[attr="class","starrytop"]

[attr="class","starrytop2"]

[attr="class","frlastconttop"]

[attr="class","frlastcontmid"]



She fell, unable to maintain her balance as the earthquake threatened to tear the ground out from underneath her.[break][break]

To her knees, she beheld the collision of attacks—the chill as the landscape was morphed white with ice that could not form on her skin. Steam would manifest, spilling from her pores; white from red iron that had been freshly struck. Too hot to be frozen, the ice that tried to stick to her would instead crackle and break.[break][break]

“when they hit you—”[break][break]

Steelix was unable to articulate the pain—his rise and fall that came so swiftly—as the damage was dealt from both sides. Everyone, in their empowered exuberance, threw all of their combined might at this once impossible foe. The promise of victory was clouding their gaze.[break][break]

They follow its call, like they were beckoned by a light in the dark, unable to see the obstacles that still laid before them. Bailey had burned such illusions from her mind, glowing like her own light, as she beheld a might that could not discriminate.[break][break]

“—you hit them back. twice as hard.”[break][break]

This was the lesson she imparted to her pokemon, from the very moment they promised to battle for her. She could never sugar-coat the truth, could never tell them lies—no, it was better to tell them that pain would come, and when it arrived, they would have to stand steadfast in its wake.[break][break]

Ice was broken from his frame, freeing the primal from his encasement.[break][break]

They would not let the chance of victory cloud their judgment.[break][break]

“precipice blades.” A command that they felt in their very bones. Even if Bailey had never uttered those words aloud, it would have been executed regardless; they share that image in their mind, too tempted by the possibility to let the moment pass.[break][break]

The blades rose from the ground; elongated crags that were sharper, stronger, and faster than any stone edge.[break][break]

And Guzzlord had just brought the full weight of both limbs upon this rising attack. At that moment, both trainer and pokemon hope that their plan would be unavoidable—hoped that their goals would be achieved as the ground around the Steelix was distorted.[break][break]

Because they intended to skewer the creature—they would intend to sever the limbs straight from its blackened husk—to end this once and for all.[break][break]

[break][break]

But Steelix will not have the luxury to stand by and watch. Not when he was so close.[break][break]

The rain of attacks would not be halted, and they would find themselves in the crossfire. Friendly fire was a very real, very present threat. Had it not been for Rumble's impressive defenses, then surely the results could have been fatal—she could feel that frustration rise, but now was not the time to chastise her allies for their carelessness.[break][break]

He used Dig, burrowing himself back into the underbelly of the ruins of Mossdeep, just as everyone seemed keen to unleash their full wrath.[break][break]

They would have to time their next strike; she would be his eyes, brewing the final strategy as this battle entered the end game.

[attr="class","frlastconttag2"]

[attr="class","silpl"]

is this what it means to be undone?

it begins, of course, with the lines etched into her skin. they're nothing more than loose threads and a pulling at the seams takes her apart; like a light-switch being clicked off.

the sensation of being unraveled doesn't hurt. persephone can see the tangles and knots of her spirit as ghosts and now they're laid out in front of her.

she closes her eyes and clenches her jaw tight, unable and unwilling to reply to elysia. persephone has stared down catastrophe one after another, unscathed by some kind of divine providence. as mossdeep dies around her, she has made her peace with joining the city in its death throes.

persephone doesn't die. she doesn't melt into the void with visages of ancestors lost to living memory.

she tastes ocean salt and jolts forward, spluttering for a moment as though heaving on phantom water. persephone doesnt't have to turn her head to know her pokemon saw it all through her eyes. she doesn't have to look to see everything through his eyes.

ORIGIN PULSE breaks apart the stone prison honing in around them, and persephone sees everything with a perfect clarity, shock displaced for now. (it'll come later, she knows this because adrenaline has sustained her before).

a flurry of attacks engulf the beast, and persephone screams bailey's name into the chaos knowing well that there was no chance that she could ever hear her. where others may throw everything they have at the creature with reckless abandon, the lucario knows to strike with precision.

the pokemon draws closer to land a DRAGON PULSE squarely into the creature's smaller head - the attack entwined with a guiding AURA PULSE ensuring that it hits specifically where intended.

persephone feels the pokemon's power as her own, the shared memory of regirock falling before the pair sharper than the PRECIPICE BLADES that threatened them. the lucario is able to DETECT and actively avoid the friendly fire as it seeks to exert an ALL-OUT PUMMELING against the beast's skull.

moments later when the earth begins to shudder with the stirrings of an EARTHQUAKE, the lucario darts backward to persephone's side with an EXTREME SPEED and pulls her airborne, held aloft by a MAGNET RISE.

[attr="class","ihead"]

[attr="class","ipad"]
[break][break]
the battlefield shifts under the weight of a single command. the resounding call for a REVERSAL is the conduit for terraforming what is left of mossdeep into a death trap of serrated edges. PRECIPICE BLADES sprout from every nook and cranny, an indiscriminate effort to skewer the descending guzzlord, wherever it may land. but Bailey Cooper is not one to wait. spires of concrete and stone conspire together as they rise — the perfect crucifix for the harbinger of the VICTORY STAR. without terror, without utter despair, there would be no need to call upon them, but now they're here and fixed on avenging the fallen prophet of victory.
[break][break][break]

the weight of the pokemon becomes its undoing. it lands and the round surface of its torso crumbles several of the blades. however, the less durable, less bulky parts of its body lands at an angle that allow the blades to slice into flesh and amputate the pokemon in a fit of revenge. limber arms are severed like heads of a hydra, writhing in agony as they spell out their last moments. [break][break][break]


the guzzlord shrieks in pain and doubles over, spiraling into a GYRO BALL to shatter the hazards and STEAMROLLER bailey and her steelix into pancakes — a justifiable revenge against the ones responsible for such pain. however, it never gets the chance to wind up speed. the moment the pokemon rotates to generate enough velocity to move forward, arian coin lands a critical AEROBLAST straight to its center of mass, manipulating the pokemon's building momentum and launching it away with the same force it had ready to attack with. [break][break][break]


which, unfortunately, means landing right on Lucas Lane's pokemon who were busy loafing around like this was some sort of joke. the claydoll and cofagrigus' sarcophagus implode into pieces, shattered dust underneath the pokemon's mass. it had been fortunate that his aerodactyl and ferried him away and his glalie had been sent sprawling. another GLACIATE steadies the ground as the tremor's of EARTHQUAKE and bailey's steelix are brought to an frigid still. ice brings fortitude to all things and the pokemon is frozen in place, ankle deep in true ice, prevented from following up with its intended DRAGON RUSH. [break][break][break]


that moment is the perfect stalling needed for persephone to break out of her encasement. her newfound affinity for aura lets her discern the reality of the situation from the unfolding chaos of everyone's desperate attempt to subdue the beast. the smaller pokemon bounds forward, leaping from spire to spire, with a concentrated attack that lacks the gaudy flashiness of the rest but proves just as effective. the twin PULSES land square on the pokemon's head, softening it for the ALL-OUT PUMMELING that beats and beats at the piece of flesh until it literally implodes into a splatter of black blood that coats the pokemon's fur. [break][break][break]


bailey had amputated the pokemon. [break][break][break]

arian had redirected the pokemon. [break][break][break]

lucas had restrained the pokemon. [break][break][break]

persephone had decapitated the pokemon. [break][break][break]


surely that would be enough to bring the beast to an end, no? [break][break][break]


the mass of flesh does not recede. a grumble rumbles within the pokemon's maw, opening in one final attempt to even out the odds. energy pools and the heat from the pokemon begins to melt away at the glacial shackles. a sphere of raw energy begins to manifest, growing, sapping away the very light around them in what looks to be another HYPER BEAM. except this time its out of utter despair. the same one that each of mossdeep's defenders felt against insurmountable odds. now that the pokemon's on the other end it taps into its own VICTORY STAR, ready to end it all in one last EXPLOSION. [break][break][break]


all her sulking comes to an end. inaction is a plague and freya morningstar refuses to let it beholden her any longer. her own manifestation of the VICTORY STAR comes unraveled and it ruptures from her dragons. the DEVASTATING DRAKE spiral in unison, lashing out in a snapping CRUNCH as they transverse the battlefield. their constant helix melds them together into something greater. the hideous purple becomes a neon green as the attack takes on the shape of a giant serpent. [break][break][break]



[break][break][break]

to reach a level above DEVASTATING DRAKE is to reach the DRAGON'S ASCENT. [break][break][break]


in one fell swoop the attack swallows the energy ball whole, taking the enemy alongside with it. the brutal impact of the attack leaves the flesh battered, burnt beyond recognition. one final hurrah to bring the persistent threat to a complete stop. the fresh corpse tilts backwards and falls onto the ground, sending rubble flying everywhere as it lies down for the last time. [break][break][break]


finally, the pokemon is dead. [break][break][break]


stillness gives way to an awkward silence and for a moment peace is finally brought to what's left of mossdeep. [break][break][break]

[attr="class","starrytop"]

[attr="class","starrytop2"]

[attr="class","frlastconttop"]

[attr="class","frlastcontmid"]



The flames would die, and so would her stamina, as Bailey Cooper fell to her knees. Each breath that rose like towers of brume would become more labored, more strained, as her airway constricted; her throat was raw.[break][break]

“We won,” and sweat would drip down her brow, stained pink from the dried blood.[break][break]

Victory had not left her euphoric. Instead, it had drained all of the energy that she had mustered. It left her dry and weak, staring at the sight of the dead beast like it was a war that had finally been won. It was disbelief that made her remain in the middle of the street, waiting for the blackened husk to rise again.[break][break]

But it does not.[break][break]

Somehow, sweat seemed to mix with tears as she pressed her arm against her face, refusing to let such a sight be seen as she cried in the silence; shoulders trembling.[break][break]

Finally. Finally.[break][break]

It was over.

[attr="class","frlastconttag2"]

[attr="class","ihead"]

[attr="class","ipad"]
[break][break]
a moment's respite never lasts long. the moment they ease up they encounter part two. a wormhole materializes behind the pokemon's carcass and what pries it open isn't another pokemon but a seeping blackness that engulfs every fiber of light it touches. anything within reach loses color and the corrosive darkness shows an appetite that matches the pokemon they just defeated. [break][break][break]


[break][break][break]


the vile shadows cover the mysterious pokemon and scatter along the streets. Lucas Lane, the closest to the wormhole is the first to be taken. the moment he's touched by the encroaching phenomenon, it swallows him whole. nothing is left but a blurb of raw blackness that becomes nothingness. it continues to expand at an alarming rate, touching down until all of mossdeep becomes a uniform existence of nihility. [break][break][break]


only their consciousness remains. touch is the only thing that reminds them that they're still alive. that they exist. breathing is normal and the temperature doesn't change. it isn't until a light simmers within the void do they realize that they're eyes still work. a brief flicker of light emanates from where the wormhole spawn. the sight of the two children, the same ones that were eaten by the pokemon near the beginning of this entire altercation, flashes from the other end of the wormhole. [break][break][break]

they sit in the handles of another pokemon, holding hands, and staring back at astounded eyes with a yearning that begs for someone to accompany them. [break][break][break]

[break][break][break]

the pokemon is a jet black that stretches beyond imagination. only the assortment of colors in a reflective prism around the top of the pokemon's body. each light shimmers collectively in a different array of colors. one by one, they ignite until the light converges into a FLASH of raw whiteness. the inverse happens and everyone is blinded. [break][break][break]


when their vision returns, the pokemon's remains are no more. [break][break][break]


mossdeep is in shambles and the wormholes are no more. [break][break][break]