Dungeon 38 – Legend… wait for it

Other than a few feral Pokémon, the walk through the woods went as smoothly as it could. Every now and then, the team stopped to fight the occasional enemy, but at the moment, they were resting.

“We shouldn’t stay too long here.” Of course, Meganium urged them to keep going; after all, everyone knew what would happen to their minds in case time ran out. They could not risk that happening.

“I can see that,” Lance pointed out. “And this aura… I’m not sure who it belongs to.”

Scar smiled. “Why not try using your senses? If they’re so strong, perhaps you can identify them?”

Lance stood, looking forward with all his sensors twitching in the air, and both eyes having a tint of purple in them. From afar, he could sense an enormous wave of aura, colored… pink. Alongside it was another, smaller aura, that was tainted in red. They seemed to be fighting, with three smaller auras, all of which were blue, attacking the pink one.

“I think… that’s Xerneas. She’s the one I feel more of, she’s fighting a lot of Pokémon.”

“It must be Morgan,” Meganium gulped, stepping forward. “Come, we need to go!”

Attacking a legend… was that the reason you used me for your experiments? I was a child…

The Lucario clenched his fist and followed the others into the deeper parts of the forest.

---

Xerneas remained still. Her antlers began to glow like a rainbow, while her head slowly raised, not even bothering to look at Morgan. The Gallade still had his smug look and cracked his neck. With a snap of his fingers, the three Pokémon accompanying him roared, being enveloped in the light of evolution.

“You must be really proud of your power, Xerneas,” Morgan said. “However, I can fight you on even ground. You’re nothing against me now!”

“Cease, heathen!” Xerneas finally lowered her head, releasing a devastating rainbow wave towards the three opponents.

“This is nothing! Protect barrier, now!”

After his command, the three roared, creating an almost transparent barrier of energy, fending off the attack. It was still very powerful, managing to make Blastoise, Glalie and Pidgeot fall back after the impact shattered the barrier.

Morgan ignored this and walked towards Xerneas. He clapped both hands and laughed, fascinated by the events. He knew such a powerful move would have destroyed an ordinary Pokémon’s protect, but with three megas? That was enough to defend against Xerneas’ attack.

“You had to charge that move, didn’t you? You’re defenseless now!”

To Morgan’s surprise, Xerneas smiled. What was she planning? Using her most powerful attack right away meant she drained most of her energy, right? His shock only escalated further once she sent out a thunderbolt towards Morgan, but he was able to teleport to the right before it struck him.

“…A trick?”

“I have no need for tricks!” Xerneas opened her mouth, forming a pink sphere in front of her snout.

“Very well. If that’s what you want, then you’ll get it!”

Blastoise stood up and fired a water shot from its cannon, which hit one of Xerneas’ front hooves. She didn’t react to it, and instead the sphere grew in size, along with producing a sparkling sound.

“Glalie, now!”

“What…?” Xerneas sensed something different about her front legs. They seemed… slower. Like they were paralyzed, and she looked down; ice was forming where the water once hit, and along with it was Glalie.

She decided to release the moonblast anyway, but her legs gave up, forcing her to fall on the ground and release a huge cloud of dust.

“Yes! I’ve done it! I defeated a legendary!” Morgan picked up the purple pokéball, ready to throw it at her.

A powerful electric shock ran across Morgan’s whole body, forcing him to his knees due to the pain. He ended up dropping the ball on the ground and coughed.

“Insolent… fool! Why don’t you just give up?!”

“I am the embodiment of life itself!” Xerneas stood up, stomping her hooves on the ground. It was so powerful it forced back the four mega Pokémon. “I will not yield to you, or to anyone! Face me if you dare!”

Morgan could barely move his body, but made an effort to do it anyway and checked his wounds. Besides the shock that he could still feel, he had bruises, and a few drops of blood fell on the ground.

“Hmph,” Morgan took a deep breath. “I don’t care that you’re a legend. I shall defy the legends if that’s what it takes to get me home!”

Xerneas stayed where she was, but glared at Morgan. It was intense, and the Gallade had to try hard to even stand up. He knew she was strong, strong enough. But he couldn’t give up. His dream was right in front of him. So close, yet so far.

“Many have tried, yet none of them succeeded. What makes you think you can do it, human? You don’t have the drive to fulfill your quest.”

The pressure intensified, bringing Morgan back to his knees, along with his servants. Much like gravity, it pinned them down no matter what they tried. Morgan shed a single tear, and screamed, standing up and enveloping his blades with dark energy.

“Don’t talk to me about drive! You don’t know what I’ve done during my years here! I never wanted this…”

Morgan clenched his fist, snarling. The wind blew on his fur, that unnatural fur he shouldn’t have. Along with blades. Oh, how he hated it.

“I’m a prisoner! I don’t deserve it!”

“SILENCE!” Xerneas glared, sending a shockwave of energy that pushed them all back to the wall next to the entrance. “You deserve a fate worse than death, Morgan Jones. And I will grant it to you!”

Getting back on his feet, Morgan charged the blade with energy again. “You’re welcome to try!”

---

Back on the lowest floor of the tree, Blaziken began to throw flames onto the walls, while laughing. His face seemed unhinged, fixed on a creepy and ominous smile. Azumarill had already collapsed, but despite her and Clefairy being easy targets, the fire-type never hit them, not even once.

Not that he didn’t want to, but his mind screamed much like a primal voice, so loud it deafened him to everything else. His slithering eyes had veins spread across his sclera, and he threw another burst of flames into the wall. Sadly, it only left a small scorch mark.

Letting out a squawk, Blaziken panted. He could still do it. That wall was just… standing on his way! That was it. If he could take it down, he would be stronger. Strong. It was all he needed.

So, using all the power boost from the emeras, Blaziken tried to torch the trunks once more, laughing and raising his head. Ah, it felt amazing. The fire around his arm, crackling and expanding. And with it, the destructive force like he never saw before.

But it wasn’t enough. The tree remained there, unharmed even with that devastating attack. How? Maybe Blaziken wasn’t strong enough. Then he remembered the third emera, the one that was with Manectric. It was passed out already, so surely that Pokémon wouldn’t miss the stone!

Blaziken hissed and yanked the stone out of Manectric’s collar, when he heard footsteps. Loud footsteps, coming out of the tree. Who did they belong to? In the end, it didn’t matter, he would defeat them! He crushed the emera, taking in all its energy.

---

Outside, Meganium did her best to heal the wounded. Her vines withered as she did, having to transfer energy to three Pokémon at once took too much out of her.

Meggie clenched her fist, seeing all the apparently deceased Pokémon. Morgan did that, she was sure of it. The Froslass hovered next to Meganium.

“They’re… dead, right?”

“Well, yes and no,” Meganium answered, putting more energy into the wounded. “Our life force is connected to Xerneas, as long as she’s alive, we are too. They’re in a… coma-like state.”

Meanwhile, the others were staring at the beautiful tree, all but Lance, who fell on his knees, with one of his paws touching his head.

“H-Hey Lance, what’s wrong?!” Brian asked his sibling, touching his shoulder.

“A massive aura spike… what the fuck is going on here?!” Lance forced himself to stand up, but his senses were overloading. Whatever it was, it was still growing.

Scar grasped his club. He wasn’t as sensitive as Lucario, but even he could tell there was a strong enemy nearby. The green flames on the bone scorched higher. Lilith cracked her knuckles, preparing to strike, while Max snapped his finger, making his whole arm crackle with electricity.

From the entrance to the tree’s inside stood Blaziken, who didn’t say anything, and simply stepped towards them. His body was enveloped in a red, almost burning aura, and with each step that he took, the grass burnt beneath him.

“You’re the one that took me!” Lance pointed to him, his own aura flaring up. He snarled, sensors now furiously twitching, and a purple sphere appeared on his hand. “I am taking you down… I’m not scared of you anymore!”

His opponent didn’t respond, or rather, Lance didn’t wait for an answer. He dashed forward, leaving only a dusty trail where he once stood. Blaziken seemed to understand that and did the same thing as Lance. The two exchanged blows, and were thrown in opposite directions. The Lucario ended up being tossed backwards, while Blaziken didn’t even fall, using his claws on the ground to slow down the movement.

Brian looked back and went to his brother as soon as he could, to check his wounds. Lance now had burn marks around his stomach, and his brother smelled cooked flesh.

On the other hand, Blaziken now could not move his arm, since it was dislocated, until he inserted it back in place, all without a single complaint about the pain. No, it was quite the opposite. He cherished the pain and made a signal for them to attack once more.

“He has gone insane… this aura isn’t… normal,” Lance tried to stand up, when a vine wrapped around his arm, and began to heal his wounds.

“You bastard!” Brian turned back and got on all fours with his fur standing on end. “Nobody messes with my family, you hear me?!”

Scar remained quiet, merely gazing at Lilith and nodding. She apparently understood what he meant, and she sped up, jumping high into the air. Brian activated his gauntlet and lunged at Blaziken, only for his opponent to dodge by ducking, and proceeded to kick Brian’s stomach.

“Well, asshole… I’m gonna show you something shocking!” refusing to let the kick throw him away, Brian touched Blaziken’s chest, and the gauntlet heated up, beginning to burn through Brian’s skin. He cringed, but ignored the pain and released a shock all across Blaziken’s body.

The fire-type opened his mouth and yelled, even when he was forced on his knees due to the gauntlet. Brian stepped back, leaving Blaziken there, until, coming from the sky, Lilith kicked his cheek, sending the fire-type rolling across the area. She took a few drops of sweat off her face and panted.

“I’m… done with the healing, at least here,” Meganium said, blinking. Her legs almost gave out, but she forced herself to stand. “We need to go to the tree.”

The Marowak looked at everyone, tapping his chin, and then pointed to team Liberators, along with Meganium. “You four should move on. We can take care of Blaziken. I think he might have gone feral.”

“Oh yeah, we got this!” Max agreed. “Now go! Kick that Gallade’s ass!”

Lance got some help from Meggie to stand up, and nodded. They left the area just as Blaziken returned, only hearing the crackle of flames before entering the tree.

---

The inside was just as sad as the outside. Meganium gasped, running towards the two fairies on the ground. She touched them with her vines and began the healing process. Her flowers began to lose their colors, but she didn’t care; helping them was more important.

“This place is huge!” Brian pointed at the ceiling, and then took a look. That floor was mostly empty, other than a few tables that were positioned in a barricade fashion.

“Pretty much!” Meggie hovered again, but her body shivered. The fight on the top of the tree was getting rougher, wasn’t it? This only served to further her resolve to put a stop on Morgan’s machinations.

Lance seemed to share their sentiment, but kept quiet, only looking up. His eyes had the same violet tone as before, and to him, it all looked like multi-colored waves of aura. Even the tree itself was filled with it. How beautiful.

But he had no time to take part in admiring the architecture, or the aura that place exhaled. He had a mission, probably the most important mission of his life, and he was going to succeed. With a long, deep breath, Lance looked at his friends.

“I think we need to go. Morgan is at the top, right? There’s no time to waste walking around here, let’s go.”

They all agreed it was the best option, but leaving Meganium behind wasn’t a good one. Luckily for them, she decided by herself to stay and heal the others, while the team continued along their journey. Team Liberators ran towards the stairs, and climbed them up.

For each of the three, that was the moment of truth, even if it was for different reasons. For Brian, he had to bring closure to the victims, and prove himself to not be a killer, even if he wanted to end Morgan’s life. For Lance, it was the chance to finally let go of his past, and embrace the future he would create with his own hands. And for Meggie confronting Morgan was to bring an end to all the pain and suffering he caused to others.

Motivation was not an issue to them.

---

Despite his words, Scar was having a hard time dealing with Blaziken. Not only did that flaming aura stop anyone from touching him, the fact he seemed to not feel pain anymore made it difficult for the three to pinpoint how long until he passed out from exhaustion.

Nonetheless, they were still trying their best, with an emphasis on the “trying” part. Blaziken didn’t let them get near him, constantly shooting flame projectiles at the three, who had to dodge them all.

“It seems like we’re in a bit of a peculiar situation!” Scar aimed his club behind Blaziken, launching it.

He dodged, but the club went back, like a boomerang, and hit the berserk pokémon on his back, before falling to the ground. Blaziken grabbed the bone and looked at Scar with an unhinged smile.

Lilith used this opportunity to run and deliver two powerful kicks to Blaziken’s stomach. This forced him a few feet back, and when he went to look at the bunny, he received another punch, this time an electrifying one. The triple attacks forced him to fall to his knees, but he soon stood up.

“This is quite the challenge, I must say,” Scar let out a smile of his own. “However, I don’t think I’ve shown the full extent of my abilities.”

“What’re you planning, boss?” Max asked, blowing wind on his hand to put out a flame.

“Yeah! We should know what ya planning!”

“When we were stranded, my intention was to use this technique against the Garchomp. As you know, it didn’t happen.”

Blaziken charged towards Scar, trying to hit the Marowak with the club, but he swiftly dodged and punched the opponent’s left arm with a quick jab.

Once he noticed it, Blaziken tried to move his arm, but felt nothing. Before he could react more, Scar did the same thing to his right arm, and jumped back.

Scar’s teammates were shocked, and kept staring at him. He didn’t look back, merely scoffing.

“Aura blocking. A technique I’ve learned during my young days.”

Blaziken roared a stream of flames from his mouth, desperately trying to move his arms. The aura around him grew more, and spread beyond his body. The three opponents he had staggered back as to not get hit.

“What can we do to block that guy?! At this rate, he’s gonna explode!”

“Explode…? Oh! I have an idea!” Lilith picked something on her purse and dashed forward, dodging all the flamethrowers Blaziken fired at her, until she was running in circles around him.

“I don’t understand… what is she doing?” Max blinked.

Scar remained in place. “Perhaps we should trust her. She is a valuable member of the team, after all.”

With each strike Lilith dodged, it only made Blaziken angrier. He snarled, producing a feral sound, and opened his mouth to release more flames.

During that moment, that one moment, Lilith threw a seed in Blaziken’s mouth, and jumped back. When it hit the flaming aura, the seed exploded, and even if it didn’t send Blaziken away, it left wounds on him, and even blood dripped from him.

“This isn’t over yet. Let’s go! He must be weak by now!” Scar pointed his club at Blaziken and charged towards him.

The feral’s response was another roar, and now that he could move his arms again, he ran in Scar’s direction, with the aura spreading towards his arm. The Marowak jumped, punching the arm and blocking its movements, but not before Blaziken headbutted Scar into the floor, where the Marowak now cried out in pain.

Lilith and Max, meanwhile, were also charging. Despite the disadvantage, Blaziken smiled.

---

Xerneas stomped her hooves again, releasing a shockwave towards Morgan and his servants, but he managed to evade by looking up and teleporting.

Now mid-air, he unleashed a blade of dark energy on the legendary, but it had little to no effect, and Xerneas simply shrugged it off. Morgan quickly teleported back to the ground and panted.

Alright. Think, Morgan, think. If she resisted Night Slash, she isn’t a psychic-type. She knows Moonblast… is she a fairy?!

He had no time to answer, as another lighting bolt was launched towards him, blocked only by another barrier created by the three mega Pokémon. Pidgeot screeched and flapped its tail. Its allies were enveloped in a sky-blue energy.

Morgan opened and closed his fists in a single second. His speed had been augmented. Hmph. Perhaps a change of strategy is required here.

The human focused, creating multiple afterimages of himself and the others, surrounding the area. Xerneas widened her eyes before releasing a wave of pink, fairy energy at the clones, until they had all disappeared, leaving only Morgan.

“If that was your strategy, it was pointless. What you’re doing is sacrilege. And your comeuppance? I’m bringing it now!”

She stepped forward, and cringed in pain. Said pain spread to her other hooves, and she smelled blood coming out. What was that?

Glalie began to throw spikes into the ground, spinning around as it did so, and the legend had stepped on them, causing her pain. Once Xerneas noticed this, she raised her hoof to smash Glalie, but the ice-type speeded out of there, returning to Morgan’s side.

“Do you still believe this is pointless? I know how to draw the best in Pokémon, for I am a human.”

“Perhaps. But I am above you, fiend.”

Xerneas raised her head, and her antlers glowed once more. Morgan knew what this meant; another one of the strikes. His heart skipped a beat and his mind sped up, thinking of a way to counter it.

For starters, Xerneas clearly had to charge the attack, which gave him the time to come up with some form of strategy. Now, he was part fighting-type, and even if he wasn’t, an attack of this magnitude would certainly kill him and his servants. How to defend against something like that? It might even destroy that tree with such strength!

Wait. It was strong enough to take them all down. And most likely it could, at the very least, damage the tree’s structure. He knew how bonded Xerneas was with the tree. That… that was interesting. A smile spread across Morgan’s face.

“Very well. My servants, we will overcome this adversity!” Morgan looked at Xerneas’ long neck, and laughed. The idea he was searching for came up after all. “Prepare your strongest attacks, and on my mark, we will fire!”

Xerneas finally finished charging her move, and lowered her head. Morgan smiled, snapping his fingers. Blastoise let out a triple water shot from its cannons, aiming at Xerneas’ neck. Afterwards, Glalie shot a freezing beam in the same direction, while Pidgeot flapped its wings, and Morgan shot a psychic beam on the legend.

While she didn’t get tossed out of the way, Xerneas was pushed back, if only by a few feet. Noticing this, Morgan put more pressure into the attacks, while ordering his subordinates to do the same. Slowly, Xerneas’ neck was dragged the opposite way, and she was now aiming at the tree’s wall.

“This… this is for my humanity, you scum! I’m not giving up until I get what I want! And no one, no one, legend or not, will stop me from reaching that goal!”

Xerneas screamed, her attack pierced the tree, puncturing a hole into it as the beam was released into the sky. Her limbs began to give in, forcing the legend to fall. The tree now had a massive opening to the outside world. Her breath became more raspy, while her body began to lose its bluish tone, and her antlers were becoming colorless.

The battle was over. Blastoise, Pidgeot and Glalie all collapsed on the floor, leaving only Morgan still standing. He raised his head and released a loud laugh. All his dreams were becoming true! Xerneas had fallen, and was now in the perfect position for him to capture her! Ah, how he savoured this moment!

Even if those pesky Pokémon were still following him, it didn’t matter in the end. Morgan had won. Well, not entirely, but he was about to take care of that last part.

“You… might have won, Morgan Jones. But I’m not… yielding to you! I can still fight! I can still–”

He threw the purple pokéball, and once it hit Xerneas, it snapped open, releasing a red beam of energy that enveloped the legendary. It shook for a few times, before stopping with a click.

“…Finally.”

Morgan won. He triumphed against all adversities and everything this world had thrown into his way, and even managed to defeat a legendary, although not without help. Ah, the assistance was irrelevant, now all he needed to do was teleport out of there.

“I would say I’m sorry, Xerneas, but you know me enough to realize I would be lying.”

Picking up the ball, he laughed again, even shedding tears, promptly wiping them out. With a loud sigh, Morgan inserted the pokéball into the middle of his armor, where there was a circle-shaped hole.

He fell to his knees immediately, as the energy from Xerneas was transferred to his body. His veins bulged, colored blue, and he screamed in pain, but pressed on. Enduring that was nothing. At least compared to all the pain he endured over the years, he had to take this one. Just this one. And then he could go home.

“A-Ah… that’s your last trick, isn’t it, Xerneas? I-I’ve mentioned this to you before, but I’m not… I’m not giving up! I’d rather die than live in this primitive body!”

The pain slowly faded away, leaving Morgan alone with his thoughts. He opened his eyes, both glowing blue, and stood up. The Gallade was enveloped in a blue aura, much like the color of Xerneas’ fur.

“Impressive, I have to admit. It’s like I’m… filled with power! Teleporting home should be no problem! The power of a legend is amazing!”

Morgan moved to the right, dodging a black ball of energy being thrown into his way. He sighed, for he knew who did it.

Much like his suspicions said, there they were: Lance, Brian and Meggie. The three who decided to stand up against him.

“Ah, Meggie. So we did meet again. I’m not bothering to ask you to join me, and I don’t care.”

“Shut up,” Lance stepped forward, aura flaring up. “You ruined me, you tortured me. The reason why I’m like this is you! And I’m done running away!” Your reign of terror ends now!”

“It’s a shame I gotta destroy that armor, because… it looks sick!” Brian chuckled, putting his goggles on. “But yeah, time’s up, asshole!”

Morgan’s body glowed even more and he laughed. How pathetic. That resistance was pitiful. “You’re not wrong. Time is up, but… you’re not going to stick around to have any revenge on me!”

“Get back here!” Lance roared, charging towards Morgan, ready to punch his face.

The Lucario continued, but once it seemed like he would finally attack the Gallade, Morgan vanished into thin air.