The arena was a room like any other, nothing special, no differently coloured leaves. There was a small apple tree in the corner. The battlefield had four openings, one on each side of the square room. It made me think this could be the center of the maze. That was about as important a landmark as we could get, plus we'd found it by following the note guy's arrows.
We were… waiting? Bracing ourselves? Taking note of the terrain? I knew even though the sky was above us, the invisible wall marked the ceiling. Those four openings, hallways I could barely see into, were responsible for easing my claustrophobia, not an open sky.
"Okay," Micheal breathed out. "Grass type. Fire type and Bug type at the front. Flying types in the back. Tank and damage in the middle. Fire type and Bug type at the front…"
He kept murmuring the plan to himself, as if the more it was invoked, the more likely it would succeed. The Litleo shot me a glance. I nodded. We were as ready as we could get.
Step inside.
The sound of static seemed to come from everywhere. The red pixels appeared out of thin air and once again formed a writhing mass of something trying to be alive. Eventually the cascade solidified into a small black serpentine body with two stubby arms, and a deathly still wooden mask covering the head.
The Phantump let out a low and ghostly moan, the familiar red gushing out of its eyes and mouth. It cocked its head at us and took slow and infrequent strides toward the group.
Really?!
What was that?! A slap in the face? A cruel insult to us, crafted to tear our wits apart?
A kid who was alone and helpless.
And dead.
I'd been calling the Phantump 'it' from the moment I'd seen the Pokémon, but… now I knew it didn't apply. Whoever that person was, they were now a ghost, not a rabid animal. And who was to say they didn't feel anything when blinded by a boss Pokémon's natural haze? I'd like to be brave and shrug it off, say it was self-defence and plow through the opposition without a care, but Valérie's words kept weighing my gut down.
What if it had been me?
My gaze turned to Micheal. His ears drooped as soon as I'd looked to him, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. Soon, he couldn't look me in the eye. It was then that I realized what he'd made of my stare, and I was mortified.
"If you killed Mr. Henry, would you have killed me?"
I lunged at the Phantump. It didn't matter who attacked us— they were attacking in the first place! How dare they make us feel bad? Zombie movies had gone over this a million times. They're violent, and hungry, and already dead! How many times had I yelled at the screen because someone was too sentimental to save themselves? God damn it, I needed to do the right thing! Both my arms were raised and glowing green, poised to strike at the rapidly approaching ghost.
A good Twineedle ought to clear it out!
I missed. I did get in range enough to receive a point-blank Shadow Ball. The impact knocked the breath out of me and sent me flying back the direction I came. I didn't know what hurt more: my back from the rough landing, or my stomach from the attack. The ghostly attack wasn't like a punch or a burn, but just plain hurt. It was as if the Phantump had summoned a bruise in my body right before launching that Shadow Ball.
I got up, breathless but mostly uninjured. My wings replaced themselves with a twitch, signalling that they were intact and fully operational. The Phantump had its eyes locked on me and didn't see my teammate behind it.
However, we ran into a problem. Micheal was in position, but not attacking. He was just panting and hacking up a lung, and it took me a few moments to figure out why. Micheal's Ember wasn't activating for some reason. I hadn't seen him struggle with it so hard in weeks.
"If it's taking too long. We're doing something else!" Valérie commanded. She threw one of the stakes at the Phantump, but it was too dull to even leave a scratch. It did get the Ghost type's attention.
Crap.
The Phantump spat another Shadow Ball at Gab and Valérie's spot, but luckily it was easier for them to dodge from that distance than a point-blank shot had been for me. Although both avoided the purple orb, it hit a bunch of stakes in the pile, splintering them to twigs.
Gab had glided to the apple tree and… I think instincts made her climb it for safety? Why?! The Phantump could fly!
My worries proved true when another Shadow Ball was lobbed into the tree. There was a huge crash, a cascade of smoke, and fear building up in my stomach. Thankfully Gab rocketed back on the grass, scratched up but overall okay. When the smoke cleared around that spot, I noticed the tree had been completely ripped apart. I didn't know why, but this tree being felled got to me.
It's just an apple tree! Get it together!
Adrenaline finally reached my limbs. Attacks tended to come in threes, didn't they? But we weren't in the clear yet. I would've slapped some concentration into myself but I didn't want stingers stabbing through my frontal lobe.
The Phantump had regained some breath. Apparently, this much offensive force came out of your own calories. Any sudden movement from us, though, and it'd be back on the field without hesitation.
Gab held an apple, clutched in her two shaking Emolga hands. She handed it to Valérie and nodded. Without a word the Meditite threw it toward the opposite corner of the room. When the fruit reached the top of its arc, Gab's cheeks sparked.
One lightning shot to the apple, and bang! It was overheated into exploding. The sound caught the Phantump off guard, it seemed, and it looked to the side. Well, if there was ever a time…
"Plans. Now!" Micheal ordered.
Chloe landed at our makeshift strategy station. She had a determined look in her eye. All right, we had an idea!
"I'll try to Sing it to sleep," she said flatly. "Is that okay?"
In the heat of the moment, everyone in earshot gave her a quick nod. She flew off, and we all stood still.
What were we thinking?! That was a really risky plan. We barely had Chesto berries, and not nearly enough prep time to stop people from falling asleep. It was a ballsy move but if it hit the Phantump, we'd gain a huge advantage. Chloe soared ever closer to the enemy and I knew she'd be vulnerable to any non-Ghost attack while concentrating on the strategy. What other shot did we have?
"Isn't Sing a Normal move?" Gab pointed out, ears drooping.
My breath caught in my throat, but I yelled through it. "Get out!"
Was Sing affected by type matchups? Did I have enough time to think on it and risk it? Screw it. Back to plan A: just do whatever while prioritizing retreat options!
Poison Sting!
Most of them missed, and the ones that did hit dug into the wooden stump the Phantump wore as a mask. As the glowing purple spikes faded away, I just hoped the stump was part of its body and not genuine armour. Had we even damaged that Pokémon?
The Phantump yelped and retreated, needing to recharge. I would've followed it, but that yelp made me want to vomit. It was too human. How many bosses had we fought that made noises like that, that had expressions we'd ignored as evidence of personhood? Would it have made a difference?
No. When it's us or them, the outcome is the same. One wins. One loses.
But why, why did it have to feel so wrong? I shook my head and turned to Micheal. He tended not to be distracted in times like this, if last instance was any indication…
The Litleo was as still as I was. His claws had been dug into the grass. No Ember yet. It was almost as if… as if… oh, God. That's right, hadn't he used another move last level? Had he straight up forgotten Ember? Fire Fang was the only option here, then, but he'd only used Fire Fang once. In the battle—
"Lola!" I called. Better have the Dark type on the offence.
Although she wasn't in my line of sight, the grunt of agreement punctuated her nod and made it audible. She launched a Quick Attack at the Phantump, then lunged at the foe and transitioned to Bite as her fangs glowed a blinding white. Said glow stopped me from seeing exactly where she bit down, but I knew she did. She landed mouth empty, and the only light I could see for now was from those wild Absol eyes.
The Phantump, thrown off-balance, vacillated from side to side, but steadied itself and bellowed out a warning howl. I'd hoped we could back the boss into a corner, that it would continue to run and give us an easier fight. It did the opposite. Without a hint of fear, it gathered energy for an attack. Black and purple amassed around it, and somehow I could tell the more they surrounded the Phantump, the more force they'd be released with.
Dark Pulse. I recognized it.
"Get out of range!" I shouted.
"Quick!" Micheal affirmed. Did he know what the move was or did he trust my judgement?
Now, why was this scarier? Logically, Shadow Ball should've been stronger. It was more concentrated, more powerful, and even had STAB bonus if that applied. However, Dark Pulse in this arena, with looping ricochets allowing for multiple hits in every direction? The potential damage was insane. Even though I wasn't touching the ground, I felt the rumble of danger coursing through everything around me. Long range attacks were not something to be messed with here.
Through the thickets and their leaves, I heard the rustle, too powerful to be caused by the wind. Until the attack was over, the damage would be exponential.
"What do we do?" Gab wheezed as we all raced through the hedge hall. "What do we do, what do we do?!"
Nothing came to mind other than counting heads. Six in total, and fearful but alive and alert. Nothing to do except retreat. Was it what cost us the last fight?
The last fight. Suddenly, with the apparition attacking us, "the last fight" wasn't the one in the sweltering volcano anymore. The one where— where—
"We have to finish it off," I said, bile in the back of my throat.
"We'll Pac-Man it", Micheal suggested. "We get it to throw an attack in the hall, we dodge it, and it hits it in the back before it can see it."
I turned to face him. "You think it'll work?"
He nodded, and started delegating while we still had time. "Lola, Kieran, clear the inside of the hedges— as much surface as you can. We want a wide area with almost no brush stopping the Shadow Ball."
His eyes were bulging but I could tell he was as focused and confident as he could get. We had a little piece of him back.
Chloe chimed in. "I'm a Normal type. I won't be affected by Ghost moves. That's the bait."
Precious seconds were counting down. The Phantump loomed ever closer, not in our line of sight yet but letting out only a few chittering sounds and static that grew louder and louder. Suddenly, Micheal's fur bristled, and his eyes turned into eerie slits.
"This might… not work," he mumbled. I stopped him from walking back to the room with a stinger in front of his chest. He was not doing this alone.
Lola got up. "I'll round the corner. I can dodge."
And so we laid in wait, a few dozen seconds turning into layers upon layers of uneasiness. This was the first boss who'd given serious chase in a while. My antennae twitched, and Lola growled from the corner. Her fangs were bared.
It happened so fast. A pulsing dark orb, a barely noticeable spark of blue in Lola's eyes, and a dodge close enough to shave. She hadn't landed before the Shadow Ball shot through the opposite wall and hit the Phantump square in the back. No yelp, no shriek, just a breath knocked out of tiny lungs as the ghost fell to the floor in pain and surprise.
It wasn't done. The Phantump couldn't float away, but wasn't knocked out just yet. I raised my stinger again, determined to finish it before more attacks were unleashed.
But if I wanted to aim, why had I closed my eyes?
Harsh static stopped, and then buzzed again. I knew I'd hit the boss Pokémon and that it was disintegrating. But that was all I could say. One more enemy defeated, and so much collateral damage. That tree, the brother of our haven for the last couple days, a bastion of normalcy by virtue of providing apples, had been destroyed. We'd won, but I was exhausted since the adrenaline was leaving my system.
Nothing felt good about this. We were still a ways away from the initial battlefield, so we couldn't hear the portal forming. Out in the hallway, there'd been violence and no winning, just quiet as a reward.
Micheal gingerly pawed at the ground where the Phantump had faded away. We slowly formed a circle around it. Unanimously, there was a short moment of silence. Someone had to take the hit and address the elephant in the room, though.
"Who do you think it was?" Lola said.
"Um," was all that came out of my throat. We hadn't figured out what decided the Pokémon people turned into. Who knows who it was— if it was even a person from the bus at all. I cringed when thinking of the notes guy.
No. No, he's alive for sure. Has to be.
"It could've been Julia," Chloe speculated, barely coming out louder than a whisper. "Or Jon, or Brandon, or Amy, or—"
"And it could not be," Valérie said, cutting off the enumeration of our history classmates.
"I don't want to be this," Micheal said, his stare still burrowing into the ground. "At least, not for much longer."
Lola cleared her throat. "Preaching to the choir, lion-boy."
He shook his head. "I don't like the people we have to be here, that's all. What would our families back home say when they learn we let someone's death happen?"
"It didn't mean anything. It was in vain. It's what most death is."
"Well, that doesn't mean we can't be sad about it."
"Of course not!" Valérie snapped. "God, we're allowed to feel bad. But nothing's gonna feel as bad as this plus never getting out." The conversation screeched to a halt as Valérie wiped some tears. When had she started crying? She continued. "You guys remember Dan Breau?"
"Yeah?"
"He was my cousin. He didn't die in battle, or helping someone out." She cleared her throat, though I hadn't heard the need for it in her voice. "It was an accident... just a terrible thing to happen and have to get over. We shouldn't beat ourselves up over it now, because even if there was blame to share, we can't stop and think about what it all meant. Because it didn't mean anything, and it never will. What does mean something is what Henry did when he was... in control."
"He helped us on purpose," Chloe slowly chipped in.
Our heads hung low. Micheal's eyes were closed, cringing and trying to chase the thoughts away. The guilt was not leaving anytime soon. You had to accept death in order to accept progress, I guessed. It was sadly the next best thing.
"Hey," I said. "Dude. Look at me. We're happy you're here. Those burns hurt like hell but I need you to know I'd get you from the lavafall again at any friggin' moment."
I'd love to say this was a happy and satisfying breakthrough, that it made all that horrible weight go away, or that it even made me a little calmer. It was more like a dam that had disguised itself as the problem suddenly uncorked itself and let the real deluge flow out the walls.
That bad feeling I'd experienced in the volcano flooded me again. The anticipation that something would go wrong because something always did. The mistrust, the guilt afterwards, the harshest heat to ever burn my skin. It didn't just feel bad. It hurt. The pain had moved all the way from the back of my mind to my stomach then back full force clamping on my lungs. Confusion, anger, horror.
Something deep in the pit of my gut suddenly stung. I'd never ever blamed Micheal because it wasn't his fault. I hadn't blamed anyone on the team, not myself, not Mr. Henry, and even the Magcargo got off a little easy since whoever was in there probably wasn't a sadistic killer. However, I'd never considered that if there was truly no one to blame, there was no motive or justice.
You don't truly feel helpless when you learn about your lack of control. Other people can pick up the reins, and some believe the universe or God can control things in your stead. The kicker, that tingling fear that takes over your spine, is that even with all those companions and ideas, some things just happen without meaning. Not collateral damage, not a means to an end— despair without a reason.
If I died here, all I could hope was for it to help. But staying alive was a noble sacrifice too. And in this void of meaninglessness, purpose hurt.
"I'm so scared that he's really dead," I finally broke out.
I could only stare at the sky, unable to stand more of the gravesite. Valérie half-tackled me, wrapping her arms tightly around my ribcage and deftly avoiding my wings and stingers. The hug was firm, and I honestly didn't think it came from her being a Fighting type. My eyes were dry and my gut a hollow void. I couldn't find the tears to do any more.
"Wait. Guys."
It was so quiet, but it was the pin that dropped.
"Look," Gab continued in a hushed whisper. My eyes followed where she pointed.
A few meters away, there laid one of the round little patches of dirt we'd dug. One sprout jutted out of the earth, bright and green and tiny. So small and alone, but there.
Chloe sat at my side, solemn. I could only stare at the mound of dirt, my mouth incapable of phrasing what I felt. The sight was gut-wrenching, yet hopeful. Call it desperation, maybe, or helplessness, or awe.
"That's how we live forever," Chloe said.
She was always better with her words.