DeliriousAbsol
*Crazy Absol Noises*
A/N - Some elements of this might be familiar to some readers. It's a story I've only ever brushed over in a much larger piece of work. The Myths and Legends contest prompted me to have a go at writing this, but unfortunately I was well over the word count and couldn't bring myself to butcher 1k+ words out of it. So... here it is! You get an impromptu one-shot off me! (While I try to work out what to write over the next... goodness knows how long! Mainframe will be put on hiatus during current events since the next book is too close to reality for my liking!)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. One-shots aren't my strong-suit. I prefer working on much longer pieces, and... it may show. But either way, I tried!
Of Light and Darkness
The nursery was a void of noise. Hatchlings raced back and forth, raising their voices to be heard above the ruckus. Elemental attacks flashed across the room, lighting up the walls with erratic shadows before fizzling out into nothing. Harmless attempts at play-fighting, followed by grows and a bit of rough and tumble that wary feet tried to avoid.
Amid it all, the tiny swablu sat on the rug beside a slightly larger mudkip. The pair watched the commotion unfold before them, a daily experience that they one day hoped to be a part of.
Several flashes of electricity lit up the rug as a pichu threw his attacks at an oddly-small oshawott. The otter pokemon managed to avoid each one, laughing until she lost her balance and landed hard on her bottom.
“Urgh!” The pichu stamped his foot and placed his paws on his hips. “Why can't you just hold still?”
“Because that's defeating the point!” squeaked the oshawott. “Is it my turn now?”
“No.” The pichu, Storm, tapped his foot and his eyes lit up. “Hey! How about this. We find an easier target and take turns?” He turned a grin towards the rug. “Hey, Starshine! You wanna play?”
The swablu flapped his fluffy wings in surprise. “Me? You want to play with me?”
His mudkip friend placed a paw on his back and glared at the pichu. “Hang about, Starshine. I dinnae think he's tryin' t'be nice.”
Storm folded his arms and scowled. “Stay out of this, Tad! I'm talking to the dragon there!”
Starshine ruffled his feathers. “I'm not a dragon!”
“Not yet!” Storm met his eyes with a glare. “You wanna be a target or what? I can always ask your weird-talking friend instead.”
“It's 'n accent!” said Tad. “Me family ain't from around 'ere!”
“Me family int from arahhhhnd 'ere!” Storm mocked. “Come on then. Who's tail am I gonna kick?”
The room had fallen into silence, all eyes now on the pichu and his two victims. Behind him, a teddiursa cub sucked his paw noisily as he tried to scale the wall towards the door unseen. But before he could reach it, it cracked open, drawing everyone's attention.
A mawile poked her head around the door, beaming at the hatchlings. “Sorry I'm late!”
Starshine and Tad's eyes lit up and they leapt to their feet, bouncing on the rug. “Faith!”
The other hatchlings began to gather to the carpet, their faces a mix of emotions from excited to wary. Storm, however, stood aside with his arms still folded, glowering at the adult pokemon.
Faith paused by the rug and gestured a paw towards it, smiling warmy at the pichu. “Are you going to join us?”
“My Ma told me to be watch out for you,” he said. “She says Tinker's told all the parents you're full of lies.”
Starshine hopped around so he was facing Storm. “Dad said no such thing!”
“He isn't your dad, dragon, he's a riolu!”
Faith clapped her paws together sharply, bringing the pair into silence. She crouched down so she was almost eye-level with the pichu.
“I know Tinker doesn't exactly think much of me, but that's because he's scared, like everyone else is. Everyone reacts differently, okay? Especially when someone shows up to try and prove to them there's still hope left in this world.”
Storm puffed air from his nostrils. “Our hope is living underground, like we are doing! Away from Hydreigon and the rest of the dragons.” He shot a glare towards Starshine, who ducked his head behind his wing. No longer wanting to fight back.
Faith's smile melted away and she let out a small sigh. “Well, I'm on nursery duty today. So do you want to stay for story time, or do you need me to walk you back to your home?”
“Ma's out all day,” said Storm.
“What about your father? Where's he?”
The tension in the room became so thick you could almost cut it. Storm's usually bold eyes glazed over and he turned to look at the wall instead.
The little oshawott looked up and said in a small voice, “His father was killed by the Darkness.”
Storm's cheeks spluttered electricity, sending it off in all directions. A few of the hatchlings managed to avoid it, but a stray spark landed on the teddiursa making his fur fluff out like a pom-pom.
“Shut it, will you?!” Storm roared. He rounded back to Faith, who looked a little taken aback. “I'm gonna avenge my Dad, you'll see! I'll evolve and then I'll destroy every dragon and dark-type who crosses my path!”
The room fell into silence again, save for the crackle of electricity radiating from the enraged pichu. Tears glistened at the corners of his eyes, and his shoulders heaved. Faith watched him for a moment, and a small smile spread across her muzzle.
“I think you'll be an amazing warrior,” she said.
Storm's cheeks stopped sparking and he let out a confused grunt.
“You know,” Faith went on, “raichu can actually learn some fairy-type moves. They'd really help you out in your fight against the Darkness.”
Storm was at a loss for words. He clenched and unclenched his paws, unable to look away from Faith.
“I can tell you about them after story time, if you like?” she said. “But if you don't want to join us, you can always sit in the time-out room for a little while?” She raised a paw before Storm could retort. “But it does not mean you are in trouble, okay? If you really don't want to-”
“I'll join you.” Storm shuffled onto the mat and flopped down in a spot away from the group of hatchlings. “I wanna know what this 'fairy' thing is. If it can really defeat dragons...”
“Other pokemon 'ave seen it,” said Tad. “Tinker's even seen it 'isself.”
Faith chuckled and settled down on a cushion. “For a pokemon who hates me, he's pretty excited about the fairy-type. I guess he sees the hope behind it in his own way.” She beamed at the children all watching her silently. “So... are you ready for story time?”
The children, aside from Storm, broke into excited questions.
“Does it have fairy pokemon in it?”
“Is there fighting?”
“Is there mega-evolution? Spark told me about mega-evolution!”
“Does Hydreigon get his tail whupped?”
Faith closed her eyes and laughed. “Steady on! There might be some of those things, but I don't want to spoil it for you. But something makes me think you're going to like this story.”
You probably can't imagine it. A kommo-o sat beneath a tree, offering berries to a plusle and minun; a slaking lay dozing in the sun while riolu and zorua hatchlings clamber over her back; dratini racing magikarp and feebas in the river. But this is what Estellis was like many, many years ago. Pokemon lived in peace, watched over by the Giver of Life, a stag pokemon named Xerneas.
Back then, everyone knew about the fairy-type. Just like any other type, pokemon shared it, and used its moves that dazzled like light. Every type had its own strengths and weaknesses, just like they do now. And, just like now, pokemon enjoyed a good-natured fight. A test of strength that was meant to entertain, and maintain good health. That wasn't all their moves were used for, however. Pokemon would use them in dances and other artistic displays. Many would use their skills to help others, bringing berries down from tall branches for the smaller pokemon that were unable to fly or climb. Digging pokemon like diglett and sandslash would turn the soil for the grass and water pokemon that tended the orchards and farmland. Alakazam and gardevoir used their psychic skills to aid their stories, projecting images that flickered before the eyes of excited hatchlings. It was a peaceful place, and it was everywhere.
But little did we know that not everyone was at ease.
There was a jet black bird pokemon with piercing blue eyes who would often stay back and watch the fights unfold. He'd often cheer on others, namely the dragon, flying and dark-types. No one thought much of it, everyone had their own friends and family they wanted to cheer for.
One day, everyone was watching a match between two strong pokemon who put on an amazing display – a gardevoir and a turtonator. Purple light shattered against sunset embers, creating a dazzling explosion across the grassy plane. Pokemon cheered, sheltered behind the shimmering, translucent shields of metagross, meowstic and mantine.
The embers faded, and Furnace braced himself, his shell lighting up as it generated volatile energy. Harmony had predicted it, falling back to ready her next attack. Lifting her arms above her head, a ball of pink light spread out between her paws. Furnace's eyes widened as he realized he'd calculated wrong. Drawing back, he turned to spout out a flamethrower.
Harmony launched the ball forwards, sending it crashing down on the turtonator, right as the flames flew from his snout. He crumpled beneath the moonblast, and flames exploded across the grass. The field around him smouldered, and the onlooking water-types rushed to put them out before the whole plane went up in flames.
Their captivated audience cheered, their applause echoing through the warm air. Above them in the trees, a group of altaria broke into a victory song. Harmony took a bow, then plodded over to Furnace to offer a paw. The dragon took it, grinning at his opponent.
“You got me,” he said.
Harmony chuckled. “If you'd not expected me to hit you with a physical attack, you might have won that one.”
“Then do it now.” The sharp voice cut Furnace off before he could respond.
All eyes turned to the one pokemon who hadn't been clapping or cheering. The black bird stood there, wings tucked to his side, staring down the two pokemon.
He shrugged his feathery shoulders. “Do it now. Prove to me a dragon can defeat one of you fairies.”
“What, now?” Furnace laughed as he brushed singed grass off his torso. “I kind of need a rest after that match, Yveltal.”
The black bird scoffed and turned his eyes on Harmony. “Then how about you take me on, then?”
Harmony watched Yveltal cautiously as he crept towards her. Something in his demeanour unsettled her greatly, but she couldn't quite place it.
He spread his wings, gesturing to the pokemon around him. “Go on. Show me that someone like me, or this turtonator here, stands a chance at beating you? We all know you trample over dark and dragon-types like we're nothing but wild-flowers beneath your cocky feet.”
Most of the remaining audience rallied around Harmony and Furnace, joined by those who had noticed what was going on as they'd passed by. Some, however, fell silent.
A hakkamo-o raised a claw from behind Yveltal and cleared his throat. “Don't forget fighting-types.”
Yveltal glanced back at him and let out a single laugh as he turned his eyes back on the gardevoir's.
“You're wrong, Yveltal,” said a togekiss. “Only last week Ironclaw managed to defeat her in a fair fight.”
“Ironclaw is an aggron,” said Yveltal, not taking his eyes off Harmony. “He's not a dragon, nor a dark-type.”
The audience fell into silence again, and most of them shifted uneasily.
Yveltal grinned and spread his wings wide. “So what do you say, Harmony? You're meant to be the strongest here. Prove it. Fight me.”
Harmony balled her paws into fists as she stared down Yveltal. He wasn't much bigger than she was. All talk and feathers. It wasn't as if he'd never voiced his displeasure at her type before, but he'd never challenged her like this. It unsettled her, but she wasn't scared of him.
“Okay,” she said. “I'll fight you.”
Furnace put a hot paw on her shoulder. “No, Harmony. You don't have to do this-”
She waved him off. “It's fine. I still have enough strength if he's so desperate for a fight.”
Yveltal almost seemed to purr. He spread his wings slightly, rearing back into a battle stance. Harmony and Furnace parted, leaving the gardevoir to walk back into the middle of the rapidly forming ring of onlookers.
Yveltal wasn't a pushover. Harmony knew that much. The jet-black bird had showcased his fair share of battles, often coming out on top. Harmony had even beaten him herself once before, back when she was a kirlia. Yveltal had laughed it off, stating he'd put a claw wrong and accidentally thrown the match. If it was an accident, he'd been good about it. But seeing him now, she couldn't help but think he held it against her. The air he was giving off felt very, very wrong, and she wasn't the only one who'd noticed it. The togekiss almost trembled at the back of the ring, and Furnace looked like he'd rather be anywhere but there. Yet she knew he'd jump in to assist her if it came to it.
Yveltal lowered his head, indicating the battle had started. Harmony wasted no time. She lifted her arms to launch a dazzling gleam, but a streak of black bashed her across the head. Dizzying stars exploded across her vision as she careened backwards. She threw her arms to her sides to steady herself and turned, meeting Yveltal's leering eyes.
Another try. Dazzling gleam...
He let out a low snarl, causing her to step back and falter. The attack came out weaker, but he vanished into thin air before it even skimmed him. Claws raked her back from behind and she yelled, stumbling forwards into the soft grass. Before she could hit it, he appeared in front of her and struck her with a wing, sending her flying back onto her bottom.
She flinched, but only for a moment. A quick flick of her arms, and Yveltal was struck mid-leap by a flash of purple sparkling light. He screeched with fury as he was blasted back towards the crowd. The pokemon scattered, making space for Yveltal to regain his footing in the grass.
He bared his fangs and rushed her.
Harmony smiled. A careless mistake. Dragon rush would do nothing. It was her turn to vanish, teleporting behind Yveltal. He stumbled as a confused 'whu-?' left his throat.
The gardevoir brought her arms down, and a moonblast shattered on his exposed back. Yveltal crumpled beneath it with a furious howl.
It was over.
Harmony beat her paws together and marched over to Yveltal as he struggled to push himself up on his wings. She held out a paw to him, and he snapped his head back, meeting her eyes.
“It was a good fight,” she said, smiling. “You threw a few surprises my way. I enjoyed it.”
A strange strangled noise came from deep within his chest and one of his sharp canines became exposed. “Are you mocking me?”
Harmony blinked with surprise and retracted her paw. “No. I was congratul-”
“Is that all you do?” he hissed. “Beat us down then act all nice?!”
He leapt up with such speed she barely even saw it. His sharp teeth and serrated beak fastened around her throat and she let out a terrified scream. Then he grunted and fell back from her.
A warm light fell over them, and Harmony opened her eyes to find Xerneas stood over her. He stared down at Yveltal hunched on the floor at her feet, a pile of black, oily feathers with a dejected look on his face.
“There will be none of that,” said Xerneas. “It was a fair fight. You need to learn to lose with a little more dignity, my friend.”
Yveltal scoffed again and pushed himself back to his feet. “There is nothing fair about it.”
Xerneas blinked at him silently.
“The fairy-type tears through us,” Yveltal said. “Tears through us like we're nothing!” He turned his glare back onto Harmony. “But I'll find a weakness. One you share with all of us! I'll find one and I'll expose it!”
With that, he spread his wings and flew off into the sunset.
Xerneas lowered his antlers to help Harmony back to her feet.
She dusted down her skirt and turned towards him. “Thank you.”
The stag pokemon smiled warmly. “You are not hurt?”
She ran her paw over her neck, and it came away with a crimson streak across her claws. She tried to hide it from the other pokemon and looked up at Xerneas, shaking her head.
“It's just a scratch,” she said. “I'm not even sure he was sincere. It was just a threat.”
Xerneas nodded, but the silence left her feeling uncertain. He turned his head to watch after Yveltal, then looked back at the crowd of pokemon.
“Go about your day,” he said. “Don't let him worry you.”
He looked back down at Harmony and the sting immediately vanished from her neck. She pawed at where the scratches had been and met the stag's eyes.
“We don't want to alarm anyone,” he said quietly. “Try to put this behind us, and please make sure everyone else is calm?”
“Of course.”
With another warm smile, Xerneas turned and headed in the direction Yveltal had fled.
Harmony turned back to her friends, but the expressions on their faces were the description of worry. What unsettled her more was that some had stood aside, their eyes on the sky where Yveltal had vanished. Each and every one of them a dragon, fighting or dark-type.
Yveltal's words had got to them.
Yveltal landed ungainly beside the river and tucked in his wings. The right one throbbed where he'd crashed down on it during that fight, beneath that disgusting moonblast. He turned his attention to his bedraggled feathers as he ran over those events in his mind, but as he licked his beak something tingled his tongue.
Blood.
That was right. He'd bit Harmony out of blind fury. He'd wanted her to feel pain. Blood was a rare sight, and pokemon did their utmost not to shed any during fights. It was unnecessary. Brutal. How much needed to be shed for a pokemon to really feel pain?
He ran his tongue over his fangs and a smile spread across his beak. He'd never tasted it before. He wanted more.
“Excuse me, Yveltal?”
The small voice snapped Yveltal out of his thoughts and he looked up to see a small green pokemon shuffling towards him. The ralts clutched an oran berry in both paws, and he turned his head back and forth between Yveltal and the orchard on the other side of the river.
“Could you please help me?” the ralts asked. “I need to gather more berries, but they're too high up for my psychic to reach.”
“More... berries...?”
Yveltal's mind was fogged with the taste of Harmony's blood still dancing around his tongue. The small ralts stared up at him innocently, waiting for a reply. A tiny version of Harmony. A teeny little fairy. One who, like her, could toss a moonblast on his back and obliterate him. His feathers stood on end along his back, and the sides of his beak creased as he suppressed a snarl.
He'd had enough. The world was riddled with these fairies. They were like a disease, infecting everything they touched. They needed purging.
The ralts inclined his head on one side, and Yveltal became aware he'd just said something and the dark-type had completely missed it. Yveltal's feathers bristled and a low growl rose in his throat.
“Yveltal?” The ralts tipped his head back enough that the large bird could just make out his eyes beneath his silly helmet. “Are you okay?”
Yveltal blinked, the growl dying out as if someone had just plucked it from him. He let out a confused grunt and tucked in his wings.
“I'm fine.” His voice came out husky and he found his heart racing as he trailed his eyes over the tiny pokemon before him. “Sure. I can help, if you'll help me first.”
His eyes fell on the oran berry and the ralts looked down at it as if he'd been completely unaware he was even holding it.
“Oh!” The ralts beamed and held it up to Yveltal. “Of course! Here, take it.”
“Oh I will.”
Yveltal darted his head down and snatched up the pokemon in his beak. A cry never even left his lips. The oran berry tumbled away to rest beside the base of a tree, speckled with crimson against its blue skin.
A hot fire ran through Yveltal's body, spreading down his wings. It was as if the very energy from the ralts was flowing into him. The tiny pokemon went limp in his beak, then turned completely solid. Yveltal tightened his beak, but the pokemon was no longer soft and warm. It was like biting stone. He shook the ralts a couple of times, getting no response. No movement. He dropped him onto the grass, but his tattered body was no longer green and vibrant. It was grey, and rock solid.
Yveltal licked his beak as he watched the little fairy-type carefully. Not even a twitch. No breath. As lifeless as a statue. He nudged him with a talon, but it wasn't an act.
Yveltal inclined his head on one side. He'd done this. He'd defeated this puny fairy. Is this what happened to them? They turned to stone?
“Interesting,” Yveltal purred. “So there is a way to be rid of you after all?”
His body was still on fire, tracing channels along his wings. He jerked his head towards them, watching as stripes as red as blood spread along their underside. A few red spots appeared on his chest, and he tried to wipe them off to no avail. It was as if his discovery was embedding itself into his very being.
A deep laugh echoed from his throat and he spread his wings wide, turning to address the ralts.
“You see this?” Yveltal boomed. “I've learned your little secret. I know your weakness. The fairy-type isn't as strong as you think, is it? You can rest knowing you were the first to meet this fate.”
Hot fire boiled in his chest and he turned his head sharply left and right, looking for another target to test this discovery on. But there was nothing. Just trees.
Trees. They were also alive.
He turned to the one beside him and opened his beak wide. But before he could fasten his jaws around it, a huge beam fired from his mouth, engulfing the entire tree. That familiar energy flooded him again, but it wasn't as vibrant as what the ralts had given to him.
Yet the tree met the same fate. Grey. Lifeless. A stony statue.
His jaw went slack and he blinked at the tree, not quite believing what he'd just seen. That beam... had he just learned a new move? He needed to test it. See if he could do it again.
“Yveltal!”
He snapped his head around towards the familiar voice. Xerneas stared back at him, standing over the fallen ralts. Tiny flowers spread around the stag's hooves, pooling around the fallen fairy. The grey hue melted away, and his tiny body knitted back together before Yveltal's eyes.
Yet Xerneas' eyes lacked the warmth Yveltal was familiar with. Xerneas lifted his head high and met Yveltal's blue eyes.
“Stop this,” he said.
The ralts sat up, rubbing his eyes as if he'd only been sleeping. Yveltal looked between him and Xerneas, stuttering. It couldn't be... the pokemon had been... Yveltal had taken his life, and now he had it back?!
“Xerneas?” The ralts looked up at the colourful stag. “What am I doing here?”
Xerneas lowered his head to nuzzle the ralts before turning his attention back to Yveltal.
Yveltal watched the ralts as he pushed himself to his feet. If Xerneas could reverse it just like that, then there was no way Yveltal's new skill would stand a chance, even in a fair fight. He needed more practice.
So he snapped his beak shut and feigned innocence, shrugging his feathery shoulders. “It wasn't me. I found him like this.”
“I saw you.” Xerneas said. “I watched as you claimed that tree.”
Yveltal looked back at the tree. Tiny colourful flowers decorated its base, and the grey melted away to reveal the cool bark and lush green leaves. Yveltal tutted. Had he been wrong? Was there really no way to counter this foolish fairy-type?
“Death has no place here, Yveltal,” Xerneas told him. “The abhorrent things you've just done are already warping you. I want you to think very carefully about where your place is, and if you wish to stay here, you are to abide by the law.”
“...Death?” Yveltal closed his eyes and let out a single laugh. He spread his mottled wings wide and lowered himself to take off. “I shall think very carefully about what you just told me, Xerneas.” He beat the air and rose up high off the ground in one swoop. “Very carefully.”
He turned and took off towards the forest.
The next morning, the abbey dining hall was bustling with pokemon waiting for their breakfast. Pokemon flooded through the doors and windows, and drifted in along the water through a tunnel in the ground. The large pool was alive with various colourful pokemon chatting and catching up before those more adapted to land clambered out to join their friends around the massive table.
Harmony bustled back and forth with the rest of those on duty that morning, setting out plates of fresh berries, cakes, pastries, soups and other delicious-smelling items. It was only one of several abbeys, but it was the most populous given it was right in the centre of Estellis. Pokemon had yet to spread across the entire continent.
Harmony paused to look up at the window, her heart in her throat as a huge black bird landed in it. A corviknight. He squeezed his way through and settled at the table between a pidgeot Harmony knew as Windstriker, and a dragonite.
Harmony let out a sigh and set the bowl of soup she'd been holding neatly on the table. “Has anyone seen Yveltal since yesterday?”
Several of the pokemon shook their heads, and the room gradually fell into silence.
“I'm a little worried about him,” said Harmony. “He didn't take that fight very well at all.”
“It's been a growing trend,” said an alcreamie as she shuffled through with a berry soufflé. “Every fight he has seems to get him riled up.”
“He had a point though.” A garchomp leant his head on one claw while he buttered his toast with the other. “You fairy-types always have the upper paw in battle against us dragons. It's like we can't beat you unless we have steel or poison moves in our arsenal.”
The sylveon across from him looked up and spoke around a mouth-full of cake. “Like you with your poison jab?”
The garchomp scoffed. “That's useless against pokemon like mawile and klefki.”
A dragalge leant her head on the edge of the pool. “Story of my life.”
“Not to mention our dragon moves can't even touch you,” said a salamence. “At least dark-types can get a punch in.”
The scrafty beside him fired him a glare. “We have a hard enough time too, yanno!”
The room exploded into a heated debate, leaving Harmony and the young alcreamie to stare on helplessly.
“Guys, please!” Harmony clapped her paws together in a desperate bid for order. “Don't let him get to you! We have fair fights all the the time, and you're more than equipped to deal with us.”
“Yeah, it's a matter of skill!” said a mawile from across the table.
“Oh, so we lack skill now?!” the salamence roared. “Say that with my flamethrower to your face!”
“What's going on in here?!”
The booming voice dragged the hall into silence as all eyes went to the door. Furnace stood just inside the hall, glaring the room down into submission.
“We're all friends here, right?!” he roared. “Act like it!” He moved behind Harmony and placed a warm paw on her shoulder. “Are you okay? You look exhausted.”
“I'm fine.” She shrugged him off and turned back towards the kitchen. “It just appears what Yveltal said yesterday has got under their skin. I've been dealing with comments like this all night.”
“You don't need that,” said Furnace.
“Help yourself to breakfast. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Really.” Harmony feigned a smile as she ducked back into the kitchen.
Furnace exchanged worried glances with the alcremie. “How can I not?”
A flurry of charcoal feathers erupted through the window, followed by two murkrow landing on the table to eye the plates of berries. One of them let out a muffled caw as he raised his head to look up and down the table.
A pidgey turned to address them. “Help yourself! They're for everyone.”
The murkrow scoffed and glared around at the table's occupants. “I won't break bread with any fairy-types.”
Tension rippled across the room as all eyes turned to the newcomers.
The second murkrow spread his wings wide and strutted into the centre of the table. “We've all heard about what Yveltal said yesterday. The word has spread. We've had enough, and I'm sure all dragon and dark-types here would agree. We get beaten too often by the abundant fairy-type. It seems most pokemon possess at least one move that can obliterate us. So Yveltal is calling a new world order!”
Most of the table gasped, masking the soft thud of food falling to the floor. A plate shattered in the kitchen and the staff rushed to the door to catch the murkrow's speech.
“This is a call to war!” he boomed. “Those who have had enough are to rally around Yveltal. Dragon, dark and flying-types alike!”
“War?!” the mawile gasped.
“A war!” the murkrow repeated. “Against all who are not dragon, dark or flying-types.”
“Why flying?” Windstriker asked. “Flying-types have no problem with the fairies.”
The murkrow twisted on the spot to face him. “Because Yveltal is part flying-type!” He turned to address the table again. “So all of you who fall into those categories who wish to fight back are to rally around Yveltal in the courtyard in one hour!”
“Hey! I'm tired of being beaten down too!” said a hitmonlee, almost leaning over the table. “What about me?”
The murkrow leered at him. “Take it up with Yveltal.”
The pair fluttered back out of the window, leaving the dining hall in a freezing silence.
Harmony stood in the doorway to the kitchen, her paws trembling as they strained to hold a tray heaped with berry pancakes. Furnace watched her and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Harmony barely even noticed him, her eyes still trained on the window.
“What is Yveltal doing?” she whispered.
Harmony couldn't help it. She had to know what was going on, to make sure it was just some terrible misunderstanding.
She rushed to the courtyard at the allocated time, and it was already teaming with pokemon. Hundreds of curious onlookers who had received Yveltal's message. But her heart froze in her chest when she spotted the uncountable mass gathered at the far end of the concrete square, glaring at her. At the fairy-types surrounding her.
Hundreds of dragons, dark-types and birds of all species spread across the courtyard, and in the middle of them stood Yveltal, only he looked different. So much so she wasn't sure it was him at first. Crimson feathers mixed with the black in a mottled pattern across his chest, and around his neck they had started to turn white.
He raised his head higher than the rest. “Is there anyone else?! Anyone who wishes to rally against the filthy fairy-type?!”
“Me!”
Harmony was knocked aside as the hitmonlee from the dining hall shoved past her. He scampered into the middle of the courtyard and twisted to glare back at Harmony and the others.
“I want to join you!” he told Yveltal. “I'm fed up with being beaten down too!”
“So am I!” A machoke squeezed through the crowd to join him. “Only yesterday I lost to a klefki. I thought I stood a chance.”
Yveltal's beak twisted in a sneer. “I'm sorry. Are you two dragons?”
The machoke stuttered and both fighting-types visibly tensed.
“Dark-type, maybe?” Yveltal went on. “Or do you spout wings and take to the sky?”
“Why do you only want those three?” the hitmonlee asked. “Because they're weak to the fairy-type? Flying pokemon aren't, but we are!”
“I'm taking these types because they are shared with me,” Yveltal explained. “You, however, are not.”
“Shared?” the hitmonlee scoffed. “But you're not even a dragon! Why take them and not us?”
“Why?” Yveltal spread his large wings. “Because I relate to them, that's why.”
“Yveltal, please!” Harmony pushed forward until she was standing ahead of the crowd. “Why are you doing this? It was just a fight!”
“Silence!” he roared. “It was not just a fight, gardevoir. It's a hundred fights. Each and every one, defeated by your wretched attacks!”
“Everyone loses sometimes, Yveltal. You have to take it, learn from it and-”
“Oh but I have learned from it.” Yveltal waved a wing to shove his followers aside and edged forwards into the courtyard. “I've learned from it very well. I've learned where my place is in this world, and I won't stand for it. Do you know how it feels to be the only one of your kind, Harmony? A lone pokemon who isn't entirely sure if he's a bird or a dragon, since he resembles both. I wondered why I was created, and I've come to realise it's to be nothing more than a punching bag for all of you!”
“You're wrong!” shouted Harmony.
“Exactly the same as the dragon and dark-types.” A smirk tugged at his beak. “Nothing more than someone to be trampled, crushed and blinded by your fairy attacks!”
“Lies!” shouted a deep voice from the back of the crowd.
Harmony bristled. Yveltal was lying, and by the smirk on his beak he knew it. But those who agreed with him were lapping it up, throwing jeers and insults across the courtyard.
Yveltal threw his wings out to the side, bringing his rabble into silence. “My vision is to create a world that is void of any type that can counter us. A world of only dragon, dark and flying-type pokemon! No fairy-types. No ice-types. Nothing else but us! Those that share at least one of those typings are welcome, but anything else will be eradicated. Sent into oblivion!
“You think we'll let you?!” a ninetales scoffed, frost radiating off her snowy fur. “We'll fight back!”
The pokemon around her shouted their agreement.
“Oh but of course!” said Yveltal. “That's what a war is! But it won't be easy for any of you. I'll win this war! I've found a way to counter the fairy-type! A means to defeat them, finally, and come out on top! A weakness not just the fairy-type has, but each and every single one of you!” He turned his blue eyes back on the two fighting pokemon. “You wish to help me? Well, I think I've found a use for you. Allow me to demonstrate!”
He opened his beak wide and a huge crimson beam shot out, striking the hitmonlee square on. His scream died in his throat, coming out as nothing more than a husky squeak. His entire body locked up, and a grey hue spread over him starting at his feet and expanding across his body.
The machoke beside him watched in wide-eyed terror, inching away from his frozen friend. Then he turned to flee into the crowd.
Yveltal turned his attack onto him, catching the machoke in the same beam. He met the same fate as the hitmonlee, and both of them stood there, frozen like stone statues. The hitmonlee with one arm up in defense, and the machoke running with a look of sheer fright frozen on his face.
Yveltal shuddered, his head twitching at odd angles. Those red feathers spread out across his body, turning his entire underside crimson. Black veins erupted across his wings, and the white feathers around his neck grew, spreading out like the wispy coat of a dodrio.
He stood taller now, towering over most of his rabble. He flashed Harmony a sinister grin then looked over at the rest of the terrified pokemon.
“Do you see?” he said. “I've found a means to defeat you, and I know it works on fairy-types. But if you need me to demonstrate-”
He fired off another beam straight at Harmony. Firm claws fastened around her waist, throwing her backwards into the crowd. A grunt reached her ears, and she looked up to see Furnace standing over her. His red body rapidly turned grey, with the texture of stone. Yveltal's wicked beam reached over the rest of the group, catching pokemon one by one. The group scattered, but some that fled were frozen mid-sprint. Harmony tried to push herself up, her shouts for calm falling on deaf ears.
She needed to get out of there. To get help.
The crimson beam reached over her head, pinning her to the ground. It didn't give off any light. Instead it radiated darkness.
A lithe shadow bounded over her body, and Xerneas landed before her and the other pokemon. A silvery barrier flew up around them, bouncing away Yveltal's devastating beam.
The red and black bird recoiled back and tucked his wings in at his sides. His blue eyes narrowed, fixing Xerneas in a leer.
Tiny flowers flowed like a rainbow across the grass from the stag's golden hooves. Those they touched who'd turned to stone melted back into their normal selves. The machoke staggered forwards, flailing his arms as his eyes fell on Xerneas.
The stag stared down Yveltal, unwavering. “I see you've chosen your place.”
Yveltal laughed. “I'd already chosen it, Xerneas.” He waved a wing at the mob behind him. “And it looks like I'm not alone.”
Xerneas looked up at Yveltal's followers. Some of them appeared uncertain, shifting uncomfortably as they struggled to meet Xerneas' eyes.
“It is not too late for you to come back to me,” he told them. “I can assure you Yveltal has been feeding you lies. Not a single one of you was created to be nothing more than a punching bag. But if you wish to stick with Yveltal, then there is no place for you here. He, and anyone who follows him, is banished, and will meet the same fate he is destined for himself.”
Several of his followers exchanged worried glances and parted from the group, shuffling across the courtyard to rejoin Xerneas. Yveltal watched them with scorn and snapped his attention back to the stag.
“Oh?” Yveltal scoffed. “And what fate is that?”
“You wish to be a bringer of death,” said Xerneas. “You shall ultimately bring that on yourself also.”
More of Yveltal's group melted away, scurrying back to Xerneas and their friends. Their families.
Xerneas met Yveltal's eyes, waiting patiently for any of the black bird's remaining followers to decide where exactly they wanted to stand.
Those that remained stared back with defiance.
Xerneas nodded once. “Very well. It is decided.” He looked up at Yveltal with eyes that flashed like fire. “Leave.”
Yveltal's beak went slack for a moment, then his feathers bristled. He turned sharply and led his followers away from Xerneas and the abbey.
Xerneas turned his head back to his pokemon, and a shimmering light spread out from him across the courtyard, radiating across the surrounding planes and forests.
“Do not worry,” he said. “He cannot come back here.”
“But what about the others?” Harmony asked.
He turned to look back at where Yveltal had vanished. “He wishes to start a war. We will win that war. Come, I shall prepare you for it.” He looked over at the disheartened, worried and frightened pokemon. “And anyone else who wishes to fight alongside me.”
The group of pokemon rose into a mumble of private discussion. Furnace looked at those around him, then stepped forwards, jabbing a claw into his chest.
“Me,” he said. “I'll fight.”
A smile spread across Xerneas' muzzle. Above him, three altaria began to circle, seeming to appear from the clouds. They hummed softly, the calming song spreading out over the crowd.
“Me too!” said the frosty ninetales. “I'll join you!”
“And me!” said the alcreamie chef.
Cries of agreement exploded through the crowd, and the altaria broke into a jovial melody, joined by other birds.
“Then allow me to instruct you.” Xerneas stood back, and his antlers lit up like the sun.
A weight tugged at Harmony's wrist and she looked down to find a round jewel encased in a golden band fastened around it. She wasn't alone. Hundreds of pokemon had received a similar gift.
Xerneas lifted his head to address the crowd. “Some of you have been chosen to lead your squads in battle. You shall evolve further, but only for a short time. Your squads will rely on you, and each and every one of you here shall use your unique gifts in the battle to come.”
The crowd exploded into cheers.
“Please train,” Xerneas told them. “It will be a long and gruelling battle, but I assure you. We will win.”
The following months were arduous and fierce. The area Xerneas had sectioned off was a safe zone. Neither Yveltal or his followers could enter it. Pokemon on the outside reported of confusion from those who knew it was there, but instead found themselves only in bare open land. It became known as the Fairy Garden.
The world beyond it became rapidly war-torn. Pokemon found themselves under attack from the Darkness as Yveltal strove to grow his numbers. His lies spread like weeds across Estellis, turning hearts away from Xerneas' light to be corrupted by Yveltal's darkness. Those who refused to turn either fell to the wicked mercy of his claws, or fled across Estellis in search of the Fairy Garden. Many found it, and over time Xerneas' army grew in number and in strength.
It had taken a long time for Harmony to perfect the art of mega evolution. It was a skill that gave her immense strength, yet also drained it away. She, among all the others who had trained in it, couldn't transform frequently. It was a skill that needed to be executed perfectly.
She'd wandered from the training room for a break, turning the bangle idly around her wrist. It wasn't the keystone for her gardevoirite, but rather the stone for her ally, the pidgeot Windstriker. Powering up one another meant it took less energy than to perform the task solo. Her gardevoirite was fastened in a blue headband that vanished beyond the fur by her ears.
As she strolled up the sun-soaked hill to clear her mind from her training battles, she found Xerneas stood atop it, looking out over Estellis. The sight of the world made Harmony's heart ache. The once-green treetops were black with the feathered forms of murkrow, and a couple of miles away a small village blazed. Thick smoke curled up into the sky, merging with the grey storm clouds Harmony hoped would soon burst to neutralize the flames.
“It won't be long now,” said Xerneas. “Soon we'll be driving Yveltal back across Estellis. At sunrise tomorrow, I shall rally everyone into battle.”
“You think we're ready?” Harmony idly twirled the keystone bangle as she gazed out at the terrible landscape.
Xerneas smiled down at her and nodded. “I know you're ready.”
He turned from the hilltop and a few altaria burst from the trees, humming a sombre tune as they circled above.
Harmony watched the burning village for a moment then turned towards the stag. “Xerneas?”
He stopped part way down the hill to look back at her.
Harmony swallowed around a lump in her throat. “I can't deny I'm terrified. None of us have ever gone to war before.”
“That is understandable. Everyone here must share the same feelings with you.”
Harmony glanced back at the war-torn landscape. “Can we really win this?”
“Harmony?”
She looked back up at Xerneas.
“The moment Yveltal rebelled against me and left this garden,” he said, “he was defeated.”
With a warm smile at her, Xerneas turned and continued his way back down the hillside.
Sunrise seemed to arrive a lot faster than expected. Harmony had strove to get in another training session before finally getting to sleep. Despite the short burst of sleep she'd snagged, she still felt energized.
The courtyard had been teeming with pokemon, stretching out as far as the hills surrounding the abbey. Xerneas stood at the head of the courtyard on a raised platform sheltered by a gazebo.
“Today, we battle!” he said. “This is what you have all been training for. Yveltal's army will be driven back across Estellis to the Ice Continent, where he shall be imprisoned. Just like a light chases away the shadows of night, I want you all to remember that the Darkness will be defeated!”
Xerneas' words echoed around in Harmony's head. The army had split off to drive back sections of Yveltal's army from the surrounding villages and woodland habitats. Harmony and Windstriker had been recruited into the main heart of the army – those going after Yveltal.
A stream of fire cut before her, engulfing a small squadron of weavile. They screeched and crumpled to the bare ground. Harmony launched a dazzling gleam to combat those that had just missed being caught in the inferno.
Furnace swiped embers from his mouth as he stared out at the dark and dragon-types rushing towards them. Those who could fly circled in the air, making it near impossible for Xerneas' army to get off the ground.
“It's gonna take us a fair while to cleave a path through this lot,” said Furnace.
Furnace was one of many pokemon who could handle icy planes well. The cold bitter air blew in from the north, chilling through Harmony's fur, but the heat radiating from her friend made it much more bearable. Three days they had been marching, and she was starting to feel the toll.
“We need to get up there if we're going to reach Yveltal.” Windstriker threw out an air cutter, blowing back a pangoro. “We need to focus on clearing the skies.”
Just several feet away, the frosty ninetales was leading an army of ice and electric-types in doing just that. Blizzards cut through the air, joined with flashes of lightning. Flying-types dropped like hailstones to be dealt with by those on the ground. But the murkrow flocks and soaring dragons were relentless. It was as if an endless stream of them were soaring down from all four corners of Estellis to stop Xerneas' army advancing towards Yveltal.
Yveltal was nowhere to be seen, sheltered beyond the jagged monoliths of stone that served as his fortress. Murkrow circled over it, keeping a watchful eye and shouting out commands in their own cawing language.
Harmony squinted at them as something clicked into place. She pointed a claw. “There! We need to take out those sentries. I think they're the ones calling in the reinforcements.”
She ducked as a fraxure leapt at her, claws and teeth bared. She lifted her arms for a dazzling gleam, but the dragon blew back from her in an explosion of flames. Furnace's shell smouldered where the fraxure had struck it, leaving the smaller dragon lying on his back dazed. The larger turtle-like dragon brought his foot down on the fraxure's chest and shot Harmony a quick glance.
“We can't get up there,” he said. “But I think you're right. We need to send message somehow to those closer to the fortress.”
That wasn't going to be easy. Harmony and her friends were further back than the rest of the army. Getting a message to the front-line would be nigh impossible. But they needed some way to take out those murkrow and fast... She glanced over at the ice-types again, and a light went on in her brain.
“Windstriker! Can you gust those blizzards towards the fortress?”
The pidgeot looked up with a start, his talons fastened around a writhing goomy that she'd completely missed.
“If the blizzard hits those murkrow,” Harmony explained, “they'll fall. They can't fly in snowstorms.”
“Huh! Tell me about it.” Windstriker rustled his feathers. “All right. If they send out a massive blizzard then I'll see what I can do.”
Harmony smiled. Getting a message that far ahead she could do alone. She fixed her mind on the ninetales, but it was cut off as a set of wicked claws flashed before her eyes. A dazzling gleam leapt from her paws and the obstagoon rolled away from her. She had to look away as the bewear just before her stumbled back to crush the unfortunate pokemon beneath the combined weight of herself and the garchomp she was grappling with.
Harmony tried again, fixing her mind back on the ninetales. 'It's Harmony! We have a plan. Send out a joint blizzard and we'll blow it towards the fortress.'
The ninetail's ear twitched back towards her, but the word had registered.
Harmony spotted an altaria above, aiding a xatu in a fight against a drampa. It didn't look like the fight was going in their favor. The altaria was singed with dragonfire, and the xatu looked worse for wear.
Harmony lifted her paws and launched a moonblast into the air. The drampa let out a squeak when he noticed it and the purple flames in his mouth sputtered out. The pink ball of light smashed down on him from above, and the pokemon beneath scattered to avoid him.
Harmony nodded to the altaria. 'Please aide Windstriker in blowing the blizzard towards the murkrow sentries.'
The altaria followed her glance towards the fortress. The ninetales' blizzard was already rising into the air, and Windstriker was getting himself into position. The altaria passed the message on to the xatu, and the pair joined Windstriker in whipping up a gale.
The wind caught the blizzard, blowing it out across the warring armies in the sky. The dragon and flying-types working against them tried to fight back, but when Xerneas' army realized what was going on, more of his flying soldiers leapt to the aide. Soon, the Darkness' flying-types began to freeze, falling back cold and exhausted as they were no longer able to remain in the air.
As the blizzard raged, the ninetales began to look exhausted, along with her team. Still, they kept at it until the raging snow was billowing over the fortress. The sentries cawed with frustration, trying to beat the snow back with frozen wings. They were forced to land beyond the walls, freeing up the sky.
Just as Harmony had guessed, without their watch and battlecries, no more came in to aide the fight. The skies were free.
Windstriker landed back beside Harmony and nodded. “Shall we go over the walls?”
Harmony climbed onto his back, and, along with many others, the army was lifted over the walls into the fortress. Harmony looked down as they passed over the jagged walls, and her heart froze. Below them, stone statues littered the yard. Pokemon frozen in the thick of battle, both Xerneas' army and the Darkness alike.
No sign of Yveltal. He'd left his army to fight his battle, and by the looks of things he didn't care who got in his way when he fought back before fleeing.
“Wait!” Harmony cried. “There's someone wounded down there.”
Lying on the floor between the statues was a kommo-o. His limbs twitched as he tried to push himself up, and he fixed a wary eye on the army moving in overhead.
“There's nothing we can do now.” Windstriker said. “We'll have to just press on until we reach Yveltal.”
Harmony shook her head, but Windstriker didn't see it. She cupped her paws together and aimed a pulsing pink light towards the injured dragon. Instantly he recovered, pushing himself to his feet. He watched Harmony as she soared away overhead, beyond the abandoned fortress.
The bitter northern wind picked up, pummelling them as they soared towards the ice continent. Snow flurries were whipped up in it, clinging to Windstriker's feathers. His wings flapped stiffly, but he kept on going, bracing himself against the cold.
“Are you going to be all right?” Harmony asked, trying to mask the waver in her voice.
“I'll be fine,” he said. “I can make out huge shadows up ahead. We might want to prepare to mega evolve.”
Harmony gave a curt nod.
The pidgeot's words were not premature. A streak of electricity arced through the air, and Windstriker swerved to the side. Harmony clung on tightly as he turned at an angle before the hot lightning clipped his wings. Another streak followed it coming in from his other side. He jerked sideways, almost losing his passenger. The electricity skimmed his primaries, singeing them. The staraptor beside them was engulfed in lightning. She let out a shrill squawk and dropped from the sky, taking her two passengers with her. The closest fliers leapt to her aide, talons spread to catch her falling passengers, but one found himself meeting the same fate.
The flying pokemon took it as a cue to spread themselves out, making them less of an easy target.
Harmony narrowed her eyes to try and spot their assailant through the snow. Perched atop a snowy outcrop stood a small army. A dragonite lead the charge, and his mouth lit up he readied another assault. Jagged lightning rose from him and the morepeko surrounding him, cleaving through the air towards the soaring army. A skarmory cut before Windstriker, carrying a rhyhorn in his talons. The electricity channelled into the rhyhorn's horn, where it fizzled out harmlessly.
The electric army spread out like a barrier, trying to block the flyers from passing. But beyond them...
Harmony tightened her paws into Windstriker's quills. “I can see space behind that squadron. Brace yourself, I'm going to teleport us out of their way.”
“Roger!”
“Skarmory!” She drew the metal bird's eye. “I'll get you and your charge behind their backs. Hold on.”
Harmony closed her eyes and a soft warm light surrounded her and her allies. When she opened them again, they were behind the dragonite's army, continuing forward. Other psychic-types had followed suit, taking the dragonite by surprise. Harmony heard the reassuring thud of several ground-types dropping into position.
Now they were somewhat safer, Harmony lifted her keystone. Both her and Windstriker were engulfed in light, and their bodies shifted. Windstriker's head feather stretched out behind him like a streamer, and he picked up speed, darting down towards the ice caps.
The ice continent was swarming with weavile and they threw up jagged ice towards them. Windstriker flapped his wings, creating a mighty hurricane. It swept through them, tossing the black weasel-like pokemon about like ragdolls. Harmony joined in, opening her mouth wide to create a shock-wave of noise. Together, they cut a path through the Darkness as they swept low over the ice.
It was hard to see anything through the swirling snow. Windstriker parted it with his wings, but it was swiftly filled back in. Right at the back of the army, Harmony was certain she could see Yveltal. He stood hunched over, his wings clasped tightly at his sides. If she hadn't seen his transformation herself, she'd have been convinced what she saw was nothing more than a mound of ice and rock. As they drew closer, she could make out the red markings that marred his black body.
She glanced left and right, her heart hammering in her chest. Where was Xerneas? She was certain he'd gone ahead of them. Wasn't he meant to be here already?
Yveltal's cold blue eyes pierced through the snowstorm. “You travelled all the way here to defeat me?”
There was humour in his voice. It chilled Harmony more than the ice already was doing.
Yveltal's eyes snapped onto the rest of the army rushing in. Now no longer locked in his gaze, Harmony spotted the lumps poking out of the soil. Hundreds of bodies turned to stone, half-buried in the snow. She found herself searching for any familiar faces, her heart galloping.
“You're all fools!” Yveltal roared. “Do you really think you can defeat me?! Nothing can defeat death! Estellis is now my domain!”
His crimson beam sliced through the air, and Windstriker swerved up to avoid it. His entire body turned stiff, and Harmony realised with horror that his vivid feathers were turning a dusty grey. Trapped in Yveltal's attack, the pidgeot turned his head as best he could towards her.
“Get down!” The words died out as his beak froze open.
Harmony gave herself a mental shake and dropped from his back into the snow. Her elbow grazed the rough surface of one of the statues, and she pushed herself up to stagger back from it.
Yveltal cleaved his devastating attack through the air, catching the soaring army as it swooped in towards him. Bodies rained down onto the frozen continent, both stone and flesh alike. He didn't care who he struck. The warring forces of Xerneas' army and the Darkness were the same, caught in his deadly beam as he tried to blast back his opposition.
Most of his army scattered, no longer wanting to be a part of the fight. The unfortunate were caught in his deadly beam, leaving few to escape with their lives.
Harmony looked on in bewilderment. What were they meant to do? How were they meant to defeat this?
But she had to do something.
She screwed her eyes shut and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Stop it!”
The shock-wave hit Yveltal, causing his attack to splutter out. He recoiled, flashing his wicked fangs. He dropped down, using his wings as a pair of forelegs, the claw-like feathers digging into the snow.
“You are really starting to get on my nerves,” he hissed.
His beak opened wide, and she leapt to the side to avoid his attack, rolling in the snow to join the rapidly growing army struggling through the graveyard of statues. His beam swooped over her, and he let out a deafening roar. He readied another attack, but it cut off as his head snapped to his right.
Harmony pushed herself up and followed his gaze, desperately hoping it was Xerneas. The sky swarmed with murkrow, swooping and circling overhead as they drew in closer. Her stomach sank, but then she spotted something else. Mixed in with the flock were altaria and other flying-types, and on the breeze was a war song. One that lifted her back up, and she climbed to her feet effortlessly.
Yveltal's sharp teeth poked beyond his beak. “Traitors!”
As the flock advanced towards him, he fired another crimson beam, causing them to scatter. Those caught in it vanished into the snow. The birds took on a scissor formation, coming in from both sides, jaws open as they screeched their battle cries. Yveltal cleaved his attack through the flock, disorienting them and throwing off their aim.
Harmony grit her teeth and twisted back towards Yveltal. His blue eye snapped onto her as she lifted her arms to attack. No... no time for a moonblast. A spray of purple and pink light flew from her, striking him before he could ready a counter-attack. He staggered back, the beam sputtering out. It was enough to allow the birds in, swooping down to beat him with their wings and rake with their claws.
The altaria morphed, their fluffy feathers forming into a star-shape. Their song channelled into an attack, blasting Yveltal with the full-force of a hyper voice. Yveltal lifted his wings to shield himself from it, but their attack was relentless. Snow erupted around him as the other flyers joined in with hurricanes and air slashes. But eventually, the altaria had to fall back to catch their breath.
Others swooped in to take their place, but it was enough of a break for Yveltal. He bashed his wings together, sending up a hurricane full of snow. It disoriented the altaria and covered the smaller birds, dragging them down and burying them under mounds of snow.
The sudden blizzard was blinding. Harmony raised her paws to shield her eyes. She didn't see the murkrow dropping down onto her. It struck her across the head, and she grunted, losing her grip on her mega form. Dazzling spots danced across her vision.
She heard Yveltal's attack as it sliced through the air with a shrill whine. Something struck her side on, and she rolled in a tangle of limbs across the snow.
When she looked up, the blurred form of a kommo-o stood over her. He wasn't alone. With him stood several other dragons and two weavile. She braced herself, but he gave her a nod and stood back from her, eyes on Yveltal.
“Returning the favour,” he said. “Stay behind me, all right? You lot, watch my back and take out any left of his army.”
The two weavile saluted and the small number of Yveltal's former soldiers spread out across the ice.
The kommo-o leapt forwards, his massive scales clanging. The sound tore through the frozen air, yet it washed over Harmony like water. Yveltal reeled back from it, screeching as he tried to cover his ears. He swung his head around, firing off a blind beam. It struck two of the altaria before finding its mark, silencing the enraged kommo-o. The attack turned away from Harmony, blindly taking out the warring pokemon across the icy landscape.
Then there was the sound of glass shattering. Yveltal recoiled, his beak spouting crimson smoke. Before him stood Xerneas, light radiating off his antlers.
Yveltal turned his wicked eyes onto Xerneas and sneered. “So... you chased me all the way out here?”
“I knew you'd come here,” Xerneas replied. “Leaving your army behind to fight your own war, even taking the lives of your own followers. I pity them.”
Yveltal reared up, his sneer twisting into a smirk.
Xerneas met his eyes. “This is over now.”
Yveltal's beak snapped open, letting out his devastating attack. Xerneas flicked his antlers, bringing up a pink wall of light. The crimson ray struck it harmlessly, cutting off the bird's attack. His beak went slack and he sank back on his tail feathers.
“I told you,” Xerneas said slowly, “it's over.”
Small flowers spread out from his hooves, turning the snowy white landscape into a mosaic of colours. Those touched by it turned back from stone, flopping into the snow or staring aghast at Xerneas and Yveltal.
“Your darkness has no power here, Yveltal,” said Xerneas. “You're trying to twist the minds of pokemon to believe death is the end, but it's not.”
Yveltal shuddered with rage, his beak opening and closing. But all that came out was a frustrated roar. He raised his wings and rushed towards Xerneas.
Xerneas lowered his head and lunged, catching Yveltal mid-leap. He struck Yveltal with his antlers in an explosion of light.
Harmony and the others had to close their eyes, shielding them from the blinding light. It spread out across the snowy landscape in a dazzling display, lighting up even the darkest shadows.
When it faded out, Xerneas stood over the fallen Yveltal. He looked so small now, curled up tight in a black ball.
Silence. Just the soft whisper of the icy wind.
It was over.
The two armies gathered as one, unsure of what had just happened. Yet Yveltal didn't move. His glossy feathers were like glass, frozen and unmoving despite the wind.
Xerneas turned to address the armies. “Remember what happened here today. Light will always shine in the darkness.” He paused to glance down at Yveltal. “This area is now off limits. Those that come here will find only despair.”
It took a few weeks for things to return to normal back in the Fairy Garden. It still remained closed off to the outside world, found only by those who knew of it. It was oddly devoid of dragon and dark-types, yet the number of flying-type pokemon was slowly increasing.
Harmony's heart sank as she set plates out on the dining table. So many spaces were absent of familiar faces. The salamence, garchomp, dragalge... those she had chatted with daily had vanished. Either still out there in Estellis, or lost to the void of death.
It was true. Those who'd stuck by Yveltal hadn't come back. Only those who'd had a change of heart during the battle had returned. She glanced over at the kommo-o, stuffing himself full of pancakes. He paused only when he spotted a small ralts struggling to reach the plates. The large dragon grinned as he nudged one closer to the ralts, which was met with incredibly polite gratitude.
Harmony wiped her paws on her apron and shuffled from the abbey for some fresh air. So lost in her own thoughts she almost walked straight into Furnace.
He steadied her with a paw and let out a small laugh. “You've got your head in the clouds, Harmony.” He read her face and let his paw fall to his side. “Are you alright?”
“Not really,” she said. “But I'll be fine. Like everyone else here, I just need time to recover from the shock of it all.”
He nodded his understanding.
“I was just heading out for some fresh air,” she said.
“I can come with you if you like?” he offered.
“It's okay. You go and get some breakfast while it's still hot.”
He laughed at that. “Not a problem for me, Harmony. I can heat up my own meals just fine.”
She chuckled and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?”
He nodded and watched as she strolled past him onto the grass.
She followed the path around, her mind wandering. So many spots seemed empty now. Common sunning spots were devoid of their usual reptile occupants. The planes no longer teemed with sneasel and weavile. The undergrowth was void of playful zorua. Her heart sank further and further.
Before long, she found herself at the foot of the hill. Light radiated from the top of it, and she spotted Xerneas watching the sunrise.
She jogged up the hill, arriving at his side slightly out of breath. He gave her a warm smile then turned to look back out at Estellis.
“See that, Harmony?” he asked.
She followed his gaze and covered her mouth as she let out a gasp. Estellis wasn't as she remembered it. The land was green and vibrant, but in the far north was a patch of land engulfed in shadow. Shadows that swallowed mountains and caves, and was filled with a huge forest with twisted trees. The rivers flowed away from it on their journey towards the sea, but none of them flowed towards the northern ice continent. The rivers wound their way through Estellis, almost as though they didn't want to remain in that patch of shadowy darkness.
“It's called the Shadow Lands,” Xerneas explained. “What remains of Yveltal's corruption on Estellis isn't just in the hearts of pokemon, but has marred the land itself.”
“But I thought we'd won,” said Harmony. “He's defeated... isn't he?”
Xerneas looked down at her. “He was defeated from the start. But the war he started... it isn't over yet, Harmony.”
Her fur pricked along her spine and she hugged her arms around herself.
“He unleashed death on the world, causing many to become its victims. I can reverse it for those who come to me. But many will feel its sting.”
Harmony blinked back tears. “So we're still fighting this war?”
He nodded and looked back out at Estellis. “It will rage for some time while we call back those who have scattered. Which is why I am tasking you, along with many other pokemon, with the job of spreading word about me and the Fairy Garden.”
“But why?” Harmony asked. “They already know about it. They lived here.”
“Sadly they are already forgetting. Before long, you may find that huge numbers claim they have never even heard of Xerneas, or even the fairy-type.” He turned so he was facing her. “This is your job now, and it will be passed down for generations.”
She gave a sad nod, then looked up with a smile. “Okay. I accept.”
He nodded at that and turned to make his way back down the hill.
Harmony turned to look back at the Shadow Lands. The area surrounding where Yveltal lay. The sight of it... a question wormed its way through her mind, unsettling her. She turned back to Xerneas.
“So Yveltal still lives?”
He paused mid-step. “He is imprisoned. The damage he caused is vast. Once he awakens, the war will reach its end and he shall be no more.”
Faith sat back on her hands, watching the little hatchlings as they absorbed the story. Tiny faces filled with awe, confusion and disbelief stared back at her.
“Is that it?” Storm asked.
Faith nodded. “That's the story.”
The teddiursa lowered his paw from his mouth. “Is it true?”
“Of course it is,” said Faith. “That's how the war started, and why I'm here.”
“And that's what Hydreigon is doing?” Storm asked. “Trying to find this Yvi... Yvul... thing?”
Faith chuckled. “Yveltal? Yes, Hydreigon is trying to awaken him.” She leant forward on her knees. “As you can probably see, his name is where the word 'evil' comes from.”
“I don't believe dragons can be good,” said Storm. “That Harmony was actually rescued by a kommo-o? And she was friends with a turtonator?” He practically spat the words. “I don't believe it at all.”
Faith's smile melted away and she noticed Starshine huddling down in his feathers.
“But I do believe we can win this fight,” said Storm. “That's what that story has taught me. This power you have? This fairy-type thing and mega-evolution? That's how we're gonna win, right?”
The smile returned to Faith's muzzle. Well, it was a start. “Yes. Together, we can win this.”
The pichu beamed and Faith found herself beaming with him.
“And altaria can mega-evolve too?” Starshine asked.
“They can. And they gain the fairy typing, too,” said Faith.
Starshine whispered a 'yes!' and high-fived Tad with his fluffy wing.
“Well!” Faith stood up and dusted her fur with her paws. “I'm needed in the medical ward. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“You'll bring more stories?” Starshine asked.
“Of course!” Faith replied. “Maybe I can tell you about the pokemon in search of truth?”
The hatchlings waved and cheered their 'goodbyes' as Faith left the nursery. The room felt a lot brighter, especially since Storm's mood was greatly improved. The pichu began to rally his own team for war, which, much to Starshine's surprise, also included him.
...
A/N - So there you have it. A tie-in to my old Poke-fic, The End! I apologise if it was too confusing, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the story. I did try to make it accessible, which is why so much is mentioned in the beginning. I hope you enjoyed it regardless!
Fun fact - in the original story, I never named the world this story takes place in. Places had names, but the world never did!
If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading! =D
Del
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. One-shots aren't my strong-suit. I prefer working on much longer pieces, and... it may show. But either way, I tried!
(Nervous Nelly Disclaimer - I do NOT own Pokemon or any of its characters!)Of Light and Darkness
The nursery was a void of noise. Hatchlings raced back and forth, raising their voices to be heard above the ruckus. Elemental attacks flashed across the room, lighting up the walls with erratic shadows before fizzling out into nothing. Harmless attempts at play-fighting, followed by grows and a bit of rough and tumble that wary feet tried to avoid.
Amid it all, the tiny swablu sat on the rug beside a slightly larger mudkip. The pair watched the commotion unfold before them, a daily experience that they one day hoped to be a part of.
Several flashes of electricity lit up the rug as a pichu threw his attacks at an oddly-small oshawott. The otter pokemon managed to avoid each one, laughing until she lost her balance and landed hard on her bottom.
“Urgh!” The pichu stamped his foot and placed his paws on his hips. “Why can't you just hold still?”
“Because that's defeating the point!” squeaked the oshawott. “Is it my turn now?”
“No.” The pichu, Storm, tapped his foot and his eyes lit up. “Hey! How about this. We find an easier target and take turns?” He turned a grin towards the rug. “Hey, Starshine! You wanna play?”
The swablu flapped his fluffy wings in surprise. “Me? You want to play with me?”
His mudkip friend placed a paw on his back and glared at the pichu. “Hang about, Starshine. I dinnae think he's tryin' t'be nice.”
Storm folded his arms and scowled. “Stay out of this, Tad! I'm talking to the dragon there!”
Starshine ruffled his feathers. “I'm not a dragon!”
“Not yet!” Storm met his eyes with a glare. “You wanna be a target or what? I can always ask your weird-talking friend instead.”
“It's 'n accent!” said Tad. “Me family ain't from around 'ere!”
“Me family int from arahhhhnd 'ere!” Storm mocked. “Come on then. Who's tail am I gonna kick?”
The room had fallen into silence, all eyes now on the pichu and his two victims. Behind him, a teddiursa cub sucked his paw noisily as he tried to scale the wall towards the door unseen. But before he could reach it, it cracked open, drawing everyone's attention.
A mawile poked her head around the door, beaming at the hatchlings. “Sorry I'm late!”
Starshine and Tad's eyes lit up and they leapt to their feet, bouncing on the rug. “Faith!”
The other hatchlings began to gather to the carpet, their faces a mix of emotions from excited to wary. Storm, however, stood aside with his arms still folded, glowering at the adult pokemon.
Faith paused by the rug and gestured a paw towards it, smiling warmy at the pichu. “Are you going to join us?”
“My Ma told me to be watch out for you,” he said. “She says Tinker's told all the parents you're full of lies.”
Starshine hopped around so he was facing Storm. “Dad said no such thing!”
“He isn't your dad, dragon, he's a riolu!”
Faith clapped her paws together sharply, bringing the pair into silence. She crouched down so she was almost eye-level with the pichu.
“I know Tinker doesn't exactly think much of me, but that's because he's scared, like everyone else is. Everyone reacts differently, okay? Especially when someone shows up to try and prove to them there's still hope left in this world.”
Storm puffed air from his nostrils. “Our hope is living underground, like we are doing! Away from Hydreigon and the rest of the dragons.” He shot a glare towards Starshine, who ducked his head behind his wing. No longer wanting to fight back.
Faith's smile melted away and she let out a small sigh. “Well, I'm on nursery duty today. So do you want to stay for story time, or do you need me to walk you back to your home?”
“Ma's out all day,” said Storm.
“What about your father? Where's he?”
The tension in the room became so thick you could almost cut it. Storm's usually bold eyes glazed over and he turned to look at the wall instead.
The little oshawott looked up and said in a small voice, “His father was killed by the Darkness.”
Storm's cheeks spluttered electricity, sending it off in all directions. A few of the hatchlings managed to avoid it, but a stray spark landed on the teddiursa making his fur fluff out like a pom-pom.
“Shut it, will you?!” Storm roared. He rounded back to Faith, who looked a little taken aback. “I'm gonna avenge my Dad, you'll see! I'll evolve and then I'll destroy every dragon and dark-type who crosses my path!”
The room fell into silence again, save for the crackle of electricity radiating from the enraged pichu. Tears glistened at the corners of his eyes, and his shoulders heaved. Faith watched him for a moment, and a small smile spread across her muzzle.
“I think you'll be an amazing warrior,” she said.
Storm's cheeks stopped sparking and he let out a confused grunt.
“You know,” Faith went on, “raichu can actually learn some fairy-type moves. They'd really help you out in your fight against the Darkness.”
Storm was at a loss for words. He clenched and unclenched his paws, unable to look away from Faith.
“I can tell you about them after story time, if you like?” she said. “But if you don't want to join us, you can always sit in the time-out room for a little while?” She raised a paw before Storm could retort. “But it does not mean you are in trouble, okay? If you really don't want to-”
“I'll join you.” Storm shuffled onto the mat and flopped down in a spot away from the group of hatchlings. “I wanna know what this 'fairy' thing is. If it can really defeat dragons...”
“Other pokemon 'ave seen it,” said Tad. “Tinker's even seen it 'isself.”
Faith chuckled and settled down on a cushion. “For a pokemon who hates me, he's pretty excited about the fairy-type. I guess he sees the hope behind it in his own way.” She beamed at the children all watching her silently. “So... are you ready for story time?”
The children, aside from Storm, broke into excited questions.
“Does it have fairy pokemon in it?”
“Is there fighting?”
“Is there mega-evolution? Spark told me about mega-evolution!”
“Does Hydreigon get his tail whupped?”
Faith closed her eyes and laughed. “Steady on! There might be some of those things, but I don't want to spoil it for you. But something makes me think you're going to like this story.”
...
You probably can't imagine it. A kommo-o sat beneath a tree, offering berries to a plusle and minun; a slaking lay dozing in the sun while riolu and zorua hatchlings clamber over her back; dratini racing magikarp and feebas in the river. But this is what Estellis was like many, many years ago. Pokemon lived in peace, watched over by the Giver of Life, a stag pokemon named Xerneas.
Back then, everyone knew about the fairy-type. Just like any other type, pokemon shared it, and used its moves that dazzled like light. Every type had its own strengths and weaknesses, just like they do now. And, just like now, pokemon enjoyed a good-natured fight. A test of strength that was meant to entertain, and maintain good health. That wasn't all their moves were used for, however. Pokemon would use them in dances and other artistic displays. Many would use their skills to help others, bringing berries down from tall branches for the smaller pokemon that were unable to fly or climb. Digging pokemon like diglett and sandslash would turn the soil for the grass and water pokemon that tended the orchards and farmland. Alakazam and gardevoir used their psychic skills to aid their stories, projecting images that flickered before the eyes of excited hatchlings. It was a peaceful place, and it was everywhere.
But little did we know that not everyone was at ease.
There was a jet black bird pokemon with piercing blue eyes who would often stay back and watch the fights unfold. He'd often cheer on others, namely the dragon, flying and dark-types. No one thought much of it, everyone had their own friends and family they wanted to cheer for.
One day, everyone was watching a match between two strong pokemon who put on an amazing display – a gardevoir and a turtonator. Purple light shattered against sunset embers, creating a dazzling explosion across the grassy plane. Pokemon cheered, sheltered behind the shimmering, translucent shields of metagross, meowstic and mantine.
The embers faded, and Furnace braced himself, his shell lighting up as it generated volatile energy. Harmony had predicted it, falling back to ready her next attack. Lifting her arms above her head, a ball of pink light spread out between her paws. Furnace's eyes widened as he realized he'd calculated wrong. Drawing back, he turned to spout out a flamethrower.
Harmony launched the ball forwards, sending it crashing down on the turtonator, right as the flames flew from his snout. He crumpled beneath the moonblast, and flames exploded across the grass. The field around him smouldered, and the onlooking water-types rushed to put them out before the whole plane went up in flames.
Their captivated audience cheered, their applause echoing through the warm air. Above them in the trees, a group of altaria broke into a victory song. Harmony took a bow, then plodded over to Furnace to offer a paw. The dragon took it, grinning at his opponent.
“You got me,” he said.
Harmony chuckled. “If you'd not expected me to hit you with a physical attack, you might have won that one.”
“Then do it now.” The sharp voice cut Furnace off before he could respond.
All eyes turned to the one pokemon who hadn't been clapping or cheering. The black bird stood there, wings tucked to his side, staring down the two pokemon.
He shrugged his feathery shoulders. “Do it now. Prove to me a dragon can defeat one of you fairies.”
“What, now?” Furnace laughed as he brushed singed grass off his torso. “I kind of need a rest after that match, Yveltal.”
The black bird scoffed and turned his eyes on Harmony. “Then how about you take me on, then?”
Harmony watched Yveltal cautiously as he crept towards her. Something in his demeanour unsettled her greatly, but she couldn't quite place it.
He spread his wings, gesturing to the pokemon around him. “Go on. Show me that someone like me, or this turtonator here, stands a chance at beating you? We all know you trample over dark and dragon-types like we're nothing but wild-flowers beneath your cocky feet.”
Most of the remaining audience rallied around Harmony and Furnace, joined by those who had noticed what was going on as they'd passed by. Some, however, fell silent.
A hakkamo-o raised a claw from behind Yveltal and cleared his throat. “Don't forget fighting-types.”
Yveltal glanced back at him and let out a single laugh as he turned his eyes back on the gardevoir's.
“You're wrong, Yveltal,” said a togekiss. “Only last week Ironclaw managed to defeat her in a fair fight.”
“Ironclaw is an aggron,” said Yveltal, not taking his eyes off Harmony. “He's not a dragon, nor a dark-type.”
The audience fell into silence again, and most of them shifted uneasily.
Yveltal grinned and spread his wings wide. “So what do you say, Harmony? You're meant to be the strongest here. Prove it. Fight me.”
Harmony balled her paws into fists as she stared down Yveltal. He wasn't much bigger than she was. All talk and feathers. It wasn't as if he'd never voiced his displeasure at her type before, but he'd never challenged her like this. It unsettled her, but she wasn't scared of him.
“Okay,” she said. “I'll fight you.”
Furnace put a hot paw on her shoulder. “No, Harmony. You don't have to do this-”
She waved him off. “It's fine. I still have enough strength if he's so desperate for a fight.”
Yveltal almost seemed to purr. He spread his wings slightly, rearing back into a battle stance. Harmony and Furnace parted, leaving the gardevoir to walk back into the middle of the rapidly forming ring of onlookers.
Yveltal wasn't a pushover. Harmony knew that much. The jet-black bird had showcased his fair share of battles, often coming out on top. Harmony had even beaten him herself once before, back when she was a kirlia. Yveltal had laughed it off, stating he'd put a claw wrong and accidentally thrown the match. If it was an accident, he'd been good about it. But seeing him now, she couldn't help but think he held it against her. The air he was giving off felt very, very wrong, and she wasn't the only one who'd noticed it. The togekiss almost trembled at the back of the ring, and Furnace looked like he'd rather be anywhere but there. Yet she knew he'd jump in to assist her if it came to it.
Yveltal lowered his head, indicating the battle had started. Harmony wasted no time. She lifted her arms to launch a dazzling gleam, but a streak of black bashed her across the head. Dizzying stars exploded across her vision as she careened backwards. She threw her arms to her sides to steady herself and turned, meeting Yveltal's leering eyes.
Another try. Dazzling gleam...
He let out a low snarl, causing her to step back and falter. The attack came out weaker, but he vanished into thin air before it even skimmed him. Claws raked her back from behind and she yelled, stumbling forwards into the soft grass. Before she could hit it, he appeared in front of her and struck her with a wing, sending her flying back onto her bottom.
She flinched, but only for a moment. A quick flick of her arms, and Yveltal was struck mid-leap by a flash of purple sparkling light. He screeched with fury as he was blasted back towards the crowd. The pokemon scattered, making space for Yveltal to regain his footing in the grass.
He bared his fangs and rushed her.
Harmony smiled. A careless mistake. Dragon rush would do nothing. It was her turn to vanish, teleporting behind Yveltal. He stumbled as a confused 'whu-?' left his throat.
The gardevoir brought her arms down, and a moonblast shattered on his exposed back. Yveltal crumpled beneath it with a furious howl.
It was over.
Harmony beat her paws together and marched over to Yveltal as he struggled to push himself up on his wings. She held out a paw to him, and he snapped his head back, meeting her eyes.
“It was a good fight,” she said, smiling. “You threw a few surprises my way. I enjoyed it.”
A strange strangled noise came from deep within his chest and one of his sharp canines became exposed. “Are you mocking me?”
Harmony blinked with surprise and retracted her paw. “No. I was congratul-”
“Is that all you do?” he hissed. “Beat us down then act all nice?!”
He leapt up with such speed she barely even saw it. His sharp teeth and serrated beak fastened around her throat and she let out a terrified scream. Then he grunted and fell back from her.
A warm light fell over them, and Harmony opened her eyes to find Xerneas stood over her. He stared down at Yveltal hunched on the floor at her feet, a pile of black, oily feathers with a dejected look on his face.
“There will be none of that,” said Xerneas. “It was a fair fight. You need to learn to lose with a little more dignity, my friend.”
Yveltal scoffed again and pushed himself back to his feet. “There is nothing fair about it.”
Xerneas blinked at him silently.
“The fairy-type tears through us,” Yveltal said. “Tears through us like we're nothing!” He turned his glare back onto Harmony. “But I'll find a weakness. One you share with all of us! I'll find one and I'll expose it!”
With that, he spread his wings and flew off into the sunset.
Xerneas lowered his antlers to help Harmony back to her feet.
She dusted down her skirt and turned towards him. “Thank you.”
The stag pokemon smiled warmly. “You are not hurt?”
She ran her paw over her neck, and it came away with a crimson streak across her claws. She tried to hide it from the other pokemon and looked up at Xerneas, shaking her head.
“It's just a scratch,” she said. “I'm not even sure he was sincere. It was just a threat.”
Xerneas nodded, but the silence left her feeling uncertain. He turned his head to watch after Yveltal, then looked back at the crowd of pokemon.
“Go about your day,” he said. “Don't let him worry you.”
He looked back down at Harmony and the sting immediately vanished from her neck. She pawed at where the scratches had been and met the stag's eyes.
“We don't want to alarm anyone,” he said quietly. “Try to put this behind us, and please make sure everyone else is calm?”
“Of course.”
With another warm smile, Xerneas turned and headed in the direction Yveltal had fled.
Harmony turned back to her friends, but the expressions on their faces were the description of worry. What unsettled her more was that some had stood aside, their eyes on the sky where Yveltal had vanished. Each and every one of them a dragon, fighting or dark-type.
Yveltal's words had got to them.
...
Yveltal landed ungainly beside the river and tucked in his wings. The right one throbbed where he'd crashed down on it during that fight, beneath that disgusting moonblast. He turned his attention to his bedraggled feathers as he ran over those events in his mind, but as he licked his beak something tingled his tongue.
Blood.
That was right. He'd bit Harmony out of blind fury. He'd wanted her to feel pain. Blood was a rare sight, and pokemon did their utmost not to shed any during fights. It was unnecessary. Brutal. How much needed to be shed for a pokemon to really feel pain?
He ran his tongue over his fangs and a smile spread across his beak. He'd never tasted it before. He wanted more.
“Excuse me, Yveltal?”
The small voice snapped Yveltal out of his thoughts and he looked up to see a small green pokemon shuffling towards him. The ralts clutched an oran berry in both paws, and he turned his head back and forth between Yveltal and the orchard on the other side of the river.
“Could you please help me?” the ralts asked. “I need to gather more berries, but they're too high up for my psychic to reach.”
“More... berries...?”
Yveltal's mind was fogged with the taste of Harmony's blood still dancing around his tongue. The small ralts stared up at him innocently, waiting for a reply. A tiny version of Harmony. A teeny little fairy. One who, like her, could toss a moonblast on his back and obliterate him. His feathers stood on end along his back, and the sides of his beak creased as he suppressed a snarl.
He'd had enough. The world was riddled with these fairies. They were like a disease, infecting everything they touched. They needed purging.
The ralts inclined his head on one side, and Yveltal became aware he'd just said something and the dark-type had completely missed it. Yveltal's feathers bristled and a low growl rose in his throat.
“Yveltal?” The ralts tipped his head back enough that the large bird could just make out his eyes beneath his silly helmet. “Are you okay?”
Yveltal blinked, the growl dying out as if someone had just plucked it from him. He let out a confused grunt and tucked in his wings.
“I'm fine.” His voice came out husky and he found his heart racing as he trailed his eyes over the tiny pokemon before him. “Sure. I can help, if you'll help me first.”
His eyes fell on the oran berry and the ralts looked down at it as if he'd been completely unaware he was even holding it.
“Oh!” The ralts beamed and held it up to Yveltal. “Of course! Here, take it.”
“Oh I will.”
Yveltal darted his head down and snatched up the pokemon in his beak. A cry never even left his lips. The oran berry tumbled away to rest beside the base of a tree, speckled with crimson against its blue skin.
A hot fire ran through Yveltal's body, spreading down his wings. It was as if the very energy from the ralts was flowing into him. The tiny pokemon went limp in his beak, then turned completely solid. Yveltal tightened his beak, but the pokemon was no longer soft and warm. It was like biting stone. He shook the ralts a couple of times, getting no response. No movement. He dropped him onto the grass, but his tattered body was no longer green and vibrant. It was grey, and rock solid.
Yveltal licked his beak as he watched the little fairy-type carefully. Not even a twitch. No breath. As lifeless as a statue. He nudged him with a talon, but it wasn't an act.
Yveltal inclined his head on one side. He'd done this. He'd defeated this puny fairy. Is this what happened to them? They turned to stone?
“Interesting,” Yveltal purred. “So there is a way to be rid of you after all?”
His body was still on fire, tracing channels along his wings. He jerked his head towards them, watching as stripes as red as blood spread along their underside. A few red spots appeared on his chest, and he tried to wipe them off to no avail. It was as if his discovery was embedding itself into his very being.
A deep laugh echoed from his throat and he spread his wings wide, turning to address the ralts.
“You see this?” Yveltal boomed. “I've learned your little secret. I know your weakness. The fairy-type isn't as strong as you think, is it? You can rest knowing you were the first to meet this fate.”
Hot fire boiled in his chest and he turned his head sharply left and right, looking for another target to test this discovery on. But there was nothing. Just trees.
Trees. They were also alive.
He turned to the one beside him and opened his beak wide. But before he could fasten his jaws around it, a huge beam fired from his mouth, engulfing the entire tree. That familiar energy flooded him again, but it wasn't as vibrant as what the ralts had given to him.
Yet the tree met the same fate. Grey. Lifeless. A stony statue.
His jaw went slack and he blinked at the tree, not quite believing what he'd just seen. That beam... had he just learned a new move? He needed to test it. See if he could do it again.
“Yveltal!”
He snapped his head around towards the familiar voice. Xerneas stared back at him, standing over the fallen ralts. Tiny flowers spread around the stag's hooves, pooling around the fallen fairy. The grey hue melted away, and his tiny body knitted back together before Yveltal's eyes.
Yet Xerneas' eyes lacked the warmth Yveltal was familiar with. Xerneas lifted his head high and met Yveltal's blue eyes.
“Stop this,” he said.
The ralts sat up, rubbing his eyes as if he'd only been sleeping. Yveltal looked between him and Xerneas, stuttering. It couldn't be... the pokemon had been... Yveltal had taken his life, and now he had it back?!
“Xerneas?” The ralts looked up at the colourful stag. “What am I doing here?”
Xerneas lowered his head to nuzzle the ralts before turning his attention back to Yveltal.
Yveltal watched the ralts as he pushed himself to his feet. If Xerneas could reverse it just like that, then there was no way Yveltal's new skill would stand a chance, even in a fair fight. He needed more practice.
So he snapped his beak shut and feigned innocence, shrugging his feathery shoulders. “It wasn't me. I found him like this.”
“I saw you.” Xerneas said. “I watched as you claimed that tree.”
Yveltal looked back at the tree. Tiny colourful flowers decorated its base, and the grey melted away to reveal the cool bark and lush green leaves. Yveltal tutted. Had he been wrong? Was there really no way to counter this foolish fairy-type?
“Death has no place here, Yveltal,” Xerneas told him. “The abhorrent things you've just done are already warping you. I want you to think very carefully about where your place is, and if you wish to stay here, you are to abide by the law.”
“...Death?” Yveltal closed his eyes and let out a single laugh. He spread his mottled wings wide and lowered himself to take off. “I shall think very carefully about what you just told me, Xerneas.” He beat the air and rose up high off the ground in one swoop. “Very carefully.”
He turned and took off towards the forest.
...
The next morning, the abbey dining hall was bustling with pokemon waiting for their breakfast. Pokemon flooded through the doors and windows, and drifted in along the water through a tunnel in the ground. The large pool was alive with various colourful pokemon chatting and catching up before those more adapted to land clambered out to join their friends around the massive table.
Harmony bustled back and forth with the rest of those on duty that morning, setting out plates of fresh berries, cakes, pastries, soups and other delicious-smelling items. It was only one of several abbeys, but it was the most populous given it was right in the centre of Estellis. Pokemon had yet to spread across the entire continent.
Harmony paused to look up at the window, her heart in her throat as a huge black bird landed in it. A corviknight. He squeezed his way through and settled at the table between a pidgeot Harmony knew as Windstriker, and a dragonite.
Harmony let out a sigh and set the bowl of soup she'd been holding neatly on the table. “Has anyone seen Yveltal since yesterday?”
Several of the pokemon shook their heads, and the room gradually fell into silence.
“I'm a little worried about him,” said Harmony. “He didn't take that fight very well at all.”
“It's been a growing trend,” said an alcreamie as she shuffled through with a berry soufflé. “Every fight he has seems to get him riled up.”
“He had a point though.” A garchomp leant his head on one claw while he buttered his toast with the other. “You fairy-types always have the upper paw in battle against us dragons. It's like we can't beat you unless we have steel or poison moves in our arsenal.”
The sylveon across from him looked up and spoke around a mouth-full of cake. “Like you with your poison jab?”
The garchomp scoffed. “That's useless against pokemon like mawile and klefki.”
A dragalge leant her head on the edge of the pool. “Story of my life.”
“Not to mention our dragon moves can't even touch you,” said a salamence. “At least dark-types can get a punch in.”
The scrafty beside him fired him a glare. “We have a hard enough time too, yanno!”
The room exploded into a heated debate, leaving Harmony and the young alcreamie to stare on helplessly.
“Guys, please!” Harmony clapped her paws together in a desperate bid for order. “Don't let him get to you! We have fair fights all the the time, and you're more than equipped to deal with us.”
“Yeah, it's a matter of skill!” said a mawile from across the table.
“Oh, so we lack skill now?!” the salamence roared. “Say that with my flamethrower to your face!”
“What's going on in here?!”
The booming voice dragged the hall into silence as all eyes went to the door. Furnace stood just inside the hall, glaring the room down into submission.
“We're all friends here, right?!” he roared. “Act like it!” He moved behind Harmony and placed a warm paw on her shoulder. “Are you okay? You look exhausted.”
“I'm fine.” She shrugged him off and turned back towards the kitchen. “It just appears what Yveltal said yesterday has got under their skin. I've been dealing with comments like this all night.”
“You don't need that,” said Furnace.
“Help yourself to breakfast. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Really.” Harmony feigned a smile as she ducked back into the kitchen.
Furnace exchanged worried glances with the alcremie. “How can I not?”
A flurry of charcoal feathers erupted through the window, followed by two murkrow landing on the table to eye the plates of berries. One of them let out a muffled caw as he raised his head to look up and down the table.
A pidgey turned to address them. “Help yourself! They're for everyone.”
The murkrow scoffed and glared around at the table's occupants. “I won't break bread with any fairy-types.”
Tension rippled across the room as all eyes turned to the newcomers.
The second murkrow spread his wings wide and strutted into the centre of the table. “We've all heard about what Yveltal said yesterday. The word has spread. We've had enough, and I'm sure all dragon and dark-types here would agree. We get beaten too often by the abundant fairy-type. It seems most pokemon possess at least one move that can obliterate us. So Yveltal is calling a new world order!”
Most of the table gasped, masking the soft thud of food falling to the floor. A plate shattered in the kitchen and the staff rushed to the door to catch the murkrow's speech.
“This is a call to war!” he boomed. “Those who have had enough are to rally around Yveltal. Dragon, dark and flying-types alike!”
“War?!” the mawile gasped.
“A war!” the murkrow repeated. “Against all who are not dragon, dark or flying-types.”
“Why flying?” Windstriker asked. “Flying-types have no problem with the fairies.”
The murkrow twisted on the spot to face him. “Because Yveltal is part flying-type!” He turned to address the table again. “So all of you who fall into those categories who wish to fight back are to rally around Yveltal in the courtyard in one hour!”
“Hey! I'm tired of being beaten down too!” said a hitmonlee, almost leaning over the table. “What about me?”
The murkrow leered at him. “Take it up with Yveltal.”
The pair fluttered back out of the window, leaving the dining hall in a freezing silence.
Harmony stood in the doorway to the kitchen, her paws trembling as they strained to hold a tray heaped with berry pancakes. Furnace watched her and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Harmony barely even noticed him, her eyes still trained on the window.
“What is Yveltal doing?” she whispered.
...
Harmony couldn't help it. She had to know what was going on, to make sure it was just some terrible misunderstanding.
She rushed to the courtyard at the allocated time, and it was already teaming with pokemon. Hundreds of curious onlookers who had received Yveltal's message. But her heart froze in her chest when she spotted the uncountable mass gathered at the far end of the concrete square, glaring at her. At the fairy-types surrounding her.
Hundreds of dragons, dark-types and birds of all species spread across the courtyard, and in the middle of them stood Yveltal, only he looked different. So much so she wasn't sure it was him at first. Crimson feathers mixed with the black in a mottled pattern across his chest, and around his neck they had started to turn white.
He raised his head higher than the rest. “Is there anyone else?! Anyone who wishes to rally against the filthy fairy-type?!”
“Me!”
Harmony was knocked aside as the hitmonlee from the dining hall shoved past her. He scampered into the middle of the courtyard and twisted to glare back at Harmony and the others.
“I want to join you!” he told Yveltal. “I'm fed up with being beaten down too!”
“So am I!” A machoke squeezed through the crowd to join him. “Only yesterday I lost to a klefki. I thought I stood a chance.”
Yveltal's beak twisted in a sneer. “I'm sorry. Are you two dragons?”
The machoke stuttered and both fighting-types visibly tensed.
“Dark-type, maybe?” Yveltal went on. “Or do you spout wings and take to the sky?”
“Why do you only want those three?” the hitmonlee asked. “Because they're weak to the fairy-type? Flying pokemon aren't, but we are!”
“I'm taking these types because they are shared with me,” Yveltal explained. “You, however, are not.”
“Shared?” the hitmonlee scoffed. “But you're not even a dragon! Why take them and not us?”
“Why?” Yveltal spread his large wings. “Because I relate to them, that's why.”
“Yveltal, please!” Harmony pushed forward until she was standing ahead of the crowd. “Why are you doing this? It was just a fight!”
“Silence!” he roared. “It was not just a fight, gardevoir. It's a hundred fights. Each and every one, defeated by your wretched attacks!”
“Everyone loses sometimes, Yveltal. You have to take it, learn from it and-”
“Oh but I have learned from it.” Yveltal waved a wing to shove his followers aside and edged forwards into the courtyard. “I've learned from it very well. I've learned where my place is in this world, and I won't stand for it. Do you know how it feels to be the only one of your kind, Harmony? A lone pokemon who isn't entirely sure if he's a bird or a dragon, since he resembles both. I wondered why I was created, and I've come to realise it's to be nothing more than a punching bag for all of you!”
“You're wrong!” shouted Harmony.
“Exactly the same as the dragon and dark-types.” A smirk tugged at his beak. “Nothing more than someone to be trampled, crushed and blinded by your fairy attacks!”
“Lies!” shouted a deep voice from the back of the crowd.
Harmony bristled. Yveltal was lying, and by the smirk on his beak he knew it. But those who agreed with him were lapping it up, throwing jeers and insults across the courtyard.
Yveltal threw his wings out to the side, bringing his rabble into silence. “My vision is to create a world that is void of any type that can counter us. A world of only dragon, dark and flying-type pokemon! No fairy-types. No ice-types. Nothing else but us! Those that share at least one of those typings are welcome, but anything else will be eradicated. Sent into oblivion!
“You think we'll let you?!” a ninetales scoffed, frost radiating off her snowy fur. “We'll fight back!”
The pokemon around her shouted their agreement.
“Oh but of course!” said Yveltal. “That's what a war is! But it won't be easy for any of you. I'll win this war! I've found a way to counter the fairy-type! A means to defeat them, finally, and come out on top! A weakness not just the fairy-type has, but each and every single one of you!” He turned his blue eyes back on the two fighting pokemon. “You wish to help me? Well, I think I've found a use for you. Allow me to demonstrate!”
He opened his beak wide and a huge crimson beam shot out, striking the hitmonlee square on. His scream died in his throat, coming out as nothing more than a husky squeak. His entire body locked up, and a grey hue spread over him starting at his feet and expanding across his body.
The machoke beside him watched in wide-eyed terror, inching away from his frozen friend. Then he turned to flee into the crowd.
Yveltal turned his attack onto him, catching the machoke in the same beam. He met the same fate as the hitmonlee, and both of them stood there, frozen like stone statues. The hitmonlee with one arm up in defense, and the machoke running with a look of sheer fright frozen on his face.
Yveltal shuddered, his head twitching at odd angles. Those red feathers spread out across his body, turning his entire underside crimson. Black veins erupted across his wings, and the white feathers around his neck grew, spreading out like the wispy coat of a dodrio.
He stood taller now, towering over most of his rabble. He flashed Harmony a sinister grin then looked over at the rest of the terrified pokemon.
“Do you see?” he said. “I've found a means to defeat you, and I know it works on fairy-types. But if you need me to demonstrate-”
He fired off another beam straight at Harmony. Firm claws fastened around her waist, throwing her backwards into the crowd. A grunt reached her ears, and she looked up to see Furnace standing over her. His red body rapidly turned grey, with the texture of stone. Yveltal's wicked beam reached over the rest of the group, catching pokemon one by one. The group scattered, but some that fled were frozen mid-sprint. Harmony tried to push herself up, her shouts for calm falling on deaf ears.
She needed to get out of there. To get help.
The crimson beam reached over her head, pinning her to the ground. It didn't give off any light. Instead it radiated darkness.
A lithe shadow bounded over her body, and Xerneas landed before her and the other pokemon. A silvery barrier flew up around them, bouncing away Yveltal's devastating beam.
The red and black bird recoiled back and tucked his wings in at his sides. His blue eyes narrowed, fixing Xerneas in a leer.
Tiny flowers flowed like a rainbow across the grass from the stag's golden hooves. Those they touched who'd turned to stone melted back into their normal selves. The machoke staggered forwards, flailing his arms as his eyes fell on Xerneas.
The stag stared down Yveltal, unwavering. “I see you've chosen your place.”
Yveltal laughed. “I'd already chosen it, Xerneas.” He waved a wing at the mob behind him. “And it looks like I'm not alone.”
Xerneas looked up at Yveltal's followers. Some of them appeared uncertain, shifting uncomfortably as they struggled to meet Xerneas' eyes.
“It is not too late for you to come back to me,” he told them. “I can assure you Yveltal has been feeding you lies. Not a single one of you was created to be nothing more than a punching bag. But if you wish to stick with Yveltal, then there is no place for you here. He, and anyone who follows him, is banished, and will meet the same fate he is destined for himself.”
Several of his followers exchanged worried glances and parted from the group, shuffling across the courtyard to rejoin Xerneas. Yveltal watched them with scorn and snapped his attention back to the stag.
“Oh?” Yveltal scoffed. “And what fate is that?”
“You wish to be a bringer of death,” said Xerneas. “You shall ultimately bring that on yourself also.”
More of Yveltal's group melted away, scurrying back to Xerneas and their friends. Their families.
Xerneas met Yveltal's eyes, waiting patiently for any of the black bird's remaining followers to decide where exactly they wanted to stand.
Those that remained stared back with defiance.
Xerneas nodded once. “Very well. It is decided.” He looked up at Yveltal with eyes that flashed like fire. “Leave.”
Yveltal's beak went slack for a moment, then his feathers bristled. He turned sharply and led his followers away from Xerneas and the abbey.
Xerneas turned his head back to his pokemon, and a shimmering light spread out from him across the courtyard, radiating across the surrounding planes and forests.
“Do not worry,” he said. “He cannot come back here.”
“But what about the others?” Harmony asked.
He turned to look back at where Yveltal had vanished. “He wishes to start a war. We will win that war. Come, I shall prepare you for it.” He looked over at the disheartened, worried and frightened pokemon. “And anyone else who wishes to fight alongside me.”
The group of pokemon rose into a mumble of private discussion. Furnace looked at those around him, then stepped forwards, jabbing a claw into his chest.
“Me,” he said. “I'll fight.”
A smile spread across Xerneas' muzzle. Above him, three altaria began to circle, seeming to appear from the clouds. They hummed softly, the calming song spreading out over the crowd.
“Me too!” said the frosty ninetales. “I'll join you!”
“And me!” said the alcreamie chef.
Cries of agreement exploded through the crowd, and the altaria broke into a jovial melody, joined by other birds.
“Then allow me to instruct you.” Xerneas stood back, and his antlers lit up like the sun.
A weight tugged at Harmony's wrist and she looked down to find a round jewel encased in a golden band fastened around it. She wasn't alone. Hundreds of pokemon had received a similar gift.
Xerneas lifted his head to address the crowd. “Some of you have been chosen to lead your squads in battle. You shall evolve further, but only for a short time. Your squads will rely on you, and each and every one of you here shall use your unique gifts in the battle to come.”
The crowd exploded into cheers.
“Please train,” Xerneas told them. “It will be a long and gruelling battle, but I assure you. We will win.”
...
The following months were arduous and fierce. The area Xerneas had sectioned off was a safe zone. Neither Yveltal or his followers could enter it. Pokemon on the outside reported of confusion from those who knew it was there, but instead found themselves only in bare open land. It became known as the Fairy Garden.
The world beyond it became rapidly war-torn. Pokemon found themselves under attack from the Darkness as Yveltal strove to grow his numbers. His lies spread like weeds across Estellis, turning hearts away from Xerneas' light to be corrupted by Yveltal's darkness. Those who refused to turn either fell to the wicked mercy of his claws, or fled across Estellis in search of the Fairy Garden. Many found it, and over time Xerneas' army grew in number and in strength.
It had taken a long time for Harmony to perfect the art of mega evolution. It was a skill that gave her immense strength, yet also drained it away. She, among all the others who had trained in it, couldn't transform frequently. It was a skill that needed to be executed perfectly.
She'd wandered from the training room for a break, turning the bangle idly around her wrist. It wasn't the keystone for her gardevoirite, but rather the stone for her ally, the pidgeot Windstriker. Powering up one another meant it took less energy than to perform the task solo. Her gardevoirite was fastened in a blue headband that vanished beyond the fur by her ears.
As she strolled up the sun-soaked hill to clear her mind from her training battles, she found Xerneas stood atop it, looking out over Estellis. The sight of the world made Harmony's heart ache. The once-green treetops were black with the feathered forms of murkrow, and a couple of miles away a small village blazed. Thick smoke curled up into the sky, merging with the grey storm clouds Harmony hoped would soon burst to neutralize the flames.
“It won't be long now,” said Xerneas. “Soon we'll be driving Yveltal back across Estellis. At sunrise tomorrow, I shall rally everyone into battle.”
“You think we're ready?” Harmony idly twirled the keystone bangle as she gazed out at the terrible landscape.
Xerneas smiled down at her and nodded. “I know you're ready.”
He turned from the hilltop and a few altaria burst from the trees, humming a sombre tune as they circled above.
Harmony watched the burning village for a moment then turned towards the stag. “Xerneas?”
He stopped part way down the hill to look back at her.
Harmony swallowed around a lump in her throat. “I can't deny I'm terrified. None of us have ever gone to war before.”
“That is understandable. Everyone here must share the same feelings with you.”
Harmony glanced back at the war-torn landscape. “Can we really win this?”
“Harmony?”
She looked back up at Xerneas.
“The moment Yveltal rebelled against me and left this garden,” he said, “he was defeated.”
With a warm smile at her, Xerneas turned and continued his way back down the hillside.
...
Sunrise seemed to arrive a lot faster than expected. Harmony had strove to get in another training session before finally getting to sleep. Despite the short burst of sleep she'd snagged, she still felt energized.
The courtyard had been teeming with pokemon, stretching out as far as the hills surrounding the abbey. Xerneas stood at the head of the courtyard on a raised platform sheltered by a gazebo.
“Today, we battle!” he said. “This is what you have all been training for. Yveltal's army will be driven back across Estellis to the Ice Continent, where he shall be imprisoned. Just like a light chases away the shadows of night, I want you all to remember that the Darkness will be defeated!”
Xerneas' words echoed around in Harmony's head. The army had split off to drive back sections of Yveltal's army from the surrounding villages and woodland habitats. Harmony and Windstriker had been recruited into the main heart of the army – those going after Yveltal.
A stream of fire cut before her, engulfing a small squadron of weavile. They screeched and crumpled to the bare ground. Harmony launched a dazzling gleam to combat those that had just missed being caught in the inferno.
Furnace swiped embers from his mouth as he stared out at the dark and dragon-types rushing towards them. Those who could fly circled in the air, making it near impossible for Xerneas' army to get off the ground.
“It's gonna take us a fair while to cleave a path through this lot,” said Furnace.
Furnace was one of many pokemon who could handle icy planes well. The cold bitter air blew in from the north, chilling through Harmony's fur, but the heat radiating from her friend made it much more bearable. Three days they had been marching, and she was starting to feel the toll.
“We need to get up there if we're going to reach Yveltal.” Windstriker threw out an air cutter, blowing back a pangoro. “We need to focus on clearing the skies.”
Just several feet away, the frosty ninetales was leading an army of ice and electric-types in doing just that. Blizzards cut through the air, joined with flashes of lightning. Flying-types dropped like hailstones to be dealt with by those on the ground. But the murkrow flocks and soaring dragons were relentless. It was as if an endless stream of them were soaring down from all four corners of Estellis to stop Xerneas' army advancing towards Yveltal.
Yveltal was nowhere to be seen, sheltered beyond the jagged monoliths of stone that served as his fortress. Murkrow circled over it, keeping a watchful eye and shouting out commands in their own cawing language.
Harmony squinted at them as something clicked into place. She pointed a claw. “There! We need to take out those sentries. I think they're the ones calling in the reinforcements.”
She ducked as a fraxure leapt at her, claws and teeth bared. She lifted her arms for a dazzling gleam, but the dragon blew back from her in an explosion of flames. Furnace's shell smouldered where the fraxure had struck it, leaving the smaller dragon lying on his back dazed. The larger turtle-like dragon brought his foot down on the fraxure's chest and shot Harmony a quick glance.
“We can't get up there,” he said. “But I think you're right. We need to send message somehow to those closer to the fortress.”
That wasn't going to be easy. Harmony and her friends were further back than the rest of the army. Getting a message to the front-line would be nigh impossible. But they needed some way to take out those murkrow and fast... She glanced over at the ice-types again, and a light went on in her brain.
“Windstriker! Can you gust those blizzards towards the fortress?”
The pidgeot looked up with a start, his talons fastened around a writhing goomy that she'd completely missed.
“If the blizzard hits those murkrow,” Harmony explained, “they'll fall. They can't fly in snowstorms.”
“Huh! Tell me about it.” Windstriker rustled his feathers. “All right. If they send out a massive blizzard then I'll see what I can do.”
Harmony smiled. Getting a message that far ahead she could do alone. She fixed her mind on the ninetales, but it was cut off as a set of wicked claws flashed before her eyes. A dazzling gleam leapt from her paws and the obstagoon rolled away from her. She had to look away as the bewear just before her stumbled back to crush the unfortunate pokemon beneath the combined weight of herself and the garchomp she was grappling with.
Harmony tried again, fixing her mind back on the ninetales. 'It's Harmony! We have a plan. Send out a joint blizzard and we'll blow it towards the fortress.'
The ninetail's ear twitched back towards her, but the word had registered.
Harmony spotted an altaria above, aiding a xatu in a fight against a drampa. It didn't look like the fight was going in their favor. The altaria was singed with dragonfire, and the xatu looked worse for wear.
Harmony lifted her paws and launched a moonblast into the air. The drampa let out a squeak when he noticed it and the purple flames in his mouth sputtered out. The pink ball of light smashed down on him from above, and the pokemon beneath scattered to avoid him.
Harmony nodded to the altaria. 'Please aide Windstriker in blowing the blizzard towards the murkrow sentries.'
The altaria followed her glance towards the fortress. The ninetales' blizzard was already rising into the air, and Windstriker was getting himself into position. The altaria passed the message on to the xatu, and the pair joined Windstriker in whipping up a gale.
The wind caught the blizzard, blowing it out across the warring armies in the sky. The dragon and flying-types working against them tried to fight back, but when Xerneas' army realized what was going on, more of his flying soldiers leapt to the aide. Soon, the Darkness' flying-types began to freeze, falling back cold and exhausted as they were no longer able to remain in the air.
As the blizzard raged, the ninetales began to look exhausted, along with her team. Still, they kept at it until the raging snow was billowing over the fortress. The sentries cawed with frustration, trying to beat the snow back with frozen wings. They were forced to land beyond the walls, freeing up the sky.
Just as Harmony had guessed, without their watch and battlecries, no more came in to aide the fight. The skies were free.
Windstriker landed back beside Harmony and nodded. “Shall we go over the walls?”
Harmony climbed onto his back, and, along with many others, the army was lifted over the walls into the fortress. Harmony looked down as they passed over the jagged walls, and her heart froze. Below them, stone statues littered the yard. Pokemon frozen in the thick of battle, both Xerneas' army and the Darkness alike.
No sign of Yveltal. He'd left his army to fight his battle, and by the looks of things he didn't care who got in his way when he fought back before fleeing.
“Wait!” Harmony cried. “There's someone wounded down there.”
Lying on the floor between the statues was a kommo-o. His limbs twitched as he tried to push himself up, and he fixed a wary eye on the army moving in overhead.
“There's nothing we can do now.” Windstriker said. “We'll have to just press on until we reach Yveltal.”
Harmony shook her head, but Windstriker didn't see it. She cupped her paws together and aimed a pulsing pink light towards the injured dragon. Instantly he recovered, pushing himself to his feet. He watched Harmony as she soared away overhead, beyond the abandoned fortress.
The bitter northern wind picked up, pummelling them as they soared towards the ice continent. Snow flurries were whipped up in it, clinging to Windstriker's feathers. His wings flapped stiffly, but he kept on going, bracing himself against the cold.
“Are you going to be all right?” Harmony asked, trying to mask the waver in her voice.
“I'll be fine,” he said. “I can make out huge shadows up ahead. We might want to prepare to mega evolve.”
Harmony gave a curt nod.
The pidgeot's words were not premature. A streak of electricity arced through the air, and Windstriker swerved to the side. Harmony clung on tightly as he turned at an angle before the hot lightning clipped his wings. Another streak followed it coming in from his other side. He jerked sideways, almost losing his passenger. The electricity skimmed his primaries, singeing them. The staraptor beside them was engulfed in lightning. She let out a shrill squawk and dropped from the sky, taking her two passengers with her. The closest fliers leapt to her aide, talons spread to catch her falling passengers, but one found himself meeting the same fate.
The flying pokemon took it as a cue to spread themselves out, making them less of an easy target.
Harmony narrowed her eyes to try and spot their assailant through the snow. Perched atop a snowy outcrop stood a small army. A dragonite lead the charge, and his mouth lit up he readied another assault. Jagged lightning rose from him and the morepeko surrounding him, cleaving through the air towards the soaring army. A skarmory cut before Windstriker, carrying a rhyhorn in his talons. The electricity channelled into the rhyhorn's horn, where it fizzled out harmlessly.
The electric army spread out like a barrier, trying to block the flyers from passing. But beyond them...
Harmony tightened her paws into Windstriker's quills. “I can see space behind that squadron. Brace yourself, I'm going to teleport us out of their way.”
“Roger!”
“Skarmory!” She drew the metal bird's eye. “I'll get you and your charge behind their backs. Hold on.”
Harmony closed her eyes and a soft warm light surrounded her and her allies. When she opened them again, they were behind the dragonite's army, continuing forward. Other psychic-types had followed suit, taking the dragonite by surprise. Harmony heard the reassuring thud of several ground-types dropping into position.
Now they were somewhat safer, Harmony lifted her keystone. Both her and Windstriker were engulfed in light, and their bodies shifted. Windstriker's head feather stretched out behind him like a streamer, and he picked up speed, darting down towards the ice caps.
The ice continent was swarming with weavile and they threw up jagged ice towards them. Windstriker flapped his wings, creating a mighty hurricane. It swept through them, tossing the black weasel-like pokemon about like ragdolls. Harmony joined in, opening her mouth wide to create a shock-wave of noise. Together, they cut a path through the Darkness as they swept low over the ice.
It was hard to see anything through the swirling snow. Windstriker parted it with his wings, but it was swiftly filled back in. Right at the back of the army, Harmony was certain she could see Yveltal. He stood hunched over, his wings clasped tightly at his sides. If she hadn't seen his transformation herself, she'd have been convinced what she saw was nothing more than a mound of ice and rock. As they drew closer, she could make out the red markings that marred his black body.
She glanced left and right, her heart hammering in her chest. Where was Xerneas? She was certain he'd gone ahead of them. Wasn't he meant to be here already?
Yveltal's cold blue eyes pierced through the snowstorm. “You travelled all the way here to defeat me?”
There was humour in his voice. It chilled Harmony more than the ice already was doing.
Yveltal's eyes snapped onto the rest of the army rushing in. Now no longer locked in his gaze, Harmony spotted the lumps poking out of the soil. Hundreds of bodies turned to stone, half-buried in the snow. She found herself searching for any familiar faces, her heart galloping.
“You're all fools!” Yveltal roared. “Do you really think you can defeat me?! Nothing can defeat death! Estellis is now my domain!”
His crimson beam sliced through the air, and Windstriker swerved up to avoid it. His entire body turned stiff, and Harmony realised with horror that his vivid feathers were turning a dusty grey. Trapped in Yveltal's attack, the pidgeot turned his head as best he could towards her.
“Get down!” The words died out as his beak froze open.
Harmony gave herself a mental shake and dropped from his back into the snow. Her elbow grazed the rough surface of one of the statues, and she pushed herself up to stagger back from it.
Yveltal cleaved his devastating attack through the air, catching the soaring army as it swooped in towards him. Bodies rained down onto the frozen continent, both stone and flesh alike. He didn't care who he struck. The warring forces of Xerneas' army and the Darkness were the same, caught in his deadly beam as he tried to blast back his opposition.
Most of his army scattered, no longer wanting to be a part of the fight. The unfortunate were caught in his deadly beam, leaving few to escape with their lives.
Harmony looked on in bewilderment. What were they meant to do? How were they meant to defeat this?
But she had to do something.
She screwed her eyes shut and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Stop it!”
The shock-wave hit Yveltal, causing his attack to splutter out. He recoiled, flashing his wicked fangs. He dropped down, using his wings as a pair of forelegs, the claw-like feathers digging into the snow.
“You are really starting to get on my nerves,” he hissed.
His beak opened wide, and she leapt to the side to avoid his attack, rolling in the snow to join the rapidly growing army struggling through the graveyard of statues. His beam swooped over her, and he let out a deafening roar. He readied another attack, but it cut off as his head snapped to his right.
Harmony pushed herself up and followed his gaze, desperately hoping it was Xerneas. The sky swarmed with murkrow, swooping and circling overhead as they drew in closer. Her stomach sank, but then she spotted something else. Mixed in with the flock were altaria and other flying-types, and on the breeze was a war song. One that lifted her back up, and she climbed to her feet effortlessly.
Yveltal's sharp teeth poked beyond his beak. “Traitors!”
As the flock advanced towards him, he fired another crimson beam, causing them to scatter. Those caught in it vanished into the snow. The birds took on a scissor formation, coming in from both sides, jaws open as they screeched their battle cries. Yveltal cleaved his attack through the flock, disorienting them and throwing off their aim.
Harmony grit her teeth and twisted back towards Yveltal. His blue eye snapped onto her as she lifted her arms to attack. No... no time for a moonblast. A spray of purple and pink light flew from her, striking him before he could ready a counter-attack. He staggered back, the beam sputtering out. It was enough to allow the birds in, swooping down to beat him with their wings and rake with their claws.
The altaria morphed, their fluffy feathers forming into a star-shape. Their song channelled into an attack, blasting Yveltal with the full-force of a hyper voice. Yveltal lifted his wings to shield himself from it, but their attack was relentless. Snow erupted around him as the other flyers joined in with hurricanes and air slashes. But eventually, the altaria had to fall back to catch their breath.
Others swooped in to take their place, but it was enough of a break for Yveltal. He bashed his wings together, sending up a hurricane full of snow. It disoriented the altaria and covered the smaller birds, dragging them down and burying them under mounds of snow.
The sudden blizzard was blinding. Harmony raised her paws to shield her eyes. She didn't see the murkrow dropping down onto her. It struck her across the head, and she grunted, losing her grip on her mega form. Dazzling spots danced across her vision.
She heard Yveltal's attack as it sliced through the air with a shrill whine. Something struck her side on, and she rolled in a tangle of limbs across the snow.
When she looked up, the blurred form of a kommo-o stood over her. He wasn't alone. With him stood several other dragons and two weavile. She braced herself, but he gave her a nod and stood back from her, eyes on Yveltal.
“Returning the favour,” he said. “Stay behind me, all right? You lot, watch my back and take out any left of his army.”
The two weavile saluted and the small number of Yveltal's former soldiers spread out across the ice.
The kommo-o leapt forwards, his massive scales clanging. The sound tore through the frozen air, yet it washed over Harmony like water. Yveltal reeled back from it, screeching as he tried to cover his ears. He swung his head around, firing off a blind beam. It struck two of the altaria before finding its mark, silencing the enraged kommo-o. The attack turned away from Harmony, blindly taking out the warring pokemon across the icy landscape.
Then there was the sound of glass shattering. Yveltal recoiled, his beak spouting crimson smoke. Before him stood Xerneas, light radiating off his antlers.
Yveltal turned his wicked eyes onto Xerneas and sneered. “So... you chased me all the way out here?”
“I knew you'd come here,” Xerneas replied. “Leaving your army behind to fight your own war, even taking the lives of your own followers. I pity them.”
Yveltal reared up, his sneer twisting into a smirk.
Xerneas met his eyes. “This is over now.”
Yveltal's beak snapped open, letting out his devastating attack. Xerneas flicked his antlers, bringing up a pink wall of light. The crimson ray struck it harmlessly, cutting off the bird's attack. His beak went slack and he sank back on his tail feathers.
“I told you,” Xerneas said slowly, “it's over.”
Small flowers spread out from his hooves, turning the snowy white landscape into a mosaic of colours. Those touched by it turned back from stone, flopping into the snow or staring aghast at Xerneas and Yveltal.
“Your darkness has no power here, Yveltal,” said Xerneas. “You're trying to twist the minds of pokemon to believe death is the end, but it's not.”
Yveltal shuddered with rage, his beak opening and closing. But all that came out was a frustrated roar. He raised his wings and rushed towards Xerneas.
Xerneas lowered his head and lunged, catching Yveltal mid-leap. He struck Yveltal with his antlers in an explosion of light.
Harmony and the others had to close their eyes, shielding them from the blinding light. It spread out across the snowy landscape in a dazzling display, lighting up even the darkest shadows.
When it faded out, Xerneas stood over the fallen Yveltal. He looked so small now, curled up tight in a black ball.
Silence. Just the soft whisper of the icy wind.
It was over.
The two armies gathered as one, unsure of what had just happened. Yet Yveltal didn't move. His glossy feathers were like glass, frozen and unmoving despite the wind.
Xerneas turned to address the armies. “Remember what happened here today. Light will always shine in the darkness.” He paused to glance down at Yveltal. “This area is now off limits. Those that come here will find only despair.”
...
It took a few weeks for things to return to normal back in the Fairy Garden. It still remained closed off to the outside world, found only by those who knew of it. It was oddly devoid of dragon and dark-types, yet the number of flying-type pokemon was slowly increasing.
Harmony's heart sank as she set plates out on the dining table. So many spaces were absent of familiar faces. The salamence, garchomp, dragalge... those she had chatted with daily had vanished. Either still out there in Estellis, or lost to the void of death.
It was true. Those who'd stuck by Yveltal hadn't come back. Only those who'd had a change of heart during the battle had returned. She glanced over at the kommo-o, stuffing himself full of pancakes. He paused only when he spotted a small ralts struggling to reach the plates. The large dragon grinned as he nudged one closer to the ralts, which was met with incredibly polite gratitude.
Harmony wiped her paws on her apron and shuffled from the abbey for some fresh air. So lost in her own thoughts she almost walked straight into Furnace.
He steadied her with a paw and let out a small laugh. “You've got your head in the clouds, Harmony.” He read her face and let his paw fall to his side. “Are you alright?”
“Not really,” she said. “But I'll be fine. Like everyone else here, I just need time to recover from the shock of it all.”
He nodded his understanding.
“I was just heading out for some fresh air,” she said.
“I can come with you if you like?” he offered.
“It's okay. You go and get some breakfast while it's still hot.”
He laughed at that. “Not a problem for me, Harmony. I can heat up my own meals just fine.”
She chuckled and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?”
He nodded and watched as she strolled past him onto the grass.
She followed the path around, her mind wandering. So many spots seemed empty now. Common sunning spots were devoid of their usual reptile occupants. The planes no longer teemed with sneasel and weavile. The undergrowth was void of playful zorua. Her heart sank further and further.
Before long, she found herself at the foot of the hill. Light radiated from the top of it, and she spotted Xerneas watching the sunrise.
She jogged up the hill, arriving at his side slightly out of breath. He gave her a warm smile then turned to look back out at Estellis.
“See that, Harmony?” he asked.
She followed his gaze and covered her mouth as she let out a gasp. Estellis wasn't as she remembered it. The land was green and vibrant, but in the far north was a patch of land engulfed in shadow. Shadows that swallowed mountains and caves, and was filled with a huge forest with twisted trees. The rivers flowed away from it on their journey towards the sea, but none of them flowed towards the northern ice continent. The rivers wound their way through Estellis, almost as though they didn't want to remain in that patch of shadowy darkness.
“It's called the Shadow Lands,” Xerneas explained. “What remains of Yveltal's corruption on Estellis isn't just in the hearts of pokemon, but has marred the land itself.”
“But I thought we'd won,” said Harmony. “He's defeated... isn't he?”
Xerneas looked down at her. “He was defeated from the start. But the war he started... it isn't over yet, Harmony.”
Her fur pricked along her spine and she hugged her arms around herself.
“He unleashed death on the world, causing many to become its victims. I can reverse it for those who come to me. But many will feel its sting.”
Harmony blinked back tears. “So we're still fighting this war?”
He nodded and looked back out at Estellis. “It will rage for some time while we call back those who have scattered. Which is why I am tasking you, along with many other pokemon, with the job of spreading word about me and the Fairy Garden.”
“But why?” Harmony asked. “They already know about it. They lived here.”
“Sadly they are already forgetting. Before long, you may find that huge numbers claim they have never even heard of Xerneas, or even the fairy-type.” He turned so he was facing her. “This is your job now, and it will be passed down for generations.”
She gave a sad nod, then looked up with a smile. “Okay. I accept.”
He nodded at that and turned to make his way back down the hill.
Harmony turned to look back at the Shadow Lands. The area surrounding where Yveltal lay. The sight of it... a question wormed its way through her mind, unsettling her. She turned back to Xerneas.
“So Yveltal still lives?”
He paused mid-step. “He is imprisoned. The damage he caused is vast. Once he awakens, the war will reach its end and he shall be no more.”
...
Faith sat back on her hands, watching the little hatchlings as they absorbed the story. Tiny faces filled with awe, confusion and disbelief stared back at her.
“Is that it?” Storm asked.
Faith nodded. “That's the story.”
The teddiursa lowered his paw from his mouth. “Is it true?”
“Of course it is,” said Faith. “That's how the war started, and why I'm here.”
“And that's what Hydreigon is doing?” Storm asked. “Trying to find this Yvi... Yvul... thing?”
Faith chuckled. “Yveltal? Yes, Hydreigon is trying to awaken him.” She leant forward on her knees. “As you can probably see, his name is where the word 'evil' comes from.”
“I don't believe dragons can be good,” said Storm. “That Harmony was actually rescued by a kommo-o? And she was friends with a turtonator?” He practically spat the words. “I don't believe it at all.”
Faith's smile melted away and she noticed Starshine huddling down in his feathers.
“But I do believe we can win this fight,” said Storm. “That's what that story has taught me. This power you have? This fairy-type thing and mega-evolution? That's how we're gonna win, right?”
The smile returned to Faith's muzzle. Well, it was a start. “Yes. Together, we can win this.”
The pichu beamed and Faith found herself beaming with him.
“And altaria can mega-evolve too?” Starshine asked.
“They can. And they gain the fairy typing, too,” said Faith.
Starshine whispered a 'yes!' and high-fived Tad with his fluffy wing.
“Well!” Faith stood up and dusted her fur with her paws. “I'm needed in the medical ward. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“You'll bring more stories?” Starshine asked.
“Of course!” Faith replied. “Maybe I can tell you about the pokemon in search of truth?”
The hatchlings waved and cheered their 'goodbyes' as Faith left the nursery. The room felt a lot brighter, especially since Storm's mood was greatly improved. The pichu began to rally his own team for war, which, much to Starshine's surprise, also included him.
...
A/N - So there you have it. A tie-in to my old Poke-fic, The End! I apologise if it was too confusing, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the story. I did try to make it accessible, which is why so much is mentioned in the beginning. I hope you enjoyed it regardless!
Fun fact - in the original story, I never named the world this story takes place in. Places had names, but the world never did!
If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading! =D
Del
