PARAGON

  Hisui Incursion Arc [13]

  Chapter 65 : Power of a Legendary

  Growlithe and Cranidos coalesced onto the ground and immediately looked around at the approaching Unown. A ball of energy impacted on Cranidos’ skull and he reared toward the attacker with a furious roar.

  “Wait, Cranidos!” Akari commanded.

  Yura glanced nervously at Ash. “Are you sure they don’t just want to play?”

  Ash kept his eyes on the Unown and swatted away another Hidden Power. “Release Shieldon, Yura,” he said in a low voice. “And stay close to Sabrina.”

  “I’ll protect the Professor!” Rei called, jogging back toward him, Growlithe in tow.

  Laventon looked like he wanted to say something but quietly accepted the protection. He did not possess any pokémon of his own, so as much as he complained about Rei and Akari’s overprotectiveness, it was certainly warranted in cases like this.

  “Should we attack, Ash?” Riley asked, Aura dancing on his fingers and blazing in his eyes.

  Ash looked around them. There were at least fifty now and they were slowly getting closer. Their Hidden Powers were harmless for now, but if they continued to appear at this rate…

  “Thunderbolt, Pikachu. Take out as many as you can.”

  Pikachu nodded and leapt straight into the air. Electricity ignited around his tiny body and he threw his limbs out, casting jagged bolts all around them. He twisted in the air, dragging the bolts across the ground and through the lines of Unown. Where they came into contact, the thunderbolts flashed cobalt and the Unown disappeared in a puff of darkness.

  Pikachu dropped back onto Ash’s head and gave an indignant squeak.

  Only a few Unown remained floating around them, and upon realizing so, they froze in midair. No more Unown appeared.

  Silence roared through the valley as the Unown hung motionless in the air. A bead of sweat dropped down Ash’s temple and he almost flinched as he brushed up against Sabrina behind him. He figured attacking them might incite further aggression, but they couldn’t just stand there and let the Unown further accumulate.

  One of the Unown’s eyes twitched.

  An infernal echoed off the rocky surface of Mount Coronet as the remaining Unown suddenly blasted apart, countless clones flooding off their forms and whipping into a vicious cyclone that encircled that entire group. A wall of darkness covered in glowering eyes spiraled around them in an enraged frenzy.

  “What the hell?!” Rei shrieked.

  “Ahhhh!” Yura buried her face in Sabrina's leg.

  Her Shieldon snarled and a metallic sheen flashed across his obsidian face. He bulleted forward straight into the mass of Unown, the impact spraying stray Unown into the eye of the storm where they spasmed and vanished.

  “We have to get out of here!” Ash shouted over the roar of the cyclone. “Riley, cover us!”

  The Guardian nodded and an azure shield opened overhead. As the storm of darkness beat against it, individual Unown went flying off in a frenetic rampage.

  “Follow Shieldon!” Laventon bellowed, pointing.

  From where he’d begun, Shieldon beat, bit, and tore his way through the slicing darkness with reckless abandon. However slight, he’d begun to force his way out.

  Ash raised his hand, prepared to fire a lance of electricity straight above Shieldon and carve straight through the storm, but a Hidden Power slammed into his side.

  “Argh!” he grunted, recoiling. Was that a fighting-type one? No, it doesn’t matter! He glanced wildly around them. Their Hidden Powers are stronger now!

  Riley held his hands above his head as he maintained the shield and he seemed to notice the same thing as Ash right as they locked eyes. “Akari, counter their attacks on this side! Rei, cover your side!”

  The two younger trainers nodded immediately and took their positions just as a volley of Hidden Powers lit up the shadowed eye of the storm in a multitude of violent colors.

  “Flamethrower, Growlithe!”

  “Rock Blast, Cranidos!”

  A stream of fire from Growlithe’s maw extinguished half of the incoming Hidden Powers, while a bullet spray of rocks from Cranidos’ shattered the rest. Their attacks continued into the wall of Unown beyond and an otherworldly wail echoed within the storm.

  Pikachu cooed urgently on his head, wondering what he should do.

  “Once we get out and the others are safe, use Electric Terrain! I have an idea!”

  He raised his hand again to attack. Finding his target, he mustered up his strength. Electricity sizzled to life on his hand and he concentrated it down to a single point, suppressing its wild energy and increasing the pressure tenfold. A sheer white laser shot from his palm and crashed against the wall of Unown, blasting them apart in an instant and creating a tunnel out.

  Ash’s eyes narrowed. The wall of Unown was far thicker than he’d thought, but he could see the sky and grass on the other side.

  A furious hum roared around them and the tunnel spiraled closed, once again plunging them into darkness. The assault of Hidden Powers increased in number, and Growlithe and Cranidos both screeched at the sudden uptick in aggression.

  “Damn!” Ash cursed. If I up my firepower, I’ll hit the others!

  “I’ll do it, Ash!”

  Sabrina looked back at him, her eyes and gauntlets already glowing emerald.

  Ash nodded. “Do it!”

  “I have Yura!” Laventon said. “We’re ready!”

  The air around Sabrina warbled and her hair whipped around her wildly. An invisible shock wave tore the Unown apart once again, revealing the outside. But this time, an emerald light danced around the squirming mass of Unown, keeping them from filling the gap.

  “Akari, Rei, go!” Riley roared.

  “Go!” Rei commanded, and Growlithe raced alongside him.

  Riley’s eyes flared and he released a volley of Aura Spheres from his hand to deflect the incessant battering of Hidden Powers.

  In front of the inhuman tunnel, Rei froze. It was easy to see why. The Unown howled like rabid demons trying to escape the pit, the tunnel of eyes burning with rage.

  “C’mon!” Akari screamed, grabbing his hand and running into the tunnel without a second thought, Cranidos tromping behind her.

  “I’ll follow after you, Professor!” Riley said. “Go!”

  Laventon closed his hand around Yura’s. “Come now! Let’s leave this place!”

  Yura quickly detached herself from Sabrina’s leg and latched onto Laventon, who lifted her into his arms and ran into the tunnel, Shieldon following behind.

  Right after, Riley disengaged his shield and fired off a few more waves of Aura Spheres before disappearing into the tunnel.

  Sabrina whipped around. “Ash—!”

  “Just go!” Ash yelled. “We’ll get out on our own!”

  She nodded and raced after Riley, her gauntlets surging with power and whirling around her wrists.

  Almost immediately after she left, the tunnel closed behind her, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone within.

  “Keep up, yeah?” Ash bit out as he charged his power.

  Jumping onto the ground, Pikachu smirked, electricity licking across his body.

  White-hot lightning thundered beneath Ash’s skin and his eyes became spotlights. He leaned over and bent his arms, prepared to sprint.

  “Now!”

  Ash blitzed forward straight into the wall of Unown. They screamed and wailed as he tore through them, Hidden Powers bursting harmlessly against his supercharged body. He could feel their thin forms race past him as he powered through them, but as quickly as the feeling came, it was gone. Sunlight burned his senses as he careened out into the open air.

  Falling onto the grass, he tumbled a short ways away. His body smoked and he could feel the residual electricity within him crackle and snap as it dissipated.

  Beside him, Pikachu skidded to a stop, standing over his master protectively.

  Ah, so that’s what a Volt Tackle feels like, Ash thought, wincing as he stood.

  The sun’s light, which, as Sabrina had promised, now peeked out from behind Mount Coronet, flashed erratically as the mass of Unown undulated in front of it. It looked like a twisted collection of black bones come to life the way it seized and stretched over the ground, towering over them like some salivating beast, though this one was covered in furious eyes.

  “There’s gotta be thousands of them…” Rei breathed.

  “Get back, Rei!” Akari said, yanking him backward.

  “Now, Pikachu!” Ash commanded.

  Pikachu snarled and hunkered down. Golden electricity ripped across the ground as Pikachu suffused the entire valley with his power. Static crackled off the bodies of everyone gathered and tickled the base of the Unown horde.

  “What is…?” Laventon said, looking around at the electrified terrain.

  “Thunder!” Ash roared, casting his arm forward.

  Pikachu blitzed into the sky and black clouds roiled into existence overhead, bathing the valley in a terrifying darkness. The mass of Unown hissed and screeched, and a sort of appendage began to stretch its way toward him.

  With a furious screech, Pikachu unleashed his devastating attack. A pillar of lightning smashed down from above, blasting the Unown apart and sending their black forms flying in all directions. The Electric Terrain around them surged up, incinerating stray Unown with erratic fractals of electricity. Smoke blew about in a maddened froth and the remaining Unown squealed as the sudden hurricane whipped them around.

  Fire and rock poured from Growlithe and Cranidos as Rei and Akari commanded them to defeat the Unown closest to them, but Ash couldn’t even hear them; his ears still rang from the deafening crack of Pikachu’s Thunder. The Electric Terrain seemed to snatch their attacks out of midair and infuse them with electricity before sending them back on their way with added speed, power, and precision. Boulders bulleted and shattered against the foolish enough to try attacking with Hidden Power, and electrified streams of fire absolutely disintegrated any Unown they came into contact with.

  A twisted sculpture of dirt and rock stood where the Unown once had, galvanized by Pikachu’s electricity. Countless Unown lay motionless at its base, their eyes closed.

  “I-Is it gone?” Yura cried, her voice thick with pleading as she clung to Laventon.

  Ash studied the golden landscape as fast as he could. Rei and Akari were cleaning up the remnants fast and he wasn’t detecting movement anywhere else. But then again, the Unown had appeared out of nowhere to begin with.

  “Ash, is this normal behavior for Unown?” Riley asked, his arms still up and ready to continue the fight.

  Sweat dripped down Ash’s face as he gritted his teeth. “I don’t know! I don’t even know where they came from! But with that many gathered, they could’ve easily—“

  The ground trembled beneath them and rocks cracked and fell from Mount Coronet, tumbling down the mountain’s face. Sabrina grabbed Yura as Laventon stumbled and Akari yelped as she fell.

  “Akari!” Rei shouted. “Watch—“

  “Riley!” Ash screamed.

  The azure shield was over Sabrina and the Hisuians before Ash had even closed his mouth.

  “Volt Tackle, Pikachu! Get—“

  The rocky sculpture crumbled as a black flare burst into existence, bleeding eyes. Thousands of Unown flooded onto the ground, into the sky, coiling and twisting like some demonic serpent. A moment later, the ocean of darkness raced toward them. Just before it buried Ash beneath its titanic weight, he saw Riley’s shield crack and shatter, and the Guardian crumpled as a tendril of Unown struck his stomach.

  “No!” Ash bellowed. He tried to reach toward them but it felt like he’d been buried alive. The Unown continued to race over him, drowning him in a pitch-black sea. Pikachu was gone and his friends were suffering the same fate.

  No!

  Summoning as much electricity as he could, Ash willed himself to detonate like a bomb.

  There can’t be an infinite number of them! We just have to beat them until they stop reappearing!

  A golden nova blossomed around Ash, thunder booming, vaporizing the crushing weight of the Unown and he sutmbled to his feet before it could bury him again.

  Similarly, an emerald explosion expanded around Sabrina, silently burning away the Unown, and a roiling storm of Aura spiraled around Riley, though he held his side tenderly with one hand. At a glance, Laventon and the others appeared safe.

  However, Pikachu’s Electric Terrain had entirely disappeared, a fact which made Ash shiver. Pikachu’s not weak by any means… It shouldn’t have been able to smother it that quickly!

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Pikachu squeaked as he bounded toward Ash, electricity dancing on his fur.

  “Pikachu!” Thank goodness he was able to protect himself with Volt Tackle’s electrical aura in time!

  The mass of Unown roared as it recoiled, eyes flashing furiously across its ghoulish form. Tendrils and tentacles of Unown wriggled around the overall mass. As it dragged one of its inky tentacles across the sky, a wave of Hidden Powers in all colors bubbled skyward, falling toward the group.

  “Akari!” Rei yelled, pointing. “Flamethrower, Growlithe!”

  Akari, though shielding herself with her arms, peeked up and saw the incoming volley of Hidden Powers. Her eyes widened. “Rock Blast, Cranidos!”

  As their pokémon both fired their attacks, popping the Hidden Powers out of the sky, Riley let loose with rapid fire Aura Spheres, spraying his Aura across the rainbow-colored tidal wave.

  “Where’s Yura?!” Laventon yelled, searching the area frantically.

  “She’s safe!” Sabrina yelled. Her eyes blazed with emerald power as she crumpled her hand at the falling Hidden Powers. Hundreds of orbs burst apart in midair in an instant, crushed by Sabrina’s psychic squeeze.

  Seeing they were handling it, Ash turned his attention back to the main Unown body. It writhed where it was, appendages flailing in a malevolent froth. He’d never seen, or even heard of Unown behaving like this. But one thing was certain.

  “This is an Alpha Pokémon!” Ash said to the others. “An Alpha Unown.”

  Laventon looked at him fearfully. “An Alpha Pokémon…?”

  “Yes. Way stronger than the Rapidash, or any of the others we’ve noted.” Ash said grimly. “Unown are weak on their own, but with this many gathered…they can rival the power of a legendary pokémon.”

  “Can we even beat it?” Akari wailed.

  Ash’s eyes narrowed. I’d count us lucky if we could just escape unharmed…

  The Unown howled and various elemental attacks flared to life across its body. Streams of fire, glassy beams of ice, coils of darkness, metallic columns of plasma, bolts of electricity, and more shot out in all directions like the spotlights of some twisted performance. And this demon was the star.

  “Ash, can you destroy it?” Riley asked.

  “If it was all one body, maybe! But it seems like it can regenerate as long as even one is left intact!”

  Sabrina forced a lilac-colored laser out of the way with a flick of her wrist. “I can identify each one! If we can just—“

  “There’s no time!” Ash barked, breaking into a run. “Pikachu and I will stall it for as long as we can! The rest of you, run to the foothills! We may be able to escape it inside the caves!”

  Riley glared at him, clearly hating his plan, and he glanced over at the rest. “Sabrina, take the others! I’ll stay here with Ash.”

  “Just go!” Ash yelled.

  “Go!” Sabrina shouted, urging Akari and Rei northward.

  “But Yura—“ Laventon said.

  “She’s fine!” Sabrina said. “We need to get away so Ash can let loose!”

  Thank you! Ash thought.

  Electricity burned to life in Ash’s palms and wreathed itself around Pikachu as he ran.

  Unown screamed, ceasing its display of power, and several of its tentacles suddenly lunged in multiple directions, one slamming down right in front of Ash. Unown danced wildly across the surface of the tentacle in front of Ash, and he nearly fired an attack to get it out of his way, but saw something that gave him pause.

  The Unown began melding together, fusing into one, contiguous mass. Their eyes closed as they joined, their jet black forms stretching and dripping into a more defined shape.

  Ash’s eyes widened.

  “Watch out, Pikach—!”

  A jet black fin swung toward the mouse at an impossible speed and caught him mid sprint. Pikachu smashed into it with a pained cry, but the clawed punch sent him flying backward.

  “Pikachu!” Ash screamed.

  His blood ran cold as he turned back around. Now detached from the rest of the roiling mass, an oily black form stepped forward, dripping with violence. Tar dribbled from its salivating maw and its jet black eyes spasmed as they found their next prey.

  “What is this?” Ash breathed.

  The all-black Garchomp towered over him, and when it roared, the pungent stench of its putrid body invaded his nostrils.

  “Ash!” Sabrina called from across the field.

  Backing away from the soulless Garchomp, Ash spared her a glance.

  “I’ve got Pikachu!” Her gauntlets spun furiously as she covered the others’ retreat.

  Ash nodded quickly and refocused on Garchomp. He had no idea how that was possible, considering Garchomp had sent Pikachu flying in a completely different direction, but he trusted her.

  Garchomp lunged, smashing his fin onto the ground where Ash had been standing half a second ago, sending up chunks of rock and soil.

  A wild Garchomp… And not just that, but it’s way more aggressive than usual. It’s a wild pokémon from this time period….

  As Garchomp bellowed out what appeared to be a Dragon Pulse, Ash countered with a Thunderbolt of his own. The two energies met in midair and swirled together, a colorless nova blasting outward as they nullified each other.

  Suddenly, Garchomp jerked its arm in front of its face, and an Aura Sphere exploded harmlessly against its fin.

  Riley smirked, his palm outstretched. “Nice reaction time…” He turned to Ash. “I’ll handle this one. You take care of its parent.” He smiled.

  Training even in a situation like this?! Ash had to chuckle.

  As he ran past Garchomp, the dragon tried to lunge at him, but Riley intercepted with a wall of Aura.

  “Good luck!” the Guardian offered.

  Ash sprinted toward the Unown’s midsection. Its entire form seemed to vibrate as the countless creatures that comprised its body trembled like bugs as they clung to each other. Electricity sizzled on his palms as he summoned his power. It came to him quickly, like it’d just been uncorked, gurgling up from the depths.

  There can’t be an infinite number of them, he repeated in his head. If I could just blow them all away… He clenched his teeth. Even if I did, I’d have no strength left. If I miss even one, it’d be over for me!

  A scream to his left tore Ash’s attention away. Sabrina lay sprawled on the ground, her head bleeding. Akari lay collapsed nearby, and given the position of Sabrina’s arms, it seemed she’d shoved Akari out of the way.

  A pitch-black Gallade stalked toward them. Cranidos and Growlithe both lay unconscious at its feet.

  “Sabrina!” Ash roared, his body twisting and his legs moving before he’d even had a chance to think.

  A blistering agony bloomed in his side as a thick tentacle slammed into him, knocking the breath from his lungs. A low chortle echoed through the valley as Unown flung Ash into the air. He slammed onto the ground and tumbled over before stopping.

  “Ahhhh!” he groaned.

  His vision blurry, Ash watched as Rei jumped in front of Akari and threw out his Turtwig, who charged straight into the shadow Gallade. The psychic warrior stumbled but gave no further indication of damage. Its head dipped down to stare at its new opponent. Rei shouted something but Ash was too groggy to hear it.

  A blizzard of razor-sharp leaves flew up into Gallade’s body and Turtwig glared at it. The leaves ripped through its oily form, but the wounds quickly closed.

  Turtwig roared again, and its body suddenly melted into an effulgent blue. Rei recoiled as Turtwig’s body grew and reshaped. Gallade stared, expressionless.

  Blue stardust wafted around Grotle as he completed his evolution and he lunged forward, clamping Gallade’s shoulder in his maw. They were now the same height.

  Ash shook his head and brushed the dirt off his face, clambering to his feet. “Go, Laventon! Get out of here!”

  As the professor helped Akari to her feet, she recalled her Cranidos.

  Gallade suddenly leapt into the air, instantly dislodging itself from Grotle’s jaws. Its blade twinkled, and it rocketed back to earth, smashing into Grotle.

  Or it would have. When the dust cleared, emerald light burned between Grotle and Gallade’s outstretched blade, the two mere inches apart. Emerald light burned against Gallade’s blade, refusing to allow it to fall.

  “Run!” Sabrina shrieked, her eyes crackling.

  Rei nodded and Grotle tramped after him as he sprinted after Laventon and Akari.

  Unown roared and another barrage of Hidden Powers homed in on the fleeing group. Grotle stopped and released a volley of Razor Leaves to counter them, but two more inky tentacles shot toward them.

  “No you don’t!” Ash growled. A tenuous thunderbolt shocked to life in each of his hands, crackling white and ripping with energy. Taking a fraction of a second to aim, he hurled one thunderbolt at each tentacle.

  The lightning lances sliced through the tentacles, cleaving their writhing ends from the rest of the body. The severed pieces disintegrated into an inky cloud of dissipating Unown.

  Gallade hummed as it used its other arm to force its full weight atop Sabrina, crushing her beneath its blade. She craned her head away as the blade inched toward her neck.

  Shit, I won’t make it in time! Ash cursed, the electricity for another attack still building in his hands.

  A crimson blur slammed into Gallade, knocking it off its feet. It rolled into a crouch and its soulless eyes narrowed.

  His coat of red leaves billowed in the wind as Decidueye glared at Gallade from beneath his brim, his burly fist still outstretched.

  “Decidueye!” Sabrina gasped.

  Gallade’s pitch-black blade flashed as it swung in a large arc but Decidueye sidestepped, only losing a few leaves off his chest. He tried sucker punching Gallade in the face but Gallade ducked and swept its blades beneath Decidueye’s arms. Decidueye caught its arms in a lock before Gallade could decapitate him and the two strained against each other. His crimson eyes burned with hatred at the faceless Gallade, his body trembling as he forced Gallade back.

  “C’mon!” Ash said, finally reaching Sabrina and hauling her off the ground. “Protect the others! We’ll be right behind you!”

  “Yura is underground,” Sabrina said as she got up. “I told her to get Pikachu…”

  Of course, Shieldon’s number one priority is Yura! Ash thanked the heavens that the young girl’s pokémon was smart enough to make that executive call. “Can Shieldon get the others underground too?”

  Sabrina clutched his sleeve and shook her head. “It’ll go after her!”

  Ash glanced back at Unown quickly. Damn! She’s right. If it can create a Garchomp and Gallade, who knows what it could send underground after Yura!

  He nodded. “Thank you, Sabrina,” he said, meeting her gaze. Her eyes were wide in fear and her gauntlets spun wildly and spat sparks, but she was present. “Let me take care of Decidueye now. We’ll draw its attention until you get to the caves!”

  Sabrina nodded and raced away.

  Turning his attention back toward the hellish conglomeration of Unown, Ash once again called upon his power. In his periphery, he could see Riley battling Garchomp, though the latter didn’t seem to have sustained any damage. Decidueye and Gallade fought evenly, though with how mechanical Gallade’s movements were, it seemed like Decidueye would tire out first if the fight continued.

  Electricity blistered around him, blowing his hair about wildly. Ash could feel his body turning numb, but he didn’t abate the gathering of his power. As more and more lightning swirled around him, stray bolts began to snap at the ground, carving burned rents across the grass.

  Unown snickered, a low, infernal sound. A gout of fire shot into the sky from a point on its undulating body, then a jet of water, a beam of multicolored energy, a spire of rock, a bolt of lightning, a stalk of tangled foliage. Each pillar shined with an uncanny, garish brilliance, and they continued to open across its body, every attack screaming with fantasy.

  Golden electricity blustered around Ash and he could feel his bones creaking. What even is that? It’s like they’re lasers made of Hidden Powers. One of them was going to attack first, and Ash knew it had to be him.

  As the inferno of power danced across the Alpha Unown, its body suddenly rippled, and all of the elemental pillars began to angle themselves forward, directly toward Ash.

  They’re fusing together! Shit, if that hits me…! The Electric Plate was supposed to shield him from lethal damage but frankly, he didn’t think he’d ever get comfortable allowing himself to just tank such attacks unbothered. And after seeing Sir Aaron damage AZ firsthand, he knew for a fact that his invulnerability wasn’t guaranteed. It wasn’t like he wanted to compare the legendary Sir Aaron to this, but Unown was a strange pokémon. Ash was not about to risk himself here.

  Gritting his teeth and summoning a final bout of power, Ash grunted as he released his devastation. This was essentially what he’d been doing with Riley the past few mornings, but at least now, he could say it was intentional. A humongous golden Electro Ball hurled forward, its surface crackling angrily.

  As the myriad of elemental pillars touched together, they turned an effulgent white, like some sort of Giga Hyper Beam. Unown cackled and unleashed the full force of its gathered power, a shaft of pure annihilation ripping through the air with a tortured scream.

  Ash’s Electro Ball collided with Unown’s attack halfway between them and a blinding light blazed across the valley, and half a second later, a deafening boom blasted outward. The energy of Unown’s beam splattered against the golden orb like lava, but Ash forced his Electro Ball onward. Static flickered in the air behind his attack, the Electro Ball dragging itself across reality as it homed in on Unown’s body.

  Tearing through Unown’s beam, the Electro Ball dislodged itself and slammed into the roiling mass of ink and eyes. Ash shielded his eyes as the golden orb ruptured and discharged its full power. Unown’s unholy scream echoed through the valley, rattling his eardrums.

  As the glare died down, Ash peeked behind his arm.

  Over half of Unown’s body was straight up missing. The Electro Ball had completely disintegrated the entire right side and most of the middle of its form, leaving a grisly rounded edge in its wake. Black dust frayed from the remnants of its body, and it squirmed about pitifully, thin tentacles pawing at the gaping hole.

  Both Garchomp and Gallade had frozen mid-strike, the Electro Ball seemingly destroying whatever consciousness had been controlling them. Yet they hadn’t disappeared.

  “Riley!” Ash called, stepping toward the foothills. “Decidueye! Let’s go!”

  Both turned and realized it was time to go. Riley gave one last look at Garchomp before breaking into a sprint and Decidueye glared up at the Unown’s main body.

  As Ash ran toward the entrance to the foothills, a yawning cave entrance embedded with the rocky base of Mount Coronet, Riley joined him at his side, as did Decidueye, though he looked none too pleased.

  “I don’t think it’ll stay injured for long!” Ash panted. “It’ll regenerate any second now!”

  “Are you alright?” Riley asked. “That attack—”

  “I’m fine!” Ash grunted. “Just need to—“

  A raucous bellow behind them made Ash’s stomach drop. Though he didn’t want to, he turned to see the remains of his enemy. But exactly as predicted, Unown’s body lurched, and countless tiny Unown began to eat their way across the gaping hole, stitching themselves back together. Its countless eyes turned on its fleeing opponents, and it started to move toward them. At the same time, Garchomp and Gallade both reawakened and began their pursuit.

  “Just run!” Riley bit out. “There’s no point in stopping to fight it again!”

  The entrance to the foothills seemed miles away as Ash forced himself forward, but he could feel himself moving sluggishly.

  Decidueye whipped around and fired a volley of crimson arrows. Garchomp and Gallade both shielded themselves, but their gait slowed.

  Unown roared, and Hidden Powers poured off its body like rain, soaring through the sky and dipping down toward them in a ruthless arc. Each silent orb shined with a dispassionate light, blotting out the light of the sun.

  Riley spun and clapped his hands together before pulling them apart. Aura burned in his palms and spilled from between his fingers, cascading around him in roiling waves. Sweeping his arms forward, a great tidal wave of pure Aura splashed into existence and tore down the hill in a towering flood. Azure sparks flashed as the wave of Aura swallowed the approaching Hidden Powers.

  Garchomp and Gallade weathered the deluge of power, holding firm to the ground as it swept past their legs, and they glowered at the fleeing Guardian.

  Ash could see the entrance to the caves inching closer and closer as he charged up the hill, but his anxiety remained. Despite Riley’s defense, he could hear Garchomp and Gallade still racing after them.

  As Ash crossed into the tunnel, the sudden darkness and hardness of the cave’s floor didn’t slow him at all, his footsteps echoing off the stony walls. Riley and Decidueye were right behind him, and the sound of their combined running sounded like a stampede.

  A ghastly howl rang out behind them and Garchomp forced its way inside, smashing through the entrance, and Ash turned. Their eyes met for only a moment. As Garchomp took its next step, its pitch-black body suddenly shattered into a horrific swarm of Unown. Gallade burst apart too as it leapt into the cave, and the sheer volume of Unown now screaming toward them fired another dose of adrenaline throughout Ash’s body.

  “Run!” Ash yelled, his voice echoing off the wall. He could see Unown zipping into his periphery, but he urged himself onward in spite of his protesting body, determined to keep them behind him. The ground and walls alike exploded behind them as the Unown fired off rogue Hidden Powers, and all Ash could do was pray they didn’t hit him.

  He could see a dim light ahead where he suspected the others had stopped.

  “Run!” Ash yelled again.

  By the time they caught up, Sabrina, Rei, and Akari were already barreling down the rocky tunnel, with Yura on Laventon’s back.

  “Argh!” Riley grunted, stumbling as he ran.

  Decidueye looked back with a sneer but Ash caught Riley before he could fall and they kept running.

  An angry, red burn adorned his calf where a fire-type Hidden Power had landed.

  “Shit!” Riley cursed, limping as fast as he could, his arm slung around Ash.

  Shards of rock blasted off the cave wall inches from Ash’s face and he ducked to avoid the sharp debris.

  Rei and Akari led the pack, with Sabrina and Laventon lagging behind. The sound of panting and stomping thundered around them, and Ash allowed all other thoughts besides flight to leave his mind. Just one foot in front of the other. Eventually, the pursuit had to end. Riley’s weight bore down on him, but he refused to let it bother him. Every second that weight burdened his shoulders was another second the Guardian was still beside him.

  A minute later, Ash frowned.

  “Wait…stop!” Ash panted, slowing to a stop. His legs throbbed and his arm was numb from carrying Riley.

  The others continued on for several more seconds until they realized Ash had stopped. They turned around and fixed him with bloodshot stares.

  They waited.

  And listened.

  But all they could hear was their own labored breathing.

  Next — Chapter 66 : Enchanted Labyrinth