Chapter 4
– I can’t help anyone –
“Miraidon! Just… just shield us!”
Juliana’s violet dragon emerged with a roar of alarm, already in its glowing battle form. A crystallised cudgel lunged forwards, but Miraidon met it with a pulse of energy that shattered it before it could land.
In the centre of the circling shield of Terastallised masks, lit up with dark lightning, Ogerpon was a constant flurry of movement – kicks, somersaults, cudgel swings, chaining over and over without a moment’s rest. With each move, one of her masks lashed out haphazardly with a crystal facsimile of the attack. Four times the masks, four times the offence. While most struck nothing but empty space around her, Miraidon was forced to swoop in and intercept any that went near Juliana or Carmine.
But none reached Kieran. He lay forgotten in a crumpled heap near the edge of the room, separate from it all behind his mask of hair. The glittering cacophony of rampant Terastallisation kept echoing, too loud and sharp in his ears. A legendary Pokémon, Terastallised and out of control, and it was—
He was too hurt to move, helpless to do anything but watch, unable to look away from each brief glimpse of Ogerpon between her circling masks. The way she grimaced, her body jerking and contorting as that horrible dark lightning puppeteered her against her will.
She was in pain. She was
suffering, because of—
(All his fault.)
This was the one thing, the
only thing in this whole ordeal that had been up to Kieran: keeping Ogerpon safe from precisely this. He was the one who’d known the danger; he was the one who’d been in a position to prevent it. He’d been trying so hard, and yet… it’d all been for nothing. In the end, he’d just messed up and made things worse, like always.
All because he was weak. Because he’d got himself kidnapped and hurt, because he was nothing but a burden on his sister and Juliana, forcing them to waste time worrying about
him when they should have been focused on Ogerpon. If it hadn’t been for him and his weakness, Juliana wouldn’t even have brought Ogerpon here in the first place.
(All his fault, all his fault,
all his fault.)
And now, not only was Ogerpon suffering, but Juliana and Carmine were in danger, too. They were at risk in the fight, all while Kieran lay back here, out of the fray, a useless pathetic mess who couldn’t do anything.
…Why? Why is it always like this?
In amongst it all, there was a wild cackling from off to the side. Gustavus, trussed up with silk and also out of Ogerpon’s immediate range, yet filled with manic delight, gloating some nonsense about the ogre’s true might. It made Kieran sick. The man just had to rub it in, this villain who was like an awful twisted version of Kieran himself, except that he was actually strong enough to get what he wanted.
Kieran grimaced, trying to focus on anything else – his sister was saying something, too. “It’s that big machine making her do this, right? Can’t we just… smash it?”
“Fools!” crowed Gustavus amidst mad laughter. “I told you, Ogerpon and the machine are linked now! Destroy the machine and you’ll destroy the ogre’s mind along with it!”
“Sheesh, this guy! Leavanny, do us all a favour and shut
Gus up, will you?”
An indignant yell of protest quickly became muffled among the soft hiss of a String Shot attack. The gloating laughter mercifully subsided.
“He’s gotta be bluffing. Hasn’t he?” Carmine’s voice continued. “He… he just wants us not to try so Ogerpon can beat us and he’ll get away. There’s no way breaking the machine would actually… Would it…?”
“…I’m not risking it.” Juliana’s voice was firm. “We… we’ve got no choice but to fight her. If we win, it should stop, right?”
Ogerpon hadn’t let up the entire time, twisted into attacking over and over without end. Kieran couldn’t take his eyes off her, yet could hardly bear to watch. It had to stop. It had to
be stopped.
Somewhere in his periphery, Miraidon vanished, replaced with Juliana’s Ceruledge. “Be on guard, she’s even tougher than usual! Keep away from the masks you’re weak to, and try to get in some Bitter Blades!”
“Alright, Leavanny, get in there and help! Mind the Fire and Rock masks, and go for X-Scissor when you can!”
As the Hearthflame Mask swung around in front to block Kieran’s view of Ogerpon, Ceruledge took the chance to dart forwards and swipe at it with flaming swords. The blow hardly left a mark on the crystallised mask, but a cry of pain sounded from behind it.
In the meantime, Leavanny had raced to the other side of the battlefield to keep between the Teal and Wellspring Masks. Just the two of them, against what amounted to four hugely powerful opponents… was that really enough? Carmine had mentioned earlier that half her team was down; Juliana, too, had probably lost a few Pokémon against Gustavus. Could they really take on Ogerpon like this?
Both trainers were battling with uncharacteristic caution, prioritising evasion, shouting warnings to their Pokémon to help them dodge each and every attack. Carmine’s fists were clenched, her face alight with an intense expression that Kieran knew meant she was more anxious than she wanted to let on. And Juliana… even her usual confident gaze held an undercurrent of something else.
They needed more help. They needed—
“Kiki! Juliana’s in trouble! You need to HELP HER!”
Here and now, the girls were focused entirely on the fight, not even trying to call out to Kieran, not like before.
(Because he was useless—)
—Because he was
hurt; they didn’t expect him to be able to help. They were just trying to keep him safe. That was the whole reason they were here in the first place.
But even then, even though he was aching all over from everything he’d been through… was there really nothing Kieran could do?
“Come on, Kieran! Let’s do it together!”
…No. He could help. He knew he could. His big sister, his best friend – and
Ogerpon – they needed his help.
And more than that, more to the point, no matter how hard or how frightening…
I want
to help. I want to help them!
Kieran could feel it – that fervent, burning determination coursing through him. The same as he’d felt back in that awful room while staring up at Gustavus, desperate to protect Ogerpon at any cost. Perhaps it had never really left.
So long as there was anything he could do, he had to try. He had to.
It took a monumental effort just to stand, his body aching with every movement, his head throbbing something fierce. But the fire within him let him push through the pain, forcing himself to his feet regardless, staggering to stay upright.
“Kiki?” Carmine turned to him, alerted by the groans he’d made on his way up. “What are you doing?! You’re hurt – you should stay outta the way!”
“But I can help!” Kieran protested as he managed a few steps forward. “My whole team’s still fresh!” He blinked, distracted by his hair shrouding his view of the battlefield. Clumsily, he tied his bangs up out of his face, his injured hand fumbling with the hairband. It was still a mess, probably, but he could focus on the battle better like this.
The fray was hectic, Ceruledge and Leavanny dashing around the outskirts of the circling masks, trying to stay in line with the ones they weren’t weak to and dodge the constant crystal onslaught. Even with their trainers’ guidance, only rarely could they find a safe chance to dart in and attack. If there were just some way to mitigate Ogerpon’s relentless offence, give them more openings…
Kieran met his sister’s gaze, urgent. “Please, I… I
want to help.”
She looked at him with that concern in her expression for another second before relenting. “Alright, just… just be careful.”
On his other side, Juliana caught his eye and gave him an encouraging grin.
Kieran nodded to steel himself, then pulled out two Pokéballs and threw them into the fight. “Grimmsnarl, use Reflect! Hydrapple, Syrup Bomb! Slow those masks down as much as you can!”
Grimmsnarl emerged and instantly raised his arms to summon shimmering barriers of light that hung in front of all four combatants on their side. After a pause and a glance back, he flicked a hand again to conjure another, larger Reflect to shield the trainers as well.
Beside him, Hydrapple began lobbing glob after glob of syrup into the fray. As it coated each mask that came around, their circling slowed, and so did Ogerpon’s flurry of movements. Crystallised attacks still lunged out from the masks, but less often, easier for their side to dodge, mitigated by the Reflect if they still struck true.
“Oh, yeah – Ceruledge, get in a Will-O-Wisp, too!” Juliana called. Her Pokémon nodded, summoning a small spectral flame that floated forwards and landed easily on the much slower-moving Cornerstone Mask. Ceruledge leapt away handily before the mask’s follow-up attack could come near it.
They were doing it – they were weakening Ogerpon’s offence! Maybe this really was possible after all…?
Just a moment later, a crystalised foot smacked into Leavanny on the opposite side of the field. Barely a glancing blow – and yet, on impact, every one of the Reflect barriers shattered into pieces. Kieran flinched, instinctively trying to shield himself from the shards near him, but they were just harmless energy that dissipated right away.
“Seriously?!” exclaimed Carmine, her eyes wide. “She knows Brick Break?”
“Sorry!” Juliana spluttered, raising her hands in exasperation. “She learned a lot of good TMs!” Then she frowned. “But hold on… Brick Break shouldn’t be on her moveset right now… How is she…?”
Kieran stared as he realised what this meant. Gustavus had said the machine would bring out Ogerpon’s full strength, never mind if it hurt her. “…You mean, she’s breakin’ the four-move limit?”
Pokémon could only safely channel the energy of four different moves at a time; it took some out-of-battle coaching to shift which ones they had ready to go. If the machine was overriding that, forcing Ogerpon to draw on every move she’d ever learned, all at once… how much strain would that put on her? How long could she endure something like that, before—
…And how much
more impossible would it be, to take down an insanely powered-up Ogerpon with access to every single coverage move Juliana had ever taught her?
Kieran’s mind raced, fighting to stave off rising panic. He needed to do
something, and quick. They needed some kind of edge, some way to tilt things in their favour…
“Hydrapple!” he called, as a spark of inspiration came to him. “Use Dragon Cheer on Ceruledge!”
“Right!” Juliana’s face lit up in acknowledgement. “Ceruledge, take it and use Shadow Claw!”
Hydrapple raised all five of his heads in a mighty roar, summoning energy that coalesced into a glowing aura around Juliana’s Pokémon. As soon as it did, Ceruledge leapt into action, its swords cloaked in ghostly tendrils. It darted forwards with supernatural precision that just so happened to let it slip through the gap between two of the huge circling masks—
—where it sliced its swords directly into Ogerpon herself. The ogre let out a scream of pain and alarm, staggering backwards.
Kieran’s hands flew to his head as his stomach dropped in horror.
Ogerpon was the target of a critical hit, not the masks. Of course she was. How could he have been so stupid? What was he doing, trying to hurt her more when she was already suffering enough?!
“I-I’m sorry!” he blurted out. “Juliana, you gotta recall Ceruledge – Dragon Cheer was a mistake!”
Juliana was also staring wide-eyed at Ogerpon as Ceruledge emerged back outside the circle of masks, peering at her questioningly. A crystal cudgel slammed into the off-guard Pokémon from behind before either of them could react, trailing drops of water as the Wellspring Mask passed by. With a cry of pain, Ceruledge crumpled to the ground and didn’t get back up.
Wincing, his fingers clutching at his hair, Kieran watched Juliana recall her Pokémon for a whole different reason. “S-Sorry…” he mumbled, uselessly. (All his fault.)
“Kieran, watch out!” He felt a sudden hand on his shoulder pull him backwards as a crystallised foot smashed into the ground perilously close to where he’d been standing. Miraidon reappeared in a flash of light, taking up a defensive position. Juliana was there beside Kieran, catching his eye.
“It’s alright,” she said with an anxious smile. “I messed up, too. We need to rethink this!”
Kieran nodded, taking a moment to try and collect himself. Miraidon was in front of them, blocking and deflecting attacks like before, though they were far less frequent this time thanks to Hydrapple. The hydra was still firing syrup at any nearby attacks to slow their approach, withdrawing into his apple if they came close.
Grimmsnarl had already summoned a new Reflect, which was still standing – Ogerpon hadn’t instantly gone for another Brick Break. Perhaps the machine’s automatic setting just selected moves at random, with no strategy behind them? Kieran glanced back at Gustavus, still trussed up with silk near the edge of the room. It was a good thing they’d managed to destroy his remote, or else…
“Yeah, any bright ideas?” Carmine called as she approached the two of them. Leavanny had fallen back as well, blades raised defensively to deflect attacks but nothing more. “How the hell are we supposed to win this without, you know, attacking Ogerpon? Even hitting one of the masks still hurts her!”
It did, didn’t it? Kieran had seen Ogerpon flinch and grimace when moves had struck the masks, as if she’d been attacked directly. And even though the Will-O-Wisp had landed on a mask, the telltale embers of a burn flickered there across her own body, in amongst that dark lightning.
“I was thinking this was like a Stellar Tera,” Juliana mused. “You know, boosts offence, but still just Grass-type defensively. But is that really it…?”
“M-Maybe it isn’t,” Kieran piped up. He thought back to the Bitter Blade he’d seen land on the Hearthflame Mask, the way Ogerpon had cried out while the mask had barely shifted. And was he just imagining it, or did the Cornerstone and Wellspring Masks have more globs of Hydrapple’s syrup lingering on them than the other two…? “I think… Ogerpon’s still Grass, but the masks all have their own types. So… what if we used types that’re super-effective on the masks, but not very effective on Ogerpon?”
“Huh, yeah!” Carmine remarked. “That’d be our best shot at keeping her safe!” She eyed the Pokémon on the battlefield. “So, Electric and Grass for the Water-type mask…”
“Grass for the Cornerstone Mask, too,” Kieran put in. “And Water and Ground for Cornerstone and Hearthflame. That’s… a lotta options!” Maybe they really could do this? His mind buzzed, running through his team members, grasping at half-formed strategies. “It’d be best if we focused the masks down one at a time, right? And, um… I think we should start with the Wellspring Mask! Once it’s down, I’ve got an idea…”
“Politoed, yeah?” Juliana said, catching his eye. Kieran blinked, then nodded, caught off-guard by her remembering one of his team’s strategies so quickly.
“But… what about the Teal Mask?” Carmine asked. “It’s the same type as her!”
Doubt flickered in Juliana’s eyes for a moment. Then she faced forwards, determination set into her expression. “We’ll worry about that when we get there! Kieran’s plan is good – let’s do it! Miraidon, you heard him, right, bud?”
The violet dragon roared, and all at once, sparkling Electric Terrain spread from the ground beneath it, its ability kicking in as it fully engaged with the battle.
“Got it!” Carmine called. “Leavanny, no more X-Scissor – use Leaf Blade instead! Aim for the Water mask!”
Kieran stared at the battlefield, at Hydrapple and Grimmsnarl glancing his way expectantly, but his brain was stuck, not quite kicking in to figure out what orders to give.
Kieran’s plan is good. Juliana had said that, about him, so casually, like it was—
Never mind that right now – he needed to focus. Grass and Electric… he had Hydrapple, and Dragonite’s Thunder, but the girls probably had the offence covered already, especially with a powerhouse like Miraidon. Plus, while Ogerpon was about as slowed as she was going to get, there was still more he could do to make her attacks less threatening, wasn’t there?
“Grimmsnarl, keep the Reflect up! Try and deflect stuff with Sucker Punch! And Hydrapple… come back for now!” Cursing his furiously stinging hand, he fumbled to switch Pokéballs and managed to throw the new one out beside Leavanny. “Incineroar, go! Use Fake Out on the nearest mask!”
The bipedal tiger emerged with a mighty roar, the force of his Intimidate reverberating through the masks and Ogerpon. Then he leapt forwards with blinding speed, smacking a huge paw into the Teal Mask. The mask juddered to a halt, crystals in front of it vanishing as Ogerpon flinched and actually stood still for a handful of seconds – which gave Leavanny the opening she needed to slice her glowing green blades into the Wellspring Mask beside it.
That was good, but… Kieran watched Incineroar poised there waiting for more orders and realised he couldn’t do much else beyond this. If only Intimidate was a move and not an ability, then he could use it over and over to keep lowering Ogerpon’s attack power…
…Then again, there was still a way to do that, wasn’t there?
“Hey, Sis?” he asked. “Can I borrow Mightyena? I’ve got an idea…”
“Huh? Sure,” said Carmine, passing him a Poké Ball. “Uh, her current moveset’s—”
“Doesn’t matter,” Kieran cut her off. “Incineroar, return! Mightyena, go! Just Intimidate her!”
He had to throw the ball awkwardly with his left hand as his injured right one was refusing to co-operate, but Mightyena replaced Incineroar on the field just fine and let out an equally furious roar, weakening Ogerpon’s attack further.
It crossed Kieran’s mind that Mightyena definitely at least had Thunder Fang at the moment – but the Wellspring Mask was on the other side of the field right now, too far to be worth it.
“Okay, great, now come back! Inciner— agh!” Fumbling with both balls at once, Kieran’s stinging fingers finally betrayed him, dropping Incineroar’s ball. He bent down to reach for it, groaning and swaying as his aching muscles protested the sudden movement, and then flinched as static electricity from the terrain coating the ground pricked at his injured hand.
Kieran froze, staring at the ball lying on the floor amidst crackling sparks. Why couldn’t he just pick it up? Why was he—
“Hey, Kiki.” Carmine’s hand was on his shoulder, steadying him. “I see what you’re going for here – want me to take over?”
He hesitated for a moment, but then nodded, shrinking.
Carmine patted his shoulder once more and beamed at him. “Great idea, by the way!” she said, before scooping up Incineroar’s ball without flinching and tossing him back into the fray.
Kieran blinked, taking a step back as he watched his Pokémon halt Ogerpon in her tracks again with another Fake Out.
Great idea. Even if he’d been too weak to pull it off himself, his sister still thought…
At least, with his Pokémon knowing what to do for now and Carmine handling the switching, he had a moment to pause. He cradled his stinging hand, catching his breath, taking in the state of the battle.
Mightyena was back out, going for an opportunistic Thunder Fang as the Wellspring Mask circled around in front again. Kieran caught sight of Ogerpon in between the masks, just in time to see her grimace at the pain of the attack being transferred to her. Or, no – not the pain, a weaker Electric move like that would barely hurt her at all – something else. Fear…?
He kept his gaze on Ogerpon, straining for those fleeting, awful glimpses of her as the masks circled. Grimmsnarl was busy with Sucker Punches, pre-empting any of her attacks that went near him by smacking the offending mask first. And Sinistcha – Sinistcha? Leavanny must have gone down at some point – kept up a barrage of scalding green matcha in the general direction of the Wellspring Mask.
Each time an attack connected, Ogerpon would grimace and recoil. It was hard to make out in the short glimpses he got, the brief seconds between the lightning puppeteering her into her next move, but… it really did seem like she was afraid. Like she was trying to hide herself away, even though it was impossible.
Kieran knew that feeling. He’d felt it all the time, when he was little, when he’d been picked on for being small and weak. And now they were attacking Ogerpon, the same way. Just like the villagers had shunned her back then…
“Grimmsnarl, don’t – don’t Sucker Punch the masks,” he found himself saying. “Just deflect the attacks with it, okay?”
Grimmsnarl glanced back at him, tilting his head for a moment – but he nodded and did as he was told all the same.
Kieran gritted his teeth as his gaze was drawn to Ogerpon’s suffering again, wishing this would be over faster. How was the Wellspring Mask still standing? And… come to think of it, why hadn’t he spotted Miraidon’s big flashy Electric move going off? He’d seen it in action before – that attack was too spectacular for him to have failed to notice.
The violet dragon was off to the side, panting and grimacing, sparks crackling and building over its body, but… not enough…? “Hang in there, bud.” Juliana stood nearby, encouraging it. “I’m sorry, I know you’re worn out, but Ogerpon needs us!”
Miraidon was struggling to attack? Juliana must have ridden it here all the way from Paldea, so Kieran supposed it made sense that it’d be exhausted from the flight. But to think that even such an amazing legendary Pokémon could have trouble like this…
Emboldened by its trainer’s words, Miraidon kept pushing, straining to summon more electricity. The Teal Mask approached, forming crystals before it – but then Incineroar was there to smack it with a Fake Out, sparing Miraidon from the distraction, giving it the time it needed.
With a fierce bellow, the legendary Pokémon finally mustered up its signature move. It morphed itself into a dazzling wheel of electricity that crackled with power and shot into the Wellspring Mask at lightning speed. Ogerpon cried out in anguish, covering her face with her stubby arms – and the Terastallised mask shattered into dissipating shards.
“Yes!” Carmine exclaimed, punching the air. “One down, three to go!”
The remaining masks juddered to a halt. In the centre, Kieran saw Ogerpon’s eyes widen in horror for a split-second before the dark lightning twisted her again. A glowing aura coalesced out of nowhere, sinking into her.
And the three masks closed in and resumed circling, alarmingly fast.
Incineroar tensed, but the Teal Mask slammed a crystal cudgel into him before he could begin to dodge. He flew across the room, landing in a crumpled heap of red and black fur. Ogerpon was weakened; he resisted it – he should have been able to take the hit just fine, and yet… Had that been a lucky crit…?
The next moment, the Reflect shattered again. Kieran flinched and shielded himself instinctively, and when he looked up, Grimmsnarl was splayed out on the floor beside Incineroar, both of them unconscious.
“Huh?!” Frantically, Carmine threw out a Pokéball. “M-Mightyena! Try to—”
The emerging canine was barely halfway through her Intimidating roar before another mask swung around and smashed into her with lunging crystals. With a pained whine, she collapsed to the ground and didn’t move.
“What?!” spluttered Carmine, staring at the fallen Pokémon then back at Ogerpon. “What gives? How’d Ogerpon suddenly get so fast again?”
“She must have nullified her debuffs,” said Juliana, her eyes wide. “You know, that thing from raid dens?”
“She can do
that, too?” Carmine clenched her fists, indignant anger failing to mask her fear. “Sheesh, how are we meant to counter that?! She’s just too strong!”
A soft whimper sounded from in amongst the shattering crystal noises, and Kieran’s gaze flew to Ogerpon in time to see her flinch and grimace. She hadn’t been attacked – that was at… Carmine’s words?
Too strong…
Ogerpon shuddered, her whimper rising into a scream of anguish as the dark lightning seized her again. The Teal Mask passed in front, blocking her from view, and a crystalline foot lunged out, right towards – Juliana—!
She was too far forward, too close, it was going to—!
With a desperate roar of alarm, Miraidon swooped in front of its trainer. The impact smashed into the legendary Pokémon, sending it slamming into Juliana, and the two of them skidded backwards in a heap.
“Juliana!” Carmine cried out, as Kieran’s heart leapt into his throat. “Are – are you alright?!”
“Ngh… I, I think so,” she managed, struggling to sit up with Miraidon limp on top of her, reverted to its violet-and-silver base form. “Mostly. But Miraidon…” She patted the dragon’s side sadly before recalling it to free herself. “Thanks, bud.”
“What… what do we do?!” Carmine’s eyes were wide, one hand out uselessly in front of Juliana, who was staggering to her feet. “How do we stop her?! She’s too strong!”
Again, Ogerpon whimpered at those words. Kieran caught another glimpse of her in there, lost and afraid, hunched over like she just wanted to disappear – and it hit him.
Too strong. All this time, she’d been shunned because she was
too strong…!
It’d never even crossed his mind before. He’d always been so in awe of her strength – it’d never occurred to him that she might see it differently.
A lifetime of being shunned and hated and attacked by the villagers, all because of her incredible strength. And now here she was, forced to unleash that strength on her own friends, attacked by even them, even the person she trusted most, for doing so…
This… this had to be Ogerpon’s worst nightmare, didn’t it?
Overcome with desperate emotion, Kieran found himself rushing forwards. He didn’t really know what he was going to do, but he had to do
something, no matter the risk. (And better if she attacked him than the others, right?)
“I’m not afraid of you!” burst out of him without thought, instinct latching onto what he hoped was the one thing she most needed to hear. “I’ve never been afraid of you, Ogerpon!”
Dark lightning flashed, and a blast of crystals shot out of the mask that circled in front of her. Kieran flinched and tensed but stood his ground. The attack smashed into the floor just by his feet, raining dissipating shards over him.
Kieran’s heart hammered, his breaths coming fast. Okay, he
was scared, he couldn’t deny that – but he was scared of that horrible machine and what it was doing to Ogerpon. Not of her. Never of her.
“P-Popon…?”
In the brief glimpses between the masks, through the dark lightning that controlled her almost every movement, it was difficult to make out her expression. But that cry had been more than a grunt of effort or anguish – it was a response. She was listening to his words… right?
Crystalline attacks continued to shatter all around, but Kieran forced himself to ignore them. He and Ogerpon were the eye of the storm. Nothing else mattered.
“I know you don’t wanna hurt us,” he assured her. “I’ve – I’ve always known you weren’t a monster, no matter what the stories said.”
And yet, the stories said she was a killer. Gustavus had reminded Kieran not so long ago of that fact that he’d preferred to forget. She
had killed the Loyal Three in their fight. But—
“You… you never meant to kill them, did you?” he said, voicing the realisation as it came to him. “The Loyal Three.” He’d never even wanted to think about it before, but suddenly the answer was obvious. “You were just… too strong. And – an’ you were upset, and angry, and you went too far, because…” Kieran found himself glancing back at his sister, eyes widening as understanding dawned on him. “…‘Cause they’d hurt someone you really loved.”
Carmine stared at him for a moment in surprise. Then she clenched a fist over her chest and looked away with a wince.
“But you didn’t deserve to be hated forever for that one mistake!” Kieran went on, turning back to Ogerpon, wishing there was more he could do for her than just
say this. “I’m sorry we’re attackin’ you. We don’t wanna hurt you, but it’s the only way we might be able to save you from that machine.”
“P-Pon… Poni…?”
Were his words helping her…? Ogerpon was still being puppeteered into attacking, crystals lunging out all around her, but none had come as close to Kieran as that first one. Was she… trying to hold back…?
“So… so please, hold on!” he begged. “Keep tryin’ to fight that thing! I know you can do it! ‘Cause… ‘cause you’re
strong, Ogerpon!”
“Po…?”
She was, he knew that, had always known that with his whole heart. But all at once, Kieran realised what it really meant.
“I don’t… I don’t mean it like you’re powerful,” he said, fumbling to find the words to express what he was suddenly so certain of. “I mean, you are, but that’s not the point! You’re
strong, too, really strong! ‘Cause – ‘cause you’ve suffered, right? All that time bein’ shunned and hated by everyone, but you never gave in! You never stopped bein’ you, an’ you never gave up on what you cared about, did you?” A flash of phantom lightning echoed in the back of Kieran’s mind as his view of Ogerpon blurred – when had he started crying? “Even when it hurt real bad.”
“Kieran’s right!” Juliana rushed forwards to join him, placing herself just slightly in front of him, even though…
“Po… Ponyopo…?”
“Ogerpon, I’m so sorry! I was just thinking of this as another battle I had to win, but it’s not like that at all, is it? I wish there was a better way – but, he’s right, I know you can fight this! We’re all here for you!”
Carmine came to join him on the other side, also just a little in front of Kieran, as if he
wasn’t the one Ogerpon would be least upset to accidentally hurt.
She drew herself up to her full height, all traces of her earlier anxiety vanished. “Hah, didja think I was scared for a second there? Of course I wasn’t!” she declared. “I’d never be afraid of our cute pal Ogerpon! Don’t you worry – the Mask Retrieval Squad is back in action as the Ogerpon Rescue Squad! We’ll free you from that stupid machine!”
“P-Ponpon…!” the ogre gasped. “Pon… Ponyaaaah!”
With a great cry, she grimaced and shook, but Kieran could tell this was different. This wasn’t her being helplessly controlled – this was her fighting back against the dark lightning.
And as she did so, the circling of the masks slowed again, just a little. Even without any debuffs, Ogerpon was holding
herself back, as much as she could manage.
“That’s it, Ogerpon!” Kieran exclaimed, breaking into a huge grin. “You got this! I knew you would!”
A firm hand grasped his shoulder – his sister, pulling him back and further out of Ogerpon’s range anyway, just in case. Sinistcha still floated by its trainer’s side, the only Pokémon to have escaped Ogerpon’s earlier onslaught.
“Okay, let’s get back to it!” Juliana declared, taking several steps back herself. “Just hang in there, Ogerpon! Kieran – Politoed?”
Kieran’s eyes widened as he remembered his idea for the next phase of the battle. “Uh, r-right!” He fumbled to recall Grimmsnarl, the only one of the fainted Pokémon still out, and threw two more Pokéballs onto the field. “Politoed! Use Weather Ball! Hydrapple, Hydro Pump! Both of you, go for the Hearthflame Mask! Just be careful – she’s still strong!”
Politoed emerged with his usual reverberating croak that heralded dark clouds condensing against the ceiling of the huge room. Already the rain began to fall, and Politoed summoned an orb that drew glowing blue energy from the droplets. Hydrapple reared his main head, preparing a jet of water in his mouth.
Off to the side, Juliana threw out a ball. “Go, Terapagos! Use Water Pulse on the Hearthflame Mask!”
Wait, Terapagos…?
Kieran almost did a double-take as he watched the little tortoise appear and shift into that disk-like battle form. He’d been so mentally thrown back into the Underdepths by everything going on that he’d practically forgotten: Terapagos was fine. It – no,
he – was right here, safe with Juliana. There’d been no lasting consequences to Kieran’s awful decision back then.
“Alright, Sinistcha, you’re on official healing duty!” commanded Carmine. “Keep everyone going with Life Dew!”
Sinistcha rattled in acknowledgement and summoned a sparkling mist of droplets around itself and its three teammates as they pelted the Hearthflame Mask with jets and orbs and pulses of water.
Behind the masks, Ogerpon shuddered and grunted in pain, continually forced into her own flailing attacks. The Water moves couldn’t have hurt her that much, but that dark lightning was something else. It was constant, never letting up, barely giving her a moment of relief in between each shock.
Kieran grimaced, his heart aching at the thought of how much agony she must have been going through. He knew what that felt like. All too well.
“It’s gonna be okay, Ogerpon,” he murmured under his breath. “Just… stay strong.”
A moment later, one of her attacks burst out of the Teal Mask as it circled around near Politoed, and Kieran had to call out to his Pokémon to dodge, just in time. He gritted his teeth – as much as he hated it, he couldn’t afford to be caught up on Ogerpon’s suffering. Not when he needed to focus on the battle, for her sake. He knew she was doing all she could to slow herself, weaken her attacks, have them miss, but her efforts could only do so much. She was counting on them, too.
Taking in the patter of rain, that familiar sound present in most of his serious battles, Kieran forced himself to shift his mentality and focus on only his Pokémon. Just Hydrapple, Politoed, and the trio of crystal masks that threatened them. Following the flow of the battle, noticing openings, calling out to his Pokémon – when to dodge or withdraw, when it was safe to go for an attack. Just as Juliana was doing beside him, guiding Terapagos in the same way.
Somewhere in the back of Kieran’s mind, he was reminded of another equally hectic battle, that crazy night in Kitakami, when he’d fended off the villagers possessed by Pecharunt. He’d held his own back then, and he was still managing it now, despite everything. Maybe he really was…?
Even then, by the looks of his Pokémon, they were being steadily worn down. Despite everyone’s efforts, Politoed couldn’t help taking some glancing blows, Hydrapple’s apple beaten and dented from all the times he’d hidden inside it to shield himself – and it seemed like Sinistcha’s healing wasn’t quite making up for it.
“Rrgh…” A frustrated grunt from his sister suggested she’d noticed the same thing. “Sinistcha, go for a Stun Spore!”
Kieran tensed. Stun Spore had a limited range, wouldn’t that—?
Just as he’d feared, Sinistcha had to swoop forward, veering around Hydrapple. Before it could summon any spores, the nearest mask lunged out clumsily with a crystallised foot, perfectly placed to just miss Hydrapple – but it slammed into Sinistcha instead.
The teacup Pokémon clattered to the ground, a small pink berry falling out of it, and Carmine swore loudly. Kieran winced in shared frustration – of all the attacks to land on the Ghost-type, it had to be Knock Off.
A loud whimper from Ogerpon drew his attention back to her. She shuddered, clutching her head as if in guilt. Then the dark lightning took over, twisting her to attack with greater ferocity than a moment ago.
A crystal cudgel shot out of the Teal Mask as it passed in front, so close to—
“Politoed, dodge!” Kieran yelled, only its range was even further than he’d expected—
—and before he could think, he was throwing himself to the side as well. His legs buckled beneath him from the strain of the sudden movement, and he collapsed to the ground in a fresh wave of pain.
“It’s okay, Ogerpon!” he heard Juliana calling out as he struggled to regain his bearings. At least he’d avoided being hit by her attack, but… “You’re doing your best! Keep fighting it!”
Kieran grunted in pained frustration, struggling to push himself to his feet and get back into the fight. He had to keep doing his best too, but it was so hard, his head was throbbing, everything
hurt. He wasn’t, of course he wasn’t…
“Kiki.” Suddenly Carmine was there, crouched beside him, one hand on his shoulder. He saw that look of fear and protectiveness in her expression, braced himself for her to tell him to stay out of this, let her take over with his Pokémon because he was too weak to help—
“You need to focus on the battle, right?” she said. There was something else there in her worried gaze, something he’d never noticed before.
Taken aback, Kieran nodded.
“Then just leave the rest to me,” his sister declared, pulling his arm around her shoulder and heaving him to his feet. She grinned, that spark of something else clear in her eyes. She had…
faith in him? “What is it you always say? You got this!”
“Y-Yeah!” Kieran managed half a smile back. He turned his attention back to the battle – just in time to see a crystallised vine slam into Politoed, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.
Kieran grimaced, a familiar flood of shame welling up inside him, but he forced it down. He had to keep trying. “S-Sorry, Politoed,” he said, recalling his fallen partner. “You did your best.”
But still, even as the rain was beginning to peter out, the Hearthflame Mask looked soaked, dripping with water, covered in a web of hairline cracks. “One more, Hydrapple!” he called. “It’s almost down!”
“You too, Terapagos!” Juliana added. “Quick, while the rain’s still up!”
Together, Kieran’s partner and Juliana’s legendary Pokémon summoned the power of the remaining rain to hit the fiery mask with two great blasts of water. For a moment, Kieran feared it wouldn’t be enough – but then the mask shattered into pieces, stunning Ogerpon and halting the attacks she’d been preparing.
Like before, the pause was brief. The Teal Mask and Cornerstone Mask closed in to fill the gap, but this time, with only two of them, they didn’t circle. They just stayed there in front of Ogerpon like a wall. Easier to hit, perhaps…? But harder to avoid, too.
Ogerpon glowed for a moment again, and a large shimmering shield formed in front of the two giant crystal masks. Then the dark lightning took hold, forcing her back into attacking.
As another glancing blow landed against Hydrapple’s apple, Kieran blurted out, “S-Syrup Bomb! Cornerstone Mask!”
“Just… stay back for now, Terapagos,” he heard Juliana say.
Hydrapple shot a glob of syrup towards the grey mask, but it splattered against the shield, barely causing any shift in the mask behind it. Even so, he could see the effects of it transferring to Ogerpon, her movements beginning to slow, just a little.
“I thought so – it’s one of those barriers,” said Juliana. “We need to Terastallise to break it.”
“Hang on,” Carmine put in, “
can we even Terastallise here? We’re in Unova – there’s no source of Terastal energy!”
And yet, the crystallised chaos of Ogerpon’s Terastallisation was right there in front of them. Was that nothing but the machine’s doing? Or was there…
“No, there is – Ogerpon’s masks are the source!” Kieran realised. They had some kind of Tera crystals embedded in them, didn’t they? Perhaps the machine had amplified that…
He reached into his bag, feeling a familiar if somewhat concerningly intense thrumming, and fished out the item responsible. “Look, my Tera Orb’s reacting!”
“Mine too,” added Juliana, peering at her own. “But… it doesn’t feel stable. I… I don’t want to risk Terapagos like this.”
Right – the only other time the orb’s energy had felt this intense had been down in the Underdepths, and the effect of that on Terapagos… Kieran grimaced. The last thing they needed right now was a second out-of-control legendary on their hands.
“But regular Pokémon should be fine, right…?” he said. “Hydrapple?” He glanced at his longtime partner, worried. Hydrapple’s main head ducked to dodge a strike that was aimed just above him, then caught his trainer’s eye and gave a determined nod, despite how worn-down he seemed.
Should be fine. Juliana’s other Pokémon had been fine Terastallising against Terapagos that time. He had to hope that was enough. And Hydrapple was willing to take this risk – he knew how important this was, too.
“Alright, let’s do this!” Leaning against his sister, Kieran had to brace the thrumming Tera Orb in his uninjured left hand. He winced as it charged up with blinding energy, then tossed it clumsily at his Pokémon. “Use Tera Blast on the Cornerstone Mask! As many as you can!”
Dazzling crystals exploded around Hydrapple, fading away to reveal him sparkling, all five heads roaring, with the fist-shaped Tera Jewel atop the middle one. Ogerpon didn’t resist Fighting, which wasn’t ideal, but it was still the best shot they had. They were running out of options.
To Kieran’s relief, Hydrapple seemed perfectly in control of himself as he began firing off blasts of crystallised energy that smashed into the glowing barrier. At Juliana’s command, Terapagos joined in with Earth Power – his attacks would be greatly dampened by the barrier, but it was better than nothing.
Still, only two Pokémon on their side of the field, and both had already taken a beating, however much Ogerpon had been trying to weaken herself. Kieran had two more in reserve, but Dragonite couldn’t do much against Rock, and Porygon-Z—
No, wait, Porygon-Z wasn’t on his team at the moment. Which was probably a good thing, because the last thing he wanted to do right now was Hyper Beam Ogerpon again.
Instead… “Go, Furret!” It must have seemed ridiculous, sending out a Furret against a superpowered legendary, but Kieran had been trying out doubles strategies with his pal lately, and Furret had the perfect move for this. “We gotta keep Hydrapple and Terapagos up as long as possible, so… use Follow Me!”
Furret gave a squeak of determination and rushed into the fray between his teammates. Waving his paws in a cute little dance, he summoned a small glowing orb that swayed tantalisingly in front of him.
Both attacks shooting out from each of the masks swerved from their original paths, converging on Furret instead. Kieran grimaced as the blows landed, feeling a pang of guilt that his partner’s most useful role in battle was this. But Furret was willing to do this for the team; they’d been over this when he’d learned the move.
And it wasn’t like he didn’t have a back-up plan to help him out. Furret skidded backwards, dazed and battered from the impacts but still standing, the Focus Sash around his neck fading to greyscale. Collecting himself, Furret darted forwards again with an equally determined squeak and began conjuring another Follow Me before Kieran could even order it.
On either side, Hydrapple and Terapagos were taking the opportunity to bombard the shielded Cornerstone Mask with everything they had. Both of them looked to be on their last legs, barely holding on, but they needed to stay in the fight. Kieran didn’t know if they’d manage to break that barrier without the power of a legendary and a Tera Pokémon on their side.
At the sound of a shattering impact and a pained squeal from Furret, Kieran suddenly found himself wrenched sideways with a cry of alarm from Carmine. Something smacked into his shoulder, and he belatedly registered it as Furret, sent flying backwards across the room.
Clinging to his sister, his heart pounding, Kieran fought to steady himself. He turned back, Poké Ball shakily in hand to recall the fallen Furret, only to see the Pokémon’s long body twitch and stir. With a grunt of effort, Furret pushed himself to his small feet, battered and panting from exertion but still determined.
“Furret…!” Kieran gasped in surprise. His Pokémon should have been on the brink of fainting already before taking that hit, and yet… “But… how…?”
A little more slowly than before, Furret scampered forward towards the fray. He stopped for just a moment to rub against Kieran’s side as he passed, as if in silent communication of how and why he’d endured the hit –
for you.
Kieran’s breath caught in his throat, the sudden affection from his partner throwing him off-balance. Fleetingly, a part of him wanted nothing more than to pull Furret into a big hug and break into tears.
But now wasn’t the time. They both needed to keep being brave.
“O-Okay! One more!” he called out, somewhat unnecessarily – his Pokémon was already busy summoning another Follow Me light. While Furret braced himself, Carmine gently edged Kieran further to the side, just in case.
This time, as the crystallised attacks slammed into Furret and sent his limp form skidding across the floor, he didn’t rise again. Yet Kieran still couldn’t have been more proud of him.
“Thanks,” he said, recalling his Pokémon, internally apologising once more for having ever thought his precious pal was weak. “You did really, really great.”
Kieran turned back to the battlefield, hoping Furret’s efforts had bought Hydrapple and Terapagos enough time. Despite their exhaustion, they were still valiantly bombarding the Cornerstone Mask with their attacks. The barrier was weakening, covered with a webbing of cracks, almost broken, probably…?
A tinkling cry of pain came from Terapagos as a crystallised foot swept low and clipped him in the side. The tortoise drooped, his eyes closing, and with a grimace, Juliana recalled him. He really had been hanging on by just a thread, hadn’t he?
Kieran gritted his teeth. “Come on, Hydrapple! One more Tera Blast! It’s gotta be almost down!” he urged, desperately hoping that was true, because there was no way Hydrapple could be in any better shape than Juliana’s legendary Pokémon had been.
The hydra roared in determination, his four other heads emerging from the apple to help deliver the latest mighty blast of Terastal energy. At the same time, Ogerpon was forced to swing her cudgel, and the crystallised copy of it emerged from the Teal Mask. It slammed right into Hydrapple, the hydra too focused on attacking to defend himself.
Deafening shattering sounds filled the room. The barrier, the Cornerstone Mask and Hydrapple’s Tera Jewel – all of them disintegrated in the same moment. Kieran flinched, unable to cover both ears with one arm around his sister’s shoulder.
As the noise died down, he recalled Hydrapple and took a look at Ogerpon. Despite the brief moment of respite that the destruction of a mask gave her, she was shuddering, gasping for breath. Kieran’s heart clenched painfully. She looked worse than exhausted, like she should have fainted a while ago, and yet…
Then the lighting seized her, forcing her into attacking again, with no Pokémon between her and the trainers—!
Juliana looked at Kieran, eyes wide, raising her hands in a helpless gesture. “I’m out!”
“H-Huh?!” he spluttered, barely processing that
he was somehow the only one left. Just a single Pokémon – “D-Dragonite!” he cried, frantically throwing her ball in front of him.
The dragon emerged with a sharp growl, quickly moving to put herself directly between Kieran and the Teal Mask. A moment later, the floor lit up in sparkling green as Ogerpon summoned Grassy Terrain. Powering up her Grass moves despite Dragonite’s resistance.
Kieran forced himself to think fast. They hadn’t come up with a strategy for this part. Dragonite could use Hurricane for big damage, sure, but with the state Ogerpon was in… He caught another glimpse of her panting and mirrored her grimace. That awful machine must have been overriding her fainting reflex, forcing her to stay conscious and fighting way beyond her body’s safe limits. Kieran didn’t even want to think about what might happen if he attacked her much more like this.
“Just… just defend us,” he said to Dragonite, who nodded. She could buy them time, at least, while they came up with a different approach. But what?
A surprisingly small crystallised lump shot towards Dragonite, and she shifted to take it full-on. The lump stuck to her body, extending small vines that wrapped around her to drain her energy. A Leech Seed…?
“Hang on,” said Juliana. “Aren’t these the first status moves Ogerpon’s used the whole time?”
“Huh!” Carmine remarked. “Now that you mention it, you’re totally right! She’s used nothing but attacking moves until just now!”
“Does… does that mean…?” muttered Kieran. Perhaps the machine had been forcing her to go all-out with offence, which meant… “She’s… got more control now?” Now that there was only one mask left, the power manipulating her could have been weakening, maybe…!
“Grrrah!” An urgent grunt from Ogerpon sounded like a response, like a confirmation. As lightning surrounded her, she shunted her head forwards, and crystalline branch-like horns shot out of the Teal Mask. Dragonite swung her tail, shattering them before they could connect.
That was… Horn Leech…? Another move Kieran didn’t think he’d seen until now. Horn Leech, Leech Seed, Grassy Terrain…
“You’re trying to heal yourself!” Juliana exclaimed, right as the realisation hit Kieran, too. “Just keep hanging in there, Ogerpon! We’ll think of something, I promise!”
Kieran’s heart lifted, just a little, once again in awe of the ogre’s strength. Even with everything she was going through, Ogerpon was still fighting desperately to survive.
“Dragonite, I’m sorry, but… can you just let Ogerpon drain your health?” he asked. “She really needs it.”
Dragonite gave a nod of understanding and swooped directly into the path of the next Horn Leech, barely grimacing as it sapped her strength. At least her double resistance would keep her going for a while yet.
“But what else do we
do?!” protested Carmine. She had a point – even with Ogerpon’s greater control, the machine hadn’t relinquished its grip on her. She was still being forced to attack, one way or another.
“We can’t risk destroying the machine,” Juliana muttered, her brow furrowed in fierce thought. “Not when it might kill her. Because the machine’s linked to her now, he said, so taking the Master Ball out won’t help, either.” She let out a frustrated grunt, her fists clenched, seeming uncharacteristically at a loss. “How are we meant to break that connection?”
The mention of the Master Ball tugged at Kieran’s mind, dredging up that outrage he’d felt when it had sucked Ogerpon inside it, his dread as it’d been dragged into the machine. That was how she’d become trapped like this, connected to the machine – through the ball. Except that they couldn’t break the machine’s link with the ball, apparently, not even by pulling it out…
A fleeting memory struck Kieran: the feeling of another Master Ball shaking and juddering in his hand, the sudden painful jerk as the ball snapped in two.
…But they
could break the ball’s link with Ogerpon…!
“I’ve got it!” he burst out with. The sudden flash of inspiration, of hope, of surety that this would work – it
had to – pulled Kieran out of his sister’s grip despite her protest, carried him on his own two feet around the battlefield to the machine as if he were barely injured. “Ogerpon, remember when Terapagos went crazy?” he called out to her as he went, knowing she had enough strength to be listening through her suffering. “At the start, I tried to recall him, but he fought back, and he broke the Master Ball! If he could do that, you gotta be able to do it, too!” She could, right? She had just as much unnatural power right now as Terapagos had back then. “That’s how we’re gonna free you!”
He heard a grunt of acknowledgement from Ogerpon, heard Dragonite’s wingbeats as she shifted to keep herself between her trainer and Ogerpon’s attacks. On shaking legs, Kieran came to a halt by the machine and stared at the Master Ball on the pedestal at its front, locked in place by a trio of metal claws. That was all they needed. Even if pulling it out alone wouldn’t break the link,
Ogerpon could.
As if the machine knew what he was planning, threatening sparks of lightning flickered across the pedestal. And Kieran’s stomach opened up into a gaping maw of ice-cold dread.
Ohhh, man…!
Somehow, he’d forgotten all about that Rotom. He’d forgotten it was hiding there inside the machine, protecting the Master Ball, ready to attack anyone who tried to remove it. Waiting to hurt them, punish them,
tor—
And yet, if Kieran wanted to save Ogerpon, he had to… he had to…
“D-Dragonite,” he mumbled, licking his lips, his mouth suddenly very dry. “There’s… there’s a Rotom in this machine. If it comes out after me, I – I need you to beat it with Breaking Swipe, okay?”
In amongst another Horn Leech impact, he heard Dragonite’s uncertain bark of acknowledgement, could only picture her worried expression, because he couldn’t look away from the blinding blue-white sparks around the Master Ball. Afterwards wasn’t the problem, really. Kieran knew he was just stalling, taking any excuse to put it off, even for a few more moments.
“Kiki, wait, you…” Carmine’s halting voice was just over his shoulder; of course she’d had long enough to realise why he was hesitating. “Y-You don’t have to… I mean, one of us can—”
“No, Sis,” Kieran insisted, surprising himself with just how firmly he cut her off. “L-Let me do this. Please.” Even as his insides twisted with gut-wrenching terror at the thought of it, even if he couldn’t express
why, he knew this was how it had to go. “I… I gotta do this. Y’know?”
And he could do this. He
could. Because he already had.
Just one more. For Ogerpon’s sake.
…Just like they’d all been, hadn’t they?
In a sudden blaze of determination, he reached for the Master Ball with both hands.
Nightmarishly familiar agony overtook him, and Kieran screamed. Then he realised that he
could scream, freely – he wasn’t seized in place and helpless like before. The Rotom
wanted him to let go, was trying to force him to do so with every ounce of electric pain that coursed through him. But he wouldn’t, he
wouldn’t; as long as Ogerpon still needed him to hold on, he was
never going to let go.
His searing fingers gripped the ball as tightly as he could, pulling on it with everything he had, and yet it was barely budging. All the while, the pain wrenched back against him, dragging him under, threatening to overwhelm him. Telling him that he was still weak, that nothing had changed since the last time he’d been crying out his agony while pathetically yanking at an object lodged in a pedestal just like this one.
“You can do it, Kieran!”
But outside the raging sea of pain, there was a voice – voices.
“Kiki, I… I believe in you!”
And he
had changed, hadn’t he? Things weren’t the same as back then, not any more.
“P-Popon! Ponyo!”
With all of it spurring him on, Kieran redoubled his efforts, screaming with exertion as much as pain, pulling like his life depended on it – and the ball popped loose.
Gasping in relief as the lightning let go, he staggered backwards from the force of his pull, fingers locked tight around his prize. His balance gone, he braced himself to hit the ground, but then his back collided with something large and rubbery that nudged him gently and kept him upright. Dragonite.
“I… I did it…!” Kieran panted, staring at the Master Ball in his hands, hardly able to believe it.
Then he froze as that horrible staticky hum pierced his ears. The Rotom emerged from the machine, jittering towards him—
With a furious roar, Dragonite swooped around Kieran with impressive agility for her build, swiping her huge tail into the plasma ghost and sending it slamming against the wall.
Blinking tears out of his eyes, Kieran tried to stamp down the flare of panic, push past the lingering pain, get a hold of his racing, buzzing thoughts. Dragonite would deal with Rotom. The machine was still lit up and active, as expected, but it wouldn’t be for much longer.
He turned to Ogerpon, flinching as a clumsy Horn Leech shot out of the Teal Mask in his general direction. The attack missed him by a large margin – she was still fighting back. It struck Kieran only now that the machine would surely try to prevent her from resisting the recall beam. But at this point, with the greater control she had… It had to be enough. Right? It had to be.
“Okay! R-Ready, Ogerpon?” he called out.
“Pon…!”
“You just gotta fight back and break the ball! I believe in you!” Kieran pointed the Master Ball at her, bracing his arm in his other hand, his stinging fingers fumbling to press the recall button. “Come back to us!”
He couldn’t see Ogerpon’s form through the glittering Teal Mask as the recall beam hit it, but he could hear her fierce grunt of exertion. She was fighting hard, ripples of light pushing back against the beam, making the ball vibrate in his grip. Kieran had to fight too, just to stay standing, to keep hold of the ball and keep the button pressed, never mind the searing pain in his hand, for however long he had to.
C’mon, please let this work, it can’t all be for nothing, please…
He flinched at a sudden, painful snap against his grip, the same as he’d felt once before, and his heart leapt. Split into two pieces, the Master Ball clattered to the ground. The Terastallised Teal Mask faded away in sparkles of light, leaving Ogerpon standing behind it, finally free.
A laugh of delight and relief burst out of Kieran. “You did it!” he exclaimed, clumsily punching the air, a huge grin on his face. “Wowzers… W-We really did it…!”
His cheer faltered as he saw Ogerpon’s state of sheer exhaustion, the way she staggered like she could barely stay upright.
“Ogerpon!” Juliana rushed forward and skidded to her knees in time to catch her Pokémon before she collapsed. “It’s okay now,” she murmured. The ogre sank into her arms, shuddering and whimpering softly. “You’re gonna be okay.”
“Po… Ponyopo…”
From somewhere off to the side, a series of furiously indignant muffled grunts were making themselves heard. Kieran had almost forgotten that Gustavus was still here, at the edge of the room. Dragonite was staring in his direction but doing no more than that, which meant the man must still have been safely trussed up and immobile.
Kieran almost turned around to make sure with his own eyes, but he couldn’t find it in him to muster the energy. It struck him that Gustavus just… didn’t matter any more. He hadn’t mattered, hadn’t had any power, for the entirety of the battle. There was something incredibly freeing about that thought.
“I’m so sorry,” Juliana was still saying to Ogerpon, gently, soothingly. “I’m so sorry we had to hurt you, it must have been horrible, you must have been so scared. But you were so brave! You fought so hard, I’m so proud of you!” She kept holding Ogerpon, stroking her back as the ogre’s shuddering gradually steadied. “It’s alright now. It’s over. You’re safe, just leave the rest to me, okay?”
Something about the way Juliana was speaking was somehow different from what Kieran was used to from his friend. As he watched her comforting her Pokémon, it dawned on him that… maybe
this had always been why Ogerpon had chosen Juliana. Not because of her strength, but simply because she was able to make Ogerpon feel safe, in the way she needed most.
She really was safe now. They’d done it, and it was over, and… and Kieran was utterly exhausted. All of his body’s aches and pains that he’d been forcing himself to ignore were flaring up in earnest. He groaned, his head spinning, wondering how on earth he’d managed to stay on his feet for so long. No chance of that any more—
“Kiki!” Suddenly Carmine was there, catching him, taking his weight before he could fall. “I gotcha, don’t worry.” With a grateful mumble, Kieran leaned into her, hearing a low croon from behind him as he felt Dragonite’s paw against his back.
“Kieran…” said Juliana, turning to him in concern. Despite his pain and exhaustion, Kieran smiled. He wasn’t alone either.
Weakly, Ogerpon pulled out of the embrace just enough to look at him, too. “Popon, poni?”
Without a mask covering her face, Kieran could see something new in there, something he’d never…
“Ogerpon… You’re… worried about me?”
Ogerpon blinked and tilted her head slightly with an expression that seemed to say,
why wouldn’t I be?
Staring at that look in her eyes, Kieran’s instinctive rebuttals faltered. Why
wouldn’t she be worried? For some reason, he’d had it in his head that Ogerpon just didn’t care about him one bit, but on reflection, that was a pretty silly thing to think, wasn’t it?
“Yeah… Thanks, Ogerpon.”
Of course she cared. A strange warmth welled up inside Kieran, bringing more tears with it as that simple truth sank in. He hadn’t been able to become her partner, but… he still mattered to her, didn’t he?
Perhaps that was all he’d ever really wanted all along.
~~~
Do the scary thing even though it's scary! So proud of the boy being brave
