Feral Kricketune punctuated the air, deafening Spice. She tried to ignore it, but Milli Town was right next to a whole nest of them. Small buildings made of clay and stone dotted a lumpy field of grass. To the left, a forest blackened by day's end sang the first few notes of its nighttime tune. To the right, boisterous singing and dancing to drums and strings rang out in friendly competition with the wild chirping.
"Ohh, I can't thank you enough for taking on this job."
Next to Spice was an elderly Mamoswine. She seemed to be enjoying the cool, outdoor air of nighttime; perhaps it was her Ice attributes. Mamoswine's eyes followed Spice's hands with each deft motion. In front of the Salazzle was an assortment of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and meats sourced from all over Kilo. Spice had gone all over the place to gather them, though she was grateful for it. This town needed it after everything they had gone through.
"It's the least I could do," Spice said. "I just had to take my mind off of things, anyway."
"Oh, because of that attack on Kilo Village? That must have been frightening. Oh, miss Spice, could you cut that one up a bit more? The chunks are a bit large."
Spice obeyed, taking some of the sliced Orans to more finely chop. Her eyes trailed left to a dim glow in the corner of her vision. "Leo, wake up."
"Buh—huh? What?" The Delphox's hand was hovering limply over a boiling pot of stew, keeping it cooked to a simmer. The chilling wind would cool the stew a bit more than necessary, but Leo's fire more than made up for it. "I'm awake."
Spice sighed, shaking her head. "Why don't you just take a nap for now? You really shouldn't have come with me."
"I'm just—" Leo suddenly yawned, nearly dipping his hand into the stew. "I'm just worried about you, Spice. You haven't slept in days."
Mamoswine gasped, turning her huge body to address the Salazzle directly. Spice narrowly ducked to avoid one of her tusks. "Days? Goodness, you could have fooled me."
"Yes, yes, days, but it's nothing to worry about. I feel perfectly fine. When I'm tired, I'm tired." Spice had to admit—though not aloud—that the fact that she wasn't even slightly tired was starting to worry her. Was something wrong with her head? Did something just snap? Or was someone slipping Chesto Berries in everything she ate? Not that they worked well on her, but pack enough into something...
What was more worrying was that Spice not only felt fine—she felt amazing. Energized. Like she could take on the world! And after the day's events of half of Kilo village being flooded with snow, living ice-sculpture family under an Aggron matriarch... and then Jerry. Spice rolled her eyes. Jerry. How he got involved with their ilk... She should ask him next time. They were in such a rush to go back to his new home that they'd left her in the dust, all because of that Zygarde.
Zygarde! Since when did he exist? She had been sure it was just a myth. Legends in general were just that—legends. They never really existed. But then not only had she met one, but Jerry spoke with Mew? After the crowd he came with, maybe he was telling the truth...
She had brushed it off as one of his insane ramblings, but in hindsight, it felt different.
"Spice, wake up."
Spice straightened, flicking her tail irritably. "I'm awake. I was just thinking."
"About Jerry?"
Spice paused for a split-second too long. "No, about Kilo Village."
"Mhm." Leo yawned again, backing away from the stew. "This batch is ready. I'll carry it over to the party."
"You do that," Spice said, suddenly aware of the Kricketune again. Seconds later, they all stopped chirping.
Spice's heart skipped a beat; Mamoswine shifted her weight. "Ooh. They aren't singing. That's... ominous..."
Then, they heard thunder, yet the skies were clear all around them. Or was it thunder? It lasted for too long, like the aether itself was growling at them. Spice's heart fluttered again.
They were currently in the far east of Kilo, and the explosion felt like it came from the north of Kilo Village. Spice wasn't sure why she knew that—everybody else had been looking around in random directions for the source, but her eyes turned northwest. "What was..."
She narrowed her pupils, focusing on the distant sky. It was too dark to see, perhaps too far away... but something was there.
Several lights went out, Luminous Orbs embedded in walls and ceilings all snuffed out in an instant. Pokémon shrieked in surprise—the party in the community hut switched from laughter and singing to groans and annoyed grunts. A Gardevoir near the middle of the crowd raised her hands, forming a sphere of light. The Flash helped illuminate the houses, as did a few other Pokémon with the same technique.
"What's going on?" Mamoswine asked. "Did someone use a Jammer?"
"They better not have," Spice growled. The last time she had to deal with one of those was with Jerry, and last she checked, they had confiscated his. "Come on, we need to investigate what's going on. Sorry, but we're going to have to cut short this little service."
"Not a problem," Mamoswine said. "Please, get back to us as soon as you can if you find out anything."
Spice nodded. "Leo!"
The darkness had made Leo nearly fall asleep. The Delphox jolted awake. "H-huh? What?"
"We're heading back to Kilo Village." She headed down the road, pulling Leo along to keep up the pace. "I'll drop you off at home so you can sleep, and then I'm gonna keep investigating what's going on."
"You're still not—" Leo interrupted himself with a yawn.
"No, not tired at all. So I'm gonna take full advantage of it until I crash."
"Keep this up and I'll just have to get someone to Sleep Powder you," Leo mused.
She hadn't considered that. Still, now that something was actually happening, she'd rather be awake. "Maybe later."
They walked over to the edge of town. Leo held up his hands and created a small flame to illuminate the way forward. "Oh, there it is," he said, pointing at the Waypoint on the ground ahead.
"Great. Let's—"
A shriek echoed from the left, deeper in the forest.
"Oh, what now?!" Spice reflexively slipped a hand into her bag, drawing out a few iron spikes.
Leo bumbled after her, but she motioned quickly. "Stay behind me, Leo."
"Okay, okay."
She weaved into the forest, stepping carefully over a few small rocks. Slipping into a bush, she heard another shriek further ahead. It was too dark to see easily, but the steps were from a heavier Pokémon. Then came a grinding of some kind. She only knew that kind of sound came from a large, serpentine creature going over twigs and roots.
She readied one of her poison-laced spikes. The fleeing Pokémon ran past her; the grinding was getting a lot closer. And the sound of hissing, a feral growl punctuating it.
Something moved in front of her. She burst out of the bushes, slamming her spike down on the incoming aggressor. It shrieked and slammed into Spice, a beak cutting into her arm. She grunted in reply and blasted the thing with a jet of fire. It let go and slithered past her, but in the fire, she saw what it was. It had the face of a Malamar, but it was longer—serpentine. A mutant running wild.
"Wh—Leo!"
Leo, too startled to react, misfired a Psychic blast. It did nothing to the serpent, but it twisted the branches and rocks around in a rapid cork-screw. He staggered away and fired a jet of flames from his hands next, completely missing. Instead, he hit Spice, who had to shield herself. She hissed at the intense burn, but it was nothing compared to the holler that came from Leo.
When she lowered her arms, the Malamar mutant turned in the opposite direction and fled deeper into the forest. Leo was crumpled on the ground; residual dark energy mingled with scattered embers, and Spice knew instantly what had happened. It had landed a Night Slash on Leo—on the side. Blood was already seeping through his deep fur; she couldn't tell how bad the cut was, but in Leo's state, that didn't matter.
"Come on, Leo," Spice said, fishing through his bag. Her own didn't have the healing supplies necessary—they were for her. While her arms were still tingling from the burn, it was nothing compared to the Delphox's wounds. She pulled out an Oran Berry from his supplies. "Here, Leo, open up."
He eagerly chomped down, swallowing in big gulps. He grunted, panting a few more times.
"Slowly, idiot, slowly."
A few more bites and it was down, but that sickening, golden light that usually followed never came. Leo kept panting, clutching his wound. "Why isn't it going away?" he wheezed. "It—I still feel it. I don't..."
"H-hang on, maybe it was—I don't know." Not knowing how else to react, she grabbed another Oran and shoved it into Leo's mouth, not even asking this time. He grumbled through his chewing, trying to stand up at the same time, but Spice had none of it. His wounds weren't closing—why weren't they closing?! Two Orans weren't enough? That had just been a basic Night Slash.
He needed a Heal Pulse, and from someone strong. Thankfully, there was a Waypoint just out of town. "Hang on, Leo. I'm gonna carry you back, alright?"
"Urgh..." Leo lifted his hand, staring at his bloodied fur. "Why isn't it..."
"I don't know. We just need to go."
After a short walk, with a mercifully quiet town with the inhabitants trying to sort out the sudden drop of all Orb technology, Spice hopped onto the Waypoint. She closed her eyes—the warps always disoriented her when she wasn't careful.
"...Spice?" Leo groaned.
"What?" Spice looked back, but then realized that they were still at the village. Then, more bewildered this time, "What?"
She stepped off of the Waypoint. Back on. Nothing. Off, then on again. Nothing.
"It's... it's broken." The Salazzle stared at the horizon, so far away that they couldn't even properly see Kilo Mountain.
"What do you mean?" Leo winced, trying to readjust his wounded side.
Spice stepped off of the tile, staring incredulously at it. Like it was impossible. Because it was impossible. This had never happened, not once in all her life since the Waypoints had been introduced to the south. Yet, there it was, right in front of her.
"The Waypoints are broken."
<><><>
"Other Owen's hurt!" Enet shouted.
After all the power that Eon had demonstrated before, and the fight he tried to put up against Star, Owen didn't expect to see him so easily hurt by Anam's shadowy blast. Yet there he was, spinning across the ground in the remnants of one of Anam's strange techniques.
Nevren took a step back and looked at his lucky charm again. A dim gray colored its center. Rhys, meanwhile, stumbled over himself trying to get to Eon.
"We have to get out of here. We can't fight Anam like this!" Demitri shouted.
Mispy still ached from her last attempt at holding Anam off. It was a dull pain, but the fact that she felt any kind of pain at all...
"What's wrong with him?" Zena whispered to Owen, but the Charizard only shook his head. He dug through his bag in an attempt to find his Badge. Fighting in Hot Spot after all that had happened was going to only cause more trouble. Anam had the advantage in the chaos; he didn't have to worry about friendly fire or ruining the caverns. They just had to find a way to get out.
"Let's just go." Owen found his Badge and flashed it at the others, who got the signal. Demitri, Mispy, and Gahi were quick to grab their own; they weren't sure which Badges had a charge and which ones didn't, but each Heart had one. As long as some of them were operational, they would be able to escape, right?
They had to at least try.
Anam fired another beam of shadows toward the congregation, but this time Owen was quick to react. He leapt in front of everyone else and crossed his arms; the shield of golden light worked the same as it always did, dispelling the shadows completely.
To counter, Willow fired a ball of shrinking mist toward Anam, but it evaporated in an oppressive atmosphere before it could even reach him.
"I don't get it—what's going on? Why is Anam—" Star winced, holding up the barrier again. "He sounds like—l-like..."
"You know who I am."
Star's blood ran cold and her wide eyes darted to the others. "We need to run! NOW!" Panicking, she fired an Aura Sphere toward Anam, but his Ghostly aura absorbed it.
Owen blindly fired a wad of flames at Anam. "We'll go to Kilo and buy us more time. Everyone! Come close!" he shouted. "Behind me!"
Rhys fished around for his Badge, panicking when he realized that it was missing.
"Oh—sorry," Zena said, revealing Rhys' Badge in her ribbons. "I used it."
"I also used one of yours," Trina said. "It may not do much." She then shoved her vines into the ground; just ahead of Anam, a flurry of silken webs covered the entryway. The fact that he was so slow to charge his attacks and approach was their only saving grace.
"H-hopefully three is enough?" Owen said, but that just made everyone gather up closer.
"Hurry, Owen!" Enet growled at him.
"Okay, okay," Owen said, which earned an odd look from Enet.
"Owen, focus," Zena said urgently. "You don't need to growl at Enet right now, she's just stressed."
"Growl? What do you—" Owen shook his head. Not the time. He held his Badge in the air and closed his eyes.
He still heard everyone's worried mumblings and the sound of Anam blasting through the thick wall of silk. It was already dissolving into black sludge. Zena fired a cone of water at Anam from the other side; Step followed up with a beam of ice, freezing the water in place as a solid wall.
Owen lowered his Badge. "It's not working?!"
Heads turned toward Owen expectantly; they had been ready to warp out, but now, without any sense of getting out, they scrambled to enter a more defensive stance. Step stomped her foot, frosty air swirling around her hands. ADAM's beak started to glow with a charging Hyper Beam.
"No, no, no—" Star tugged at her ears, eyes darting in all directions like a trapped feral.
"Why isn't it working?!" Demitri looked at his own. "Trina! Yours worked, right?"
"Y-yes, it did."
"We used Owen's to get back here, too," Zena said quickly. "Did it run out of power?"
"That doesn't explain ours!" Gahi looked at Mispy and Demitri; their Badges had been similarly useless. They weren't in a Dungeon, were they? Anam's aura wasn't strong enough to disrupt warping, too, was it? Or...
"It's too late. I have revoked Anam's blessings."
"Wh... what?" Owen felt his chest tighten. "Revoked? Just like—"
The barrier of ice shattered; a shroud of black fog flooded Hot Spot Cave, making Owen's tail flame grow to twice its size in alarm.
"Left! G-go left!" Owen cried, narrowly dodging a stray beam of dark energy. Anam fired in all directions in a scattered shot.
Trina shouted in pain from one, leaving part of her front darkened. She winced, coiling her body in a reflex.
"Owen!" Zena slithered toward him and fired another Hydro Pump toward Anam. That was accompanied by Step blasting the water with another beam of ice from her palms, keeping the wall thick to stall for time.
"Do none of the Badges work?" Demitri shouted, flailing his in the air like that would actually help.
"Anam disabled them," Rhys said. "He disabled the Badges—we don't have a means of escape here. Not an easy one."
A thunderous crack shook their auras; several of them collapsed into a heap and struggled back to their feet. The ice chipped away.
"Asserting Normalized atmosphere," ADAM announced, followed by sending a pulse of white light toward Anam. It coated him, briefly solidifying his ethereal, dark body. Then, in a loud, rallying buzz, he shouted, "Attack!"
Enet created a ball of lightning in her paws and hurled it at Anam next. Perfect aim—she threw it through one of the crevices and zapped Anam's solidified body. His Dragon resistance to electricity had been completely nullified. Enet turned to Owen. "Attack! He's vulnerable!"
"Okay, okay!" Owen said, blasting a gout of flames toward Anam from afar. While it widened the icy wall, that didn't matter; they were pushing Anam back.
More sticky webs curled around Anam's legs and tail, locking him in place for easier strikes. Trina grunted, clearly still impaired by the first blast. "If you think a simple blast like that is enough to stop me..."
Star fired ineffectual Aura Spheres at Anam. His Ghostly power had been inhibited by ADAM's blast, but Owen didn't feel that same power from Manny's body. Was she still exhausted from her time possessing him? What great timing, Owen hissed to himself. Enet was getting close to Anam and in the way of some of the crossfire. "Enet! Get back, you're too close!"
Enet hopped back obediently. "Sorry, I'm trying to get a good attack in!"
"Will you two quit making those feral growls at each other?!" Willow said. "It's scary! And I can't get a good shot in! Hold still!"
The Joltik landed on top of Owen's head, forcing him to keep his neck steady. "What do you mean, growls? I'm just talking to Enet!"
"No, you were growling, now shut up!" Willow charged up pink energy, sprouting wings on her back. Between those wings, which flexed upward, a sphere of light, like a pink Aura Sphere, formed in an unstable glob. "Keep him still!" she shouted.
"Your simple tricks will do nothing."
Another shadowy blast cut through the web. Owen sprang into action then, rushing forward to cross his arms. The blast deflected upward and into the ceiling, disintegrating some of the rocks in an instant. Black ash rained down on them, but Gahi beat his wings rapidly, blowing the debris to the side of the cavern. Demitri yanked one of his tusks out and wound his arm back, taking aim at Anam.
He threw it. The sheer speed of his throw created a small shockwave, bending the light around it. The blade struck Anam by the tip first, piercing into his body, but the shockwave blew it apart at his core. Black sludge scattered behind and to the sides, most of it collapsing below it, but they knew Anam better to think that would be the end of it. Zena and Step launched another Frozen Hydro Pump toward the wriggling blobs of sludge, freezing them all under a large heap of water, like it had stopped in time.
Willow didn't lose her charge, glaring at the frozen water. "Did we do it?" she said.
Owen took an uneasy step forward, closing his eyes. "No," he said, still feeling their movements. "He's—he's melting through the ice and gathering himself up again!"
"Oh, great," Star said, rubbing her paws together. "What's taking Manny so long?! He can do this way better than me!" She tried to charge up another Aura Sphere, but it was so unsteady from her panic that nothing could hold its shape. Even her voice trembled.
The dark sludge had formed a small dome within its icy prison, coalescing into a single mass once more. "F-freeze it again!" Owen ordered.
Zena, exhaustedly, fired another Hydro Pump at the melting ice. Then, seconds later, Step followed up with another freezing beam. Zena didn't stop until she had run out of all the energy she had. Step clenched her fists, cutting off her beams. The entire cave entrance was frozen over.
"Oh, great, wise guy!" Gahi shouted, pointing at Owen. "You just froze over the exit!"
"How are we supposed to get out?" Demitri said. "If we break out of the ceiling, we might cause a cave-in!"
They were still moving. Deep inside the ice, they still burrowed through the dome to combine into a single entity again. Even if they escaped, it would chase after them, perhaps take innocents along the way. What were they supposed to do?
He was already regenerating. By the time he broke out, Anam would be back in a single piece—the very thought that they were trying to kill him... Owen didn't even have time to process it. They didn't have time to think about what they were trying to do, just that they had to or they would all die.
"Guys," Owen said, getting an idea. "He's already regenerating. We—if we want to beat him, and m-maybe get whatever's in Anam out... we have to hit him all at once. With everything we have, the second he—"
"Are you CRAZY?" Star shouted. "No! We need to get away!"
"But we—"
"Owen!" Star interrupted with an exasperated sigh. "Think about it! Anam is literally the strongest Pokémon in the world, behind maybe Aramé, but guess what, she's not here! The only person who came close to beating him was Rhys, and that was before we knew that the Wraith King was inside him!"
"The what?" Owen said.
"Long story! More later!" Star pointed at the blob in the ice. "We have to run. We can't beat that thing. Trust me, I know we can't. We need to regroup. I know I got off on the wrong foot, but can you at least trust me on this?"
The ice was melting. Everyone else seemed uneasy. Demitri prodded at the empty space where his tusk used to be, now frozen with the blob somewhere. Owen didn't have the heart to tell him that it had already been disintegrated by Anam.
"Regardless of what you choose, Rhys is in no state to battle," Nevren said. He had been staring at his lucky charm the whole time, its color a deep gray. "We must escape. Fighting him is useless. Rhys, come with me."
"I r-refuse to—"
"You don't have a choice," Nevren said impatiently, shoving him forward. "Elder!"
"Y-yes, I'm coming," Elder said.
"Charge all the power you must," Nevren said. "I know I can't stop you from trying to free Anam from that thing's hold, but my personal recommendation is you evacuate!"
"What're you suddenly giving up fer?" Gahi growled, flicking his tail. "I thought you—"
Nevren disappeared in a flash of light, along with Rhys and Elder.
Owen blinked, but then Gahi cursed at the air. "Of course his Teleport still works!"
"H-he'll come back for us, right?" Owen said. "How many can he teleport at once?"
"Just two is a stretch," Star said, finally forming an Aura Sphere.
Owen sensed Eon stir, finally returning to the waking world. Nobody tried to help him up, but Owen was tempted to ask Mispy to heal him—if they had the time.
"Here's the plan," Star went on. "We wait for the ice to break, blast the ever-loving tar out of him, and then run for it."
"W-wait! Mom!" Owen looked at Star. "Where's Mom?"
Star flinched. "Hecto's still looking for her across the aura sea. I—"
"Her body. We need to bring her body with us."
"Well, that's true, I—"
"Gahi!" Owen said, motioning toward his chest. For some reason, that gesture was all they needed. Gahi rammed into Owen, disappearing inside. After a pulse of weak light converted their bodies to their fused self, Gawen spun around and flew toward Owen's home.
Mispy wrapped her vines around Demitri's arm, pulling him closer. They exchanged a wordless nod; the Haxorus sank into the Meganium.
"She's right this way," Gawen said to himself, as if both halves wanted to communicate to one another verbally. He could sense her body, still unoccupied by any of the spirits within the Fire Realm. Perhaps they didn't want to, or they felt it would be safer if the body lay inert, totally unaware of the battle going on outside. But something felt off about it. Gawen wasn't completely sure why at first, until he entered the bedroom and saw it for himself.
It as a subtle change to his Perceive, but not to his eyes. Just below her chest-fin was a strange, rhombus-shaped object, transparent and deep red. At first, Gawen thought it was her heart, but it only matched the color. There was no blood. But he didn't have time to think about that; he sped toward her and picked her up, holding her across his chest. Using his four wings and a dash of levitation—either innate to the body or his Mystic power, he wasn't sure—he glided across the ground and to the rest of the group. They were in the middle of a hasty preparation for their departure, though it seemed that those who still had strength left were gathering in an attack formation. A final assault.
"Let's go, Owen," Zena said. "I—I don't have enough power in me for another attack like that."
"Hyper Beam fully charged," ADAM reported.
"I've got a shrink ball!" Willow announced.
"Zap!" Enet clicked her claws together.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go." Jerry tiptoed to the blocked exit, but once he got close, he screamed.
All eyes turned toward the exit—wraiths stood on the opposite side, their shapeless masses flooding the narrow, blocked path. Some of them rose from the ground, clawing at the air as they took form. Some resembled Pokémon; others, only vaguely. But Gawen recognized one from the masses instantly.
"James!"
The Decidueye wraith stared at the Flygon-Charizard, drawing a feather of darkness from nothing. Despite a thick wall of ice separating the two of them, Gawen had a feeling it wouldn't mean much against a darkness-reinforced arrow.
"Guys! Focus!" Star shouted, pointing at the main blob. "It's about to—"
James fired, blasting a hole through the ice without effort. Gawen crossed his arms and blocked the incoming arrow. "We have to take care of these guys, too!" he said, stomping on the ground. Molten earth erupted beneath the wraiths and James, disrupting their stance. A few remained, but a ball of lighting exploded in front of their group, stunning them.
"Precious seconds, wasted."
"Guys, NOW!"
The ice shattered in another ear-splitting explosion, sending fragments of ice in all directions. The explosion itself dissolved the rest of the wraiths, which returned to the central body—vaguely in the shape of a Goodra—in a stream of smoke. Everyone else had to shield their eyes from ice fragments. The explosion left several cuts across most of their bodies, but once the initial blast wore off, Gawen roared, "WILLOW, NOW!"
"Aaaah!" Willow hurled her sphere of shrinking energy toward Anam.
He turned his head, but before he could react, Gawen shouted preemptively, "Mimi, NOW!"
The Meganium-Haxorus fusion brought several vines forward; they opened up, revealing the mouths within, as hot energy channeled out of them all, firing in front of her central body. The various beams collected into a single point and blasted forward toward Anam. In response, the Goodra opened his maw, collecting shadowy energy—
"STEP!" Gawen shouted next.
"Gladly!" Step, on the opposite side of Anam, blasted the demon with another Ice Beam just in time. She knocked his blast off-course—
"Jerry, DOWN!"
The Aerodactyl slammed himself against the ground, the misfired blast of shadowy energy grazing his horns.
Working on overdrive, Gawen felt a headache coming on. But he refused to fall to the chaos—if there was any time that he needed to put his Perceive to use, it would be now, to overpower Anam. He didn't have time to say anything but commands. He just had to pray they would realize he knew what he was doing.
His heart fluttered at the thought—they all listened to him. They trusted him!
Anam was about to dive out of the way. Not while he was around. He slammed his foot on the ground, sending molten earth behind Anam. He staggered forward, further pressing into the oncoming Solar Beam, and then—finally—Willow's slow-moving ball of energy enveloped him. His body rapidly shrank down to something no larger than a Joltik—a small speck of void-like darkness.
Eon finally got to his feet, clutching at his side where the rot had settled in. "Owen—we need to go, I—"
Gawen used his free hand to grab Eon by the shoulder. He pointed him toward the prone Goodra. "ATTACK!"
Eon reflexively blew a plume of fire toward Anam. Then, when he came to his senses, he channeled some of his Mystic power through it, too. Pressurized wind and billowing sand surrounded the flames, rapidly crystalizing into sharp bullets of molten glass.
Gawen followed up with a blast of his own, the twin flames mixing into a single column of bright, orange light. Step followed it up with another blast of Ice, this time sending an entire blizzard—a chilling wind that cut through the caves. Complementing the wind was Enet's lighting, tossing more heaps of electricity toward Anam. Then, Star fired off two Aura Spheres, one firm, the other one dissolving halfway. She cursed under her breath.
ADAM fired his Hyper Beam. This time, the burning blast of energy—both of heat and force—tore holes into the ground and shook the cave walls. Gawen feared that it would collapse over them, but by some miracle, the rocks were sturdier than expected.
Instead, when the blinding beam had subsided—along with the ringing shock of the blast itself— Gawen found a burned, melted portion of the cave where Anam had once been. Clouds of smoke, little wisps, floated in the air, obscuring something in the middle.
For a few tense seconds, only the deep, labored breaths of the injured and the tired filled the air. Then, little jingles and crackles of bits of glass and rock punctuated the aftermath. The demon had been silent during their strike, but Gawen knew they hit it. He felt it.
"A-Anam..." Gawen wasn't sure what had happened to him. But his body was gone, evaporated, disintegrated. The flames, the beam, the ice, all of their auras clashing against his had finally—
"I told you," the air around them said. "It is useless."
The clouds parted to reveal a dark, purple sphere, roughly the size of Gawen's fist. An Orb—the Ghost Orb, perhaps? But then, something clouded over it. A red, crackling energy, pulsing with life. A dark shell formed around that sphere a second later, and the smog solidified around it, turning into Anam's body once again, pure black.
Gawen could sense something festering underground, but he didn't have time to warn any of the others.
"Aw, forget this!" Jerry shouted, shoving his way past Mispy.
They were too exhausted. They had put everything into that attack, and Anam was still standing.
"RUN!" Star shouted uselessly, sprinting for the exit. But of everyone, she had been the furthest from it. Anam held his hand forward, blasting the air in front of Star; she stopped with a shriek and lost her balance. Then, with his other hand, he blasted Jerry on the back.
The mortal Aerodactyl shouted and fell forward, groaning.
"Jerry!" Gawen flared his wings, but had to jump away instead, dodging yet another blast from Anam. They were going out in all directions, striking everything they could hit. Enet narrowly dodged several of them, a few stray blasts grazing her ample fur.
"Your energy is expended."
Anam stepped back, lowering both arms. Mimi finally made it through the ice, but she was looking around blindly. Could she not see the exit? Gawen tried to fly toward her to guide her out—his tail could show the way even as the darkness of outside swallowed the rest of the light.
Mimi yelped; wraiths oozed out from the ground near the entrance. Gawen suddenly realized what had been underground.
They were surrounded.
"Fall."
And one was right beneath him. He hopped into the air. The wraith grazed his foot, grabbing hold. He kicked frantically, breaking free before it could rot him away—but it felt different that time. He felt a new sort of pull from the wraith, but then his Perceive warned him of an incoming blast.
That same Perceive overwhelmed his senses with the actions that all of the others had been taking—too frantic for him to completely discern. Step blasting everything with ice, Mimi flailing her vines and axes toward incoming wraiths. Willow had sprouted her fairy wings to fly above them all, shooting Moonblasts at clusters of the blobs. Zena slammed her liquefied tail over several in front of her, then swept in a semicircle to slice through the rest.
He had no means to maneuver away in time. Instead, with crossed arms, he guarded himself with a shield of radiant light. Gawen looked back at Anam; he was still black as ever, but he saw tiny flecks of bright, lavender slime coursing just beneath the surface.
But that was all he saw. When his shield faded, Gawen spread his wings to flee.
A beam of darkness shot out from below, hitting him at his core. He hollered in pain and twisted back to the rocks, where several wraiths oozed out of the ground. One enveloped his left wings, and another tried to consume his arm. "N-NO!" He flailed, tail blazing a frantic orange. Beating his wings, he expelled several Fire Traps in all directions. They detonated instantly, blowing him left and right, but it also blew the wraiths away.
Mimi fired a Solar Beam toward the wraiths, destroying several, yet more took their place. James stood at the very top of the exit, aiming shadowy arrows toward anybody who tried to advance. In all the chaos, Jerry had been struck by one; he lay on the ground in a heap, clutching at a wound on his shoulder.
Another scream echoed behind him. Gawen had completely forgotten about Eon. "Dad!" He spun around just in time to see that Eon, battered from several disorienting blasts, had been swarmed by wraiths. He saw the Charizard's flame, but then saw the wraiths coalesce around him until nothing was left.
"DAD!"
Gawen turned and tried to fly again, but he felt heavy. He looked to his right and saw that more wraiths were forming in his wings. "No—I—" Gawen shook weakly, but they wouldn't come off this time. His muscles burned. His throat was strained. And, most of all, his aura felt like a candle in the rain. He had nothing left.
Gawen couldn't even find the strength to cross his arms for one last Protect, useless as it would be.
Two thoughts entered his head at once—the first, to fight back. And the second, to save who he could. At first, it was unclear whose thought was whose, but then, as the consciousnesses split, Owen held his arms forward. "Gahi—RUN!"
The Flygon was hurled out of his chest, back to his normal color, but still imbued with half of their shared power.
Or more. Owen wasn't sure how much he had given him... but his vision went dark after that. He heard Gahi scream his name. "Run, Gahi." He wanted to shout it, but he didn't have strength. His hearing went next. Despite the fact that all sense had left him, Owen still twitched his body with what energy he could. That pulling sensation was back, even stronger. He realized, then, what it meant: They were taking his spirit.
The wraiths enveloped Owen, plunging him into complete darkness.