Pokemon (Detective Pikachu)

A Legendary Search

50. …If What They Have Can't Be Lost

Lugia stared down at them as it landed; when it did, it opened its mouth, and did the last thing Tim expected.

It sang.

At least, that was the only way Tim could describe it. It gave a cry so musical that it had to be singing… a cry that Tim would have expected from some sort of instrument, like a wind instrument.

Absol gasped and staggered to his feet, rainbow light glowing around him for a moment.

"What- what's happening? Absol?" Tim cried.

Lugia gave a final, piercing note, and stopped; the rainbow- coloured light faded. Absol's head snapped up.

"You… healed me? How?"

"The Song of the Prophecy… has a deep connection to me. If played by another, it restores my strength, and sung by me… I can, rarely, do the same for another. It's a gift I must use sparingly. However, I owe this city, and you, a debt I can never repay. I was driven mad and very nearly leveled this city myself… when I heard of the stories of what was befalling it, I knew I must come to defend it, to repay it for my own actions. And you, boy… You were the one who freed me, though I hurt you badly. When I heard you scream, knew I had badly hurt another and broken my vow not to do those of the world harm, I was able to gain control of myself for one, brief moment, hoping that in my moment of stillness, and in my moment of need, you would free me."

Lugia lowered his head, shifting forward until he hovered right above Tim. "You did. I, ashamed of myself, fled before even apologizing for my actions… my inability to control myself. In doing so, I shamed myself more. That is why I wish to make it up to you."

"That wasn't your fault, Lugia. You had no choice, someone else was controlling you." Tim told him, barely able to believe he was even having this conversation. Particularly right at this moment.

"Even so, I caused great harm. What I can do today is only small repayment. But I want you to have this. Please, take it."

Lugia lowered its head even more. Tim, not really sure what was happening, held out a hand, and Lugia spat something into it. Ignoring the saliva (Lugia had spit into his hand? If you had told Tim that legendaries would be spitting into his hand to give him gifts back when he first set out to save his father, he would have assumed some Ghost Pokemon were having fun at his expense), Tim examined what Lugia had given him.

It was a small stone with rainbow colours and an odd insignia, strangely reminding Tim of the stone Absol was fond of even though it looked nothing like it. Then, it clicked in his head; the insignia on the stone was the same twisted pattern inside Absol's stone, the one that marbles often had.

Tim looked up. "What is this?"

"Something you need. I know that Absol has his stone. On Mewtwo's orders, I was the one who procured it for him long ago and left it where he would find it. You believe in your partner, yes?"

Tim blinked at the topic change. "More than anything."

"You believe you and your partner can never lose?"

Tim remembered the conversation he'd had with Absol that now felt like a lifetime ago. "We have something that can't be lost."

"And you? You believe in Tim? You believe you cannot lose?"

"I can draw all the strength I need from him."

"Then you have what you need. Go. Take down that… constructed monstrosity." Lugia jerked his head at the army, and Tim spun.

"What? The… what was it called? That giantized Duraludon?"

"Gigantamaxed." Absol corrected.

"That is not a Duraludon. That is a human construct. My mild psychic powers detect many Pokemon and humans inside it. It is an impressive likeness, to be sure, but it is not a Pokemon."

"That thing… it's not a… Pokemon?" Tim blinked.

"Then… it's some kind of mobile base?" Emilia tried, looking at Lugia. With a start, Tim realized she was still lying where she had fallen, and hurried over to her.

"If that is what you call it."

"Then… Mew is in there! That's where they're holding it!" Tim realized.

"You're right, that has to be it!" Emilia looked at him, and started to stand before falling back down with a cry, clutching her ankle.

"You must remain here. Leave the girl with me," Lugia directed at Tim, "I will protect her, just as I will hold the line here. Nothing will get past me. Now go on. Hold that stone over your head, believe in yourself, and your partner, and believe that you will win. Believe in your bond, and it will give you all the strength that you need."

"What? How?"

"Because that is its purpose, to harness that power and make it usable. Now go, time is of the essence. Far more people will be hurt here than needed if you dawdle."

"Tim, let's do it! Let's go!"

"Tim, no- let me go with you!" Emilia broke in, looking panicked.

Lugia bent its head right down to the ground, and Tim understood what it was doing. Wrapping one arm around Emilia under her shoulders, he helped her up.

"I can't, you're hurt. I won't risk you getting hurt any worse. Get on." Tim half-carried Emilia over to Lugia and loaded her on just behind its head. He didn't want to leave her behind, either… didn't want her to be where he couldn't see her. Where he couldn't tell what was happening. But, if she wasn't safe with Lugia, then she wasn't safe anywhere. But still… "Stufful, you stay here too!"

"Right! I'll hold the line, too!"

"Tim-"

"I'll be careful. I'll see you soon, okay? Stay with Lugia." Tim told her.

"You'll come right back? Promise me you'll come right back!" She grabbed his hand before he could leave.

"I will." Tim promised, stepping forward to put a hand on her cheek and keeping eye contact for a long moment before breaking it and looking over at Absol.

"Are you ready?" The Disaster Pokemon asked.

"I am…"

"Then let's go. We've Mew to save, and too much worth fighting for to let them down."

Tim thought about his father, out there somewhere with Pikachu, and his brother out there against the will of the rest of the family. Mr. Graham, whose Metagross had been taken down, and Mr. Baker, who was supposedly here but had a Pokemon Tim wasn't sure would do well in battle. His classmates, whose Pokemon were fallen, maybe for good, and those from PCL, who were more suited to researching than battling but had come anyway to help where they could. Skarmory, who'd left her babies to come fight and had gotten hurt, and the Pokemon from Fine Park and even Litwick Cave.

Meiko, who he hadn't seen since before the fighting started and didn't even know if she was okay. Emilia, who stood by him no matter what was happening… who wanted to be with him and who he wanted to be with, always.

And Absol, who was part of Tim that Tim hadn't even known was missing… who hated fighting but would jump into battle without question anyway to protect Tim and the people that Tim loved.

He had bonds with them all… bonds that would never break, whatever happened. Family… friends. Really… both of those words meant the same thing. Tim's family were his friends… and his friends were family. All people he would do anything for. People he didn't know how to live without… people whose pain, disappearance, or death would break Tim in ways he couldn't describe. Bonds he had that would never break, but would give him either great happiness or great pain depending on what the other person was going through. All of the bonds different… all of them meaningful in different ways, and some stronger than others. And his bond with Absol…

Tim glanced down at the stone that Lugia had given him. He had no idea what it was or what it did… but if it could give them strength from their trust and their friendship, then there would be no possible way they could lose, because it was stronger than anything Tim knew.

The stone in his hand began to glow.

Tim looked back at Absol. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Tim raised his hand, the stone clutched in his fingers, into the air, and light poured from it. At the same time, light shone from Absol's neck, surrounding the Disaster Pokemon in some sort of ball, then breaking apart to reveal his partner… looking different.

Tim blinked.

Absol seemed to have grown wings, for one, and his horn was larger… and he had a second one. The fur on the side of his head that had hung down the side had grown to cover that side of his face and was more than twice as long; the fur around his feet, as well, looked to have grown longer.

A surge of energy followed the breaking open of the ball of light; small Pokemon that had only just broken past the line stiffened, then toppled as the surge of energy hit them, falling unconscious on the spot, but when the energy surge hit Tim, he felt… stronger. He had no idea what this was, but he could feel the energy humming in the air, surrounding Absol… and Tim himself.

Absol slammed his paws on the ground and roared, the sound a call for allies to keep fighting as well as for enemies to take warning. Tim raced forward, leaping onto Absol's back, and the changed Disaster Pokemon took off, racing through the surging mass of battlers. As Absol passed, some Pokemon, mainly foes but a few shocked friends on their side, fainted simply from the energy Absol was emitting. Absol continued blasting Pokemon from the stampede as they raced forward.

They had to get to that giant metal structure, somehow, and they had to free Mew. The faster they put a stop to this, the fewer people, and Pokemon, would get hurt.

Training his eyes on the massive machine, Tim watched it fire beams from a couple spots on its body, mostly Flash Cannons but a couple Dragon Pulses and Solar Beams as well.

"There! That will be our in. They must have Pokemon firing through holes at those places. We take out the Pokemon in one of the holes and we can go in that way."

"Got it."

Leaping over battlers and blasting their way through the crowd, Tim and Absol approached the fake Pokemon. The giant "Duraludon" stomped forward, and Tim squinted, staring at the areas that the attacks were coming from.

"Absol… you have wings now. Can you fly?"

"Hmm… I don't think so. I… feel like I could manipulate the energy around myself to move those wings, perhaps cause them to flap and further direct the energy around my body, but I don't feel any muscles in my wings. I don't think I am able to flap them in a way that I could fly properly."

"Hmm. Can I touch them? See where they might have come from? It'll be easier to get up there if we do find if you can fly."

"Go ahead. Just don't fall off."

Tim ran his right hand through the fluffy wing, gently working his fingers deeper into it until he felt air on his fingertips. He tried a couple different spots, only to find the same result.

"Well, no wonder you don't feel muscles there… there really aren't any. I think it's just fur standing on end…"

Absol snorted. "Really? That's a shame."

"Well, we'll have to find the lowest entrance, then. You'll have to jump inside it."

"Jump inside the lowest hole while keeping the Pokemon gathered inside that hole from attacking. Should be interesting."

"They never make it easy."

The closer they got to the giant mobile base, the more the attacks coming from it began to focus on Absol and Tim. The ground began shaking with the thing's every step, as well; Absol was sure-footed enough that it was little bother to him, but it did worry Tim more. Even if this thing wasn't a Pokemon, the sheer size of it alone was enough to do some real damage.

"Careful, Absol. They're focused on us now. They know what we're doing." Tim warned as he realized that all of the attacks coming from the thing were now being directed at them, every single one. The ground was raised and choppy and uneven from the effects of Pokemon moves being used several feet away, and moved as more attacks were used; dodging was difficult on ground that moved. Still, used to mountain footholds smaller than his paw, Absol kept advancing.

"They know we're coming for them. I doubt they know whether or not we know they're not a Pokemon, and I don't think they know that we know Mew is in there." Pausing, Absol blasted a Flamethrower to push back a Mawile, and a Water Pulse towards an Aggron.

"True. Alright, we need to find the lowest attack point, then, and get inside that thing."

"Get inside?"

Startled, Tim looked over to see Brad McMaster. "Brad? What are you doing back here?"

"The same thing you are, obviously. Taking down this thing. But what do you mean, get inside? It's a Pokemon."

"No, it's not." Tim told him. "We've found out it's actually a large… vehicle, I guess. There are people and Pokemon inside. I figure our best way in is to find one of the holes that the Pokemon inside are firing from, and get in that way."

Brad's eyebrows rose. "A vehicle? It's like a mobile base? That's… alright. Very well. If that's true, then that would be the fastest way in. It looks like your Absol… can fly now?"

"Unfortunately, no. We're going to have to find a low one."

"Alright. I'll help you look. Manectric, let's go!"

Electricity crackled; Tim's hair stood on end. Electrical energy surged from behind Brad, and Manetric bounded out… only, Manectric didn't look like Tim remembered him. His blue tail seemed to be gone, and the yellow, pointed fur that grew on his head had spread spikily down his back, giving him the rather appropriate appearance of a bolt of lightning.

Tim blinked. "What happened to Manectric?"

"The same thing that happened to your Absol. Now let's get moving, we need to get to that thing, find the lowest entry point, and get inside."

A/N: Mega Evolution... and not even just Tim and Absol. Seems like Brad might have a reason he's so arrogant.

Also, it's not a Gigantamaxed Duraludon after all... just a huge mobile base constructed to look like one, which explains how it's so far from Galar. XD

And, if I can go on a brief rant, here... it bothers me so much that Absol's "wings" are just fur standing on end according to official lore. Just GIVE HIM THE WINGS. On top of that, if I can quote here: "Mega Absol emits a fearsome aura that has been known to kill fainthearted people from shock. It directs this aura at its opponents by beating its "wings"". First they establish that the wings are just fur standing on end. Then they say it beats its wings. How the **** does it do that if its wings are just FUR STANDING ON END?

I tried really hard to give an explanation for that, because it bothers me to a ridiculously extreme extent, but that was all I could come up with and I'm not happy with it. Again, just give it actual wings. Even if they aren't capable of flight, at least then it would make sense.

Rant over. I apologize. I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless.