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Of course I'm not forcing you to do anything if you don't want to, but seriously, what have you got to lose? Five seconds of your life?
Stupid, stupid, he'd been too reckless, spent too much energy too soon- Koa's head pounded and his vision flickered, darkness pulsing around the edges. Even the Reviver Seed's only did so much. Evolution, endless training. Sparring, seeking knowledge. It had to be enough, he had to be enoughit's not. What more was there? A strange sound rang in his ears, and he hastily downed a drink.
K̷͕͘ȍ̸̹a̶̻̽m̷͙̕ȧ̷̰r̸̗̔ü̸̪ ̸̩̾Ş̷̍
Strength returned to his trembling limbs but the noise didn't fade, and he realized it wasn't a sound. Not one in his ears at least. It was if it were in his soul. A force, like gravity pulling the wrong way. Calling to him. His vision pulsed with a heartbeat as Powehi became more. The call rang louder and something else flared in his minds eye Red. Ink-shadow. A spectre.
Focus. The team needs you. Koa steeled himself. Fuel your fists.
Anubis radiant flames blazed against the dark as Koa rose once more. Decisive, determined and precise, layering his strikes and driving into the weak points, falling back on all his time training back home and here.
When the effect faded, his body had changed. Swept-back aura sensors, a lithe black tail, a cape of grey fur, a mask of skull-grey patterns around his eyes. A variant Mega-Lucario, an ancient form sacred to a civilisation long-extinct.
It was like one of those Mystery Dungeon tricks of the eye, when an impossible space gave way to mundane reality, an illusion breaking. There had been one avatar of Dark Matter standing there just now, but now there were three. They stepped apart from each other in loose unison, identical in appearance.
Oh, I see... Unfortunately this may be unavoidable. But listen... I sense that the damage will be worst near Powehi, and may be weaker the further away one gets. Please, heroic spirits, do your best to mitigate this attack.
"Things just keep getting better and better," Andre said sarcastically. I guess I can still fire some Bullet Seeds from afar.
He galloped away and began firing seeds at one of the false-Powehis. Ben, however, had nothing he could do from a distance, so the ursa simply fell back and crouched down low to better weather whatever was coming.
In between his volleys, Andre could notice the other Wayfarers around them seeming so... confident in their actions. So determined. Why didn't he have that drive? Why was he always lagging behind? Didn't he think this was important?
I need to push myself harder, he thought. I don't even know what to do, but... there's got to be something. Something to make me not be such dead weight...
Dave hadn't been banking on these creepy-ass visions. Jean shivered as Ting-Lu went down, sickening images of human (Pokémon) sacrifice rushing through their minds.
"Jean? You with me?"
She nodded, silent, but didn't look him in the eye.
"If you want to go home, maybe Powehi will--"
"No!" she said. "No, I can't... I can't go home." She shook her head. "Last time I went home, Will never came back."
Fuck. If that didn't tear his absolute fucking heart out. "Jean, that wasn't your fault, all right. You never could've--"
"But now I can," she said, quiet. "I'm a Pokémon now. So I can help."
She got back up to her feet, standing proud with her tails streaming behind her. "Let's... let's torch him. We can do it together."
There was a weird lump in Dave's throat. "Okay. Yeah, you know what, let's fucking torch him."
He put a paw on her shoulder and took a deep breath, and with it, Radiance and Shadow coalesced into a blazing inferno.
"This will hurt. But at least we can gain some distance...!" She jumped away, but not before tossing a few enervating shots Powehi's way.
"You want corruption... Then take it! All my grief, all the strife... this conflict is just one fool of a saint, or a fool of a mortal trying to usurp one... A world of wretches crawling for scraps of power, to the point where its very embodiment of negativity winds up being the reliable one!"
She threw a few more blows as Zena followed up.
"It's awfully familiar," the Milotic hissed. "Let us show you... the frustration we feel... and harness it as a fine dagger of defiance!"
Mhynt (247 STM, 24 TMP, +0 SPD, +2 ACC, 8 SHD, 14 RAD)
- Shining Partners (ACTIVATE: effect) (-40 STM, -10 TMP, +2 TMP, +28 RAD) [Fire Field! Owen echoes, gaining more Eva and Protect!]
- **Act:** SHADOW Focus (+5 TMP)
- SHADOW Toxic @ Powehi (-20 STM, -2 TMP, +2 TMP, +14 SHD) [Owen echoes!]
- STRONG Screech @ Powehi (-22.5 STM, +4 TMP) [Owen echoes!]
- Walk to Lightless Plains [Owen follows]
Net change: -83 STM, +1 TMP, +14 SHD, +28 RAD
Net totals: 164 STM (232 after regen), 25 TMP, 22 SHD, 42 RAD
At some point as Isidora fought against the images in her head, she had fallen to her knees. The damage from the treasure's death throes was beginning to take its toll on her, but it was still tooearly to go down. To allow herself to lose momentum when Powehi himself was next.
A floragato appeared at her side. "Can you stand? You've taken the brunt of two of those now."
Isidora growled as she focused on quelling her shadow. "I'm fine... I can handle it..."
The Phantom paused for a moment, then chuckled. "The magician's burden, hm?" He smiled and offered her his paw. "You are no longer alone in knowing it, Isidora."
Her ears perked. As strange of a time as it was to realize it, there was an understanding between them, one that no one else shared. She took the offer and pulled herself up, when he took his hold of her paw and abruptly pointed it at the transforming Powehi.
"I'll keep this brief. Our hearts beat softly so they do not burst. But though our experience has taught us to fear loss, there is no loss innate to our power here. That very sense of discipline is holding you back."
"What?" Isidora's eyes narrowed in confusion. Something about that rung strangely true, yet it couldn't be right, could it? She didn't feel like she was holding back. "Where's this coming from?"
He closed his eyes and grinned. "Perspective. But not experience. I cannot put this into practise, only you can." Then he let go of her, just as a clone of Powehi materialized where Ting-Lu once stood. "For Betelgeuse's sake, you know what you must do. Act recklessly, like a savage beast. Act like you have nothing to lose, and trust all that you've learnt to navigate you through the dangers. I'll support your performance from the wings should you falter."
The doubt he implanted in her head didn't dissipate. I'm holding back? But pulling away from the ambiguities in his words, Isidora understood innately what he meant by them.
Kneeling down, the weavile placed her claws on her shoulders. And after a brief, shaking hesitation, she threw aside everything that told her this was a terrible idea, and as much as she could, drew both energies down her arms at once.
Let's see what happens.
Isidora (223 STM, 16 TMP, +1 SPD, +5 ACC, 0 SHD, 0 RAD)
- **Act:** Focus (Awaken) (+5 TMP, -20 SHD, -30 RAD)
- Dash to Arid Saltbed (-2 TMP)
- AGILE Power-Up Punch @ Powehi (-21 STM, +6 TMP)
- Power-Up Punch @ Powehi (ACTIVATE: Swift Star) (-14 STM, -15 TMP, +6 TMP)
- Swift Soul @ Powehi (ACTIVATE: Sure Hit, effect) (-30 STM, -5 TMP, +8 TMP) [+1 Spd & Acc, Recoil nullified by Swift Star]
- Activate feat (Spotter Feat) @ Powehi's Offenses
- Power-Up Punch @ Powehi (-21 STM, +6 TMP)
- **Act:** Item (Root Beer)
- Walk to Aurora Ridge
Net change: -81 STM, +9 TMP, +30 SHD, +30 RAD
Net totals: 142 STM (217 after regen), 25 TMP, 30 SHD, 30 RAD
~~~
The Phantom Star stuck close to Isidora as she made her move against Powehi. As she tested her limits, it was more obvious now that she was holding back, measuring the risks she could afford the take. That is just in her nature, despite what she thinks. He trusted she would see her opportunity before long.
Isidora chose to retreat into the snow, and he followed, though he stole a glance behind him. It won't do to leave our allies in the dust.
He drew energy from his paw, passed some of that light to Isidora, and when he closed his eyes, he appeared from another perspective beside Mhynt and Dave. "Need some assistance?"
Phantom (Aux)
- RADIANT Defender @ Isidora and Mhynt [Barrier]
- Interact @ Use Shining Phantom to pass a barrier to Mhynt!
Powehi wanted them to get full of corruption? Fine. Fine. She could fucking do that.
Shadow was plentiful. Frustration and embarrassment that one of their Treasures had been late to be felled; anxiety and doubt about her ability to manifest the kind of strength everyone else could; fear of disappointing Mal; fear of letting down her friends; fear of losing--
--and to meet it all, that burning golden light: determination to find a solve; certainty that what she was doing was right; sheer bloodyminded stubbornness to keep fighting no matter what.
The light came to her, manifesting in that brilliant tactical overlay that showed her just what to do and where to aim... and another cracking sheen of dark frostbite manifested on the surface of her enemy's body. She pushed further, willing the fucking thing to die, to be destroyed, to fuck off and stay down. A storm whipped up, a storm of black feeling that only urged her onward.
It was so intense she could hardly bear it. She could hardly see for all the biting anger, a storm of sorrow, the pain, the hot shivers down her spine. Feverish, sick with misery, she couldn't feel her fingertips, failure failure failure failure--
Gladion's Spotter Feat Powehi AI:
Powehi's tactics are more aggressive now, his targeted moves dishing out damage while his big, area-wide moves sap the will to fight. All of his duplicates can move freely just like the original, but curiously, it seems that each of them is using different mundane moves from the others. Just like the original, the copies seem willing to fight to the last, and will likely be able to keep going past their breaking point.
Laura's 2x Helping Hand boosted Jade!
Laura's AGILE Shining Clarity boosted her next move!
Laura's Umbral Aspiration dealt a CRITICAL 138 damage to Wo-Chien! It's super effective! KO!! Took 27 dmg in recoil
Laura's SHADOW Tailwind boosted the party's Spd!
Laura's Shining Clarity boosted her next move!
Wo-Chien's body turned from an undulating mass of living peat and rotting leaf litter to a mound of inert compost, frozen over with a wintery crust. The tablets themselves fell to the ground, heavy with age, and grief, and thickening rime. There had been no projectile, only a howling presence of Shadow that sounded like an icestorm in one's skull. The Treasure itself gave out a clattering of wooden blocks against each other as the spirit left it, one that drummed and drummed away inside the mind...
A vision. A recording of evil deeds. A history of wrongdoings and black days and the shattering of all order. The duty of the King is to protect his people, is it not? Where is his wise governance? Do not repent, do not recant your truth, do not stay your tongue even if they should cut it out. Scream louder, that the people might hear you. None shall turn their eyes from the truth of things. All who do are complicit. All who refuse must suffer until they raise their voices in protest. A bitter rot grows in every heart, a grudge that cannot be appeased, a grudge that will see the mighty and his works torn down and destroyed. Cry out with tongueless voice until your resentment brings the realm entire to ruin.
Wo-Chien's Last Word: Memento of Ruin - Laura's remaining HP was halved! -2 Atk, -2 Mag.
As the last Treasure became inert, Powehi began to sing. One vessel's voice cried out, backed by the droning throat-singing of another, and the soaring whistle of the last. The sound resonated in the blood, in the bones, in the very soul. It was a simple melody, one which yearned for an antiphony – a counter-melody – to complete it. But there was no second voice to sing it. There was only absence; there was only hollow loss.
(cw: heavy descriptions of grief/mourning) He sang in a language no Wayfarer spoke. Perhaps it did not translate, perhaps every speaker who knew that tongue had long since fallen beneath soil, sand, or sea. Yet still they understood it – it was a funeral dirge. A song of mourning, one the grim Lucario had sung a hundred thousand thousand times before, and yet still the grief was raw and sharp enough to strip the skin from flesh, to hook grief from one's heart and pull it from one's mouth.
As the song continued, each listener felt a growing awareness of their own mortality, their coming end. All things ended. Every long life, every great civilisation, even the stars themselves burned out given aeons enough. Go ahead and grieve for them. It is only the pain you must feel as payment for ever caring. Fated or not, listening to the song made one feel like their death was living in their chest, like oblivion was so close you couldn't help but touch it, a cold blackness that waited in the half-seconds between every beat of the heart, every breath of the lungs. You, too, will be beneath the earth one day. You, too, will be mourned for.
Leaf's Quick Attacks dealt 8+8 damage to Powehi! It's not very effective... Cursed Counter+! -1 Atk, Defiant! +1 Atk
Leaf's AGILE Blaze Kick dealt a CRITICAL 34 damage to Powehi! It's super effective!
Leaf's Drill Run dealt a CRITICAL 42 damage to Powehi! It's super effective!
Leaf's Blaze Kick dealt a CRITICAL 46 damage to Powehi! It's super effective! Hex Resist nullified the burn.
The black song of grief continued, sapping energy from their limbs, and provoking a surge in Shadow like a rising gorge of acid nausea.
Boss Attack: Powehi's Stygian Lament filled the air!
Koa: a grazing 27! -1 Def, +5 Shd, -6 Stm, It's not very effective...
Leaf: a grazing 17! -1 Acc, +5 Shd, -4 Stm, It's not very effective...
Silver: a grazing 18! -1 Acc, +5 Shd, -4 Stm, It's not very effective...
Another unicorn, one seemingly made of Shadows alone, flickered at Powehi's side, strengthening him. Another spectral double, this time canine, slammed into Koa's flank, black teeth closing around his foreleg.
Powehi Agile-dashed to Stygian Plateau!
Powehi's AGILE Abyssal Repertoire chained into Umbral Vigilance! +1 Atk/Def/Res/Acc
Powehi's Abyssal Repertoire chained into Umbral Retribution!
Koa: 59, -14 Stm, It's not very effective... Drained 19 HP
Powehi's Force Palm!
Leaf: 38, Paralyzed!
Silver: 38, Paralyzed!
Powehi Focused...
Powehi's Bone Rush!
Leaf: 18, KO!!
Silver: 26+26+23+23+23! It's super effective!
Powehi walked to Jackal's Precipice
Powehi didn't chase down the Wayfarers. He didn't need to. He could attack them at any distance.
A feline darkness that moved like Laura manifested in the corner of Isidora's vision, staring her down. With every moment its gaze settled on her, a creeping black frost took hold of Isidora's limbs, a bitter chill that even her Ice-type blood struggled to endure.
Powehi's Abyssal Repertoire chained into Umbral Aspiration!
Isidora: 220, -55 Stm, Second Chance! Took 55 in recoil
Powehi Focused...
Powehi's STRONG Vacuum Wave dealt 127 damage to Isidora! It's ultra effective! KO!!
Powehi's Aura Sphere!
Dave: 205! It's super effective!
Owen: 177! KO!!
Powehi took cover.
As the song continued, each listener felt a growing awareness of their own mortality, their coming end. All things ended. Every long life, every great civilisation, even the stars themselves burned out given aeons enough. Go ahead and grieve for them. It is only the pain you must feel as payment for ever caring. Fated or not, listening to the song made one feel like their death was living in their chest, like oblivion was so close you couldn't help but touch it, a cold blackness that waited in the half-seconds between every beat of the heart, every breath of the lungs. You, too, will be beneath the earth one day. You, too, will be mourned for.
Terror. Horrible, horrible terror. The knowledge that his existence would come to an end - Andre had known it since he'd first learned it and lived with it in relative peace, thinking he still had a long time left and he didn't need to think about it until he was much older. But this... this was different. This was a blade to his throat rather than one in the kitchen cabinet, safely tucked away for another day.
Yet that wasn't even the worst part.
This is... what they felt, he thought. This is what they felt before I killed them. This is that feeling which was such a lovely shade of violet, so silky smooth.This is what it was actually like.
He shook. His eyes watered. He felt just as much like a frightened little deer as he looked.
He wanted to say something - anything - but it felt meaningless. Nothing would take away what he'd done. Nothing would bring those people back. Nothing could ever grant him absolution.
He stood there, barely registering the steps coming his way until their owner was in front of him.
Ben. And the bear was crying, too. But beyond the sorrow on his face, there was... something else?
"Hey," the ursa said, frowning. "Snap out of it." He sniffed, then wiped his nose.
Andre looked up at him. "How could I... how could I snap out of it?" the deerling began, quietly. "How could you tell me to... forget what I've done?" His voice grew in volume. "How could you even suggest that? Don't you care?"
"I care!" Ben roared, startling the smaller mon. "I care so fucking much, and you couldn't begin to understand it. But guess what? He's gone. It's like the song says. He's gone, and all I can do is mourn."
A sob escaped his throat, but that something stayed on his face - no, strengthened. It was determination. "But... we have something to do here. We - and especially you - have giving back to do."
Andre sniffled. "But how am I supposed to --"
"You just do it."
The deerling stared at the twisted face of the ursa. How is he... so strong?
They stayed like that for some time, Powehi's song tearing at both their hearts. Finally, Andre grit his teeth and wiped his tears away.
"This is more like it," growled Powehi's voice in Betel's audio mic. "Less sloppy than I feared."
"Why... are you so... pessimistic?" asked Betel, their voice lagging with the effort of staying attuned to much corruption. "Have they not... performed well?"
"They have. But it is my nature to foresee the worst. We need naive fools like you to believe in better fates."
In truth, Betel was nearly shutting down from the storm of light and darkness howling inside their body. Their mind was thinning out like diluted paint, their thoughts wouldn't stick to things, they just ran, dripping down, down, into nothingness. There wasn't enough in their head to stand up to all this rage and sorrow and spite. They could only let it thrum and drone, unresisting, their processors fixed solely on making it through somehow.
And yet even in this state, they would not say that they would fail. They couldn't. If they were going to be strong enough, then they had to be strong enough now. And if they were strong enough now, then they would not admit that they could fail.
Powehi's ghostly wisp chuckled drily, his voice rasping like sand on a desert wind. "Some of them have Awakened," he murmured.
"The others... are also capable. I believe in them."
"And what of yourself?"
Betel did not answer. If they could not bring themself to answer in the affirmative... then they would say nothing.
Above the battlefield, the ambient light of its starry night sky began to twist into a shining ring, curling tenderly into a black singularity above the battlefield. Pure darkness, crowned with a silver halo.
Boss Attack: Powehi is preparing Lightless Anathema. Target: All
Powehi AI: