"Rending Jaws!"

The only reason Fenris didn't hit with his first lunge was because of tiredness and his wounds hampering him. Clearly, he had been in a fight against a tough opponent before this one. But his teeth still gnashed inches from Medicham's face even with Psychic Dodge enhancing her speed.

Medicham knew at once that she would not be using Psychic Avoidance in this fight. It was too hit-or-miss, especially against such a fast opponent, and Fenris's muscles portrayed a powerful bite that Medicham didn't want to get hit by.

"Fighting Strike!" Medicham twisted and threw a punch at Fenris.

But Fenris was fast. "Blazing Jaws!" He turned and met the punch with his teeth just as they lit up with Fire energy. Medicham cried out and drew her hand back, though she could tell from Fenris's staggering that her punch had hit harder than expected.

Supereffective, definitely. Maybe even doubly so.

"Shadow Rend!" Fenris's retaliation took the form of a sphere of Ghost energy tossed blindingly fast at Medicham. Medicham ducked it with Psychic Dodge and lunged again, this time with a foot outstretched.

"Fighting Trip!"

The Mightyena grinned. "Intimidate."

The sound of Fenris's voice ripped through her mind, bringing up a primal feeling of fear. Medicham only knew that she needed to get away. She stumbled backwards, abandoning the attack. Cold metal touched her back as she slammed into a railing.

"Against my Ability, you stand no chance," Fenris growled, advancing on her. "Intimidate allows me to dredge up fear into my opponents. Only those with strong minds can resist it…and it does not seem your mind is all that strong."

Medicham pressed herself against the railing, curling up as small as she could. Why was she even trying to fight this? How could anyone fight this?

The team - her team - was all going to die, and it would be her fault.

Cold, piercing teeth sank into her shoulder, and all she could do was scream.

"Swarm." Four copies sprang from Stinger and lunged, one for each of the Pokemon arrayed against the Beedrill.

"Pierce." "Ice Flurry!" Combined, Skorupi and Shellder launched a flurry of projectiles at the oncoming copies, popping them all before they could get to them.

"Leech Seed!" Phantump used the opportunity to its fullest, but Stinger's speed was on full display as he easily dodged the flying seeds.

"Submission."

"Gah!" Stinger's dodge had left him wide open for Mimi's bolt of Psychic energy. The Beedrill stumbled, plunging to the metal catwalk and clutching his head in agony.

"You're outnumbered," Mimi stated authoritatively, with a voice that spoke to plenty of experience despite her diminutive stature. "Surrender."

Stinger rose, throwing off the Psychic energy with a swift shake of his head. "Fool," it growled. "I'm never outnumbered. Swarm: Dark Stingerzzzz."

Before Mimi could even react, another of Stinger's copies materialized directly in front of her, stingers glowing with Dark energy. Three more did the same for Skorupi, Phantump, and Shellder. Phantump managed to let loose an instinctive Grass Knot that dissipated his opponent, but Skorupi was thrown back by a brutal stinger strike. He slammed into a railing and looked up in time to see Shellder deflect the strike of his opponent and lunge at the copy that was already hurling itself towards Mimi. "Water Blast!"

"Swarm: Absorb." Another copy popped into existence between the flying jet of Water energy and the copy attacking Mimi, taking the Water Blast. Bereft of support and unable to get off a Psychic attack quickly enough, Mimi was sent flying by the supereffective attack.

Skorupi managed to twist out of the way of a blow from the copy attacking him and lashed out with his claws, ripping it to pieces. The copy who had attacked Mimi streaked towards Shellder, as did the one originally assigned to attack Shellder. Phantump twisted, tossing a trio of Leech Seeds. Two struck and dissipated the copies attacking Shellder before he could even move to defend himself, while the third, aimed towards Stinger, was easily dodged.

"Swarm: Needle Burzzzzzt." Stinger's next move was to summon a dozen clones, then dematerialize them except for their stingers. Those stingers he flung forwards, a rain of piercing spikes aimed at all of them.

"Impenetrable Shell!" "Deflection." Mimi and Shellder both raised Protect-based barriers, one pale and shell-like and the other a glowing purple shield. The stingers that didn't bounce off one or both of them missed entirely, hitting the catwalk with a succession of loud clangs.

It was then that Skorupi heard a scream from behind him. Glancing around, he saw Medicham, back pressed against a railing with Fenris's teeth ripping into her shoulder, not even attempting to fight back. Her eyes were filled with nothing but utter panic.

"Phantump, help her!" Skorupi snarled, not wanting to reduce their odds against Stinger any further but knowing Medicham would be beaten without aid. Phantump swiveled, launching a Confuse Ray at Fenris. The Mightyena didn't see it coming, so consumed he was with tearing apart Medicham's shoulder.

Fenris howled in pain and staggered back. The panic died in Medicham's eyes, replaced by fury, and she stood up, arms flaring with Fighting energy.

Skorupi thought back to how Alakazam had been eliminated by that Dark attack to the back, how Stinger had been momentarily felled by Mimi's Psychic hold when he wasn't paying attention.

"That's it," he muttered to himself. "They may be fast, but they can't keep track of too much at a time."

Skorupi raised his voice. "Keep them off balance! Attack from all sides!"

"That won't work on me," Stinger buzzed. "I have eyezzzz on all sidezzzzz. Swarm: Overwhelm."

He manifested six more copies. This time two of them came for Skorupi, Shellder, and Mimi each. "No Escape!" Skorupi snarled. The two copies before him popped, and Skorupi in an instant saw Mimi felling one while the other lunged for her unprotected back. The ray struck true and it dissipated an instant before it could rip into Mimi.

Shellder ripped apart both of his with an Ice Flurry. Stinger frowned at this latest reverse. "Fine."

The Beedrill rose into the air. "Fenris! Scare!"

Fenris, ducking and dodging Medicham's punches, shifted slightly so that she overcommitted and momentarily stumbled. "Intimidate!" he snarled.

Skorupi hissed as panic entered his mind. Now he had to fight two of them at once? How could he possibly do that? It had been stupid to come here, stupid-

"Stop that."

The fear was ripped away from Skorupi's mind. He looked around, his eyes settling on Shellder, who had also clearly succumbed to the instinct of fear, and then on Mimi, who was glaring crossly at Fenris. Fenris glared back. "Ah. So your mind is decently-

"Don't you turn your back on me. Fighting Strike!"

Fenris was interrupted by Medicham's fist knocking him into another railing. Phantump swooped overhead. "Grass Knot!" Vines lashed out from the railing and coiled around Fenris, pinning him down. The Mightyena snarled and struggled, ripping the vines away, but not in time to dodge another punch from Medicham.

Mimi whirled around, back towards where Skorupi knew Stinger was. Her eyes widened. "Skorupi, look out!"

Skorupi twisted reflexively. Unfortunately, that only served to allow Stinger an easier target.

A pained snarl flew from Skorupi's mouth as Stinger sunk his arm-blades deep into his side and lifted him off the ground. "Firzzzzt the Fearow, now you," the Beedrill buzzed. "Your strategy won't work. There'zzzz only four of you left. And the rezzzt will fall soon enough."

With that, Stinger flung Skorupi away. Skorupi felt himself flying uncontrollably off the catwalk, felt something crack as his body landed on the machinery below. By some miracle he didn't land on one of the arcing bolts of electricity, though given the pain he was in he didn't really know if that was a miracle or not.

All he knew was that Stinger was right. Their advantage in numbers was rapidly dwindling. And from the sounds of brawling coming from the other side of the inner walls, Emma and Looker were still engaged in their own battle.

There would be no aid for them, at least not for a while.

"Night Blade. Steel Blade."

Seeker-Of-Endings nearly slipped as he brought his horn up to deflect the first of the two arm-blades coming for him. Dark energy clashed with Dark energy as the other arm-blade came for his side. Seeker-Of-Endings managed to shift out of the way with a hasty use of Detect and retaliated with a trio of Dark rays, all he could muster in the split second he had. But Blade brought his arm up, catching them all.

"Defiant: Dark Retaliation." Again Blade lunged, his Dark energy-covered arm seeming to double in size as it slashed downward. Seeker-Of-Endings twisted and caught it on his horn, though it shoved him backwards three feet, and he paid for the deflection with a blade to his side that drew yet another spurt of blood.

Seeker-Of-Endings surged forwards at Blade's chest, catching the Bisharp off balance. "Counterblade," he heard, and even as he sunk his horn into Blade's steely skin, a brutal blade slammed into his other side and sent him flying into the wall for the fifth time in this fight.

"Defiant: Dark Retaliation." Seeker-Of-Endings was not fast enough to avoid the enlarged blade of Dark energy this time, and this time he did not stop at the wall. A loud crash sounded as Blade punched him straight through the weakened steel wall and into another room, this one far more untouched than the ruin of a room that had been their arena up until now.

Untouched for the moment, anyway.

Seeker-Of-Endings coughed up a mouthful of blood as Blade stepped through the newly created hole in the wall. "Impressive. Not many have lasted this long against me. For that…I shall grant you the honor of seeing my ultimate attack."

Blade's arms both began to glow with Dark, Steel, and what seemed to be Fighting energy. "I do not use this attack lightly," the Bisharp declared. "Count yourself lucky that you will fall to it. Now…I summon all my pain! Defiant: Final Reckoning! Ultimate Retribution!"

Blade leaped as if in slow motion, arms crossed. Seeker-Of-Endings tried to augment his body with Detect, tried to dodge out of the way, but came up empty, his strength sapped by the constant fighting.

It was over.

"Hydro Snipe."

And then it wasn't. Blade flew into a row of abandoned computers with a loud cry as his final attack dissipated. The Bisharp fell to the floor with a crash as Siebold's Blastoise burst through the door to the room.

Blade snarled in rage. "You dare-"

"Hydro Cannon."

The ridiculously powerful torrent of Water energy sent Blade flying back into the computers and pinned him there, screaming in pain and rage at his defeat. It took five seconds for Blastoise to release Blade, upon which the Bisharp crumpled, unmoving on the ground.

"Yes," said Blastoise. "I dare."

Then his gaze softened as he turned towards Seeker-Of-Endings. "Hey, you all right?"

"I'm…" Seeker-Of-Endings spat out another spurt of blood. "Yeah, I think I'm done."

Blastoise let out a whistle as he looked through the hole in the wall. "Who made that?"

"I did," Seeker-Of-Endings wheezed. "Or rather, he did with me."

"And you're still up?" Blastoise sounded almost impressed. "Not bad for a fourth-badger. Come on, on your feet. We've got 'em on the run. Let's get you back to your Trainer."

Seeker-Of-Endings made no protest as he stumbled forward, leaning on Blastoise for stability as the two of them stepped out of the room.

"Swarm: Overwhelm."

"Intimidate."

Fear stabbed at Medicham's mind like a blade; even though she knew it was coming, knew there was no reason to be afraid, she still buckled under the stress, clutching her head with both hands to try and force the fear out of her mind. She barely even registered the trio of Beedrill copies lunging towards her, wicked stingers ready to drink her blood.

"Full Submission."

Mimi, though, again managed to shrug it off. Her hand waved, and all of the copies dissipated under a wave of Psychic energy.

The Espurr gasped, breathing heavily from the strain of such a strong attack, as Stinger and Fenris glared at her. "The Ezzzpurr is the main threat," Stinger buzzed. "Deal with it."

"Rending Jaws!" Fenris lunged, teeth glowing with Dark energy.

"Swarm: Needle Burzzzt." Stinger rose into the air, covering the Mightyena with another barrage of detached copy-stingers aimed at the three members of Marcus's team still standing.

"Get behind me!" Shellder cried. "Impenetrable Shell!"

Medicham and Phantump both dove behind the barrier that sprang up in front of Shellder, deflecting some of the incoming projectiles while the rest bounced off the metal catwalk. But that left Mimi alone to face Fenris; Medicham's heart dropped as she realized that had been the plan.

"Disarmament."

Mimi's voice rang out along with the burst of Fairy energy, expanding as it sped towards Fenris.

Fenris grinned. "That won't work. Shadow Rend!"

At that, a ball of Ghost energy formed in Fenris's jaws. Even as he charged Mimi, he fired the sphere straight at the oncoming cascade of Fairy energy. Mimi's eyes widened as the two attacks collided and the Ghost energy pushed through, dissipating the Fairy energy as it streaked towards Mimi.

Grouped up behind Shellder's barrier, there was no way any of Marcus's team could make it to Mimi's defense in time.

"Leech Seed!" "Water Blast!" To their credit, Phantump and Shellder tried. Medicham, though, spotted Stinger summoning another group of copies. Her eyes narrowed and she charged towards the Beedrill, one hand outstretched. "Psychic Blast!"

Stinger abandoned the copies in favor of jerking downwards. Medicham stopped short as the Beedrill landed directly on the unconscious form of Kriesh.

"Three down." At the Beedrill's grim pronouncement, Medicham swiveled her head in time to see Fenris throw Mimi's body away with his jaws. Phantump's Leech Seed and Shellder's Water Blast both struck him, but fire danced around his jaws and he ripped the sprouting vines away with little effort, while the Water Blast went marginally ignored.

"Do you see now?" Stinger asked. "It izzz true that the rezzzzt of your alliezzz might succeed where you could not. But you won't be around to see it. Without your Trainer, it will be eazzzy for uzz to take you with uzzz. You will become nothing more than another group of our victimzzzz. That wazzz decided the inzztant you chozzze to fight uzzzzz."

Medicham tore her gaze away from Fenris leaping at Shellder and Phantump. "We will never be your victims."

Stinger snorted. "I don't even need my copiezzzz to beat you," he buzzed. "Dark Stinger."

"Psychic Dodge!" Medicham twisted, barely avoiding Stinger's charge. "Fighting Strike!" she cried, unleashing a Fighting energy-wreathed punch, only for Stinger to weave out of the way.

The two wove around each other in a deadly dance, Medicham throwing punches and kicks and Psychic Blasts, Stinger avoiding them all and retaliating with lightning-fast jabs from his stingers. To a casual observer, it would have appeared they were evenly matched. But Medicham knew she was losing.

For while Stinger dodged every single one of her attacks, his own attacks were scoring tiny hits, nicking Medicham's arms and legs and even her body. On their own they wouldn't have done much, but with every second that passed, Medicham could feel a fire growing in her blood.

Poison. Stinger had poisoned her, and Medicham knew that in this state it was only a matter of time until the poison overcame her. But to her horror, her movements were beginning to grow more sluggish, more easily dodged.

Medicham clenched her fists harder and forced out more energy, more speed. But even through that, even through the haze of battle and pain, one single unwanted thought hammered at her mind.

Is there any way we can win?

Cerberus glared at the monitors. Oh, sure, Stinger and Fenris were hammering the right catwalk's occupants, but that was about the only thing that was going well. Aside from Stinger, Bryony's entire team was down, as was three of Aliana's. Fenris and Serpent were the only ones still up, and Serpent was being triple-teamed by the enemy Barbaracle, Heliolisk, and Luxray. And the rest of the Team Flare Grunts and Executives were reeling back in disarray; the reinforcements from the right catwalk had only served to hold back Emma and Looker's teams for a few minutes, and there were only about a dozen Pokemon left fighting against Siebold, Clemont, and Ramos, a number that was rapidly dwindling.

"Aliana," said Bryony. "I believe we should recall our Pokemon and evacuate ourselves."

Aliana sighed. "We're not licked yet. Once Stinger and Fenris finish up, they can join Cerberus and hold them off for a little longer."

Bryony said nothing more. Cerberus, still keeping one of his heads locked on the Mistresses, resumed scanning the monitors.

His eyes stopped, then peered at the one watching the ongoing scuffle on the right catwalk.

At the Skorupi that had begun to shift.

Skorupi watched the ongoing battle from below. The catwalk's design allowed Skorupi to see flashes of the combat. He saw Mimi overwhelmed and beaten by the Mightyena, saw Medicham caught in a losing battle with Stinger, saw Fenris matching Phantump and Shellder blow for blow despite his obvious exhaustion.

As soon as Medicham fell, though, Stinger would be free to come to the Mightyena's aid, and then all would be lost. Skorupi had heard Stinger's speech. He knew exactly what a loss would bring.

And yet he simply could not summon the strength to rise.

For starters, there was the brutal wound Stinger had ripped into his side, from which blood was still spilling. He could feel weakness coursing through his body, sapping strength from his legs and back. Compounding that was the grim realization that even if he could stand, he still would have to get up to the catwalk fifteen feet above the machinery he was on. And even if he did get up there, what difference would it even make against two Admin-level Pokemon? Stinger alone had fought off Phantump, Shellder, Mimi, and Skorupi by himself!

That sense of pointlessness compounded with his wound kept Skorupi motionless, watching the battle with the last of his hopes slowly dying.

How had he been so stupid as to turn his back on Stinger? He thought back to it now. Everyone had, succumbing to Fenris's distraction. But Skorupi…what had he done? He'd fired his strongest attacks at Stinger, only to do nothing. One hit from Stinger, though, and this was the result.

Why was he so weak?

You should have stayed dead, you insignificant weakling!

"No…" Skorupi rasped. "Ah…ah'm not weak. Ah'm not…"

Marked One!

"Sh…"

Marked One!

"Shut…up…"

"Marked One! Are you even listening?"

Skorupi glanced up, blinking back the blood dripping into his eyes from the cut on his forehead.

"You're pathetic, you know that?" came the voice of his father, filled with rage and disappointment. "You use all the wrong attacks, all the wrong strategies! Look at yourself! You can fight all you want, but if you fight like that you'll never win!"

"This…" Skorupi gasped, spitting blood from his mouth with every word. "This is…how I fight…"

"No, it's not!" Another blow that Skorupi had no way of stopping ripped across his shoulder. "This is not how you fight! You fight like you're supposed to! You fight like a real Skorupi! Not whatever that monster put into your head!"

"This is how I fight!" Skorupi summoned strength from a reserve he didn't even know existed and pushed himself up to face his father. "This isn't about what's in my head! This is my instinct! This is how I want to fight!"

"Then you're always going to lose," his father growled. "Remember, you'll rarely remember your victories. But you'll always remember your defeats. That's how it's supposed to be. But you, you won't have any victories to remember! Everything will be a defeat for you! You will always be a failure! And I will not allow my son to be a failure! Now come on! You like to fight like that? Show me!"

Skorupi shook his head, allowed a low growl to escape him.

He charged, pouring all his strength into his claws, all the energy he could muster. "PREY!" he roared, wreathing Dark energy into every spike on his body.

"Piercing Spikes."

The first spike gashed across his cheek. He ignored it and kept running.

The second drove into his other shoulder, nearly sending him to the ground. But he forced himself back onto all four legs and kept running.

The third and fourth went right into his front legs, and this time he had no way of recovering. Skorupi went flying forwards, face skidding across the ground as he tumbled to a halt.

"Weak."

His father ripped a single claw across Skorupi's face.

Skorupi growled again. Slowly, laboriously, he placed one claw onto the ground beside him. Then another. A snarl escaped him as he hauled himself up.

"You don't get it, do you?" his father asked. "You're. Not. My. Son. You're the Marked One. A monster's creation. And every single Skorupi in Kalos knows it. You want to be known as that your whole life? A weak little monster? Because that's all you're ever going to be if you don't fight like you're supposed to."

The third claw, then the fourth, came down. Skorupi stood quiveringly on all four legs, staring up at the catwalk.

"Come on! Get up! You fight until I say you can stop!" Another claw. "Get up!"

Skorupi saw a single upraised piece of machinery, positioned in such a way that it would only be five feet from the top of that to the bottom of the catwalk. He twisted slowly to face it, and equally slowly raised his left front claw.

One step.

Two steps.

"Fighting Trip!" Meditite's foot slammed into his side, throwing him across the field, knocking the breath out of him, and as he stood he saw Marcus priming a Pokeball-

Three steps.

Four steps.

"Beam Impact!" Kriesh's head twisted and an impossibly large beam of energy lanced out, the last thing Skorupi saw before pain overwhelmed him-

Five steps.

Six steps.

"Whirlpool Spin!" Wartortle twisted impossibly fast, and Skorupi felt his claws detach from Wartortle's skin as he was launched through the air, flailing uselessly. "Wave Blast!" Skorupi saw it coming, but there was nothing he could do, nothing but take it, black out yet again-

Seven steps.

Skorupi reached the machinery. Agonizingly, he reared, placing his front claws atop the piece of raised machinery.

He struggled uselessly in the raging tornado of leaves, watching as Victreebel stood below him, opening his maw wide as the leaves disappeared and Skorupi found himself plummeting into oblivion-

A pained snarl emanated from Skorupi as he hauled himself up onto the machinery. Then he reared again, reaching his claws as far as they could go, stretching his body to its limit, ignoring the screaming of his side. But he was still an inch short, just barely able to grasp his quarry. He saw Medicham drop to hands and knees as poison overcame her system, saw Shellder thrown back by an Electric energy-infused bite from Fenris.

Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. All that effort, all that energy, just to be thwarted by a single inch of space.

Stinger's arm dug into his side, sending pain coursing through Skorupi's entire body, before the Beedrill flung him bodily off the side of the catwalk like it was nothing-

"No. Ah refuse."

Skorupi felt his armor began to rip and tear as he stretched even further, going beyond his limit. Three-quarters of an inch to go. Half an inch. One-quarter.

He clamped his claws around the railing, even as his armor cracked, even as blood poured from the rents in his skin. Then he hauled, exerting every last ounce of strength in his body, and slowly began to rise, up and up, even as the railing began to bend, even as Stinger, standing over Medicham with one arm raised, stopped dead to stare right into Skorupi's eyes.

Wait. If he was standing at eye level with Stinger, then why were his claws - all four of them - still touching that piece of upraised machinery?

For that matter, if all four of his claws were touching that, what was grasping the railing so hard it was bending under his-

Skorupi looked to either side. To his right and left were two massive clawed arms, dark purple in color. It was those that were grasping the railing. Skorupi looked down at the rest of his body. It, too, was purple, and much larger.

With virtually no effort, Drapion stepped up onto the catwalk, rising to his full height - his new full height - and glaring with cold fury at the suddenly very small-looking Stinger.

Medicham grinned. "He's…all yours," she said, punctuating her words with a cough as the poison ripped through her body.

"Swarm: Overwhelm!" Stinger summoned up four copies, all of whom dove for Drapion, stingers outstretched and wreathed with Bug and Dark and Poison energy.

"No Escape." Four beams of Dark energy spewed from Drapion's mouth. Each one popped a copy, and they didn't stop there. Stinger's eyes widened as he hurled himself into the air to escape the seeking beams.

"Pierce." Drapion reached out both his arms. Eight spikes flew from them, a volley that Stinger barely avoided, but at the cost of being struck in the back by one of the still-pursuing Dark-type beams. Stinger plummeted uncontrollably, letting out a terrified buzzing noise as he realized exactly where he was falling.

"Inject."

The poison was ineffective; Stinger's typing enabled him to neutralize it without too much difficulty. But there was nothing Stinger could do against the massive arm that slammed into him and then rammed him right into the floor of the catwalk.

"Yer fast, ah'll give ya that," Drapion snarled. "But ya can't defend against multiple attacks at the same time, an' ya don't do well against unexpected strikes."

"Swarm!" Stinger summoned up half a dozen copies, but they barely had time to materialize before they disappeared once again.

"An' another thing," said Drapion. "Ah noticed when ya had ta dodge Medicham's Psychic Blast earlier. Yer copies require concentration, don't they? An' it's pretty hard ta concentrate when ah'm squeezin' the life outta ya, isn't it?"

"Thizzz izzzzn't pozzzzzible!" Stinger buzzed in panic. "Even with evolution, your body should have given out from that injury!"

"Yeah," said Drapion. "Probably. But…motivation can do wonders fer toughin' it out. Now. Let's see just how motivated you are."

Letting out a roar of fury, Drapion, still grasping Stinger tightly, lifted him off the catwalk. Then he raised the arm over his head and slammed it down on the other side.

A crunch sounded as Stinger hit the catwalk. Drapion paid no attention. He lifted Stinger overhead again and slammed him back down where he had initially.

And then he raised Stinger up and slammed him back down again. And again. And again. And then once more for good measure.

Only then did Drapion finally release the bleeding, bruised, and thoroughly unconscious Beedrill from his crushing grip.

Then he looked up, straight into the eyes of Fenris, who had ceased his attack on Phantump and Shellder. All three of them had stopped dead to watch Drapion's attack on Stinger. As Drapion glared at Fenris, the Mightyena gulped. Impressively, though, he stood his ground despite the wounds across his body.

"So now you're evolved," Fenris growled. "Big deal. So am I, and you're just as weakened as I am. Come on, then! I'll take you on! I'll take you all on! And when I'm finished-"

That was when Siebold's Blastoise slammed through the door leading from the front corridors to the main power room, followed by the rest of Siebold's team and the remaining Pokemon of the assorted Trainers that had been backing him up, and began sending Team Flare members and their Pokemon flying.

Fenris gulped again. "Ah…on second thought, if you could move out of the way…"

"That won't be happening," Drapion snarled.

It was then, as Drapion loomed over the wounded, tired, and very frightened Mightyena, that the inner walls erupted in a storm of fire and a massive form rose above the room, its great wings flapping and its three heads snarling.

"Storm of Vengeance," the looming Hydreigon snarled. "Die."

The rest of the battle was a blur.

Drapion remembered the explosions. He remembered leaping to clutch Medicham and Kriesh's fallen bodies, one in each arm, and pinning them down under him so they would not be harmed further. He remembered claws of Dark energy raking at him, remembered Fire and Ice and Electric and Dragon energy scraping his hide. He remembered seeing Aliana and Bryony running, recalling their Pokemon as they went. He remembered Siebold's Pokemon fighting back, combining their strength to create a wall of Water energy and pressing it forward, while others shot attacks back at the Hydreigon, ripping at it with mostly blasts of Electric and Grass energy. He remembered seeing Bryony touching some kind of yellow diamond to a Pokeball. "Alakazam, get us out of here!" she howled, just as Hydreigon was overcome by the flurry of attacks and the wall of Water energy and began to plummet.

Aliana recalled her falling Hydreigon an instant before the two Admins blinked out of existence.

That was the last thing Drapion remembered before his adrenaline failed him and unconsciousness took him in its dark embrace.

Ugh.

That was Medicham's first thought as she came back to consciousness. Her second thought was that she felt warm and comfortable. We survived, she realized as she recognized the inside of her Luxury Ball.

The third thought was the memory of Skorupi - Drapion - and she sat bolt upright. How was he? She only remembered him slamming Stinger brutally into the catwalk, back and forth and back, remembered him advancing on Fenris, remembered an explosion, and then darkness.

Was he still alive? Was everyone all right?

Medicham knew it was no use dwelling. She would find out as soon as her Pokeball opened. So, even though her fear still clawed at her, she forced it down, crossed her legs, and slipped into a meditative trance.

As it happened, it took three hours before her Luxury Ball hissed open and she was at once struck by the light of the outside world.

She looked up into the eyes of the Clefable who had aided in their teleportation.

"I'm glad you all made it out okay," the hospital Clefable said, and those words felt like an Arceus-send to Medicham.

"They're all right?" Medicham half asked, half stated with profound relief.

"Yes," said Clefable, "and in one case, better than all right."

"And Marcus?" Medicham asked.

"He'll be fine," said Clefable. "The doctors say that he'll be awake tomorrow at the latest."

Medicham, unable to resist the outpouring emotion, wrapped Clefable in a tight hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Just doing my job," Clefable grunted. "Now, speaking of your team, why don't we retrieve them? I'm sure they'd all love to get out of their Pokeballs as well, right?"

Once they were all out, and after a congratulations from Kriesh to the newly-evolved Drapion, Shellder and Phantump began running a play-by-play of the entire battle after Kriesh had fallen.

The Admins had managed to escape with all of their Pokemon, but Siebold and Looker had arrested twenty-three people, Grunts and Executives alike, and impounded all of their Pokemon. Siebold had arranged for Starmie to teleport the unconscious Medicham, Drapion, and Kriesh back to the Pokemon Center in Lumiose along with Shellder and Phantump. Their group was easily the most badly injured; the other teams on their side had all suffered injuries, and except for Siebold at least one or two Pokemon knocked out, but none of the teams were as badly off as theirs.

The Power Plant was now back up and running. Siebold and Looker had made sure all of the other Trainers and all the wounded Pokemon were teleported to Lumiose after Medicham and the rest of the team. Starmie had teleported in and out of the Pokemon Center three times, giving the nurses quite a job to deal with, before leaving to, as Shellder quoted, "deal with the prisoners."

As Phantump and Shellder completed their tale, Medicham felt an amazing sense of relief wash over her. She began to chuckle lightly. "We won," she said. "We faced two Admin Pokemon, and we won."
"Yeah," said Drapion. "Ah guess we did."

"Medicham."

Medicham turned to look into the eyes of Kriesh. They were filled with conflict, and her next words sounded as if they were being dragged out. "Yeah, we won…" she said, "...but it was a near thing. We…even you have to admit we were in over our heads."

Medicham nodded slowly, guilt welling up in her once more like bile.

"I'm not saying it wasn't the right thing to do," said Kriesh, "but next time, we need to be more cautious about it. We can't just charge in. We have to make a real plan. We got stuck fighting two Admin Pokemon because the plan amounted to 'charge in and fight', and even with Mimi, fighting two Admin Pokemon that were weakened from earlier fights, we still would have lost if it hadn't been for Drapion. All I'm saying is…that was too close."

Medicham sighed. "Viola. Korrina. Serena. Ramos. We've had plenty of fights that were too close. You're right, Kriesh. We should have…I should have planned better. I should not have tried to lead the charge, I should have worked with Looker and Emma…we nearly got captured by Team Flare because of me. Because you trusted me-"

"No!" Shellder snapped. "Not because of you! Because of all of us! We all made mistakes, all right? Stop blaming yourself!"

Medicham stared in shock at Shellder. Had it seriously been only a couple weeks since they'd met the bubbly, endlessly curious Pokemon on the beach in Cyllage? Now Medicham stared into the eyes of a Pokemon she barely recognized. A Pokemon that had seen true battle, had seen his Trainer nearly die, his friends nearly die. A Pokemon who had hardened himself against the cruelty of the world.

A Pokemon who had lost every scrap of his innocence.

How had Shellder turned into this? How had Medicham not seen it until now?

"You're…" Medicam said, unable to finish the sentence. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Kriesh. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I…I wasn't trying to hurt you with my words. I was just trying to help, but-"

"It's all right," said Medicham. "We will be more cautious and make a plan next time. If there is a next time, which I really hope there won't be."

Her eyes caught something out of their corners. "Excuse me for just a moment."

The team obliged; Medicham heard their voices, raised in chatter about Drapion and about how strong he was now, echoing in her ears as she walked over to the Pokemon she'd just seen exiting the Pokemon Center at the heels of her Trainer.

"Mimi!" she called.

The Espurr turned to look at Medicham. "Oh! Hi, Medicham!"

"I…just wanted to say thank you," said Medicham. "Without you we wouldn't have stood a chance against that Beedrill."

"I should thank you for saving me," said Mimi.

"You're pretty strong," said Medicham. "How long have you been with Emma?"

"Sixteen years."

"Sixteen…years?" Medicham repeated, shock robbing any other words from her. "How strong are you?"

Mimi sighed. "Look. By all rights I should be a lot stronger. But…there's a point at which you physically can't get stronger without evolving. And…" Mimi sighed again. "I met Emma when she was five years old. She…had a difficult childhood, and I was one of the few things she enjoyed about that life. Even when she became a trainee of Valerie, the Fairy-type Gym Leader, and began training in the use of Fairy-types, she always…" Mimi trailed off. "The point is, I could have evolved a long time ago, and probably become as powerful as an Elite Four Pokemon, if not even stronger. But…if I did that…I'm afraid that it would hurt her. That it would rob her of something truly special to her. And so ten years ago, I swallowed an Everstone." Mimi looked straight into Medicham's eyes. "I can't evolve, Medicham. And while it hurts…I would endure as much pain as it takes to keep Emma safe."

"I get it," said Medicham.

"I'm glad," said Mimi. "Not everyone does. I've heard all the insults. But…it's worth it. Thank you for saving me, Medicham, and tell your friend Drapion thank you as well. Maybe I'll see you around."

With that, Mimi twitched a hand, and she and her Trainer walked away, leaving Medicham behind.

Medicham let out a heavy sigh. She knew what an Everstone was; it was usually used on Pokemon who evolved as a result of heavy injury, as evolutions could increase the level of injury and in some cases lead to death, but the Everstone would suppress the evolution until the Pokemon's condition was stable enough. But for someone to swallow an Everstone…

What was it like? Was it painful to have one's body in a constant flux of suppressed evolution?

Medicham could not get that question out of her head…at least, until she turned around.

And her eyes beheld Serena's Absol stepping into a nearby alleyway.

Next time you see Seeker-Of-Endings, send him my regards.

Medicham didn't know, couldn't know without talking to him. But she had to find out. Deep in the back of her mind, a small voice told her that if he was Seeker-Of-Endings, she would probably need backup. She ignored it.

She needed answers. And so she stepped after Serena's Absol, knowing only that she would find those answers. One way or another.