Color twisted around us, blue, white, and violet, that seemed to bend like a heat shimmer. My stomach did a somersault, Zoey swore telepathically, and then we reappeared on solid ground.
Cold wind smashed into my face instantly.
I staggered forward, eyes wide.
We were standing on a carved stone platform jutting out from a cliff face.
Below us: a sheer drop stretching thousands of feet.
Above us: jagged peaks scraping the sky.
Behind us: a cavern opening framed by dragonhead rock formations, glowing with firelight.
Zoey stepped to the edge, whistling. Okay… this is actually badass.
I wrapped my arms around myself, staring into the vast expanse of the Rockies.
"Holy shit," I breathed. "We're really up here."
Zoey nudged me. Welcome to Drayden's gym, Atrea.
And the wind howled like something ancient waking up.
The cliff top was colder than I expected. Not the soft coastal cold I was used to, this was mountain cold, thin and sharp and restless. The PAP barrier hummed behind me, a faint light between me and a drop so deep it blurred into pale blue nothing. Even knowing the barrier was there didn't stop my stomach from tightening every time the wind shoved at my back.
Drayden stood a good forty yards away, centered perfectly before the enormous cavern carved into the cliff. The cave wasn't just big, it was deep, hollowing straight into the mountain in a way that swallowed light. Even midday sun couldn't reach past the first twenty feet. Everything deeper was pitch black.
He didn't turn to look at it. Not once. His back stayed to the cavern like he didn't even register the darkness behind him. As if nothing in there could ever threaten him.
He raised a hand slightly, palm open, fingers relaxed.
Then said:
"Step forward."
For a heartbeat, I thought he meant me.
Then something behind him shifted.
The darkness in the cave rippled, not a creature walking forward, but like a curtain of shadow being disturbed by something massive. My eyes narrowed as I tried to pierce the gloom, squinting as the wind stung my face.
I couldn't make out any details. The only thing I could be certain of was that it was hanging upside down.
A low, throaty rumble vibrated out of the cave and into the stone beneath my feet. The sound wasn't loud, but it was heavy like a pressure in my skull.
"What…" I breathed, leaning forward instinctively.
Drayden didn't move. Didn't even flick an eye toward the sound.
He trusted whatever was coming. Completely.
A silhouette seemed to peel itself from the ceiling. This thing unfolded and stretched its limbs, wings loosening, as its claws scraped against the stone.
Before I could even register what I was seeing, it let out a sound.
Not a screech, but a scream.
A high and low frequency layered together, a note so sharp it made my teeth ache. It rattled the cliff, stirred the air, and tore dust from the cave ceiling in thin streams.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Simon's wings twitched beside me, his hovering faltering for a split second.
The creature detached fully from the ceiling and dropped straight down behind Drayden, wings tucked tight. Drayden didn't flinch. He simply lowered his hand. Then the Noivern hit the updraft.
Its wings snapped open wider than any Noivern I'd ever seen. Massive, leathery sails caught the rising wind and wrenched the beast upward in one fluid, effortless arc. The gust was so strong it blew my hair back and nearly took my beanie.
Noivern burst out of the cave mouth like a missile, eyes glowing bright red. His ears, huge, dish-like sonar organs, rotated toward us with unsettling precision.
He was enormous.
Even Simon, who normally stared down threats without fear, recoiled slightly in the air.
Atrea
His voice hit my mind in a thin, strained line.
That's not normal.
Noivern hovered effortlessly in the violent wind, body rigid and perfectly still while the updraft whipped around him. He towered over Simon in the air; his eyes weren't just focused.
They were locked.
Pinned onto Simon like the Flygon was prey.
Drayden folded his arms, his cloak snapping behind him.
"Sound isn't controlled," he said, voice steady despite the gale.
"It is harnessed."
Simon stiffened, wings humming as he prepared Boomburst.
I saw doubt flicker in his eyes until determination hardened over it.
He inhaled sharply to generate a vibration in his chest.
Boomburst detonated outward a second later, the shockwave distorting the air as it blasted toward Noivern.
It hit.
At least, it looked like it hit.
Then the pressure wave bent upward like gravity had rotated ninety degrees. Something seemed to yank the attack toward Noivern's massive sonar organs.
My breath caught.
Noivern absorbed the energy.
All of it.
Then the glow in his eyes intensified.
And for the first time, Drayden's lips curved into something faintly resembling respect.
"What is harnessed…"
Noivern opened his jaws.
"…can be returned."
He fired Simon's Boomburst back with zero charge-up time.
The blast slammed into Simon so hard that I felt it in my ribs.
Simon's consciousness flickered briefly. Fear, confusion, and apology, then went silent as he crashed into the stone at my feet, the up and down movements of his chest the only sign he was still alive.
The referee's voice barely reached me over the wind.
"Flygon is unable to battle!
Drayden finally spoke again,
"A dragon's voice is a force of nature, Atrea Morgan. You came here to challenge a Dragon Master, and now you understand what that means."
Noivern screeched again, the air shuddering around him before he returned to the cave as if nothing had happened.
For the first time since starting my journey, I wondered if I'd made a mistake. But the next Poké Ball on my belt pulsed gently.
Not telepathy, just the faint, rhythmic thrum of Trilla's aura reacting to my fear.
I unclipped her ball, swallowing hard. "Trilla… It's your turn."
Light flared across the arena as I released her.
Trilla materialized with a soft glow, her poise steady even though she knew we were down one.
Before she could take a step, however, sunlight burst through an opening in the clouds.
A white shape floated down through the warmth like a petal. The Altaria touched the stone across from us, her wings blooming outward into thick clouds of shimmering down. She cooed, the sound harmonious and gentle.
But her eyes were razor-sharp.
Trilla whispered into my mind.
She's… beautiful.
A pause.
But she's not here to play.
I nodded slightly. Stay close and let her make the first move.
Then Drayden raised his arm, pulling his sleeve back to reveal a bone-white bracelet with a glinting gem seated in the middle.
"I forged this at 17 from the vertebrae of a Dragonite I killed with my bare hands."
Trilla stiffened beside me.
He killed a Dragonite? Alone?
I couldn't make myself answer.
Drayden lifted the bone-forged keystone high.
"Altaria. Ascend."
The keystone ignited.
A beam of radiant light lanced out toward the Mega Stone braided into Altaria's plumage. The air pulsed once, twice, then exploded into a cyclone of blinding white.
Feathers blew outward like a storm of snow as wind whipped across the valley.
When the light dimmed, Mega Altaria hovered above the stone, wings now enormous clouds of shimmering cotton, her feathers refracting color like a prism. Her voice rang out in a piercing, harmonic dragon-hymn that shook the stone at my feet.
I swallowed hard.
Trilla… can you match that?
For a moment, Trilla didn't speak. She stared at Mega Altaria, at the raw, churning power radiating from her, and the air around Trilla trembled.
Then she turned her head toward me, eyes glowing white as her aura ignited.
A pulse of psychic light detonated outward from her chest, rippling across the battlefield. My hair lifted from my shoulders. Dust swirled in slow spirals around her feet. The air itself thickened with resonance, a vibration that hummed against my sternum.
Her silhouette blurred, edges dissolving into flowing light.
Then the transformation began.
Crystalline plates unfurled across her chest like blooming petals.
Her arms elongated, swathed in radiant psychic energy.
Her dress split into rippling veils of starlit fabric that fluttered despite the still air.
A horn of brilliant white formed along her headcrest, blazing like moonfire.
She rose from the ground like a star ascending.
The light crescendoed, then shattered outward in a burst of glittering motes.
And Mega Gardevoir descended gracefully, landing between me and Mega Altaria with the poise of a duelist stepping onto the floor.
Her presence was different now, taller, sharper, confident in a way that made my breath catch.
She glanced back at me, eyes glinting with fierce certainty.
I can now.
Her aura burst outward like a star igniting. Light spiraled around her chest, rising through her limbs in radiant coils. Crystalline armor blossomed along her dress, her form stretching and sharpening. Trilla completed her Mega Evolution by releasing a harmless, but blinding wave of light.
She lifted one hand toward Mega Altaria, her stance steady.
You're ready, I told her. Stay focused.
Drayden lifted one finger.
"Moonblast."
Altaria fired instantly.
A massive sphere of moonlight crashed toward Trilla like a detonating star.
Protect! I sent sharply.
Trilla crossed her arms. The barrier formed, but the attack struck before it fully solidified.
The shield shattered with a crystalline crack, and the shockwave blasted Trilla backward. She hit the stone and skidded, digging trenches with her heels to stay upright.
I'm alright…
Her voice trembled.
Altaria dove, wings glowing as she prepared another strike.
Thunderbolt! I commanded.
Trilla thrust both arms forward, arcs of lightning bursting from her palms. The bolts lashed upward and struck Altaria across the wings, sending her spinning off-course mid-dive.
Altaria righted herself with a powerful flap, drifting higher.
"Sing," Drayden called.
Altaria's melody floated over the arena, a serene note that vibrated against the PAP shield.
Trilla staggered.
Her voice… it's pulling at me…
Anchor to me, I told her. Not her song.
Her eyes snapped open, aura stabilizing.
Then she inhaled and lifted her arms.
Psychic! I ordered.
Trilla hurled a spiraling beam of shimmering force upward. It smashed into Altaria's chest, driving her back through the air.
Drayden didn't hesitate.
"Altaria. Sky Attack."
Mega Altaria shot upward, glowing brighter and brighter until she was almost blinding, gathering momentum like a comet preparing to drop.
Trilla braced.
Her voice shook.
Now THAT is going to hurt if it connects.
I stepped closer to the field. Meet her. Don't run.
Trilla nodded and gathered her strength. Both of her hands began to glow a sinister purple while a sphere of dazzling light manifested above her hair.
Altaria turned in midair and descended like a shining meteor.
Go! I shouted.
Trilla vaulted upward, propelled by a burst of psychic force from the ground, meeting Altaria halfway in the sky. She sent her attacks flying toward Altaria with both Shadow Balls, connecting with her wings. Altaria was already well into her Sky Attack and had no chance of stopping on her own.
They collided with an explosion of light.
Wind blasted outward, stone cracked beneath the shockwave, and feathers of cotton scattered like embers.
Trilla screamed with effort.
Won't. Yield!
Her last-second Protect began to falter with the force of Altaria's attack, but Trilla's Moonblast cooked off at point-blank range.
The explosion lit the valley.
Mega Altaria shrieked as the force drove her earthward uncontrollably. She crashed into the stone below, wings flickering. The Mega glow bled from her feathers as she tried and failed to stand.
As the dust settled, the referee raised his hand.
"Altaria is unable to battle!"
Trilla dropped to one knee, panting hard, her Mega form flickering.
Moonblast may have won us the fight, but the explosion didn't just hit Altaria. There's a reason it's meant to be used from a distance.
She had won, but took some serious damage in the process. She was hurting. Badly.
"Impressive," he said, voice carrying like a rolling stone. "Few Pokémon can push Altaria that far. Fewer still without a Mega Stone."
Trilla wavered on her feet, her glow flickering like a candle in the wind.
Drayden extended one hand toward the cave.
"But you aren't here for flattery."
Three pairs of cold blue eyes opened in the shadows.
"Hydreigon. Your turn."
Hydreigon drifted out of the cave like a waking nightmare, silent and weightless, its three heads snapping and twitching independently. The air around it felt colder, heavier, as though its presence alone drained the warmth from the valley.
Trilla swayed beside me, still in her Mega form, but her glow flickered at the edges like an ember desperately trying to stay alight.
Atrea…
Her voice trembled softly.
That aura… It's hateful
Just give me what you have left, I told her gently. I'm right here.
She nodded once, lifted her chin, and stepped forward.
Drayden didn't even raise his voice.
"Hydreigon. Flamethrower."
The dragon's central mouth opened.
A twisting beam of burning energy blasted out with no charge-up, no warning, just raw, instinctive destruction.
Trilla, Protect! I sent, panic spiking.
She threw up the shield, but only had the time to manifest the first half. It blocked the attack, but just then, Hydreigon's other two heads launched two more. There was no hope of dodging. The torrents hit Trilla square in the chest.
She screamed, her body slamming back into the stone hard enough to send a wave of shrapnel out in all directions. Her Mega form flickered violently as the crystalline plates on her dress shattered into psychic dust.
"Trilla!"
She pushed up onto one knee, shaking, her breath ragged.
I can still fight… let me try…
Her hands trembled as she summoned the charge for a Thunderbolt. Electricity crackled between her palms, then snapped into a jagged bolt that tore across the arena toward Hydreigon.
The dragon didn't dodge.
The bolt suddenly dissipated a second before it would have landed. Trilla collapsed to the floor in defeat; the lasting damage from Hydreigon's Flamethrower was too much to overcome after all.
The referee raised his flag.
"Gardevoir is unable to battle! Hydreigon wins!"
My legs were moving before I realized it. I dropped to my knees beside her, heart in my throat. Her breaths were shallow, her body limp in my arms.
I'm… sorry… Atrea… I just… couldn't…
I held her close, squeezing my eyes shut.
You were incredible, I told her, my mind burning with intensity. You don't ever have to be sorry.
Hydreigon drifted silently back behind Drayden, its three heads watching me with the calm indifference of a predator waiting for the next challenger.
Drayden's voice rolled across the valley like distant thunder.
"Your Gardevoir possesses great heart. But dragons do not yield to heart alone."
I stood, returning Trilla to her ball before clipping it back onto my belt.
Then I reached for Nick's.
"Alright," I murmured, fingers tightening around the Poké Ball. "We do this clean."
I threw the ball.
Nick materialized in a burst of red light. He straightened, shoulders squared, eyes locking onto Hydreigon with a sharp, wary focus.
The valley hummed with tension.
Hydreigon hovered opposite him, all three heads snarling in unison. Dragon energy immediately began to build, swirling violently in each maw as the air grew hot and unstable.
Nick stiffened.
I could feel him pulling inward instead of surging forward.
Nick, I said calmly. You're good. Breathe.
Hydreigon fired.
Three Dragon Pulses erupted at once, converging into a blinding storm of white-violet energy that tore across the arena.
Nick dodged sideways, barely clearing the first blast as stone behind him liquefied under the impact. He arced around the two other beams and spun. They tore through the air right behind his back. Using the momentum from the turn, he came in on Hydreigon's side and delivered a devastating Brick Break to its right head. The blow knocked that head unconscious, but left Nick open to retaliation. The remaining heads inhaled and released a point-blank Hyper Voice that sent Nick stumbling back. He stood there, temporarily dazed. By the time he shook it off, the Hydreigon had already recovered. Its third head was wide awake now and snarling for revenge. At the same time, three Flamethrowers burned out of the dragon, heading straight for Nick. He had no choice but to take the attack head-on.
Cross your arms!
I yelled through our link.
In an instant, both of his arms came up to form an X in front of his body. The scales on his arms lit up, but held firm. Then he began moving forward. One step at a time, like a juggernaut. I could see the moment the Hydreigon realized what was happening. The power of their attack doubled in power, but I could see the signs of fatigue in the second and third heads. Nick only had to hold on for a few more seconds, and they'd be wide open for a finisher. Sure enough, two of the jets of flame sputtered out just as the third one weakened to a stream. Now, Nick had his opening.
He roared as he surged forward. Burns blistered across his chest and arms, but he didn't slow.
He struck Hydreigon with the force of a meteor.
The impact detonated, and all three heads screamed as Nick drove Hydreigon straight into a massive boulder, stone exploding outward in a shockwave that rattled my teeth.
Hydreigon hit the ground hard. It was stunned, but Nick didn't stop.
He was on it instantly.
His fists came down in brutal, efficient arcs. One strike. Two. The middle head reeled. Dragon Claw ignited across his hands, blue light tracing lethal paths as he raked across wings and chest in a blur of motion.
Hydreigon shrieked, but Nick didn't hear it.
I felt it then, the shift. The way his thoughts narrowed, how the world seemed to reduce to target and motion.
"Nick!" I called.
He struck again.
Hydreigon collapsed beneath him, body twitching as it finally went still.
"Hydreigon is unable to battle!" the referee shouted, voice echoing across the arena.
The fight was over, but he didn't stop.
Nick stood over Hydreigon, chest heaving, Dragon Claw still burning. His head lifted slowly, and his eyes found me.
There was nothing in them for half a second. No recognition. No restraint.
Just momentum.
My heart slammed into my ribs.
"Nick," I said sharply. Not a command. Not a shout.
Just his name.
He froze, and the Dragon Claw flickered.
I stepped forward without thinking. Hey. It's me.
His breath hitched. The energy around him wavered, unstable.
You're done, I said firmly. You stopped. You won.
The words cut through.
Nick staggered back a step like he'd been struck. His claws dimmed, then vanished completely. His shoulders sagged, and the rage bled out of him all at once, leaving only shock.
He looked down at his hands, then back at me.
I almost- The thought fractured, incomplete.
I know, I said quietly. But you didn't.
His breathing slowed, uneven but controlled. He turned away from me, jaw
Nick exhaled shakily and stepped away from Hydreigon, putting distance between himself and the fallen dragon.
Now I finally understood the problem he and I would need to overcome.
Winning wasn't Nick's problem. Stopping was.
"Your Dragon's fury is admirable. Let's see what happens when your unstoppable force meets my immovable object."
Drayden let out a single, piercing whistle.
The sound echoed across the valley.
The mountainside rumbled.
A landslide of loose stone shook free, tumbling down the high cliffside to our left. Boulders crashed onto the arena floor with thunderous slams.
Then a shape vaulted over the lip of the cliff.
The opposing Druddigon landed in a crouch that cracked the stone, then rose in one smooth motion, completely unfazed by the climb he'd just made. He planted his feet and lowered his center of gravity, thick neck rolling once as the armored plates along his shoulders shifted with a low, grinding sound.
Nick stepped forward beside me, bladed tusks angled low; his stance was measured and restrained. He wasn't coiling for violence the way he had against Hydreigon.
The signal was given, and Nick advanced first. His initial strike was exploratory, a short, controlled swing aimed at Druddigon's shoulder rather than a full commitment. The impact rang out like metal on stone, and then the plates along Druddigon's neck and arms shifted. Its segmented carapace slid apart with a sharp click, and jagged spikes snapped outward in a blink.
Nick recoiled instantly, a streak of blood splashing from his fist.
Druddigon grinned, but didn't rush him. He stood planted near the cliff wall, chest rising slow and heavy, jagged carapace spikes flexing along his shoulders as he shifted his weight. Every movement dared Nick to commit, but every still moment threatened punishment if he didn't.
Then, he struck. Druddigon lunged just enough to test Nick's response, snapping his jaws inches from Nick's shoulder before pulling back. Nick flinched, adjusting his footing instead of countering, and Druddigon immediately punished the hesitation.
The dragon surged forward and clamped his jaws around Nick's forearm.
Nick roared, wrenching free, blood streaking down between the overlapping scales. The carapace spikes along Druddigon's chest scraped against him as he pulled back, biting into Nick's armor like barbed wire.
Nick charged, like a wrestler closing distance. He slammed his shoulder into Druddigon's chest with a brutal check. One of the spikes punched deep into his shoulder, and I felt the pain spike through him, but the impact staggered Druddigon all the same. Stone cracked behind the dragon as he reeled.
Brick Break!
Nick followed through, driving his fist straight into Druddigon's face. The sound was vicious. Druddigon snapped back with a furious Dragon Tail, the blow catching Nick in the ribs and hurling him sideways into the rock wall.
Nick hit, but immediately forced himself upright.
They went back and forth like that until Nick missed a crucial blow. Druddigon retaliated by clamping down on his arm once again. This time, Nick wasn't in a position to break free. The muscles in Druddigon's neck bulged as he reared up and took Nick with him. One slam, then another, then another, until he twisted around and released him. Nick went flying into the cliff face.
"Rock Slide," Drayden called out.
Druddikgon responded instantly and slammed his fists into the ground.
A group of large boulders dislodged and began tumbling down the mountain. Nick barely managed to roll out of the way.
Druddigon lunged forward to finish the fight, but overextended just a fraction.
You see it? I asked through our link
I do. He responded.
"Now!" I ordered, not realizing I'd yelled out loud.
He surged forward and seized Druddigon by the throat. He slammed him bodily into the cliff face as rock exploded outward. Before the dragon could recover, Nick drove his knee up into Druddigon's belly once, twice, forcing the air from his lungs in a guttural, shocked snarl.
With a roar that tore itself out of his chest, Nick lifted him.
Druddigon thrashed, claws scraping uselessly against Nick's scales as Nick hoisted the dragon overhead with sheer, furious strength.
Then he brought him down across his knee in a devastating arc.
The impact echoed for a moment before Druddigon collapsed. For half a second, I felt it, the victory, sharp and electric.
Then Nick swayed and took one step back before his legs gave out beneath him. He collapsed hard onto the stone beside his fallen opponent, chest heaving, blood running freely from half a dozen puncture wounds.
"Nick!" I ran to him, dropping to my knees.
"Both Pokémon are unable to battle!" The referee announced.
I palmed Nick's Poké Ball and withdrew him
"You did great, big guy."
I inhaled once before deploying Scizor.
Drayden stood with his arms folded, eyes never leaving the battlefield. He looked out at the battlefield like he was measuring something only he could see.
Then, he lifted two fingers to his mouth and blew another whistle. This one was sharper than before, higher, like a blade of sound slicing up through the valley. It cut off quickly, but the silence that followed felt loaded and expectant.
Some instinct made me look up.
The PAP shield shimmered faintly above us, distorting the view of the cloudbank that pressed low over the mountaintop. At first, nothing moved. Then, without warning, the entire cloud layer ruptured in a burst of vapor as something enormous punched through it from above.
A streak of blue and crimson plummeted toward us like a falling star.
The creature accelerated toward the battlefield at the speed of sound, controlled only by the absolute confidence of something that knew it could survive the landing. Air pressure shifted so violently that my ears popped. Loose earth stirred in tiny spirals around my boots. Hydreigon, having woken up from its beating, backed away, letting out a quiet whimper as its heads looked down. It gave the descending shape a wide berth.
Salamence hit the ground like a meteor.
The impact blasted dust outward in a circular shockwave, cracking the stone around the landing point in jagged fractures. A shallow crater formed beneath the dragon's weight, no more than a few feet deep, but wide and violent enough that bits of shattered rock tumbled into its edges. The sound of it, the deep, concussive thump, echoed off the rock face like distant thunder.
For a moment, Salamence remained motionless, eyes closed, its body crouched low in the center of the broken stone. Smoke curled upward from the scorched line of descent in the sky. The air around him shimmered faintly from the heat.
The valley held its breath.
Then his eyes flashed open, locking onto Scizor. Salamence roared and sent a Hyper Beam into the sky. Then his gaze leveled with Scizor once again, steam venting from its nostrils with every breath.
The dragon unfolded his wings in a single, fluid motion, casting a broad shadow around him. Muscles rippled beneath his scales as he rose fully from the crater.
Drayden didn't shout or gesture. He simply regarded the dragon with calm familiarity, the same way someone might acknowledge a weapon they had forged long ago.
The dragon's gaze shifted toward me, and the pressure that followed hit like a physical force. My chest tightened. My heartbeat stuttered. Something in Salamence's stance, the coiled power, the smoldering fury, the confidence of a creature who had never lost a battle he meant to win, made every instinct in me scream caution.
Scizor, I whispered, forcing steadiness into my voice. Go.
Scizor launched forward in a blur of red metal, both thrusters igniting at full burn, a rare, reckless burst he rarely used outside of desperation. The air cracked behind him as he rocketed straight toward Salamence.
That was exactly what Drayden wanted.
The dragon inhaled sharply.
"Flamethrower," Drayden said, voice as calm as falling snow.
A jet of white-hot fire burst from Salamence's mouth. Scizor strafed left in a perfect arc, predicting that Salamence would track him.
But Salamence didn't pivot. He held the line.
Scizor drifted right again, cutting back toward the center, expecting Salamence to move the torrent of flame to where Scizor had been. In doing so, he ran straight into the still-streaming Flamethrower.
The impact was instantaneous. Red armor flash-heated to orange as his thrusters sputtered. Scizor dropped to his knees with a metallic scream, claws digging into the stone as his whole frame shuddered under the searing blast.
"Salamence, grab him."
The dragon shot forward.
Scizor move! I snapped across our link, my pulse spiking. Get out of there now!
He tried, but his legs buckled as he struggled to stand. His burned plating locked for half a second, and that was all his opponent needed.
Salamence slammed into him with a full-body tackle, locking both arms around Scizor's torso. The steel plates shrieked under the crushing force of the dragon's grip. His acceleration didn't stop. Salamence crashed Scizor through three boulders before spreading his wings completely and taking off. Scizor struggled, but Salamence's sheer strength was overwhelming.
My breath caught in my throat.
"No," I whispered
Salamence pivoted mid-ascent and tucked into a dive, his hold tightening around Scizor as he rotated into a textbook Seismic Toss.
They hit the ground in a bone-splitting, metallic explosion.
Dust shot upward. The crater deepened as cracks in the stone radiated outward in spiderwebbing lines.
When it cleared, Scizor lay in the center of the impact, limbs limp, armor blackened from the Flamethrower and warped inward from Salamence's crushing grip. He didn't move.
The referee raised his flag with a shaky breath.
"Scizor is unable to battle!"
I stood there motionless. The battle had lasted maybe seven seconds.
Salamence didn't roar in victory like I'd expected it to. Instead, it bowed its head to Drayden, who nodded in response. The beast took to the skies once more and tore through the clouds once again. To Salamence, this hadn't been a fight; it was an extermination.
Salamence's crater was still smoking when Drayden raised his arm and called across the valley:
"Haxorus."
The name alone felt heavier than the mountain.
The massive dragon smashed through a section of the cliff face above and behind Drayden, then dropped down in a blur of dark metal and earth. He slid down the rock face like a falling blade, punching a tusk into the stone to slow his descent, sparks raining off the cliffside. At the final thirty feet, he kicked off, landing in a crouch that shook dust loose from the PAP shield above.
Even after everything I'd seen so far, there was something different about this dragon. Something heavier. Older. He didn't posture or roar. He simply existed, and that was enough to make the air feel thinner.
Beside me, Zoey crouched low, mane bristling, breath steadying itself into something cold and focused. Her eyes narrowed into slits of burning red.
He's huge, she murmured, the thought like a rough whisper in my mind. And he's grinning at me.
She wasn't exaggerating.
Haxorus looked up from his crouch, eyes locking onto her with a slow, predatory curve of the mouth.
Don't let him bait you, I warned. Illusion pattern three.
Zoey's lips curled into a wicked smirk.
Then she split.
Two perfect duplicates burst outward from her position, sprinting in opposite directions through the drifting dust. Their movement refracted through the haze, scattering Zoey's afterimages across the battlefield in flashes of shadow and light.
The real Zoey vaulted upward, using the smoke to mask her trajectory. Her body twisted midair, claws drawn back to strike down from above. For a heartbeat, the timing was perfect. For a heartbeat, it looked like she had him.
But Haxorus wasn't looking at the clones.
His pupils tracked something else entirely: her. His head snapped upward.
He sees me?!
Haxorus' arm shot out like a piston, claws locking around Zoey's neck mid-air. The impact cracked like a rifle shot. The illusions evaporated instantly, dissolving into curling wisps of shadow.
Zoey gasped, a sharp, broken sound, as Haxorus tightened his grip.
And then he swung her down.
He drove her into the ground with enough force to crater the stone beneath her. The shockwave rattled the entire valley, dust and debris erupting in a ring outward from the impact.
"Zoey!" I screamed, legs moving before I realized I'd stepped forward.
She tried to rise, but Haxorus planted one massive foot on her chest and forced her flat against the stone.
A low, resonant hum built between his tusks, glowing with pale, sickly blue.
Atrea?
Zoey's terrified plea hit me like a spark through a wire.
The Dragon Pulse detonated point-blank, engulfing her in a column of blistering energy. The blast tore across the PAP shield in pulsing rings, the light so bright it washed out the entire field for a second.
When it faded, smoke curled from a fresh crater.
Zoey lay at the center of it, her fur scorched and her whole body trembling. Her chest rose only in shallow, uneven breaths.
The referee's voice echoed through the haze.
"Zoroark is unable to battle! Victory to Gym Leader Drayden!"
I ran.
I skidded the last few feet and dropped to my knees beside her, hands shaking as I brushed her singed mane out of her face.
"Zoey, please! Look at me!"
Her eyes cracked open, barely, but still flashing with anger.
He… didn't fall for it, she rasped, each word strained. Guess the old man's dragon's smarter than he looks…
My throat tightened painfully. After all that, she still had the nerve to make jokes.
Haxorus stood silently a few paces back from the crater he'd made with my partner's body. He watched me with an expression I didn't have a word for. Not pity. Not cruelty, but something colder. A predator's stillness.
Zoey's voice brushed weakly against my mind.
Don't… let him… win…
"I won't," I whispered. "I promise."
I recalled her gently, the light swallowing her battered form, and stood on legs that weren't entirely steady. My heart hammered hard against my ribs like it was trying to break free of my chest.
This round was over, and the next would decide the shape of my anger forever.
"I need you," I whispered.
I threw the ball.
Swampert landed heavily, water spraying off his arms as he squared his stance. The moment he saw Haxorus, something like instinctual dread flickered in his eyes, but under it lay determination.
Haxorus had already begun to move.
He didn't roar, but simply shifted his weight forward in a slow, inevitable stride as the ground trembled beneath his feet.
Hydro Pump, I said, forcing strength into my voice even as my chest tightened.
Swampert dug his feet in, pulled both arms back, and unleashed a roaring blast of water that tore across the battlefield. The torrent smashed into Haxorus, engulfing him in a thunderous white spray.
For a moment, hope flared in me.
Then his silhouette appeared through the water.
Moving forward.
Walking through the blast as though pushing through a stubborn wind. His arms crossed over his face, shoulders hunched slightly from the pressure, but his stride never wavered.
Atrea… Swampert's thought shook against mine. He's still coming
Don't stop! I snapped. Don't let him through!
He shoved harder, the Hydro Pump surging with a desperate roar. Water exploded across the stone, tearing it apart in jagged chunks, but Haxorus kept advancing, step by brutal step. Swampert's arms trembled under the strain. His lungs burned. I could feel it through the telepathic link like a second heartbeat rattling inside my chest.
The blast flickered as Swampert inhaled sharply, forcing it back alive for one more heartbeat.
And then it died.
The instant it faltered, Haxorus burst through the spray.
The first punch landed across Swampert's cheek with a sound so violent it felt like it cracked something inside me.
Not bone, but something emotional.
Swampert reeled backward with a strangled gasp.
Haxorus surged forward, landing another blow, this one to Swampert's ribs. I felt that one too, a lancing pressure tearing through the link between us.
The third punch caved into Swampert's stomach, lifting him several inches off the ground before he crashed to his knees. Another fissure split down my center, sharp and bright and unbearable.
Haxorus's elbow slammed into Swampert's jaw.
Another crack in my mind. My fingers curled into fists, and my breath hitched.
Swampert staggered upright, wobbling.
Hammer Arm, please! I begged, voice cracking aloud and through the link.
He spun weakly and brought his arm down in a heavy arc, but Haxorus caught it in his palm with effortless disdain, like stopping a falling branch.
Swampert's eyes widened in horror as Haxorus swept his legs out from under him.
Swampert hit the ground on his back. My vision tunneled.
Haxorus drew his fist back. Swampert looked at me, one eye swollen, one eye terrified.
I'm sorry… Atrea…
As the dragon's fist came down, something inside me snapped
"ENOUGH!!!"
The scream ripped out of me like I'd torn open my own lungs. The sound wasn't human. It was something raw, psychic, and primal, an emotional rupture so immense the air itself buckled.
A pressure wave blasted outward from my chest, completely silent yet violently physical. Dust lifted from the ground, and the PAP shield convulsed in rippling waves. Even the cliff face groaned under the strain.
Haxorus froze mid-strike.
The dragon's eyes widened as a sudden, invisible force knocked the wind out of him. He staggered for a moment before his eyes went white.
Then he crumpled like he'd been shot in the head.
The impact shook the battlefield, and for a heartbeat, no one moved.
Not Drayden. Not the referee. Not even the wind.
I slumped forward over Swampert's limp body, sobbing into his shoulder, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
Swampert… please… please… stay with me…
My voice was a shattered whisper, telepathic and audible all at once.
Haxorus groaned weakly beside Drayden, trying to rise but failing, holding his head as though a spike had been driven through it.
Drayden's eyes darted from his fallen ace to me
For the first time since I'd met him, he looked unsure.
He approached with slow, wary steps, as though afraid I might shatter the world again if he moved too quickly. When he reached speaking distance, he opened his mouth. Before he could speak, I lifted my head. My vision was blurry with tears, but the fury burning inside me could've melted steel.
"Mark my words… 'Dragon Master,'" I spat the title like venom, "you will lose the next time we meet."
Drayden didn't smirk or scold me. He just nodded.
"I look forward to our rematch then."
He crouched, pulled a Full Restore from his belt, and sprayed Swampert with practiced care. The restorative light washed over him, knitting wounds and easing the swelling. Swampert's breath deepened, and his eyes fluttered open.
Atrea?
I hugged him, sobbing into his shoulder.
Behind us, Haxorus managed to stand again, wobbling, one hand pressed to his skull as though dull pain rang through it with each step. He walked back toward the cave without complaint or pride. Just a quiet, shaken awareness of what had hit him.
Drayden watched his dragon go, then looked back at me. For once, his expression wasn't flinty.
He was… fascinated.
"I have battled hundreds of the best that this challenge produces," he said quietly. "But you, Atrea Morgan…"
His eyes flicked to the cracked earth, to Swampert, to the shaking rubble still lingering from the psychic shockwave.
"…are the most intriguing of them all."
Then he turned and followed Haxorus into the shadows of the mountain.
I returned Swampert to his ball so he could rest with the rest of the team. We'd lost. Badly. Even worse, I didn't have Zoey's sarcasm to get me through it; she was in her own ball, healing from the burns Haxorus gave her.
The light from the return teleporter faded, and the world reassembled around me in a wash of neon, headlights, and cold mountain wind. Downtown Denver glowed under the dusk sky, but all I could feel was the roaring in my ears.
I'd lost, and every misstep replayed on a loop, each one worse than the last.
Why didn't I switch earlier? Why didn't I control the pace? Why didn't I trust them? Why didn't Nick trust me?
A fresh wave of anger surged through me at the thought of him ignoring me mid-battle, overriding my calls like I was some rookie trainer with a borrowed team. He made the wrong read, and Drayden made us pay for it.
As I crossed the empty plaza, however, my fury bled into something hollow.
Maybe he ignored me because I didn't earn his respect. Maybe none of them did. Maybe this whole journey-
I stopped walking. My hands were shaking.
I pressed both palms against my temples.
"Stop," I whispered. "Stop thinking."
But the thoughts wouldn't stop. Everything felt too loud inside my head. Too sharp.
And that's when the worst idea I'd ever had occurred to me.
Just… listen. See what they're thinking. See if they hate you, too.
There were dozens of Pokémon in the area, perched on balconies, walking with their trainers, or gathered near the fountains. I could only pick up faint whispers of their minds brushing against mine.
I reached for them.
And when I did, the entire world screamed.
A thousand voices detonated inside my skull at once: fear, hunger, boredom, confusion, territorial instinct, pain, joy. Noise noise noise noise! Something burst behind my right eye.
A white flash carved down the center of my vision.
Pain lanced through my skull so violently I didn't even have time to scream before my knees hit concrete.
I collapsed onto my side, clutching my head, breath trapped in my throat. My thoughts were static. My vision flickered. And a warm liquid slid down from my left nostril.
Oh God. Oh God, what did I just do?
I tried to call for Zoey, but she was sealed in her ball, healing. Trilla too. Swampert was exhausted, and Skyla was still on her flight back from Santa Monica.
I was alone, and the world was spinning. A pair of headlights blinked on across the street. A van pulled out of the alley with its high beams on. Slow and purposeful.
When I tried to push myself up, the pain detonated again, white-hot and blinding. I collapsed flat on my back, as my vision narrowed to a tunnel.
All I could hear were heavy footsteps and a voice I didn't recognize: "There. Grab her."
Then the world went dark.