CHAPTER 285 - WE SING OF RENEWAL

The spikes were sharp, solid, and most of all large, but they didn't look like they'd actually threaten us until midway through, when they started continuously exploding in hundreds of bits of shrapnel that turned back to a liquid before they could damage any buildings in the city. Knowing her barrier would just get shredded to pieces, I almost yelled at Princess to somehow dodge— more out of desperation than anything else— but Lou snapped me back to reality and told Togekiss to get closer to the other ACEs instead. Princess listened right away, despite how tired and sluggish her movements were, we all bunched up together so close our mounts were almost touching.

"Serena!" Maxwell called out.

The silent girl whispered something to her Skarmory, and the steel type screeched in defiance, and I felt a slight push away from him. The shrapnel had gone ahead of the spikes themselves, but they wavered the closer they got to Skarmory and then swerved out of the way as if they'd been pushed away by a magnet. We moved as one toward the ground to get some distance with the giant spikes, probably because Skarmory wasn't confident about deflecting the metallic bursts from too close, but we got out of the first foray okay, thank the Legendaries. The giant spikes hit the cavern's walls and were absorbed back into the liquid metal in an instant as we hovered over a tall stone building. The giant amalgamation of steel let out a metallic grunt as its gears turned around its arms and metal jumped at us from below like a hungry maw, and we had to swing back upwards. Too high and we get attacked, too low, and we get swallowed up by metal that Skarmory couldn't push back. My mouth tasted like ash and bile as I gripped Princess' fur.

"Lou, how are your abilities?" Ariel calmly asked.

"Unusable if I want to pull us outside. Locally might be possible, but I'm not confident about Teleporting around this place. It could be done… but I fear I'd get you killed. The Pokemon's doing something to stop me."

The Pokemon. They didn't know what it was, either, since it was pretty obviously the thing that had been painted on the mural and they hadn't known its name. I gulped, too ashamed to speak up or suggest anything. We were here because I'd fucked up, and now the situation was hopeless. The beat of silence that lingered after they heard that Lou couldn't Teleport was not missed, either. Another burst of metal, this time from the ground, rose up at speeds all of my Pokemon but Honey would have been too slow to react to, and this time, Dragonite and Skarmory wrapped a Protect around us so tightly that there was no space or energy wasted, combining their efforts seamlessly. What wasn't good, however, was that they strained to keep it up when the first volley hit. If ACE Pokemon struggled to use Protect against the apparent steel type, then Jellicent and Electivire's would shatter in an instant.

"We're going to have to fight it. Lou, how are your barriers? Can you keep her protected?" Richard nudged his head at me as he gruffed atop his Pidgeot.

"That, I can, though they'll be slower to come out than usual," she answered.

"Watch for Zoroark," Maxwell said, turning toward the steel type. "This big lump of metal isn't going all out quite yet."

"I believe it wants to keep the city intact, otherwise it would have been all destroyed by now, and so would we," Ariel said.

"Fair assumption. Let's do it, then," Maxwell said.

"You want my Pokemon for firepower?" Lou asked. "I can give you three."

"Keep your Lunatone and Solrock to defend the mark, we'll take the rest," Serena said.

There was no hesitation in their movements after Lou handed Maxwell three of her Pokeballs. They waited for our enemy's next strike, this time making sharp spikes of iron rain from the ceiling at speeds that warped the air around them. Again, the Protect barely held, with cracks forming around the green, shimmering surface, and then they scattered in every direction while Lou ordered Togekiss to get us down to a temple-like building with a spire high enough to stand in without alerting whatever that Pokemon was. At the edge of my vision, the ACEs released their entire teams. Pokemon that could fly like Ariel's Cryogonal hovered in the sky closer to the hulking construct, while those who could not like Richard's Greninja had been released as close as possible on nearby roofs in squads of four or more. A flurry of attacks shot out of their mouths— Hyper Beams, Fire Blasts, Thunders, Hydro Pumps, Ice Beams— all slamming into the steel type's liquid hide and exploding some of its body away, but more liquid metal from the floor healed it instantly.

That did not bode well.

The temple's grounds were flooded with liquid metal, but the upper floors were not. Princess carved a hole into the stone with a tired huff and let us in. The inside of the structure was solid, colorful stone, though there was a trinket at its center, raised by a platform and left to bask in the ambient light shining from a hole in the ceiling. A piece of metal, in the form of a gear, as if they'd worshipped the damn thing. An explosion rattled the temple and dust floated down from the ceiling, caking my hair and face until Lou placed a thin barrier above our heads. Through the hole in the wall, I could see that the liquid metal writhed as one every time the original body was hit, like little scythes and claws squirming right above the edge. I felt her hand clasp my shoulder and pull me away.

"Get a hold of yourself," she said, her voice sharp. "I'm not the one supposed to order your Togekiss around, Grace."

Princess chirped while Lou released Lunatone and Solrock from their balls, and they took over barrier duties.

"This is my fault— I should be doing something—"

"You will die, and everything will have been meaningless," Lou said. "Let the others take care of that Pokemon, and I'll keep you safe."

"What about Zoroark? He could be anywhere," I said.

"I know," she replied as another explosion rocked the building. "For now, we need information."

I inhaled a full breath for the first time since the battle had begun, and I nodded. There was enough space here for Honey to use Protect if anything happened, so I released him first. He sighed in relief when he saw we were okay and he wrapped me and Princess into a tight hug that I could only weakly return. The others, I would let rest up until they were needed. Lou walked at a brisk pace, picking up a chunk of rock from the floor before she got to the edge of the temple and dropped it into the metal outside through the hole in the wall.

At first, nothing happened. There was only the bubbling of metal that grew more and more violent until it grew red hot and the stone melted before it could even sink below the depths. Somehow, it was sparing the buildings, but not anything else, I quickly thought. That meant that it knew exactly where everything should be and this entire sea of metal was like a limb that it could control. That sent a shiver down my spine, though I didn't let it show. That amount of control was terrifying.

"We need information," I repeated her words. "Claydol should know more about whatever that Pokemon outside is, and… maybe it has a weakness of some sort."

"That sounds right. What about your empathy? Are you feeling anything?" Lou asked.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the colors that swirled around the city like a raging storm. Two concepts, battling each other for influence. The weight of Zoroark's rage, pushing against my chest, squeezing my heart until it would pop. Like a noose around my neck, with someone threatening to push me off the chair. The relentless, unending tide of flames so dark they were nearly black, wanting to drown me under its weight. I gasped, focusing on the other half of the equation. Calm at first, until you delved deeper into the icy blue. Even then, calm had been the wrong expression for it, but it was steady. A consistent mourning, with colors at its edges I could not properly describe— a sign of what had once been, but would never return. Grief. Decay. A wanting feeling of what had been lost.

"It's grieving," I muttered. "They're grieving the loss of the city, but… not for the first time."

An endless cycle of destruction and rebirth, Zoroark had called it, and I began to make sense of the words. This was not the first time the metallic Pokemon had appeared, nor was it the first time Zoroark had fought them, if we could even call it a fight. Zoroark was so much weaker that I wondered how they even made it work, but now wasn't the time to ask questions without answers when I had a treasure trove of ancient knowledge at my finger tips. I released Claydol, who stared at me with flashing eyes that showcased ancient glyphs that I did not understand, but probably meant evacuate.

How may I be of service? Would you like to take a look at my catalog of jokes? I possess over twenty thousand of them—

Claydol stopped, and their eyes… glitched, for lack of a better term, before resetting and returning to their neutral expression of normal, circular dark pupils.

Recommendation reiterated: Evacuation is advised. Observation made: You have taken refuge in the Temple of Silverwind. Await further instructions for optimal protection and strategic response— Claydol cut themselves off, as if they remembered that no help was coming. Their memory was still a little jumbled up, it seemed. Awaiting way to implement evacuation protocol. Please shelter in place while I calculate the best course of action, my King.

My King, huh? I mused. It was the second time they'd called me this, now. "Claydol, that Pokemon," I stopped, pointing out the hole in the wall, "what are they?"

The psychic's… front? facing eyes turned toward the hole at once. Query recognized. They are known as the Eternal Alloy, the Messiah, the Silver Sovereignty, the Iron Guardian, Child of God, the Messenger—

"Could we know the species' name," Lou interrupted.

Observation noted. Acknowledging that my data has been rejected. Communicating request: Please ask more precise questions the next time to prevent recurrence. Optimization of communication parameters is advised for enhanced accuracy.

Claydol's voice was monotone, but that lessened the tension a little, with the way Honey laughed at them. Their straightforwardness was a breath of fresh air in this shitty situation, but unfortunately, a scream from outside brought me back to reality. People were fighting for their lives out there. I didn't deserve to smile.

The name itself would be Melmetal, Claydol finally answered.

"Any weaknesses we can strike at?" Lou quickly said.

Suggestion dismissed. Striking at the Eternal Alloy is punishable by death by the Iron Court, even for a King, and victory would be impossible.

I sighed. "Fine, but, a weakness doesn't mean we can beat Melmetal. It'd just be something to help swing things our way a little."

Cannot compute.

"Okay, what about the Zoroark— the Fiend."

The Fiend has already been reclassified as Zoroark, Claydol said. No weaknesses are known beyond void. As Claydol 11, I was not allowed to witness the ways the Fiend was contained by your predecessor.

"Please don't call me his successor," I muttered. "But thank you for trying."

Acknowledged.

I turned toward my ACE and her two psychics. "Lou, if we can't help with Melmetal, we need to help with Zoroark."

Knowing him, he was probably waiting for our Pokemon to faint or die before he struck and killed us, though since he couldn't phase through the liquid metal, I knew his mobility was cut despite being able to leap from roof to roof. He was weakening us, slowly but surely, until he was able to finish us off. The ACEs had said they believed they would deal with him with no trouble, and that assessment hadn't changed after witnessing him fight. I swallowed, and my heart felt so heavy I wanted nothing but to lay down and sleep, hoping this was all a nightmare, but it was real, and I had to try to salvage this, not because I believed I could do something the ACEs could not, but because it was the price I had to pay for my mistakes.

"There was no way you could have known," Lou said, as if she was reading my thoughts.

"But you still said we should leave, and I didn't listen," I spoke through gritted teeth. "Help me find Zoroark so we can all live through this. Please. The last thing I want is him appearing out of nowhere and managing to get a lucky shot on one of your Pokemon fighting Melmetal. If they die, then we really have no hope of getting out of here."

And if something happened to anyone, I knew I would not be able to live with the guilt if I hadn't at least tried something. Honey's comforting hand rested on my shoulder, and I allowed myself to lean against him and Princess.

"No," Lou said.

"W—what?"

"No. The best course of action is to wait here for outside help. Maxwell and the others are stalling for time. Every hour or as soon as we can, we ping the League with your latest location and confirm your well-being. Cynthia knows that we are here, so she should be expecting a slight delay, but if enough time passes, then help will arrive."

I blinked. "So, after everything I've done, you want me to stay here and do nothing? To not pay for the blood that might be on my hands?"

"Yes," she said with a neutral expression. "This is the best way to go about things. I am putting my foot down, Grace."

Ah.

It was an order. An order I should listen to, given how shit things had turned out the last time I decided to ignore her recommendation.

I clenched at my forehead and slumped against the temple walls in defeat as the sound of explosions rang out outside of the building.

—

Well, wasn't this just a wonderful way to spend the evening? Just Maxwell, his Pokemon, colleagues, and, you know, a giant eldritch creature whose existence was beyond his comprehension, so just another Monday, really. Honchkrow's feathers felt cold against his hands as they flew around the steel type. Suddenly, the air was pulled out of his lungs, and his body felt… nothing, as if he had stopped existing, and before he could realize what had happened, he was somewhere else. Not Teleportation per se, but a neat little trick Honchkrow had learned over the years, though he wouldn't be able to use it too many times.

Maxwell's ears buzzed as the steel abomination's fist glowed, and it punched the ground under its feet. Countless spikes of metal burst like bullets, turning to liquid as soon as they hit the building. Those that did not, impaled, and impaled hard. That was how his Liepard had ended up nearly torn in half by one of them and he'd needed to recall her before she died. She might still be dead in the Pokeball, Maxwell thought with a small sting in his eyes that instantly dulled the moment he forced out a cackle, which Honchkrow reproduced with perfect accuracy, that little prankster. At this distance, their Protect just broke as soon as most projectiles hit, so their best hope was to dodge or use magnetism to swerve attacks out of the way.

Which they did, thanks to Serena's Skarmory, that beautiful fucking bastard. Thank the Legendaries she'd been one of Byron's best Gym Trainers before being scouted, or they'd all be minced meat already. Their Pokemon on the roofs flattened themselves against the ground or hid behind the building while they hung onto the walls, though this was around the sixth home they'd been released on, and they managed to successfully dodge the sharp burst of metal, though the clang of the impact of steel against steel made Maxwell's head hurt. The liquid metal always submerged the buildings— always, without fail, and Dick's Stoutland was proof that any contact was fatal with the way his bottom half had melted off before being recalled. Poor bastard might die in his Pokeball, if they didn't get medical attention within the next hour.

You better fucking show up, Ms. Collins, Maxwell thought.

"Another volley! Sustained this time!" Richard yelled out to the Pokemon below. The poor son of a bitch was worried about his dog, though Maxwell wouldn't hold it against him. The fact that Teleportation was restricted without Dark, Bug, or Psychic TE being used meant they were facing something of unimaginable skill. Legendary or close to it, he wanted to think. Those pieces of shit always had ways to cheat, as if they didn't have enough advantages in the first place.

What came next was a foregone conclusion. The world below brightened enough to blind if you stared long enough, and countless beams hit the metallic Pokemon, who seemed content enough to stick around and take it. They dealt damage, of course. Ariel's Blissey's Hyper Beam made a hole across its chest and tore through it. Crawdaunt's Dark Pulse, meant to disable the use of TE, dug inside of the monster's golden head, but did not even manage to get the fucking glimmer off of it. Every wound closed up in less than a second, and while they did not manage to kill it, at least it felt pain and did not attack while it was under such pressure. The sea of metal serves as protection, Maxwell noticed, otherwise the entire plaza would have been molten plasma by now.

"Brute force won't work," Maxwell said as they stopped midair. "We can't outmuscle that amount of regeneration. This… we might be able to win, but we'll die before we do. I don't think we'll be buying enough time either."

"Tricks, then," Ariel said. "How does Destiny Bond sound?"

"Might not work, but it's our best shot," Maxwell said. The last of the volley was ending now, sooner than he would have thought. "Dick, my Cacturne or your Weezing?" Maxwell paused, watching his fellow ACE, and he knew there was no way in hell he was volunteering. He was soft— soft as an ACE could be, but soft nonetheless. "Fuck it, I'll do it. Not like we can play rock paper scissors or flip a coin."

"No, Maxwell. We can double it up. Better chance of taking it down or at least weakening it."

"Sounds good to me," he shrugged.

There was no opposition from any of them, because they knew it had to be done. Destiny Bond was not a move that killed its user, but one that made a Pokemon share the user's fate. Unconsciousness would lead to unconsciousness and death would lead to death. Ideally, their Pokemon would have thrown themselves into the metallic sea and died to take down the steel type, but they were not sure it was an order they would follow, especially when they'd be leaving their trainers behind for a tactic that might not pay off. It would have to be unconsciousness, then. The reason they'd been worried was that… there could sometimes be backlash, when using Destiny Bond against a demi-God

The living steel let out a piercing sound of grinding metal, and tendrils of iron shot out from its entire body like branches on a tree, forever splitting off but somehow never losing in mass. It was creating a cobweb, and they'd all be trapped in it if given enough time. It was too solid to be pushed back by Skarmory, too large to be dodged. No choice, then. Either this, or we get skewered and die in the next ten seconds.

"Confuse Ray," Maxwell whispered.

A dozen strange lights bled off Honchkrow, and he directed them toward the monster with a cackle. They screamed as always, but there was a tint of fear to these ones. Like they particularly disapproved of what they were being sent to scramble the metaphorical brains of. The spirits spread through the dense cobweb of steel so sharp it could cut at a mere touch while Honchkrow and the others gained some distance. It would buy time, even if they couldn't outrun it. The Confuse Rays entered its body, and the cobweb wavered for a split second. Part of the iron drooped back to the floor, and the steel type let loose a metallic reverberation that Maxwell hesitated to call a roar. The first row of buildings instantly collapsed into the sea of metal, but what was life without a little risk? Of course, their Pokemon kept attacking, buying as much time as they could so Cynthia could hopefully show up here and save their asses. Maxwell spotted his Weavile attempting to freeze a path toward their enemy, but none of their attacks had an effect on the metal beyond creating ripples across the entire city.

"Cacturne, Weezing, Destiny Bond setup!" Richard called out.

A cold, purple flame engulfed both Pokemon as their eyes locked with the steel type, who was already recovering from Confuse Ray, Arceus fucking damn it. Ariel's Dragonite blew Weezing apart with a Fire Blast while Maxwell's Absol cut Cacturne apart. They recalled them both before they could see what kind of hurt binding the steel type to their fate would bring them.

It was not either of them, that reeled from the Destiny Bond, but the petty thing that was playing God down there. Maxwell smirked as purple flames consumed the steel type, happy to have mastered Destiny Bond to such a degree that their target could be picked. Of course, both Absol and Dragonite still felt the backlash, but no flames appeared around them. Instead, their eyes grew tired, but they'd done this a thousand times before and they were tough enough not to faint. Rust began to spread across their enemy's body, and its movements grew sluggish and clumsy beyond even the Confusion. The golden crown atop the steel type's head shone true, blinding Maxwell until he covered his eyes, and suddenly, there was nothing. As if it had turned back time itself, almost all of the rust peeled off its surface, leaving only pristine metal so perfect it was disturbing to look at.

It was like nothing had happened at all, and this had been their best chance at taking this thing down. Two of their Pokemon down, and there was nothing to show for it. The steel type's arms twisted in rage as it finally understood it had collapsed four buildings, and it began charging a row of Flash Cannons.

"Looking like an early funeral, boys," Maxwell smiled, a bead of sweat dripping down his scarred face. "Best we buy as much time as possible for our mark and keep it focused on killing us."

They all laughed as the light blinded them, because he made the best jokes, didn't he?

—

There was a bright flash in the distance, and the metal below stirred.

I'd been keeping an eye on it ever since Lou had ordered me not to go and help. At least that way, I'd felt like I'd been doing something. Lou noticed it as well, though she opened the door leading down the decrepit stairs and looked at the metal that had swallowed the ground floor where people had congregated to pray. Honey let out a panicked grunt, telling her to close the door back before she got us all killed.

"Something's happening," I said. "Claydol?"

Melmetal's capabilities are unknown to me. No footage of them fighting remains within my memory banks. Observed functions limited to performing miracles of metal during religious rituals, or generating iron to build items such as weapons. Further information retrieval required for comprehensive analysis.

So we knew nothing, then. We were blind, and there was nothing we could do about it. The Metal accumulated into shapes— misshapen at first, but then perfectly uniform. Small blobs of metal with dark rotating gears atop their heads, each four feet or so in height. My breath caught in my throat, and I pulled back away from the window, and Lou gently closed the door back to make the least amount of noise possible. Mini-Melmetals, I internally scoffed in disbelief. Probably something he'd use to do his bidding and kill us. We shared a silent look and non-verbally agreed to stay quiet so we wouldn't bait the… thousand or so that looked to have been created. The worst part was that the ground was still flooded with liquid metal, just ankle-deep now instead of waist-deep, so they were still impossible to navigate. I heard one of the remaining Sigilyph beep as if passed through the streets below, letting me know that Melmetal was also letting them live unopposed.

I shuffled to the center of the room, where the gear still stood inside the bowl, free from rust or the scars of time— or maybe Melmetal's presence had just renewed everything here. Rust and restoration, an endless cycle that this city had gone through time and time again, even after every human had been wiped out, like this was a game to Zoroark. A game. Maybe it was a game. The only way for him to exact revenge on this city in perpetuity, to feel like he was taking away something from the people who had wronged him for so long. That was what Melmetal encapsulated to him, wasn't it? They were his nemesis. An enemy without end, that awoke in perpetuity after being beaten.

Fiend incoming, Claydol suddenly said.

They could sense him? I barely had time to register what was happening before Zoroark phased through a wall with a sharpened grin and claw. My hands instantly went for my Pokeballs, and Lou flicked her wrist, aided by her Solrock and Lunatone, pushing back Zoroark, who opted to get slammed into the wall instead of passing through and being thrown back down. The maddened ghost laughed like he was having the best time of his life, and his bright yellow eyes met mine as I released my entire team into the temple.

No words were exchanged, though I did not miss the fact that he imagined killing me in a thousand different ways in that single instant. We couldn't fight cleanly— not without collapsing this entire temple and sinking into the metal—

"Lou, keep restraining him," I said in a hushed whisper.

"I've been doing that," she said with a sigh far too exhausted for my liking. She was tiring already? "Otherwise he would have attacked already. Hit him with something, anything. This won't hold for long."

"Claydol, can you help her keep him still?" I whispered. It'd be best to give her some support first.

Restraining protocol engaged, they responded. With their four efforts combined, Zoroark slowly slid across the floor, but even then, they couldn't get him to plunge in the metal.

"Thanks. Legendaries, what am I going to do with you?" I whispered with a pitying look that seemed to enrage him further. Killing him and letting him reappear after a few days would work fine. "Sweetheart, Dark Pulse. Low-powered so you don't shatter the psychic hold or collapse the building, but steady until he dies."

The rock type grunted, her dark eyes staring down at Zoroark's pale frame, and darkness gathered in front of her mouth. It slammed into Zoroark's chest, damaging the building slightly, but not enough to collapse it. I held my breath, hoping that we hadn't alerted any of the mini Melmetals, but thankfully, none came—

Zoroark's mouth turned to the king's, and he screamed. Sweetheart's Dark Pulse strengthened until the ghost type burst through the wall and into the streets below, but we couldn't stay here any longer. The door Lou had opened earlier slammed open, and Melmetal's army burst through, swallowing it until there was nothing left. They were three, and more would no doubt come. I could see that their emotions were the exact same, constantly changing the exact same way. Shared mind.

"Fire Pillar!" I called out.

Sunshine slammed a foot against the temple's grounds, cracking the floor and creating a focused jet of blue flames that made the Mini-Melmetal squeal, softening their body up enough for Princess to send a gust of wind to blow them apart and splattering them on the walls like Jellicent had so many times in the past. They were manageable, but too many of them, and we'd be fucked. Lou brought her arm down with a heavy grunt, creating a shimmering barrier where the door had just been, not letting the metal slip through, and Claydol handled the hole in the wall without a word while Lou's Pokemon backed them up, but there would always be a crack to slip through, and more would no doubt come. I'd be a fool to think that Zoroark was done with.

"Should we switch buildings?" I said.

Lou winced at the shapeless, horrifying forms that tried to claw their way through the opening. It would only be a few moments until they realized they could just break through the walls.

"That would be wise," she said.

"Buddy, scout the roof above us. It could be covered, for all we know, and the last thing we want is for that to drip on us."

The water type sent a piece of himself upward, slipping through the cracks in the roof before his eyes dimmed, and he looked at me with a worried click.

The building was—

Sinking. It shook below my feet as the steel started to swallow it whole. They weren't going to try to break in, they were going to sink us. My fingers trembled until I clenched at my shirt and calmed myself down with quick breaths. We're going to die. Zoroark knew how Melmetal functioned and had probably engineered this entire thing to get us killed. We're going to die. I should have known that he had another trick up his sleeve. He might be rageful, but he was not run by rage. There had been a cunning in those eyes, and I had underestimated him again. We're going to die. Though it hadn't been like I could have done anything differently. We're going to die. The building slanted, nearly causing me to trip without my crutch. It had slipped out of my hand, when I'd fallen off Princess. I took a deep breath, trying not to think about all the people I would be leaving behind, and I grabbed my Pokeballs.

"The League will come to save you," I croaked out to my team. "Pokeballs are the sturdiest thing ever invented. You'll make it—"

They protested, of course they protested. Princess and Honey were bawling their eyes out. Sunshine and Sweetheart were screaming at me to tell me to stop pretending like I'd given up. Jellicent stared— he just stared, like he couldn't even believe this was happening, and Angel passed a vine over my cheek that made me want to cry. Claydol was telling me to evacuate in their usual monotone voice, but I couldn't help but notice that it had sped up slightly.

"I won't let you die with me," I said. "Stick together after I'm gone, please. Show Claydol the ropes. Be safe."

Sunshine growled, and the heat emanating off him stung my face. I'd never seen him glare like this, not since he'd just joined the team near Mount Coronet. I bit my lip, and suddenly, thoughts popped up in my mind. Will it hurt? How long will I be conscious? If I go in feet first, it'll hurt more. I'm going to miss my Pokemon. I want to see my friends. My Mom. My Dad. I want to hug Cece and for her to tell me everything will be okay. I want to see Bellatrix and Night again. I want the world to remember me. I wanted to see Unova and to have fun there. I might be dooming the world by dying, but at least the other Shards are still alright. They raced, raced and raced until I broke down and collapsed on my knees. My mouth still tasted like dry vomit, my head was pounding against my skull like someone was driving a nail through my brain, and I was just, so, tired.

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"Grace."

My eyes drifted toward Lou, barely still open. She'd been closing her eyes this entire time, and I thought she'd been resigning to her fate. Instead, she recalled her two Pokemon so quickly her hands were a blur, and she clasped my shoulder.

"I will get you out of here," she quickly said. "It'll have to be just you and your Pokemon in their Pokeballs. Too many bodies, and I'll get you killed. I actually still might get you killed, with the way Melmetal is scrambling with my head, but it's your best shot."

"You…"

"I will stay here. We have about a minute left or less, so recall your Pokemon, and I'll send you on your way. Take mine, too. Don't release them, or they'll go berserk. They were already arguing in my head about how to get me to live."

"Lou, I can't—"

"None of that, now," she smiled.

She was terrified. Every inch of her being was screaming at her to run, yet she was pretending to be fine. Already, she was moving, recalling my Pokemon using her hands, but I didn't even have the strength to stop her.

"Can't you take both of us—"

"We'll die. I'll Teleport us into a wall, or into the ground, or too high in the sky, or in the street. With one, it can be precise. With two, the risk is too high, and it'll take all of my energy to do it once, with how much I have to concentrate. The metal is screwing with my senses and just barriers are exhausting me. Otherwise I would have shut up Zoroark as soon as he started screaming." She clipped Claydol's Pokeball to my belt, the last one who'd remained. "I'll send you to a nearby roof. You might stumble when you get there, so watch your step. Don't trip and fall on the street. Zoroark will come after you, so be ready for a fight. Buy time by flying on your Togekiss, but not too high to not alert Melmetal. He'll follow and try to kill you, but you can win, Grace. I saw it during that first battle."

"Lou—"

I met her white eyes one last time, and then I was gone. I scrambled to my feet, desperate to find the building we'd been in, but it was already out of view. I… couldn't see anything. I— she was gone. She was gone. Dead. She was afraid to die, and she'd done so alone, without anyone by her side. I let out a coarse cry, clawing against the floor until my nails split, bled and tore off, trying to cling to something that wasn't there and would never be. The worst part was that a sickening part of me felt happy I'd gotten to live, as if I deserved it. Like I wasn't the one who should have died, and not her. The fucking audacity of it, to feel relief when someone had just sacrificed herself for me.

"You fucking dare," I whispered to myself. "You deserve nothing but pain, you pathetic, worthless thing."

There was a beat of silence. A moment where the world hung, and even Melmetal in the distance appeared frozen.

"I killed her," I forced out. "I fucking… I fucking killed her."

Avenge her, something whispered at the back of my head. Make Zoroark pay the price.

"I'm exhausted," I told myself, looking at my bloodied nails. I wish it would have been Mesprit, talking to me, but it wasn't. I was sick.

Excuses. You were exhausted when you made Harry Rodriguez pay the long price. You were exhausted when you made Backlot pay it as well. Exhaustion is an excuse. Make him pay.

There was a sickening giggle around me that made me recoil until I realized it'd been coming from my mouth.

You can win, Grace.

No time to waste.

After sucking air through my teeth, I rose to my feet like a puppet being hoisted by strings, using the sharp pain shooting up my shredded fingers to focus. I bled over my Pokeballs to release my team, who all looked thankful that I'd been the one to do so and not some League employee an hour from now.

Their relief sickened me, but I let the feeling pass.

"Princess. Make me a walking stick, will you?"

The stone below my arm instantly extended until it softly reached my palm, smooth to the touch, and she cut it off from the roof we were standing on in the next moment. My blood dripped over the scepter as I gripped it tight. They worried for me, asking what had happened to my hands, or asking how we were going to survive the next hour before I softly clicked my tongue to tell them to simmer down. Lou's sacrifice would not be in vain. I would not get swallowed up by iron because we'd been too loud.

"Fighting's going to be tricky on this roof," I said. "I'll be flying on Princess, but Claydol, I need you to put up barriers around the team to buy me time to recall and reposition them from the skies before Melmetal can send his minions after them or Zoroark can strike. Can you do that for us? And could you possibly build one for me and Princess while we fly?"

Affirmative. As a guardian, barriers are my specialty, my King. Prepared to enact defensive measures upon your command.

"Good. You'll hover in the skies with us— and Buddy, too. Buddy's Jellicent," I explained, pointing at him with a lazy, bloodied thumb. "Here, can you update their names in your memory bank if I tell all of their names to you once? It'll be easier for the fight against Zoroark, and we know he's coming."

I listed all of my Pokemon's names, and Claydol's eyes flashed. Memory bank updated, they chimed.

Honey rolled his shoulders, patting me on the back, and Angel asked if there was any time for me to bandage my hands. I only had Buddy spray some warm water to clean them, but I needed to be at full mental capacity to assess the damage my team had taken and to do so as fast as possible. Apart from Buddy, Honey and Claydol, they were all either tired or exhausted. They'd gone toe to toe with Zoroark and he was not an opponent who would let you down easy. Foul Play could break through Sweetheart's plates by using her own physical prowess against her, he could cut through Sunshine's scales like butter with a similar technique, and he had a vendetta against Angel. Zoroark could turn any part of his body into blades, but it was safer to assume any weapon. He'd most likely strike at Princess with that metallic burst again while I was on her, but that was fine. With her and Claydol's efforts, I was gambling that it'd be enough.

Gambling was the wrong word to go about it. No, I was assuming that the probability of her resisting the shrapnel would be higher than… wait, that was gambling. I smiled, which worried my family further, but hey, we all found ways to cope, didn't we?

"Buddy, you're going to be important. There's little water to work with, but make your own. We're not trapping Zoroark this time, so feel free to go ham. Honey, you're the only one who can keep up with his speed and I trust your judgment, but don't take too many risks. If you can hit him from afar, do so, and use your speed to leap from roof to roof. You had good practice in the battle against Barry, but this time, if you fall…" I trailed off with a wince, and my throat tightened. "I'll recall you as fast as I can, but it'll hurt."

I paused, turning toward Sunshine and Sweetheart.

"You two are working in a pair. Sunshine, I want you as hot as possible. Make it so the fucker can't approach you without getting hurt, ghost or not. She'll be immune to your heat," I said. "Sweetheart, keep doing what you were doing last battle, but I'll recall you if you need mobility and when homes start getting swallowed up again. I thought Melmetal would prioritize keeping the town intact, but apparently not," I spoke as a huge Fire Blast slammed into its side in the distance, though I could tell now that my ACEs were on the back foot.

If I deal with Zoroark and they all die anyway, then what?

Then I was fucked, but if I didn't fight, I was fucked either way, so it'd be best not to think about that.

"Angel, you—"

Fiend incoming, Claydol said.

Ah. It would have been too convenient for Zoroark to show up after I finished, wouldn't it? Tangrowth quickly placed me on top of Princess, though I still glared at the ancient ghost. Part of his right arm was… just gone. Had Melmetal done that, or was it a trick to get me to lower my guard? He transformed into the King, though his arm still remained missing, and he began to speak in a gravely voice.

"At long last, thy minions are out of the way and occupied, plaything. How strange, that they follow thee when thou art the weakest."

While he wasted his time monologuing, Honey had jumped to another roof, and I had scattered the rest of my team across buildings while Claydol had applied barriers around them and us. Princess hovered in the sky, around twenty feet above Lakhutia's skyline.

"You know, if you're going to talk," I started, tilting my head to the side. "Why is it, that you call yourself Melmetal's nemesis when you can't hold a candle to their strength?"

Fury flashed in Zoroark's eyes, though he did not strike at me quite yet. He loved this, I realized. Running his mouth, and explaining his circumstances in long-winding ways. He had, after all, barely spoken to anything in the last thousand and eighteen years, save for Chase and the few expeditions who had been wiped out by him. The ghost in the form of a man rubbed the bottom of his chin and growled.

"Before I unravel thee and invert thy very essence, feeble one, let it be known— The Endless Alloy boasts a power far beyond the feeble confines of thy human intellect. Yet, I am boundless, returning from the Dusk after each demise, acquiring wisdom in every skirmish. I evolve, refining my prowess with each resurrection, chiseling away at the inevitable. It takes decades to subdue my nemesis, but in the end, I endure while it crumbles into a heap of rusting metal, lying dormant for centuries, and my blade dulls once more while I lie in wait for its return. Thus, the cycle persists. I merely hastened the dance to ensure thy demise. It will strike until all it considers parasites are dead, and that includes thou and I."

I didn't let the surprise show on my face. So Melmetal was a protector, but seeing as everyone was dead, they were content to flood the entire city in metal to cleanse it, for lack of a better word. Fights that lasted decades, and then centuries of dormancy. The fact that he spoke of it from a place of pride did not bode well for Zoroark's mental state. It was like Melmetal was his friend, or maybe the only being he could connect with down here. For Zoroark, nemesis implied a sick fondness of some sort, even if it went against what I considered normal.

Yet it was another part of the sentence, that caught my attention, and every second was a moment my Pokemon could rest.

"'A power far beyond the feeble confines of thy human intellect'," I mused. "If only you knew what was coming for you, Zoroark. Of what lay beyond the small city you think to be the entire world. I pity you, you know? Even though you killed a good woman today, I pity you, because you know nothing."

Zoroark's arm grew out, and his form flickered back as he roared in fury. It had been a trap, then. Good. Below us, and below the roofs, was an endless sea of metal that would swallow up anything that fell. I could afford few mistakes. My breathing quickened until I inhaled and straightened my back, placing my hands flat against Princess' back so they wouldn't tremble, but I still felt them spasm at random.

"You sing of ruin? Well, I sing of renewal, and I'll have you fucking dance to my song by the time we're done, you little shithead. Tucked safely into a ball so you can eventually come to regret what you've done here today and actually pay."

He'd been rushing at Tangrowth before I finished my sentence, leaping at him on all fours with his entire body wreathed with purple shadows. The grass type's eyes narrowed, and all of his vines blurred with Knock Off as he lashed out all around him. Still mid-air, Zoroark's entire body turned into an array of swords that I knew would cut through anything, Knock Off or not. From another roof, Honey's tails straightened as he shot out a massive beam of electricity that only phased through Zoroark, who landed next to Angel and cut apart Claydol's shield in three slices. Not yet. The ghost stabbed into Tangrowth's vines, uncaring for the few that did manage to land hits on his thin frame. A thousand vines squirmed in pain as the grass type helplessly attempted to lash out with Power Whips.

"Flamethrower, Sunshine!" I called out, recalling Angel.

The scorching stream of blue flames burned through the entire roof, causing Zoroark to let out a hate-filled scream. The building was already beginning to be swallowed up by steel, but all of my Pokemon were safe, now. I released Angel onto Honey's roof two homes away. While Sunshine kept his fire going, Sweetheart roared, collapsing the building faster than it would have sunk by creating a localized Earthquake below it. As soon as I raised a hand, Turtonator stopped, revealing that Zoroark was already gone. My eyes darted around the city, waiting for him to inevitably pass through a wall and stab someone, and I kept my hand near Honey and Angel's Pokeballs. Their flesh was the softest to cut, and Sunshine and Sweetheart's roof was so hot the stone was glowering red, so he would either target them first or me.

Zoroark identified, two o' clock, Claydol spoke.

I had no idea where the hell that was, but I noticed him soon enough. A small shape of wispy red and white pushed itself through a roof right below me, his arm turned to fragmented metal that burst upward like bullets. Claydol's eyes flashed as they reinforced the invisible barrier around us, and Princess' did too. I winced when I heard the cracks from the impact, and pushed Togekiss to go faster to dodge, but Jellicent's sphere of water he had been gathering quickly traveled below us, slowing the speed of the shrapnel enough for the barrier to stop them before he turned it to ice and used Brine. Each raindrop was as thick as my head and stabbed into Zoroark before he blurred away from his current roof. With a flash of light, electricity submerged Electivire's body, and he jumped with thick vines wrapped around his waist. He'd wanted to slam into Zoroark mid-air, but instead all he managed was to phase through him with a Thunder Punch that still hurt him, with the way electricity crackled around his pale frame. Having expected a bigger blow, Honey screwed his landing and tumbled onto the nearby building with a flattened roof, sliding until he fell beyond the edge. Tangrowth's legs buckled, and he slid across his roof as he held his brother from falling into the metal. When Princess gave me the angle, I recalled him before he could fall further in. Every home around us was getting swallowed up, now, as if Melmetal didn't care any longer, but I didn't have time to worry about them.

He was warmed up enough, now.

"Sunshine, I'm pulling you in!" I yelled.

The dragon grunted in agreement, and in a split second, I recalled and released him right next to Zoroark. The air warped and burned as flames burst from every inch of the dragon's skin and the ghost cried out, lashing out at his softened plastron. I winced at each cut of the sword, but Turtonator stood his ground and Jellicent arrived seconds later, using Zoroark's own tricks and having slipped through the ground. His head opened up like a giant maw, having grown three-fold, and wrapped around Zoroark as he boiled the ghost with Scald and Sunshine's combined heat.

Zoroark said something in the water and screamed. A purple shock wave spread throughout the city, but not actually causing any physical damage beyond the confines of his roof. Jellicent exploded, for lack of a better word, scattering across the entire perimeter while Sunshine's eyes bulged out of their sockets and he stumbled back. I recalled him before he could get cut up further and whispered to Princess.

"Moonblast."

Sharpness was her implement, and so, she would cut. The home Zoroark had been standing on was tilting, now, and mini-Melmetal were just making it onto the roof as she gathered the moon in front of her mouth. In the distance, Angel had been rooting himself and taking over his entire home, that little genius. He'd figured out what I'd wanted from him without me even finishing our strategy meeting. With heavy breaths, Zoroark retreated back inside of another house through a slanted tiled roof, but Sweetheart summoned a Dark Pulse that easily broke through it, even with being over two hundred feet away.

But it would not matter if Zoroark hid.

"Cut," I ordered.

Princess' Moonblast looked not like a ball of light like her old one, but like a replica of the moon in the sky, blotches of darkness, craters and all, with only a few impurities to speak of. It was in awe, that I watched my daughter release her newly-coined attack. This one was quick. It did not hover in the air for a long time like Bella's, basking in the attention of others as it commanded the world to spin around it. This one blurred, and within two seconds, it had made it to Zoroark's refuge. The ancient home just… unraveled as the moon continuously spun. As if an invisible force had been cutting across it laterally. The old bricks collapsed into the sea of silver, the stone furniture was cut to ribbons and ground to dust, and it was difficult to see, but the Moonblast cut across Zoroark, splitting his body into nine parts that continuously rejoined and were continuously cut. Had the circumstances been better, my chest would have swelled with pride, but instead, I just watched. I watched him get sliced up and spend energy on regenerating, over and over until the Moonblast winked out of existence and Princess' wings sagged with exhaustion.

But I would be a fool to think that it was over.

There was a low, rumbling snarl from within the collapsed building, and Zoroark emerged from the debris before it could all sink down in the flooded city. He held out a palm, blowing a mini-Melmetal apart with two Shadow Balls before it could get to him.

Not yet, I told myself. He isn't tired enough yet.

Sunshine appeared next to Sweetheart again in a sea of scarlet with heavy breaths, blood gushing from his chest. In the corner of my eye, Jellicent was slowly reforming, though much of his mass had been swallowed up by Melmetal and he would be weakened for the rest of the battle without a water source to regenerate his entire body from. Electivire stood on one knee with clenched teeth, still reeling from the surge of ghostly energy Zoroark had let loose earlier.

Angel, though?

He was ready.

First, the setup.

"Honey," I breathed out. "Railgun. Small scale."

The house he'd been standing on was close to the ground, now, and electricity danced through his fur as it hummed like a motor. He stumbled to the edge of the building, raised a hand, and liquid still rose from the streets below. Zoroark snarled, his eyes flashing in fury as he sent a Shadow Ball barreling forward and blurred. Shit, too fast— I held out a hand as a headache crushed my skull like a grape, but I held strong. If we didn't make it, we would die; I knew we would, with the way all of my Pokemon were at the end of their rope, and so, I did not hesitate. More subtly this time, I slipped guilt I knew all too well now into Zoroark's heart. Not enough to make him stop and not applied enough to be permanent, but enough to make him slow, and I knew right after doing so that I would not be able to do so again. A slight tug from Claydol's powers kept me on Princess before I could fall off again from sheer exhaustion.

Unlike Mathilda, Zoroark didn't seem to understand that I'd been the one who fucked with him, so he paid me no mind, instead rushing to crush Honey's bones with an enormous hammer for an arm. The electric type grunted, pointing at Zoroark as he shot out liquid steel like a raygun. Zoroark cried out as the iron ate at his ghostly skin, but he didn't stop. He pushed, uncaring for any pain he was in and slammed the hammer into Honey's side. There was a sickening crunch, and I saw my hands pale as Honey lost control of the metal and it landed on him— It had only been a few drops, and yet—

The screams were something I'd never forget. His entire hand— his hand—

Electivire's Pokeball rose from my belt, and he was recalled by Claydol. I'd been too frozen to do it myself, because I was a miserable, useless piece of shit who'd been so scared her hands hadn't even moved. Honey's hand was gone. Eaten away by the metal like acid up to his wrist. Zoroark heaved, lifting himself as his form flickered from the metal continuously spreading through his skin. It was then, that Angel looked at him from above his roof, his eyes full of sorrow.

All of this time, Zoroark had been particularly focused on him, and I'd come to understand why before this fight had even begun, when Lou had been restraining him to a wall. Zoroark hated being pitied, and that was all Angel could feel for him. Pity. The ghost wasn't deterred by the home being completely overtaken by vines, and instead rushed toward the grass type, dodging Sunshine's Flamethrower and getting grazed by Sweetheart's Dark Pulse. His movements were slow, now. Lethargic, like each conscious twitch of his body took a massive amount of effort. At the bottom of the home, Tangrowth's vines had been coated in Knock Off, mere inches away from the liquid metal, and it was only now that he doused them in it. Claydol's eyes flashed, and he summoned an invisible wall that Zoroark crashed in, buying precious seconds for him to bring his vines back up as the ghost clawed his way through the barrier—

"Unravel it," I said.

—the barrier disappeared, and Zoroark fell.

He had not expected that, had he?

The steel was quickly eating at the vines, even through Knock Off, but Angel had many to use. He snatched Zoroark's neck with vines coated with silver, squeezing tightly as the ghost choked. He was trapped, now. Unable to phase through the metal. Each time a vine disintegrated, Tangrowth would replace it. After all, this entire house was his.

"Sweetheart, blast him!" I yelled.

Their home had been getting invaded by mini-Melmetal, but Sunshine was fighting them off as best he could with ambient heat and Flamethrowers. Tyranitar gathered a ball of pitch black darkness that exploded outward and slammed into Zoroark's body. Tangrowth continuously replaced his vines, forcing Zoroark to just take the attack.

He was at the end of his rope.

It took a full minute of multiple Dark Pulses for Zoroark to turn into a puddle of white and red, unable to fight any longer. He was not dead, but he was on the verge, threading the line between the Dusk and our world. Another hit, and he would be done for. Part of me knew that he secretly hoped he would pass on, but he couldn't. Not yet. Angel detached the vines off his body before he could be completely eaten away and I asked Princess to get closer. I would not land on the roof, because fuck that. We hovered high above the roof as a heavy silence settled in, with only the background noise of my ACEs fighting Melmetal to fill my ears.

My King. Permission to finish Fiend off? Claydol asked.

"No. That's letting him off too easy, for what he's done. He'll just reappear in a few days and get back to living his life if we do that."

Acknowledged. It is known for its trickery and underhanded tactics. Assessment: High probability of finding an opening to strike again. Recommend heightened vigilance.

"Thank you," I mumbled. It was hard not to worry about Honey's hand right now. "Can you still speak?" I asked Zoroark.

A mouth formed in the puddle, almost transparent. "Proceed, then. Bind me as a thrall and subject me to the anguish anew, thou wretched being. Though it may span decades, rest assured, my vengeance shall manifest. A lethargic demise awaits thee, protracted and deliberate, as I extract retribution in due time."

Jellicent, who had just reformed, was barely a third of his size right now, and he hovered behind me.

"How do I stop Melmetal from rampaging?" I asked. "How do I make them understand that we don't want to destroy the city? They're doing most of that right now, actually."

"Believest thou that a mere triumph in battle shalt coerce me into divulging secrets? I would endure a century of torment ere yielding such knowledge. Who art thou to assume thou canst converse with my nemesis? Whether thou art expunged from this realm within the hour or escapeth, my resolve stands unyielding. Thy fate holds little consequence, for in the end, I shall prevail, be it through cleansing or conquest."

Arceus, did he have to speak like that? Claydol didn't, or maybe his words just took the easiest form for me to understand them with. I was so tired that I barely understood half of that. With a sigh, I clasped an empty Pokeball.

"Who am I?" I said with a sad smile. "Nothing. And so are you."

I had learned that delaying in hopes of a miracle— that he would somehow divulge the information if I was nice or understanding enough was a lost cause. I dropped the device down, and it hit the ghost with a soft thud. He was absorbed into the Pokeball, and although he struggled, he was only delaying the inevitable.

Ding.

He was caught.

I'd hand him over to the League. I did not have it in me to raise a Pokemon that would continuously try to murder me at every turn and it wouldn't be fair to him for me to treat him the way I would. He had killed Lou, almost gotten Sunshine and Honey killed, and would potentially cause the death of more. I could not look him in the eye and say in good conscience that I would try to do good by him, and more importantly, I did not have the tools to fix him in a natural way.

No. We would not be a good fit at all, though I would have to pitch to Cynthia not to keep him trapped in a ball forever if we ever got out of here alive. I recalled all of my Pokemon save for Claydol and Princess and rolled my shoulders as I let go of my walking stick and watched it sink into the metallic sea.

"Claydol."

Yes, my King?

"Something's been stewing in my head, you see. I don't think we can beat Melmetal, and even if I tried to help, I'd just get in the way. But I don't think fighting or stalling is the way out of this, Claydol. I think we negotiate. Show that we took care of Zoroark and don't mean any harm."

I paused, wincing as my head pounded and my arm seemed to twitch involuntarily with a slight spasm.

"I don't exactly know how Melmetal thinks other than they feel things. They felt more like a decentralized entity without a central brain. Like a mass of metal given consciousness, or something like that, I don't know, I'm just spitballing. Would negotiations be possible with such an entity?"

The Eternal Alloy is a benevolent being who aided Lakhutia for centuries. Communicating is more than possible, and I believe they would be more likely to listen if I was present, as one of the ancient King's personal guardians. Recommending diplomatic engagement for potential cooperation and resolution by presenting the Fiend's body.

"No, we're not sacrificing anyone here," I shook my head. "Or at least not until we try to be the best we can be."

Motive unrecognized.

I chuckled sadly. "That's fine, Claydol. Just follow my lead. Princess? I know you're at the end of your rope, but how fast do you think you can go?"

Togekiss answered with half-formed words, but I felt the focus and determination within her. Now that Zoroark was gone, so was the rage that lingered here, and instead, all I felt was Melmetal's grief. Let's try, I repeated to myself. There was a pit of anxiety forming in my stomach at the thought of seeing my ACEs and Lou's Pokemon, and them having to realize that she was dead. Not only that, but I'd potentially be throwing her sacrifice away by trying to do good instead of hiding like I should. Princess whined about a worsening headache, which I empathized with. All this time, my headache had been worsening too, along with a feeling of nausea and struggling to take full breaths. I felt sick, like that time I'd gone to Mount Coronet to save Cece, but Princess was sick too, somehow. There were traces of it in the entire team, save for Claydol and Jellicent. As we approached Melmetal, keeping low to the ground, I realized that the situation was worse than it had looked from afar. Only thirteen Pokemon remained to all of the ACEs, including their mounts, and Melmetal… well, there was some rust coating their body, but it was still fighting as fast as before. They'd tired them out some, but they would need to fight five times as long to hope to finish them off. It was Serena atop her Skarmory who spotted me first, then Maxwell, Ariel and Richard. Maxwell grimaced, motioning at Ariel to go talk to me as his Honchkrow dove out of the way and sent a series of darkened blasts toward Melmetal.

"What are you doing here?!" the ACE yelled. I'd never seen her do that in my life. Her dark brown hair was disheveled, and she was sweating bullets, but she did not look wounded. None of them did. Their Pokemon… were in a much worse shape.

I rereleased Claydol into the air, since they wouldn't have been able to keep up with us getting here. "Ariel, listen to me. You can't win."

"We're buying time—"

"I know, but it's not going to work. We're all going to die if we don't change things up," I rambled, "I've dealt with Zoroark, and I caught him."

There were thousands of questions at the tip of her tongue, but she just nodded. We would leave the sorrow for later. I asked her to get further away from Melmetal, who summoned ten Flash Cannons that all homed toward Maxwell, Serena and Richard. Even when I closed my eyes, I could still see the light from the beams beyond my eyelids. When I opened them again, everyone was thankfully okay. Serena's Skarmory had done some kind of trick to avert the attack, and Melmetal didn't look to be the smartest fighter, thank the Legendaries.

"Remember what Zoroark said? That Melmetal would do… this until the people they consider intruders were dead?" She nodded, though the name 'Melmetal' was new to her. "I have Claydol with me, I can maybe convince them that we're fine. And they shouldn't be able to feel Zoroark's presence any longer."

"You'd need to get close enough to speak to it," Ariel muttered. "That means you'd be risking your life."

"I know. But we're not going to last long enough, Ariel. This… this isn't something you can deal with. Melmetal's too powerful to brute force things."

"Negotiating with Zoroark didn't work, Grace."

"Zoroark was on me," I immediately acknowledged. "And I'm sorry about that. I will apologize and try to repay you until I'm dead, but we have to live first. Zoroark and Melmetal just don't function the same way, Ariel. I'm an empath, I know this."

Ariel sighed. "It would be Maxwell's call. He's in charge, now."

Now that Lou was dead was left unsaid, and I ignored the pit of guilt in my stomach telling me that I was the wrong person to have survived.

"Can you—" I stopped, clenching at my forehead. "Can you call Maxwell over and replace him? Get us to speak?"

"His Honchkrow is the only thing keeping us alive right now," Ariel answered.

"Then I'm going."

"Gra—"

"We are dead either way, Ariel, and you know it! Claydol!" I yelled to interrupt her. "Would you be capable of speaking in Melmetal's head from here?"

Negative. The Endless Alloy does not have a proper 'mind' to communicate with, the ground type said. I would have to use an audible voice and not telepathy.

"That still works. Ariel, you have to let the other ACEs know to stop their attacks, and I have to go alone," I said.

"Now you're asking for too much—"

"Listen to me. Negotiations won't work if you're attacking Melmetal, okay? Just… put it all on pause. It'll be a gesture of goodwill. Can you convince Maxwell for me, or are you going to continue this meaningless fight?"

Both Mathilda and Zoroark had told me that the fact that the ACEs were here in the first place made them less likely to talk. I couldn't send them away, but I could at least compromise. Ariel paused, chewing on my words as a set of metallic whips extended from Melmetal's arms and destroyed more buildings. One of the Pokemon— Maxwell's Ursaring— was hit by droplets of liquid iron and his arm started to melt off until his trainer recalled him.

"We're running out of time," I muttered.

"It has a better chance of success than what we're doing… so go. I'll warn Maxwell."

"Thank you," I breathed out. "Princess?"

This was our opening. Melmetal always waited in between attacks for a reason I did not understand. Maybe it was because they'd been dormant for over a century, or perhaps it took them time to charge attacks of this calibre, or a combination of both. Either way, Togekiss flew up, gaining in altitude as Claydol followed to the best of their ability. Melmetal was completely focused on the ACEs and their Pokemon because they'd been fighting non-stop for nearly thirty minutes. I waited for the steel type's next attack, and it came soon after. Droplets of iron rose from the metallic sea, twisting until they turned into paper-thin sheets of metal that Melmetal sent hurtling forward. I heard Maxwell swear behind me, his voice now faint because of how far away I was. I patted Princess fur, still bloodied from my fingers, and I she dove down, causing the wind to whip my hair around. The attacks from the ACEs had stopped, now, thank the Legendaries.

"Endless Alloy!" I called out so loudly that my throat rasped. "Hear me out, please!"

The amalgamation of liquid steel slowly turned my way, but I didn't wait for it to look.

"Issuing declaration: Lakhutia's new King is addressing you, O child of God. I have been assigned as her new Guardian, as I was for countless monarchs before her. Let it be known she comes in peace," Claydol smoothly said.

The little dark orb in the center of Melmetal's golden gear narrowed at me, confirming that it was their eye. Spikes rose from the metal below, but they did not fly at me. Looks like pretending to be a King works with Claydol here, thank the Legendaries.

"This entire battle's been a big misunderstanding," I quickly added. "The ACEs didn't come here to destroy the city, they're just my bodyguards. When you woke up so suddenly, they panicked, and I guess you panicked too, seeing unfamiliar faces around with Zoroark— speaking of Zoroark— or I guess the Fiend, I dealt with him for you! You should be able to sense that he's no longer here, no? The rage clinging to this place is gone. There's not even a whisper of it left."

The grinding sound of metal against metal escaped Melmetal's frame, and I cursed myself for not being able to understand. I opened up my empathy once more and delved deeper— not too deep, because I didn't want to pass out where I sat. Even Princess looked to be on the verge. Beyond the grief that had molded Melmetal, there was a certain understanding, but it was also mixed with wariness.

"We're sorry about the destroyed buildings and the damage we've caused. If you'd let us leave, we would without a word," I said. "But I have something else to say first, if you will allow it."

There was no reaction, but their emotions didn't waver, so I continued.

"All this time, you've known nothing but the city," I said. "They call you 'child of God' here, don't they?"

Query recognized: the people of Lakhutia believe that the world was forged by a metalworker deity and that Melmetal was given to them by him as a gift, Claydol quickly added in my mind.

Imaginary Gods, Zoroark had said. Melmetal was powerful, but it wasn't a child of a God unless you took being Arceus' children literally. Both Melmetal and Zoroark had only known Lakhutia. One had been forced into the role of a demi-God deity to the acclaim of their people, while the other had been forced into the role of a demon, or something akin to it, and was forced to endure centuries of torment. And now, only they remained, their people long gone, stuck in an endless cycle of ruin and renewal. A never-ending war between grief and rage.

"I was a little like that, when I was younger," I said. "I barely knew anything other than my room and my school, because doing anything else was uncomfortable and scary. The world out there is a beautiful place, Melmetal. Don't stay chained up to the same place out of obligation— because it's what you've always done. Zoroark's gone now, and you can go and experience the outside world without worrying that the city would be destroyed without you."

Worry. Fear. Apprehension. Uncertainty. Each feeling hit me like I'd been run over by a car because of the sheer magnitude of the being I was talking to today. Most of it was redirected toward the city's future without a guardian, but some toward the ruin Melmetal would be leaving behind, if they left to travel the wild on their own.

"I… well, maybe I can come back when we're all better? I think we're all getting a little sick. My Togekiss is excellent at shaping stone, so we could fit up the damage we all caused. If you don't trust us, I could stick around a while as— well, some kind of hostage, I guess. I'll hand over my Pokemon to be healed, and Claydol and I will hang out here. They'll have to bring me food and probably leave at least one bodyguard behind, but we can fix all of this. We can—"

Arceus, my head, I groaned. It was like it was being split in two.

Approval, but not in full. Pain. Loss. Cycle. Melmetal's rusted skin rippled, and it was then that I realized my ACE trainers had dealt more damage than I'd first believed— no, Melmetal had used too much of their power too quickly right after awakening to deal with them when they usually only had to contend with Zoroark, and they would be falling asleep soon no matter what. I did not know what soon meant, but the feeling I got was an hour or two. Beyond when Cynthia and the League would have arrived, but that didn't matter. It was not the point I was focusing on.

It meant that Melmetal was condemned to at least another century of sleep. In the corner of my eye, I saw Maxwell, gripping a stump where his hand should be. The earlier attack had cut his wrist clean off.

Hesitation. Expectation. Favor.

They were tired of fighting.

"Favor…" I muttered. "Melmetal, I'm not— I'm nothing. You'd be disappointed with me, and how would it even work? You're… falling asleep soon," I whimpered.

Never mind that the League would not let me keep them, or at least I didn't believe they would.

Opportunity.

Healing.

Renewal.

The sea of iron rippled without warning across the entire city, absorbing the mini-Melmetals in the process. The buildings did not get swallowed up by the endless tide of silver. Instead, the ones who had collapsed rose again— newer ones, made of metal, but ragged and worn so they would appear to be rock at first glance. They were perfect replicas. Replicas was important, because Lou was still dead and she was never coming back. Already, her other three Pokemon had been discreetly recalled. I placed a hand over my mouth, choking up from the sacrifice taking place in front of my eyes and as the emotions of this entire debacle started sinking in. Melmetal's body did not shine bright. Instead, rust spread like a cancer, slowly overtaking their entire frame. It clung to the gears, the golden one atop their head crumbling to dust as the liquid metal returned to the main body. Melmetal grew to forty feet tall, leaving only thin sinews of rust behind that looked more like a bird cage than the majestic body that had come before. I called out to Togekiss, who landed on the now solid ground and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. I barely managed to stand on my good leg, wobbly as it was, and a thin psychic hold from Claydol kept me upright. After thanking her for pushing herself so far, I recalled my starter and clipped her Pokeball back on my belt. I limped toward Melmetal's corpse, my eyes struggling to stay open, and I crouched at the sliver of iron and gold that remained on the floor.

Small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, and much smaller than the ones they'd created before. I outstretched my arm, placing my palm up from the floor, and the mini-Melmetal hopped in my hand with a confused warble. I ignored the agonizing pain in my fingers and turned to Claydol.

The situation could have unfolded less favorably. Let us express gratitude for the fortunate outcome, Claydol said, their pupils forming into upside-down 'U's to mimic happiness. Happiness that they did not feel, and that I was not feeling either, but the gesture was appreciated.

"Let's see the world, both you and I," I said, before addressing… the nameless metallic blob in my hand. I struggled to understand if this was a new life, or reincarnation of some kind, but they were just so fragile. Like pulling on them too hard would unravel the entire structure. "You're tired of fighting, aren't you? You won't have to do that, or train, or anything else you don't like."

It had cost others. Lou was dead, and her Pokemon would grieve her like mine would have if I'd died. Maxwell had lost a hand. The majority of my ACEs' Pokemon were grievously injured or maybe worse.

It had cost my family. They were all physically broken, sick, and most of all, Honey's hand was missing as well, and the bones in his body had been shattered. It would take long for us to heal.

It would keep costing me. It was a debt I would never be able repay in full, and I had not come here with this goal in mind.

But I'd saved two people from an eternity of war or exploitation today. I hoped one day I would have it in me to do this without tasting ash in my mouth, and without endangering the lives of others. You couldn't have known, Lou had told me, and yet…

And yet.

I barely registered catching the mini-Melmetal before passing out.