A New Dimension, A New Threat

by ZeroChill

Shattered Remnants pt. 2

Keldeo stood with his mouth agape. He turned his direction towards the blue sky and focused his sight on the buildings crafted from invigorated quartz. A small humanoid with a gray exterior and three membranes that formed into its hair dropped a crystal pillar. Being given a stern stare by the Machoke observing it, its face tensed up and it rubbed its right shoulder with its left hand.

“So this place really is Kurisutaru?” He asked with a dumbfounded voice.

“From what I could guess, that platform did more than just perform a flashy illusion. I think it brought us back in time.” Fei stated.

Feeling the cool breeze blow through her mane, an invigorated smile appeared on Rarity’s face. She inhaled a deep gust of air through her nostrils and exhaled a calm breath.

“This place is stunning! Look at how they use these crystals as buildings. It reminds me of the Crystal Empire back in its heyday.” She said with an exuberant tone.

The Swirlix, Tepig and Skitty ran over towards Inge and yanked on her left arm. The Swirlix gazed at Keldeo and let out a confused frown.

“Keldeo! What are you doing here?! Shouldn’t you be at Master Cobalion’s training yard right now? You know he’s going to have another Miltank if you are late for his lessons again.”

Keldeo gazed at the Swirlix with a curious movement of his head. A burst of laughter echoed throughout the children.

“That’s a good one, Keldeo. But seriously, you really don’t want to be late for Master Cobalion’s next lesson. He says that this next lesson is extremely important.” The Swirlix stated.

The Tepig gazed at the Swirlix with a small frown on its face. It rubbed the back of its head with its upper left foot.

“Ummm, Swirlix, Keldeo seems a bit different today. Maybe we should escort him to Cobalion’s place today? He seems really out there.” It suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea Tepig. Maybe we can even show his new friends around the town a bit!” The Skitty proclaimed with a wide smile.

The Tepig, Swirlix and Skitty dispersed from Inge’s side and surrounded themselves around Keldeo. They pushed him towards down towards the direction of the street. He looked towards the trio of Pokémon around him with his eyes affixed in anxiety.

“Ummm… don’t I have a say in this?” He asked.

“Nope! Just keep moving with a clear head until you get to Master Cobalion.” The Skitty responded.

A gleeful smile wrapped itself over Rarity’s lower face.

“Well aren’t they the most precious things in the world? Their words and attitude remind me of Sweetie and her friends.” She stated.

“Wait, you can understand those Pokémon?!” Iosac asked with a stunned tone. “I thought Equusians couldn’t understand Pokémon words!”

“Well, we couldn’t, but I heard the words of those three Pokémon very clearly. We should follow Keldeo and see this ‘Master Cobalion’ Pokémon that they were talking about.” Rarity suggested.

Fei shrugged his shoulders with his eyes shut. Turning his direction towards Keldeo and the trio of Pokémon, he took his steps into the city.

“We should just follow them regardless. They do have Keldeo held hostage with their ways.” He stated.

“Fei, they’re children. Even I can see that. No one is taking anyone hostage.” Inge corrected.

Fei said nothing in retaliation, but a small sigh of frustration can be heard hidden within his breathing.

---

Being dragged down the streets of Kurisutaru by the children in front of him, Keldeo gazed towards all possible directions around him and eyed the interactions between a menacing panda bear with a tuxedo-like set of fur and a green and bipedal chameleon with red and yellow zigzag patterns along its torso behind a stand with many items behind him. He looked up towards the trees around him, where a flock of small birds with navy blue feathers, red faces and white bellies looked down upon him.

“So ummm, Swirlix, you mentioned something about a Pokémon named Cobalion. I know he’s famous and everything, but who exactly is he?” Keldeo asked.

Swirlix turned back towards Keldeo and stared him in the eye with a deadpan expression on his face.

“Did you hit your head back where you were, Keldeo? I can forgive if you don’t know about his accomplishments of being one of the knights of our populace, but this is one of the Pokémon who practically raised you after… well, you know.” He explained

“Know what?”

The eyes of Tepig jolted open in response to Keldeo’s words. Skitty looked to her right and rubbed her left shoulder with her right front paw. Keldeo looked upon the group of children with his breathing increasing with heavy doses of anxiety.

“Ummm, Keldeo, are you sure you are alright? You sound a bit out of it today.” Skitty asked.

“I’m perfectly fine… I think. I’m just kind of feeling a bit displaced.” Keldeo responded.

Tepig looked over Keldeo’s shoulder and gazed at the group of operatives following him. An exuberant smile formed on your face.

“Are those your friends, Keldeo? They look really strong. Especially that white Rapidash with the purple fire over there.” He asked.

Rarity looked to her left and right. She pointed to herself with her eyes glinted in curiosity.

“You would not happen to be talking about me, would you?” She questioned with uncertainty in her voice.

“Of course I am! The magical power you are showing is making me shudder!”

Iosac narrowed his eyes and held his mouth open agape. His lips are halfway over his teeth.

“Are you sure that it isn’t her copulins having its effect on you?” He joked with a sleazy tone.

Inge and Rarity both stared down Iosac with scowls in their eyes. Iosac giggled with a nervous shake and his head halfway behind his fluff. Tepig gazed towards Keldeo with curiosity enveloped within his eyes.

“What are copulins?” He asked.

“You’re too young to ask that.” Keldeo responded with a strict tone.

“Well geez, Keldeo. Not only did you have to be rude about it, but you aren’t exactly that much older than us either. Don’t act like you are a full-grown stallion when you are just a young colt.” Tepig responded with a stung tongue.

“But I am a full-grown stallion?”

“Sure you are…”

Keldeo gazed down upon his slender legs that hid away rippling muscle and glanced up towards his chest. With his mouth forming into a frown, he brought his right front hoof to his muzzle and felt along its pronounced definition. A question mark hung over his head. Gazing towards a round building with three crystals getting from the flat roof, Skitty stopped and pointed towards its direction.

“Here we are!” She shouted.

“This is Master Cobalion’s training grounds? It looks a bit opulent for some sort of training grounds.” Keldeo noted.

Swirlix shut his eyes and shook his head with disappointment. He pointed his head towards the entire row of buildings to his left, all of which towered Cobalion’s training grounds and shimmered with the rays of the sun. Looking upon the row of buildings, Fei’s eyes dilated and his body dripped with cold sweat.

“These are all living quarters by the way. I really thought you knew this stuff, considering that you live here. Anyways, Tepig, Skitty and I are going to head out to look at some of that Whipped Dream that Kecleon is selling at this stand.” Swirlix stated.

The trio of children giggled with anticipation and ran off into the distance. Fei and Rarity approached Keldeo and set their gazes onto the training grounds.

“It’s amusing to think that the Pokémon here have actually built a functioning and modern society. Best of all is that they are all getting along quite nicely with each other. The only thing I am wondering is why…” Fei wondered aloud.

Inge shifted her direction towards the right, where a long building with open pathways and flashing lights allured hordes of Pokémon. Her eyes shut with joy and her head lifted itself off of her body.

“I’m heading over to that place. It looks like an arcade!” Dashing her way towards the building, she announced.

“Well then… I guess that we are down one member.” Fei noted.

---

The first element that struck the noses of Rarity, Fei, Keldeo and Iosac is the aroma of crystals breaking through fresh dirt that wafted around the area. Aqua blue lights from the crystals embedded into the walls emanated within the small room they stood in. A smirk of approval wriggled its way onto Rarity’s face.

“I like the décor of this area already. I should commend the one responsible for it.” She stated.

“Yeah. I wonder who would waste all that crystal with making this place look nice.” Iosac responded.

The burgundy double doors ahead opened with sporadic force that knocked it off its hinges. A green antelope with a pink feather-shaped edge on her neck rushed through the double doors with her eyes and mouth widened in panic. She wrapped her black-lined and pink-edged front legs around Keldeo’s torso.

“I was so worried about you, Keldeo! You were gone for over an hour and I wasn’t sure if something happened to you!” She called out.

Keldeo winced from the sudden squeezing sensation around his chest. He looked towards Rarity, Fei and Iosac, all of whom looked towards the display of affection with their neck crooked towards the diagonal left. Fei leaned his head towards Rarity’s left ear and brought his hand in front of his mouth.

“I don’t know about you, but that Virizion looks a little crazy.” He whispered.

Rarity brought her hoof over towards Fei’s right ear and brought her mouth towards it.

“I’m not that affectionate towards him, right? It almost looks like he is being smothered.”

Keldeo slanted his eyes and grunted underneath the force of the bone-crushing hug.

“Ummm, would you mind letting go of me?” He asked.

Virizion dropped Keldeo onto his hooves and glanced over his body. She brought her front hooves onto Keldeo’s legs and flanks and began pulling away at his fur. The tufts of cream fur on his body revealed fleshy pink. Keldeo’s face lit up into a red blush.

“I have to make sure you don’t have any scratches or bruises on you. This will only take a moment.” Virizion assured with a worried tone.

“Ummm, I don’t know what to say about this.” Keldeo worded out with uncertainty rising in his voice.

Virizion examined Keldeo’s chest and examined a small indent towards the center right of the sternum. Her eyes lit up with fear.

“That was never there when I did any of my previous inspections. Did you break any bones? Please tell me you didn’t!” She shouted.

Keldeo’s pupils dilated at Virizion’s statement. A bead of sweat dripped down from his forehead.

“I got into a nasty fight some time back against a Shiftry, but I’m fine. Really. The doctors patched me up and everything.” He stated.

“Patched you up?! Why didn’t I know about this?! Keldeo, you shouldn’t be messing around with a Shiftry. They are naturally territorial and defensive of their property. What on this world possessed you to do that?!” Virizion scolded.

“Mom! Not in front of my friends!” Edging away from Virizion, Keldeo shouted with primordial innocence pouring out of his voice.

The heads of Iosac, Fei and Rarity leaped off of their bodies and stared at Keldeo. The corner of Iosac’s mouth quivered with contained laughter that wanted to burst out.

“Mom?! You called Virizion ‘mom’?!” He blurted out.

“I didn’t! I just, err, well… this Virizion suddenly started acting like my mother. I don’t know how else to respond to that!” Keldeo rationalized.

A small scowl appeared over Virizion’s eyes. Her mouth curved into a short frown.

“Of course I am your mother! I’ve been raising you since you were four years-old.” She stated.

Iosac looked around the small room with his neck stiff with uncertainty. The tension in the air choked any possible words that anyone would have had. Keldeo’s face directed itself towards Virizion, but his pupils rolled away from her. He rubbed his left front hoof and pointed towards Iosac, Fei and Rarity.

“These are friends of mine. They’re going to be watching me as I train with Cobalion.” He uttered out.

Virizion looked towards the operatives Keldeo pointed towards and examined them with inquisitive eyes. Humming and setting her stare on the trio, Virizion leaned close towards them. Fei swallowed a pocket of air built up in his throat. After what seemed to be an eternity, a trace of a smile appeared on her face.

“Excluding the Whimsicott here, you seem to have some good friends.”

Iosac flashed a heated stare directed towards Virizion and stomped his foot onto the ground.

“Excluding me? What part of me does not make you think that I could be a good friend?” He shouted.

“Well for starters, you have the eyes of a troublemaker. I don’t want my little Keldeo to be associated with mischief-makers.” Virizion responded with closed eyes and a straight mouth.

Keldeo glanced over his shoulder and set his eye towards Virizion scolding Iosac. He looked towards the open doors and looked back towards Virizion. Moving his hooves with silent steps, he snuck towards the door and out of the room.

---

Unlike the small room that he snuck out from, the large room illuminated itself with dim lighting from white crystals above. Underneath the epicenter of the lights stood a tall goat with an aqua-colored coat and a tuft of white fluff poured out of his chest. Witnessing his cold and hardened stare, Keldeo skidded his way into the arena that the goat stood in.

“You’re late, Keldeo.” The goat replied.

“Sorry, Master Cobalion. I got a bit lost.”

Cobalion shut his eyes and shook his head. His mouth curved into a small frown and the emanation from his eyes changed into sadness.

“You cannot keep doing this, Keldeo. You are a decade old. You have to learn about the concept of responsibility and being able to manage yourself in a timely manner. No wonder Virizion was so worried about you.” He stated.

“Sorry, Master Cobalion. I will try to not let it happen again. So today is an important lesson?” Keldeo asked.

Cobalion sidestepped to the right and set his gaze on Keldeo.

“I’m going to be teaching you about how to stabilize your Sacred Sword technique.” He announced.

“Sacred Sword… you mean that beam sword technique with my horn?” Keldeo asked.

“Yes. I’ve taught you the skill recently, but you seem to have trouble keeping it held.” Saying these words, Cobalion stared straight into the windows of Keldeo’s soul. “A knight must learn to keep a good grip on his or her sword. Treat it like an additional part of your body and never let it go.”

Keldeo nodded his head, signaling an aura of attention. The yellow horns that jagged into a zig-zag illuminated into a singular blue beam that extended from his head. Keldeo stepped back and dropped his jaw upon the sight of the shimmering blade that towered over him. Cobalion faced a stand made out of diamond and waved his head towards a diagonal line. With one slash, a large slab of the diamond slid off of the cut’s slope.

“Wow…” With his voice gripped in amaze, Keldeo uttered out.

Cobalion’s Sacred Sword retreated back into his horns. He fixed his stern glance towards Keldeo and stomped his right front hoof into the ground.

“Now, try to bring out your Sacred Sword technique.” He instructed. “Let your energy flow through your horn and hold it for at least ten seconds.”

Doing what Cobalion instructed, Keldeo shut his eyes, inhaled from his nostrils and exhaled through his breath. Peach-colored energy manifested itself around his horn. The energy formed into a blade that, while it still towered over Keldeo, it was only half the size of Cobalion’s technique. Witnessing Keldeo’s teeth gritting against the pressure of the energy against his horn, Cobalion raised his right eye.

“Do not overdo the amount of energy that goes into your horn, Keldeo. Doing so will cause the energy to wear itself out more quickly.” He advised. “Now, channel your energy into a modicum of what you are currently using.”

Keldeo grunted from the focused energy running wild along his horn. He shut his mind away from his own energy and limited it to a shell of its former shell. The energy running along his horn stunted towards three quarters of his size. Cobalion raised his left eye with curiosity.

“Am… am I doing it right, Master Cobalion?” Keldeo asked with a strained tone.

“Actually, yes. Now, use that blade to strike down that test dummy over there.” Pointing towards a pile of steel, Cobalion stated.

Wielding the lengthy blade on his horn, Keldeo drove his head downwards. The sound of explosive metal sliced by a blade forged with the flames of a fiery hell hit the ears of Cobalion and resonated out of the room. The dummy fell apart and melted away. The Sacred Sword on Keldeo’s horn dissipated into a gleam of light particles. He looked towards Cobalion, who stared at him with jaw dropped to the ground.

“I did it right, right?” Keldeo asked with an uncertain tone.

Virizion, Fei, Rarity and Iosac all emerged from the room to the front with their eyes lit up in panic.

“I heard a sharp noise. Is everything alright in here?!” Virizion asked.

“Y…yes. I was just teaching Keldeo here how to use Sacred Sword. But, it seems that he somehow ended up melting away at this particular training dummy.” Cobalion explained.

Virizion walked over towards the remnants of the dummy and eyed the scalding edges upon the slice marks of the metal. She turned towards Keldeo and looked upon him with stern eyes.

“Keldeo, have you been hanging around any Mismagius during that visit? A standard Sacred Sword would not leave this type of damage.” She questioned.

“I don’t even know what those are.” Keldeo responded with an innocent tone. “Why do you ask?”

Virizion gazed towards Rarity with a smile hidden underneath her tightened facial muscles.

“From what I understand of what you told me Rarity, you seem to know magic. Would you mind examining this to tell me if it is magic?”

Rarity shut her eyes and waved her right front hoof with a classy shake.

“I don’t even need to examine it. That is definitely done by magic.” She answered.

“I am not sure how a colt of his age can combine a Sacred Sword technique with contact magic such as that, but there is something very unusual going on around here.” Cobalion said.

From the front doors ahead, a red-feathered falcon with a gray-feathered underside flew through the front doors at a rapid speed. Flapping his black feather-tipped wings upon descent, e perched himself onto the remnants of the smoldering pile of metal.

“Sir Cobalion! Lady Virizion! I have urgent news to share by Sir Terrakion!” It called out.

“How urgent are we talking about, Talonflame? Unless if the city is in immediate danger or something of that ilk in urgency, then I am afraid I cannot answer it. I have some important matters to deal with right now.” Cobalion stated.

“But the city is in immediate danger! Hordes of strange beings cloaked in glowing light began assaulting the outskirts of the city. They are heading over here as I speak!” Talonflame shouted.

Cobalion grunted underneath his breath and shifted his sight towards Virizion.

“While finding out these peculiarities with our Keldeo is important, the fate of the city carries more gravity to the situation.”

“I understand, Cobalion. We have to meet with these mysterious invaders at once!” Virizion called out.

Cobalion glanced towards Keldeo with commanding eyes and looked upon him.

“Keldeo, I expect you and your new friends to stay here. Do not follow us, understood?” Cobalion requested.

“I am not a colt anymore, Master Cobalion. I have been involved battles waged across different worlds and have honed my skills to combat threats like this. Please, let my friends and I come along.” Keldeo answered.

Virizion walked towards Keldeo with a frown on her face and knelt down to his level. She waved her head with tears forming in her eyes.

“Keldeo, please listen to Cobalion here; we may not be able to come back home safely. We don’t want to lose you because you wanted to come along with us. I want you to live, even if we are not around to see it. I ask you; please stay here and not get involved with this menace.” Virizion pleaded.

Hearing these words pass through his ears, a brilliant flash of light burned within his pupils. Within it, he witnessed fleeing visions of meteors of light hailing down towards the structures of Kurisutaru, bringing ruin to everything they touch. He witnessed Pokémon fleeing for their lives and being annihilated by rune-winged daemons cloaked in brilliant light. With sight of the training grounds returning to him, he shook his head and looked towards Virizion with pleading eyes.

“The city and all who flee are going to be decimated by the force of destruction the enemy will bring! Please mom, allow me to help! I don’t want to see you die!” He shouted.

“That’s enough from you, Keldeo!” Cobalion screamed with a commanding tone. “I don’t know what has gotten into you today, but I am not allowing you to come with us. That is final!”

“Surely you just, lord Cobalion. We are capable of assisting you. Please, let us come along.” Fei insisted.

Cobalion stomped his right front hoof into the ground with force that shook the entire area.

“I said ‘that is final’! All of you stay here until the coast is clear. Understood?!”

Fei winced and hid his face away from Cobalion’s fierce visage. With shivering shoulders, he brought his head towards a reluctant shake.

“Y-yes your lordship.”

Cobalion glanced towards Talonflame and looked onto his body with a rigid stare.

“Talonflame, I entrust these children to you. Do not let them out of your sight, and do not let them leave.”

Talonflame raised his right wing over his head in salutation. Cobalion and Virizion both galloped towards the double doors and disappeared from sight. Iosac frowned and scowled towards the direction they left.

“Now that is simply silly. They think we are children?! Do they not see our sagacious wisdom, or our power or even our grown-up forms?!” He voiced out in frustration.

“Ummm, to be fair on Master Cobalion, only Keldeo is the child here. As far as I can see, the rest of you are all adults.” Talonflame responded.

“Wait… I’m actually a colt? The others were not just pushing my buttons? But that can’t be! I should be an adult!” Keldeo shouted. “What did that slab do to me?”

Rarity narrowed her eyes, ducked her head towards the ground and hummed with an inquisitive voice. She looked towards Keldeo with a puzzled muzzle.

“Keldeo, I’m not sure how this is possible, but maybe that slab’s power is a bit more unusual when what we expect it to be. After all, I still see you in your adult form.” She said.

“What do you mean by that?” Keldeo asked.

“Perhaps that slab brought you back into the past in the body of your past self to avoid any paradoxical situation of you encountering yourself. We just happen to have been brought along with you as accompanying envoys even. Because of that, we are still seen by the Pokémon?”

Fei shifted his stance and faced Rarity with unamused eyes.

“That sounds like an absurd theory, Rarity.”

“Hold on!” Holding his upper right limb in the air, Iosac called out. “Regardless of what anyone says, we are all physically still here in this place. Maybe we were brought here to change the outcome of history here! That means we have to leave this place at once and help in any way we can!”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. I still have to keep you all here under Master Cobalion’s request.” Talonflame stated.

Fei walked towards Talonflame and cleared his throat. He gazed towards the falcon’s visage with resolute eyes.

“Do you have any family, Talonflame?” He asked.

“Several. Why do you ask?”

“As important as Lord Cobalion’s words are, should you be out there to protect your family? If war does come here, then their lives will undoubtedly be forfeited because you could not give them the chance to escape.”

Talonflame’s beak opened and he stood on one talon. He steeled his face and stood perched on his two talons once more.

“Nice try, you Mienshao. I will not abandon my post just because my family could potentially be in danger. This city is protected by our knights and gods.”

“And? What if the invaders actually make it into the city? Do you not want to make sure your family is safe?” Fei stated with a crafty smirk.

Talonflame looked onto the ground with a wavering frown on his beak.

“Well… I do have to make sure that my mate and children are all safe. My mate can definitely protect herself, but I would feel more comfortable with making sure that I am there as well.”

“Then what is stopping you? Your duty as a guard? Wouldn’t your family be more important than a ragtag group of misfits?” Iosac called out.

Talonflame grunted under the breath of self-defeat. He flew off of the melted metal and hovered towards the door.

“I’m going to be checking on my family. Make sure that you do not move!”

With these words, he flew through the doors and out of the training grounds. Rarity let out a smug smirk directed towards Fei.

“We’re involving ourselves up with their affairs now, aren’t we?” She asked.

“Well we definitely aren’t staying down here. We also have to get Inge.”

---

Finding themselves outside of the building, the group of operatives sprinted towards the wide building that flashed with brilliant lights. Staring into the open pathways of the building, Inge leaped out of a crystal cabinet with eyes tizzy in delight. She hovered towards the group with a body vibrating up and down with enthusiasm.

“The games in there are awesome!” She shouted.

Fei glanced towards the arcade machines, cocked his head to the right and scratched the top of it in confusion.

“How are Pokémon even able to play these games? I doubt that the creators made these universally accessible.” He wondered aloud.

“Who cares? I just jumped in the machine to play it.”

“Well, we have to go now. The city is going to be under attack at any moment and we have to help as many Pokémon as we possibly could.” Keldeo announced.

Inge flipped her right flipper and slanted her eyes with hefty sarcasm emanating from her movement.

“Yeah, you’ll probably have to convince me that this building behind me will be set ablaze and destroyed by a meteor of holy light. Like that will ever happen.”

Upon stating her words, a giant ball of white light formed in the sky above the arcade building and fell down towards it. Inge’s eyes widened at the sound of a large object burying into the building and multiple young voices screaming within it. Witnessing the building empty of its frightened inhabitants, her limbs plummeted straight down to her waists.

“So… should we run away now?” Iosac suggested.

“Now would be a very good time to run.” Inge called out.

A sudden crash formed a crater against a pillar that held up the awning of the arcade building, dropping all of the operatives onto the ground with their upper limbs above their heads. A giant spider with red and black-striped flesh leaped out of the crater with his purple and yellow-striped legs. He looked to its right and examined the operatives with his purple eyes.

“You five should leave the city along with the other civilians. Hurry!” He called out.

“Are you sure you do not need help, Ariados? You look like you have your legs spun up in webs.” Fei asked.

Ariados rolled his eyes and head to the right.

“That’s a pretty racist comment you know. But, now is not the time to argue. My partner and I are making sure that everyone can evacuate the city.” He stated.

Looking up towards the sky, the operatives eyed a giant purple cobra with a hood that displayed a design of an angry face designed with red and yellow eyes and black markings. In her mouth, she captured a shining creature that remained gripped in her icy fangs. She threw the creature down towards the ground, cratering the section of the area with a deep impact. With the creature forced into the ground, the cobra dug her way towards the group of operatives and popped out from the ground.

“Are you alright there, Ariados? You seem to have taken a strong blow there.” She asked.

“I’ve lived through worse. It’s just a scratch at this point, Arbok.” Ariados responded.

Arbok set her gaze onto the Pokémon and pony before her.

“What are you still doing here? Can’t you see that this entire city is done for?!” She shouted.

“Done for? But it was placid just moments ago.” Iosac responded.

Arbok slapped the end of her tail against her face and shook her head with a grimace. She dropped her tail onto the ground and set her gaze towards the group once more.

“You can all fight, correct?” She asked.

“We can.” Rarity answered.

“My partner and I are both a part of the guard here, and we need to evacuate as many civilians as possible, starting with that kid you have there.” Pointing towards Keldeo with her tail, Arbok answered.

“I can fight too, you know. I’ve trained under Master Cobalion.” With a lengthy scowl on his face, Keldeo responded.

“Fine. But you have to all fight these strange creatures that came out of nowhere and save any civilians that are in trouble. Is that a deal?” Ariados asked.

“That can be arranged. I never really liked those things to begin with.”

The grounded being dug itself out of the ground and headed towards Ariados. With quick reflexes, his shadow extended towards the creature and trapped it in place. He turned his head towards the group of operatives with stern eyes.

“You really should go now while I hold this thing. Give yourselves a head start, will you?” He commanded.

The operatives nodded with a steady shake and ran towards the right. Arbok shook her head and frowned.

“Should we really entrust these strangers and children to rescuing the civilian Pokémon?” She asked.

Ariados turned his head towards Arbok and lidded his eyes with disbelief.

“Arbok, don’t be such a drag.”

Temporal space broke around the two Pokémon. Canine-like creatures garbed in golden armor clawed their way through air. Ariados broke his hold on the shadow and leaped away from the new creatures. He corkscrewed in the air and unleashed a stream of needles that headed towards them. The creatures raised their paws to their faces, blocking the stream of needles.

Arbok dug herself into the ground and dashed towards the canines towards the front. She popped aboveground underneath a canine. She coiled her tail around the beast at a swift speed, strangling its entire body. Feeling the canine struggle underneath her grasp, she clenched her fangs and looked towards Ariados.

“I can’t hold this thing off much longer you know.” She complained.

“I got it, I got it.”

Ariados twisted his right leg closest to his face, revealing a series of thin strings that coated the entire district. The beings found themselves caught within the sinewy prison and shook their bodies in a desperate attempt to escape. A confident smirk appeared on Ariados’s face. He shifted his leg to the far right, tightening the sinews that bound the field and lifted the beings into the air. Arbok smirked and dropped down from the canine she wrapped her body around.

“You seriously couldn’t have used that Sticky Web technique sooner? You really got to work on that timing of yours.” She stated.

“You know me; I like to take my time to work my art. Besides, if any other mysterious creatures show up with the intent to harm us, then we have some emergency assistance from my technique.” Ariados responded.

Several beams of light shot down from the sky. Equine beings with magnificent wings and sharp horns descended onto the ground with a luminous glow that surrounded their golden bodies. Their blue eyes stared towards the duo.

Arbok unfolded her hood and flashed a glare that stunned all of the creatures within the webs into willful submission. Ariados manipulated his legs and the strings attached to their ends, dropping the captive creatures down onto the ground with their movements moving with an artificial pattern.

The equine beings charged towards the other beings, who all ran towards their former allies to do battle. The equine beings fired streams of golden lasers from their large horns, disintegrating the stiff-moving canine beings that fell under fire.

Ariados clicked his tongue and moved the two legs closest to his head to a cross. His movements moved at the speed of light, hastening the movements of the canine puppets. The canines avoided the fire from the equines and clasped their teeth onto their necks. The equine beings disappeared within particles of light.

An equine being phased itself into existence next to Ariados and charged its laser. Arbok narrowed her eyes and leaped towards the equine. With her sharp fangs, she bit into the neck of the equine. Corrosive poison and frigid chills seeped its way out of her teeth and into the equine. The equine struggled and moved about in pain. Its body froze from the inside-out and the acid melted away its body. Ariados smiled.

“That was a bit overkill, was it not?” He asked.

“I always like going for the overkill. It’s fun.” Arbok responded.

A blazing wind blew into the district. Its orange-tinted gusts burned away at the sticky webs, freeing the canines from their slender bondage. The canines looked around with their senses returned. An ethereal voice echoed throughout the area.

“My holy army; do not let the enemy get the best of you. Tear them to shreds, for they deserve no mercy.”

The red eyes of the canines glowed into a sharper shade. They stared down Arbok and Ariados. Arbok leaped towards the horde of canines. She felt a blast of light nail her in the back, slamming her down into the ground.

“Arbok!” Ariados shouted.

A canine ran towards Ariados’s right side and tore its teeth through his legs. Feeling the tendons in his legs locked through piercing teeth, he winced and looked away to his left. The canine picked him up by his locked legs and shook him by them. With each fierce shake, Ariados screamed out in agony until he felt his legs loosen from the stress of the bite. With one tug of its powerful neck, the canine severed the legs of Ariados and tossed him into Arbok.

Arbok’s body shuddered under the pain of the blast mark left onto her back. She looked towards Ariados by her side, who only had three legs on his left side. He gaped out in pain and turned his direction towards Arbok.

“Arbok… please, leave for the both of us. You can still… survive.” He pleaded.

A weak smile formed on Arbok’s face and a giggle that matched its debilitation.

“They got me pretty good on my back there. It hurts to even move.” She said with an optimistic tone. “I already know that I am done for.”

Ariados looked towards her with his eyes open in confusion.

“Then… why are you happy? We are about to die.” He asked aloud.

Arbok looked into the sky and gazed at a giant foot forming directly above them.

“Maybe it’s because we are going to die like real heroes? I mean, we were only made guards towards this event. Now, we are going to have the flames of our lives perished underneath the enemy. But, we saved more lives today than they would have killed.” She said aloud.

Ariados looked towards Arbok with a weak smile. With the remainder of his strength and his left legs, he crawled his way towards Arbok’s side and placed them onto her hood.

“You know, if I perish, I’m glad that it’s with you. I felt happy being around you. I hope that even if our lives perished, we can still be together until the end of time.”

With the remainder of her strength, Arbok coiled her tail around Ariados’s half-dead body and brought it in for an embrace.

“Thank you for being in my life.”

The giant foot slammed down onto the duo, grinding their bodies into mush.

Author's Note:

Well... this is turning out longer than I thought it would be. And yes, it does end like that.

Comments

[OSJ Vanilla]

With the remainder of her strength, Arbok coiled her tail around Ariados’s half-dead body and brought it in for an embrace.

I suppose they were 2 days away from retiring too, eh?