The heat was still there and unbearable, but we were all somehow still alive.
I cautiously opened my eyes and lowered my hands from my face when I realised that I'm actually still fine and alive. Castelia City was still standing somehow, untouched and unblemished through an act of God. A translucent barrier covered the city in a dome which we all assumed to be the reason why we are all still alive.
"T-There!"
We all looked at where Shannon was pointing. Up above the city was a small blue quadrupedal pokemon the size of a ponyta standing on seemingly thin air, the horn on its head emitting a powerful energy that elongated into the size of a giant sword. It has to be the pokemon that saved us earlier.
I recognised this pokemon. It's the same one Bigblue and I bumped into at the Moor of Icirrus.
"What's that pokemon?"
"No clue."
"It was at the Moor of Icirrus. I saw it once before," I spoke, catching everyone's attention. "I thought it was simply an undiscovered species of pokemon, but now…"
"Yeah, that power clearly puts it among the ranks of legends."
"That sword-like horn… One of the Swords of Justice?"
"Unlikely, there are pictures and murals of those and none of them look like that," Nova removed that idea with clear assurance in her voice. "This is another pokemon entirely, but at the same time clearly has connections to the Swords of Justice."
"About the Swords of Justice," Akamu pointed further up where the dragon that rained those massive fireballs down at us earlier was hovering. Three other quadrupedal pokemon stood in front of it in a combative posture without us realising when they had been there.
"I think that's them."
Three blasts of tremendous energy shot up into the sky, one of each originating from one of the three pokemon individually. The powerful aura emitted by those blasts took on the form of swords as their very presences parted the clouds and cut the skies in a shattering blast. The swords were swung and a powerful explosion occurred where the dragon was at. The force of that attack produced a gale that could be felt even from where we were below.
"Sacred Sword," we heard Looker mentioning as he stood with his hands in his pocket, his gaze never leaving the Swords of Justice who were now engaged in a heated battle with the legendary dragon of Unova. "It's the original Sacred Sword, not the imitations that we see now being widely used."
"Original Sacred Sword?"
"Sacred Sword was originally a move unique to the Swords of Justice. According to folklore, one of the Swords- or maybe all three of them, the folklore wasn't being clear about this part- had once travelled to Sinnoh and met an Aura Guardian. The Sword was moved by the Aura Guardian's pure heart, the Aura Guardian looked up to the Sword's honourable character. They became fast friends and that Sword taught the Aura Guardian its signature move, Sacred Sword."
"There was such a story behind this move?"
"It's one of those histories that had been lost to time," Looker spoke with a voice detached from any emotions but I could spot the slight tightening of his jaws before he forced himself to relax. I almost missed it if it wasn't for the fact that I was standing next to him. "However, not just any pokemon or Aura Guardian could use the original Sacred Sword, most do not have the power or mastery over aura to do that. You could even say that only a pokemon or human with mastery of aura at the mythical or legendary level could ever possibly use that move. Realising that, the Aura Guardian refined and modified the Sacred Sword taught to him in hopes that this power can be used by a wider range of learners, his original intention was that this would allow those that needed the strength to protect their loved ones to have a sword that they can use in their greatest time of need. He only partially succeeded as till date, only the aegislash, kartana, and samurott species were noted to both have the potential and suitability to possibly use Sacred Sword once they accumulated enough power to do so. This was how the move Sacred Sword became widespread and took the form that most of us now know today."
"How did you know all these?"
"When you worked in this field for as long as I did some secrets will no longer be secrets," Looker explained vaguely. "I once had the chance to witness the original Sacred Sword, it's… breathtaking. I would never forget what I felt when I first saw it with my eyes, I never thought I would see the original Sacred Sword ever again."
"You met the Swords of Justice before?"
Looker merely raised an eyebrow upwards at Skye in silent answer, telling us all that we needed to know.
"Who's that Aura Guardian though?" Nova asked as we spectated the battle taking place above. There's nothing much we can do for the moment other than to watch. This is not a fight that we can assist in.
"He's the Forgotten Hero of Sinnoh, Yasui Kenta. The true Defender of Coronet and a powerful Aura Guardian who led the order until its sudden dissolvement about 500 years ago shortly after Sinnoh's founding. A noble man with a noble heart, a pure soul and courageous warrior that protects the people behind his back. He's a true hero with disciples all across the Sinnoh region who held his teachings to heart, but even someone like him can be forgotten over time."
"Yeah, you're right, I don't recall ever hearing of a legendary figure like him," Volkner scratched his chin in thought. "I mean, Cynthia might know since she's into history, but we aren't that close outside of work."
"No wonder you call him the Forgotten Hero."
"As long as there are people who still remember him he will never be truly forgotten. I, for one, remember his existence," Looker said with a smile and our gaze met for a short moment before he looked away. "Remember the Aura Guardian the three of you met in the desert? He's rumoured to be the last and youngest disciple of the Forgotten Hero. He's also known as the Defender of Coronet, but in truth his title was one that he mistakenly inherited from his teacher rather than one that was earned. What's "forgotten" is the truth, but yet the "truth" was forgotten. The world does love its sick irony."
"Wait, but that would mean that the man we met in the desert lived for…"
"Yes, truly unimaginable, isn't it?" Looker allowed himself a short laugh when he saw the gobsmacked expressions on our faces. "There are many secrets in this world, my agents, so many of them that I wish to share with you but are unable to. The only advice I can give you is to see the world with an open mind, never discount anything to be impossible because there will come a day where something will happen to challenge that very notion. If you want to see the truth with your eyes, live with an open eye and open heart and an open mind. This is my advice to you."
The combatants taking part in the battle taking place up ahead suddenly vanished from view. A powerful shockwave could be felt from the direction of the southern sea a split second later. It seems that the combatants had shifted the location of their battle but I narrowed my eyes a little in suspicion. That brief warping of space that I spotted before they vanished looked a lot like the telltale precursor signs of Secret Power that I would usually see just right before Flamel invoked it.
If that is so, did somebody just forcibly relocate the scene of the battle to the sea instead? It's both equally impressive and scary if that were true.
A comet of lightning streaked across the skies and crashed into the rampaging dragon. It's a black dragon with crackling lightning covering its body, riding the storm clouds into battle as its turbine-like tail revved and generating a monstrous amount of power waiting to be unleashed.
"Zekrom," Looker identified the new participant immediately. "Finally, it's here."
"Then we stand a chance now, don't we?"
"It's hard to say, take a good look at that "Reshiram". Nova, tell me, does it look the same as the murals you saw depicting its image?"
"...No, not entirely. It looks a little different," Nova said with some hesitance in her voice after hearing what Looker had to say.
"Yes, which leads me to believe that what we are seeing is not exactly Reshiram, but another form of it that is closer to the original dragon that Reshiram and Zekrom were said to be birthed from before they splitted to become Reshiram and Zekrom according to Unova legends. If that is so, that "Reshiram" is now at a level where it could quite possibly be on equal standing even with the likes of Sinnoh's Creation Trio, which Zekrom is not."
"Not even the addition of the Swords of Justice are enough to bridge that gap in power?"
"Based on my understanding, I'm afraid not," Looker shook his head. "We should still assume the worst to happen."
"But what else can we do? We don't have legends and only legends can take on legends!"
"I mean, we have genesects, but…" Akamu gestured to the five robotic bug types standing very still near him. Mary had finally managed to get them functional and battle ready halfway into the Battle of Castelia and sent them over to aid her husband. I did not see it for myself but I heard that it had obliterated quite a number of Plasmas simply by stationing themselves at the top of the city's walls and repeatedly firing the cannon installed on their backs.
"Even genesects wouldn't be enough for a battle like that," Volkner agreed. "What other legends does Unova have that we could possibly ask for help from? The Forces of Nature?"
"I wouldn't count on them. History has proved that only Landrous can be counted upon, the other two do not care if Unova lives or perishes," Nova disagreed.
Our discussion came to an abrupt pause due to an unexpected interruption. Two bright streaks of light appeared from nowhere and were heading towards Reshiram at breakneck speed, too fast for us to properly identify just what kind of pokemon was that. All we could tell was that it definitely was on our side and the only realistic thing we could do was to spectate and watch. That kind of battle is far beyond our league to even participate, let alone dream of stopping this crisis with our own hands. The fact that even someone as powerful as Looker had chosen to spectate instead of taking an active role was a silent statement of our current situation. Even when no words were exchanged we had all come to an unspoken agreement that we had no idea what pokemon those two streaks of lights were.
"We are still not on the winning side," Volkner spoke after observing the battle for a little longer. "That "Reshiram" has too much firepower, the gap between it and the legends fighting on our side is too huge for even them to match up to it. If this goes on it's just a matter of time they were defeated and Castelia burned down. We need to start thinking how we could help or devise a backup plan to either defend, or evacuate the people here."
"I don't think an evacuation would be feasible, not with the number of people clustered here and the time and manpower resources we would need to make that possible," Akamu shook his head. "I could instruct the genesects to help in the battle, but they are still technically newborn with insufficient battle experience under their belts, not to mention their critical weakness to fire type moves. I don't think they will be of much help against that weird Reshiram."
"Jas cannot possibly pull off another miracle like she did at Olivine. To forcibly defend the city against Reshiram is the last of our last resort," Volkner spoke up before his wife could, obviously not at all keen at the idea of having her wife putting herself at the forefront of the danger and relive whatever she had experienced in the aftermath of the Battle of Olivine once more.
"I agree," Looker nodded. "In that case our best option left is to help find a way to weaken the Reshiram so that the legends taking part in this battle can have a better winning chance to do so. Unfortunately, we know too little about Reshiram and what turned it into this form."
Another interruption occurred. This time a voice spoke to us telepathically, or it would be more accurate to say that the entire city had heard that voice in a telepathic link on a scale that could only be described as unfathomable. No psychic had ever been noted to be able to hold such a large scale telepathic communication before.
'Greetings, Unova. You do not need to know who I am, you just need to know that I'm on your side and currently engaged in battle with Ghetsis and the twisted version of Unova's legendary dragon.' There was a brief pause for this information to set into our minds before that unknown voice continued speaking. A quick glance at the people that I'm fighting alongside with assured me that I'm not the only one hearing things in my head that has no place being there.
'Now, listen. That thing that we are protecting you from is way too powerful beyond our means to effectively stop. Defending Castelia from its attacks is the best that we can do, but there's still a way to stop it. Team Plasma created it through the fusion of Kyurem and Reshiram using a catalyst, if we are able to remove or destroy the catalyst there's a chance for us to revert them back to normal, which will make the battle a lot easier for us.'
"Sounds just like what we had to do for Zapmolcuno," Nova remarked and several others nodded their heads in agreement. Personally, I still have no idea how on earth pokemon fusion works but I'm not going to ponder over that mystery for now.
There were several shocked gasps when another unexpected thing happened. Psychic light began to cover some of our bodies. To be more exact, each and every one of us "Seven Sages" were suddenly being enveloped in a psychic light. I would have freaked out if it wasn't for the fact that Rena wasn't freaking out. If she thinks that this light is not malicious in nature, then I will trust that it isn't.
'Latios and Latias have filtered out who they think are the best candidates for this job based on the mental link we now share. Can everyone give a round of applause to the people who now have psychic light covering their bodies? Congrats, you are the chosen ones that the Eon duo had deemed the most suitable to complete this heroic deed. Do not be afraid, we promise that we will do our utmost best to guarantee your safety.'
"Latios and Latias? Aren't they Hoenn's-"
Shannon's question was never completed because we all found ourselves teleported away together with our pokemon at that very moment. We reappeared in an isolated spot at the outskirts of the city nearer to where the battle is taking place. I immediately noticed that only the six of us "Sages" were being transported and also noticed the one new addition that wasn't with us before and had only joined us now, probably due to the forceful intervention of the Eon duo against his will.
"You are chosen too?"
Someone wasn't very happy to see Jayce. One guess as to who that is.
"Trust me, I share your doubts," Jayce blandly replied to Skye and gave us all a sweeping glance. He's clearly not very happy with this arrangement. I would even go so far to say that he looked like he's feeling very grumpy at the moment.
"Turns out everyone in the interpol was chosen," I huffed in amusement and the stare he gave me was what I hoped I would tease out of him.
"Except for him."
"Except for me," Jayce agreed with what Skye pointed out. There's only the seven of us "Sages" here and at this point we all know that it definitely wasn't a coincidence why the Eon duo specifically picked the seven of us out of the thousands that were at Castelia City. There were better candidates present that weren't chosen, people like Norman, Flannery, Looker, Burgh, and many others.
We were obviously picked by the Eon duo for a reason, one whose secrets that they are definitely aware of, the one behind the prophecy that foretold our arrival five hundred years prior to today.
Jayce's shadow warped and rose, manifesting itself into a figure of a pokemon I had never seen with my own eyes before until today. Its very presence gave me involuntary chills running down my spine, one that's very similar to how powerful ghosts can passively do to others with their mere presence. However, the feeling exuded by this pokemon felt a little different, something which I attributed to the fact that my ability is telling me that this is not a ghost type pokemon despite looking very much like one.
"You have a darkrai?"
Volkner was the one who voiced our surprise. I finally remembered what this pokemon was after he pointed it out, one that I once remembered from the games I played a long long time ago and had almost forgotten about. A darkrai, a mythical pokemon that is said to be the bringer of nightmares and whose tales of their evil power gave it so much infamy that their tales were more well-known than most other legendaries in the Sinnoh region.
And to think Jayce has one. The mystery of how he encountered and captured a darkrai aside, I know he's a very powerful and skilled Dark Specialist, but was he always this skilled to be able to command a darkrai all along, or had he improved so far in the time period between the One Day War and today that he's finally able to command one?
I wouldn't know. I don't think anyone would know unless Jayce felt like being truthful but I don't think any of us would know when he's being truthful or when he's not. We don't know him as well as the other six of us know each other. He's the type to prefer to be left to his own devices.
"It found me and liked me enough to work with me. It does not belong to me, probably will be off on its merry way once this is over," Jayce claimed but I don't believe that to be the truth. Honestly, it doesn't really matter what the truth is any longer. The fact that we have a darkrai assisting us is a lot better than what we initially assumed our situation to be.
"Enough about me, we need to do something about White Kyurem. It's what we are assembled here for."
White Kyurem? Is that what they are referring to that Reshiram that's not quite looking like a Reshiram?
'The catalyst is very likely located at the yellow crest on its head,' the unknown voice decided to remind us that it actually was privy to our conversation. 'Do what you can to reach White Kyurem and remove that catalyst. Our hands are already full as it is.'
"I mean, McWings and I can fly us there, Akamu can assist in defending us from any potentially fatal shots. The problem is how we are going to destroy that catalyst," Volkner audibly pondered with hesitation lacing his voice. Being the chosen Sages doesn't automatically give us the magical ability to quell walking living natural disasters. We need to be smart about this if we really are to undertake this task that was forced upon us by the Eon duo, assuming that the voice in our heads belongs to one of the duo.
But honestly, weren't they Hoenn's protectors? What and why are they doing so far out of the region and why are they at Unova?
"I can shift us closer to White Kyurem using Shadow Sneak once we are close enough," I decided to stop wondering about things that would not be useful in getting us out of the plight we were in and proposed a way that I could possibly help with. That got the conversation going.
"I-I c-can provide us with some sort of telepathy?" Shannon meekly offered with some uncertainty.
"I can distract it with illusions using my zoroark but don't expect it to fool White Kyurem for anything longer than three seconds."
"We have some long range artillery support as well," Akamu gestured to the five genesects near him.
"We only have one shot. McWings and I will give us a ride. Seems that we are going to be transported to the site of the battle soon whether we like it or not," Volkner quickly concluded our impromptu meeting when the space around us began to warp as he released his pokemon out in preparation for an aerial battle. The skies above the southern seas were where the legendaries were duking it out among themselves. We all quickly recalled our pokemon that were unsuited for an aerial battle as well. Volkner and Skye are much more well-versed in aerial combat among the seven of us, their pokemon were literally trained in this. It will be wise to leave it to them to ferry us towards the site of the battle.
Our surroundings changed in the blink of an eye and we soon found ourselves high up in the skies. I found myself riding a pokemon that wasn't mine. The aerodactyl that I'm suddenly riding on definitely is the one belonging to Skye.
"Um, Aria, did I get your name right?" I asked after managing to recall the nickname Skye named her aerodactyl. The aerodactyl proudly roared once in affirmation as it swiftly flew me closer to White Kyurem. Great, at least I got the chance to ride the prehistoric king of the skies into battle. I'll take that.
I noticed that the battle between legends had intensified when we all got closer. It also wasn't hard to notice that there were new participants, riding and commanding a team of pokemon that I don't recognise at all but most looking very similar to existing species that I already know of. Different variants? Like alolan pokemon and their normal counterparts found elsewhere in the world? Or are they something else entirely?
'Do not be distracted. We will provide an opening for you to get closer, make use of it,' that telepathic voice who I assumed to belong to one of the Eon duo rang inside my mind and I quickly forced myself to focus. The voice's right, I cannot afford to be distracted. The fact that I'm dragged right into the heart of the battlefield against my will aside, this is a battle between legends and one small mistake can easily lead me to my death.
I cannot afford to be careless. Like Volkner already mentioned, we only have one shot.
White Kyurem was being constantly shrouded by an energy orb that serves to act as some sort of barrier to protect it from harm. Powerful attacks were fired at the orb and it succeeded in pushing White Kyurem back but White Kyurem was more than capable of firing an equally deadly attack with an exhale of its breath. A different telepathic voice told us to remain calm and I watched as a humongous sword created through the application of Sacred Sword sliced White Kyurem's attack apart.
Colbalion.
'It's been a long time since we last saw the Seven Sages gathered together. 'Tis a good day despite the unfortunate events that had transpired to bring everyone together,' a deeper and gruffer voice boomed and charged towards White Kyurem alongside us. I recognised this to be Terrakion from what little I had once saw from scanned images of preserved paintings painted by ancient Unovans of their region's protectors.
"You know about the prophecy-"
'Talk later,' Virizion interrupted whatever Nova wanted to ask as it defended us from another of White Kyurem's attack. 'We will hold White Kyurem down but restraining it for a short moment is the best we can do. While we do that, please do what you can to destroy whatever is sustaining this incomplete form of theirs. Zekrom, if you will.'
'Cover your ears.'
Thunder crashed and boomed, so loud that it left my ears ringing in discomfort despite already covering them with my hands. I couldn't even hear anything for a few seconds until my hearing gradually recovered. My vision was doing slightly better despite the blinding light, I could see that the rider of what was undoubtedly an unknown electric type pokemon firing piercing bolts of lightning that actually made White Kyurem bleed.
Wonder what kind of pokemon is that? It looked quite futuristic.
'This is Shannon, we are now in my telepathy. This is a private connection between us seven. You should be able to sense all of our allies through my ability as well, so do not worry about friendly fire.'
It's hard to describe the sensation of suddenly having an extra sense suddenly sprouting at the back of your mind, but Shannon's right. I could suddenly sense the presence of my allies around me with instinctual ease. This would make coordinating our moves a lot easier.
'Volkner, prepare to use Flash upon my signal,' I recognised Jayce's voice and immediately lowered my gaze and narrowed my eyes to shield my eyes from another blast of blinding light as best as I can without closing them off entirely. True enough, another bright flash shone shortly after, but I was prepared for it this time so I wasn't as affected by it.
White Kyurem looked a little confused once the light from the Flash subsided, as if it couldn't sense us and I pieced out what Jayce must have done with Volkner's help. Jayce is a master of misdirection and illusions and I had already seen for myself what his zoroark was capable of back in the Relic Castle. He must have used his zoroark's abilities to hide our presence so that we could quickly approach White Reshiram untouched and undetected.
I daresay that our teamwork isn't bad for a group of seven that is working together for the very first time.
'We need to first break through that shield surrounding White Kyurem. Akamu!'
'On it!'
Volkner initiated our first counteroffensive as he rode his luxray into battle, commanding his electivire to forcefully pummel at White Kyurem's barriers with his bare fists. Its strikes are so fast that its arms looked like yellow blurs to my eyes, the force behind its attacks so powerful that the shield erected by the legendary actually trembled and shook with every strike. If that wasn't a testament to Volkner's strength as a trainer I don't know what else is.
He was after all, the man who made legends bleed, the mortal who made Gods bleed.
Volkner's move had forced him to break stealth but his luxray was incredibly agile in the air despite not being a flying type thanks to its mastery of Magnet Rise. White Kyurem's attacks would not be hitting the luxray and its rider anytime soon, not with Volkner's skills and the legends working together with him to keep him safe as they did their best to hold a struggling White Kyurem in place through their collective efforts.
Volkner's electivire backed off once it was reaching its limit and Akamu shouted a command to immediately follow up. The genesects that were programmed to obey his bidding immediately fired a powerful shot that were focused on the very same spot that Volkner's electivire was hammering at earlier, and it was then I realised that Volkner's electivire had actually succeeded in creating a crack on the barrier that Akamu was fully intending to take advantage of. Akamu's ditto joined the battle and transformed into an Ultra Beast, a kartana if what I read about those unique creatures through the PWL's database when I exploited my access rights as an interpol agent was correct. That kartana used a Sacred Sword the moment the genesects ran out of juice and had to stop firing their cannons in order to recharge but the barrier remained despite Akamu and Volkner's best efforts.
'Allow us!'
The Swords of Justice took over from here while the Eon duo immediately shifted us away from the epicentre of the battle to shield us from the dangerous amount of power being thrown about. The Eon duo looked a little different from my impression of them but I could be wrong. There aren't any descriptive images of them to the public and what I remembered about them from the games were so long ago that the memories were fuzzy at best.
A prison of thunder descended, a handiwork that I mistook to be Volkner's but ended up realising that it wasn't. That was the handiwork of the rider of the unknown electric type pokemon and that was the final straw needed to ultimately shatter the barrier surrounding White Kyurem.
That split second when the barrier shattered was the opportunity that everyone was waiting to capitalise upon. The attacks rained down upon White Kyurem by the Swords of Justice and Zekrom were relentless and I knew that I had to grasp this fleeting chance before it eluded us. The value of my worth in this ragtag team is in allowing us to instantaneously shift our positions for short distance travels.
I quickly assessed my allies. Volkner and Akamu were busy fending off and also assisting the legendaries to hold White Kyurem down at the same time. Skye and the pidgeot that she's riding on were doing an effective job to distract White Kyurem by flying complicated loops and circles around its head to take its attention off us. Shannon is not a battler and she would be more useful to us through hiding and keeping herself safe while providing us with her unique Telepathy ability.
That left me two other people that I can bring along with me.
'I'm going in!' I broadcasted my thoughts and quickly commanded Dolly through the unique mental link we shared. We found ourselves on the back of White Kyurem a split second later with a very displeased Ghetsis shrieking at us in mad anger. Everyone in Unova knew what he looked like on the day he had turned Unova upside down, there's no mistaking who that deluded old man is.
"I will stop him! Go!"
I didn't dare to waste even a precious second. I was already running as fast as I could and only managed to see enough to know that Nova had immediately released her garchomp and Mega Evolve it at the first opportunity. A taller and swifter figure easily caught up to me in my mad dash to run towards White Kyurem's head where the power of the catalyst was gathered, the yellow crest on its head. Jayce's presence beside me was a comforting one since I know full well how reliable he can be in such situations.
I fully expected Ghetsis to have backup plans so I wasn't too surprised when a seismitoad and a toxicroak made their appearances to stop us. I have zero clue on how and where they managed to hide themselves on White Kyurem's back but I really couldn't be bothered to find out how. I'm a little pissed at how everything had turned out; how the interpol is not able to perform its intended duties due to whatever bullshit politicking taking place behind closed doors, the unknown abilities forced into me and forcibly changing me in ways I have not fully found out or understood, the sudden strong bout of homesickness and several other factors that I shall not continue to list.
I'm pissed and frustrated and I really don't mind having some punching bags to vent all of the negative emotions pent up inside me. The possible destruction of Castelia and Unova is one thing, Ghetsis and White Kyurem are also in my way of going back home to see my family once more and something must be done about this before I could go back home.
I really miss home, especially so after my deathmatch with Emil and managing to return back from it alive but irreversibly changed without the knowledge if it's for the better or worse. It made me think of a lot of things that I'm usually too busy to really think about. My dream, my life choices, my journey so far, my relationship with my parents and Vance, my own shortcomings; you get the gist.
I'm not in a good mood.
Dolly flew out of my shadow to meet Ghetsis' pokemon for battle and Jayce sent out his greninja. I did not hesitate to invoke Mega Evolution because now is not the time to be cautious about its known side-effects, not with the incredibly high stakes we are riding on the outcome of this battle. The only surprise I had was how Jayce's greninja was also covered in the same rainbow hue of Mega Evolution when it was never made known that this species of pokemon could undergo this process, but I don't have time to think about that now.
Dolly and Jayce's greninja held Ghetsis' pokemon off and it was what allowed us to slip past untouched, unobstructed and unharmed. We closed the distance to our target location a little more until an eelektross greeted us next and Jayce sent out his ninetales this time, wordlessly signalling for me to go ahead as we continued our mad dash. I knew he meant for me to go on ahead while he stops this eelektross.
It wasn't needed though. A black shadow reminded us of its presence and brutally shot the eelektross off White Kyurem's back with a Dark Pulse. Judging from the look on Jayce's face he must have forgotten about darkrai's presence just as I did.
Darkrai gave a warped garble as a dark orb manifested between its claw-like hands that it held in front of it with its palms facing each other. The orb sank into White Kyurem and the legendary dragon immediately lost altitude and fell. Whatever darkrai did I have no idea, but it's proving to be effective and we have to grasp this opportunity for ourselves. I sensed that Dolly had somehow rejoined me, probably made quick work of her earlier foe, so I gave her her next order to get us closer to that yellow crest with Shadow Sneak.
We finally reached our destination.
"Shadow Ball!"
Dolly's Shadow Ball was joined by the Dark Pulse Jayce's greninja fired. It did nothing but to irritate White Kyurem enough to try shaking us off its head in a violent manner. If it wasn't for Jayce's greninja catching us all with its long tongue and using its webbed feet to stubbornly stick onto the dragon we would have all fallen off.
A bright streak of white light crashed into White Kyurem's yellow crest, its speed too fast for White Kyurem to properly dodge it in time. Skye had arrived to assist us but her pidgeot's Brave Bird did nothing but leave a mere scratch despite its best effort. Darkrai reappeared on White Kyurem's head and fired a Dark Pulse with a loud howl and this time it had the effect we desired. White Kyurem had screamed in pain.
There was a tear in space and another humanoid pokemon that I had never seen before joined us in our endeavour. I could instinctively tell that it's a ghost type, or at least had to be part ghost type since that was what my ability was telling me. It held a golden ring in its hand and a powerful surge of psychic energy filled the ring before that same energy was fired alongside darkrai's Dark Pulse, hitting at White Kyurem's crest at the same spot. That was enough to rip a large wound into it and I cannot help but shiver a little in the presence of the combined power that the two pokemon had unleashed.
The unknown ghost reached its small little hand into the open wound, retrieving a small object that I could not quite make out from where I was being secured in greninja's grasp. White Kyurem screeched and its body started to glow white at an alarming rate, the power emitted from it growing exponentially stronger as the seconds ticked. Jayce and I both heard Shannon's warning through the telepathy and greninja released its hold, allowing us to drop and enter freefall. I felt Dolly rejoining my side with a pleased cackle, still in her mega form and waving me a cheerful hello with her new paw that came from her temporary transformation and her other paw gently holding onto my arm. She's not at all bothered at the situation we were in and was genuinely having fun.
The behaviour that Dolly is exhibiting is ghosts in a nutshell. What they perceive as dangerous or fun are starkly different from the norm.
I reached out to my pokeball that contained Snap only to find out that it wasn't needed. Skye's pidgeot dove and caught me on its back with impeccable timing, so smooth that I did not feel much of the landing impact and it barely hurt. Skye had also immediately caught me with one of her arms to secure my position and I felt pidgeot continue to dive faster and faster at a speed that none of my fliers could possibly replicate. I was still trying to reorient my bearings from the sudden landing but I did hear Skye giving her pidgeot the command to use an Air Slash.
I eventually saw what was going on. Pidgeot's Air Slash had knocked away a cofagrigus that was trying to kill Jayce while he was also subjected to a freefall like I did. Pidgeot then grabbed onto Jayce's shoulders with its talons and swiftly flew us away from White Kyurem that was clearly in the process of being forced to separate into two separate beings.
"What happened to leaving me to die?" I heard Jayce's voice from below and couldn't help but laugh when I saw how Skye's right eye was twitching in irritation. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't quite catch what Skye's reply to him was but her pidgeot instantly dropped Jayce right after that. Not that it did anything to him because he simply released his hydreigon and landed on its back before making his own getaway thereafter.
"Not too bad for our first time working together," I cannot help but comment as Skye flew us away from the battle. Our purpose here was done, we had undid the transformation per the Eon duo's request and it should make this battle easier for them from here on. At least, that was the understanding I had from the information that was being told to us, that White Kyurem is much more powerful than the sum of the powers held by the separate entities that it was merged from.
"Didn't believe that actually worked. Our plan could barely be called a plan," Skye huffed as a noivern caught up to us and flew parallel to her pidgeot. Riding on the noivern was Nova, who waved at us in greeting which we returned. Looks like she escaped unharmed as well.
"Seriously though, there's a lot of pokemon there that I don't recognise. Not sure what this is going to mean once everything has blown over."
"You too? I thought I was simply ignorant but if there's pokemon that even a Vera cannot recognise then this clearly isn't normal. They each look like existing species of pokemon that we already knew but…"
"They are definitely different."
"Exactly. Some sort of regional variant? That seems to be the most likely explanation but which region then? Which region kept it under wraps from even the PWL? Why hadn't the world known about them until today?"
A very good question that I don't have an answer to. For some reason, I doubt even Looker has an answer to that.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Member of the International Police
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Clefairy (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male