“I don’t really know what to say. Good luck, I guess.”
Arezu coughed again. She leaned over to the side of her medical cot to grab a cup of water and took a deep sip to wet her throat. “I’m sorry, it’s just so strange to me that Sinnoh would do something like this.”
“How do you know it’s Sinnoh that caused it?” Alec asked, standing beside the cot.
Arezu looked up, toward the thatched ceiling of the building. Somehow, Alec got the impression she was looking past it, to the skies. “Who else is up there?” she asked rhetorically. “The only God spoken of here is Sinnoh.”
“What about the god the Pearls worship?”
Arezu laughed. “You’re still new here, so I’ll let that one slide. They don’t worship Sinnoh, or any god. They worship a censored and tweaked version of our Sinnoh.” She waved her hand. “Ask Adaman, he’s an expert in our history. He’ll tell ya.”
Alec nodded. He had a curious feeling that a Pearl would say the exact same thing about the Diamond’s Sinnoh. He was very curious about the strange dynamic the two clans had. Given how similar their practices and cultures were, it was almost like they were two different sects or denominations of the same religion. It seemed they had a schism at some point and their beliefs had slowly warped over time, for both of them.
Well, he wasn’t here to bring about religious reformation. He was here to protect people.
“Any last bits of advice?” he asked hopefully.
“Nothing I haven’t already told you.” Arezu sighed. “It’s strange. It’s only been two days, but it feels like I haven’t seen my Lady in months. Every morning, we’d start the day by dancing together. Today’s the first day in … years I haven’t.”
“Don’t worry. She’ll be alright.”
“How do you know?”
“...”
Silence. Truthfully, he didn’t know. At all. He did know that out of all the people of Hisui, he had the best shot at it. No one else had seen Arceus. No one else had been plucked from their own time for some reason, for some mission they had to fulfill.
Alec couldn’t even begin to fathom why Arceus was doing this. Arezu was right, Arceus was the only god of the region, so there were no other deities that could be responsible. Legendary or God Pokemon tended to stay in their home region.
“Anyways,” Arezu eventually said. “Stay strong and be confident. Sinnoh chose you to quell our Nobles, and They never do anything without a good reason.”
“I guess so,” Alec replied. “Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow still in one piece.”
Arezu nodded. “Go dance with the angels.”
----------------------------------------
Alec patted Wyrdeer’s side. “Ready?”
Wyrdeer stamped at the ground impatiently. Alec got a mental impression of anxiousness and determination from the Noble.
They stood just outside the Solaceon Village gate. Compared to the past days, the weather seemed far more favorable. From the quickly approaching winter, it had been steadily growing colder, but today had a comfortable sunny climate. It was a dry heat, without any traces of humidity or moisture, so Alec wasn’t getting sweaty.
On his belt, his two Pokeballs wobbled expectantly. Alec had spoken with his team earlier, coming up with a game plan for the battle. He’d learned from Arezu that Lilligant was a Grass and Fighting type. Plus, it obviously knew Moves across other Types, judging by Arezu’s wound — which was clearly caused by a Poison type.
Alec had already made the proper plans with his teammates. Where last time, against Kleavor, they’d had a general plan, this time they had specifics. Both of his Pokemon would be by his side this time to assist.
Tricky’s role was to distract Lilligant. The Shinx’s Electric attacks would be ineffective on Lilligant, so Alec had instructed him to focus on paralysis. Since Alec was worried about him getting permanently injured, he was to keep out of the way of danger as much as he could.
Auster was going to be his primary damage output. This was a no-brainer decision, since a Grass and Fighting-type would take severe damage from the Dartrix’s Flying-type attacks. With his new evolution, Alec was relatively confident he could take at least one attack from Lilligant and keep fighting.
“Let’s do this,” he muttered to no one as he pushed off and climbed up onto Wyrdeer’s saddle. There was no one at the gates of Solaceon Village to see him off, for all of the Diamonds were focusing on containing the catastrophe occuring at Cloudpool Ridge. Nothing but the welcoming silence of the winds.
“Ready?” Alec asked.
He felt nothing but confidence and tenacity from Wyrdeer’s mental space.
“Then let’s go,” he grinned.
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Alec forced himself to keep his eyes open. The raging wind against his face dried his eyes out but he couldn’t bear to shy away.
Wyrdeer charged at its top speed, past the trees and over the puddles of mud. For such an uninviting and swamp-like landscape, the vegetation of Cloudpool Ridge was extremely green.
Their route was almost a straight shot from the Diamond settlement. Though, Wyrdeer knew where they were going so Alec didn’t need to worry about navigation with his map.
Off in the foliage, Alec caught sight of the first manic Pokemon. It was a Carnivine, a species that looked like a carnivorous plant came to life, with razor-sharp leaves for arms. It viciously sliced at the trunk of a tree with its arm, leaving thick gashes in the bark. The tree, though it looked ready to topple over at a slight gust, held firm and stayed upright against the onslaught. It was too far away to be of any real danger, but Alec still felt a tight pit in his stomach.
Hold tight, he thought. He didn’t know if he was thinking about the Carnivine or the tree. Maybe both.
As they pressed on farther and farther into the dense forest, Alec glimpsed more Pokemon for brief moments. Two Budews, mercilessly slamming into each other in a vague attempt at a battle. A Psyduck, writhing on the ground in agony, clutching its head. Where Kleavor had destroyed its domain, Lilligant sought to strangle it. Whatever was causing the Nobles to fall into a frenzy held all of Cloudpool in a steel chokehold.
Alec’s thoughts were interrupted by a flash of warning from Wyrdeer. He looked ahead, peeking between the Noble’s massive antlers, and gasped.
Directly ahead of them stood a large Parasect. The crustacean-like Pokemon’s glassy eyes darted about with no clear purpose. It scuttled around back and forth, swiping its claws at a few stray ferns beside it. A moment later, it looked up and caught sight of them. It screeched a challenge, sounding like a heavy chair sliding across a concrete floor and making Alec wince.
However, Wyrdeer was unphased. It didn’t slow down at all, continuing its charge straight in the path of the Parasect. Alec’s face paled as he saw the massive fungal growth on its back swell up like a volcano about to erupt. When he looked inward, he only felt calm from Wyrdeer. That meant he had nothing to worry about.
Alec instinctively redoubled his grip on the Noble’s fur. Once they were close enough, Wyrdeer leaped straight over the Parasect. Alec gasped as he felt his body go nearly weightless, making sure to maintain his grip on Wyrdeer.
They landed with a thump, completely dodging the Parasect. Alec didn’t see any more immediate dangers around them so he allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.
Wyrdeer began to veer to the right, toward Brava Arena. By now, the feeling of the wind on his face had almost faded into a background distraction.
They blew straight past two more Carnivine, sending vicious Leaf Blades at each other with the intent to kill. Alec noticed that these two both sported the signature red eyes of Alphas, meaning they hadn’t been influenced by Lilligant’s spell. It was a strange juxtaposition, seeing the terrifying Alpha Pokemon reduced to a common occurrence.
They barely seemed annoyed by the strange intruder blasting through their territory. Alec shuddered, logically knowing that he was safe but worrying regardless that he’d be attacked. His phobia of Alpha Pokemon was like a pair of shackles holding him back.
Since Alec was more of a passenger than an active participant in the journey, trusting Wyrdeer’s skill and agility to evade attacks, he just kept his head low. Still, he flicked his eyes toward everything that moved. There was always a chance that Wyrdeer didn’t see something.
Alec dared to relax his grip just a smidgen — not enough to put him at risk of any real danger, but enough to allow blood to flow through his fingers again. He wiggled them to encourage circulation, still making sure to keep his hands bolted to Wyrdeer’s fur. Any sudden dodges would throw him from its back.
For what felt like an eternity — but in reality was only about ten minutes — the Noble and Chosen pressed on. Wyrdeer didn’t let a single malicious attack get close to them, smoothly flowing between attacks like fluid through a pipe.
Almost there, he thought. A bead of sweat, formed under the oppressive heat of the sun, dripped down his forehead and into his eyes. He blinked rapidly, unable to wipe them with his hands.
Directly before them, Alec spotted movement through Wyrdeer’s antlers. Its red and blue limbs stuck out against the dominantly green and brown forest, like a Fire-type in a snowscape. Its scarlet eyes glowed brightly, marking this as an Alpha. “Roserade,” he trembled. He’d seen that Pokemon before, on TV at home, multiple times.
Of all the Trainers who sent out a Roserade, there was one pattern: They won nearly every match with shocking efficiency.
But Wyrdeer charged on, straight at it.
Panic slowly trickled into his mind, mixing adrenaline into his blood and raising his heart rate again. The Roserade screeched, a lifting and melodious sound that contrasted strongly against the murderous tone it carried. It was reminiscent of an opera singer’s powerful and emotional voice, promising surefire death to whoever dared to encroach upon its territory.
Alec’s eyes widened as he saw scattered leaves, blades of grass, and flower petals begin to swirl around Roserade, commanded by its voice. It spun in a graceful dance, making the petals swim through the air like schools of Water-types in an ocean. Beautiful. Graceful. Bloodthirsty.
This was one of the first times an attack had been intended directly for them. Wyrdeer exuded calmness and control from its mental presence, meaning Alec was worrying for nothing. But mere rationality wasn’t enough to calm the tempest in his mind.
“Wyrdeer, go around,” he said, raising his voice loud enough to be audible over the wind wooshing past them. “Go around! Move out of its way!”
Still, nothing but calm came from Wyrdeer.
Like a tornado, the foliage around Roserade twisted and spun, fluttering on unseen wind. Alec quickly put two and two together, recognizing it as using Petal Dance.
The black orbs on Wyrdeer’s antlers began to warp the air around them like a smoky fire. They almost seemed to glow, as if they were emitting darkness instead of light, as the black sheen only grew deeper and darker. Wyrdeer’s mental presence vanished from Alec’s head.
Without Wyrdeer’s calm to anchor him, Alec quickly felt his primal fear spike. He logically knew that it had a plan — it was clearly doing something as a part of it now — but he couldn’t help but panic.
The Roserade struck a pose, finishing its dance with a bouquet of flowers pointed straight at them. For a moment, Alec saw past its gleaming red eyes — and saw only death underneath. Heeding its command, the Petal Dance swirled and redirected towards them.
Alec flinched and ducked his head down as low as it would go, pressing it tight against Wyrdeer’s neck. He expected to hear the petals zipping above him, but nothing came.
He dared to shoot a glance upward and saw an invisible barrier shielding Wyrdeer and him from the petals. It glimmered like oil on water and the petals deflected off it like rain on a windshield.
It’s making a Psychic shield, Alec thought, amazed. Still, he stayed low from an abundance of caution.
The Roserade tried again with a different attack, though Alec didn’t recognize this one. Wyrdeer harmlessly deflected it with its shield and kept running forward. It leaped directly over the Roserade’s head and continued on its mission.
As it grew farther and farther away, Alec heard the Roserade angrily scream again before running off, likely to find an opponent to challenge. He breathed a much-needed sigh of relief, now fully trusting that he would be safe.
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The light wind did little to alleviate the burn of the sun.
“Thank you,” Alec said to Wyrdeer, bowing his head in respect. Wyrdeer did the same. “I’ll bring Lilligant back. I promise.”
Wyrdeer turned around to leave. There was no purpose for it to wait there for Alec to finish the fight. If he was successful, the danger in Cloudpool would be pacified.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
If he lost, his return journey wouldn’t be a concern.
Mai and the rest of the Diamonds still needed Wyrdeer’s help to protect their settlement.
Once Wyrdeer fully disappeared back into the forest, Alec opened his Pokeballs and released Auster and Tricky. Auster cawed and flew upward, circling low above them, and Tricky walked in front of Alec to protect him.
Though he was wearing pants, the tall grass of Brava Arena brushed against his legs, making them tickle and itch. Up the hill towards Lilligant’s domain, the grass faded and gave way to a stone path. Steps had been carved into it, marking the way.
With his team in tow, Alec headed over and climbed the stairs. At the top was a large dirt dais, roughly circular and about thirty paces across. A few fallen and crumbled pillars dotted the surrounding area. He frequently checked over his shoulder, not wanting anything to sneak up on him. Slowly, he walked into the arena.
He spun around in a full 360. Lilligant wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He unfocused his eyes, trying to see any movement in the thicket, but he could only see the grass waving in the wind. Auster dutifully circled above them, ready to intervene if anything went south.
He took a deep breath. A bead of sweat dripped from his eyebrow to the ground. Where it landed, a single blade of grass sprouted from the dirt, curling upward toward the sun like a drowning man reaching for something to cling to.
Slowly, the wind grew quieter and the grass stopped moving. Tricky let out a low-pitched growl, sniffing the air for any sign of Lilligant’s presence.
Directly behind him, Alec heard the telltale sound of footsteps on dirt.
He whirled around and saw the Lady of the Ridge. It had a humanoid form, with long leaves for arms and two white stalks — like those of a medicinal leek — for legs.
It stood slightly shorter than Kleavor and looked lithe where Kleavor was hulking. Just like Kleavor, it was wreathed in the same ethereal golden glow. Its eyes were a molten white, glowing like the sun.
Reflexively, Alec pulled a balm from his satchel and clutched it in his hand. He widened his stance and bent his knees, ready to dive to the side at a moment’s notice. By his side, Tricky started growling and crackling with electricity.
Like Wyrdeer, Alec could vaguely sense a mental presence from it. It felt like listening for a sound during the middle of the night — he wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination fabricating the presence.
The hypothetical mental presence — Shroedinger’s presence, if you will — was a raging rapid. Its waters were blown about madly, swirling in a whirlpool of a bizarre emotion. Excitement.
Lilligant’s excited? Alec thought, confused. No, more than that. It’s thrilled, nothing like Kleavor.
Lilligant swept its hand in front of it and bowed low to the ground. It stayed there for several seconds before rising back up.
Alec exhaled, nervous.
Lillicant cocked its head to the side and looked confused. It hesitated for a moment longer, then dipped back down into another bow. It kept its eyes fixed on Alec and did not rise.
Understanding dawned on him like sleep: slowly for a moment, then all at once. He straightened his stance and put one foot forward. Like an expert hunter eyeing his prey, Alec’s unblinking eyes stared directly at Lilligant as he mimicked its bow.
He didn’t go as low as Lilligant, but the Noble seemed satisfied. It trilled happily, like the noise of a flute as they rose back to its full height in sync.
His clothes, already weighed down by the heat of the sun, felt a touch heavier.
Lilligant raised itself to the tips of its pointed feet, lifted one leg into the air, and spun like a master ballerina. Alec gaped at the pirouette, sensing that it was about to make a move.
With another trill, Lilligant leaped into the air like a ballet dancer following their routine. As if suspended by a harness, it hung in the air for several seconds longer than gravity would normally allow, before falling gracefully.
As it fell, it accelerated rapidly, as if paying off the debt of gravity it owed. It slammed into the ground with monumental force, five paces from Alec. It landed nimbly and betrayed no loss of balance, holding its pose with its hands raised above its head.
Around where it landed, a dense thicket of thorny flowers sprung up, only about half a foot or so in height. The petals’ colors were extremely vivid — even the white centers seemed brighter than normal.
Like a ripple in a lake, the rapidly growing thicket surged outward. The innermost petals quickly lost their color and shrank back into the dirt, leaving only a thin band of flowers, only about a foot wide.
Alec’s eyes widened in fear. He hadn’t been expecting this!
He took a trepid step backward, nearly letting the balm slip from his hands. It happened too quickly for him to react to. The wave of flora reached him, only reaching up to his upper ankle. He slightly winced at the cold and earthy feeling of the thorns scraping his skin and clothes.
Something wrapped around his leg, yanking him sharply to the dirt. He yelped, feeling the world turn sideways and crashing stomach-first onto the ground.
Alec quickly snapped his head up to see Lilligant slowly crouching down for what appeared to be another pirouette. He scrambled to his feet, not wanting to be caught unprepared by another attack again. The hem of his pant legs, cut into strips, were blown about by the wind.
As he was standing up, he noticed that Tricky was slowly accumulating charge to fire a Thunder Shock. The Shinx was notably unscathed. He must’ve jumped over the flowers, Alec thought.
As Lilligant spun, Alec flung the first balm at it. It was weighted almost exactly the same as Kleavor’s balms — and by extension, Pokeballs — meaning his aim was spot on as usual.
It collided with Lilligant’s spinning body and dispersed its aroma, though it did nothing to stop her dance.
Trying to be efficient, Alec grabbed and threw two more balms in quick succession. The second one struck true, just like the first, but the third one missed as Lilligant leaped into the air.
Again, it gracefully sailed through the air toward Alec. Knowing what was coming, he scrambled out of the way, thankfully having plenty of time to get to a safe distance. He was distracted for a brief moment as he pulled out another balm.
When Lilligant landed, it didn’t land in a pose like the last time. Like a spring, it bent its knees and sprang up again into another leap.
Alec looked up just in time to see Lilligant heading towards him again. He gasped in surprise and dove out of the way, using the same dive-roll he’d done to avoid Kleavor’s charges.
While the move was still unexpected, he’d had far more time to practice dodge rolling in the time since his battle with Kleavor. With deft precision, he rolled on the dirt and sprang back to his feet in a fluid motion.
He looked back at Lilligant just in time to see another wave of flora surging toward him. With plenty of time to react now, he got a running start and jumped, clearing the thicket.
Above him, he heard a fierce caw from Auster. The Dartrix flapped his wings and loosed a Strong-style Gust, the strongest (and only) Flying-type attack he knew. The untamed winds slammed into Lilligant, causing it to stumble and break its perfect stance. It fell to one knee and shook its head, as if it was trying to rid itself of dizziness.
Now’s my chance! Alec thought triumphantly. In the back of his mind, he made a note to give Auster an extra berry that night at camp. He focused and threw as many balms as he could, losing track of the exact count as he pummeled Lilligant with blow after blow.
While it was down, Tricky, crackling with energy, ran up and discharged a Thunder Shock point-blank. It briefly seized up, overwhelmed by the sudden surge of electricity, causing it to stumble down even more.
While Lilligant was temporarily stunned, the move itself tended to be finicky with its chance of causing true paralysis. Tricky retreated to build up more energy. Eventually, it recovered and returned to its ballet stance atop pointed toes. It trilled again, making a mix between a flute and a high-pitched feminine giggle.
It’s having fun, Alec morbidly thought. It was enjoying attacking Alec again and again. In its own twisted way, this fight was a dance of sorts. A dance between predator and prey, between martyr and heretic.
Without any fancy flourishes, it leaped again with little anticipation. Alec was already moving, preparing to dodge any amount of landings.
One, two, then three jumps later, Lilligant landed and sent another ripple of flora. This time, it was much bigger, about three or four feet across. He hesitated only for a moment, then ran towards it and leaped over it, tucking his legs up like a hurdle runner.
Continuing the pattern, he hurled several more balms at Lilligant. Both Alec and Lilligant were panting lightly from their exertion.
While it was still recovering, Auster swooped down to attack again, beak glowing with Flying-type energy. He Pecked Lilligant, knocking it back and causing it to stumble, then banked around to attack again.
He repeated his onslaught several more times until Lilligant stood up straight and started to pirouette again. Though it still looked like a golden blur as it spun, Alec could just barely discern that it was spinning a bit slower than before.
We’re making good progress, he thought, instead of speaking aloud because he was breathing too heavily.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Auster readying another Strong-style Gust –
— and Lilligant screamed, no longer sounding like a flute. Now it sounded like the anguished cry of a missed and off-key note. Alec’s spine trembled at the grating sound.
Lilligant jumped straight upward, not moving to attack Alec. Gravity seemed to completely forgo its usual duties as Lilligant hung nearly stationary in the air for about a heartbeat, before falling and landing in a split.
The ground shook. Alec looked straight down, terrified, just in time to see the dirt erupt. Like it was being punctured with a thousand needles, the ground opened to reveal innumerable little vines, each one reaching upward like a drowning man stretching for the hand of his shipmate.
They surged upward, wrapping around Alec’s arms, legs, torso, head, then yanking him to the ground. He screamed and grunted loudly on impact, thrashing wildly against the Ariados-web of bindings chaining him down.
He looked up to see Lilligant slowly rising from its split, staring straight at him. Gone was the dancer. Here was the frenzied beast.
Alec’s breathing accelerated. Maybe he could reach down to his belt and pull out his knife? He groaned against his bindings as he tried to weave his hand down to his waist. The vines holding him were extremely strong and showed no sign of disappearing like the ones summoned before.
Lilligant bent its knees and seemed to gently float into the air. Its trajectory was strangely linear, unlike the usual parabolic.
Alec frantically shouted as he searched for his knife. It was clipped onto his waistband — he could feel its shape being pressed into his leg. He was so close, just a little longer!
Above him, Lilligant was in front of the sun, casting a dark shadow over Alec’s face yet somehow making him feel warmer. It hovered there for a moment longer, then started to fall.
He knew it was futile, but Alec still wrestled. Even if he grabbed the knife now, he wouldn’t have nearly enough time to cut himself free. He kept looking down, trying to avoid looking at Lilligant.
Thump Thump
Huh, that’s odd, he thought. His heartbeat sounded strangely like a … rhythm. He closed his eyes to hear it better, focusing on that strange music … He wanted to hear it better … His foot started tapping against the dirt along with the beat.
Until suddenly —
“SHINX!” and “DAR!” he heard voices cry. Tricky and Auster.
Then a crack of power lit up Brava Arena, leaving purple spots in Alec’s eyes. Despite the pain, he looked up just in time to see a green and brown blur slice into Lilligant’s leaves.
It crashed aside, falling on the dirt, topaz-colored sparks scattering across its limbs.
Still trapped, Alec shook his head and looked up, where Auster was beating his teal-glowing wings furiously. That was definitely Flying-type, Alec thought, but that definitely wasn’t a Strong-style Gust. That’s a new move!
Auster cawed triumphantly, before swooping down and using this new move to break Alec’s bindings. Now freed, Alec scrambled to his feet and grabbed his knife with his left hand, just in case. “Thanks,” he gasped, panting. Auster chirped in confirmation before swooping up again to continue his onslaught, now with his arsenal one move larger.
We’ll have to experiment with that move later, Alec thought. No, now wasn’t the time to distract himself with errant thoughts. He shook his head to clear his mind.
Lilligant’s golden glow was almost completely faded. Alec could begin to make out the green and white details on its body and the pink flower on its head through the auric haze. It still had the telltale signs of paralysis — yellow sparks running along its body – thanks to Tricky’s quick thinking.
It began another dance, twisting and turning in a new pattern. It reminded Alec of Alolan dancers that, almost like actors, told an emotional story through their dance. Lilligant’s mental presence corroborated with her dance that simply irradiated rage. The feelings of joy and excitement from earlier had evaporated.
Gone were the melodious flute-like trills from earlier, replaced by more rabid and frantic sounds. Lilligant panted heavily, sounding like the wheeze of an air conditioning unit clogged with dust. While it still kept perfect rhythm in its spin, it was noticeably less energetic.
Alec managed to squeeze in one more balm throw before it leaped up, not wanting to risk throwing a balm while it was in the air. That was hubris. That had caused him to get himself injured while fighting Kleavor. Never again, he thought with a wince.
But this time, something seemed a bit different about Lilligant’s trajectory.
A common saying in many areas where tornadoes are common is as follows: “If the tornado looks like it isn’t moving, it’s either going toward you or away from you.” From one’s own perspective, an object only gets bigger if its moving directly toward them.
In that case, Lilligant wasn’t moving toward Alec.
Alec’s eyes, in the span of a moment, followed where Lilligant was and extrapolated where it would land. His stomach dropped when he saw who was at the tip of Lilligant’s growing shadow.
It was like a ten-ton beam had been placed across his chest, expelling the breath he’d already taken. He could feel the cold steel of the beam, spreading that raw feeling throughout his sternum.
He was already running before he fully understood what was happening. The air seemed to become denser as each step felt like he was running underwater.
“Tricky!” he shouted. He knew that calling for Auster to use a Move would take too long, taking into account both the time for him to speak the command and for Auster to actually summon the Move.
The little Shinx, entirely unaware, had his eyes squeezed shut to concentrate on using Charge. Tricky aborted the move and looked at Alec, confused, then up to Lilligant. His eyes widened and his joints froze up in panic.
Alec faintly heard Auster using a move behind him. Even if he used an Agile style Move, it would be too late.
He dove for Tricky, doing the same maneuver as his signature dodge-roll. He pulled him tight to his chest, attempting to be a human shield, and rolled out of the way. The dirt felt like he was sliding along a cheese grater and he knew his arms and legs would be scraped, but it was worth it.
By a hair’s width, Lilligant missed. It almost stomped into the ground with rage, falling at twice the normal speed for additional impact. Such a hit surely would’ve killed Tricky.
Alec was in the push-up position with his knees on the ground and Tricky beneath him. He still held his knife tightly in his left hand. The little Shinx stared up at him, wide-eyed and breathing heavily. Alec smiled.
And the ground was punctured by a thousand needles once more, and a blinding array of thin vines shot up to strangle them.
Alec cried out as he was forced down on top of Tricky. As if he was doing a push-up, he struggled against it with all his strength. A vine wrapped above his neck and forced his head down, leaving Tricky in a cave of sorts under Alec’s chest.
He grunted loudly, straining against the vines. He immediately transferred his knife to his dominant hand and began the arduous and frantic job of cutting the vines. They were small and easily severed, yet their sheer numbers made it seem like an impossible task, like a rope, where the individual strands were weak. His other forearm was pressed against the ground to support himself and keep the vines from pulling him down.
Over the sound of his heavy breathing and blood rushing, he faintly heard the sound of Auster releasing a move toward Lilligant. It responded with another rage-filled screech. The weight of the vines grew a little bit lighter.
Alec continued to slice away vines. As he cut away more and more, the amount restraining him seemed to dwindle. Tricky, once he realized what was going on, quickly joined, using Bite to help carve freedom.
Alec heard another caw from Auster and a woosh, followed by another scream. Again, the vines loosened their hold. Now, it was like slicing through bread. A few more cuts on the largest vines, and he burst free with a shout.
He whipped around to face Lilligant. The Noble was staggered, glaring furiously up at Auster, who flew out of reach. It turned to look at Alec and screamed again.
It leaped toward Alec, not bothering to spin or dance, mental presence reeking of death and panic.
“Tricky!” he shouted, stepping back and allowing him to advance. The wordless command was all they needed.
“SHI!” he shouted, alighting with topaz energy. He shot another bolt of power toward Lilligant, stopping it in its tracks and paralyzing it. It fell to the ground on one knee.
Capitalizing on the opportunity, Alec threw one final balm.
As it struck, it burst and released its scent. Lilligant slowly rose to its feet.
The golden glow seemed to wash away like pencil marks scrubbed with an eraser. Lilligant’s normal green, white, and purple colors emerged from beneath and the sunlight seemed a bit less intense.
For the first time, it stood square to Alec, not with one foot in front of the other. Like it was finally done dancing. It trembled, looking around and seeing the radioactive-green forest and hearing the faint cries of Pokemon above the wind.
“Lilligant? … Are you okay?” Alec asked.
“Gant?” it responded. It locked eyes with Alec, and he saw horror in them. Horror at what it had done to him, horror for the Pokemon of the forest, groaning in pain.
Slowly, it raised its arms and held them high, gathering energy like a plant photosynthesizing. The entirety of Cloudpool held its breath. In a fluid motion, it swept down in a bow, sending a pulse of lime-green energy out. It passed harmlessly through Alec, reminding him of fresh berries, sweet-smelling flowers, and calm breezes. Not like the lifeless, crazed energy it used earlier. It made him want to sit down right there and have a picnic, enjoying the fresh air.
Alec looked around at the tree line, in awe. The thicket seemed to unclench like a muscle, relaxing and breathing a sigh of relief. The leaves faded in color, exactly like the Grass-type energy Lilligant used, returning to a beautiful landscape.
“Hah … hah,” Alec laugh-panted, reveling in his success. “We did it!” he cried in celebration.
Tricky sprinted up to him, leaping into Alec’s arms and tackling him to the floor. Auster gently flew down and joined the celebration, chirping excitedly.