and a Thievul. The Fox Pokémon had set his eyes on me. Cold air crackled as shards of ice hardened around his jaws. My stomach twisted at the sight of it, and for half a second, I couldn't move.
The Thievul leapt into the air, claws and fangs bared. My fin glowed white and Brick Break rammed into his stomach, he went rolling across the ground. He gasped for air and pawed at the wet earth, shock and horror across his face in equal measure. He tried to push himself back up, and failed. That was the problem with recruiting your friends; you tend to overestimate their abilities.
While this was happening, in my peripheral vision, I saw the Chesnaught head for Tobias. Leafy bark sprouted around her arm. Tobias tucked and rolled under her legs, and her Wood Hammer swung wide. Tobias skidded to a halt and fired an Ice Beam, but it barely grazed her shield-like back. He ducked into his shell again and went flying at her. She hunched her body over, and a neon-green dome spread from her body. Large energy spikes shot out, one of them striking Tobias in the underside of his shell.
Meanwhile, dark energy flowed from Prometheus' palms. He ran for Alex, twisting his body around three-hundred-and-sixty degrees at the last moment, so the momentum fell full-swing against my student's body. He flipped backwards but managed to catch himself. A zig-zagging pillar of flame burst free from his throat. Prometheus ducked. Alex put his hand on his sword's handle as the Incineroar charged him, arms crossed over his chest. It was half-free of its sheath when Cross Chop whacked him across the face, sending him rolling over the wet ground. His tail hissed. The Incineroar came running again, dark claws raised. Alex drew his sword free and slashed him across the chest. Prometheus howled, put a paw across his body, and kicked the sword away. He grabbed Alex by the neck with the other hand and lifted him kicking and squirming out of the mud.
My Giga Impact jammed into his side and with a high-pitched yowl Prometheus was driven into the dirt. He wrapped his legs around my waist and twisted me over so he was on top. I jammed my claw into his solar plexus and whacked him across the face with Brick Break. He howled and pain and clutched his broken nose with both paws while I disentangled myself.
Ice Beam clashed with Hammer Arm. The Chesnaught's attack overpowered Tobias and bashed him in the face. He was still coughing up smoke when she charged at him, Wood Hammer raised. Alex's Flamethrower swallowed her.
I helped the Squirtle to his feet, then ducked as a Naclistack went flying over my head. I looked up at the cliff, and there was Dei Varia, flanked by a twisting sea serpent with a pointed nose and sharp-pointed fins and three rows of snapping teeth. It snapped at and tore at and shook the daylight from any Skarsgard that got too close. Then it turned and bit into its user, ripping the skin off. Dei yowled in pain. A golden pillar rose up around him. It faded into golden sparkles, and the cut across Dei's back was gone.
He was confused. He kept hurting himself, and every time he did, he was be revived. They must've stocked up heavily on Reviver Seeds. He could keep going, physically, until they ran out. But mentally, I knew, the strain would become too much. He would lose himself.
"Dei!" I called, which upon reflection, was not the smartest thing to yell. Dei, Varia probably wouldn't work, either. "Deino!" I called.
He ignored me. Or he just thought I was telling him to die.
"Look out!" Tobias cried.
I turned my head in time to see a silver Aurora Beam heading my way. I knew in that moment there was no time to counter, no time to dodge. My stomach heaved as the beam—
Suddenly my body was engulfed in burning red flame. I grit my teeth and bared through it. The flames died, and grey smoke joined the silver sparkles in the air.
"I'm sorry," Alex panted, "did I hurt you?"
"Alex. You saved my life."
The Charmander blushed. Tobias looked a little jealous.
The bronze Walrein was preparing another strike but Electro Ball took care of it. Avalon's Bulldoze shook the ground and Bonnie's Iron Tail smacked them in the face to flip them onto their back; the next Silver Aurora firing high and drizzled back down on top of them.
"Come with me," Art said, "you shouldn't be in small groups during a battle like this."
The Victory Hunters were only a few feet away, in a circle near the edge of the lake, the fire-types arranged to be furthest from the water. They attack as one unit, as unorganised Varias made desperate attempts to break their ranks.
"Go with them," I said to my students, and to Art I said, "keep them safe. Please."
I bolted. I heard three voices of protest behind me, but I shut them out. I ran around geysers and ducked under flying arrows and felt Flamethrowers and Dragon Breaths graze against my skin.
Mr. Finley laughed from beside the water while Fitzroy approached from the sky. Skarsgard and Varia battled on the ground. The Varias thought Mr. Finley is on their side, but they were wrong, he sold them out. Mr. Finley thought he could control a God, but he was wrong as well. The Skarsgards thought they were all fighting one enemy, one against three. But they were wrong. None of them know what they were doing.
I have to stop this.
I ran for cover under the drooping pines. Dreigo was still locked in battle with Octavia. Further on, Zweil was now joined by three more conjurers, Glimmet and Mawile and, interestingly, Happiny. It took the four of them combined to keep the Bulbasaur at bay, but it was working. Black hands grabbed him, pulled him, tore at his skin. A jet-coloured Shock Wave struck him full-force, and for a moment he was a black shape with a green outline. Light gathered as Asa charged Solar Beam. Then the spectre hands formed a dome around him, blocking out the sun. The attack failed.
Dei stood up on the ledge, calling orders to his Pokémon. An Ivysaur and a Blue Flower Floette stood by his side. A Skarsgard Charizard, if I recall correctly his name was Lennon, came barrelling down from the sky, battleaxe raised. Outrage tore through the air to meet him. A barrage of undulating purple Sludge Bombs and dazzling pink Fairy Wind launched in one co-ordinated burst. Lennon's eyes widened but he was going too fast; he flew straight into the onslaught, and was gone in a flash of light and a cloud of smoke.
"Olivia!"
It was Asa calling up from the ground, even as the black hands clutched him. The Ivysaur didn't look down. But they were close enough to hear us, at least. I climbed up to the top of the tree.
"Dei!" I yelled. "You have to stop this! Finley isn't your ally, he's a megalomaniac! You're going to get all your Pokémon killed! You need to call them off!"
He heard me. He understood me, I know he did. But it wasn't enough to stop him. He didn't have the capacity for that level of critical-thinking. He was a child.
He pointed a foot towards me. "After him!" he cried.
Suddenly a dozen heads turned towards me, and his Pokémon took off in pursuit. I dropped down to the ground and ran. Forced out into the open air, I leapt from side to side to dodge the Draco Meteors raining down. Octavia's Blast Burn and Dreigo's Hyper Beam clashed in mid air, and my vision disappeared in a puff of smoke. I kept running, using every other sense to find my way. I had to get to the cliffs. I had to find a way—
An Ice Beam hit me square in the heart. I felt a life-and-death fear, the kind that clears everything out of your mind. I put my claw to my chest, felt my heart beat hard and slow. I dropped to my knees. Something was approaching through the smog. A flattened shape, four legs, yellow eyes. A Cetitan. Please, no. Not like this. Cold air howled through the air. The Sheer Cold. His eyes glazed over with a sheen of white, and cold energy glowed through his body, he raised up on his hind legs.
Tobias' Rapid Spin cracked against the Avalugg's chin. Another Ice Beam formed in his mouth as his eyes locked onto the Squirtle. Then he froze as something climbed onto his back. He looked up in time to see Alex, Flamethrower bursting free.
Tobias ran to my side. He handed me a Lum Berry from his bag. I couldn't move my arms. Alex took it and shoved it clumsily into my mouth. I swallowed involuntarily. I felt a warmth spread through my heart, a prickling along my skin.
Tobias placed a hand on my back. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.
I nodded.
"Come with us!" Alex said. "Art's right, you shouldn't be out here on your own!"
The smoke was clearing. I could see the black-and-blue shapes of Zweil and Dei, just a few metres away. Dreigo and Octavia battled on above our heads.
"It's no use," I said. "The longer this battle goes on, the more allies we'll lose."
The Victory Hunters were driven backwards by hoards and hoards of Varia Pokémon. Nate looked anxiously over his shoulder. A stray arrow forced Agatha back, and when she noticed her foot touching the water, she shrieked and yanked it away. Thankfully, the bronze was now pooling at the bottom. The waterfall crashed behind them. It could still be contaminated, but if we could just break through…
An orange Draco Meteor came crashing down. I grabbed Tobias and Alex and threw myself out of the way. The dragon's head hit the ground and we were tossed further by the blowback. Asa grunted as two Dragon Pulses coursed through him.
"We have to get him out," I said, "he's the only way we're getting into those caverns."
But how on earth were we going to counter magic?
"On it."
Tobias got to his feet and raised his raised his left arm. Zweil turned his heads towards us, and his smiles dropped. A jet of sunlight-yellow water burst from his hand, so forceful he had to stick his other hand out to stop himself from falling. It punched a hole right through the barrier. Smaller ones appeared where the water speckled across its surface. Zweil raised his forelegs. Razor Leaf struck him from the side, and both heads roared. Asa came running. Zweil and his minions chased after him. Up above, Dreigo unleashed a Fire Blast. Octavia swerved to dodge. The Fire Blast hit the ground between us and our pursuers.
"We need to get into the Inner Caverns!" I told the Grande Mage. "We need to cut the Skarsgards and the Varias off from one another!"
"We can't!" Asa said. "They're too entangled, it would be like tearing sand from the ocean!"
"Then we need to take as much sand as we can."
Asa looked around desperately. "Ahh- all right, I'll do my best!"
We made for the lake.
"Stop them!" Dei Varia cried.
His Pokémon chased after us. We passed by the Victory Hunters.
"Form a line of defence!" Avalon called to her own. "Protect the Grande Mage!"
Behind us, Pokémon were tearing each other to pieces. Bronze soldiers were being cleverly trapped in mud or stone or ice; it may be projection, but I swear I could see the confusion and pain in their eyes. The waterfall crashed down, streams of bronze glinting.
A pink shield appeared above us, inverted inward to catch the water. We ducked our heads and ran. Around thirty of us made it through before the basin began to overflow. A Heatmor came running, then froze in her tracks when a drop of bronze water dripped onto her nose. She should have had a helmet on, but there wasn't enough metal. A couple soldiers looked backwards, but the Anteater Pokémon yelled at us to keep running. Asa wrenched himself away.
"Only two shields left," he said to me, "I'm just praying we won't need them."
We raced down the tunnels, footsteps thundering behind us. They'd broken through as well. To our left. We came to a crossroads, and red light shone from the left path. We turned right.
Right into their trap. The ground turned to quicksand. We struggled and pulled. An orange mouth closed shut on a Numel's leg. Acid burned across a Hawlucha's side. A green tail reached up and wrapped around a Purugly's neck. We turned ourselves around and ran back down the tunnel. We lost three Pokémon along the way. Light appeared on our right side. We came to a fork in the roads. We went right, turned a corner.
A Mega Ampharos stood down the corridor, a hoard of electric-type Pokémon behind her. Two dozen, maybe more. The Light Pokémon jabbed a hand towards us and let out a high-pitched battle cry. A sea of Thunder Waves came crashing down the tunnel, blinding us before paralysing the others on the spot. It wasn't just a dozen Pokémon under Dei's command. It was quite possibly a hundred, a whole battalion.
Six Pokémon stepped up with Safeguards and Protect bubbles. It was enough to block most of us, but a dozen or so Pokémon were paralysed. I smacked my students around the head as gently as I could to wake them up. We turned down the tunnel and took two more turns, and I foolishly thought we'd lost them.
"There they are!"
Dei was leading the charge through the tunnels, the Ivysaur and the Floette by his side.
Up ahead of me were my students. Tobias. Alex. My youngers, my responsibility. I am the adult. I must do whatever it takes to keep them alive. My own life doesn't matter anymore. I can live so many more by what I will give these Pokémon. That will have to be enough.
I wonder if Dei feels the same.
Another fork in the road. The Skarsgards kept going and I stopped.
Tobias noticed first. "Khan?" he called.
"What are you doing?!" Alex called. "Run!"
I looked at my students one last time. What should I say, "look after each other?", no they already know that. "I'm sorry", no, that's just sad. I guess there's only one thing left.
"I love you."
My Fire Blast hit the ceiling. The Varias pulled back just in time. The stone cracked and the earth crumbled. Tobias almost got himself crushed trying to reach me, but mercifully, Asa's vines whipped out and yanked him back at the last second.
"Dei!" two voices cried out.
The Deino was running through the falling rubble. A large piece of ceiling was about to fall on top of him; I yanked him out of the way just in time. All three tunnels were blocked off from one another, Skarsgards in one, Varias in another, myself and Dei in the third. Through the rumble and the rubble, I heard Tobias' voice:
"Khan!"