He held his head tight with both hands. No freak would control him. He had to resist. All the while, he continued his attempts at forcing words out of him, desperation becoming heavy in his heart. He got to his knees and was punching the ground with rage.
Oh, right, he almost forgot. Melody. They had telepathy, so maybe he could work something out with them. He waved at them with a focused thought ready to be passed along should they notice and take action: Yo! Help a guy out!
The overwhelming call at the heart of Meloetta's music was only growing stronger with time.
Help me, the music seemed to be saying.
I need you. Won't you heed my call?
But the Demon? She strains and shuts her eyes as she has to try to resist. They want it quick? They want help? She would give that (figurehead who can't do anything on their own) their wish. She would help them UNDERSTAND PAIN!!
When she opens them again, she gives Meloetta a completely deranged look. Remembering something about attacks being blocked, she tries to activate Poison Jab. If failing, she stands her ground. If successful, she charges into the fray, where she goes utterly berserk. She lunges at the crowd her spikes glowing a bright violet, seeking out the tambourine Armarouge, weaving or powering through any projectiles. Hit or not, she immediately follows up by going for a Crunch on its leg.
Whatever there may have been suppressing attacks before, it seemed to have lifted. Perhaps this was to allow the various pokémon Meloetta had conscripted to use attacks of their own, though as most of them were poor fighters, Demon would hardly notice their attacks bouncing off her hide. The flurry of poison jabs left a number of pokémon collapsed on the ground behind her.
The armarouge was made of sterner stuff, though. Although he cried out when she clamped down on his leg, he managed to gather enough concentration to blast her away with a Psyshock.
Meanwhile, the nature of this world seemed to overwhelm Nori's natural abilities; perhaps he'd left them behind in his own world somehow. The music went on, relentlessly calling out to him.
Why are you fighting? it seemed to ask Nori.
Don't you realize you'll fail? Do you really want to humiliate yourself that badly?
Volo tried to ask the others if the fight started already, but no words were coming out of his mouth. Then, he turned his gaze to the Togepi beside him, quickly signaling to to her with hand movements: "We have to fight, use Fairy Wind." The Togepi hesitated slightly, trying to understand the signals, before unleashing a gust of fairy energy towards the Meloetta.
Meloetta was shielded by several layers of hypnotized pokémon, all eager to throw themselves into harm's way to ensure that their guardian wasn't harmed. They weren't fighters, though; Togepi's Fairy Wind knocked out a number of squawkabily and chatot in a single blow, leaving a gap in the wall of clamoring pokémon.
Meanwhile, Meloetta's song resounded across the battlefield. Though wordless, it seemed to speak to Volo somehow--to he and he alone.
Why do you fight? Wouldn't you rather join me and make my power your own? Don't you wish to taste the divine?
He called his aura from within, feeling it rise up, then tried to spread it outward, molding it into illusions that looked just like himself. A few shallow illusions running at her definitely weren't going to stop Meloetta... but maybe they could distract her for a moment?
Togepi's attack left a clear path to Meloetta, though it was closing fast as the remaining pokémon closed ranks again. Meloetta's song reverberated all around, speaking to Fennel in words only he could hear:
Join me! Help me! I will show you treasures beyond your wildest dreams, all ripe for the taking!
The minccino clones were able to rush right up to Meloetta, and they raised their arms defensively, sending out a pulse of concentrated sound waves that dissolved the illusions in moments.
Meloetta frowned. What had that been about? Surely no one could have expected that such weak copies would have stood a chance against them. Which was why they weren't looking when...
The native mon approaching, Ichiro had to drop trying to get his message across to Mel and just hope it had gone through. He ran closer to Meloetta and, unsure if he could reach her with a maybe-super-effective Bite, let his fiery breath fly again.
...a ball of fire flew right past their face, exploding against the fountain behind them and knocking Meloetta forward with a burst of flame and shrapnel. The music faltered for a long, ugly moment while Meloetta winced, badly scorched. But they started up again a second later, their song now perhaps even more urgent and overwhelming.
It seemed there were words weaving in with the pure notes, words for Ichiro alone.
Why do you fight me? the music seemed to be saying.
I can grant you power. I can grant you perfection. All you have to do is help me.
Pushing past the attempted mind control, Rachel let the link between her and Luni widen. Get in close with Teleport and Hypnosis Meloetta it you can! Sleeping her might stop the mind control!
The Ralts nodded, looking for an opening while the others fought the crowd. She was small and there was a lot of chaos. Surely, she'd get past!
Meloetta's song continued, creating a pull of yearning that seemed to stretch in all directions beyond Lumi's psychic protection. The music had grown muffled and distant, but Rachel could still hear it, faintly, asking,
Won't you join me? Does it bring you such pleasure to be alone? Help me, and be a part of something greater than yourself.
Meloetta turned to Luni when the ralts appeared next to them, scowling while they rubbed at the scorch mark on their cheek. They tried to turn away again almost immediately when they recognized the waves of psychic energy emanating from Luni, but weren't quite fast enough. Meloetta swayed, voice faltering as their eyelids fluttered. The pokémon down below paused their assault, beginning to slump with weariness themselves. But Meloetta was powerful, and they were fighting the Hypnosis, shaking their head and humming discordantly. Left to their own devices, they'd shake off the drowsiness momentarily...
