36: Kyurem

We can’t be far now. The Bittercold must be close. Especially if Thunder’s breathing troubles are anything to go by. With every step we take, his breaths become louder and longer, trying harder and harder to get air into his lungs. 

“I’m… I’m feeling light… Headed…” Thunder says as he begins to stumble. It appears that the lack of oxygen is getting to him. I reach out and steady him until he gets his balance back.

“Easy there, Thunder. It’s probably best if you head back. I can handle myself.”

“I’m not… Leaving you.” 

“Thunder, come on. You can barely stand. If you keep going you’re going to suffocate.”

“I can walk… on all fours just as… well as… on two legs. I’ll be fine.”

“Thunder, I’m not about to lose you. Please, just go back with the others.”

“Alex, I’m your friend. And… As a friend… I will not… Leave you… While you put yourself in… Danger. Friends stand by each other… No matter what.” Well, it’s becoming clear that I’m not about to change his mind. I don’t want to risk him dying, but we have no time for arguments. I’ll just have to accept it.

“If you’re sure… Just don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I won’t. Come on, Alex… Let’s finish this.”

>>>>>>>>>>

Ok. I’m impressed. Thunder is pushing through like a champ. Apparently he’s rationing his breaths to make each one count. He even looks combat ready. Though hopefully that won’t be necessary.

“Alex. Look.” Thunder says, pointing at the archway on the other end of the room. Wisps of purple tinged air are being pulled into the room on the other side. That has to be it. That must be the Bittercold. 

“Looks like it’s a straight shot from here. Come on!”

“I’m afraid you are mistaken, human.” A familiar voice echoes from the other room. And from that room emerges the intimidating form of Kyurem. “I must admit. I am impressed you have made it this far. But your little misguided crusade ends here.”

“You’re the one that’s misguided, Kyurem.” I respond. “Killing everyone will not solve the problem. It will just happen again with the next civilization you create. What this world needs is someone to lead by example.”

“I cannot change fate. The destruction of the Pokemon race cannot be prevented. And yet…” Kyurem’s voice becomes unsure, questioning. “Your ‘New Hope’ has made incredible strides towards doing just that. If you can defeat me, then it’s likely you deserve to finish what you started. So prove yourselves!” He ends his statement with a roar, challenging us to defeat him. 

“Ok, Thunder, here’s the plan. He overpowers us in terms of brute strength, so we need to use our Speer to survive. Hit and run tactics. You up for that?”

“I think I can handle that. Let’s do this.” Thunder takes off, hitting the giant dragon with bolts of electricity. In response, Kyurem tries to take out the electric rodent with ice beam, bringing the powerful blast to bear on him. Thunder’s tail gets caught in the beam and freezes solid, weighing him down significantly. Using the opportunity, Kyurem lunges at his now slower target, ready to crush him in his powerful jaws. 

However, he neglected to take care of me first. So I launched a volley of razor leaves at him like throwing knives, the impacts doing just enough to cause him to miss and bite into the ice instead of my friend. Thunder takes the moment and thwacks Kyurem with his frozen tail, breaking the icy coating.

Kyurem lets go of the wall, looking at us with curiosity. “So you can adopt new tactics at a moment’s notice… Impressive. But not enough.” He lets loose a dragon beam, narrowly missing me and most certainly getting my heart racing. I retaliate with leaf tornado. Which goads him into charging me. I try to dodge, but he ends up biting down onto my leaf tail. I let out a yelp of pain in response. Fortunately there are apparently less nerve endings there because being bit like that at full force should hurt a lot more. With my tail securely in his jaws, he begins throwing his head back and forth, thrashing me about. I try to do something to stop it, but all I can really do is flail helplessly, completely at his mercy… Unless… 

I reach out my vines, trying to feel around for my objective. Eventually I find it, the neck. I wrap around, nice and tight, trying to force him to let me go. It appears to work. He spits my tail out, throwing me against the ground. Thunder, recognizing my dizzy and disoriented state, protects me until I reorient myself enough to be able to fight again.

For the most part, our attacks seem about as effective as a puppy nipping their owner. Enough to make him flinch, but far from enough to cause serious damage. If we want to succeed, we need to do some serious damage. Fast. There must be some way to make him vulnerable… What if… That might work…

“Thunder, I have an idea. But I need you to draw his attention away from me. Can you do that?”

“I’ll most certainly try.” Thunder breaks away, launching an electro ball right at the face of our enemy. And that most certainly did the job. He is now after Thunder. Right… I don’t have a huge margin of error for this… He’s going to feel it the moment I make contact and I’m not about to end up under his foot again. With a deep breath I put the plan into motion, sprinting between his legs. I reach out with a vine and grab hold of a leg. Almost immediately Kyurem feels my vine and turns his attention to me. No turning back now. 

I dart around the outside of the leg then go for the other one, trying to tie him up with my vines. As expected he raises his foot up and attempts to flatten me. I sidestep the attack and continue my plan. I loop around the second leg and make my way back to the first one. I have now ensnared him. I pull my vines tight, causing him to trip and fall flat on the ice. 

“Now, Thunder!” I call to my friend, who ramps up his volt tackle and slams into Kyurem. The two of them take some heavy damage from the impact. However, Kyurem is still a threat. But that will change soon. I spot that our team badges are glowing with green energy. The team attack is ready. “Alright, Thunder… Let’s finish this. TEAM…” The light in Thunder’s badge jumps over to mine as I hold it up in the air, ready to be unleashed. With a somewhat anime-esque flourish, I prepare to unleash the finishing blow. “…ATTACK!” I hold the badge out in front of me as a beam of green light strikes Kyurem. The blast throws the massive dragon backwards until the beam subsides, leaving Kyurem to collapse to the floor in defeat.