The grand finale of the Hoenn arc is here at last! One way or another, the fight ends here.
~CHAPTER 45: DELUGE AND DESOLATION~
We shot through skies torn with fire and lightning, ducking and weaving past blades of wind as meteors rained down all around us. Swift nimbly dodged every single one, fueling his flight with bursts of Agility that almost made me lose my grip. The whole time I kept my eyes focused on the red streak shooting through the air just ahead of us. A Shadow Ball shot from nowhere, passing so close to Latias I thought she’d been hit. But she deftly looped around it, keeping Latios in her sights the entire time.
“We can’t lose them,” I muttered.
“*Will you be able to hold on?*” Swift asked, glancing back at me with concern.
“Doesn’t matter, we gotta keep up.” If Stalker caught Rayquaza now, this entire mission would be for nothing. All the pain, all the failure,
for nothing. Couldn’t let that happen.
In the center of the sky battle, Mew swooped closer to Rayquaza, cautiously approaching. It almost looked like she was offering something, but the serpent just smacked her aside with its tail. It was too agitated, too anxious to distinguish between friend or foe, angrily flinging blades of wind at anything that got close. The airships converging inward weren’t deterred, though. An ALR beam fired; Rayquaza snarled in agony. Then the crack of a Master Ball cannon split the air, and my heart stopped. But there was no red beam—Rayquaza was still intact. My eyes locked onto the gray blur of an Aerodactyl zipping around it. Then a second one—Mew had switched her form. She wasn’t teleporting. (Did the airships still have an anti-teleport field up?) And for another thing—why didn’t Mew and Ajia have any backup? Where the hell were the rest of our Legendaries?
<He’s going to catch Rayquaza!> I yelled to Lugia.
I couldn’t even see where Lugia was right now, but I could feel the apprehension in its mind. <There are capture balls flying everywhere,> Lugia said sharply. <It’s too risky to interfere, one of us could get captured instead.>
What?! Seriously? Sure, it was something to watch out for, but that didn’t mean we could just
leave Rayquaza!
I threw a frantic glance around at the other Legendaries. Even Ho-oh was hovering some distance from the battle, eyeing the airships closely. We had more of a reason to be afraid than them!
<We’ll attack them from afar to weaken their forces. Don’t let that human out of your sight!>
Ugh, fine. Guess we were on our own, then.
Swift’s wings were a blur at my side. Every few seconds we’d accelerate with another burst of Agility. It wouldn’t last long, I knew that much—this was a ridiculous waste of energy. Every so often, his flight stuttered for just a fraction of a second. I’d been pushing him this hard, and he had to be exhausted. But Firestorm and Aros would never be able to catch up with Stalker. And they’d never be able to avoid all the crap flying through the air. Only Swift could do it.
Latios dove. Latias fired a Dragon Pulse right into his path, forcing him to brake hard just to keep from flying into it. Then he ducked behind an airship to avoid an Air Slash that shot out from inside the circle. It was only for a second—the instant his path was clear, Latios darted back into the open, Stalker already leveling his arm cannon at Rayquaza. But the winds were too vicious, there was no way he’d land a hit. Then Latios had to duck to avoid a spurt of dragonfire that went right over Stalker’s head.
“*Let my brother go!*” Latias cried.
I honestly didn’t expect a response. But he yelled back, “I need his strength! Stay out of the way or we’re all done for!”
“*I’m not giving up!*” she exclaimed, shooting right at him. Latios put on a burst of speed and dove into the center of the Legendary melee, trying to lose Latias in the chaos.
I clung tightly to Swift as he pursued while the fighting raged on all around us. Rayquaza swerved to avoid a bolt of lightning fired by Raikou but wasn’t fast enough to avoid the Flamethrower that followed from Entei. In the chaos, with how much I’d been focused on Stalker, I’d actually forgotten that we still had to deal with the Kanto force.
By now, the airships themselves were firing on Stalker, forcing Latios to swerve wildly in and out of the beams, slowing him down. Raikou countered as many of them as it could with strings of lightning while the Johto airships fired back on the Kanto ones. Altaria swooped around behind Raikou, breathing out a Dragonbreath at Lexx, only for it to be blocked by… a Magnezone? Yeah, a Magnezone was guarding the pair from behind so Raikou could keep up the offensive.
In the midst of it all was Rayquaza, and it was clearly tiring. Its spiraling flight grew slower, the winds less turbulent. With Latios’s speed… Stalker would easily have a clear shot. But no, he was still struggling to evade Latias, who’d been doing a much better job keeping up with him than we were.
“*Latios! Latios can you hear me!*” Latias’s voice called out. Latios’s flight path faltered slightly, but he kept going.
She was gaining on them, having to dodge just as much fire, but having the advantage of being smaller and more maneuverable and not carrying a rider.
A sudden blizzard ripped through the air within the circle, forcing Latios to fall back. Swift flared his wings to avoid flying straight into it, but even from here, the icy chill made my hairs stand on end. I glanced below us to see Articuno flying back up—what? Hadn’t Raikou taken it down earlier? Wait, obviously Ender had flown down to heal it.
Rayquaza was clearly sick of being the target, because it immediately shot toward Articuno, smashing it down with its tail before spiraling away from attacks launched by Raikou and Entei. Latios closed in from behind. My heart stopped as Stalker pointed his arm forward.
And after all this, I
couldn’t just let that be the end of it.
“Twister!” I yelled.
With great effort, Swift snapped his wings together in front of us, slowing our flight but kicking up a vicious whirlwind lit with dragonfire. I didn’t expect it to hit. But Swift never missed his mark. The whirlwind swept into Latios, and though the jet dragon’s flight didn’t waver, he wasn’t the one I was aiming to disrupt. Stalker yanked his arm back with a wince. We locked eye contact for a moment.
Then a golden blur smashed a fist into the side of Swift’s head.
The blow knocked us reeling. A rush of cold swept over me as ice crystals flared up around the impact point. My hands clutched at Swift’s feathers, brain struggling to process what the hell had just happened. I saw Stalker, his eyes cold and expressionless. Saw Dragonite, her expression mirroring her trainer’s. Then Swift’s wings gave out, and we were falling.
I was weightless, the wind rushing past me as I tumbled through the air, the back of my head screaming even as my hands flew to my belt. I fumbled with my Pokéballs until I found Swift’s and managed to recall him, then grabbed Firestorm’s ball just as quickly. Orange wings spread at my side and immediately pitched back the moment their owner realized what was going on. The Charizard swooped under me, matching speeds with my fall until I managed to reach out and grab his shoulders.
“Got to catch Stalker. Got to stop him,” I said breathlessly. He’d attacked us.
He’d attacked us.
Firestorm’s eyes fell on Stalker, and I felt his shoulders tense up. “*I’ll stop him,*” he growled.
“We don’t have to beat him, we just have to distract him until…” Until what? When would this end?
Firestorm put on a burst of speed, ascending as powerfully as he could. But by now it felt like Latios was miles away, a pinprick high above us. He blasted out a stream of fire, aiming straight at Stalker. But Latios drifted around it effortlessly. With a growl, Firestorm blasted out another stream, and another, but these ones had less power, and they didn’t even reach.
Firestorm wasn’t fast enough. No Quick Attack, no Agility. Stalker outstretched his arm, preparing to fire. I couldn’t reach him in time. Had no way to stop him.
And in the moment that the two had slowed enough for him to take the shot, a red-winged blur shot from nowhere, impossibly fast.
“*Please!*” Latias cried.
She clutched the larger dragon’s tail fin with her claws, his flight jerked, Stalker pitched forward, and his Master Ball shot wildly off into the distance. Not a second later, he spun around, staring at her in disbelief.
And then, above us, Rayquaza was transformed into blood-red energy. Sucked inside the Master Ball. I stared in horror, feeling like my brain had to restart. What.
What. How?! He’d missed, he’d definitely—
My eyes suddenly locked onto Articuno, not too far from us. On its back was Ender, and he was wearing a Master Ball cannon. He pointed, and the ice bird swooped forward, clutching the ball in its talons before immediately banking around and flying back to the airship fleet as fast as its wings would take it.
My whole body went numb. We hadn’t saved Rayquaza. We’d only ensured that the Kanto force got it instead of the Johto force.
Stalker whirled around, his eyes lit with more fury than I’d ever seen. “Do you have any idea what you just did?!”
Latias shrank back slightly, looking devastated. But then her gaze hardened, and she darted around to face the larger blue dragon, whose eyes were shut.
“*Latios, please.*” She pressed her forehead against his, willing him to respond. But Latios said nothing.
Stalker stared wordlessly at her for several seconds. Then, without warning, he swung his arm forward and fired a Master Ball point-blank.
It was like I’d just been punched in the face. I gaped stupidly as the smaller dragon instantly transformed into blood-red energy before she was sucked into the ball. He caught the ball before it could drop and held it tight as it shook furiously before finally growing still.
I was frozen in mute horror, struggling to find something to say, but the words kept dying in my throat.
“W-why would you do that?!” I shouted, my voice breaking.
Stalker glanced at me out of the corner of one eye. The fury was gone from his face, replaced with an icy cold stare. He didn’t answer me. He just motioned to Latios, and the pair of them shot off.
No. No, I was
not going to let him get away with that without an explanation.
No!
Without me even saying anything, Firestorm blasted out a Flamethrower at the retreating dragon. When that failed, he shot forward as fast as he could, but Latios was already miles ahead of us, and there was no way we’d ever catch up.
Dammit. He couldn’t get away with that! No! We couldn’t let him!
A Flamethrower from above cut right across our path. I threw a glance upward to see Stalker’s Charizard glaring at us. Firestorm froze, staring at her in disbelief. I didn’t even know whether to order an attack or what. What was I even going to do when we caught up to Stalker? Attack him? Knock him off his Legendary? As if I could do any of that. I couldn’t do anything to him, and he knew it.
I’d thought I was prepared for the idea of fighting Stalker. I was wrong.
<I’ve got a message from Mew. They’re saying we should use this chaos to steal the orbs.>
Lugia’s words were a cold, hard blow back to reality, dragging me out of the all-consuming focus on Stalker. Even though half of me was screaming that no, we had to go after him,
he had to pay. So loud that I was afraid Lugia would hear it.
But Mew was counting on us… I couldn’t get wrapped up in what
I wanted. Had to do this for the sake of the mission.
<On it,> I replied, grabbing Firestorm’s shoulder. His flight slowed, and he glanced back at me in confusion.
“*We’re not going after him?*” he asked.
“Lugia said we have to get the orbs,” I said, my voice dead.
“*We’re—we’re just letting him get away with that?*” he asked in disbelief.
I screwed my eyes shut. “We’re
not, we’re just—” I took a deep breath, forcing my breathing to stay level even though my blood wanted to boil. “We’ve got to put a stop to all this, and getting the orbs is the only way to do it.”
“*I… okay,*” he said reluctantly, banking around.
I scanned the aerial battlefield. Did we still know which ship had the orbs? They’d all been circling around in a frenzy, there was no way it was still in the same place we’d last seen it. But a glance back down at Groudon and Kyogre made it obvious—the duo’s attention was locked onto one ship in particular. Even though their attacks fell short, there was no mistaking their target.
The only problem was how to approach it. The sky was still a warzone, and I couldn’t rely on Swift’s speed anymore. We’d need more firepower. Some way to get close without just throwing our lives away.
And then Starr’s words drifted to the front of my mind:
You’ve got a Legendary. Use it.
My eyes slid to Lugia. It was just hovering right below us, some ways away from the chaotic sky battle between the Kanto and Johto Rockets. Launching attacks at the airships while also steering clear just in case any of them decided to fire a Master Ball out of the blue.
What if I just…
It was a stupid idea. Just stupid enough that I had to try it. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
I grabbed Firestorm’s Pokéball. “I’ve got a plan, I need you to trust me,” I said. Had to do it before I changed my mind.
Firestorm turned. His gaze slid between his Pokéball, and what was below us, and I felt him tense up. I could tell he didn’t want to do it. But then he said, “*Alright.*”
I recalled Firestorm and let myself fall. A single, heart-stopping moment of weightlessness later, I landed on Lugia’s back and immediately clung to its neck as tightly as I could.
Lugia jolted, turning its head to stare right at me. <What are you—?>
“I need you to take me to that airship,” I said.
<Take… you to?> it said blankly. Like it had never remotely expected me to ask that.
“We need to get the orbs, and I need your power to have a shot at getting close enough to that ship to do it,” I said as firmly as I could. Like the fact that I’d already made up my mind meant that it couldn’t argue.
Lugia was stupefied, still struggling to process my words. And its confusion was bleeding over into my head so much that even
I was starting to wonder why I’d done it.
<F… fine,> Lugia said finally, and with a mighty flap, it turned and took off for the airship.
Man, riding Lugia was weird. My fingers slipped against sleek, densely-packed feathers. Each wingbeat was like a thunderclap echoing through my body. Lugia was way too big for me to move
with it like any of my team. I was just along for the ride, and I couldn’t help immediately wishing I could switch back to Firestorm. But this was what I’d chosen.
We traced a wide arc around the sky battle, approaching our target from behind. Hopefully both it and the rest of the Kanto force would be too busy with the Johto force (and hopefully the Johto force just plain wouldn’t care). A blur of red and green wings caught my eye alongside us—Aros, with Chibi still on his back. Of course they’d be nearby— I
had told them to protect Lugia. And I felt better having them near, as there was no way I could keep watch for enemies in every direction.
As we neared our target, the telltale shimmer of a barrier flickered to life. But they’d have a lot harder time standing up to a Legendary without the whole fleet in defense mode. I felt Lugia scoff internally before drawing power from within. It focused the energy into its mouth, preparing to fire a piercing beam attack.
Then a heavy impact struck from behind, knocking Lugia askew. I pitched forward, clinging desperately to Lugia’s neck just in time to keep myself from being thrown off. A wave of pain shot through my entire body, but that was nothing compared to the torrent of outrage and confusion assaulting my mind through the psychic link. Lugia flapped its wings wildly to regain itself, glancing around in a frenzy.
“What the
hell was—” I froze, shaking. The feathers on Lugia’s back were charred black. I’d just felt the
shock wave from the blast. If it had hit me directly, I’d have been toast.
My eyes locked onto the culprit—two airships had broken from the battle against the Johto force and were fast approaching us. The panic in Lugia’s mind melted into anger. The dragon-bird focused its energy again, firing a blindingly orange beam right at them. But the Rockets had obviously seen that coming, because Lugia’s target seamlessly switched back into defense mode, and the attack went sliding off the barrier and out into the open air. The second ship fired, and I felt a split second of dread as that deadly beam shot right for us… until a huge lightning bolt struck out of nowhere, and the two attacks collided with explosive force.
I covered my eyes as the smoke washed over us, and when it cleared, I could see Chibi sparking wildly on Aros’s back. I let out a huge sigh of relief. But that attack must have taken a huge amount of power, and there was no way he could keep that up.
The first ship’s barrier dropped. A jolt of alarm flickered through Lugia, and it raised a Protect around us just as both ships fired at once. I screwed my eyes shut as sound of the beams crashing against Lugia’s shield assaulted my ears. When the sounds had let up, I opened my eyes to see the ships
already preparing to fire again, and Lugia struggling to call up the energy for a second barrier back-to-back.
<I’ll have to dodge, brace yourself!>
Lugia dove. I clung to its neck for dear life and felt the tingle of that searing energy shooting right overhead. The ships pivoted in midair, following us with their cannons, readying another shot—
Which meant they were completely unprepared for the all-out Fire Blast consuming them from above in a raging inferno. Both ships fell backward, sparks leaping from their melted shield projectors.
“Need help?!” a voice called out.
I spun around to see Moltres soaring over to meet us, Rudy perched on its back with all the confidence of someone who’d ridden a legend into battle a hundred times.
“Rudy!” I yelled, waving to him. “We’ve gotta get inside that airship!”
He nodded sharply, then turned to motion over his shoulder. “Come on!” Who was he talking to?
I got my answer a few seconds later when Fearow soared into view, and it took me a bit to realize that she had a rider. Darren was riding Fearow, Weavile sitting in front of him.
“Darren? What are you doing up here?” I asked blankly.
“Thanks, I feel super wanted,” he said dryly. Before I could protest, he added, “We finished things up in the crater. Figured I could make myself somewhat useful up here, maybe. Also this one might have dragged me into it.”
“Shut up!” Rudy yelled, face going red. “I needed the ice support against that Flygon, okay?!” Weavile flashed a toothy grin at his words.
The two airships that had been attacking us pulled back. With their shield projectors damaged, they had no way of defending themselves
or absorbing more power to fire at us. That just left the third—the one that held the orbs. Lugia nodded to Moltres, and the two of them unleashed a relentless barrage of raging flames and psychic blasts. Way too much power for it to absorb on its own—the shield projectors shorted out right away.
Satisfaction flooded my mind from Lugia, and I couldn’t help letting it bleed into my own thoughts. The dragon bird swooped closer until it was right above the ship, and I slid down its tail to land on the flat metal platform that Entei and Raikou had been using as a perch.
<I’ll let you know once we’ve got em!> I said to Lugia, pulling my focus away from our link. Then I waved to Rudy and Darren and yelled, “Come on!”
Moltres and Fearow flew close enough for Rudy and Darren to jump down after me before recalling their Pokémon. What surprised me was the Pikachu that took a flying leap and landed right in front of us.
“*I’m coming with you,*” Chibi said firmly.
I blinked. “Weren’t you gonna stick to protecting Lugia?”
He glanced back at the dragon-bird, eyes narrowed. “*I don’t expect it to stay in the line of fire once we’re inside. You deserve the help more.*”
I gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
There was an entry hatch on the far end of the platform. I pointed it out and Chibi swung an Iron Tail at it, cleaving through the lock. Pulling the hatch aside revealed a set of rungs leading downward. I lowered myself down the passage as quickly as possible, closely followed by Rudy, then Darren.
The three of us found ourselves in a cramped, narrow passage lined with pipes. The air was filled with the roar of the engines. We followed the hallway toward the front of the ship, footsteps slowing as we approached the bridge. Two Rockets were in there, from what I could see. They hadn’t noticed us yet, not with the engine noise.
Chibi’s feathers crackled before he leaped from my shoulder. I shut my eyes, but I could still hear the jolt of lightning and the garbled cries from the Rockets. A few seconds after they fell silent, I opened my eyes to see them passed out in their seats.
“*They obviously weren’t expecting an attack from the inside,*” Chibi said with a bit of a scoff.
He was right. No combat unit to speak of. Then again with the ship’s defenses, and how little space there was inside...
“So, we made it. Now’s probably a good time to find out why we’re here.” Darren said, crossing his arms behind his head and giving me a sideways glance.
Oh. Right.
“We’ve got to find the orbs,” I said. “Groudon and Kyogre promised they could defeat the Rockets if we could get them the orbs.”
Darren just nodded in a ‘that makes sense’ kind of way, while Rudy fixed me with an incredulous glare. “You’re telling me you
talked with those things?” he asked, gaping at me.
“They’re Pokémon,” I just said.
Rudy made a face like that was the farthest thing from an explanation. Then Darren cut in with, “Alright, let’s hurry up and find ‘em.”
We jumped to work, throwing open every drawer and compartment we could get our hands on. They were here, they had to be here. Groudon and Kyogre had sensed them, and there was no way those two could be mistaken, not when their entire world seemed to revolve around getting these orbs.
My eyes fell on a metal case wedged under the main console. I tugged on its handle, sliding it out into the open. My pulse quickened as my fingers hurriedly undid all the latches before throwing the lid open, and—
“Here they are,” I said breathlessly.
I was staring down at two glossy, translucent orbs, each bearing some kind of rune inside them. I reached out to grab the red one and felt a tingle run through my fingers, making the hairs on my arm stand on end. The power emanating from this thing was almost tangible.
“The same person shouldn’t hold both,” Darren pointed out. “That way if one of us gets taken out, the others can at least get the second orb to them.”
Good point. I was just about to hand him the Blue Orb but then happened to catch a glimpse of Rudy’s disapproving face.
“Don’t talk like that,” he muttered, eyes firmly on the floor.
Darren shrugged. “It’s just how it is.”
“And I’m saying that’s
not how it is,” Rudy snapped, rounding on him. “No one’s allowed to die, got it?!”
Darren didn’t reply, he just turned and gave me a knowing look. I wasn’t about to tell Rudy that I’d been thinking the same thing. Still, I went ahead and handed the Blue Orb to Darren, who pocketed it.
Chibi’s ears twitched. Before I could ask why, he leaped from my shoulder and raised a Protect behind me. A sudden burst of heat washed over us, and I spun around to see flames crashing against the shield, spilling out all around it.
“Aiming to unleash the primals? And I suppose that makes
you the heroes?” a voice drawled.
The flames cleared, revealing Ender and his Ninetales, standing there in the hallway, staring us down. In a flash, Rudy let out Ebony, and Darren let out Golduck. The six of us all facing him, ready to attack at any moment, and he didn’t look remotely concerned by that.
“Power like what the legends have can’t be allowed to run wild,” he said, all amusement gone from his voice. “You’re running down a losing path if you think it should be unrestrained.”
A chill ran down my spine. What was he…? Never mind, I wasn’t gonna let myself think about it. It was just more garbage trying to sound like any of this was justified.
“You’re outnumbered. You can’t beat all three of us,” Rudy said.
Ender just shrugged. “I don’t have to beat you, I just have to stop you from getting out before the other squads finish up their work.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Had to get out of here as soon as possible. He’d been relying on Articuno throughout most of the fight, so his team was likely still in good shape. And that was assuming he didn’t have reinforcements on the way right now.
Wait. Of course he did, Rockets always did. He was stalling.
Without warning, Chibi jumped up and fired a thin bolt over our heads. There was a flash of light followed by Nidoqueen standing in front of Ender, blocking him. He snapped his fingers—Ninetales’s eyes flashed an eerie red. The Pikachu dropped to the ground and, to my horror, he’d gone slightly cross-eyed, lights dancing around his head. Was Ender
insane? Throwing off Chibi’s aim with all of us crammed into a narrow passage where a single stray bolt could blow the place? Chibi shook his head, sparks crackling across his feathers, and I couldn’t risk it—I recalled him in an instant.
Ebony jumped in front of us so that she could absorb any more flames from Ninetales, but that just made it all the easier for Nidoqueen to nail her in the face with a jet of water. Golduck retaliated with a Water Pulse of his own that splashed across the corridor, soaking both opponents. Seconds later, he was slammed into the wall when a glowing orb of green energy exploded into his face. Ninetales flashed a smirk as the water-type sank to his knees, then proceeded to fix Ebony with a hypnotic stare, tails swaying behind it.
God, we didn’t have
time for this. Or the space. Had to get out of here. Needed some other way out besides the exit hatch. Some way to make our own exit.
And then a terrible, brilliant idea dawned on me.
<Lugia,> I said.
<Yes?>
<Use your psychic power to rip the airship open.>
The silence was tangible. <…Are you joking?>
<Does it sound like I am?> I asked.
Lugia’s mind was silent with stunned disbelief and total bafflement.
<Alright. Brace yourself.>
“Recall your Pokémon,” I hissed under my breath.
“
What?” Rudy snapped.
I didn’t get a chance to say anything else. With the squealing of metal as our only warning, the floor suddenly split open. Ninetales leaped away in a panic, practically bowling its trainer over as the hole in the floor stretched wider and wider.
“What the heelllll?!” Rudy cried.
A mess of recall beams filled the room as all the Pokémon got recalled. The crack was practically a chasm now, and everything not bolted down had started sliding into it. Rudy clawed at the slick metal floor, desperately trying and failing to grab hold of something. Darren flashed a tired look my way, like he knew I was somehow responsible for this. That was the last thing I saw before all of us slid out into the open air.
Falling. But this time I was ready for it. This time I was able to fight back the panic flaring up in the back of my head, because we’d escaped—
we’d escaped!—and that was all that mattered. A giant pair of white wings swooped past, taking up my entire field of vision. I landed on Lugia’s back with a thud that knocked the wind out of me, then felt two thuds behind me that signified Rudy and Darren landing as well, before Lugia spread its wings and leveled our flight.
<That was… surprisingly efficient,> Lugia said, its voice somewhat shaken.
“Hoooly crap. That was awesome.
Insane, but awesome,” Rudy said, eyes wide with exhilaration like that was the best thing he’d ever experienced.
“Okay, gotta admit I didn’t see that coming,” Darren said with a wry grin. “Be honest, did you know that was going to work?”
I didn’t reply. I was too busy watching Ender and the two pilots falling through the air behind us. Twin flashes of light appeared as the former let out his Xatu and Altaria. The dragon-bird caught him, and then Xatu teleported the pilots away.
They’d made it. Okay. I wasn’t… I wasn’t ready to think about something like that being my fault. In any case, we did it. We got the orbs. Lugia was already making a beeline for the crater, flapping its wings as powerfully as it could. We were going to make it.
We were going to—
An earth-shattering roar tore the air, echoing in my ears and gripping my body from all over. I glanced around hurriedly to find its source and—what?
Rayquaza had just appeared from within the circle of airships. It had escaped? How?! Unless… they let it out on purpose? But that could only mean…
My stomach tied itself into a knot. They’d already managed to program the mind control for it. That’s why the Rockets didn’t retreat after they caught it. They were preparing to use it against the others! If we didn’t do something
fast, the Rockets would walk away from here with a lot more than just two Legendaries.
The serpent shot toward us like a green lightning bolt, and I felt my insides dissolve. Lugia swerved to the side at the last second, just in time for it to go barreling past us like a train, so close I could have reached out and touched it. I was sure that it was going to loop around instantly and catch up with us, striking Lugia down and tearing through the rest of us in a blaze. But Rayquaza hadn’t followed. It paused for a moment, then began twisting and turning in midair, greenish-red dragonfire wreathing its body.
The black hole of dread inside me somehow grew even bigger. “It’s powering itself up!”
<I’ll try to hold it back. Get the orbs to those two, now!> Lugia demanded.
Our flight slowed, and the flicker of embers caught my eye to our left. Moltres was gliding just under us, matching speeds with Lugia. Oh geez. Yet again, I had to switch rides in midair. I was really getting sick of it. Rudy didn’t waste a second; he hurled himself toward his patron, landing so smoothly you’d think he was used to this. Next was my turn—I swallowed hard and took a flying leap. A half second of falling later, I hit Moltres’s back with a thud, immediately grabbing Rudy’s shoulder to steady myself. Then Darren grabbed hold of me, and Lugia immediately banked around to confront Rayquaza.
“What now?” Moltres asked.
“We have to get to Groudon and Kyogre!” Rudy yelled.
Moltres pitched its wings back and shot downward, and suddenly I was clinging to Rudy for dear life. I couldn’t help glancing back at Lugia, who was lunging into battle with blue dragonfire streaking its body. But compared to Rayquaza, it was practically standing still. The serpent looped around, dodging effortlessly, moving so fast it was like the wind. Lugia swung its tail, trying to snag Rayquaza in a whirlwind, but the serpent cut through like it was nothing, slashing across the seabird’s back. Lugia’s pained cries echoed through my head.
It would be okay. We just had to make it to Groudon and Kyogre, and we could end this.
Moltres beat its wings as fast as it could. Past Raikou and Entei and Articuno and the fleet of airships, weaving around bolts and beams, flames and ice. It was fast, but I couldn’t help feeling
less safe on Moltres’s back from how big of a target it was. My hand had just started inching toward a Pokéball when an ALR beam struck.
Moltres screeched in pain, its flight jerking erratically. My heart jumped into my throat as we pitched forward, all three of us clinging desperately to each other to keep from being thrown off. My eyes fell on Moltres’s side, where the feathers had disintegrated, leaving raw, torn flesh behind.
Moltres grunted in pain. “I’m… fine. I just…” Its wings faltered slightly. Moltres shook its head as though trying to get its bearings, but then its eyes went unfocused. (God, it’d flown halfway across the region and then had to endure
this crap?)
“Where’s Mew, she can do it,” the firebird said, its voice weak.
Mew, where
was Mew? I scanned the air for a Charizard but couldn’t see one anymore. No wait, she’d switched to Aerodactyl—gray wings, gray wings… Then again, she could have transformed into anything by now. And that was assuming that she hadn’t been cap—
Another beam struck. Moltres went limp, and then we were falling.
“Moltres!” Rudy screamed. But the phoenix didn’t respond. He turned to me and Darren and yelled, “We gotta bail!”
He pushed off from Moltres’s back before releasing Fearow and letting her catch him in the freefall. I let out Firestorm, awkwardly flailing toward him in midair the moment he’d appeared. His eyes went wide once he realized I was falling
again, and the Charizard immediately pitched his wings back to swoop under me. I threw my arms around his neck, and he reached out to grab Darren by the wrists before flaring his wings to level our flight.
Moltres spiraled past us, freefalling downward before crashing into the side of a house in a mangled heap. Rudy went pale. He nudged Fearow, and she dove as quickly as she could. The instant the two touched down, Rudy practically tripped over himself jumping from her back.
“Moltres!” he yelled, sprinting over to the firebird and already pulling out a revive for it.
Firestorm glided down after them to land in the flooded streets. I slid from his back and landed in water up to my ankles. This whole block had been flooded from Kyogre’s arrival. Clouds of steam drifted up from where Moltres lay.
And then in a flash of light, Mew suddenly appeared right in front of us.
<Lugia just informed me. You got the orbs?> Mew asked.
I pulled the orb from my pocket and held it up to her, and she gave a sigh of relief. <Good. I fear those two may not be able to hold Rayquaza at bay for much longer.> She glanced upward at Lugia and Ho-oh struggling to fend off Rayquaza. The emerald serpent circled around them so blazingly fast it was a green blur. I winced as it tore across Lugia, slashing wildly. Even from here I could see the bright red streaks staining its feathers.
The fluttering of wings caught my eye. I turned to see Aerodactyl touching down around a block away, limbs trembling. Ajia jumped down from his back right before he collapsed, wings splayed out across the ground. Injured? No, just exhausted. She recalled him, then ran over to us.
“You guys did it! I’m so glad you’re okay!” she exclaimed, grabbing my shoulder and practically collapsing against it.
I blinked. “Ajia…”
She looked up at me, eyes dead with exhaustion. “I’m so, so sorry I wasn’t able to help, but Mew and I have been busy with all this and—”
“It’s—it’s okay,” I said, putting my hand on hers. She’d been having to deal with so much today. “It’s not your fault.”
“Are you all alright?” a voice called out.
I turned to look behind us, back up the slopes of the crater, where Steven Stone was riding towards us on the back of his Metagross. Its limbs were folded inward as it hovered just above the ground, weaving around crumbled buildings and crushed vehicles.
“I saw you falling from the cliffs up there,” he said once he reached us. “I was unsure what to believe before… until I saw you riding the guardian of fire just now,” he said, like he was still having a hard time believing it. Then his eyes went wide when he saw what I was holding. “How did you get that?”
I instinctively clutched the orb a bit tighter. “Groudon and Kyogre asked us to get them.”
“They
asked you?” The look on his face made it clear that he’d never remotely considered that talking to them was even an option.
“We’ve got to get the orbs to them,” I said, hoping that my voice sounded firm. We couldn’t think about him right now. I turned my back to him, taking a few steps toward the lake.
“Wait,” Steven said, stepping in front of me. “The orbs will revert those two back to the form they had when they shaped the earth’s surface… or so the legend goes.” He gazed out at where Groudon and Kyogre were still firing waterspouts and lava bursts into the air with just as much vigor as they’d had when this all started. “That’s not the sort of power we should be trifling with.”
Rudy looked up from where he was tending to Moltres. For the first time throughout all this, his eyes had lost some of their fire. “That’s… that’s not…”
“Mm, I’m pretty sure more lives will be lost if we let that kind of power fall into Team Rocket’s hands,” Darren said flatly.
Steven was silent for some time. He sighed, shaking his head. “I’m going to regret this.” He turned to face Ajia. “Your guardians will keep this under control? That kind of power… I don’t want to think about how many lives would be lost if it ran wild,” he said, giving her a very serious look.
Power running wild… the words echoed in my head. My thoughts drifted back to what Ender had said, and… no. No, I wasn’t going to let myself think about anything that he’d said. This whole mess was their fault.
<We’ll make sure they know they can’t stay like that,> Mew said. <You have my word.>
Steven turned to face her. It looked like he was having a hard time coming up with what to say. Finally, he nodded, averting his eyes like he didn’t think he could address her directly.
The ground shook, sending sent ripples through the flooded streets. Groudon and Kyogre were approaching us now—Kyogre cutting a trail through the water and Groudon walking across fresh earth that bloomed in its path. Even though I knew they weren’t going to attack us, there was something undeniably intimidating about seeing those two ancient beasts approaching.
Mew took an orb in each paw. She hovered out to the duo, who had almost reached the edge of the lake.
<We need your help,> she said.
Groudon nodded. “*You need our power to defeat those humans, yes?*”
<It’s not just that,> the psychic cat went on, her tail twisting restlessly. <We need you to use your true power to stop Rayquaza.>
Both titans recoiled visibly at her words, their eyes widening with shock and outrage.
“*Stop… the messenger?*” Groudon asked. Like such a thought had never remotely occurred to it.
“*That was not our deal!*” Kyogre hissed.
<Please—>
“*Attacking the messenger from the heavens is unthinkable,*” Groudon said with a heavy shake of its head. “*Their word is the divine will. The only thing that can halt the ceaseless urging of our dance.*”
<I know that, but their mind is not their own!> Mew exclaimed, struggling to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
Groudon gave a low rumble of contemplation. “*What does this mean?*”
<They aren’t in control of their actions.>
“*How is such a thing possible?*” Kyogre demanded.
<Those humans up there have created weapons that let them enslave their minds,> Mew said carefully. <Including those as powerful as the great messenger.>
Both titans paused, processing Mew’s words. I honestly wasn’t sure if either of them would have any idea what that was supposed to mean, but then—
Groudon hung its head. “*Such a thing… would be a most detestable act. That which never should be done.*” Its words held a faint sorrow.
“*The Orb,*” Kyogre said, nudging Groudon aside, forcing itself to the front.
Mew recoiled backward slightly, clutching the orbs tighter. <You have to promise that you will return to your sanctum afterward.>
Kyogre stared long and hard at her. “*That was the agreement,*” it said, hating every word.
Mew paused, taking a deep breath. Then she slowly levitated the two orbs over to them. Both orbs touched Groudon and Kyogre’s heads at the same time. In an instant, waves of rippling light spread across their bodies. The light strengthened, solidifying, encasing them in radiant cocoons of faceted glass. We watched with bated breath as their bodies turned molten within, shifting, changing,
growing, pulsing with unimaginable power
. Then, without warning, the cocoons shattered. I squinted through steam at the pair of titans before us, their silhouettes familiar, but the details strange and new. Kyogre’s skin glowed, glassy, transparent in places, revealing the energy pulsing vibrantly inside its core. Groudon’s craggy hide had split open, traced by piercingly bright lines of molten magma flowing freely underneath. It was almost like… like their bodies were struggling to contain the sheer, monstrous power.
And then I felt the heat wave begin to radiate outward.
<We must leave,> Mew said, and without waiting for an answer, she teleported us out.
All of us—me, Ajia, Rudy, Darren, Moltres, Steven, and Metagross—reappeared on the crater’s edge, looking down on the lake. Groudon and Kyogre glowed like twin stars, red and blue, below us. And then the unnaturally still air that Rayquaza had brought was shattered instantly. The clouds covering half of Sootopolis shifted to pitch black. Rain burst forth, so thick it was like a solid wall of water crashing down onto Sootopolis. The other half of the sky was
on fire, shimmering with a heat haze so dense I could barely see through it. The lakewater boiled. The roads and buildings of Sootopolis twisted and distorted, then glowed, finally
melting under the relentless heat.
Lugia and Ho-oh swooped downward to land awkwardly next to us, both of them bleeding profusely, staining the gleaming white rocks a vibrant red. I could feel Lugia fighting back its exhaustion, doing everything in its power not to let it show. The dragon bird slowly pulled itself into a more dignified posture, forcing a healing energy through its body. Mew joined Ho-oh’s side, and the two of them raised a shimmering veil around our group, keeping the scorching heat at bay. Then Lugia flicked its wings, and I felt a cool ocean breeze wash over us from behind, despite the fact that I could
see the lethal heat right below.
Everyone… they’d made it outside the crater, right? But even beyond Sootopolis wasn’t safe. This level of power… Steven was right. We shouldn’t have done it. But we’d had no choice—we couldn’t let the battle keep going. It had to end. Had to keep telling myself that.
The Rocket airships quickly pulled back beyond the edge of the crater. That just left Rayquaza alone, circling overhead. A pulsing blast of dragonfire rained down on Groudon and Kyogre, and neither flinched. They’d been on par with the other higher legends before, but this? This was a whole new level.
“*Forgive us,*” Groudon said, its voice a low tremor.
Shock waves radiated from the crater, vibrating through my feet even from way up here. Six piercing lights encircled Kyogre, pulling water toward its body, collapsing it into tiny pinpricks. Then the light exploded into a barrage of piercingly blue beams, looping over Rayquaza before slamming into its back. The serpent had no time to react. It let out a cry as the waterjets smashed it down into a fresh lava field of Groudon’s, just in time for the volcano beast to slam a foot into the earth. Jagged spires of molten rock erupted from the ground, digging into its body from every direction. Again and again, water pummeling it from above, earth stabbing it from below. The serpent flailed against their hold, but there was nothing it could do. It was almost pitiful seeing the great messenger from the heavens so utterly dominated like this.
A high-pitched tone sounded from one of the airships. There was a flicker of light next to Rayquaza—something teleporting next to it? And then it was gone.
The Rocket fleet accelerated suddenly, leaving the crater at last. They were retreating. They’d gotten their prize, no need to stick around and fight a losing battle. With a thunderous roar, Groudon stamped the earth, calling up a towering surge of lava hundreds of feet into the air, catching the airship at the back of the formation and incinerating it in an instant.
Ajia glanced at Mew, her eyes wide and face pale. The psychic cat gave a somber nod and vanished. A pulse of light signaled her reappearing next to the pair of titans below. Lugia tensed up. Readying itself in case it needed to fly down after her. But then, after several agonizingly long moments, there was a flicker of light. It started as a pinprick, then grew into a blazing wave of red and blue, swirling around in a vortex. The clouds lightened; the sunlight dimmed. And then, when the light faded, there they were—Groudon and Kyogre, in their normal forms once more, looking almost
tame compared to the nightmares they’d become. That terrifying, unearthly glow was gone, contained within the orbs once more.
Mew reappeared in front of us, one orb in each paw, both pulsing softly.
<It’s over,> she said.
~End Chapter 45~
Next Chapter: Jade and Sebastian have a chat.
Likewise, here, I can imagine "Number 9" underwent a lot of harsh treatment from the Rockets and was apparently sitting around in a pokeball left for dead. I feel like that's why he's following Jade, honestly - he's never had a human show him anything like compassion before, and he's just trying to process. Although on the note of being left there on the plane, that frankly just makes me think two things: (A) that's really awful and he just needs love, and (B) there were more of those pokeballs on the plane. Were they just destroyed in the crash, or did the Rockets get them back? And furthermore, now that one of their experiments is out in the open, I feel like they're going to be more inclined to use the same type of pokemon to get him back...
