Episode 23: Battle in the sky

It didn't take long for the group to set off. It didn't feel long to Leos, as an hour flew by while they got acquainted with their new 'army'. The Deliverance had done a good job introducing themselves and giving him confidence in his objective to stop Tapu Bulu. There weren't a lot of them, but each and every one of them had a story to tell that gave them a drive to do what they were doing.

Their airship was as fancy as it needed to be. Leos stood at the front and stared out at the cloudy sky through the glass roof. Iron bars made a spiderweb pattern across the upper half of the ship, but only around the front. Otherwise, propellers carried the ship from the top, whilst giant, feather shaped oars rowed in perfect rhythm from the sides. It was all automated, where only the altitude and turning were manually handled by electricity and an awkward switchgear system.

Blossom had been behind him for a while, and finally sighed. She mimicked him for a minute, and then took in a breath. "Master Leos—"

"Don't bother with it. When you dragged yourself here, you decided to go through with it all the way," he said.

She moaned and shrugged. "I was actually going to advise you that you're too tense right now. Is there something I can do to make you loosen up?"

He didn't reply, so she continued. "Listen. You've given these other Pokémon a lot of hope, you know. So you'll need to be able to plan well when it comes to this battle. You can't be stiff and tense."

"Yeah yeah! Not many Pokémon are brave enough to confront a god. But you're doing it anyway, despite all the odds and everyone saying not to. That's why you're my hero, Leos!" Prem praised as he skipped into the room. It was obvious he'd been hidden for a while.

"I guess I have to go along with that," Leos rubbed his face.

"Hmm. I notice you immediately bent to Prem's support, but not mine?" Blossom questioned. She giggled and rubbed her chin.

"You're only doing your job of supporting. Words from you aren't genuine," Leos replied. The other two silenced. "What?"

"Don't you trust Blossom? She hasn't done anything wrong," Prem said, and rubbed his face.

"This isn't about trust? I never asked for a retainer because I already have you to help me," Leos folded his arms. "I know you're only trying to be helpful and nice because it's your job, or because I'm royalty."

"Then fire me. You've been the one in charge this whole time, so you've had that option. I'm sure you knew that, but you want to ask me all the more about Constellars, don't you?" Blossom smirked. Leos gawked, and couldn't reply. "Precisely. Remember that you can't hide ulterior motives from me. Either way, our motives just so happen to align with each other right now. I'm tired of letting the Tapu get away with the crimes they've done, and you want to stop them from starting a war."

"How often have you been reading my mind?" Leos asked.

"Not a lot. You're just that transparent," she giggled again. Prem giggled with her.

"Prince Leos!" Griselle sung as she skipped into the room. "What's everyone so giggly about?"

"And here comes the rest of the noise," Leos groaned.

"Hey! Don't be so grumpy. We're about to fight," she pouted.

The rest of the Deliverance gathered around a minute later. Each of them stood before Leos like soldiers. He wasn't as bothered by their appearances as he was with the soldiers at the Tower of the Tapu. The Deliverance each held their character in their appearances. Tundra looked impatient as he stood tall and tapped his folded arms, Shouta barely gave an effort to look respectful, and Kelsith clearly wanted to look as proper as possible. The rest of the Deliverance barely had a 'uniform'; they were just other normal Pokémon that looked ready to fight by his side. Something about them being normal put a smile on his face.

"It's time to study, huh?" he muttered.

"We'll be in contact in about ten. If those clouds clear up, we'll likely spot them first," Tundra reported.

Leos turned back to the window, and surely enough, the enemy fleet came into sight after a few clouds passed. The number of enemies with intimidated him, but he knew he daren't show it right now. Countless airships, possibly hundreds, filled the sky in a formation that resembled a swarm of Beedrill. All of these army airships were equipped with cannons, a drill on the front, tinted armour, and less vulnerable propellers and oars.

Fortunately for the Deliverance, they were set to intercept the very front of the fleet. That meant that Tapu Bulu was in their sights, coolly stood at the very front of the fleet on his own personal airship. It looked like a section of forested mountains had been pulled from the planet and planted on top of airship technology, as said airship had no protection outside of giant trees and steep, mossy hills across its surface.

Tapu Bulu himself was at the very front of it, rigid despite the heavy wind that must have been pushing against him. The black-scaled god resembled a bull, complete with long, green horns atop a tough red crown. His hands were large hooves, but his arms were even larger and muscular, whilst he stood on a single bell instead of having feet. The ring through his nose made it unmistakably Tapu Bulu, even though Leos had never seen him before besides the ancient artwork.

"There he is. We'll be in their airspace in seven. Hope you can come up with a strat that won't get us all killed before then," Shouta said. Leos glanced at him and blinked, then back at the army.

"There's a lot of 'em. How many soldiers do you think are on board?" Prem asked.

"Far too many to fight, that's for sure," he replied, tightening his gaze.

"Hmpf. Don't underestimate us now, kid. We ain't pacifists," Shouta spat. Kelsith pinched him with a feeler.

"We're crossing their flight path, right?" Leos asked. Tundra nodded. "We're not in space yet, either."

"What're you thinking?" Blossom said, a hint of concern in her voice.

"We leave this ship and jump straight on as a select group," he replied. "Tapu Bulu's airship is completely unprotected. If we land straight at the target, we'll have a good amount of time to fight him without getting swarmed. Airships aren't exactly built to transfer soldiers across them."

"Ah. So we'll technically be dealing with just one of those airships rather than the whole lot," Tundra nodded.

"Suddenly, a thousand enemies shrinks to a hundred!" Prem cheered.

"Uh, is anyone listening to him? How're we gonna jump on the airship?" Griselle cried.

"We get as close as possible, jump, and whoever's controlling this thing just flies back to Faernia," Leos explained. "We split up as soon as we land. One group takes control of Tapu Bulu's airship, while the other attacks Bulu himself. That way we can give ourselves more time, as well as get ourselves to safety back above Faernian ground."

"Hmpf. I like it. Logical, yet suicidal," Shouta snickered. "Looks like you guys made a good call in choosing Rune's kid."

"I-in-in case you didn't realise, I'm a little on the fat side? You can't expect me to make a jump like that!" Griselle squealed.

"You shouldn't even be here, technically. I'm sorry for dragging you into this," Leos replied.

"Oh never mind that! You're my prince, I said I'd help you!" she objected. She moaned a bit. "But you know, this is a bit—"

"You there in the delivery wagon!" a voice echoed through the sky. Their voice was unnaturally clear. Someone was speaking through a very powerful megaphone. "Move your airship, or we'll run right into you!"

"Like it or not, sounds like we're going through with it. Weapons ready!" Tundra announced, and raised an arm. The Deliverance rallied with him, and some Pokémon spat harmless attacks into the air instead of raising their weapons.

"Did you hear us? Move your flight path! We won't hesitate to run right through you," the megaphone ordered. Leos and the Deliverance gathered near the exit of their airship, with Kelsith stood at the back to get a good view of how close they were.

Leos' heart began to race. He could tell just how close their airships were. The sounds of propellers and wind smashed against the door beside him. One could only imagine how cold and powerful that wind was. If they couldn't get close enough to Tapu Bulu's ship when they jumped, that wind would likely just blow them out into the sky, and then it would be up to fate to decide what to do with them. He knew it was a ludicrous plan, yet he knew that if it worked, his parents would change their views of him entirely.

He shook his head. He came this far in his disobedience to them; why did their opinions on him matter? He wasn't doing this to impress them and he knew it, so why did thoughts of them come up now, of all times?

"Get ready to jump. Open the door," Kelsith ordered in a fearful tone.

Leos shook his head again and gulped, getting a hand from Blossom and Griselle to get the door open. Heavy wind immediately smacked their faces and forced their eyes shut, while the temperature dropped considerably. The propeller noises from earlier intensified as well, no longer muffled by the walls.

Leos growled and tried to keep his breath in focus, but his heart raced at the realisation of what he was doing. Tapu Bulu's airship was so close that he could make out the blades of grass upon its surface. This was the timing they'd been waiting for. With a quick glance to ensure nothing else could stop him, he cried out as he leapt as far as he could. The wind immediately struck and forced him to glide in another direction, and chilled him to bone so much that his eyes watered.

In fact, it literally carried him. The scenery of the trees and hills scrolled past him as he fell, so he began to swim through the air in hopes of somehow beating it and latch himself to the ground. He was just too light, and he was soon spiralling helplessly through the air.

"Leos!" Prem cried, doing the same just beside him. Leos held his breath and struggled to find something, anything that he could grab a hold of. He eventually did grab Prem's paw, who then linked both their paws tightly. "Ready? Hold tight now!"

Leos didn't reply, but Prem worked anyway. The Pikachu's magical orb formed in between them, which flashed as if it released a spell. The familiar black star of a Constellar move appeared above them briefly before their weight multiplied by many times. The duo shot straight to the surface of the airship like a paperweight and almost smashed into the floor. They staggered and shivered upon landing, but both of them were alright.

"Gravity? Nice thinking!" Leos said with a little laugh. Prem's Gravity move had affected the rest of the Deliverance as well, and they all to had an easy time landing on the ship. Once he was sure they were all there, Prem let up on the move and his orb stopped glowing. "This is why I count on you!"

But their celebrations were short lived. Once gravity returned to normal, soldiers surrounded them on all sides possible. The trees separated the soldiers' formation however. They were all Faernian, from Mawile, to Granbull, and a single Alolan Ninetales.

"We have a saying for when we start our battles, you know," Tundra said, keeping his back to the others as he strafed.

"Is now the time for childish rallies, though?" Shouta groaned.

"Doesn't matter. Now's the time for us to deliver the future!" Kelsith replied with enthusiasm.

"For the Deliverance!" the Pokémon chanted in perfect sync with their weapons and attacks raised high.

Leos smiled, and then slowed as they took over the battle with even more expertise than he imagined. Tundra thrashed knights in single hits with Water Shuriken attacks that tore holes in their armour. He must have been hitting critical spots too, because each shuriken brought a knight to the floor, where Shouta rammed right into them with a sparkly Zing Zap attack. Being in the forested layout played well to Tundra's advantage too, since he could jump from tree to tree like any Greninja would.

Kelsith was on the opposite side, and was completely against the docile character Leos had seen of her so far. She took on five knights at once, using four of her feelers like stretchable hands to trip, tangle, and strike them from afar. She took on the fifth one directly with Fairy Wind attacks fired from her mouth, and didn't hesitate to use Draining Kiss on the enemies who were vulnerable.

Every member of the Deliverance was giving it their all to keep the Faernian army back. Leos and his group did not have to do anything at all because of how well they were fought, but he knew that he couldn't sit around like this. Other soldiers would land on this ship at the earliest opportunity and turn this battle around. If the generic soldiers were taken care of, then he needed to take advantage and go straight for the boss.

"This way, Leos!" Blossom called out.

He signalled for Prem and the others and followed her through a bundle of trees and bushes, much of it so congested that he couldn't run or see the scenery around him. If it wasn't for the strong, constant wind, as well as the stale light from the sky, he would believe they were in an actual forest.

Surely enough, Blossom had taken them through it all and into the clearing where Tapu Bulu was waiting. He hadn't moved from the front tip of the airship, and only turned around to keep his eyes on the battle.

He wasn't alone, however. Two Primarina guarded the way to him, both sat either side of a Meowth with light blue-grey fur. The Primarina were well protected by armour fit for their species, and the Meowth held a long sword in his left hand.

"I'm impressed! You managed to get this far, and all with a plan that could get past the formation of Faernia's greatest royal army: The Cat's Brigade!" the Meowth greeted, pointing a finger at them.

"The ship is covered with forest. Your soldiers could barely hold a formation," Leos replied, stood one foot in front of the other. His right hand was ready to draw his Razor Shell at any moment. "Also, is this really the Cat's Brigade? Primarina aren't cats."

"Hey, I make the rules around here. This is as far as you go though, you little troublemakers. I don't know who you are, but your charade is punishable by death. Prepare to face the full might of Faernia's most powerful enemy, Paladin Charle, head of the Cat's Brigade!" Meowth announced, and pointed to himself. He posed as he spoke with quick and fancy but excessive movements with his sword.

"Ida's husband," Prem whispered.

"Figures a big fighter like him would be guarding a Tapu like this. If Ida's skill is anything to go by, then we need to be careful," Blossom warned.

Charle went on to emphasize that fact. He crossed his arms over his front and floated off the ground, where a deep, black aura of energy formed around him. With a roar, he released that energy in a shockwave that surrounded himself in a sphere of spatial darkness.

"Wait, Constellar magic? What move is that?" Prem gasped.

"You don't know? Wait, why is Faernia's royal army capable of Constellar magic?" Leos gasped. He drew back and readied his Razor Shell.

"Get them first," Charle ordered. His voice completely changed from energetic to cold and merciless. The water types slid forward, stood on their tails, and then both used Sparkling Aria at once. A high-pitched sound emitted from their mouths as orbs of water began to form in the air.

"On your guard!" Leos retracted his Razor Shell to protect his face.

A second later, the orbs exploded into countless more orbs of water, which each flew across the battlefield and exploded into bursts of water and deafening sound. Despite blocking as best he could, Leos felt himself knocked this way and the other, and cringed at the pain that blasted his eardrums. His breath wasn't knocked out of him yet though, and he merely tripped up from the attack.

"I've got it!" Blossom said, glowing a bright blue. She mimicked the Primarina and managed to create her own Sparkling Aria attack. The exact same animation played out in their favour, and Charle's party were forced to block just as desperately as Leos' group. This gave Griselle the chance to charge forward and thrust at one of the Primarina with her spear.

Impressed with her reactions, Leos drew his Razor Shell again and aimed for the other Primarina, but his first slash was blocked by the armour on their arm. They both growled at each other, but Leos didn't give up there. He began to twist and spin his scalchop as quickly as he could to slash at different parts of the Primarina in hopes of hitting them somewhere their armour didn't protect. He barely landed six hits before the Primarina slapped him away with their tail, where they forced him back on the defensive with an impatient Bubble Beam attack.

"Prem!" Leos shouted.

The Pikachu knew the order before he'd even spoke. He let out a Thunder wave attack which pierced right through the Bubble Beam to hit the Primarina. They cried out as volts sizzled all over and stunned them to the ground.

Leos quickly fired a Water Pulse and then chased it with his Razor Shell out. The Water Pulse caused the Thunder Wave to flare up and electrocute Primarina, giving him the perfect chance to stab their vulnerable point with Razor Shell.

"To think we thought up that combo one day, and it even works on elite soldiers," Leos praised to himself as the enemy fell in defeat.

Meanwhile, Blossom and Griselle took care of the other Primarina. They had teamed up to power their way through the armour rather than find a way to strike around it. Blossom was stood at a distance, continuously using Psyshock to pin the Primarina to the spot while Griselle kept hitting their armour with heavy sideways slashes. Although they weren't critically damaging, the cries from the Primarina told of the concussive damage they was taking and their inability to defend. Eventually, Griselle foresaw an end, and she roared at the top of her voice as she put full effort into one more slash, and swiped so hard that she spun her whole body around.

A high-pitched scream took over the ship as the Primarina's armour was torn off from the attack. They panicked and used Aqua Jet to arc through the air and escape, but they slammed into the ground beside Charle from how hastily the attack was. He smiled cockily despite the obvious loss of his two elites, which kept Leos on edge.

"Good. You didn't let yourself die from that," Charle snickered. "Can't you take on multiple opponents, though?"

"We can, but we're long distance attackers. The other soldiers should be fighting upfront while we attack from a distance, but they all ran off when you ordered them to," the Primarina replied with a weak huff.

"Of course it's my fault. Could you have expected these kids to be this problematic?" Charle shrugged. "I won't waste time. You know what to do."

"Sir yes sir! Which star sign?" Primarina asked.

Charle thought for a second, and snickered again. "Go with Taurus. It's fitting for Tapu Bulu's presence."

"Watch your step. He's going to try something," Blossom warned Prem and Griselle stood guard on either side of Leos.

"Hey, you there. Constellars. What position are you in with the religion?" Charle asked.

"I'm not with them anymore. Don't think of me as a Constellar," Blossom replied. She gasped and started mimicking him.

"I-I was pretty high up, but I left, too," Prem added. Charle started laughing.

"Then let me show you something new. The newly discovered power that Constellars are capable of, moves granted to us by the star gods themselves," he bragged with a snap of his fingers. He sheathed his sword on back. "Let's go! I call upon the stars to grant me your blessing!"

As he began his chant, both Charle and Primarina began to move in the exact same way in perfect sync with each other. They crossed their arms across their chests and then stretched them out in front, keeping them crossed. As they did, dark, glittery energy that resembled the starry night sky began to surround them in a fiery aura.

"Guys, spread out!" Blossom screamed, her face pale with fright.

"Let darkness brew no longer. Give me full reign over the cold grasps of the suffocating outer space!" Charle continued, still posing.

He and Primarina crouched and curled their arms around to draw a circle, and then stood tall to gesture horns on their heads. The aura around Charle flared up even more, and the Taurus star sign appeared in front of him for a brief moment.

"What is this?" Leos whispered.

The spatial sphere that surrounded Charle before suddenly appeared in the centre of their group, only this time, it resembled some sort of three-dimensional portal that distorted the air. The dark space violently began to suck everything into it, even the two Primarina knights.

"Your defeat is at hand! Black Hole Eclipse!" Charle shouted, now using his hands to control the black hole. It grew in size, making short work of sucking in Leos and his group despite them spreading out so far from each other.

Leos couldn't even begin to register what happened next. It was already cold out in the sky, but once he was drawn into the centre of that black hole, he felt like he was stuck in the middle of a frozen lake, or worse. It was so cold that he felt like the moisture in his body froze instantly, causing him to choke on his breath and his body to go stiff. It ached all over, and every squirm of pain resulted in more pain, burning from the inside of his body to steal every bit of energy he had. His eyesight succumbed to agony as bright, burning colours gave him unbearable spasms.

Outside of the chaotic attack, Charle was laughing maniacally, even though both of his Primarina had been trapped inside as well. When he reached the peak of his laughter, he crossed both arms and gestured crushing of the black hole with both paws. Right on cue, the black hole burst into a giant explosion of dark flames that scattered across the grassy floor. Leos and his friends screamed at that climax, left hovering in the air for a moment before they fell to the ground like lifeless dolls. Their bodies showed no visible damage, but the black flames that lingered told of the attack's success.

"Hmm, figures that even the elite soldiers couldn't resist the greatness of my attack. If they're the best Faernia has to offer me, then it shows that no one can stand up to me," Charle bragged. He approached Leos' discarded body and scratched his chin. "Master Lin was right, though. The hybrids are a great danger to all of Etheria. To think Rune and Ariala's kid would go through all of this trouble just to stop Tapu Bulu."

He gave a sorrowful sigh and then raised his sword in preparation to stab Leos. "Goodbye, Leos, prince of nothing."

He stabbed downwards with all his might, but he stabbed the ground instead. Leos' body had been pushed away somehow, and he gasped. To the left, Blossom was barely holding herself up with one hand while her other hand used Psychic.

"Whoa. You survived that?" Charle said with a laugh. He raised his sword to renew the spatial sphere that surrounded him before. "But what good is it now? You kids are as good as dead. You couldn't do anything useful now even if you tried."

Blossom replied with a struggled breath as she forced herself to her feet. She thrust one arm at him to hit him with a blast of Psychic, but it fizzled out over him. Charle didn't even budge.

"You idiot. I'm dark type. Why not just do things the honourable way and accept your crimes with death?" Charle said. "What more honourable a way to end your criminal lives with death delivered by the paws of the almighty Paladin Charle? I'll be sure to make the tale of our battle a legend. At least Pokémon will remember you for making it this far."

Blossom didn't reply. Instead, she thought desperately for a way to get out of this right now. Without being able to damage Charle at all, as well as Tapu Bulu watching patiently behind him, she had very few options. One fact that popped up in her mind as she surveyed was that Leos and the others were each close to the edge of the ship. She glanced back at Charle, who was still talking about himself, and settled on her last-ditch plan.

"Please for the love of the gods, survive!" she hissed as she used Psychic just three more times. She only had the strength to use blasts on her three friends, sending Leos, Prem, and Griselle right over the edge of the ship.

"You little- you suicided them!" Charle cried. Blossom tried to ignore him and turned tail to jump off the ship herself, but her effort only brought Charle to just as much impatience. He didn't hesitate to run right up and stab her in the back. He pushed his sword until it pierced right through her back to her front. At her strength, all she do was utter was a sound of agony and slump forward. "I gave you a proposition, and you still said no? You terrorists are too much sometimes."