“Ooooh… my head…” Ash moaned.
“Ash?!” came a booming voice from somewhere. “Are you alright?”
“Come on, speak to us please!” came another, equally unrecognizable voice.
Ash cracked open an eye with great effort, only to immediately slam it shut again against the blinding light of the sun. As awareness slowly returned to his brain and voices continued, he summoned up more energy to try again. This time he squinted, flinched, and quickly brought up a hand to block out the cruel glare overhead. His eyes began to adjust, and soon the vague shapes around him resolved into several familiar faces.
“Ash!” Serena smiled and clasped her hands together. “Are you alright? Does anything hurt?”
“You took quite a shock there,” Clemont explained. “All three of us did.”
“Pikachu,” the little yellow Pokémon said, scratching the back of his head.
“I’m – nrgh – fine,” Ash managed as he forced himself to sit up, ignoring the ache in his muscles. “How’s everybody else doing? How’s…” his eyes widened as memories came flooding back. “How’s Twilight? And what happened with-” he caught sight of something beyond the friends clustered about him and sat bolt upright. “Team Rocket?!” The young trainer immediately screwed up his eyes and clenched his teeth as the muscles in his back and chest screamed like they were on fire.
“Easy there,” Serena cautioned, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We all took a really nasty shock back there and it takes a few minutes for you to start feeling normal again.”
“Never mind me,” Ash insisted. “Is everybody else alright?”
“We’re fine,” Clemont assured him. “This isn’t the first time any of us have taken Pokémon attacks, the Thunderbolt wasn’t nearly enough to do serious or permanent damage.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Ash said in a lower tone. “But what happened to Twilight? When we got zapped didn’t that leave her alone out here? And can someone tell me why we’re camping right next to Team Rocket?”
“You didn’t leave her alone, you left me here too!” Bonnie said from behind him. When Ash turned, she had hands on her hips and a pout on her face. But after a moment, it softened. “I was really worried for you all, you know?”
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He looked back at Serena, Clemont, and Pikachu. “Or to get you guys hurt.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Serena said quickly. “It was Team Rocket that sent the attack back at us, and they’ve almost never done something like that before, much less so well. How could you have expected it?”
“Maybe…” Ash bit his lip. “But can someone please tell me what’s going on here?”
“Do you want me to tell him?” Clemont asked softly. “Or-”
“I’ll tell him,” Bonnie declared. “I saw it all.”
“Are you sure?” Clemont said. “I know it must have been hard for you to watch, and I don’t-”
“I’ll tell him!” Bonnie insisted emphatically.
“Alright,” Ash held up his hands. “What happened? Why are we next to Team Rocket?” He looked past the others again. “And why are there so many Pokémon laid out on the ground?”
It was true, there were a number of blankets and mats spread out on the forest floor, and Pokémon of all kinds laid out on them. Ash recognized Twilight, Celestia, Inkay, Pumpkaboo, and Wobbuffet, but there were others he was sure that he hadn’t met before. He also saw what looked to be several empty bottles of Potion and Super Potion scattered about rather carelessly.
Bonnie sighed and looked down a bit. “Well, after you all got zapped, Team Rocket was trying to convince Twilight to go with them.”
“They didn’t just try to steal her and Pikachu?” Ash blinked.
“Don’t interrupt me!” the little girl said, before regaining poise and continuing. “Anyway, they didn’t seem to get anyway before these horrible people in tacky clothes called Team Flare came out from the woods. They had these weird black Poke Balls and the Pokémon that came out of them… something wasn’t right.”
Weird black Poke Balls? Ash wondered, a faint memory niggling at him.
“They said they were here for Team Rocket, then this blue-haired lady told her Pokemon to… to…” Bonnie hesitated for a moment, then swallowed. “To kill you guys.”
Ash’s eyes widened. Bonnie fell into silence, looking down at her feet.
“I understand this is hard for you,” Clemont put a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “If you want to let me finish it and you take a break, that’s just fine.”
“No…” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’ll finish it.”
“If you’re sure,” he nodded, but his expression remained worried.
“A-Anyway… there was a big fight with lots of Pokémon, and it seemed like they wanted to get rid of us and Team Rocket together. I didn’t see everything, but it was looking real bad until one of the weird Poke Balls got blown up. That made one of the bad Pokémon just fall over and faint. Then they kept doing that, and Pikachu zapped the evil lady really hard, and when she fainted too everything was over.” She looked up. “All of Team Rocket’s Pokémon were really hurt, so they started taking care of them and haven’t done anything to bother us. The other Pokemon are here too, but I don’t know what’s happening with them.”
“So those,” Ash looked at the strange, unconscious Pokémon, “are the ones from the weird Poke Balls?”
“Yeah,” Bonnie looked sadly at them. “I think those things must have done something really bad to them, because they haven’t woken up at all and it’s been hours.”
Ash’s frown deepened.
“Are you feeling any better?” Twilight asked Celestia from the blanket where she lay.
Her mentor was covered in bandages, enveloping her chest, wings, and perhaps half of her face in linen. She’d been lying there for hours, but the purple alicorn absolutely refused to let the elder white one out of her sight while she was this injured. She’d watched James like a hawk when he’d applied medicine, but so far as she could tell it was ordinary Super Potion. She’d tried it herself to be sure.
Celestia creaked one eye open and gave a faint smile. “Since the last time you asked me that? Yes, I believe I am.”
“That’s a relief,” Twilight said. “Rock Wrecker is a high-powered Rock-type move, super effective against Fire-types and further boosted by the same type attack bonus, so it would really have done a number on you.”
“I had realized as much, yes,” her mentor said a little drily.
“Heh heh, I… shouldtotallyhaverealizedthat…” Twilight trailed off awkwardly.
“I appreciate your vigilance over my health,” the white alicorn said, “but I was not the only one injured in this clash. You ought to get some rest as well, while you can. I believe that you will need it.”
“At least we’re together again,” Twilight gave a slight smile. “So whatever comes next can’t be so bad.”
“Oh, my little pony,” now Celestia just looked exhausted, “I fear the worst is yet to come.”
Meanwhile, far to the north of where the two princesses recuperated, another clash rocked the earth. Deep in the twisting maze of cavern systems beneath Kalos’ many mountains, a titanic blue and black deerlike Pokémon, long antlers gleaming like gemstones, faced a veritable army of Pokémon led by a far larger blue serpent amidst a wide cavern filled with shining green gemstones.
“Swalot!” cried a man in a red-orange suit, “Use Sludge Bomb on Xerneas!”
“Golbat, use Sludge Bomb as well!” a similarly-dressed woman shouted.
As orders were shouted, dozens more Pokemon scattered throughout the massive cave opened up with a barrage of mostly Poison-type attacks. All save for Gyarados, who curled protectively around it trainer with fangs showing. Lysandre stood there, arms behind his back, and observed the action with a neutral expression on his face.
Xerneas leaped as the mass of projectiles converged on it, a deceptively graceful movement that appeared entirely unhurried. It soared hundreds of feet, bound loosely by gravity if at all, and came down easily atop a massive shining gemstone. The spot it had just left was already coated in countless varieties of poisonous slime, light fading from the crystals as toxins ate away at the fruits of millions of years of geological processes.
The majestic Legendary simply looked down at the startled humans and Pokémon for a moment, cocking its head slightly as though considering something. It looked back at darkened spot of the cavern, now hissing and smoking as rock melted, and then back at them. Its crystalline antlers blazed into life like a blinding noonday sun.
“Use Protect,” Lysandre ordered calmly.
Gyarados lowered its head in front of its trainer, a turquoise bubble enveloping both not a moment too soon. Dozens of rays of rainbow-colored light swept through Team Flare’s ranks, interspersed with sparkles so bright and perfect they looked like nothing so much as floating diamonds. The next moment, the beams seemed to join together into one all-consuming wave of blistering fey energies. Many of Team Flare’s Pokémon were Poison-type, the better to resist such an attack. That proved not to matter at all.
Red-suited humans and their Pokémon all cried out as they were first blinded, then blasted from their feet by the sheer overwhelming power of the attack. They were caught like so much debris by a tornado, tossed about as though they weighed nothing. Pokémon that should have resisted the attack were knocked out in a single hit. In seconds, what had seemed a force to be reckoned with was reduced to just one man and his Pokémon, huddled underneath their protective barrier.
“So, this is the power of a Legendary’s Dazzling Gleam,” Lysandre mused. “Impressive.”
Xerneas leapt down from its perch, staring as if curious about the monstrous blue serpent that now stood alone against it. Light slowly faded away from its horns, and in response the protective barrier dissolved away as well. Gyarados, undaunted by this display of raw power, reared up to its full height and roared a challenge. The cavern’s crystals visibly vibrated from the deafening call, small bits of dust and rock fell from the ceiling. Perhaps in answer, the smaller Pokémon raked one hoof across the rocky ground.
Lysandre pointed at it. “Hyper Beam.”
Immediately, a sphere of yellow and orange energy appeared in the midst of Gyarados’s open maw, and then was fired as a titanic beam of annihilation. It tore a visible rut into the cavern’s solid rock floor, zeroing in on Xerneas. But the Legendary was no longer there. It had already made another leap, not away from Gyarados but directly towards it.
Xerneas flew well over the Hyper Beam and landed straight in front of the great serpent. Temporarily paralyzed by the output of its own move, Gyarados could do nothing for a crucial second as the Legendary’s horns lit up in angry red and yellow. It leapt straight for Gyarados’ neck, and with a thunderous impact the frail-looking deer drove itself so hard into the monstrous muscled water dragon that the latter’s head was driven to smash straight through a crystal and take a notable chunk of the rock behind.
“Giga Impact!” Lysandre’s eyes briefly widened, then quickly returned to their customary scowl. “Gyarados, don’t give up! Use Aqua Tail, quickly!”
Despite the many crushed scales and the damaged crest atop its head, Lysandre’s most loyal Pokémon brought its blue tail around quickly, crashing into Xerneas’ side while it was itself temporarily paralyzed. It was flung a short ways and cracked a rock itself with the impact, but nonetheless landed on its feet and shook its head briefly. Gyarados rose back up as well, but Lysandre could hear his friend’s heavy breathing and see bits of broken scale and rock raining from atop its head.
“Finish this, quickly!” he called out. “Iron Head!”
Without hesitation, Gyarados roared and hurled itself at its foe, head quickly becoming enveloped in silver light. Xerneas answered the charge with one of its own, horns again flaring red and yellow. Iron Head and Giga Impact slammed into one another with an earthshaking explosion, hurling both combatants back. Gyarados flew through the air, collided with a stalactite, and then crashed back to the ground and lay still. Lysandre’s heart was, for just a moment, caught in his throat.
Then a second heavy thud alerted him to where Xerneas had landed. The deerlike Pokemon was at the end of a short trench gouged into the rock by its fall. It was obviously injured, but already struggling to rise again. It was now or never.
Team Flare’s leader grabbed a grey and black ball from his belt, doubled its size with the push of a button, and then hurled it at the Legendary Pokémon with all the strength he possessed. The Dark Ball struck Xerneas in the face, opened wide, and swallowed up the startled creature in a vortex of black energy. It snapped shut behind its victim and fell neatly to the cave’s floor, crackling with more energy. But Lysandre’s mind was no longer there.
“Gyarados,” he said, extending an ordinary red and white ball, “you’ve earned a long rest, old friend. Return now.”
The injured and sprawled out blue serpent vanished back into its ball in red light. Lysandre stared at it for a moment, hand shaking just a little. Then the pang was gone, and he put it away with another frown. He returned his gaze to the Dark Ball, still twitching and sparking with its sinister energy.
“It will all be worth it in the end,” he promised in a low voice. “It will all have been worth it.”
Only silence was there to answer.