Apologies for the dey, this is a longer chapter! The longest in the fic so far actually! So please enjoy!!

  PARAGON

  Hisui Incursion Arc [16]

  Chapter 68 : Expedition’s End

  Hisui Region - Abaster Icends

  Snow whipped across Ash’s face like grains of gss, the cold stinging, yet feeling refreshing against his skin. The scent of woody bark and winter slush filled his nostrils, cragged pines standing watch over the rocky exit from Mount Coronet. The sun glinted off the white snow, making the ndscape nearly blinding, yet granting little warmth.

  “Well, first I think a thank you is in order for the hero who got us out of that mess,” Laventon decred, crouching down. “Thank you, Shieldon.” He tried to pet Shieldon, but Shieldon reared away and snorted.

  Yura giggled, scooting away so he couldn’t hide behind her.

  “And thank you too, Yura,” Laventon continued. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  Yura turned even redder, her cheeks already rosy from the cold. “O-Oh, yeah.”

  She gnced at Sabrina for a reprieve from her embarrassment, but Sabrina beamed at her too. The psychic raised her hand to caress her cheeks, and Yura recoiled the moment they touched her.

  “Cold!”

  Sabrina blushed and yanked her hand away. “Sorry!”

  “Let’s get bundled up, yeah, Professor?” Akari said, slinging down her backpack.

  “Ah, yes,” Laventon said, mimicking her. “Time for our winter clothes. I’d have had us change sooner if I’d known we’d be reaching the outside so soon. Let’s make sure we stay warm.”

  The woolen coats and gloves certainly warmed Ash up and putting them on was a welcome lightening of his load, heavy as they were within the packs.

  Pikachu’s breath condensed in front of him and he shivered on Ash’s shoulder.

  “Sorry, buddy. You can tuck inside if you want.”

  Pikachu shook his head and flexed his arms, electricity crackling on his cheeks.

  Ash grinned. “Suit yourself.”

  A pair of boots trudged up beside him. “Ash, I can carry my bag now. Really, it’s fine.”

  With a woolen cap on and her hood on on top of that, lined with fur as it was, Sabrina’s face looked tiny in comparison with the rest of her burly form. Ash had to stop himself from grinning too much at the sight of her.

  “Nah, don’t worry about it, I got it,” he said. “But thanks.” Honestly, with how many yers she had on, it’d probably be even more difficult than before for her to carry her own pack.

  “Thank you,” she mumbled.

  “So, do you think you can get us back on track?” Riley asked Laventon as he ced up his boots.

  “Oh, yes. The foothills were the hard part. Now that we’re outside again, we should be able to find our way much easier. The Icends have a number of defining ndmarks that make navigation quite simple.”

  “Unless there’s a blizzard,” Rei chimed in, and Laventon grimaced.

  “Yes, unless there’s a blizzard. But the skies look clear enough. With any luck, our biggest worry will be the pokémon that prowl this nd.”

  As Akari helped Yura get her clothes on, Ash straightened and looked around to study their surroundings. The snow banks stood tall on either side of them, but beyond them, Ash could see signs of frozen vegetation, which meant iced-over rivers nearby. The abundance of snow meant an unlimited supply of freshwater, but they didn’t have a surplus of food. Even though they’d emerged from the mountain earlier than intended, they’d need to start rationing soon. There would be little to scavenge from here to the Pearl Settlement.

  Turning toward the mountain, Ash’s gaze drifted up at the rift over the peak. They were far closer to it now, and at this distance, the violet clouds and shining cracks in the air almost looked angry, and Ash narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t see the Temple of Sinnoh from here, but he could imagine it, just beyond the dark rock that encircled the summit.

  “Ready to go?” Laventon asked, his backpack back on his back. He held his map in hand.

  “Yeah!” Yura cheered, Shieldon once again clipped to her belt.

  Ash nodded. “Pearl Settlement or bust!”

  “Electricity on, Ash,” Riley said, saddling up next to him.

  “You too,” Ash smirked, igniting his power once more, and Riley’s eyes fshed blue to let him know he was already on it.

  “Akari, Rei, let’s have Growlithe and Sneasel out, please,” Sabrina said. “Please work together to counter any attacks on our group this afternoon.”

  “Yes, ma’am!” Rei said, snapping a salute.

  Maybe Ash was reading into it too much, but after having them restrain themselves so much in the foothills, to suddenly have Rei and Akari working with their strongest pokémon, and arguably the best suited for this terrain, and letting them work together again, it seemed like Sabrina wanted to give them a solid foundation from which they could continue their training here in the Icends. The Icends’ pokémon were more dangerous than the inhabitants of the Obsidian Fieldnds, but by letting then go all out from the start, it was like she was psychologically maniputing them into thinking they were more ready for the Icends’ threats than they maybe were, quashing any sort of doubts before they could even form. If that actually was her goal, then her prowess as a teacher was almost…no, it was straight up terrifying.

  But, maybe he was just reading into it too much.

  Though, he liked to think he knew Sabrina well enough at this point to see through her intentions.

  Growlithe jumped through the snow, giving the appearance that he was far more jubint than he likely was. He didn’t seem to like the feeling of snow, but the way his body teetered with each step made him look like a frolicking animal straight out of a fairy tale, which Ash found comical. Sneasel, on the other hand, strode through it completely unfazed. Although she wasn’t an ice-type, the snow didn’t impede her in the slightest, and her eyes never stopped darting around, always searching for a foe she could sink her cws into.

  As the sun moved across the sky, the shadow of Mount Coronet loomed across their path, providing a welcome reprieve from the gring snow. Pine needles and brown boulders littered the ground between the trees, and gray mountains stretched up around them in the distance.

  “I believe I know where we are,” Laventon said as they crossed into a grove of barren trees with sapphire icicles hanging from their branches. He pointed over at the giant frozen waterfall that emptied into a basin, and then a river that snaked its way in front of them. “It seems we’re in the eastern part of the Icebound Falls. We’d pnned to come out in Whiteout Valley, but this’ll only add about half a day to our journey. From here, we’ll move northeast to Avalugg’s Legacy, the rge expanse of ftnd in the center of the Icends. From there, all we have to do is continue northeast until we see the smoke from the Pearl Settlement.”

  “And how long will that take us?” Akari asked.

  “Barring any extraordinary circumstances, I predict it’ll be a week and half long journey, two weeks at the most.”

  Two weeks… Ash’s belly gurgled at the thought. This was about to be a long trek on a not-full stomach.

  “Once we resupply at the Pearl Settlement, we’ll ask around about the man Volo mentioned, and depending on what we hear, we’ll either speak to him, or make the final journey to Mount Coronet’s summit.”

  “Thank you, again, Professor,” Riley said, bowing. “I know this is a bit out of the way.”

  Laventon waved his hand. “Nonsense. You’ve saved our lives plenty enough times, it’s the least we could do. And you’re trying to get back to your own time period for goodness sake. We don’t intend to consign you here forever.”

  Riley smiled in thanks, and the group continued onward, down the snowy slopes and through a stone arch bearded in gsslike icicles. Laventon had floated the idea of stopping to rest, but everyone was eager to press onward across the icy frontier, away from the custrophobic caves they’d spent the past week in.

  “So, figure anything out?” Ash asked as they trudged through ankle deep snow.

  Riley walked alongside him, his breathing heavier, each breath condensing in front of him. He gnced Ash’s way, but quickly refocused on each step at hand. “You’re not tired at all, eh?” he panted.

  “Nah, not really,”

  Laventon, Rei, and Akari also didn’t seem winded, but Sabrina gged behind with Yura. The young girl surely had to be tired hiking through such deep snow, retive to her size, yet she hadn’t voiced a peep of compint.

  “What did I figure out?” Riley repeated. “I think I can say with some confidence that Mount Coronet and Spear Pilr, or the Temple of Sinnoh, should all be considered one entity. The name hardly matters, but for simplicity’s sake, I’ll just call it Spear Pilr. The truth is, Spear Pilr actually extends far deeper than we thought.”

  “Deeper?” Ash questioned. “You mean it extends underground too.”

  “Yes, but even deeper than that. The strange energy I felt within the mountain… It doesn’t just permeate the mountain. I’m saying it crosses dimensions.”

  Ash’s eyes widened. “Crosses dimensions…? Like Spear Pilr exists in multiple pnes of reality?”

  “Exactly. Spear Pilr is far rger, far, far, rger than I initially thought.”

  “I mean, if it connects to the Hall of Origin then that makes sense, right?”

  “Not necessarily. The Hall of Origin should be considered an entity of its own, separate from Spear Pilr. What I’m referring to is just Spear Pilr itself. The Temple of Sinnoh. Mount Coronet. Whichever name suits your fancy.”

  Ash stroked his chin. “So the rift at the summit, then… How do the two connect?”

  Riley’s eyes narrowed. “If we assume that the Paragon of Darkness opened that rift, then it suddenly becomes a lot clearer why it happened there of all pces. Spear Pilr clearly holds far more importance than simply being a gateway to the Hall of Origin. An importance, I suspect, the Paragons are aware of. Though what that could be, I’m not yet sure.”

  “How do we know the Paragon isn’t sitting up there because it’s trying to access the Hall of Origin?”

  Riley furrowed his brows. “I think there’s more to it than that. If an assault on Arceus’ personal domain was its end goal, I think we’d see it. Not just here, but we would’ve seen it at the present-day Mount Coronet. There must be something special about this time period in particur. That rift acts as a spacetime distortion, don’t forget. We wouldn’t be here without it. The question is why. What purpose does opening a spacetime distortion, one that leads here and now, serve?”

  Ash kept his face scrunched in thought, hoping that was enough to cover for his bewilderment. He had absolutely no idea. Interdimensional Spear Pilr? Spacetime distortion? Mount Coronet and the Temple of Sinnoh were the same thing??

  He felt like steam would start leaking from his ears if he tried to ponder it any harder.

  Riley grinned and slung his arm around Ash’s shoulder. “No need to worry that sweaty head of yours over this. Later on, I pn to do a bit more probing in that interdimensional energy I felt. I’d like to see just how deep Spear Pilr goes. I’ll handle this. You just worry about getting yourself ready to face that Paragon.”

  Ash reddened and cracked a smile. “Got it. I’ll leave the complicated stuff to you.” He frowned, realizing something. “Will you be able to continue looking into that even though we’re out of the mountain now?”

  “A bit. But I can do the bulk of the work on our way to the summit.”

  Ash nodded. “Sounds like a pn. I guess—“

  His eyes narrowed as a plume of snow curled over the edge of a hill in front of them.

  “Hmm,” he said. “We’re under attack.”

  Through a spray of snow, a hulking Abomasnow charged over the hilltop, eyes alight with fury as it barreled toward them. It roared, ice elongating across its arms. With a furious bellow, the icicles shot out and homed in on the group like a volley of missiles.

  Rei, Akari, and their pokémon leapt into action without dey.

  “Fmethrower, Growlithe! Incinerate those icicles” Rei roared, racing along Abomasnow’s fnk.

  A torrent of fire bsted from Growlithe’s maw, engulfing the attack completely and melting each spear to steam in an instant.

  “Agile Poison Jab,” Akari commanded in a shrill voice, darting in the opposite direction as Rei.

  Sneasel blitzed forward, her cws dripping in purple poison, and jammed them into Abomasnow’s waist. The winter behemoth bellowed in pain and smmed its fist down, but Sneasel floated out of the way with a beady smirk. Snow and frozen soil ruptured where Abomasnow’s fist nded, but Sneasel was already in its blind spot. Angrily, Abomasnow spun to find its mischievous assaint.

  “Strong Fme Charge!” Rei commanded, thrusting his arm out.

  Fire roared to life around Growlithe and he bulleted forward, straight into Abomasnow’s unprotected back. Abomasnow screamed, its body jerking awkwardly, and a cyclone of hail bsted out from its body, forcing the two attackers back.

  “Thanks for the opening!” Rei grinned.

  “You wanna give me one now?” Akari retorted.

  “Sure! Rock Smash, Growlithe! Aim for its legs!”

  The granite on Growlithe’s body darkened as he raced forward, smming into Abomasnow’s legs from the side. Abomasnow groaned, still recovering from the agony of the st attack, as its legs buckled out from under it, and its massive weight sent it crashing to the ground in a plume of snow.

  “Now, Strong Close Combat, Sneasel!” Akari commanded.

  Sneasel lumbered forward and leaped up onto Abomasnow’s chest. The fearsome ice-type’s eyes barely had time to widen before a sadistic grin gleamed on Sneasel’s face, and she id into it. Punch after poison-stained punch smashed into Abomasnow’s defenseless head, each impact echoing across the hills. When Sneasel finally relented, Abomasnow’s head was an immobile, swollen wreck, stained purple.

  With a satisfied smirk, she somersaulted off its body, casting a quick grin at Growlithe.

  “Alright!” Rei cheered. “No damage!”

  Akari exhaled and wiped her forehead. “I was expecting that to be harder given we’re in the Icends now, but that went surprisingly smoothly.”

  Laventon cpped, striding forward, unperturbed at Abomasnow’s massive body just beside him. “Excellent job, you two. That was wonderful teamwork! You set up openings for each other and took advantage of them perfectly!”

  “Thanks, Professor!” Rei excimed.

  “I mean…it was thanks to Sabrina’s training, really,” Akari said, shuffling in embarrassment.

  “Oh, yeah!” Rei said, rounding toward the psychic. “What’d you think of that?”

  Sabrina walked toward them slowly from the back of the group, Yura following warily behind as she eyed the fallen giant. Coming to a stop, Sabrina closed her eyes and nodded, mentally assessing the battle.

  “Hmmm,” she said.

  Yura gnced up at her curiously, and Riley and Laventon both waited patiently for her verdict.

  “Hmmmmmm.”

  Ash raised a brow, and Pikachu cocked his head to the side.

  Sabrina nodded and opened her eyes. “Do it quicker next time.”

  Rei defted, falling into the snow, and Akari blushed.

  Ash grinned. “Tough teacher,” and Pikachu muttered in agreement.

  With a verdict like that, it seemed Sabrina had nothing further to add, meaning their performance was nigh perfection. But it also served as a warning. There’d only been one enemy this time, but if multiple came at them at once, then swiftness was key. And Ash had a feeling this wouldn’t be the st monster they encountered on their way to the Pearl Settlement.

  As they set off again, Rei and Akari found themselves on either side of Riley.

  “So, is Growlithe getting close to evolving?” Rei demanded.

  Growlithe padded next to them, completely uninterested.

  “And what about Sneasel?” Akari asked.

  Sneasel flicked from dirt out from under one of its nails and exhaled, bored.

  Riley chuckled sympathetically. “Ehhh…well…good question.” His eyes fred azure and he studied each of their pokémon individually while Rei and Akari fought to keep their patience. Just when it seemed they couldn’t stomach the wait any longer, Riley cleared his throat. “Hmmm. I have good and bad news.”

  Rei and Akari stared at him with bated breath.

  “The good news is that both Growlithe and Sneasel appear to be ready to evolve. Their Aura is practically bursting at the seams, barely contained within their bodies. However, as you can clearly see, they haven’t yet evolved. Which means another catalyst is required.”

  Rei and Akari defted, both failing to hide their disappointment. Growlithe and Sneasel continued to walk forward, unbothered.

  Riley smiled nervously. “You see this with certain pokémon every now and then. For example, my Ursaluna back home required exposure to a very specific composition of peat before he evolved.”

  “I don’t even know what peat is,” Rei sighed. “How are we supposed to figure out how to evolve our pokémon now?”

  Akari conked him on the head. “Gee, if only there were some sort pokémon experts from the future we could ask.”

  Before Rei could retaliate against her, she whipped toward Riley, but the Guardian raised an apologetic hand.

  “Sorry, but that was the bad news. I’m not sure what your pokémon need to evolve. Unfortunately, I’m not terribly well-versed on the details of every single pokémon species…”

  Ash, who’d been watching and listening from behind them, amused, raised his hand. “I can help there. Rei, your Growlithe needs a Fire Stone to evolve. Akari, if your Sneasel is anything like the regional variants I’m familiar with, it’ll need a Razor Cw to evolve.”

  Rei’s face froze in confusion. “Fire Stone…?” he muttered.

  “Ah!” Laventon said. “I’m sure I’ve heard of those items before. I believe the Pearl Cn and Diamond Cn both have vendors that deal in such oddities. We can look into that when we arrive!”

  “Alright, let’s go!” Rei hollered, slinging his arm around Akari and jumping into the air.

  Up ahead, having listened to the entire conversation and Riley’s assessment, Sabrina trudged ahead deep in thought about how best to continue their training.

  A little over an hour ter, Laventon ordered a stop. Gray mountains towered behind them, capped in snow, and ahead y a frozen pin of ice and sparse trees.

  “Are you sure, Professor?” Akari asked. “It’s still pretty early in the day.”

  Laventon slung his bag down and rolled his shoulders. “Yes, we’re stopping here for today. We spent most of the morning hiking uphill in the mountain, and the rest of the day walking through snow. Our bodies are more taxed than we think. And…” He turned toward Yura.

  The young girl colpsed onto her knees, tongue hanging out of her mouth as she sucked in air, her tiny body rising and falling rapidly. Upon realizing she was being stared at, she tried scrambling to her feet. “I’m fine!” she decred. “Let’s keep going!”

  “Now, now, it’s not because of you,” Laventon said, plopping onto the ground. “The air is thinner at this altitude. We’ll only hurt ourselves if we push ourselves too much. Rei, if you would.”

  As Rei ordered Growlithe to spit some fire down, Akari, Riley, and Ash to work gathering twigs and pine needles from around the area to make it more permanent. Laventon got started on cooking while Sabrina watched over Yura and the rest of the camp. This division of duties had become common for the group after spending so much time together.

  “Rei,” Sabrina said just as he was about to run off and join the others.

  Rei turned back and raised an inquisitive brow.

  “Please leave Growlithe here and take Shellos with you. And please tell Akari to release Staravia.”

  Rei hesitated for a moment but faced Growlithe and snapped his fingers. “Stay.” Clutching another of his pokéballs in hand, he ran off.

  Growlithe stared at Sabrina for a while but soon ambled closer. Sabrina nudged him in Yura’s direction, hoping his heat would warm her as she napped on her bedroll, having passed out almost immediately after they’d stopped.

  Shellos and Staravia were the least suited to the cold among Akari and Rei’s pokémon, but they’d both undergone harsh training within the mountain, especially the avian Staravia. Sabrina was hoping the shift from inside to outside would give them a good opportunity to flex their new muscles.

  Staravia’s freedom of movement was obvious, but Shellos was leaning nicely into his roll as a nigh-stationary defensive unit, protecting Rei and firing attacks at the same time. Initially, Sabrina had thought Shellos’ sluggish speed would’ve cshed with Rei’s aggressive battling style, yet Shellos seemed to rise to the challenge of living up to his trainer’s boisterous methods.

  Both seemed ready to evolve soon, and from talking to Ash several days ago, both evolved traditionally, upon reaching a certain level of power.

  Grotle and Cranidos were the furthest from evolution, though not for ck of effort or strength. Grotle had already evolved recently, so was quite far from his next one, and Cranidos’ ceiling in terms of power was comparatively higher than the rest, so he would take some more work as well.

  As for their aces, it was only a matter of time. Although Sabrina hadn’t heard of a Razor Cw before, she had heard of a Fire Stone. She wasn’t totally clueless. All they could do now was cross their fingers and hope the Pearl Settlement had what they needed.

  At the very least, Sabrina could breathe a sigh of relief that it did appear like her training was working.

  “Professor, do you mind if I release Decidueye?” Sabrina asked before she could overthink herself into convincing herself not to.

  Laventon looked up from the pot he was stirring. “Ah, sure. I’m sure he’s eager to stretch his legs, though I wonder how he’ll fare in the cold.”

  Those were precisely the two thoughts Sabrina had had as well, and she promptly released Decidueye, making sure he wasn’t too close to the fire.

  Ice crunched beneath his cwed talons, and he bristled once he finished materializing. Laventon stared up at him in awe, still entranced by his size, but Decidueye ignored him, already swiveling around to get a y of the nd.

  Flying off? Sabrina asked.

  Decidueye still didn’t react to her attempt at telepathy. But as she suspected, he soon spread his wings and unched into the air, ice and rock crunching to rubble in his wake.

  At the sound of his departure, Yura sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Dinner yet?” she mumbled.

  It got dark surprisingly fast. Ash and the others soon returned, but by the time their stew was ready, the sky was indigo blue with stars already peeking out from its fading brightness. The fire flickered across their faces as they ate, and as they talked, their voices filled the desote air instead of echoing off cave walls.

  “When were you pnning on telling me you had an Ursaluna?” Ash said, jabbing his spoon at Riley.

  “You never asked,” Riley smiled. “The peat for Ursaring’s evolution I found within the Tree of Beginning.”

  “Guess that makes sense if it’s the origin of all pokémon or whatever,” Ash muttered.

  Laventon frowned upon hearing his words and he gnced at Riley inquisitively.

  From the way they were talking, Sabrina could tell Ursaluna was another Hisuian pokémon, one that shouldn’t have existed in the present day any more. For once, Ash sounded like he didn’t know everything about this one pokémon.

  “What’s the Tree of Beginning?” Yura asked.

  “Well, it’s not a tree, for starters,” Riley answered.

  “What?” Rei demanded.

  “It’s a massive crystalline structure, sacred to the Guardians, where all species of pokémon are said to originate. It’s where the Hero of Kanto got his title, by quelling the fury of many legendary pokémon.” Riley stroked his chin. “Hmmm, how would you say its size compares to Mount Coronet?” he asked, his eyes flicking between Sabrina and Ash.

  “I mean it’s shorter, but not by much,” Ash said. “The Tree of Beginning was—is huge.”

  “It’s smaller than Mount Coronet, but it’s an isoted structure,” Sabrina said, trying to quickly brush past Ash’s misspeak. “Unlike Mount Coronet which is part of a huge mountain range.”

  “Fascinating,” Laventon muttered. “I’ll have to get out to Rota some time. Even we’ve heard of the Hero of Kanto.”

  “He’s also called the First Trainer, right?” Akari asked. “He must’ve been pretty crazy to be the first one to try and tame a pokémon.”

  “Yup, that’s right,” Ash nodded. “Honestly, there are so many legends about him that it’s hard to remember all of his titles. Who knows how many of those legends are even true too.”

  “The Hero of Kanto is like ancient history even to us, who are thousands of years before your time,” Laventon said “But I can’t say I’m surprised his legend has persisted as long as it has.”

  “What was the first pokémon he trained?” Yura asked.

  Riley gnced at Ash, then at Sabrina, yet neither supplied an answer. “Hmmm. A good question. I’m not sure.”

  Laventon shrugged as well.

  Shockingly, as they finished setting out their tents and were preparing to turn in for the night, Decidueye swept down from the starry gloom and crept up next to the fire. Everyone stared at him and he id down onto the snow and turned motionless, the wind whistling through his leaves.

  “Uhhhhh,” Rei said.

  “Maybe he’s lonely?” Akari posited.

  “Or cold,” Ash smirked.

  Decidueye shot them a look, but soon closed his eyes again.

  It seemed Ash was right. And there were hardly any better pces to roost in such a frigid wastend.

  “Well, good night!” Yura said, still bundled up in her wools as she waved from the entrance to their tent.

  A chorus of ‘good nights’ met her and she grinned before popping back inside.

  There were only three of them in the girls’ tent, compared to four in the boys’, and though that meant more elbow room, it also meant less body heat.

  “Okay, snuggle up everyone,” Akari commanded, burrowing into her woolen bedroll, and Yura gdly obliged.

  “Closer, Master!” Akari said after Sabrina got into her bedroll. “Closer!”

  Luckily, Riley was first on watch duty tonight, so they’d have some time to build up some heat in here before Sabrina had to take her turn. Though with Decidueye outside, she was hoping his presence would deter anything that wanted a closer look at their campfire.

  For their first day in the Icends, the night was surprisingly toasty.

  “Good morning,” Ash said.

  Sabrina turned back toward him, the sunlight still glittering in her metallic eyes. “Good morning.”

  “Back at it, huh?”

  Sabrina turned away, back toward the sun. “I can’t let you get ahead of me.”

  Ash raised a brow and smirked. “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

  “Just because.”

  “Ha!”

  The snow was stark white beneath the morning sun, and the icy pins were already alight with quiet activity. A troop of Snover stomped in single-file along the banks of a frozen river and a group of Piloswine chewed on grass that grew at the roots of a copse of sentinels.

  As expected, Decidueye was already gone when Ash woke up, but throughout the morning, as they ate and packed up camp, Ash could see him patrolling the skies above.

  “Fine on food…the tents…medicine…,” Laventon muttered, doing a final sweep around their camp.

  “Good to go?” Ash asked, pulling on his and Sabrina’s packs.

  Laventon looked up and smiled. “Yes, I believe so! And I have your pokéball tucked away safely,” he said, patting his pack.

  “Well, it’s not a pokéball yet…”

  And with that, they set off once more across the tundra.

  “So, what’s the next Alpha Pokémon to look out for?” Akari asked once they’d been hiking for nearly an hour. Her hair was matted to her forehead from already having to defend against multiple pokémon attacks already.

  “It’ll be an Avalugg this time,” Laventon said. “Though not to worry. This one is so rge we’ll see it from miles away. It’s supposedly almost half the size of the entire Sanctuary.”

  “Holy shit!” Rei cursed.

  “A walking isnd, was how the Pearl Cn described it. Luckily for us, given its massive size, it shouldn’t be too difficult to avoid. From Pearl’s reports, it isn’t all that aggressive, but it does tend to wander all across Avalugg’s Legacy. So I will insist we go around whenever we happen upon it.”

  “Fine by me,” Ash said, though he saw Pikachu’s ears droop. After what’d happened with Unown, he wasn’t pnning on pressing them to engage any more Alpha Pokémon unless absolutely necessary, even though he wanted to. He was eager to see if his training was bearing fruit.

  Today’s travels were far easier than yesterday’s with how ft the terrain was, and instead of the snow being deep and difficult to traverse, it was packed down, likely from all the pokémon running around atop it all day.

  They were walking down a knoll of frozen grass when Sabrina stopped and pointed. “There’s someone ahead.”

  Ash squinted from atop the hill, and after a few seconds, he could see the faint flicker of orange fire against the field of white and wood.

  “A campsite this far north?” Riley said. “Members of the Pearl Cn, perhaps?”

  “Or it could be your Guardian guy,” Rei said, nudging him.

  That’d been Ash’s first thought, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. Plus, if it really was Sir Aaron, he suspected Riley would’ve sensed his vast Aura far earlier.

  “Well, let’s have a look, shall we?” Laventon said.

  The snow at the bottom of the hill was deep once again, and the nd ahead was pocked by rge boulders and balding evergreens. The camp of their fellow traveler sat beside one such evergreen, and as they got closer, its single inhabitant looked up from the fire they’d been tending and waved.

  And it soon became clear who it was.

  Rei rushed ahead, stomping through the snow as fast as his legs could carry him. “Volo!” he yelled.

  The head of the Volo Company sat upon a short log and grinned upon seeing the approaching party. “My friends!” he called. Like them, he was dressed in a thick winter coat lined with fur, yet he retained his signature blue and yellow cap.

  The camp was sparse, just a small campfire, a tent, and a few boxes.

  “I didn’t think we’d see you out in the wild!” Laventon said once they were close enough.

  “The sight of an old friend is always a welcome warmth in these frigid nds,” Volo responded, shaking Laventon’s hand. “Or should I say, friends? I was under the impression your expedition was meant only to contain four members.”

  Laventon chuckled. “Yes, well, pns changed.”

  Rei, Akari, and Yura all looked away and Volo gnced between them, concerned.

  “How in the world did you get in front of us?” Rei asked. “You left the Sanctuary after us, right?”

  “Never underestimate the prowess of a well-traveled merchant,” Volo decred, holding up a finger. “I know Hisui like the back of my hand.” He frowned. “I also recall your expedition was headed toward the Diamond Cn in the east.”

  “Pns changed quite a bit,” Laventon said, his voice deadpan. “What are you doing this far north? Business with the Pearl Cn?”

  Volo circled his camp. “Not exactly.”

  Riley stepped forward. “Where are the rest of your men? It’s quite bold to travel Hisui alone, especially with the Alpha Pokémon around.”

  Volo gnced up. “Oh, I sent my men on ahead, they’re nearby. As for the Alpha Pokémon, they pose no threat if you don’t try and fight them,” he said with a grin.

  “Did you happen to come across an Alpha Unown on your way here?” Ash asked. “Just before the entrance to Mount Coronet?”

  Volo paused and shook his head. “Can’t say I did.” He shivered, rubbing his arms. “Alpha Unown… I shudder at the thought.”

  The merchant trudged through the snow, his back to the rest, and he sucked in a rge breath. Ash and Riley gnced at each other warily.

  “Hey, what’re you doing out here by yourself anyway?” Yura blurted out.

  Volo smiled and chuckled. “Direct as always, little one.” His eyes narrowed. “Ironic, coming from you.”

  Sabrina’s eyes narrowed in disgust.

  Volo straightened and dusted off his gloved hands. He turned around with a grin and spread his arms. “I was waiting for you all.”

  Laventon frowned. “Waiting for us…? Ah! Do you have more information on the foreigner in the north?” He smiled hopefully.

  Volo gave a curt shake of his head. “No, I don’t. I don’t suppose you all found the relics you were looking for either?” he asked, eyeing the three ‘Guardians.’

  “No,” Ash said. “Not yet.”

  A silence settled over the gathered. Laventon, Rei, Akari, and Yura gnced between each other in confusion. Sabrina stared daggers at Volo.

  “So…why were you waiting for us?” Akari eventually asked.

  Volo’s eyes hadn’t left Ash. He sighed and kicked some snow over his campfire, extinguishing it instantly. “I do wish you hadn’t brought the children along.”

  Sabrina gred at the merchant. “Ash, is he—?“

  “Here’s how it’s going to work,” Volo said. His voice hadn’t gotten any louder. “Sabrina, you’re going to stand down or I’ll kill Riley. Riley, you’re going to stand down or I’ll kill Ash. And Ash, you’re going to come to me, alone, or I’ll kill Sabrina. I think that covers everyone.”

  Their breath wafted in front of them, and the quiet wind hissed with threat.

  “K-Kill…?” Laventon said, cracking an awkward smile. “What are you saying, Volo? This isn’t funny…”

  “Come now, Ash,” Volo whispered, his eyes gleaming with a serpentine determination. “You know what I want from you.”

  Ash could only look on him with revolt. Somehow, he knew. No, it wasn’t that strange, given all the circumstances. “You’re a Ptebearer,” he spat.

  Volo’s eyebrows twitched and his lips curled into a smirk.

  Riley raised his arm in front of Ash, barring his path. His expression smoldered. “I’m sure you knew Ash was a Ptebearer the moment you met him at the Sanctuary. Why did you let us leave?”

  Volo’s eyes flicked over to him. “When Ash fell out of that hole in the sky, I wasn’t expecting him to bring an elder Guardian and a human psychic with him. I had to see your strength first. Now I know.”

  Rei’s eyes widened. “The Unown! Are you—“

  Akari clutched his hand, her body trembling. Her gaze was still training on Volo, but her eyes were bloodshot with fear.

  “Is it safe to assume that ‘hole in the sky’ is your doing, then?” Riley continued.

  Volo grinned, slowly closing his hand into a fist. “You’d be surprised how many Ptebearers have used their power to cross the boundaries of time and space. Unlike the future you all are from, most of human history is filled with terrible strife, and even Ptebearers desire an escape from that reality. That ‘hole’ has made harvesting them an easy task.”

  Ash’s eyes narrowed. He knows we’re from the future… He’s the reason we’re here! Just who is Volo!

  “Harvesting them?” Riley spat. “Harvesting Ptes? That’s not possible, even for a Ptebearer.”

  Volo shrugged. “I’ve heard enough, Guardian. Step forward, Ash, and surrender your Pte. This doesn’t have to be an ugly affair.”

  “If I do, then what?” Ash growled. Pikachu snarled on his shoulder, electricity sparking on his cheeks.

  “I’ll let you live, of course. All of you. All of you can return to your lives as usual. It’s just the Pte I want.” Volo sighed. “Of course, I can’t let you return home, unfortunately. But you’ve spent some time here in Hisui and made some good friends. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the worst thing for you three to spend your remaining time here.” Volo’s smile was colder than the Icends around them.

  Ash’s eyes burned. “And if I refuse?”

  Volo’s face was a statue, bereft of doubt. “I think you’d swiftly come to regret that decision.”

  Their breaths came in quick puffs in front of them, but Volo’s were long and slow.

  He’s been waiting for us here! The thought burned in Ash’s mind. Everything… It was all by design! How long did he spend ying this trap? He let his gaze fall to those around him. Yura stood motionless and her bottom lip quivered. Rei was holding Akari’s hand so tight it looked painful. And Laventon…was at a loss. He was blinking rapidly, as if still unable to comprehend what was pying out before him.

  And Ash couldn’t bme him. But even his current paralysis was surely by design. Volo wasn’t giving him time to think.

  Ash gritted his teeth. Why couldn’t I sense his power when we first met? Even now, why don’t I feel his presence like I did with AZ?

  “Don’t try it, Sabrina,” Volo suddenly said sharply.

  The psychic’s eyes bore into Volo, yet her gauntlets spun slowly, not yet bright with power.

  “Don’t think I can’t hear your telepathy either. Utter one silent word, and I’ll end her life. You don’t want that, do you?” he whispered.

  He didn’t even have to say her name, yet the mere threat sent Sabrina’s gauntlets spiraling about her wrists, enraged. Her emotions spilled from her body in an invisible wave, cloying and hateful, and wrapping protectively around Yura.

  Ash saw Volo smirk, and he sneered, Sabrina’s rage seeping into him.

  “It’s a bad match up for you, Sabrina…” Volo chided. “You could learn from the Guardian. He knows when to give up.”

  “Give up?” Riley snarled. “Do you think I’ll let you harm a single hair on Ash’s—“

  “Stop, Riley.”

  Ash took a step forward. “Don’t hurt them, Volo. It’s me you want, right?”

  He shook his shoulder and Pikachu fell to the ground, nding in disbelief.

  Grinning, Volo raised his hand and beckoned Ash forward.

  The snow crunched beneath Ash’s boot, and with every step, Volo’s smile elongated.

  “Ash, don’t!” Riley said, but Ash put up his hand, quieting him.

  “Ash!” Yura wailed.

  Ash tuned them out as he walked forward. As long as they were safe, that was all that mattered.

  “Wait, Volo! This is madness!” Laventon shrieked. “Whatever you want, I’m sure we can figure something else out! Let’s come to an accord!”

  “We already have,” Volo grinned.

  As Ash pced his foot into the snow, mere feet away from Volo, he found himself unable to take another single step forward. Frowning, he strained forward, but his body was frozen.

  Volo’s smile faded and he lowered his hand.

  A dull green glow outlined Ash’s form, and behind him, Sabrina eyes gleamed in a jade desperation, her arm outstretched.

  “Sabrina…” Ash breathed.

  “I told you not to interfere,” Volo sneered. Clenching his fingers in a vicious cw, a pitch-bck void surged into being around him. An aura of utter bckness shimmered around his form and his pupils vanished, his sclera utterly devoid of color.

  “Disable both arm restr—!”

  Volo ripped his arm back and a hellish scream echoed across the pins. A foul bckness coiled around Sabrina and her body suddenly flung itself into the air like a rag doll. Her left gauntlet released a sickening creak as a deep crack suddenly broke across its surface. Whipping Sabrina through the air, Volo spun on his foot and hurled her into a boulder with a roar.

  A dull smack rang out as her prone body smmed into the boulder and she slumped into the snow where it remained motionless.

  A smear of blood oozed down the rock’s side.

  “No!” Ash roared, and a blistering shaft of blinding electricity tore toward Volo, burning his gloves and sleeves off as he fired the indiscriminate beam.

  Volo smirked and raised his hand. A shield, if it could be called that, billowed before him and swallowed the attack without a sound. The shield wasn’t so much composed of darkness as it was completely and utterly cking in form. It wasn’t its existence that made Ash pause, but rather, its nonexistence. He squinted to try and see it. But he couldn’t. It was as if the air before Volo suddenly became impossible to view, and his eyes could only produce nothingness. Yet, as soon as it’d appeared, it was gone again, leaving Volo unharmed behind it.

  Darkness clung to Volo’s hands and saturated his forearms, and he knelt down and sank them into the ground.

  The ground began to steam and shake and Ash whipped around to tell Riley to protect the others, but he didn’t need to, as the Guardian had already encased them in an azure shield.

  The earth trembled and Ash almost his footing as the snow in front of him caved in. Frozen earth and rock tumbled down as Volo began to raise into the sky, standing atop a rising pteau of ice.

  Sabrina! Ash stumbled as he raced through the crumbling carnage. Snow soaked into his pants and the cold burned his hands as he cmbered toward Sabrina, unable to take his eyes off her blood as it dripped down the boulder. Please! Please tell me…!

  The ground and sky alike screamed in a low fury but Ash ignored it as he cwed toward Sabrina. Upon reaching her, his hand closed around her shoulder and he pulled her toward him.

  Her eyes were closed and snow and ice covered her face, yet Ash’s gaze immediately drifted up. A thick gash ran from her temple to her forehead, several trails of blood dripping down her face and neck.

  Ash’s face tightened into a baleful gre and his grip on her hardened.

  An ear-shattering roar bellowed across the icy pins, and Ash’s hair and clothes blew wildly. Loosening his grip, he y Sabrina back down onto the snow and slowly rose to his feet. His hands fell to his sides, both hands stained with Sabrina’s blood.

  He turned to face his enemy.

  A gigantic Avalugg, just as rge as described, if not rger, loomed over him, now unburied from the snow where it’d been lurking. Volo stood atop its head, which sported two sharpened bdes on either side of its maw. Its bdes separated as it opened its mouth, revealing rows upon rows of serrated teeth, and it roared again, shaking the trees around them and blowing the snow from the tops of boulders.

  “You should have come with me when I asked!” Volo’s voice echoed as he taunted Ash from above. “It didn’t have to be this way!”

  Now that the ground seemed stable enough again, Ash stalked back toward Riley, who looked like he’d just traversed a blizzard with how much snow covered him.

  “We’ll attack him together, Ash. He may be a Ptebearer, but you—“

  “Volo’s mine,” Ash growled. “You handle the Alpha Pokémon. Let’s go, Pikachu.”

  The mouse hopped dutifully up on his master’s shoulder, his ears and tail stiff, ready for a fight.

  As Ash stomped through the snow, Riley pursued. “Wait, Ash! If he truly is responsible for us being here, then we could use him to take us back! Just make sure to—“

  The snow cratered around Ash and he leaped into the air, his body trailing lightning as he sailed into the sky. Sunlight glinted around his ferocious form.

  “Ash!” Riley called.

  Avalugg roared as Ash soared above him, but Riley lost sight of him as he nded on the gargantuan’s back. With Ash gone, Avalugg’s attention turned toward Riley, its head making a horrific grinding sound as it moved, like gciers colpsing. The bdes on its maw separated as it opened its mouth, and an icy glow began to shine in its gullet.

  Riley’s eyes widened and he enveloped his body in Aura. A column of snow, ice, and hail blew from Avalugg’s mouth, swiftly followed by a jagged ray of crystalline energy. Summoning a roiling Aura Sphere the size of his torso between his palms, Riley unched it forward into the massive Ice Beam.

  The two collided in midair and shards of ice bsted outward, peppering the ruined ground and blooming into cragged crystals. The Aura Sphere hissed as it forced its way up, but Avalugg’s Ice Beam was relentless, and it soon began to shrink.

  Riley shivered, and it was only now that he noticed the frost and sleet accumuting across his body in an icy yer. The cold began to seep beneath his clothes and he found it difficult to move. Damn it! It’s like an Ice Beam and a Blizzard at once! This is the power of an Alpha Pokémon! Gritting his teeth, he summoned a bout of Aura from within and shattered the ice encasing him. But his Aura Sphere had nearly colpsed and Avalugg still hadn’t let up.

  Just as he was priming a shield, a bck blur streaked across the wintry sky straight toward Avalugg’s head. Wings opened and a resounding squawk screeched across the pin as Avalugg’s assaint dug its cws into the monster’s left eye.

  Avalugg screamed and reared back, all four of its feet smming against the ground and shaking the earth as it shuddered in pain.

  Riley turned and saw Akari and Rei behind him, gring at the beast ahead. Staravia soared through the sky, talons still bloody from the attack, keeping in Avalugg’s now-blind spot.

  “Don’t try that again!” Riley barked. “It’s just as strong as the Unown! Don’t underestimate it!”

  Akari nodded fiercely. Meanwhile, Rei’s Growlithe snorted beside him, ready to fight.

  Laventon cmbered up behind them, shielding Yura.

  “Professor, Sabrina, if you please!” Riley said, pointing over where Ash had left her.

  Laventon swallowed and nodded. “Come, now, Yura! Sabrina needs our help!” Lugging his bag, they took off across the snow.

  “Akari, you keep it distracted,” Rei said, studying the behemoth. “Growlithe and I will create an opening so you can take it out, Riley. Avalugg is weakest beneath its jaw.”

  Riley paused for a moment before nodding. “Right! But be careful!”

  As all three raced forward, Avalugg shook its head and groaned, homing in on its next target.

  Laventon knelt next to Sabrina, grimacing at the sight of the grisly gash on her forehead. “Yura, get some cloth please!”

  Yura broke into his bag without hesitation, rummaging through its many compartments. She’d witnessed the routine treatments he’d given to Rei and Akari’s pokémon enough throughout the course of their journey at this point to know exactly what he needed.

  Grabbing a handful of snow, Laventon brushed it across Sabrina’s gash as gently as he could, cleaning the blood off, some of it already dried, as well as he could. Bright crimson liquid oozed up from the wound the moment he brushed it across.

  “Here!” Yura breathed, holding out a cloth.

  Laventon pressed it against the gash firmly and Yura held her breath next to him. Blood stained the cloth as he pulled it away, but the blood ebbed up from the wound slower now. He turned to Yura but she thrust another bundle toward him. “Thank you,” he said, smiling grimly.

  Within were his needles and thread for stitching up serious wounds. Slipping out of his gloves, Laventon took a needle in one hand and the tip of the thread in another. His vision seemed to blur as he tried to thread the needle. His hands trembled. Despite his steady hand while working on his pokéballs, now of all times…!

  “Professor,” Yura said, touching his knee. She winced as the roar of battle boomed behind them, but she kept herself from turning around.

  Closing his eyes, Laventon took a deep breath and steadied himself. “Yes,” he whispered. Exhaling, he slipped the thread through the needle.

  Yura glimmered beside him as he tied it off, after which he lifted Sabrina’s head closer. Trying his best to ignore the horrid cacophony of violence behind him, he punctured one side of the gash.

  Atop Avalugg’s back, a cold wind blew from behind Ash as Avalugg fired off some ice attack. As the battle raged, Avalugg lurched beneath him but he didn’t falter.

  On the other side of Avalugg’s back, Volo stood unperturbed and smirking. “So, what will it be, Ash? Shall we do battle with our pokémon as you do in your time? Or shall we fight as the demigods we are, with the power of Arceus’ Ptes instead?”

  “Three Heavenly Bolts!” Ash spat.

  Pikachu blitzed off his shoulder as a blinding golden light overtook his entire form. Electricity crackled around Ash in a spiraling storm as he directed his power into his first partner.

  “Both, then!” Volo cackled. “Fascinating!”

  Tearing a pokéball from his belt and hurling it forward where it snapped open to reveal an imposing Garchomp. For a species already famed for its strength, this one looked downright violent. A bestial hatred dripped from its beady eyes as it gred between Pikachu and Ash.

  Thunder boomed across the pin as Pikachu’s first spearlike thunderbolt surged into being in his paw, quickly followed by a second in his other. Volo shielded his eyes from the blinding gre but grinned up at Pikachu nonetheless.

  Lightning spasmed from Ash’s palm and siphoned into Pikachu, filling him with the strength of the third bolt. His eyes bzing a furious white, Pikachu thundered toward Garchomp and Volo, wreathed in bck storm clouds. The third bolt dragged into being as Pikachu bulleted toward them, his entire body becoming a divine trident of electricity.

  Volo faltered and stepped back, raising his hand in defense. The same void shield billowed out in front of him in a static haze, but Pikachu crashed into it. A demonic boom shook the very air and a thunderous keening screeched through the air and before long, the shield shattered into shards of deep gray nothingness. Volo’s eyes widened as he vanished beneath the effulgent brilliance of Pikachu’s lightning. A white nova bsted into existence in a cragged, misshapen mushroom cloud, crackling electricity sizzling outward like a nest of angry snakes.

  Ash shielded his eyes from view as the glow of Pikachu’s attack faded, and the mouse leaped back in front of him, gring ahead, trying to pierce the blinding bze.

  Volo hobbled forward out of the gloom, his ptinum blond hair falling in a tangled mess around his shoulders. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth and his storm-gray eyes were wild with wrath. His clothes had burned away, leaving his pale torso bleeding and exposed to the frosty north. .

  “I…s-should have…e-expected as much!” Volo rasped, licking the blood from his lips. “Forgive…m-my inexperience! You…y-you are the first Ptebearer I’ve…e-ever fought!”

  As he stumbled forward, eyes glowing a harsh crimson, his mouth frozen in a psychopathic grin, a bout of blood-red power crackled in his palm, seizing to life out of nothingness.

  Ash gred at him and readied his own attack. Lightning crackled across his body and engulfed his form, golden energy building between his palms.

  Beneath them, Avalugg roared and suddenly lurched. Ash and Volo both went skidding to the side, thrown off their feet, as Avalugg buckled.

  Avalugg’s screams of agony echoed through the north, smoke belching from its gaping maw.

  Right in front of it, atop a pilr of stone, Growlithe stood, gring at the beast, embers still swirling around him from the Fmethrower he’d fired straight down Avalugg’s throat.

  “Excellent work, Rei!” Riley called, leaping into the air behind Growlithe, his entire body sizzling with Aura. His fist was already pulled back and glowing a deep azure.

  Growlithe immediately realized he was in the way and leapt from his pilr into the pillowy snow below.

  Riley grinned as the Aura around him shattered Growlithe’s pilr by his mere proximity. Avalugg barely had time to fix his st good eye on Riley as the Guardian swung his punch forward. A nova of Aura ripped toward the beast from Riley’s outstretched fist, the air warbling as it tore through the air and crashed into Avalugg, engulfing its entire head.

  The ice around Avalugg’s head shattered and it reared back. A cloud of snow burst up from below as the ice-type behemoth crumpled.

  Atop Avalugg’s back, Ash felt himself fall into the freezing haze, the ground disappearing out from beneath his feet.

  Riley flipped back, nding in the storm of snow, using Aura to cushion his fall. He could sense Rei and Akari’s Aura safely behind him, but Ash and Volo were both in front of him, buried beneath the avanche. Ash’s Aura he could sense, but for some reason, he could not detect Volo’s. His eyes narrowed as he enhanced his sight.

  “Is Ash okay?” Akari said, running up behind him.

  Her Staravia still circled the skies above the fallen Alpha.

  “I’m not sure,” Riley said.

  “I hope we didn’t do more harm than good,” Rei murmured.

  “No, defeating Avalugg was the right move.” Volo waited here in ambush, Riley thought. He buried Avalugg here toward that end. The more we destabilize him, the greater our chances of escaping from him!

  After everything AZ had done in Rota, Riley wasn’t taking any chances with enemy Ptebearers, especially since Volo seemed to be personally responsible for their presence here. Riley didn’t know how that was possible, but it meant he’d been able to interfere in the pns of King Aaron himself. He was not to be taken lightly.

  Across the snow, Sabrina’s eyes fluttered open. As she tried to move her head, a wave of nausea passed through her and she coughed.

  “Please don’t try and move, Sabrina!”

  Was that the Professor’s voice?

  As sensation returned to her body, she started to feel cold against her face, and a painful pounding in her skull.

  “What do we do?!”

  That…was Yura.

  Sabrina turned and saw the young girl. Tears streamed down Yura’s face, eyes alight with fear, and she trembled in pce. Sabrina’s eyes widened and she lurched forward. She felt her legs give out beneath her, but a strong hand caught her before she could. Dry leaves brushed against her.

  Decidueye stood before her, one hand holding her, the other curved protectively over her, Yura, and Laventon. He turned back to face her. His beady eyes burned with anger, though this time, it didn’t seem directed at her.

  As Sabrina’s vision came into focus, she peered beyond Decidueye at a hazy mass of gcier-like ice. Two silhouettes stood amidst the chalk-white fog of snow.

  A fsh of golden electricity burned the haze away revealing Ash standing strong atop the mound of ice. Across from him, a bloody Volo staggered toward him, his hair blowing wildly in the blizzard of battle.

  “No… No, no, no,” Volo mumbled to himself, the blood dripping from his body staining the ice at his feet. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this… I can’t fail here… Not after everything…”

  Sabrina’s stomach wilted and she surged forward. “Ash…!” she screamed.

  Red darkness sparked to life in Volo’s hand, gusting about in a miniature tornado. His eyes bzed an infernal golden. “Sanguinesilica!”

  Throwing the storm forward, the dark cyclone spiraled skyward, multiplying in size and tearing toward Ash. The sky turned dark and crimson lightning fshed across the roiling surface of the gusting darkness. The ice and rock at their feet crunched into rubble, spraying blood outward in gruesome geysers.

  Electricity billowed around Ash, rising to meet the colossal cyclone, but he suddenly paused and turned back toward Sabrina.

  Their eyes met for only a moment.

  “No!” Sabrina cried. Her eyes melted into jade, and her limiters creaked as they raced around his wrists. Stumbling through the snow as fast as she could, she tore toward Ash. “Don’t!”

  Ash closed his eyes and turned away. The electricity around him blew away in the wind.

  “N-NO!”

  His power deactivated, the cone of violence bore down on him, its surface seething and crackling. The seething surface engulfed Ash, shing him with tendrils of crimson darkness. Blood sprayed from his chest and limbs as the cyclone threw him into the air, butchering him like a chainsaw.

  Horror streamed down Sabrina’s cheeks as tears. The cyclone of darkness wailed and screamed as if it were alive, eating Ash’s flesh like a pack of rabid dogs. It loomed over her as she approached, and she saw Riley coming from the opposite direction, both surging toward their friend.

  Volo cackled as the cyclone whipped across Ash’s body, Ash’s blood spttering back on Volo’s face. “Finally! Another one!” His eyes glinted with a malignant darkness as he lowered his head. “Oh, Twisting Oblivion! I beseech thee! Lend me thy fabled strength, and I will cleave this fragment of Arceus’ bsphemous soul from his failed champion!”

  The rift over Mount Coronet gleamed and the earth shook with a camitous rumbling.

  An impossible darkness overtook Volo and the sky turned bck. Everything turned bck. Sabrina could not even see her hands in front of her as she reached forward. Sound vanished and touch disappeared as a concept. Only Volo and the desiccated remains of Ash’s limp body remained within the void.

  The cold that overtook Sabrina was not of freezing temperature. It was of existential dread. Her entire being seemed to go numb and her consciousness faltered, slinking away from its very purpose.

  Ash was about to die.

  They were all about to die.

  Everything.

  Was about to end.

  Volo knelt down toward Ash. A pitch bck pit roiled within his palm and he moved it to Ash’s chest.

  Release both arm restraints.

  …

  Teleport. Teleport. Teleport. Teleport. Teleport. Teleport. Teleport. Teleport. Teleport.

  Anywhere else but here.

  Just before she passed out, Sabrina saw a luminous darkness engulf Ash, and he disappeared, Volo’s hand mere inches away from touching him. Volo looked up at her, his eyes burning an inhuman red

  Teleport.

  Though she couldn’t see it, she felt her left arm restraint shatter into a thousand pieces. A second ter, she vanished.

  Next — Chapter 69 : Hell