Legend of the Exile
Chapter 49: The Decisive Battle!
Born of the laws of matter four
Sealed by forces of mystic lore
Echoed cries from the heroes bright:
"Together, we shall pierce the night."
Sealed by forces of mystic lore
Echoed cries from the heroes bright:
"Together, we shall pierce the night."
Electricity ripped through Giratina's body, raw and exposed. With venomous eyes, he thrashed and clawed at his enemies, knowing that his servant had failed, that the crucial hour would soon close.
The Exile reached out with his blackened soul to the world's veil, seizing the power that had been denied him, drawing it around him like a protective cloak. And though the holy light of the Virtues seared his flesh, the Exile rushed at his enemies in a final rage.
He dragged silver guardian and golden phoenix down from the sky, flung the King of Time against the earth, casting the Sovereign of Space against the waves. And all the while, he screamed the name of his tormentor, who should have been powerless to strike, yet now rose against him, defying all expectation:
SPARKTAIL! SPARKTAIL!
The Exile reached out with his blackened soul to the world's veil, seizing the power that had been denied him, drawing it around him like a protective cloak. And though the holy light of the Virtues seared his flesh, the Exile rushed at his enemies in a final rage.
He dragged silver guardian and golden phoenix down from the sky, flung the King of Time against the earth, casting the Sovereign of Space against the waves. And all the while, he screamed the name of his tormentor, who should have been powerless to strike, yet now rose against him, defying all expectation:
SPARKTAIL! SPARKTAIL!
The ground shook with the Exile's power, raw and unrefined; parching sunlight and churning rainclouds clashed in the heavens. Rush's heart pounded as he and the other Retrievers climbed the ridge, his hands tightened into fists. and the Swampert thought of the Laprases and Wailmers on the eastern beaches.
At the top, the wounded and weary of Emerald Battalion waited along the broken trail, Kyria and her Kirlia protégées moving among their ranks. "Rush!" called Amber from the fallen archway. "We've got some prisoners."
"Prisoners?" echoed Rush as he approached the Pikachu, the earth still smoking as lightning lit the sun-streaked clouds. He stared at the dozens huddled in the middle of the path, paws behind their heads; the Exile's scent was unmistakable on their fur. "But they never surrender..."
To the west, he saw Insyte padding up the grassy slope; Shanala and Ruby Battalion followed close behind. "May the world remember this day," said Insyte as he joined Rush, looking uninjured but shaken. "Never shall we yield to the Exile."
To the south, where the earth rose up into jagged ridges, they saw Lyther hobbling up the temple path, Sapphire Battalion emerging from the caves. "We are all part of this precious world," murmured the Lucario, joining Insyte and Rush. "And we must all strive to protect it."
To the east, they saw Lute trudging up through the misty air, dragging Klesr's body behind him. His horn and fur were bloody, eyes raw but sated; behind him followed Roathaus and the remnants of Red Battalion. "At last," growled the Absol, staring at the shadow-covered temple. "Retribution comes."
Hot sunlight stung the back of Lyther's neck as Insyte's fur grew heavy with rain, swells of heat and moisture rolling over the Retrievers. "We're missing someone," said Rush darkly, turning to Amber. "Where's Shock? Where's the rest of your battalion?"
Next to the Pikachu, Delia painfully sat up, gritting her teeth. "Nobody knows," said Amber, her fur crackling. "That idiot and a couple others were trying to clear the temple's entrance when the shadows started to rise—and we still haven't heard from them!"
At the top, the wounded and weary of Emerald Battalion waited along the broken trail, Kyria and her Kirlia protégées moving among their ranks. "Rush!" called Amber from the fallen archway. "We've got some prisoners."
"Prisoners?" echoed Rush as he approached the Pikachu, the earth still smoking as lightning lit the sun-streaked clouds. He stared at the dozens huddled in the middle of the path, paws behind their heads; the Exile's scent was unmistakable on their fur. "But they never surrender..."
To the west, he saw Insyte padding up the grassy slope; Shanala and Ruby Battalion followed close behind. "May the world remember this day," said Insyte as he joined Rush, looking uninjured but shaken. "Never shall we yield to the Exile."
To the south, where the earth rose up into jagged ridges, they saw Lyther hobbling up the temple path, Sapphire Battalion emerging from the caves. "We are all part of this precious world," murmured the Lucario, joining Insyte and Rush. "And we must all strive to protect it."
To the east, they saw Lute trudging up through the misty air, dragging Klesr's body behind him. His horn and fur were bloody, eyes raw but sated; behind him followed Roathaus and the remnants of Red Battalion. "At last," growled the Absol, staring at the shadow-covered temple. "Retribution comes."
Hot sunlight stung the back of Lyther's neck as Insyte's fur grew heavy with rain, swells of heat and moisture rolling over the Retrievers. "We're missing someone," said Rush darkly, turning to Amber. "Where's Shock? Where's the rest of your battalion?"
Next to the Pikachu, Delia painfully sat up, gritting her teeth. "Nobody knows," said Amber, her fur crackling. "That idiot and a couple others were trying to clear the temple's entrance when the shadows started to rise—and we still haven't heard from them!"
Tightening Kusaan's bonds, Sparktail stared out to the dark fog rising from the temple's base, swallowing earth, sea, and sky. He felt hot sunlight on his back, cold rain-mist clinging to his fur, the world stirring underpaw. Swift pawsteps and frantic voices echoed up the long stairway, crying his name.
"SPARKTAIL!"
The Raichu blinked as Thalia burst into the room, followed by Shock, Lane, Wyrn, Mythic, Fabian, and the Zangoose. The Retrievers stopped as they saw the bound Zoroark on the floor, the glowing cracks in time and space, the air charged with tension. Shock was speechless. But Thalia was beside herself with fury.
"You! You always do this!" she screamed. "Why? Why do you always tell me to stand back? You rush off and get yourself sliced up, and then I have to come after you and rescue you anyway! And you never even bother to explain! You don't even—"
Dumbfounded, Sparktail stared at Thalia as she shouted at him, her eyes wild, leaves and fur disheveled; he hadn't seen her rage like this in years. At first, he felt angry; hadn't he been intimate with her? Hadn't he returned her hugs, spoken sweetly to her, protected her?
But then it dawned on him. What with his constant fixation with Omega, and training alone, how often had he been there for Thalia lately? Not the imaginary Thalia who he fought to protect—but the real, living, breathing Thalia? And how open had he really been with her?
"Enough, Thalia," said Shock finally. Breathing hard, Thalia turned upon him indignantly, but the Manectric held up a paw for silence. "I'm sure your frustration is understandable..." He gave Sparktail a stern look. "But there are more important matters at the moment."
The tremors faded to a low, vibrating hum as Shock sniffed at Kusaan—then froze as he saw the charred Griseous Orb, smoking on the floor. "By the gods," swore Shock, staring at the glowing, swelling rifts, his fur bristling. "What have you done?"
"What do you mean—"
They glanced up sharply as the floor shuddered once more, the others reeling to the floor, clinging to debris. Heart pounding through his head, Sparktail shielded Thalia as debris showered from the ceiling and out into the wind. "Omega! Call off the dragon," barked Shock, eyes seething. "You've lost! Order her to back down."
"You certainly think you have things figured out, don't you?" sneered Kusaan. "But all things considered... what if you have misjudged me?" His voice was weak but carried the hint of a taunt. "You think the dragon is mine? Scarlet Streak, most destructive of the Exile's lieutenant generals? "
"This isn't Garchomp's style," snapped Wyrn. "She's a destroyer. You're a hunter." He pointed his rapier at the Zoroark's neck. "Traps and ambushes every step of the way! Nothing like Ecruteak, when Scarlet Streak leveled it. She's a tool. You're the mastermind."
The Zoroark's eyes gleamed triumphantly. "The Omega Warrior is but an illusion," he said softly. "You think she is mine? Who but a true champion could control such chaos, such terror?" He gave a wheezing laugh. "Yes, I acted in her stead, managed her empire, spoke as her mouthpiece... but I was never her master!"
Howling, Shock shoved the cackling Zoroark to the floor. "This is useless," spat the Manectric, padding to the final doors, kicking them open. He nodded to Fabian. "You stay here, watch him; the rest of you, follow me. I'll explain on the way!"
Nodding, the Arcanine stepped back, one paw on Kusaan's chest. "Hurry as you please," whispered the Zoroark, watching as the other Retrievers raced up the steps. "For Rush has brought war to this sacred isle, fed the very chaos he fights against!"
"SPARKTAIL!"
The Raichu blinked as Thalia burst into the room, followed by Shock, Lane, Wyrn, Mythic, Fabian, and the Zangoose. The Retrievers stopped as they saw the bound Zoroark on the floor, the glowing cracks in time and space, the air charged with tension. Shock was speechless. But Thalia was beside herself with fury.
"You! You always do this!" she screamed. "Why? Why do you always tell me to stand back? You rush off and get yourself sliced up, and then I have to come after you and rescue you anyway! And you never even bother to explain! You don't even—"
Dumbfounded, Sparktail stared at Thalia as she shouted at him, her eyes wild, leaves and fur disheveled; he hadn't seen her rage like this in years. At first, he felt angry; hadn't he been intimate with her? Hadn't he returned her hugs, spoken sweetly to her, protected her?
But then it dawned on him. What with his constant fixation with Omega, and training alone, how often had he been there for Thalia lately? Not the imaginary Thalia who he fought to protect—but the real, living, breathing Thalia? And how open had he really been with her?
"Enough, Thalia," said Shock finally. Breathing hard, Thalia turned upon him indignantly, but the Manectric held up a paw for silence. "I'm sure your frustration is understandable..." He gave Sparktail a stern look. "But there are more important matters at the moment."
The tremors faded to a low, vibrating hum as Shock sniffed at Kusaan—then froze as he saw the charred Griseous Orb, smoking on the floor. "By the gods," swore Shock, staring at the glowing, swelling rifts, his fur bristling. "What have you done?"
"What do you mean—"
They glanced up sharply as the floor shuddered once more, the others reeling to the floor, clinging to debris. Heart pounding through his head, Sparktail shielded Thalia as debris showered from the ceiling and out into the wind. "Omega! Call off the dragon," barked Shock, eyes seething. "You've lost! Order her to back down."
"You certainly think you have things figured out, don't you?" sneered Kusaan. "But all things considered... what if you have misjudged me?" His voice was weak but carried the hint of a taunt. "You think the dragon is mine? Scarlet Streak, most destructive of the Exile's lieutenant generals? "
"This isn't Garchomp's style," snapped Wyrn. "She's a destroyer. You're a hunter." He pointed his rapier at the Zoroark's neck. "Traps and ambushes every step of the way! Nothing like Ecruteak, when Scarlet Streak leveled it. She's a tool. You're the mastermind."
The Zoroark's eyes gleamed triumphantly. "The Omega Warrior is but an illusion," he said softly. "You think she is mine? Who but a true champion could control such chaos, such terror?" He gave a wheezing laugh. "Yes, I acted in her stead, managed her empire, spoke as her mouthpiece... but I was never her master!"
Howling, Shock shoved the cackling Zoroark to the floor. "This is useless," spat the Manectric, padding to the final doors, kicking them open. He nodded to Fabian. "You stay here, watch him; the rest of you, follow me. I'll explain on the way!"
Nodding, the Arcanine stepped back, one paw on Kusaan's chest. "Hurry as you please," whispered the Zoroark, watching as the other Retrievers raced up the steps. "For Rush has brought war to this sacred isle, fed the very chaos he fights against!"
One by one, the battalion leaders stared up at the Pokemon League's fog-wreathed temple, lightning flashing in dark stormclouds between hot, thin ribbons of sunlight. Walls of translucent shadow rose up from the scorched flowerbeds, rising higher and higher, closing over the temple, arcing down over the beaches and into the sea.
With a furious screech, Ector rose up into the air before the shadow-dome, rallying the Iron Fleet to his side with a familiar shriek. Insyte and Lyther exchanged glances as the Skarmories dove at the temple's shadow barrier at full force—only to be flung to the ground by surges of violet energy.
"The storm walls," muttered the Swampert. Ferricia had barely passed through the walls of black clouds around Sinnoh; it looked like even a Skarmory couldn't penetrate this one. "How...?"
"This is the power of Distortion," said an anxious voice. Startled, Rush and the others glanced up to Latias as she landed in the burnt grass, eyes fixated on the temple. "Few can embody the Exile's wrath as Scarlet Streak can—and she burns with light robbed from the Virtues. Without Rayquaza's divine wind to protect us, rifts are opening in time and space."
Icy rain filled the air as the drake's words echoed along the temple trail. Voices fell silent, heads turning to stare at Latias. "Rifts?" echoed the Swampert, looking around to Insyte, to Lyther, to Marrow and the Flaaffy, to Amber and Delia. "Like the rift at Indigo Plateau—"
"Nothing like Indigo Plateau," said Latias sharply. "Indigo was a bastion of human civilization. Indigo was where the barrier between worlds was strongest. The rift at Indigo Plateau took great power to open; and when Giratina could not sustain the rift, it closed on its own. But here..."
She stared up to the churning sky, rain splashing down her maw. "Hoenn is the focal point of Groudon and Kyogre—whom Giratina enslaved, who ravaged the very world that defined them. Without a champion to bind these isles, this temple—this empty throne—is where the barrier between worlds is weakest."
A Leafeon and a Houndoom exchanged glances as Taillows and Starlys hovered by Rush's shoulders, chittering anxiously. "But a rift this close to the Cave of Origin would tear our world's boundaries apart," uttered Lyther, staring at Latias. "How do you know?"
The Pokemon brought her paws together. "Because I must act in Rayquaza's stead," said Latias, rising up into the air, wind rippling through her wings. "It is time for me to fulfill my purpose—to give shape and focus to the wild spirits, that they might hold this fragile world together."
Confused whispers broke out among the watching Pokemon, the battalion leaders staring at each other blankly. "You could do that? Command the spirits?" said Lute suspiciously, stepping toward Latias. "Surely chaos cannot be controlled! Only the likes of Aluxiver could truly hope to command the Behemoth and the Leviathan."
"Indeed, I cannot truly command them," said Latias as glowing white mist began to swirl around her body. "No, I cannot destroy this barrier. But there is no champion to stand above the world. And thus, it falls to me to guide these wayward spirits—to give them shape and purpose."
Rising into the air, she looked back to the battalion leaders, her eyes fierce and familiar. "That has always been my duty and birthright... as the Herald, and Rayquaza's daughter!"
With a furious screech, Ector rose up into the air before the shadow-dome, rallying the Iron Fleet to his side with a familiar shriek. Insyte and Lyther exchanged glances as the Skarmories dove at the temple's shadow barrier at full force—only to be flung to the ground by surges of violet energy.
"The storm walls," muttered the Swampert. Ferricia had barely passed through the walls of black clouds around Sinnoh; it looked like even a Skarmory couldn't penetrate this one. "How...?"
"This is the power of Distortion," said an anxious voice. Startled, Rush and the others glanced up to Latias as she landed in the burnt grass, eyes fixated on the temple. "Few can embody the Exile's wrath as Scarlet Streak can—and she burns with light robbed from the Virtues. Without Rayquaza's divine wind to protect us, rifts are opening in time and space."
Icy rain filled the air as the drake's words echoed along the temple trail. Voices fell silent, heads turning to stare at Latias. "Rifts?" echoed the Swampert, looking around to Insyte, to Lyther, to Marrow and the Flaaffy, to Amber and Delia. "Like the rift at Indigo Plateau—"
"Nothing like Indigo Plateau," said Latias sharply. "Indigo was a bastion of human civilization. Indigo was where the barrier between worlds was strongest. The rift at Indigo Plateau took great power to open; and when Giratina could not sustain the rift, it closed on its own. But here..."
She stared up to the churning sky, rain splashing down her maw. "Hoenn is the focal point of Groudon and Kyogre—whom Giratina enslaved, who ravaged the very world that defined them. Without a champion to bind these isles, this temple—this empty throne—is where the barrier between worlds is weakest."
A Leafeon and a Houndoom exchanged glances as Taillows and Starlys hovered by Rush's shoulders, chittering anxiously. "But a rift this close to the Cave of Origin would tear our world's boundaries apart," uttered Lyther, staring at Latias. "How do you know?"
The Pokemon brought her paws together. "Because I must act in Rayquaza's stead," said Latias, rising up into the air, wind rippling through her wings. "It is time for me to fulfill my purpose—to give shape and focus to the wild spirits, that they might hold this fragile world together."
Confused whispers broke out among the watching Pokemon, the battalion leaders staring at each other blankly. "You could do that? Command the spirits?" said Lute suspiciously, stepping toward Latias. "Surely chaos cannot be controlled! Only the likes of Aluxiver could truly hope to command the Behemoth and the Leviathan."
"Indeed, I cannot truly command them," said Latias as glowing white mist began to swirl around her body. "No, I cannot destroy this barrier. But there is no champion to stand above the world. And thus, it falls to me to guide these wayward spirits—to give them shape and purpose."
Rising into the air, she looked back to the battalion leaders, her eyes fierce and familiar. "That has always been my duty and birthright... as the Herald, and Rayquaza's daughter!"
"Latias," said Sparktail when Shock finished. He stared up at the Manectric as they hurried up the dark, vibrating stairs, trying to make sense of his leader's words, of Latias's purpose. A god had been watching over him all this time? "That Pokemon you were riding. She's the Herald?"
"Who else?" replied Shock, paws crackling against the steel steps, floodlights flickering in the shadows below. "She told me at Verdanturf that you had the Orbs. Latias hoped that we could send the full might of the wild spirits against the Exile. The rifts have been allowed to spread too far. Giratina must not be allowed to hold onto the Virtues any longer."
There was a flicker of warning in the Manectric's eyes, and Sparktail flinched; it was well-deserved. The Orbs... Kusaan... the council. Once again, there was no excuse. Someday, he would have to atone for his errors.
Outside, shadow-storms pounded against the temple, trembling floor and ceiling. "You fight with a fervor that we all know too well," said the Manectric, above the wind. The Raichu blinked, surprised. "But sometimes, instinct isn't enough. Sometimes, you have to truly know what you're doing."
The Raichu clenched his teeth as Thalia bandaged his wounds with leaves, cuts stinging with sitrus juice—mending where Kusaan wounded, soothing where Kusaan inflamed. "Thalia?" Tenatively, he looked up at her face. "I... I'm really sorry. I never meant to... to keep secrets, or anything—"
She would smile at him, patted his shoulder, assure him it was all right. But Thalia was afraid to meet his eyes this time. Not now... she didn't know if she was really angry. There was anger, yes, but also fear, and frustration... and perhaps a little loneliness? Why was everything so complex now?
Silently, she turned her head away and resumed bandaging him, and Sparktail looked down. He knew she had every right to be angry with him. How can I make this up to you?
At the top of the steps, the Champion's doors depicted the ancient duel between Groudon and Kyogre; but above them, where Rayquaza ought to be, the mural only showed empty sky. "The spirits rage unbridled over this scarred world, and the Exile approaches," said Shock, his voice shaking. "What champion could quell their wrath? Now... it falls to us to prove our mastery, and reclaim what is ours!"
"Who else?" replied Shock, paws crackling against the steel steps, floodlights flickering in the shadows below. "She told me at Verdanturf that you had the Orbs. Latias hoped that we could send the full might of the wild spirits against the Exile. The rifts have been allowed to spread too far. Giratina must not be allowed to hold onto the Virtues any longer."
There was a flicker of warning in the Manectric's eyes, and Sparktail flinched; it was well-deserved. The Orbs... Kusaan... the council. Once again, there was no excuse. Someday, he would have to atone for his errors.
Outside, shadow-storms pounded against the temple, trembling floor and ceiling. "You fight with a fervor that we all know too well," said the Manectric, above the wind. The Raichu blinked, surprised. "But sometimes, instinct isn't enough. Sometimes, you have to truly know what you're doing."
The Raichu clenched his teeth as Thalia bandaged his wounds with leaves, cuts stinging with sitrus juice—mending where Kusaan wounded, soothing where Kusaan inflamed. "Thalia?" Tenatively, he looked up at her face. "I... I'm really sorry. I never meant to... to keep secrets, or anything—"
She would smile at him, patted his shoulder, assure him it was all right. But Thalia was afraid to meet his eyes this time. Not now... she didn't know if she was really angry. There was anger, yes, but also fear, and frustration... and perhaps a little loneliness? Why was everything so complex now?
Silently, she turned her head away and resumed bandaging him, and Sparktail looked down. He knew she had every right to be angry with him. How can I make this up to you?
At the top of the steps, the Champion's doors depicted the ancient duel between Groudon and Kyogre; but above them, where Rayquaza ought to be, the mural only showed empty sky. "The spirits rage unbridled over this scarred world, and the Exile approaches," said Shock, his voice shaking. "What champion could quell their wrath? Now... it falls to us to prove our mastery, and reclaim what is ours!"
The dragon's growls rippled through the floor as the doors opened, revealing the Champion's sanctuary. Light gleamed off tiled walls, the floor dropping down into the mountain's depths. A sturdy bridge with chrome-plated slats spanned the great chasm, a battle-stage waiting on the octagonal pillar in the center.
"At last, you have come."
Thalia froze as a voice cried out from the darkness. "Who's there?" called the Leafeon as they crossed, drawing her blades as the Zangoose readied her claws. The ground felt alive here, pulsing, humming beneath her paws. These voices... they were familiar...
"You have fought hard for this world."
Sparktail, Lane, and Wyrn drew their swords as they gathered on the battle-stage, walls and ceiling trembling with heavy footsteps. The Raichu could feel a discordant hum in his bones—not the thrash of Rush's quakes, but deep and rolling.
"You are stronger than we foresaw."
Suddenly, the ceiling slid open, exposing to the darkened sky, shadow-barriers glowing faintly with sunlight that filtered in through tiny slits, the wind carrying a faint, foul scent. They heard shifting pistons and grinding gears as the bridge retracted; then, the entire stage began to rise toward the heavens.
"You have overcome challenges of many worlds."
The dragon's snarl rippled through the spire once more as the platform rose up into a vast, open field of trampled grass, flowers blooming with blood-red petals at the far end, blurring into midnight blue at the other... the battlefield of Hoenn's grand stadium. "For Sheltur," hissed Wyrn, gripping his rapier.
"This world... is yours by right."
Steel bolts clicked as the battle-stage came level with the arena's field, locking the platform into red-and-white pavement. Just beyond the arena's stands, four concrete towers rose up from the temple's slanted walls, reaching up into the shadow-dome overhead.
"So, this is who you send against me?" thundered the great, jagged shadow rising from the sea. Sparktail gasped as Scarlet Streak climbed up onto the stands, sheets of seawater dripping down from red scales. The ill stench of stale flesh permeated the air, bones and entrails scattered about the arena.
Thalia's paws shook as the Red Dragon loomed over them, thrice as tall as any other Garchomp, blood-tinted drool trickling down from massive jaws. "Your triumphs reek of failure; your wishes reek of fear," she rasped, a low growl rolling in her belly. "What secrets have made your blood rich?"
"Look!" shouted Shock, staring up to the sky. At the top of the shadow-dome, they saw a great fracture in the sky like cracked glass, a web of thin but far-reaching splinters. And the more that Sparktail stared at it, the more the cracks widened and fractured.
"Carnage is a beautiful thing," crowed Scarlet Streak as she sprang down from her perch, rocking the stadium upon impact. "To see the wild spirits ravage their homeland, to see Silversky's heirs die before their master's rest..."
Rising to her full height, she looked at them with the ravenous yellow eyes that conquered earth and sea, light gleaming off the thin, flat plates at the back of her neck. "On this red morning, may your lifeblood taste all the sweeter!"
"At last, you have come."
Thalia froze as a voice cried out from the darkness. "Who's there?" called the Leafeon as they crossed, drawing her blades as the Zangoose readied her claws. The ground felt alive here, pulsing, humming beneath her paws. These voices... they were familiar...
"You have fought hard for this world."
Sparktail, Lane, and Wyrn drew their swords as they gathered on the battle-stage, walls and ceiling trembling with heavy footsteps. The Raichu could feel a discordant hum in his bones—not the thrash of Rush's quakes, but deep and rolling.
"You are stronger than we foresaw."
Suddenly, the ceiling slid open, exposing to the darkened sky, shadow-barriers glowing faintly with sunlight that filtered in through tiny slits, the wind carrying a faint, foul scent. They heard shifting pistons and grinding gears as the bridge retracted; then, the entire stage began to rise toward the heavens.
"You have overcome challenges of many worlds."
The dragon's snarl rippled through the spire once more as the platform rose up into a vast, open field of trampled grass, flowers blooming with blood-red petals at the far end, blurring into midnight blue at the other... the battlefield of Hoenn's grand stadium. "For Sheltur," hissed Wyrn, gripping his rapier.
"This world... is yours by right."
Steel bolts clicked as the battle-stage came level with the arena's field, locking the platform into red-and-white pavement. Just beyond the arena's stands, four concrete towers rose up from the temple's slanted walls, reaching up into the shadow-dome overhead.
"So, this is who you send against me?" thundered the great, jagged shadow rising from the sea. Sparktail gasped as Scarlet Streak climbed up onto the stands, sheets of seawater dripping down from red scales. The ill stench of stale flesh permeated the air, bones and entrails scattered about the arena.
Thalia's paws shook as the Red Dragon loomed over them, thrice as tall as any other Garchomp, blood-tinted drool trickling down from massive jaws. "Your triumphs reek of failure; your wishes reek of fear," she rasped, a low growl rolling in her belly. "What secrets have made your blood rich?"
"Look!" shouted Shock, staring up to the sky. At the top of the shadow-dome, they saw a great fracture in the sky like cracked glass, a web of thin but far-reaching splinters. And the more that Sparktail stared at it, the more the cracks widened and fractured.
"Carnage is a beautiful thing," crowed Scarlet Streak as she sprang down from her perch, rocking the stadium upon impact. "To see the wild spirits ravage their homeland, to see Silversky's heirs die before their master's rest..."
Rising to her full height, she looked at them with the ravenous yellow eyes that conquered earth and sea, light gleaming off the thin, flat plates at the back of her neck. "On this red morning, may your lifeblood taste all the sweeter!"
Rush could sense the unearthly throb of the Exile's power, diseased vibrations that chilled him to the bone. Lyther and his followers, Roathaus and the Swordwrit, Insyte and the Vulcanites, Amber and her fellow natives, an army two hundred strong; all eyes were on Latias and the great shadow-dome.
Pure white mist formed a thick ball around Latias, rising from the earth and the sea, descending from the sky. "It's working," gasped the Herald, paws glowing blue, eyes a brilliant gold. "Stand back, all of you!" With a sweeping shockwave, the entire mass of swirling mist flew at the temple.
Sparks sizzled and flew as white mist met black fog. Light met the darkness and split into thin tendrils of color, splintering the shadows, transparent streaks in the translucent fog. Slowly, the four towers became visible in the haze, glowing with eerie fire: pink, blue, yellow, green.
At last, they could see the power surging from the temple's towers and flowing into the barrier, the source of Giratina's power. For in the fires atop each tower lay the Virtues—Mew, Celebi, Shaymin, Jirachi—all powerless to fight the cursed flames consuming them, body and soul.
Pure white mist formed a thick ball around Latias, rising from the earth and the sea, descending from the sky. "It's working," gasped the Herald, paws glowing blue, eyes a brilliant gold. "Stand back, all of you!" With a sweeping shockwave, the entire mass of swirling mist flew at the temple.
Sparks sizzled and flew as white mist met black fog. Light met the darkness and split into thin tendrils of color, splintering the shadows, transparent streaks in the translucent fog. Slowly, the four towers became visible in the haze, glowing with eerie fire: pink, blue, yellow, green.
At last, they could see the power surging from the temple's towers and flowing into the barrier, the source of Giratina's power. For in the fires atop each tower lay the Virtues—Mew, Celebi, Shaymin, Jirachi—all powerless to fight the cursed flames consuming them, body and soul.
Rolling white mist spilled over the stands and onto the stadium, colescing around glowing rifts, enclosing them, containing the space-time fracture in the sky. Cold rain turned to steam in swells of hot air as they saw the helpless Virtues on their towers, the great life-force throbbing underpaw like a beating heart.
"Too long have we misjudged the heroes of mortals."
The air split as Scarlet Streak lunged across the field with blinding speed, a sudden blur of claws and gnashing jaws. Sparktail barely had time to leap aside as vicious claws shredded the air with rolling waves of red power. Darting between falling bursts of scarlet light, Thalia sprang at the Garchomp with both blades, frantically tumbling away from its diving jaws.
"Too long have we watched the world suffer, and held back."
Overhead, the darkness became a dome of iridescent light, revealing bright sun and dark clouds, spiraling in a fierce tropical storm. Jagged boulders appeared in a circle around Scarlet Streak as she sprang from tower to tower, crashing into the field just behind Mythic. As he ran, Shock spun up with a whirling thunderbolt, electricity rebounding off red scales.
"It is time for us to return to the Aether."
Circling their foe, Lane and Wyrn sprang up high. Blasts of ice and wind flew from their paws, ricocheting off the Garchomp's scales. "You think winter is my bane, as with my kin?" sneered Scarlet Streak as she spun. "My blood is more ancient than snow, my claws more piercing than the sun, my wings more vast than the sea, unshackled by the Exile!"
"Hunt us as prey. Free us from the Exile's hold."
Rolling clouds of dust mingled with the misty air with the dragon's earth-shaking stomps. Lowering her blades from her eyes, Thalia stared at the four towers, horrified by the Virtues' words. This would be nothing like hunting prey.
"Our time has come. Make an end of us."
A few feet away, Shock stared across the stadium, the sky tinted with red and blues, greens and yellows. "The crucial hour has come," said the Manectric, watching Wyrn and Lane as they struck and darted around Scarlet Streak. "Sparktail, Thalia, you hit the towers! Speedster and Razor, we'll draw off Garchomp. Now go!"
Barely registering the Zangoose's name as the others ran off, Sparktail looked at Thalia as she moved toward him, looking into each other's eyes. "I... I know there's no other choice," said the Leafeon, her voice cracking, her senses under constant siege from the volatile weather. "Sparktail... are you with me?"
"Of course," he said fiercely. He couldn't name the hidden turmoil in her eyes, subtle yet profound; but still, he wanted to be at her side.
With a small, hopeful smile, Thalia locked her blades together and drew a slender leaf-arrow from the fronds at the back of her neck.
The dragon swung around in a whirlwind of claws and teeth, ice-waves flying from Lane's blade with each slash. Wyrn stabbed at Scarlet Streak's leg as he dashed out from under her stomping foot, the earth flaring up around him. Sparks flew from Shock's paws as he dove under her spinning claws, missing the Garchomp's eyes.
Cold steel chilled Thalia's back, vine-strings pulled taut. Nocking her arrow, the Leafeon took aim at the far tower, at the pink glow of Mew's light. Drawing back, she shuddered as the life-force swelled underpaw, all muscles suddenly tightening and slackening at once—and the arrow was gone.
Her heart sank as the green shaft sailed through the misty air, landing low in the stands. "I have to do this," said Thalia through gritted teeth, nocking another arrow, staring at Mew's tower. She blinked as she felt Sparktail holding her bow, steadying her aim, sending tiny crackles down the arrow's length. "Thank you—"
This time, she felt the bow hum, strong and true. With polarized accuracy, the electrified arrow crossed the air and pierced Mew's body, red flames bursting open with a sound like a toiling bell. A high-pitched scream echoed from across the sea as the feline fell from the tower to the battlefield in a shower of debris.
Eyes widening, Garchomp slid to a halt, turning in mid-dash. Thalia and Sparktail fled as jagged boulders smashed into the ground behind them, throwing dust up into the air. At the same time, the Zangoose leapt up high from Mythic's back with a smirk, diving toward the giant Garchomp's unprotected back.
In the blink of an eye, Scarlet Streak spun with a wide, slashing motion, striking the Zangoose in midair, flinging her down to the field. "Razor!" shouted Shock, sliding around as he and Lane dashed over to her. Overhead, Kyogre's rain flashed and mingled with swirling dust as the Garchomp leapt up high into the air.
Retrievers held their breath as Scarlet Streak came crashing down with a mighty impact, rocking the entire stadium, cracking walls and pavement, thick clouds of rolling dust into the misty air. A slurry of earth and rain soaked Sparktail's fur as he hit the turf, slippery with rain one moment, parched with sunlight the next, humid to arid to hot to cold—and a blinding bolt of lightning split the sky.
Slowly rising, the Raichu stared around the arena, feeling as if his eyes were opened for the first time. The misty air felt different, charged with tension: the searing heat of fire, the brisk flow of water, the thriving glow of the woods. All the world made his fur tingle, sending a thrill down his spine, raw and feral, ancient and deep.
The Leafeon clung to her bow as muddy raindrops coated her fur, thin root-tendrils emerging from her leaf-buds. Tugging a fresh leaf-arrow from her back, she aimed at Shaymin's tower, squinting through the haze of rain and the glaring sunlight, dirt raindrops stinging at her cheeks and fur like desert sand.
Sparktail froze as Mythic emerged from the dust, stumbling toward him. At first glance, he saw the Eevee who he ought to see; but slowly, he saw Mythic's true self, the slender muzzle, the long tail—bloody gashes covering the Tanuki's body, large chunks of fur missing, patches of hairless skin.
Now he understood why Speedster always seemed unhurt, too fast for enemy attacks: it was all part of Mythic's illusion, a lie sustained over the millennia, the denial of aging. "Rest here," whispered the Raichu, glancing back to Thalia uncomfortably. Nodding weakly, the Tanuki lay down in the drenched field and closed his eyes.
As Thalia's arrow sank home into Shaymin's body, green light began to flow up from the mist, converging around the Virtue's tower. "Thalia! Look out!" shouted Sparktail, moving in front of her as the light turned white and burst open like a flower bulb, holding his blade high, sparks spilling out from his cheeks and down his tail.
Thalia's eyes widened as the seed-flare swept around Sparktail's blade and around her, a fierce wave of life-force sweeping across the field. "Don't worry about me," gasped the Raichu, staggering. "Shaymin!" Nodding, the Leafeon took aim at Shaymin's tower again. I can do this, she thought silently, and released her arrow.
On the far side, red spikes scattered over the field as Shock and Lane flew back from the snarling Garchomp, the Exile screeching from the distant heavens. Thalia shuddered as Shaymin's life-force was extingushed in a flash of green light, the flower-meadows trembling as if in mourning—and in gratitude.
"Too long have we misjudged the heroes of mortals."
The air split as Scarlet Streak lunged across the field with blinding speed, a sudden blur of claws and gnashing jaws. Sparktail barely had time to leap aside as vicious claws shredded the air with rolling waves of red power. Darting between falling bursts of scarlet light, Thalia sprang at the Garchomp with both blades, frantically tumbling away from its diving jaws.
"Too long have we watched the world suffer, and held back."
Overhead, the darkness became a dome of iridescent light, revealing bright sun and dark clouds, spiraling in a fierce tropical storm. Jagged boulders appeared in a circle around Scarlet Streak as she sprang from tower to tower, crashing into the field just behind Mythic. As he ran, Shock spun up with a whirling thunderbolt, electricity rebounding off red scales.
"It is time for us to return to the Aether."
Circling their foe, Lane and Wyrn sprang up high. Blasts of ice and wind flew from their paws, ricocheting off the Garchomp's scales. "You think winter is my bane, as with my kin?" sneered Scarlet Streak as she spun. "My blood is more ancient than snow, my claws more piercing than the sun, my wings more vast than the sea, unshackled by the Exile!"
"Hunt us as prey. Free us from the Exile's hold."
Rolling clouds of dust mingled with the misty air with the dragon's earth-shaking stomps. Lowering her blades from her eyes, Thalia stared at the four towers, horrified by the Virtues' words. This would be nothing like hunting prey.
"Our time has come. Make an end of us."
A few feet away, Shock stared across the stadium, the sky tinted with red and blues, greens and yellows. "The crucial hour has come," said the Manectric, watching Wyrn and Lane as they struck and darted around Scarlet Streak. "Sparktail, Thalia, you hit the towers! Speedster and Razor, we'll draw off Garchomp. Now go!"
Barely registering the Zangoose's name as the others ran off, Sparktail looked at Thalia as she moved toward him, looking into each other's eyes. "I... I know there's no other choice," said the Leafeon, her voice cracking, her senses under constant siege from the volatile weather. "Sparktail... are you with me?"
"Of course," he said fiercely. He couldn't name the hidden turmoil in her eyes, subtle yet profound; but still, he wanted to be at her side.
With a small, hopeful smile, Thalia locked her blades together and drew a slender leaf-arrow from the fronds at the back of her neck.
The dragon swung around in a whirlwind of claws and teeth, ice-waves flying from Lane's blade with each slash. Wyrn stabbed at Scarlet Streak's leg as he dashed out from under her stomping foot, the earth flaring up around him. Sparks flew from Shock's paws as he dove under her spinning claws, missing the Garchomp's eyes.
Cold steel chilled Thalia's back, vine-strings pulled taut. Nocking her arrow, the Leafeon took aim at the far tower, at the pink glow of Mew's light. Drawing back, she shuddered as the life-force swelled underpaw, all muscles suddenly tightening and slackening at once—and the arrow was gone.
Her heart sank as the green shaft sailed through the misty air, landing low in the stands. "I have to do this," said Thalia through gritted teeth, nocking another arrow, staring at Mew's tower. She blinked as she felt Sparktail holding her bow, steadying her aim, sending tiny crackles down the arrow's length. "Thank you—"
This time, she felt the bow hum, strong and true. With polarized accuracy, the electrified arrow crossed the air and pierced Mew's body, red flames bursting open with a sound like a toiling bell. A high-pitched scream echoed from across the sea as the feline fell from the tower to the battlefield in a shower of debris.
Eyes widening, Garchomp slid to a halt, turning in mid-dash. Thalia and Sparktail fled as jagged boulders smashed into the ground behind them, throwing dust up into the air. At the same time, the Zangoose leapt up high from Mythic's back with a smirk, diving toward the giant Garchomp's unprotected back.
In the blink of an eye, Scarlet Streak spun with a wide, slashing motion, striking the Zangoose in midair, flinging her down to the field. "Razor!" shouted Shock, sliding around as he and Lane dashed over to her. Overhead, Kyogre's rain flashed and mingled with swirling dust as the Garchomp leapt up high into the air.
Retrievers held their breath as Scarlet Streak came crashing down with a mighty impact, rocking the entire stadium, cracking walls and pavement, thick clouds of rolling dust into the misty air. A slurry of earth and rain soaked Sparktail's fur as he hit the turf, slippery with rain one moment, parched with sunlight the next, humid to arid to hot to cold—and a blinding bolt of lightning split the sky.
Slowly rising, the Raichu stared around the arena, feeling as if his eyes were opened for the first time. The misty air felt different, charged with tension: the searing heat of fire, the brisk flow of water, the thriving glow of the woods. All the world made his fur tingle, sending a thrill down his spine, raw and feral, ancient and deep.
The Leafeon clung to her bow as muddy raindrops coated her fur, thin root-tendrils emerging from her leaf-buds. Tugging a fresh leaf-arrow from her back, she aimed at Shaymin's tower, squinting through the haze of rain and the glaring sunlight, dirt raindrops stinging at her cheeks and fur like desert sand.
Sparktail froze as Mythic emerged from the dust, stumbling toward him. At first glance, he saw the Eevee who he ought to see; but slowly, he saw Mythic's true self, the slender muzzle, the long tail—bloody gashes covering the Tanuki's body, large chunks of fur missing, patches of hairless skin.
Now he understood why Speedster always seemed unhurt, too fast for enemy attacks: it was all part of Mythic's illusion, a lie sustained over the millennia, the denial of aging. "Rest here," whispered the Raichu, glancing back to Thalia uncomfortably. Nodding weakly, the Tanuki lay down in the drenched field and closed his eyes.
As Thalia's arrow sank home into Shaymin's body, green light began to flow up from the mist, converging around the Virtue's tower. "Thalia! Look out!" shouted Sparktail, moving in front of her as the light turned white and burst open like a flower bulb, holding his blade high, sparks spilling out from his cheeks and down his tail.
Thalia's eyes widened as the seed-flare swept around Sparktail's blade and around her, a fierce wave of life-force sweeping across the field. "Don't worry about me," gasped the Raichu, staggering. "Shaymin!" Nodding, the Leafeon took aim at Shaymin's tower again. I can do this, she thought silently, and released her arrow.
On the far side, red spikes scattered over the field as Shock and Lane flew back from the snarling Garchomp, the Exile screeching from the distant heavens. Thalia shuddered as Shaymin's life-force was extingushed in a flash of green light, the flower-meadows trembling as if in mourning—and in gratitude.
"Enemies at 9 o'clock!"
At the Skarmory's shrill cry, Rush and the others glanced out to sea, alarmed. Through the blur of falling rain, they could make out a dark, heavy shadow on the horizon. "That's not possible," said the Swampert numbly, tightening his war-braces. "Stand ready—"
The words died in his throat as he saw the beating black wings of Giratina, savage eyes piercing the rain like red needles, glowing with unabated intensity, the fury of untold millenia, of all the Exiles before Slick and all the Exiles to come.
For the first time in years, the Swampert felt despair in his bones, understood the power of an enemy that never rested. Was this what he sent the Retrievers against? Was this the mundane battlefield that he had been spared? Surely there must be an end to the war!
Discontent murmurs spread through the Retrievers as they saw their leader falter, the resolve vanishing from his eyes. Insyte and Lyther both stared at the Swampert, raindrops running down their saturated pelts. Didn't Rush have a plan? Didn't he see what must be done?
Lute looked to the prisoners as the Exile approached; but their wills were broken, the fury of battle gone. Pachirisu tails lay in the dirt while Mismagii shuddered and retched, a Burmy and a Budew huddling close to a quivering Venonat, all terrified by the very prescence they once worshipped.
Overhead, Latias cried out as mist continued surging from her body into the rainbow barrier.
"We shall not yield," said Lyther finally, striding forward. "We have come too far to turn back now!"
"We must unite," agreed Insyte, joining the Lucario. "All who desire life, who desire liberty; stand with me!"
One by one, Pokemon of every land and every affinity slowly rose to their paws as the duo's voices rang out over the hills. As one force, one power, one world, they gathered in a long row along the hill's edge to face Giratina, all staring fiercely into the eyes of death.
At the Skarmory's shrill cry, Rush and the others glanced out to sea, alarmed. Through the blur of falling rain, they could make out a dark, heavy shadow on the horizon. "That's not possible," said the Swampert numbly, tightening his war-braces. "Stand ready—"
The words died in his throat as he saw the beating black wings of Giratina, savage eyes piercing the rain like red needles, glowing with unabated intensity, the fury of untold millenia, of all the Exiles before Slick and all the Exiles to come.
For the first time in years, the Swampert felt despair in his bones, understood the power of an enemy that never rested. Was this what he sent the Retrievers against? Was this the mundane battlefield that he had been spared? Surely there must be an end to the war!
Discontent murmurs spread through the Retrievers as they saw their leader falter, the resolve vanishing from his eyes. Insyte and Lyther both stared at the Swampert, raindrops running down their saturated pelts. Didn't Rush have a plan? Didn't he see what must be done?
Lute looked to the prisoners as the Exile approached; but their wills were broken, the fury of battle gone. Pachirisu tails lay in the dirt while Mismagii shuddered and retched, a Burmy and a Budew huddling close to a quivering Venonat, all terrified by the very prescence they once worshipped.
Overhead, Latias cried out as mist continued surging from her body into the rainbow barrier.
"We shall not yield," said Lyther finally, striding forward. "We have come too far to turn back now!"
"We must unite," agreed Insyte, joining the Lucario. "All who desire life, who desire liberty; stand with me!"
One by one, Pokemon of every land and every affinity slowly rose to their paws as the duo's voices rang out over the hills. As one force, one power, one world, they gathered in a long row along the hill's edge to face Giratina, all staring fiercely into the eyes of death.
Red waves swept the stadium in the shape of oncoming shark fins, parting the mist, ripping across the field in every direction. Slashing through ghost-fin after ghost-fin, Lane yelled as a wave struck him from behind, sending him reeling to the ground. Waves of scarlet energy struck the ground around Wyrn and Shock, parting the mist.
As Scarlet Streak turned her eyes toward Thalia, Sparktail dashed forward, his blade rebounding off the Garchomp's reinforced hide. "Don't stop!" Nodding, Thalia took aim at Celebi's tower. He can handle this, she told herself silently, reluctantly. Focus--
The Garchomp's snarl tore across the stadium, breaking Thalia's concentration, her leaf-arrow snapping. The Leafeon spun around as Scarlet Streak shredded the air around Sparktail with a flurry of slashes. "No!" she hissed. Separating her bow, she tore across the field, moving between Sparktail and the Garchomp.
Swinging up over a blood-red arm, Thalia thrust her blades at the dragon's abdomen, but the Garchomp struck them down in a vicious spin, flinging her to the ground. Twisting under Scarlet's slashes, the Leafeon rolled away from an earth-shaking stomp as Wyrn darted past her.
Speechless, Sparktail stared as Scarlet Streak spun like a red turbine, Thalia frantically dodging between bone-rending claws. Looking around, the Raichu dragged Lane and Razor behind a Rhydon carcass, trying to ignore the battlefield's vibrations, the charged air.
A rolling earth-flare tore across the field and erupted beneath Shock, flinging him off his paws with a howl. Sloshing toward the Manectric, Sparktail watched helplessly, frustratedly as Thalia and Wyrn spiraled and struck at the Garchomp in the mist. His electricity was useless here. What could he do?
"Blood is law," shouted Scarlet Streak, blood and saliva flying from her jaws. "When the wishes of wind and shadow are one, how can I resist?" Nature's wrath... the world that Giratina sought... were they truly one in chaos? What good was intent, if Thalia couldn't land a single blow? What good was resolve, if Sparktail couldn't reach?
There was a shout as the dragon lunged high into the air, and a ball of dragonflame engulfed the Leafeon in midair. "Thalia!" screamed Sparktail, dashing forward.
The Leafeon landed in the Raichu's arms, panting and terrified, more dazed than injured. Glowing red markings were appeared over her body The tips of her ears and tail were singed, her leaf-buds lightly charred. "I... I'm okay," hissed Thalia, her eyes darting wildly as Sparktail set her down on the grass. "Leafeons... are strong as oak trees...!"
Shock looked up at Scarlet Streak and Wyrn, blurred shadows in the pale haze. "Garchomps terrorized the oceans long ago, but migrated onto land over the centuries," murmured Mythic. "But to dominate both land and sea... As heir to her ancestors' genes, Cynthia's Garchomp is surely the most cruel champion we could face."
The stadium shuddered again as Scarlet Streak crashed down on the far stands, crushing steel handrails beneath every step. Shock stared as Sparktail stroked Thalia's fur gently, the Leafeon's leaves very slowly regenerating. "The two of you... why didn't I see it?" said the Manectric, sitting upright. "Yes, only the two of you can save Hoenn. And you must stop the Exile."
Sparktail and Thalia exchanged glances. "But you... none of us can get through her scales," protested Sparktail. "And even a normal Garchomp—" He hesitated for a moment, gesturing to the Red Dragon looming over them. "What chance do we have?!"
The Manectric lowered his head, his breathing harsh and strained. "You'll stop her, because you have no other choice," insisted Shock, dipping a paw into the red-wisped rainwater pooling at his fur, sending tiny crackles across its grisly surface. "Surely... the will of a champion can even tame the wild—"
The will of a champion. Champion Red, facing down Scarlet Streak at Indigo Plateau. Red's Pikachu, electrocuting the Garchomp through her own blood. Eyes widening, Sparktail stared up at Scarlet Streak. "Hey... you know what you're doing, right?" said Thalia as the Raichu walked out to the middle of the arena. "If it comes down to it, don't tell me to stand back—"
He stopped, turned, met her eyes, revealing all the buried emotions that mirrored hers. "I won't make you worry," promised Sparktail. The Leafeon's mouth fell open as he hugged her tight, her body tingling from paws to tail. "Thalia, I'll come back from this. No... we both will, I know it!"
Her heart pounding, Thalia stared as the Raichu ran into the mist. Hot tears welled up. Then, he never meant to leave her behind? He trusted her, even though she fell. Perhaps he hadn't really changed, not down inside. Locking her bow together, the Leafeon pulled an arrow from her back, grunting.
Sparktail ran toward the dragon, the floor vibrating, humming with battle. His eyes widened as Scarlet Streak struck Wyrn squarely in the chest, flinging the Buizel across the stadium before leaping up toward the towers again. Furious, the Buizel struggled to rise, but couldn't. "Don't!" said the Raichu, helping Wyrn up. "No, you can't die here—"
The wind howled as the dragon's shadow sprang from tower to tower, circling overhead like an avian predator. "You're not what I thought you were," said the Buizel, staring at Sparktail. "I'll take care of the others," Shaking, Wyrn retrieved his rapier before stumbling off. "Don't think that I trust you yet."
Thalia scanned the shrouded tower, electricity still circling its walls. Overhead, Celebi's body flashed with power; but she instinctively moved aside, eyes still on the Virtue as blue light blasted the ground. "Rey fah, rey leel!" cried the Leafeon, letting her arrow fly. By life, I take life.
Heart pounding, Sparktail braced himself as Scarlet tore across the field, fur rippling with her sheer power. Dodging and darting between her claws, he wove in and out of the mist with weak jolts of electricity to hold her attention. "Fool," hissed the dragon as she pursued him, rending the air to ribbons. "There is no escaping fate!"
Once, twice, thrice; Thalia's arrows sank through the shields that deflected Sparktail's attacks, piercing Celebi's body. Behind her, Wyrn helped Shock toward the Rhydon carcass, the earth trembling. As the fourth arrow struck home, an eerie force rippled through the arena, and the forest sprite was consumed in a burst of emerald fire.
They passed each other in the mist as Giratina's scream filled the battlefield a third time. Emerging from the swirling clouds, Thalia tumbled into a roll as a flurry of phantom-swipes flew from Scarlet's claws, tearing up the earth behind her. "A child has no place in battle," leered the Garchomp as she sprang over the Leafeon with falling bursts of dragonflame. "Forever a child! Forever a fool!"
At the base of Jirachi's tower, Sparktail touched his jagged cheeks, trying to focus the electricity in his veins; but his bones were still rattled, his senses overloaded. Stray sparks spilled down the Raichu's cheeks as an erratic thunderbolt flew from his paws, spiraling up Jirachi's tower before suddenly thunderbolt collapsing, scattering electricity across the field.
Helping Razor up, Lane squinted through the white fog as Sparktail and Thalia crossed paths again. Tumbling to her paws, Thalia leapt back into the mist from a heavy downward blow, raised her bow again. She tugged at a leaf-arrow as Sparktail rushed forward, but the rigid stem held firm to its bud, refusing to be plucked.
The Raichu rolled under a pair of swishing claws, shark fins smashing into the ground behind him. "How ripe and succulent, your tenacity," called Scarlet Streak as the Raichu hastily met her phantom-fins with his blade, steel swishing to meet the storm. "The prey that moves is always tastier than the prey that whimpers..."
Thalia cried out as the slender leaf finally broke free from her back with a sharp pain, drops of red-tinted sap flying into the mist. Setting her bow to her cheek, she felt the steel's sting as she nocked her arrow, colder than ever, a chilling burn penetrating her fur.
Eyes watering with pain, the Leafeon released her string. She squinted into the haze, watching the shaft fly at the tower; but then, the arrow withered and crumbled into dust. Despairing, the Leafeon watched the red blur that was Scarlet Streak, the struggling yellow flash that was Sparktail. It was too late, they were growing weary, the life in her was almost spent...
Paws shoving against the grassy arena, Sparktail leapt at the Garchomp, slashing, blade rebounding off her armored hide. Dragonflame and lunging jaws swept around the Raichu as he dove to the ground, ears ringing with the echo of shattered stones.
Fury swelled and crackled in his blood as he ran, blotting out his fatigue, barely noticing the rubble digging into his paws as the ground burst open around him, the world crackling. Feet sliding on the rain-slicked field, he struggled to meet the Garchomp's blows with slashes. No trick, no key, no secret; this was little more than a dance with death.
Slowly, Thalia's eyes fell on Mythic, watching her from the Rhydon carcass. Aren't there many layers to reality, Thalia? Feel the grass under your paws, the sun on your back, the wind in your fur; and you will understand. And finally, she understood his words, understood the power that pulsed under her paws.
The other Leafeons were right. It was never the bow's weight. A bow's weight was a matter of strength, and anyone could become strong. But life? Not everyone could see how precious life was, could sense the glow and warmth of wilderness. Who could possibly understand life enough to evoke the full strength of the wilderness?
It was difficult to sift through anxiety, to take the higher view; to confront uncomfortable truths, to accept harsh reality: Life must sustain life, blood must sustain blood, flesh must sustain flesh. This was the balance of the forest, the cycle of life and death. It was not because Giratina said so, but because it was the natural order.
Raichu and Leafeon, they looked up to the sky, Groudon's sunlight and Kyogre's rain, melding into one storm. The will of the wild—this was Hoenn's ultimate secret.
Separating her blades, Thalia flung them up at Jirachi's tower, casting them into the electromagnetic field that had hijacked Sparktail's thunderbolt. Blades shifted, re-angled themselves, ripping upward through the tower's walls in a double helix spiral.
Cheeks crackled in the charged air, Sparktail leapt over Scarlet's sweeping tail, lashing out wide with his own tail and latching onto the Garchomp's ridged red tail in midair. Teeth clenched, he reeled himself in, held onto the dragon's tail, Scarlet snarling and writhing beneath his grip.
Clinging to her scales, the Raichu climbed up the Garchomp's long spine, paw after paw, trying to hold himself together as Scarlet thrashed and spun in fury. His fur tingled as charged air particles drifted towards the whirling Garchomp, drawing the storm overhead toward the stadium's center, maelstrom incarnate.
With Hoenn's life-force throbbing against her pawpads, the Leafeon spread her leaves to the raging, clashing sky. Pulling his tail taut against the Garchomp's throat, the Raichu held up his sword high, the wilderness humming in his fur. Dark clouds closed over Sparktail as bright sunlight opened above Thalia.
Overhead, Thalia's blades reached the top of the tower, marking her target. Hot sunlight flowed down into the glowing bud on Thalia's back as Sparktail pierced the thin scales at the back of Garchomp's neck.
"CHUUUUU!"
"LEEEEAAA!"
Chained blades of golden light shot from the Leafeon's back and shredded through Jirachi. At the same time, a bolt of sheer electricity fell from the raging heavens, striking Sparktail. Glowing blue lines appeared on Sparktail as pure lightning coursed through his body, flowing down his blade and into Scarlet Streak.
Writhing, the Garchomp clawed at the air, torn by the newfound agony of lightning—consumed by the will of the wild.The entire world shook with ancient forces from beneath the temple, vibrating at Sparktail's bones, pulsing at Thalia's paws, growing stronger and stronger.
Howling, Scarlet Streak collapsed to the ground as the last Virtue vanished in an explosion of gold fire, Latias's mist dispersing—the last of the time-space rifts closed and gone, as if sealed by an invisible hand.
Shock, Mythic, Wyrn, Lane, Razor; the five stared from their hiding place as the Grand Stadium flashed with vivid blue, then crimson red, then dark green and bright gold, the invisible will of the wilderness unleashed. Glittering dust fell on Thalia's head as she raced toward Sparktail, vines reaching out for him as he fell—their voices lost in the howling wind.
As Scarlet Streak turned her eyes toward Thalia, Sparktail dashed forward, his blade rebounding off the Garchomp's reinforced hide. "Don't stop!" Nodding, Thalia took aim at Celebi's tower. He can handle this, she told herself silently, reluctantly. Focus--
The Garchomp's snarl tore across the stadium, breaking Thalia's concentration, her leaf-arrow snapping. The Leafeon spun around as Scarlet Streak shredded the air around Sparktail with a flurry of slashes. "No!" she hissed. Separating her bow, she tore across the field, moving between Sparktail and the Garchomp.
Swinging up over a blood-red arm, Thalia thrust her blades at the dragon's abdomen, but the Garchomp struck them down in a vicious spin, flinging her to the ground. Twisting under Scarlet's slashes, the Leafeon rolled away from an earth-shaking stomp as Wyrn darted past her.
Speechless, Sparktail stared as Scarlet Streak spun like a red turbine, Thalia frantically dodging between bone-rending claws. Looking around, the Raichu dragged Lane and Razor behind a Rhydon carcass, trying to ignore the battlefield's vibrations, the charged air.
A rolling earth-flare tore across the field and erupted beneath Shock, flinging him off his paws with a howl. Sloshing toward the Manectric, Sparktail watched helplessly, frustratedly as Thalia and Wyrn spiraled and struck at the Garchomp in the mist. His electricity was useless here. What could he do?
"Blood is law," shouted Scarlet Streak, blood and saliva flying from her jaws. "When the wishes of wind and shadow are one, how can I resist?" Nature's wrath... the world that Giratina sought... were they truly one in chaos? What good was intent, if Thalia couldn't land a single blow? What good was resolve, if Sparktail couldn't reach?
There was a shout as the dragon lunged high into the air, and a ball of dragonflame engulfed the Leafeon in midair. "Thalia!" screamed Sparktail, dashing forward.
The Leafeon landed in the Raichu's arms, panting and terrified, more dazed than injured. Glowing red markings were appeared over her body The tips of her ears and tail were singed, her leaf-buds lightly charred. "I... I'm okay," hissed Thalia, her eyes darting wildly as Sparktail set her down on the grass. "Leafeons... are strong as oak trees...!"
Shock looked up at Scarlet Streak and Wyrn, blurred shadows in the pale haze. "Garchomps terrorized the oceans long ago, but migrated onto land over the centuries," murmured Mythic. "But to dominate both land and sea... As heir to her ancestors' genes, Cynthia's Garchomp is surely the most cruel champion we could face."
The stadium shuddered again as Scarlet Streak crashed down on the far stands, crushing steel handrails beneath every step. Shock stared as Sparktail stroked Thalia's fur gently, the Leafeon's leaves very slowly regenerating. "The two of you... why didn't I see it?" said the Manectric, sitting upright. "Yes, only the two of you can save Hoenn. And you must stop the Exile."
Sparktail and Thalia exchanged glances. "But you... none of us can get through her scales," protested Sparktail. "And even a normal Garchomp—" He hesitated for a moment, gesturing to the Red Dragon looming over them. "What chance do we have?!"
The Manectric lowered his head, his breathing harsh and strained. "You'll stop her, because you have no other choice," insisted Shock, dipping a paw into the red-wisped rainwater pooling at his fur, sending tiny crackles across its grisly surface. "Surely... the will of a champion can even tame the wild—"
The will of a champion. Champion Red, facing down Scarlet Streak at Indigo Plateau. Red's Pikachu, electrocuting the Garchomp through her own blood. Eyes widening, Sparktail stared up at Scarlet Streak. "Hey... you know what you're doing, right?" said Thalia as the Raichu walked out to the middle of the arena. "If it comes down to it, don't tell me to stand back—"
He stopped, turned, met her eyes, revealing all the buried emotions that mirrored hers. "I won't make you worry," promised Sparktail. The Leafeon's mouth fell open as he hugged her tight, her body tingling from paws to tail. "Thalia, I'll come back from this. No... we both will, I know it!"
Her heart pounding, Thalia stared as the Raichu ran into the mist. Hot tears welled up. Then, he never meant to leave her behind? He trusted her, even though she fell. Perhaps he hadn't really changed, not down inside. Locking her bow together, the Leafeon pulled an arrow from her back, grunting.
Sparktail ran toward the dragon, the floor vibrating, humming with battle. His eyes widened as Scarlet Streak struck Wyrn squarely in the chest, flinging the Buizel across the stadium before leaping up toward the towers again. Furious, the Buizel struggled to rise, but couldn't. "Don't!" said the Raichu, helping Wyrn up. "No, you can't die here—"
The wind howled as the dragon's shadow sprang from tower to tower, circling overhead like an avian predator. "You're not what I thought you were," said the Buizel, staring at Sparktail. "I'll take care of the others," Shaking, Wyrn retrieved his rapier before stumbling off. "Don't think that I trust you yet."
Thalia scanned the shrouded tower, electricity still circling its walls. Overhead, Celebi's body flashed with power; but she instinctively moved aside, eyes still on the Virtue as blue light blasted the ground. "Rey fah, rey leel!" cried the Leafeon, letting her arrow fly. By life, I take life.
Heart pounding, Sparktail braced himself as Scarlet tore across the field, fur rippling with her sheer power. Dodging and darting between her claws, he wove in and out of the mist with weak jolts of electricity to hold her attention. "Fool," hissed the dragon as she pursued him, rending the air to ribbons. "There is no escaping fate!"
Once, twice, thrice; Thalia's arrows sank through the shields that deflected Sparktail's attacks, piercing Celebi's body. Behind her, Wyrn helped Shock toward the Rhydon carcass, the earth trembling. As the fourth arrow struck home, an eerie force rippled through the arena, and the forest sprite was consumed in a burst of emerald fire.
They passed each other in the mist as Giratina's scream filled the battlefield a third time. Emerging from the swirling clouds, Thalia tumbled into a roll as a flurry of phantom-swipes flew from Scarlet's claws, tearing up the earth behind her. "A child has no place in battle," leered the Garchomp as she sprang over the Leafeon with falling bursts of dragonflame. "Forever a child! Forever a fool!"
At the base of Jirachi's tower, Sparktail touched his jagged cheeks, trying to focus the electricity in his veins; but his bones were still rattled, his senses overloaded. Stray sparks spilled down the Raichu's cheeks as an erratic thunderbolt flew from his paws, spiraling up Jirachi's tower before suddenly thunderbolt collapsing, scattering electricity across the field.
Helping Razor up, Lane squinted through the white fog as Sparktail and Thalia crossed paths again. Tumbling to her paws, Thalia leapt back into the mist from a heavy downward blow, raised her bow again. She tugged at a leaf-arrow as Sparktail rushed forward, but the rigid stem held firm to its bud, refusing to be plucked.
The Raichu rolled under a pair of swishing claws, shark fins smashing into the ground behind him. "How ripe and succulent, your tenacity," called Scarlet Streak as the Raichu hastily met her phantom-fins with his blade, steel swishing to meet the storm. "The prey that moves is always tastier than the prey that whimpers..."
Thalia cried out as the slender leaf finally broke free from her back with a sharp pain, drops of red-tinted sap flying into the mist. Setting her bow to her cheek, she felt the steel's sting as she nocked her arrow, colder than ever, a chilling burn penetrating her fur.
Eyes watering with pain, the Leafeon released her string. She squinted into the haze, watching the shaft fly at the tower; but then, the arrow withered and crumbled into dust. Despairing, the Leafeon watched the red blur that was Scarlet Streak, the struggling yellow flash that was Sparktail. It was too late, they were growing weary, the life in her was almost spent...
Paws shoving against the grassy arena, Sparktail leapt at the Garchomp, slashing, blade rebounding off her armored hide. Dragonflame and lunging jaws swept around the Raichu as he dove to the ground, ears ringing with the echo of shattered stones.
Fury swelled and crackled in his blood as he ran, blotting out his fatigue, barely noticing the rubble digging into his paws as the ground burst open around him, the world crackling. Feet sliding on the rain-slicked field, he struggled to meet the Garchomp's blows with slashes. No trick, no key, no secret; this was little more than a dance with death.
Slowly, Thalia's eyes fell on Mythic, watching her from the Rhydon carcass. Aren't there many layers to reality, Thalia? Feel the grass under your paws, the sun on your back, the wind in your fur; and you will understand. And finally, she understood his words, understood the power that pulsed under her paws.
The other Leafeons were right. It was never the bow's weight. A bow's weight was a matter of strength, and anyone could become strong. But life? Not everyone could see how precious life was, could sense the glow and warmth of wilderness. Who could possibly understand life enough to evoke the full strength of the wilderness?
It was difficult to sift through anxiety, to take the higher view; to confront uncomfortable truths, to accept harsh reality: Life must sustain life, blood must sustain blood, flesh must sustain flesh. This was the balance of the forest, the cycle of life and death. It was not because Giratina said so, but because it was the natural order.
Raichu and Leafeon, they looked up to the sky, Groudon's sunlight and Kyogre's rain, melding into one storm. The will of the wild—this was Hoenn's ultimate secret.
Separating her blades, Thalia flung them up at Jirachi's tower, casting them into the electromagnetic field that had hijacked Sparktail's thunderbolt. Blades shifted, re-angled themselves, ripping upward through the tower's walls in a double helix spiral.
Cheeks crackled in the charged air, Sparktail leapt over Scarlet's sweeping tail, lashing out wide with his own tail and latching onto the Garchomp's ridged red tail in midair. Teeth clenched, he reeled himself in, held onto the dragon's tail, Scarlet snarling and writhing beneath his grip.
Clinging to her scales, the Raichu climbed up the Garchomp's long spine, paw after paw, trying to hold himself together as Scarlet thrashed and spun in fury. His fur tingled as charged air particles drifted towards the whirling Garchomp, drawing the storm overhead toward the stadium's center, maelstrom incarnate.
With Hoenn's life-force throbbing against her pawpads, the Leafeon spread her leaves to the raging, clashing sky. Pulling his tail taut against the Garchomp's throat, the Raichu held up his sword high, the wilderness humming in his fur. Dark clouds closed over Sparktail as bright sunlight opened above Thalia.
Overhead, Thalia's blades reached the top of the tower, marking her target. Hot sunlight flowed down into the glowing bud on Thalia's back as Sparktail pierced the thin scales at the back of Garchomp's neck.
"CHUUUUU!"
"LEEEEAAA!"
Chained blades of golden light shot from the Leafeon's back and shredded through Jirachi. At the same time, a bolt of sheer electricity fell from the raging heavens, striking Sparktail. Glowing blue lines appeared on Sparktail as pure lightning coursed through his body, flowing down his blade and into Scarlet Streak.
Writhing, the Garchomp clawed at the air, torn by the newfound agony of lightning—consumed by the will of the wild.The entire world shook with ancient forces from beneath the temple, vibrating at Sparktail's bones, pulsing at Thalia's paws, growing stronger and stronger.
Howling, Scarlet Streak collapsed to the ground as the last Virtue vanished in an explosion of gold fire, Latias's mist dispersing—the last of the time-space rifts closed and gone, as if sealed by an invisible hand.
Shock, Mythic, Wyrn, Lane, Razor; the five stared from their hiding place as the Grand Stadium flashed with vivid blue, then crimson red, then dark green and bright gold, the invisible will of the wilderness unleashed. Glittering dust fell on Thalia's head as she raced toward Sparktail, vines reaching out for him as he fell—their voices lost in the howling wind.
Who but a champion can command the wilderness, can stand above the world, can break the vicious cycle of life and death? All around Rush, Pokemon gasped as the rainbow barrier shattered before their eyes, the rain breaking, the sun relenting, wind and cloud swirling in the vast, unbroken sky.
Above the sea, Giratina screamed with centuries of accumulated rage as the last of the Virtues' light left his raw, scarred body, scalding pain replaced by sudden emptiness. Rush stared at the terrible dragon splayed across the sky, the shadow-mist body withering and shriveling.
A fierce roar erupted from deep beneath the Retrievers' paws, trembling earth and sea, and a pillar of emerald light shot up from the temple's spire. Insyte and Lyther stared up at the sky, surrounded by Pokemon of Kanto, of Johto, of Hoenn, of Sinnoh—all left speechless before the Will of the Wild.
The sky was split asunder as an emerald blur spiraled down from the heavens, glowing with the Divine Wind that covered the planet, binding it together, shielding it from the malice of worlds beyond. "Father," whispered Latias as she drifted to the ground, awed. "Have we won?"
As Rayquaza descended upon the world, a radiant light engulfed his body, and jagged ridges rose from his upper and lower jaws, forming a fierce helm. Golden tendrils of light peeled away from the great dragon's body, streaming from his crown of horns like brilliant ribbons, his scales brimming with the prayers of the world.
Rush, Insyte, and Lyther stared in shock as Rayquaza shot down towards Giratina with a victorious roar as the missile of nature's wrath, fierce claws outstretched. Golden tendrils met black tentacles as the Sky Serpent tackled Giratina down from the sky, circling the Exile with a storm of wild strikes, the wind spiraling around them into a fierce cyclone.
Snarling, the Exile struggled to break free; but his energy was sapped, his strength gone, unable to escape the sea of watching Pokemon whose hearts and bodies his war had scarred. With corrosive, bitter eyes, Giratina spun away and fled, vanishing in a wave of black flames—leaving Rayquaza alone in the sky, soaring in triumphant circles over Ever Grande.
Above the sea, Giratina screamed with centuries of accumulated rage as the last of the Virtues' light left his raw, scarred body, scalding pain replaced by sudden emptiness. Rush stared at the terrible dragon splayed across the sky, the shadow-mist body withering and shriveling.
A fierce roar erupted from deep beneath the Retrievers' paws, trembling earth and sea, and a pillar of emerald light shot up from the temple's spire. Insyte and Lyther stared up at the sky, surrounded by Pokemon of Kanto, of Johto, of Hoenn, of Sinnoh—all left speechless before the Will of the Wild.
The sky was split asunder as an emerald blur spiraled down from the heavens, glowing with the Divine Wind that covered the planet, binding it together, shielding it from the malice of worlds beyond. "Father," whispered Latias as she drifted to the ground, awed. "Have we won?"
As Rayquaza descended upon the world, a radiant light engulfed his body, and jagged ridges rose from his upper and lower jaws, forming a fierce helm. Golden tendrils of light peeled away from the great dragon's body, streaming from his crown of horns like brilliant ribbons, his scales brimming with the prayers of the world.
Rush, Insyte, and Lyther stared in shock as Rayquaza shot down towards Giratina with a victorious roar as the missile of nature's wrath, fierce claws outstretched. Golden tendrils met black tentacles as the Sky Serpent tackled Giratina down from the sky, circling the Exile with a storm of wild strikes, the wind spiraling around them into a fierce cyclone.
Snarling, the Exile struggled to break free; but his energy was sapped, his strength gone, unable to escape the sea of watching Pokemon whose hearts and bodies his war had scarred. With corrosive, bitter eyes, Giratina spun away and fled, vanishing in a wave of black flames—leaving Rayquaza alone in the sky, soaring in triumphant circles over Ever Grande.