Explosions. Screaming. Cancerous growths straight out of her nightmares. She wished that she could only have to deal with one of those things at any given moment, but it just wasn’t that kind of night.

Oh well. At least she wasn’t spending the night alone. Now, if she could make it through the night alive…

Frankie’s prey vanished into the beast ball, quelling its rage – momentarily. It didn’t take long for it to cast its eyes upon another Ultra Beast. Annie saw the makings of another Tri-Attack forming before it; a quick “Frankie, back!” stopped it short of firing the attack. It had been so blinded by its next target that it’d failed to notice, or chosen to ignore, globs of sickly rain adding to their troubles.

Weeks of training saved it from its own disobedience, and it rushed back to its trainer’s side. Fear threatened to set into her mind. Willpower wouldn’t let it. If she stopped to be afraid, then she’d join the dead within seconds. Instead she turned to her Yanmega. “Ancient Power, now! Block the attack!” Clumps of rocks and earth left from other Pokemon’s attacks were drawn towards the oversized dragonfly, but instead of flying towards a target, Buzz forced the debris to stay afloat above the trio.

That should have been enough for a few seconds of ‘peace’, but Annie could only wish to be that happy. She wasn’t sure how exactly to describe what she saw. A vision, a flash of images, thoughts, feelings, something really weird that she wasn’t used to, and had just decided that she didn’t like... And that was before she parsed the message it was sending her. She glanced at the space where the bomb had once been. Or rather, where she'd assumed - hoped - it had once been. To her horror, she realised that it was still there, still primed.

The bomb was going to blow, and they were going to die. Shit.

The wave of fear came rushing back, threatening to consume her. The clown had torn a Pokemon to shreds as a game. If a giant version of its bomb was set to detonate…

No. She was Annie Mei. She’d survived Kanto, Rocket, poverty, homelessness, a swarm of very angry Tyranitars, and a sushi roll that was, in hindsight, probably a few days out of date. She hadn’t come that far to lose to a dumb ball.

If she had to die, it’d have to be to something way cooler.

Anxiety was forced to the side-lines once again – she could freak out about what was happening when it wasn’t threatening her life. Her eyes scanned the field, searching for aid… Only to see that almost everybody around her was scrambling for the ball. The beast ball, as opposed to the death ball. Anger forced its way into her heart, or maybe it was frustration. Or determination. Or arrogance. Another thing to figure out later.

It was no secret to those that knew her that she was a small girl with a big voice. That little skill of voices would serve her surprisingly well. She brought her hands to her mouth, took a deep-breath in, and yelled: “Wrong ball, dumbasses!” Would an insult get their attention? Was she even thinking straight enough for that to have been her plan? “Get those wings flapping and those psychic-types moving! We need to get that bomb-“ One hand pointed a finger towards the lighthouse bomb. “-into space, now, or it doesn’t matter who has the ball! It’s about to blow!”

Gemini was returned to the stage, its gem still flashing colours Annie had come to recognise as danger. Under better circumstances, she would have stopped to comfort her friend. Instead, she shook the arm pointing at the bomb. “Get it up, out, into the sky, into the stars! Honestly, I don’t care about the specifics right now!” Try as she might, she couldn’t help concern creeping into her voice. Fortunately, it wouldn’t be enough to frighten her alien friend (more than it already was, anyway). It attempted to lead the charge, using Psychic on the bomb to hoist it into the air. Alone, it was unlikely to do much, but if other Pokemon pitched in…

❤ wizz