Gardevoir, carrying Garchomp telekinetically, flew to the scene. The flames had spread quickly, covering the entire area in a blinding orange haze and dark suffocating smoke. A deafening roar from the flames left them unable to find the rest of the group. Thinking quickly, Gardevoir created a psychic bubble of air around her and Garchomp as they began to look for survivors.

The two walked until the ground got too hot for the psychic type She then floated. Garchomp's dragon typing meant that the flames and heat didn't affect her much. Luckily, it seemed like the festival had mostly emptied by now. Mostly. They found several drunks stumbling from the flames, not really processing what was happening. Gardevoir offered to take them to safety since she could fly. Garchomp nodded and continued to travel, searching for anyone in need of help.

Just as Gardevoir left, purple flames slammed into Garchomp's back. She looked back to see a vague outline moving rapidly toward her; she was struck in the face before that same hand grabbed her by the head and slammed her into the ground. Looking up, Garchomp finally made out the face of Gourgeist.

"Hi there, sweetie," said Gourgeist, "You wanna play damsel for me?" Seeing an opportunity and taking it, Garchomp punched the ground beneath her, sending a pillar of concrete into Gourgeist from below. She was sent skyrocketing into the air. This gave Garchomp the time she needed to follow this up with a powerful draconic blast toward her. Gourgeist looked down to see the attack and grinned. She flew down going through the draconic beam towards the dragon type. Right as she reached Garchomp, Gourgeist told her,

"Thanks," before she disappeared inside of her.

Aggron was running through the flames. He, just like Gardevoir and Garchomp, was looking for anyone that needed help. So far, he hadn't found anyone. Something that shook him to his core, but he was willing to search until his legs gave out. That was when he found someone buried beneath the rubble. With only an arm sticking out from the rubble, what looked to be a Lucario. Without hesitation, Aggron lifted all of that rubble off of him and realized that there were two Lucario. One slightly older brother, around 19, and one slightly younger sister, who looked to be about 17. The brother begged the steel type,

"Please…help. She's hurt…badly."

This situation was far too familiar. Memories of his parents replayed over in his head. Her injuries looked bad, and the flames and smog were not helping in the slightest. Without hesitation, Aggron told the brother,

"Come with me." and lifted the sister onto his back. The brother then introduced himself as Yawarakai and his sister as Kakureta. With that, the three began to run through the flames, hoping for safety.

Carracosta and Galvantula immediately lunged toward the ice type. Lopunny could barely dodge in time as Carracotsa effortlessly sliced through the rock beneath her. Galvantula then shot out a rope of web to trap Lopunny. It caught her and he slammed her into the ground before electrocuting her. She screamed in pain before summoning several icicles at the spider. Carracosta then blocked the attack and rushed the rabbit again. However, Lopunny sidestepped the attack before kicking him in the face. He stumbled back, only for the ice type to flip over him and stomp his head into the dirt. Just then, a shadow ball smacked into her, sending her soaring toward Galvantula, who had set up a large cobweb for her to land in. Seeing this, Lopunny quickly tried to form an ice wall to stop her. While she succeeded, it almost melted from the ambient heat. She knew she wouldn't be able to use her ice abilities, so she would have to switch to other types of attacks.

Her hands became enveloped in a generic yellow glow. She jumped up in the air just in time to avoid another shadow ball from a distant Chandelure. Then, Galvantula from behind blasted her with a thunderbolt. In agony, Lopunny staggered to one knee and looked up to see Chandelure standing right in front of her.

"You know, ice is my favorite element."

"Oh really," said Lopunny sarcastically. Sensing her less-than-pleased energy, Chandelure angrily remarked,

"Fuck off, I just think it's cool."

Taking advantage of his moment of weakness, Lopunny grabbed him and leaped, slamming her ice-covered ears into his face, and knocking him away. Even with the flames weakening the ice, what remained was more than enough to land the attack. Chandelure was thrown into the distance, obscured by the flames, but the remaining two wouldn't remain idle for much longer. Galvantula struck her with another web and threw her towards Carracosta, who slammed her into the ground before leaping high into the air and retreating into his shell. Galvantula then webbed up Carracosta, electrified him, spun him through the air, and crushed the rabbit underneath.

When Carracosta stood up and looked at his landing spot, he saw a beaten and bloodied Lopunnt, sparking with electricity. The numbers advantage had won out. Chandelure floated back over to them,

"That's so sad. Welp, no time to worry about that. Time to move on!" he declared.

"Yup!" grunted Carracosta as he lifted the unconscious Infernape over his shoulder, "Boss is gonna be very happy to see him again."

Gardevoir flew back over to where she was and saw Garchomp in the distance. She descended down,

"Did you see anyone else?" Garchomp remained chillingly silent. Nervously, Gardevoir grabbed her shoulder,

"Hantai?" Just then Garchomp looked behind her and revealed her now yellow eyes. Before Gardevoir could get away, the dragon type snatched her up in a bear hug. When she spoke there was a second voice speaking alongside her, clearly controlling her somehow.

"She's not here. How about you and I go for a little tango!" hissed the possessed Garchomp as she began to crush Gardevoir in her grasp. Feeling the air leaving her lungs, Gardevoir tried everything to free herself. That was when she had an idea. She apologized to her friend and took a single breath. With that, Gardevoir suddenly exploded into a pink explosion, sending Garchomp flying back and even extinguishing some of the flames.

The dragon type landed into the rubble, briefly knocking someone out of her. Gardevoir saw what looked to be a Gourgeist go back inside of Garchomp. Her heart froze. That was the Gourgeist from the concert. She was responsible, or at least partly responsible, for this horrific attack. Not to mention, she had possessed someone she loved. Something began to stir within her. Anger. She took a moment to relax herself, hoping to avoid lashing out and hurting Garchomp more than was absolutely necessary. Still, she could still feel that rising rumbling in her body. His vision narrowed slightly focusing only on the woman possessing hers.

"Let her go," she demanded. The possessed Garchomp laughed at her,

"Aww, how cute, but I've taken a liking to this body. I don't plan on leaving it any time soon. If you want it back, you'll have to take it from me."

"Then allow me to steal it back," said Gardevoir before she flew into the air and fired several fairy attacks at her. Garchomp then jumped and ran away to try to dodge every attack sent her way. The possessed dragon type was then grabbed by the psychic and pulled toward her. Charging up fairy-type energy in her hands, Gardevoir prepared to punch Gourgeist out of her. However, Gourgeist wasn't going to be helpless. She opened her mouth and fired a purple beam towards the psychic type. Forced to let her go, Gardevoir avoided the attack just in time until it circled back around and hit her in the back.

She flew down and landed on a building. Looking around for Garchomp, that was when she saw them. Carracosta, Galvantula, and Chandelure were all looking down at what appeared to be Lopunny, with Infernape slung over the shoulder of the turtle. She gasped in horror at the scene before her. There were more and they were incredibly powerful, and they were taking Infernape. Without Aggron or the others, she probably didn't stand a chance. Or perhaps she did. Perhaps in a moment of glory, she could muster up the strength needed to fend them off, rescue Infernape and-

A sudden burst of flame from Gardevoir cut off her inner monologue. Garchomp then jumped up onto that rooftop and sent several shadow balls Gardevoir's way. She quickly formed a shield to protect herself as she recentered her priorities. Right now, She had a choice to make. Either focus on freeing Garchomp and then joining the fight, or joining in now and risking Gourgeist getting away with Garchomp's body. Luckily, Gardevoir chose correctly. This time.

Aggron and the Lucario twins ran through the flames through the flaming fairground, trying to find someone to help. It was getting to the point where buildings were beginning to collapse. With his brute strength, he was able to move some of the rubble out of the way. At that point, Aggron began to talk to them,

"What happened?" he asked. Yawarakai told him,

"We were buying some last memorabilia before he left. She really wanted to find a pendant."

"A pendant?" asked Aggron. Somberly, Yawarakai nodded,

"Yes. Father wanted to come but…I'm sorry. I don't want to lay this all onto you." Aggron didn't press further, for that was unnecessary, and now was not the time to delve into someone's life story.

That was when Kakureta woke up. She groaned, alerting the others to her awakening. She asked,

"Where…What's going on?" Aggron set her down. However, it was evident that she couldn't walk, for the moment weight was forced onto her feet, she yelped in pain and nearly collapsed. Immediately, Aggron picked her back up and let her rest on his shoulders.

As they traveled, more and more paths became closed off to them. Yawarakai was beginning to panic. He was unable to control his increasingly panicked breathing. He couldn't let

Kakureta die here, not now. Aggron, however, remained resolute, determined to save them. He locked eyes with the panicking Lucario and calmed him without saying a word. His determination was their guiding rope, the one thing keeping them on their path. Not to mention, Kakureta said to her brother,

"Raki, calm down. This man is helping us."

"I know. Just…I want to make sure you're safe. You deserve to live." Kakureta didn't respond. Instead, she looked away despondent. Something that Aggron noticed.

Carracosta, Galvantula, and Chandelure began to walk away. Their mission was complete. Just then, Infernape awoke. Initially, he was calm, quickly preparing to pretend to still be unconscious and find an opportunity to activate melting point, escape Carracosta's grip, and hide amongst the flames until he could find the others. That was when he saw her. Lopunny. Defeated and bleeding on the floor. That was when all reason was burned away. Like an asteroid in the sky, his rage burned brighter and brighter. The flames, the destruction, the buildings, it all vanished away as his vision narrowed. Now, he could see only three things, and they were dying today.

Roaring with unrivaled fury, Infernape exploded in a massive burst fire. Carracosta and the others were thrown away by the explosion. Infernape then soared into the air and landed in front of Lopunny. His eyes had turned glowing red and his flames crackled and burned loudly, overwhelming the flames around him. Like an animal, he roared at the top of his lungs before soaring towards Galvantula. Before the spider could even react in time, Infernape slammed into his back, threw him towards the ground, before catching him with a flaming fist.

Galvantula then jumped up and sprayed several electrified webs at Infernape. The fire type then roared and unleashed a powerful plume of flame from his mouth. With ease, it incinerated the webs and continued like nothing was there. Galvanutla slung himself away from it, but the flames followed.

Behind Infernape, Carracosta and Chandelure were frozen. They recognized this state that the fire type was in. Chandelure then looked over at Carracosta,

"That ain't good."

"Aw great, he's off his meds now." Chandelure's eyes went wide once he realized something,

"Maybe this is better than we expected. Do you know why they call it blind rage?" Carracosta thought about it for a moment before grinning,

"Yeah. I think I do.

The two charged toward the enraged fire type. Infernape turned around with a glare that could end all life, before barreling toward Carracosta like an animal. Carracosta was just barely able to dodge Infernape's initial strike. He then grabbed the fire type and slammed him into the ground. Breaking something by the sound of it, Carracosta was about to fire an attack on his own when Infernape, without an ounce of restraint, bit down hard on the turtle's hand. Forced to let go of the pain, Carracosta screamed in pain before being tackled and brutally beaten by Infernape. Thankfully, Galvantula webbed Infernape from behind and threw him around to the ground. Chandelure then shot off several ghostly flames that did devastating damage. Alas, consumed by fury, Infernape felt nothing. Instead, his focus drifted toward the ghost type.

He charged again blindly. Chandelure remained still and watched Infernape coming closer and closer. That was when Carracosta blasted the fire type with a gigantic burst of water like he were a fire truck. Infernape was thrown into a building, with the flames around him being extinguished. The ceiling collapsed around him. Burying him. Even with that, even with all of that damage, the rubble and rock around him exploded in a burst of amber flames.

Infernape emerged from the rubble. One of his legs was clearly broken but he was still walking on it. Blood stained his fur like sins. Not even the puncture wound on his shoulder from the rubble was enough to deter the enraged Pokemon. Chandelure and Carracosta looked at each other with worry. They were under orders to bring him back alive but in this state, they'd probably kill him. If those injuries couldn't kick him out of this state, then it was them or him, and they would choose him.

Just then, Infernape's eyes returned to normal. He screamed. Collapsing onto the floor in agony, he clutched his wounds with no idea how he got them. Carracosta and Chandelure sighed with relief. Galvantula took action immediately. Trapping Infernape to the ground, he then began to electrocute the fire type violently. As the lightning crackled and burned Infernape's flesh, Chandelure looked ill and lightly tapped the spider's shoulder,

"Hey, could you dial it back a little? This seems highly excessive." Galvantula then explained,

"Nuh-uh, I'm not risking…whatever that was from happening again."

A psychic-type blast then exploded on Galvantula's back. He was launched into the remains of another building, crashing through the walls. The remaining two looked back to see Gardevoir floating in the distance, having finally found an opportunity to interfere, even for a moment. Carracosta raised his hand and briefly charged up a blast to finish her off when an icicle pierced through his hand. Screaming out in pain, Carracosta clutched his flipper-like hand. The icicle then melted, leaving only the wound. Everyone then looked around and gaped in awe.

Struggling to her feet was the severely injured Lopunny. Her fur was stained red all over like liquid snakes. Electricity still crackled off of her. You could even see a few of her broken ribs piercing through her chest and stomach. In disbelief, Carracosta exclaimed,

"I-Impossible! A blow like that would've turned her ribcage into bone broth! How is she still standing?!"

"Leave…him…alone," hissed Lopunny under her breath. Chandelure then looked at the other two,

"Uhh, you guys feel that?" Carracosta merely asked, "Feel what?" before Galvantula immediately began to charge up everything he had into an electrical ball. He snapped at the other two,

"I feel that and I'm shutting it down right now! Arachne's…" the electro ball was beginning to crackle out long thunderbolts that tore apart the nearby landscape. It shredded through steel lamps, stone rubble, and even the massive trees surrounding the city were cut deeply as though a giant had taken an ax through them,

"WRATH!" scream Galavnutla as he fired that electro ball. It sped towards Loppuny nearly instantly and shrouded the entire area in yellow light. However, that left them oblivious to the wisps of rainbow energy rising from the ground.

Lopunny backhanded that electro ball into the distance like it was nothing. The three goons gaped in awe at the sight, frozen as they began to realize what was happening. Those little wafts of energy began to change into a swirling blizzard of rainbow particles, dancing around Lopunny's feet. She pulled out her mega stone from her scarf. She held it tightly in her hands. And she broke it.

"Oh shit," said all three at the same time. Infernape, meanwhile, simply said,

"Lopunny." Balling up her hands into fists, Lopunny planted her feet firmly on the ground, took a breath, and screamed out,

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Rainbow light overwhelmed the orange from the flames. Dust and rubble exploded away from the ice type. Lopunny's screaming echoed through the air. Chandelure would've been thrown across the city were it not for a Carracosta grabbing him at the last second. Gardevoir and the possessed Garchomp both watched the sight in disbelief, with the former wondering just what in the hell was going on. Meanwhile, Aggron and the Lucario twins turned around once they heard Lopunny's yells. Aggron exclaimed aloud,

"Lopunny?"

"What's going on?' asked Yawarakai. That was when Kakureta's eyes suddenly glazed over with a blue mist. After a few seconds, she snapped out of it and said,

"Split Mega Evolution." When asked by Aggron, she explained,

"It's when a pokemon that can mega evolve gains a second mega evolution. It has only happened twice before, and one of them is dead."

"How do you know this?" asked Yawarakai again.

"I can sense her energy. Although…that's not the only thing I'm sensing."

The rainbow energy then exploded. Multi-color snow descended from the air as Lopunny's new form was revealed to the world. The fluff on her ears had grown and was completely frozen over turning them into clubs to smack an opponent. As for her main body, what looked to be icicles formed around her fists like brutal gauntlets. Light blue fur that poofed out at the shoulders and hips covered her torso. Fur around her feet and changed to look more like ice skates. As for her head, there wasn't much difference. The only difference was a little red paw mark on her forehead that was hardly visible past the blood. This was Mega Lopunny X.

An icicle slammed into Galvantula's shoulder. He yelled out in agony. The ice then melted away, leaving the open wound. Chandelure then began to back away slowly,

"Hey. Cool-Cool transformation. Uh… we're cool, right? I didn't really hit you all that much."

"Permafrost."

"Wha-What?" asked Carracosta worriedly.

"Permafrost. That stuff up in the arctic that doesn't melt. It's been around for thousands of years. Apparently, we keep finding ancient human tools and prehistoric animals trapped inside. That being said…I wonder what they'll say in a thousand years when they find you."