37: The Bittercold

“Incredible…” Kyurem says, unable to get up. “You actually defeated me.” I notice a faint black smoke rise from his body. It’s almost like his skin is getting lighter in color, the darkness evaporating away. What is that? “Then… You two may very well be the ones to lead the world into a brighter age. So go. Destroy the Bittercold. And restore peace to this world.”

“We will. Thank you, Kyurem.” Thunder responds.

“Farewell, New Hope. And may Arceus watch over you.” With that, we press onward. It’s time to finish what we came to do…

A few more stairwells later and we finally reach the very top of the central spire. And when we reach the top of the final stairwell, we are greeted to an astounding sight. We are inside the vortex that is spiraling above the spire. And there, in the center of it, hovering above the ledge in front of us, was a massive, icy snowflake-like thing. The spikes protruding from the six sides could easily fit Thunder or I inside. This must be the Bittercold. The entity capable of global extinction. It’s time to rid this world of it.

A thump on the ground behind me grabs my attention. Thunder has collapsed. He’s come as far as he physically can. I run to his side, trying to get him on his feat

“A-A…. Lex… Jus…t g…o…” He barely manages to croak out. “Sto….p the… Bi…itterc… Old…” He’s right. There’s no time. Besides, if I destroy it, he’ll be fine.

“I will Thunder.” I tell him. I turn my attention to the menacing entity ahead of me, making my way towards it. “Alright, big guy. You want to commit global genocide? Well I’m here to put an end to- Agh!” All of a sudden I feel a powerful force clutch my chest, squeezing the air out of my lungs. Disoriented, I stumble back, and the force dissipates. How?! Hydreigon told me I was immune! Why am I affected now all of a sudden? I try to dash my way in, seeing if I can’t get closer. And I immediately regret that rash action. Not I’m trapped in the suffocation range. Every breath feels like a battle in and of itself.  I can’t fight the Bittercold like this… I can’t… 

“Don’t stop!” Huh? What was that? What was that voice?

“Don’t give up!” Another voice?

“Hold strong in there! You can do this!” Umbreon? Wait… These…

“Keep it up!” “We’re counting on you!” “You can win this!” “You’re so close! Don’t give in!” It’s everyone… Friends, neighbor’s, and even complete strangers. Their voices echo through the storm. And they are weakening the Bittercold. The painful grip is gone. I can breathe again. And I’m pretty sure that the Bittercold is outraged by this. 

“Heh… You seriously think we wouldn’t retaliate?” I say, feeling a confidence boost. “When you back someone in a corner, they’re going to lash out. And you put us deep into that corner. Now, let’s end this!” I send out a volley of razor leaves at it, only for them to bounce off. What? Guess I’ll try something else. Leaf tornado! …nothing… Vine whip? Nothing. Wrap? Nothing! A freaking blast seed? Absolutely nothing! How is it soaking up all my attacks! Am… Am I simply not strong enough? 

The moment that thought enters my mind, the force grabs hold once more. And I can feel the Bittercold’s smugness emanating from it. No! I’m not going to give up! I’ll fight to my last breath!

Dunsparce

Not good… Not good at all. One person had expressed doubt as to if this will even work. And that doubt has spread like wildfire. Slowly the cheers vanish and give way to looks of uncertainty and fear. The vortex above the palace is growing larger and larger. It won’t be long until it overshadows Post Town. Will that be the end? Or will it just keep growing until it swallows the planet whole? Maybe… Maybe it is hopeless… Maybe there’s truly nothing we can do…

Alex

The voices are gone… There’s nothing… I can’t move, there’s no support from the outside… That’s it. We’ve lost. We can’t win… It’s over… I can feel the deadly force grow stronger by the second. Soon it will unleash and wipe out everyone… And there’s not a fricking thing I can do to stop it. We’re all going to die here…

“A… Alex…” Thunder? “You… Ca…n d…o this… I b…el…ieve in y…ou…” Seriously?! With no possible way to win, he still feels like we can do this. He still believes… If he can hold strong in such an impossible situation… Then… I should be able to as well… After all… We call ourselves New Hope for a reason…

“We… Shine… As a… Beacon… In the darkness…” I say, forcing myself to stand up, using every ounce of energy in my body to just stay upright. “Give hope… To those who… Have none!” I strike the center with my fist. And to my surprise, it cracked. It cracked! I damaged it! “And protect those who cannot protect themselves!” Another punch and the crack grows. I can do this! I have the will and the strength to triumph! “WE ARE TEAM NEW HOPE!” A third punch and the outer shell cracks, revealing a red, pulsing ice core. It’s heart. 

For a split second, the vortex dissipates. Revealing colorful rings in the sky. Wait… Rainbows… Those are rainbows! The Rainbows of Hope! That’s what happened to them! They were smothered by the darkness of the Bittercold! Of course the dark vortex returns, obscuring the sight once again. But it was enough. The voices return. Stronger and more powerful than ever. The tides have turned in our favor. I can feel the fear the Bittercold emits. It knows that it’s lost. 

Without another word, I start  attacking. Relentlessly. Doing as much damage as I possibly can. Watching the core sustain more and more damage until… It happens. The core can’t keep itself together. It shatters. And more cracks spread across its icy form. And in a flash of light, it explodes, sending pieces of ice everywhere.

The vortex vanishes. Permanently this time. The rainbows take their rightful place center stage in the sky. But something feels wrong. Well, the reason for that becomes apparent very fast. The Bittercold was the only thing holding this palace in the sky. Now without it, gravity take hold. I watch the palace fall away beneath me as we plummet at terminal velocity towards the surface. So… I came into this world from the sky, it seems I’ll leave the world of the living the same way. With nothing left to do, I wait as the ground grows closer and closer, counting down the seconds until impact. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… I feel the pain of the impact, then…

Nothing…