Pokemon - From the Brink

Chapter 55 - Uneasy Alliance

"Aa-aaahhh...! Ahhh...!" Nelly shivered, not daring to look down.

"I've got you!" Azelf's voice was like music to my ears, and the Willpower Pokemon floated down gently into my line of sight.

"Thank you – thank you!" I rasped.

"It's ok – it's all right!" He said, lifting his hands. "Here, I'll get you down..."

The blue pixie gently planted our feet down on the top layer of the unfinished building, a few feet away from the hole that Tobi had left in it.

Nelly let go of me and took a deep breath.

"Are you ok?!" I checked her over.

"Y-yeah... Yeah..." She swallowed. "Azelf – thank you...!" She plucked him out of the air and kissed his cheek.

"O-oh..." His face went red and he looked away. "Don't mention it – I-I mean, I had to help..."

"Where are we?" I asked, not daring to look over the side of the roof for fear of the height.

"Seems like we're still in Japan." Azelf said.

"But the others – Bedlam!" I swallowed.

"They'll be ok." He hoped.

"But... We got completely steam-rolled..." I remembered very graphically watching my friends get beaten to a pulp. "Then Tobi showed up – and he tore through us too... Then he got completely dominated – him!"

"I-it's all right – we haven't lost yet." Nelly said, though her facial expression couldn't hide her fear.

"Yeah, but..."

"This new person – 'Tobi'? He seems strong. If we could have him fight with us-"

"There's no way." I frowned. "One: I hate him. He's a twisted maniac with no regard for anyone but himself. And two: I don't think he'd agree to help even if we wanted him to."

"But under the circumstances-"

"No! No..." I shook my head and looked at the hole in the roof, dreading to think that Azelf might be right about this.

"Toby..." Nelly spoke up. "Azelf has a point... Tobi's got a reason to fight alongside us instead of against us."

"He won't see it that way." I said. "Of course it makes sense, but you heard him – nothing's changed. He still wants me dead – he wants us all dead."

"Right..." Nelly put her hand on my chest. "But... Whatever Bedlam did to him – that thing that hit you – it's made it so he feels your pain. If he wants to life, he can't hurt you."

"Gh... But everyone else..."

"I hate the idea of working with him as much as you do." She looked over at the damage, disgusted. "He's a pig and lunatic. But you and I both know that we're fighting a losing battle. He might be our way out of this..."

"Bedlam walked all over him..." I breathed.

"But he was alone – if everyone took him on together, then..." She looked down and sighed, before shifting her gaze back to me. "Look, I... I just have to believe that, somehow, it could work. Because I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't..." She swallowed. "Mum and Dad are back there! Maruki's back there! We have to stop this – no matter what it takes!"

"...I hear you." I smiled reluctantly. "You're right. No matter what it takes. And, if by some miracle, he works with us and we beat Bedlam, then... We just have to take him out quickly too. I don't trust him at all."