"Flora!!!"
My yelling made her voice fill the hallowed halls. My mind raced. Time was running as slow as molasses.
Can I get her out from there? No, Salamence is the only one that can fly and it can't fit down such a small hole. I need to get this resolved as soon as possible, but I surely can't beat the four legendaries before me. I certainly can't run away, especially now that Flora has...
I shook at the thought. She came here because of me. My job, not hers, caused us to take this trip. She was getting hurt and it was my fault.
Aaron looked behind him and saw that Flora was no longer there. His eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and rage, which I'm sure were overflowing from my eyes as well. Suddenly, the little pokemon roared as if in pain and looked me in the eyes. We didn't need to speak to understand each other. It wasn't telepathy, just simple understanding that connected our hearts. I knew what he was feeling, because I was feeling the same way.
Forgot cute, you'll need all your power to save the one you care about.
Aaron glew a bright white and started to change shape. He took the form of Lairon, but only for a brief moment, only to change and grow immediately after. The light around him shattered and Aaron the Aggron was born. Our eyes met and said all that needed to be said.
No way to go but all out huh?
My six pokemon and I turned forward to face our opponents. There was no one else to save us. We were the only seven capable of stopping the monsters from escaping the stone temple.
We've come so far. We've come too far to stop now.
I took a deep breath. The legendaries beckoned us to take the next move, like knights so proud of their own power that they didn't fear losing.
But what can I do? I am but a human.
I took another deep breath and let the weight of the situation sink in. The blood raced through every inch of my body. I was trembled yet standing still, unable to go back.
What can I do? I can give it my all. Beyond any "all" that I've ever given before.
My blood felt like it was boiling. In one last effort at sanity, I tried to purge my feelings by yelling at the top of my lungs. Yet it was no use.
Nothing is going to stop me! Not even my previous limits!
I stared my competition dead on. Only one thing filled my eyes now: determination.
I felt something click in my heart. I knew that all of my pokemon felt the same thing.
Aaron, Bagel, Gyarados, Heracross, Absol, and Manetric all began shining a brilliant rainbow of colors. Light cloaked them and blinded me. An explosion of color filled the scene, then faded in the same instant. My six pokemon were nothing like they were before. They were all bulkier, strong, more magnificent than their usual selves.
Mega evolution, huh? Without stones even.
I pulled out my father's hat of old and put it on, pulling it over my eyes. I couldn't hide the exhilarated grin, despite the tears started streaming down my face.
...
My team and I ran forward. The Regi group took it as a challenge. Electricity shot across the air. The room rapidly gained and lost temperature. The earth shook as the structure fell apart. A white beam flew straight at me from Regice. Aaron stepped between me and the beam and blocked it.
Is this purpose, or is it emptiness?
My pokemon flew and jumped around the breaking landscape in a wild dance. I needn't issue commands. Both they and I simply knew what to do. I pressed on, towards the monsters with no power of my own. A rock hurtled towards me, but I felt no fear. Just as I knew in my heart would happen, Bagel's wing split it in half and deflected it.
Can things return to the way they once were?
The ground below my foot gave way, but Gyarados pushed me with its tail.
Why am I the one doing this?
I thought back to what had happened in the past few months. All the people I met and connections that I forged. Flora, Ryuusuke, my pokemon, and even my own father. Registeel shot a ball of electricity towards me, but Heracross wouldn't let it get even close.
Am I doing this for others, or my own selfishness?
I thought back to all the strange things that had happened to me. I'd started my journey, gotten gym badges, slept under the stars, and even gotten engaged. A piece of the ceiling came crashing down over me, but Absol stepped in and slashed it to pieces.
Am I worried about the memories that have been made, or the memories to come?
I had almost reached the boss pokemon, Regigigas, but I had no idea what I was doing. Manectric took the brunt of the white, towering monster's swiping hand, risking everything to take to save me of all people.
Just what has "Elron" become?
I pounced at Regigigas, pulling my arm back for a punch.
I guess that doesn't really matter, now does it? I see only one course ahead of me, and I'm going to reach its end.
With every bit of my being I landed a punch on the slow moving giant. My fist stung as I hit the lethargic being, but I didn't care.
I didn't have to look to know what was happening. The impossible had just happened. The Regi trio was incapacitated, and my six partners took after my lead and collided with the last legendary at full force.
Regigigas stumbled back, and crashed into its stone throne. The throne broke apart, and dust was flung into the air. It was on the ground, and was pushing itself back up.
"This is it!" I shouted. "Hyper Beam!"
Energy collected into balls at each of my pokemon's mouths, and then exploded outwards. Six white beams entangled and wrapped into one. Six lives united under one cause. Six pokemon and one trainer. Together, they were far stronger than any one of them.
The combined beam struck the white titan as it stood up, and it was once again knocked to the ground. This time, however, it didn't get back up. Dust cleared the air and fell in smaller amounts from the ceiling. I stood there, gasping for air, and wiped the sweat off of my face. In a flash of light, my pokemon reverted to their normal forms, and panted as well, having a hard time standing.
Regigigas fell back into a long, deep sleep, and the gray stone-like substance once again grew to cover its body.
We had done it.
-----
"What do you mean you couldn't find Flora?!"
I hit the wall and looked at the ground.
"Listen, we searched for her as well as we could, but at the bottom of that fissure was an underground river. It probably washed them away when they fell down."
Father tipped his hat forward and covered his eyes, standing in the corner. Flora's parents fell to the ground and wept together. I trembled and felt tears streaming down my face. Mother ran to me and embraced me.
"Oh Elron, I'm so sorry..."
It was my fault. I dragged her into this, and now she was gone.
The strange man in a business suit brought forward a tray with five pokeballs resting in it. He presented them to Flora's parents. "We did manage to find these pokeballs at the bottom, and wanted to return them to her family. Please, take them."
I looked at the tray. All five pokeballs were normal, leaving the luxury ball that held the Ninetales to be nowhere in sight.
That Ninetales. Everything went downhill as soon as Flora brought it out the day of the eighth gym. How could I not feel that it had something to do with our demise?
In my battered mind I shifted some of the blame onto that silver fox that seemed to spell doom for our happy lives. Why did she wait to reveal that pokemon until that day?
I remembered that that was the day I proposed, and I took all the blame back from my scapegoat.
It was too soon for her after all...
That Ninetales proved it, at least to myself. For whatever reason, that fox was brought out only after I had made that fatal decision. I didn't know how the events were connected, but I couldn't help thinking that they were.
"Here, we want you to take them instead, Elron."
I looked up and into the tearstained eyes of the unlucky parents. They held out the tray in front of me.
"I couldn't," I said. "I'm the reason she got into this mess after all. I don't deserve something like that."
My dad ran over and grabbed me by the collar, forcing our glances to meet. "No one blames you for what happened, Elron!!! Get yourself out of the ditch and brush yourself off! Think what Flora would say if she saw you like this!" He let go and stormed towards the exit, but stopped in the doorway. "I will be waiting for you at Evergrande City," he said, not turning back to us. "Once you grow the hell up I expect to see you there!" He slammed the door behind him.
I looked at the scratched up red and silver spheres held out to me. I picked one up and took a closer look at it. These were what I had left of Flora, and the bonds that we shared. I didn't even care about the engagement anymore, I only cared about the time we shared together, camping out beneath the stars and running around Hoenn. I brought the ball in and held it next to my heart.
"I won't let anything happen to you five."
-----
In a room far away, Daron was connected to life support. It was a torn up room, often used to heal those who had seen conflict and needed to stay outside of the public eye. It was the hospital of gang leaders, of reconstructing identities, of darkness. A little light carried itself through the window's blinds and illuminated the dust that permeated the air.
The sounds in that room were that of assisted, mechanical breathing, and the beeping of the monitors.
Daron struggled, but said his last words. Maxie and Archie leaned in carefully on both sides of the bed, patiently awaiting what their leader had to say.
"I entrust my dream and my fortune to you two. I don't care if it's the land uniting the world or the sea, but don't let all we've done up until this point go for naught."
Maxie took Daron's dying hand. "But sir! We have so much to do! You need to see your effort come to fruition!"
Archie took his other hand. "You can't let this be the end! No one else can guide us!"
Daron chuckled a little bit, but abruptly stopped and coughed violently. A little blood trickled out from the side of his mouth and collected into the respiratory mask. "I guess... That you two... Will have to be the ones to lead. May the best... Man... Win..."
The electric sounds stopped pulsing and flatlined. A high pitched scream of a computer rang out into the room.
The two men let go of the body and stood up. The didn't even glance at each other, but rather faced opposite directions and walked off.
"For the sea that he loved..."
"For the land that he wanted to unite..."
"We will fight for it."