"We are in so much trouble," Kieran kept repeating frantically. "Dear God, no. This is just fantastic!"
I ran and he flew, the quiet and dark jungle around us all too suspenseful. Scenery raced by us. As soon as I'd described the statue from memory, Kieran all but fainted. The statue, which I thought was one of the nicer ones, of course turned out to be a threat. It was a Pokémon that resembled a plain-looking woman, with a thin figure, a flowing dress, and a simplified bob cut. It had been posed with its hands covering a spike jutting out of its chest.
It was what Kieran called a Gardevoir. One of those "Fairy" types who were notoriously dangerous in what Kieran assured me was a very serious competitive metagame. Point was, a Gardevoir was bad. A Gardevoir lurking somewhere in the shadows was worse. We barged into camp as fast as we could. The campfire didn't make nearly enough light to grant me any relief.
"Oh, good, you found her!" Micheal said, before turning pale. "W-what's going on?"
"Boss battle!" Kieran screeched. "There's a boss battle happening right now!"
"Where?!" Lola jumped up, the Absol startled into a fighting stance.
I had to catch my breath somewhat before blurting it out. "We don't know."
At that everyone stiffened, even myself. The situation hadn't truly hit me until saying it. We didn't know, God damn it! She could be anywhere, that foe certainly stronger than anything we'd been put up against before. This was bad. This was bad. This was stupid!
"It's a Gardevoir, we think," Kieran said, before clarifying for Lola and Michael. "Looks like a tall psychic lady with green hair. It's super strong."
"White face with green hair?" Lola mumbled, frozen in place.
"You know it?" Gab asked.
"… no," she whispered back. "Just familiar."
No more distractions. I retook control of the conversation. "One of the statues came to life. We need to go now. Or hide. I don't— I don't…"
I couldn't finish that sentence with anything but a shaky sigh, and then the silence felt deadly. I didn't know what to do. I'd been completely drained, and only partially rejuvenated by that conversation with Kieran. I was done making decisions for everyone, at least for today. Not when my mind couldn't see the forks in the road or where they'd lead. My gaze sloped down to my shadow, the only thing I could clearly see and contrast against its environment. It stood stark against the strands of grass, even with the small crackling glow from my torch.
Micheal slowly stepped forward. "Let's plan on the training field," he said, quietly and softly.
I nodded. My first instinct would've been to stay in the lean-to, with a roof and our backs to the wall, our sights pointed at the foreboding wilderness, but Micheal was right. If we had some lights, a flat wide open space with multiple exits might be safer. At least, everyone would be able to watch their step. We followed him, tense and on the lookout. I leant back on the wall and everyone else stood close.
"We've kind of seen this before," Gab started. "In the third level. We weren't at the end of the road before the Umbreon showed up, so if there is a rule about stepping into the last room to trigger the battle, it must only apply to some levels."
"So it might be random timing here. Reassuring," Kieran grunted, still a bit out of breath. "What's that mean for us? We know the statue's moved, but it hasn't attacked yet. But then, there's no telling if it's just waiting. Ugh, I don't like this!"
"None of us do," Micheal cut in. "Which is why we need to figure out how to beat that thing."
"Let's sit down," Gab suggested, motioning toward the bleachers. She'd grabbed one of the smaller backpacks, it clearly having an ample supply of berries.
I followed, begrudgingly admitting to myself that I felt safer with the group. That is, until Chloe interrupted my walk. She landed barely two steps away, wings flapping in a frenzy.
"Wait!" The Swablu said in a tone far more serious than usual, "take a step back."
I did.
"Turn around. Look."
With the faint light of the torch from my short height, the wall gained a completely different look than it had at sunset. Very shallow grooves cast shadows above themselves, and as I stared deeper I realized those shadows formed an image. They weren't stripes or markings in the stone. They were carvings. In the middle of them, the clear focal point was a Mayan-styled pyramid. It was a map!
"Okay, well if there is a pyramid," Lola said, "there's no way this shindig's happening somewhere else."
It was sort of a stupid take, but I could tell we all thought it. Not only were we in a video game world with a couple weird rules, but I'd always felt like there was something intentional about this portal nonsense. I couldn't put my finger on it, but sometimes it felt like something was up, like someone was pulling the strings. I didn't like the feeling but I couldn't shake it. Maybe it was just human instinct to try to throw blame somewhere. Anyway, barely any glances were exchanged before we cautiously set off toward the pyramid.
It didn't take us long. Down the path, a clearing opened up on the ground, but a thick canopy could stop anyone from noticing it from above. Thankfully, some moonlight filtered through. At this point, Micheal signalled everyone to stop walking. He gestured to the trees on the right and we followed him through, getting closer and hoping not to be seen.
In the distance, there stood the square pyramid. It was also adorned with a large amount of vines and moss, camouflaging it further. However, through the opening, I discerned a faint blue light. A dark and indistinct silhouette partially blocked it, but I knew that red glow streaming down from its eye level.
"Found her," Lola growled. "She's waiting for us."
"What do we do now?" Micheal whispered. "Anyone got a plan?"
Gab joined in. "I don't think we can sneak up on it. These things can read emotions, and that may include knowing the position of the person experiencing them."
"Then our best bet might be to overwhelm it," Chloe suggested, sitting snugly on Micheal's head. "If we're all close, maybe it'll all get jumbled enough for it not to find out what the plan is."
Kieran grumbled a contribution. "We still need a plan in the first place. Better be a fantastic one."
"We're working on that!" Micheal said. "So… we could lure it with one person first, then everyone else joins the battle in groups. That sound good?"
Shrugs and quiets grunts of agreement. Something clicked for me at that moment. Micheal wasn't our leader. Yes, the group tended to look to him for orders, and often waited for his approval on big decisions, but it was only part of it. Anytime anyone was in trouble, he was the first to try to get everyone's heads together to form plan. I could bet he was the one who suggested someone go after me. He was a bit spacey occasionally, but he tried really hard to be concerned with everyone. He wasn't the leader; he was the mom friend. We had a group of very opinionated Pokémon on our hands, all with different attitudes and strengths. We butted heads, but everyone brought something to the table in their own way if we let them.
I finally figured out what it was about Micheal. He made sure everyone could talk, and, in turn, we let him.
"What's the battle formation, Micheal?" I sat down and asked.
He looked taken aback, and a few moments passed before he nodded and shared the plan. "Lola in the front. She can dodge hits with Detect and has an immunity to Psychic."
"What about Fairy moves?" Chloe inquired. "They're super effective against her!"
"That's what we need Kieran for," he said. "I hate to do this, but..."
Kieran sighed. "Operation meat shield."
"N-no!" He protested. "I mean, I wouldn't say it like that—"
"Just know that you have a Fairy resistance too," Gab said.
Micheal looked shocked, but regained his composure fast. "Got it. I'll be the meat shield too."
Kieran smiled and nodded.
I raised my hand. "I got another idea. If we're leading the Gardevoir somewhere to defeat it, I know a place."
To say we were tense when getting into position would be an extreme understatement. As I crouched just before the tree line, the warm breeze from behind still gave me a chill. Night reigned but the moon provided so much cold light. My eyes focused on the faded colours of the pyramid.
"You ready?" Chloe asked, perched on a branch close by.
"Mm-hmm," I nodded. Part of me felt knowing what to do was enough to win. To be honest, though, it was a smaller part than yesterday, but if I wasn't ready, I had to be competent.
We didn't talk after that. We waited. An Absol came into view on the brick path, her gait a tad too nervous for my liking. This was Lola we were talking about. She didn't do nervous. Nonetheless, she walked a couple steps in the direction of the Gardevoir and shook out her mane as she cleared her throat.
"Hey!" She shouted, the sound eardrum-shattering in contrast to the silence. "You! Creepy laughing lady!"
Though in a more serious tone than usual, that did sound more like the Lola I'd been stuck with for two weeks. She let out one sharp exhalation, waiting for a response. She got one.
The cackle started low and raspy, but grew louder with rapidly increasing proximity. A pale dress trailed on the pyramid steps, leaving streams of glowing red in its trail. It was only when it was near the ground that I noticed that it was levitating itself, not climbing down. This gave it a frightening speed.
The Gardevoir slowed to a stop halfway between Lola and the pyramid. I saw Lola hold firm and tense, claws scratching the rock. The Gardevoir, meanwhile, had become silent, looking at Lola almost inquisitively. It brought a hand to its mouth and giggled softly, not stopping for breath. Lola gulped audibly.
The Gardevoir suddenly shrieked, a sick grin on its snow white face. Glowing red pixels poured out from a mouth adorned with sharp teeth. In an instant, it flew into a psychic sprint, going horizontal from the acceleration. The blue glow in Lola's irises only showed up a fraction of a second before the enemy reached her, a bright orange orb formed in its palm. It threw the ball toward Lola at sizzling speeds, and the Absol dodged it in the nick of time. She leaned on the right and jumped backwards, eyes bulging out of her skull.
"Go, gang, go!" She yelled, booking it into the jungle.
Chloe flew toward the path, myself hot on her tracks. It wasn't long before we joined Lola's side, her sprinting and glancing back at the monster. It was a consistent few meters away from us. I knew this wasn't its fastest speed. It was toying with us. The Gardevoir had not stopped shrieking. It was ear-piercing, even from a distance. Every time I thought it might take a breath, it grew louder, raspier, more grating and unsettling. The only interruption came in the form of our defence.
A rough grunt shot out from behind us. Gab had come through with a Quick Attack to its face! She glided, landing on Lola and holding the crushed remains of a Chople berry. Seemed she figured out how to fly with the backpack on. She threw the rest of the Chople berry to the ground with a shaky arm. I hadn't ever eaten one of those but I knew getting its juice in your eye was bad news. I skidded to a halt and assessed the damage.
Wasn't enough damage.
The Gardevoir was already focusing itself back on us, only flinching for a split second. Guess the spiciness wasn't much pain added to the red pixels already foaming out from its eyes. Well, good a cue as any for me. I reached out to one of the many puddles I'd placed on the path with Hidden Power on our way to the fight. With a swing of my arm and and a mental flick, the water was thrown at the Gardevoir's torso. Another very brief flinch.
Chloe swooped in and clawed at the boss's head, gone as quickly as she'd landed. "Keep running!" She signaled while passing us.
I nodded. Kieran and Micheal would come along to help out soon enough. We were leading the Gardevoir to somewhere further up the path, but with a lot of luck we could possibly defeat it by taking turns attacking it. A veritable relay race, if you will.
The orange orbs were surprisingly easy to dodge when we knew they were coming. Must've been hard to aim. This didn't seem to deter the Gardevoir's mood, and it switched tactics. After barely a blink of concentration, a bunch of leaves were spawned out of thin air, bearing an odd glow. Leaf move! Or grass? Nah, Leaf type sounded right. With an almost unnoticeable nudge of the head, the Gardevoir shot the leaves toward Lola and Gab.
Lola's eyes lit up in blue again, and she jumped and twisted in midair, completely avoiding any hit from the rather sharp-looking leaves. Meanwhile, Gab had jumped up and held her winglets taut, slowing down her fall as she shot a Spark at the Gardevoir. She glided toward Lola and landed nimbly. I had to admit that was a pretty cool team maneuver.
The lightning bolt had hit that monster square on, but… it just shook it off. Even though I knew it shouldn't have an immunity to Electric moves, there was no growl or grunt of pain. If anything, it started laughing harder. I splashed it another time out of spite. No response. Then Kieran and Micheal finally came through. One missed Ember (poor guy) and the Litleo joined our sprinting ranks. He cursed under his breath, so quietly that I bet only I heard it since he was at my side.
Kieran flew in like a bull in a china shop. With a triumphant battle cry, his smile audible, he showed off a move I hadn't seen him perform before. He shot multiple glowing purple darts from his stingers. Most hit the bricks before disappearing, but from the brief glimpses I could catch, I could tell they'd pierced the surface of the granite. A few hit the Gardevoir, and again, no slowing that thing down. It calmly raised an arm and started charging another orange orb.
"Micheal!" Kieran instructed. "A Noble Roar would help right about now!"
On command, the Litleo turned his head toward the jungle and let loose with a roar and pulsating red shockwaves. It, of course, wasn't an actual attack, but it was bright enough to distract the Gardevoir momentarily. The orange orb fizzled out into nothingness.
"Focus Blast, huh?" Kieran grinned, readying a Fury Attack. "Sucks to suck!"
He charged, swiping wildly with blindingly white stingers. This was the first attack the Gardevoir tried to dodge, and unfortunately, it did so successfully for every attempt Kieran made. Chloe swooped in and actually managed to hit it in the head again, messing up a small portion of that dumb green bob cut.
The cackle grew louder, another green hand raised. Kieran flew back toward it, executing that same new attack. If I had to guess, I'd say that was a Poison move. It was so purple! However, Kieran wasn't the only one attacking. The Gardevoir was charging up something we hadn't seen yet. The new attack had the texture of glowing, bubbling marble, and was a different colour than before. It didn't look like it was the same move type as the leaves or the danger basketball. Instead, it was a bright pinkish purple. Psychic type.
"Lola, cover Kieran!" I yelled, hoping I'd remembered type matchups correctly in my quick thinking.
To my surprise, the order worked, and the Absol threw herself in front of him, taking the full brunt of the psychic beam. She shook it off, and winked at Gab for reasons that didn't get explained to me until later. Gab rolled her eyes and went for another Quick Attack around the Gardevoir. It dodged it. Crap.
I looked at everyone running in our panic-born peloton. It had taken us two weeks to work somewhat coherently together. The adrenaline got to me and I let out a laugh and "woo!" To my surprise it was answered by five voices out of five. We had not defeated this thing, but we had attacked it. Our plan was working. We were finally closing in on Plan A's objective. I stopped abruptly next to the basin, now overflowing with water I'd placed there in preparation for this step of the plan. The others ran past me, ready to attack if needed.
The Gardevoir advanced, slowing down to meet us and almost too conveniently, stopped right at the middle of the pond. Finally, we'd let it to its grave. It floated above the spring, the red foam dissolving just before hitting the water. I ran toward it and let out the potential of five Hidden Powers stashed in the pond. The moment of truth!
"Take that!" I yelled, enveloping the Gardevoir's upper body in the poisonous water the Hidden Power had become a part of. The strain on my mind wasn't as pronounced as I expected, but it did instantly feel like I'd been staring at something for a long time. The water made contact and clearly threw the monster off-balance. It didn't stop it from floating, however.
"Come on, fall in!" I groaned, and pushed the Hidden Power as hard as I could. I tried to pull its head into the water, a brutal but effective solution we'd agreed on. To my dismay, the Gardevoir didn't budge from then on.
Until it decided to levitate itself back upright. I couldn't keep focus after that.
"Retreat!" Micheal ordered. "Plan B!"
And so the gang started running again, this time in the opposite direction. Plan B, more like Plan drop-the-Ball. Since the Gardevoir wasn't something we could get rid of easily, at least if we weakened it we could make a run for that blue portal. If that's what that was. Hopefully. I mentally kicked myself for not being strong enough to buy us more time, but brushed it off. If we could make it out alive, that was all that mattered. I started running, slowly catching up to the rest of the group. I was sure the beast followed.
Micheal looked over his shoulder to me and the Gardevoir. He must've not liked how close it had gotten to me, because he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, positioned in a battle stance.
"Duck!" Micheal yelled, and spat out an Ember.
Either his aim improved tremendously or his luck did, because the Ember hit the Gardevoir head on! Some flames licked its skin, but the true fire burst happened once they reached the spot hit with Gab's Chople juice attack. With a 'fwoosh', the entire Gardevoir was engulfed in flames. That stuff was flammable!
A roar rang through the area, and again, the Gardevoir faltered. And, again, only momentarily.
Nope, Micheal's luck is still GARBAGE!
Within a few seconds, we were faced with a giant shrieking monster that was on fire. Needless to say, we joined in on the shrieking. It was a reckless race to the stairs.
Chloe flew impatiently around the opening to the chamber. "Come on! Quick!"
As if we needed to be told that! Still, I understood the urgency, and the painful wait as one couldn't help others. She made rapid figure eights in anxiety. Lola and Gab raced past me, Kieran flying not far behind. When Micheal outpaced me, I felt exhaustion finally start to set in. Come on, not now! The stairs were already hazy enough in the dark and covered in moss, and I couldn't afford to let the lack of adrenaline mess up my depth perception.
Chloe swooped down toward me. She clamped down on my hand hard with her beak and flapped her wings double time. As I yelled at her in protest, trying my damnedest to run and keep my balance, I realized the unbelievable was happening. This was working. The trips and stumbles this unstable boost caused were small potatoes compared to the crazy height upgrade in my jumps. Within a minute, I was with the others at the top. I jogged into the chamber, not able to sprint since the stairs had taken more out of me than I thought they would.
The sight that greeted me sent a wave of relief through my body. The room was mostly empty, but, cradled by a statue— Espeon, I think— was a sparkling vortex. It was a portal after all! Swirling misty blue went round and round, mixing with lighter blue tints and an off-white that reminded me of sea foam. It was like we were about to jump into an idyllic tropical ocean. The rest of the room was a plain and faded brown as far as I could tell, what with only the cool light of the portal to show me our surroundings. A bunch of other statues, including another Gardevoir, filled empty spaces on the wall. Did that mean… did that mean someone before us beat up the Espeon? When?
A terrible banshee-like howl and a slam were expelled from behind us. Loud and rapid banging followed, the scream uninterrupted. I turned around, only to see yet another surprise.
The Gardevoir was right in front of the threshold, no obstacle between it and us, and only a few feet away. From such close proximity, its uncanny smile and towering size were even more unsettling than the fire slowly consuming it (not to mention the resulting smell). However, it wasn't advancing any more because there was… something in the chamber opening. I couldn't see any glasslike shine which would indicate any obstruction, but there clearly was one. An invisible barrier endured endless hits from the Gardevoir's fists and head. It attacked the wall all it could, but nothing it could do passed through except its shrieks. Or at least, I hoped nothing passed through, and it hadn't just not used any moves yet. The barrier held strong, like a forcefield. Maybe it was the Meditite instincts acting up, but my gut informed me that this really was a Psychic type's shield. It felt… familiar. I couldn't place it, but somewhere, somehow, I knew what this was.
Had I done that?
But it wasn't draining me. If it was something within a Meditite's capabilities, I wasn't consciously using it. Could it be something else? Someone else? Someone helping us?
"Come on!" Kieran urged, grabbing my arm with the crook of his elbow. I staggered back, looking at him. He pointed at the portal. "I don't think we have time!"
The aqua glow emanating from the doorway was still as bright, but flickered intensely. There was no more time I was willing to risk to find out where the life-saving barrier had come from. Thinking could be done next level.
Get over yourself. Time to teleport!
I thanked God for the portals and followed everyone in jumping in. Then I followed it with a prayer that if the barrier wouldn't keep the Gardevoir out long enough for it to close, boss Pokémon wouldn't be able to cross portals in the first place.