A Storm Approaches

Aurora wasn’t much of a drinker, but given today’s circumstances was willing to make an exception. She, Jade, and Blake sat around a table in the corner of the town’s tavern. The large stone bricks making up the place gave it the same gray atmosphere as the rest of the Ironpost. But the air of fear from the murmuring pokemon around them gave the place a sense of life… In its own way.

 

“Whaddya think’s at the bottom of the mine?” Blake slurred, already on his third bottle. 

Jade scoffed at the Obstagoon’s lack of tact. “I’m surprised you even remember that,”  

 

Blake’s feet were propped up on the wooden table as an empty bottle lay by his side on the floor, all while his newfound chain dangled over his lap.

 

“Do you think we can even handle it?” Aurora solemnly asked as she stared down at the drink. “If there are more shadows like that-” 

“We killed the bastard back there, right?” Blake interrupted as he held up his bottle. 

 

Jade glared at the Obsagoon. “Need I remind you, that was an endeavor that took all of us.”

 

“And think about it. In the mines, we will be on their territory. And if our next battle is anything like what we just faced-” The Gardevoir froze and looked down.

 

With that, Aurora raised her mug to her mouth before chugging the whole thing. “I refuse to die here,” she thought as frost soon began to spread across her mug before creeping onto her side of the table after setting it back down.

 

“Really?! You just ditched me out there?!” Obsidian pouted as he stepped into the tavern. 

 

The Lycanroc’s still shadowy arms caught the attention of the other patrons. A few backed away while some took a more offensive stance. 

Rolling his eyes, he held up his paws. “Relax! If I wanted to hurt ya, I would’ve done it already!” 

 

Most of the others calmed down, but their suspicion of him didn’t seem to leave.

 

Approaching the table, Obsidian spun a remaining chair backwards and straddled it. “The hell is everyone’s problem?” 

“It’s just a theory, but I think it might have something to do with you resembling the things that just attacked their town,” Jade snidely answered. 

“Please, those ugly bastards have nothing on this gorgeous smile,” the Lycanroc beamed.

However his smile quickly faded as he looked at the table. “You owe me a beer by the way.”

 

Jade raised a brow. “Excuse me?” 

“The riddle… I solved it.” 

“Oh… You took that seriously,” she thought. 

 

Jade inhaled and stared at the Lycanroc. “Alright then, let’s hear it.” 

Obsidian puffed out his chest and smirked. “The first part is false.” Jade blinked, glancing at Aurora before staring at the crimson wolf’s smiling face. 

 

“I’m sorry, what was the riddle again?” Asked Aurora, not really caring about the whole matter, but needed something to distract herself. 

“The sentence after this is false. The sentence before was true.” Obsidian said as he gestured around with his paws. 

 

“If the first part says the next was a lie, but the second says the first was true, then the first was never true, right?” 

 

A moment of silence hung over the other three pokemon as Jade buried her face in her hands. “It’s moments like this that make me worried for the north’s schooling…” 

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?!” Obsidian argued, slamming his paws on the table. 

 

“It means she’s calling you dumb, ya twit,” Blake slurred as he sat back normally. 

“Whaddaya you know you drunk asshole!”

Blake pointed his bottle at the Lycanroc. “What I know is that the fucking answer’s a paradox,”  

 

“If the two of you start fighting, I’ll bash both your collars in,” Aurora threatened, as Obsidian shot up from his chair. 

 

Normally he would have shrugged off such a threat, maybe even counter with his own. But something about the coldness in the Beartic’s voice and unwavering face made him reconsider. 

“Heh, impressive. For an ice type to speak to me like that…”

 

“As for you!” he continued, pointing at Jade while eyeing up her heavy red cloak. “I’m from the west… Where it’s warm .” 

“Well that explains it then,” the Gardevior said under her breath. 

 

“So, where’s our keeper?” She inquired. 

Obsidian rolled his eyes. “Off talking to the Magmortar. But she told me to fuck off and go to you guys.” 

 

“Reminds me. How’s the ingot sittin’?” Blake asked. 

 

The Lycanroc groaned, gritting his teeth. “It’s been a long time since I’ve regretted eating something…” 

 

He then sunk his umbral claws into the table. “I’m not hungry, and it pokes my stomach when I bend wrong. I swear, if this thing doesn’t come out on its own-” 

“We get it,” Jade interrupted as she held up her hand.

 

However Obsidian soon smiled as he stood up. “But hey, look on the bright side.” 

Aurora raised a brow as she crossed her arms. “What bright side?” 

 

Obsidian raised his paw in the air. A pulse of red shot through his shadow stained arm as it shifted into a set of oversized, monstrous spikes that passed for claws . This caught the attention of everyone inside the tavern and caused panic to take over the room. 

 

“I can do this !”

---

 

“Five fucking blast seeds, I swear to- Calm Titania, ” the Tinkaton said to herself as she walked out of the Magmortar’s workshop.  

 

Making her way towards the tavern, Titania could see Obsidian rush out its doors, running in the direction of the town’s mines. Without much thought, she tossed the large wrench in the Lycanroc’s immediate path in the hopes of hitting him. But he quickly batted it away with the massive claw covering his arm.

Titania then saw the other pokemon under her watch running after him, cursing herself for leaving them alone. Bolting after the convicts, she hastily dug her hand through her bag to reach for the collar’s control orb. 

 

“If you don’t stop right now, I will kill all four of you!” 

 

This got Aurora, Jade, and Blake to stop, but Obsidian still kept going. Shifting his other arm into a massive shadowy claw, he slammed them on the ground to propel himself into the air, landing on the roof of a house. He then stopped and stared off into the distance as the others soon caught up. 

 

“Mind telling what the hell that was?!” Titania snapped, having retrieved her wrench. 

“He freaked out and ran off,” Aurora said with the hint of a growl in her voice. “So we decided to do your job.”

 

It was then that Obsidian hopped down, his eyes fixated on the mineshaft outside the town. His fur bristled as the shadows coating his arms began to spread to his chest . 

“It just me… Or is that stuff getting worse?” Blake questioned as he stepped back. 

 

“I can hear them…” Obsidian said in a trance-like state, his pupils dilating and his breath growing heavy as he slowly walked the path to the mine.  

 

Titania, Aurora, and Blake followed, if only to see what the Lycanroc was doing. Jade watched with some hesitation before joining the impromptu hike. 

 

At the end of the snowy path was the beginning of the Ironwood Wilds, and right in front was the entrance to the mine. The frame holding up the hole seemed to be in decent shape, but it failed to take away from its eerie nature. A deep moaning made its way up from the abyssal depths of the cavern, and small black crystals rose up from the frozen ground. They crept up and around the entrance like vines made of tainted rubies, slowly claiming the surrounding land as theirs.

“So this is the famous Ironwood mine…” Jade remarked. 

 

Looking at the nearby shards, Blake tilted his head. “I know this stuff’s bad and all, but… In a weird way it’s kinda pretty.” 

 

“Something in the shadows is angry…” Obsidian mumbled as he pointed down the tunnel. “And they’re-” 

Before he could finish, a large cluster of fist-shaped maroon crystals jutted from the mine’s entrance; narrowly hitting the Lycanroc. Snapping out of his trance, the shadows then faded away from his chest and pooled back into his arms.  

 

“FUCK!” He growled, jumping back before striking the ore that had been mere inches away from his face. 

Using Brick Break on the newly formed shadow ore, a piece chipped off. However the gash began to close up as a red and black energy pulsed through it. 

 

Taking notice of this, Aurora curiously stepped up towards the crystals and reared back her arm. An icy gauntlet formed over her paw before slamming it down onto the cluster. A massive dent filled with cracks formed in the crystals surface, but like before it slowly began to heal. The five watched as the crack steadily filled in, while the dent flattened itself out.

“I am going to assume that’s new,” Jade remarked as she pointed at the crystals, her arm still retracted as she held her head back. 

 

“Now I really wanna see what’s down there,” Obsidian said with a toothy grin. 

 

He then darted around the crystalline cluster in an effort to get inside the mine, but was met by a row of large, pointed maroon gems jutting up from the ground. 

They formed a wall in front of the entrance that Obsidian ran straight into . Falling on his rear, he growled and sprang back up as his white mane glowed with a brilliant silver sheen. He rammed his head into it over and over, growling louder and louder every time his Iron Head failed. 

 

“It’s almost like they don’t want us to come in,” Jade said as she observed the furious Lycanroc. 

Blake scoffed. “Well I’m not lett’n a bunch of rocks that can’t even talk back stop me.” 

 

But as he began to walk over, an expanding puddle of darkness seeped out of the crystals, staining the ground like the prior attack in Ironpost. The group all stepped back, anticipating a swarm of shadow pokemon to rise from the pool and attack, but there was nothing. At least, not at first… 

 

An ominous bubbling stirred from within, prompting the team of pokemon to cautiously back away. That is, except for Obsidian. He edged closer to the growing red and black puddle before a massive, serpentine figure shot up from its depths. A deafening roar echoed in the cold winds as the massive Gyarados rose into the sky. 

Its scales were as black as the night and littered with shifting splotches of red. The four fins that would have aligned along its back were replaced by shards of shadow ore , each one radiating a wispy, blood red aura. However rather than attack, the Gyarados set its gaze onto Ironpost before flying towards the town. As it flew, the Gyarados began to drop smaller bits of darkness that turned into more shadow pokemon upon hitting the ground.

 

Aurora and the others readied themselves as some of them turned around, rushing back to attack them. But before she could make a move, Obsidian rushed past her, leaping into the air and growing his paws into a set of large umbral claws. Latching onto the front of a shadow Glalie, he grabbed the horns on its head before using Iron Head in rapid succession until it dissipated. 

Landing on the snow covered ground, the Lycanroc was breathing like he had just run a race though the woods. “That’s better…” He said, mostly to himself before looking up at the others. 

 

“What?! I bashed my nose running into those things!” He argued, holding his paw up at the blocked mineshaft. 

“I think your nose can wait,” Jade said as she pointed at the incoming wave of shadow pokemon. 

 

While the four fought off the shadows, Titania got to work setting up the blast seeds she had gotten from the Magmortar. “Come on, come on…” She groaned trying to quickly tie fuses to the flame-shaped seeds . 

 

By the time the others were done, Titania stepped up beside them, prepared to light the fuse. “Jade, you have Reflect, right? Use it.”

 

“I think you forgot something,” Aurora said as she pointed towards the town. 

“Pretty sure I didn’t,” the Tinkaton answered with a scowl. “We have a job to do, and we’re going into mines to do it.”

 

Aurora stomped towards Titania with barely contained rage, but was stopped by Jade who held out her arm. “So what I am hearing is that you … A member of the esteemed Bastion City guild, would prefer to leave a town to potentially die?”

A long silence hung over the group of pokemon as Titania thought of a response. Her face tightened as she turned her head away. 

 

“If they wanted to be safe, they should’ve gone to Bastion.”

 

The four stared at Titania for what felt like an eternity. She glanced at Aurora and Jade, who’s looks of rage and disgust pierced into her.  

 

“Wow…” Blake said, staring wide-eyed. Part of him expected the Tinkaton to have this line of thought, but something about her actually saying it managed to catch him off guard.

 

As the air grew thick with the newly tense atmosphere, Aurora turned her back on the team’s appointed leader. With a newfound conviction, Aurora lowered herself to all fours before speeding off towards the town. Using Psychic on herself, Jade followed, quickly floating through the air. 

 

“Saviors of the North, huh?” Blake said before he and Obsidian went after the others.

 

Watching them run off, Titania dug through her bag and pulled out the control orb. Her hand shook as she stared at it until her eyes slowly rose to look at the path before her.

---

 

As the four approached Ironpost, the Shadow Gyrados had already begun attacking. In the air, the towering serpent bombarded the ground below with beams of energy and fierce winds. 

 

“How in the fuck are we supposed to kill that thing from down here?!” Blake asked, holding up his arm to block the wind from his eyes. 

 

With a focused glare, Jade held her arm close to her chest before tapping the mega stone on her bracelet. Engulfed in a prismatic flash of energy, her new form was quickly revealed. Jade’s dress-like lower half became more regal in appearance as it flowed more outwards. The magenta spike on her chest split in two, and the spiky protrusions on the sides of her head grew outwards to form a crest.

“I’ll get its attention and try to force it down, then you attack!” 

 

“I think you just did,” Aurora replied as she used Bulk Up , slamming her large paws together as she prepared to attack. 

 

The Shadow Gyrados then began to charge down at them, as the colorful flash of Jade’s mega evolution had in fact summoned the serpent’s attention.

A surge of water formed underneath the massive Gyarados as it sped towards them using Waterfall. Jade in turn held her hands in front of her chest before thrusting them out to form a shining barrier with Reflect. 

 

“Now!” She yelled out, prompting the others to split up. 

 

As the Gyarados charged against the barrier, the four gained a true sense of just how massive the serpent truly was. Its side by itself was over twice Aurora’s height , and the four fins along its back even longer so. But this didn’t stop Obsidian from quickly scaling his way up and onto the shadow’s back. Blake swung his chain, using the hook on the end to grapple into its scaly hide. But as he did, their assailant swung its head upwards, finally shattering Jade’s Reflect and knocking her back. 

Using Bulk Up once more , Aurora sprinted towards the Gyrados and grabbed one of the long whiskers that hung from its face. “JADE!” 

 

Pulling herself up, the Gardevior held out her hands and used Psychic to help hold the Gyarados’ head down .

 

Meanwhile, Obsidian and Blake clung onto the writhing shadow’s back. The latter sat straddled over the surface, laughing maniacally as his umbral claws held him in place. After Blake managed to climb up, he saw the shards of shadow ore along the Gyarados’ back. 

 

“Two by the head, two by the tail …”  

 

Thinking back to the Shadow Beartic, he pulled out a silver spike and stabbed it into the shard.

Coating his claws in a violet energy, Blake pulled in his arm before swiping it out, backhanding the embedded spike with Night Slash. Despite going in deeper, the silver spike didn’t do as much damage as he had hoped. 

 

“Dammit,” he muttered before the Gyarados violently swung up its head, sending him and Obsidian high into the air. 

 

It was this moment Blake had an idea. “Hey freakshow! Grab on!” He yelled as he tossed out his chain towards the Lycanroc. 

 

Grabbing the hook on the end of the chain, he briefly looked into Blake’s eyes and gave a wide grin. With that, the airborne Obstagoon swung down the chain, using the momentum to swing Obsidian around two more times. 

On the final swing, Obsidian let go and held out his paw as he rocketed towards the Gyarados. Once he was within range, he funneled as much energy as he could into his growing shadowy claws, using Brick Brick to chop the ore Blake had marked in two. 

 

The Gyrados shrieked in pain as it jerked up its head, flinging Aurora away and releasing itself from Jade’s telekinetic hold. It then flew up Towards Blake who was still falling through the air. Narrowly avoiding the wide mouth of the Gyarados, he slammed into the serpent’s back and hooked his chain into their side.

However, in the process he lost his grip on the chain as the creature writhed in a blind fury. A now non-lethal fall was in Blake’s future as he and Obsidian were flung off , but he was still prepared to have his face smashed into the ground while the shadow went to finish the job. But instead, a curved barrier of light broke his fall. 

 

Jade quickly pulled the Reflect towards her and Aurora and dumped the Obstagoon onto the ground as she held it above them. The Gyarados’ tail slammed into the barrier as it quickly flew upwards, taking the badger’s chain with it .

 

“Any more ideas, princess?” Blake snapped as he pulled himself up. Growling, Jade dropped Reflect as she and the others stared up at the spiraling serpent. It was even higher up then it was before, and appeared to be taking an active interest in them. Letting out a deafening roar, energy began to build up in Gyarados’ maw.

 

“Run…” Aurora said as her eyes widened. 

 

“ Everyone, run! Now! ” She yelled, as the surge of energy the Gyarados gathered was released, its Hyper Beam heading right for them. 

 

The Beartic rushed towards Jade and Blake, grabbing hold of the two and diving behind a battered house.  

 

Impacting the ground, the powerful beam carved a wide streak through Ironpost which narrowly missed the trio before petering out. Peering from behind what was left of the house was an unrecognizable town, Ironpost looking as if a violent storm had ripped its way through. And in a way, it had, as they watched the Shadow Gyarados circled the town like a vicious predator. 

Blake groaned through gritted teeth as he pulled himself up. “I’ll say it again… Any more ideas?”  

 

“Hey!” Obsidian called out, pointing at the massive shadow while standing on a nearby roof. 

 

“I ain’t done with you, fishy!”

 

Running out into the open of the ruined town, Jade, Aurora, and Blake watched as the Gyarados shrouded itself in rushing water like it had before and dove down towards the taunting Lycanroc. However as it closed in, the Gyarados was knocked off course by a massive rock that sent it crashing into the ground. Turning their heads towards where the boulder came from, the team was surprised to see none other than Titania. 

A few pokemon stood behind her while others were running for safety. One of whom by her side was the Rypherior she was speaking to earlier, the large reptile creating a steady stream of big rocks for Titania to launch. Using her large wrench to bat another boulder at the shadow, Titania scowled as the blow to her foe’s head didn’t do as much as she hoped. 

 

“You should go to Bastion… All of you,” she said to the Rypherior before running off. 

 

As she rejoined her team, none of them uttered a word to her. But any problems they may have had with the Tinkaton would have to wait, as they all knew what had to be done right now. 

 

Rushing water wrapped around the Gyarados’ tail as Obsidian rushed for it, leaping off the roof and using Stone Edge. A volley of sharp rocks flew towards the shadow as Obsidian leapt from stone to stone. But the Gyarados raised its tail and slammed it down, smacking Obsidian back and destroying the house he stood on. 

 

Quickly slithering towards the other four pokemon, it used Aqua tail again and swiped the massive appendage, knocking the team back into the house behind them.

The Gyarados followed this by firing a massive torrent of water from its mouth, sweeping it across the four before a mound of ice began to form. The attack had stopped on Aurora, attempting to block it with her arms. 

 

The frozen gauntlets of her Ice Punch grew to cover her arms as she poured more of her energy into them. The ice began to spread into the water, creating more as it made contact. 

 

“It’s still! Do something!” The Beartic yelled. 

 

Still trying to hold off the attack, the sound of a scream from inside the house almost made her let up. But a quick assist from Jade’s Psychic prevented her from losing ground. 

 

“There’s someone inside,” Aurora growled. 

The Mega Gardevoir glanced at the house then focused her gaze on the Gyarados. “I have an idea! Just wait a bit!”

 

Blake and Titania were able to quickly pull themselves up and run for the Gyarados’ tail. “I assume it’s the same as before?” Titania questioned. 

“Smash the shards, yeah,” the Obstagoon said with a quick nod as he readied an attack. 

 

Getting closer, they noticed the Gyarados’ tail start to pick up in activity. Not wanting to miss their chance, Titania rushed ahead Blake and held out her wrench. “Step on, I’ll launch you!” 

Doing as she said, Blake stepped on the wide end of the large tool before feeling himself get pushed into the air. 

 

Now on a collision course with the frontmost shard on the shadow’s tail , he reared his arm back, his only focus to return the damage done to him and then some. His arm filled with power from built up damage he had taken and thrusting it forth, using Reversal on the shard and shattering it.

 

The Obstagoon then grabbed the Gyrados’ tail, holding on for dear life as the massive creature shrieked and thrashed about. He clawed his way towards the other shard on its tail when he felt himself start to slip. Reaching for the belt around his waist, he quickly pulled out his last silver spike and stabbed it into the Gyrados’ ebony hide. 

 

“Come on Blake… You’re not dying before you try that spiced cider the tavern’s got,” he thought. He gritted his teeth as he pulled himself forward. With a quick lunge, Blake pulled out the spike and rammed its point into the next shard before getting thrown off into what was left of a nearby wall.

 

Taking the ice that had built up during the Gyarados’ attack on Aurora, Jade used Psychic to toss it at the serpent’s head and get its attention. With that, Aurora rounded the corner of the wrecked house and made her way inside. 

Within the walls of the house, it looked like a blast seed had gone off. Parts of the walls were missing, and everything was strewn about haphazardly. The Beartic was tense, unsure of what she’d find, or if she’d even find anything at all. But she knew what she heard. 

 

“Is anyone in here?!” 

 

She found her eyes constantly glancing towards the shattered window to her side, unsure if the Shadow Gyarados would turn back around. But it was on her final glance that a noise caught her attention, collapsing wood and a cry of fear.

Snapping her head towards the source, Aurora saw a fallen bookshelf crushing a table that a young Sneasel was scrambling to get out from under. Rushing to their aid, Aurora shoved the bookcase aside and lifted the table. The small, dark-furred weasel hastily pulled themselves away and looked up at their rescuer.

 

In her haste the Beartic reached down, but only managed to further frighten the smaller pokemon. Realizing this, she pulled back her large paws. 

 

“It’s not safe here… Please,” she said to them in a softer voice. 

 

With some hesitation the Sneasel agreed, cautiously walking towards Aurora’s side.

 

The two were met with fierce, roaring, snow filled winds upon stepping out of the damaged house. It wasn’t difficult to find the source, as three visible twisters spiraled around the massive, airborne Gyarados. One of them broke from formation, slowly gaining size as it spun towards the rest of the team. 

 

Blake dug his feet into the ground and crossed his arms as a large, bright X formed before them. All while Titania stood behind the Obstagoon’s Obstruct with her wrench firmly planted in the ground. Meanwhile Jade had used Psychic on the debris around them to make a barrier around them all while Obsidian added to it with Stone Edge. 

 

“How the hell did we lose a whole Beartic?!” Obsidian yelled “She’s huge! And-” 

“So is your mouth, keep going!” Jade snapped. 

 

Glancing to the side, Blake’s eyes widened. “Think I found her! This better be part of your plan, Princess!” 

 

As the winds grew stronger, Jade caught Aurora in her peripheral vision. The Mega Gardevoir inhaled as she bought the rest of the barrier together. “Don’t you dare fail, Aurora.”

 

Aurora remembered where she saw Titania evacuating other pokemon from the town. The Sneasel tightly clung to the Beartic’s vest as she ran on all fours through the snow and wreckage. Picking up speed, Aurora briefly thought back to the last time she ran with this much purpose. As once again, someone was depending on her. 

… … …

 

Within the walls of Sleetpass, it was simply another day until the first of many shadow attacks. Aurora and a few other pokemon had spent the last few dozen minutes fighting off the intruders coming from the woods nearby. But it felt like for every one they slayed, three more would appear. But overall things had been manageable… That is, until the faster ones began to show.  

 

Watching the shadows claw themselves over the town wall, Aurora rushed back into town to assess the situation. Scrambling away from the wall, the shadows immediately began to target the town’s residents, chasing them inside and attacking whoever was in their sight. 

 

“They got in!” She yelled to others outside. But turning back, something quickly caught her attention.

 

Everything around Aurora seemed to freeze as her focus centered onto one house in particular that a pair of shadow Lycanrocs was closing in on. But more importantly, it was on who was inside. Lowering herself to all fours, Aurora charged down the dirt road towards the house with little care for what was in her way. Her arrival caught the attention of the shadow-bodied quadrupeds.

Rising to her hind paws, the Beartic swiped her claws across one’s face. But it was then that another leapt onto her back, scratching and biting as it tried to take her down. A thick layer of ice crystallized over her paws as she reached back and grabbed the canine, tossing them into their partner. With them both piled on each other, she used Ice Punch, pushing her paw down until she hit the ground beneath them.

 

Hastily, she made her way inside to find a petrified Cubchoo with brown-tinted fur. Scooping them up, Aurora brought the smaller bear into her embrace. 

 

“It’s okay Urs… Nothing is going to hurt you…”

… … …

 

As she continued her mad dash though the snow, Aurora could see a few of the stragglers and managed to catch up with them. Panting, she allowed the Sneasel to get off her back and run towards them. The Rhyperior she had seen with Titania was amongst the group, guiding them away. But upon seeing the young pokemon he turned towards the Rhydon beside him. 

“Go find Frost,” he quickly ordered.  

 

“Mister Jasper!” the Sneasel squeaked as she ran for the stone-skinned reptile. 

 

However at this point, Aurora turned away. As much as she wanted to enjoy this moment, the shadow’s echoing roar served to remind her why she was there in the first place.

---

 

The wind had dyed down as Aurora rushed back to Ironpost’s limits, but it was clear to her that the shadow Gyarados was about to attack again. Looking up, Obsidian had somehow made it up to the rampaging serpent. Clinging to the fin at the end of its tail, he was laughing maniacally, refusing to be shaken off.

 

“HAHAHAHAHA! Is that the best you can do, fishy?!” Obsidian yelled as the size of his shadow-stained claws grew, further digging into the Gyarados’ hide. 

 

Pulling himself forward, Obsidian gritted his teeth as he reached the tail’s remaining shard. “I’ve seen Wooper put up better fights than this!”

 

A bellowing roar escaped the Gyarados’ jaws as it writhed through the air. But within its mouth was the glow of another oncoming attack. 

 

Back on the ground, Jade’s Psychic was reshaping the remaining from debris from the team’s barrier into a spinning javelin of wreckage But before she could launch it, Hyper Beam was fired from the Gyarados’ maw. Hitting the ground, the large beam quickly swept towards them.

 

Jade, Blake, and Titania were all blasted backwards before tumbling to the ground. With ringing in their ears, they pulled themselves up. 

 

Eyeing each other, they were each in surprisingly good shape, say for a few extra bruises and bloodstains. Training her eyes to where the attack detonated, Jade could see a massive pile of crushed and cracked ice spilling into the newly formed creator . 

The Mega Gardevoir’s eyes widened before she turned her head back. There was Aurora, breathing heavily as the cold aura surrounding her body blew off into the wind. Three crimson claw marks sat on the side of her right arm, while frozen blood stained her left paw.

 

As the other’s pulled themselves up, they looked over the ivory ursine. Their gazes told her everything, silently saying a mix of ‘Where the hell were you?’ and ‘What happened?’  

 

“It made the move stronger,” the Beartic said before a roaring shriek echoed through Ironpost. 

 

Turning their attention to the Gyarados, the four pokemon saw that it was slowly falling towards the ground, as Obsidian destroyed the last shard on the Gyarados’ tail.

 

“Aurora! Whatever you just did, do it again,” Titania commanded as she pointed at their weakened foe. “It’ll be pinned and can end this.” 

 

She didn’t want to again have to use Avalanche in a place like this, as it had the potential to be her most powerful and destructive attack. But with the town being in the state it was now, it wasn’t like she could cause any more damage than what the already Gyarados had. And with them lower to the ground like this, the opportunity to strike was too good to pass up. For as long as it was still alive and squirming, the serpent was a threat.

 

“Hit me,” the Beartic said, her words as cold as the ice she summoned. 

Titania flinched, not expecting the response. “What?” 

“Do you want this to work or not?” Aurora snapped.

 

The Tinkaton took a batting stance with her large wrench before it glowed with a red aura. Using Brutal Swing, she struck Aurora in the stomach. A growl escaped her jaws as an excess of frost formed over her now mostly ivory fur. A dark cloud formed over the Gyarados that Obsidian took quick notice of. 

 

“Looks like the fun’s over,” he huffed before letting go of the shadow pokemon and dropping to what was left of a roof nearby.

 

As he did, the Lyacanroc watched as several large chunks of sharpened ice cascaded down onto the Gyarados, bringing them closer to the snowy ground with each hit. 

Jade, Blake, and Titania ran towards the now grounded serpent as the massive pile of ice had it partially pinned to the surface. However, as the three got closer, a violent burst of wind suddenly picked up. The Shadow Gyarados had used Hurricane and sent them all flying back along with some of the ice. Ascending off the ground, the winds only got stronger. But rather than attack, the spiraling tempest was used to defend, creating a barrier of wind around itself.

 

“How are we supposed to get at it now?!” The Lycanroc yelled from the roof of a nearby house. 

 

Just after he said this, a blast of powerful air struck the ground several meters away from where he was standing. Obsidian looked up at the Gyarados and pointed up his paw.

“Ha! You missed, you-” 

“Shut up and get down here!” Titania yelled before another blast shot down at the house the Lycanroc stood on, blowing it apart. 

 

Launched up into the air, Obsidian was battered by debris. Summoning his shadow claws back, he swept what he could away until another burst of wind came down towards him. He held out his arms, catching the wind with the umbral constructs and gliding towards the others.  

 

Peering out from behind the remains of a stone wall, Jade sank back and turned towards the others. “It’s trying to avoid us while still trying to attack,” she remarked. 

Blake raised a brow. “And how’s that supposed to help us?” 

“It doesn’t,” Titania cut in. “It’s making a plan to fight us, and shadows don’t do that.”  

 

The Obstagoon threw up his claws in frustration. “Well fan-fucking-tastic! They’re learning!” 

 

Peering out once more, Jade stared up at the swirling column of wind. “There has to be a way around this,” she thought before looking towards her teammates. 

 

Brandishing one of his shadowy claws, Obsidian growled. “Ugh! Why the hell are we just sitting here!” 

“Cause last I checked, none of us can fly,” Blake remarked. 

 

“Will you two shut up, I’m think-” Jade snapped as she jerked up her hand.

But the Mega Gardevoir’s eyes widened as an idea came to mind. And after getting a good look at the Lycanroc’s umbral appendages , she looked up at Aurora. “I need you to use Bulk Up as far as you can.” 

 

She then turned her gaze towards Titania. “How good is your aim?”

---

 

For about the next minute, the sounds throughout Ironpost were of the roaring squall above. That is until Blake began running away after being pushed away from the wall. Powerful bursts of air from the whirlwind shot down at him as ran and kept the shadow’s attention. 

 

“If I die, I’m gonna fucking kill that Gardevoir,” he thought, immediately diving down. 

 

Rolling back up, the Obstagoon crossed his arms in front of him as a matching, glowing X appeared. As Obstruct blocked the vicious winds, he glanced to the side to see the others running towards the storm.

 

Aurora and Jade led the charge a good ways away as Titania and Obsidian followed. 

 

“Are you sure?” The Mega Gardevoir asked. 

 

Aurora’s gaze remained straight ahead, giving a single nod as a response. Once they were close enough, Jade created a small Shadow Ball in her hand and slammed it into Aurora’s side.

The Beartic flinched, but managed to pull herself together enough to pour as much energy as could into attack. Pieces of ice larger than herself rained down from a massive dark cloud as Jade caught each one with Psychic. It was then that Titania and Obsidian rushed past them, hopping up onto the lowest chunk of ice.

 

Scaling their way up from piece to floating piece, they had all gained the attention of the Gyarados. The winds got rougher the higher they got, and Jade had to keep repositioning the ice to protect them. Obsidian however didn’t seem to care, the Midnight Lycanroc climbing with a smile on his face, growing more and more eager to reach the top. 

He looked down at the below, clinging to the second highest piece by his claws. “Come on, short stuff! The plan ain’t gonna work without ya!” 

 

The Tinkaton swung her wrench at the ice below, using Brutal Swing to propel herself above Obsidian.

 

The two could see the top of the whirlwind and the final, massive piece of ice standing between it and them.  

 

Titania pulled out a blast seed from her bag. “You know what to do, right?!” She snapped at the Lycanroc. 

He grinned and pointed at her. “What?! Don’t trust me?!”

“Don’t fuck this up!” Titania yelled as she got into position. “I only have five!”

 

Obsidian took the seed and stepped on the end of the Tinkaton’s wrench. It glowed a brilliant silver before she swung upwards as hard as she could, using Gigaton Hammer to launch Obsidian above the spiraling winds.

 

Up in the air, Obsidian looked down at his target. The Gyrados was still situated in the vortex’s center. On its upper back was the last piece of shadow ore on its body , and with it, the last chance to put the serpent down for good. 

 

As he began to fall, the Lycanroc did as he had before, catching the wind as he summoned his shadowy claws once more. However, upon doing this, he accidentally dropped the blast seed. 

Falling within the column of wind, the seed detonated and got the Gyarados’ attention. It tilted up its head and the two exchanged stares, both parties carrying a look of bloodlust in their eyes. 

 

“Welp, time to improvise,” Obsidian thought, watching as an ominous glow appeared in the Gyarados’ maw. 

 

As it used Hyper Beam, the shadow staining Obsidian’s arms quickly spread to his chest and torso. He then used Stone Edge, summoning a number of large shards that resembled the shadow ore on his adversary’s back. Pushing them together, they skirted along the beam before shattering, blowing back Obsidian and sending him into a free fall.

 

With each second, he fell closer to the Gyarados as it continued using Hyper Beam. The Lycanroc held out his arm, using his growing claws to try and stave off the attack, pushing himself away. Sliding down the beam, he soon reached the Gyarados’ face before leaping off its forehead.

 

Thrusting his claws into the shadow’s back, the stained Lycanroc sunk them as deep as he could before he slid to a stop next to the final shard. With that, he reeled back his head, a metallic sheen forming over his mane. 

 

“I-”

 

Crunch

 

“GOT-”

 

Crack

 

“YOU-”

 

Crunch

 

“NOW!”

 

Smash

 

Using Iron Head once more on the shard, it shattered into countless pieces. With a weakened roar, the Gyarados began to limply fall to the ground as its body was dissipating into a thick, black smoke. A series of echoing crashes were the last sounds to come of the battle, as what was left of the massive shadow, and the ice Jade held up made its way to the ground. 

 

After that, all was silent. A gentle snowfall followed the dispersal of the winds as peace was restored to Ironpost. 

 

“Hey Blakey!” Obsidian called out as he hopped down from the felled Gyarados. In his now normal sized paws, he swung around a chain with a hook on its end. 

 

“Got your toy back!” He said, tossing it at the Obstagoon’s feet.

 

Picking it up, Blake and the others noticed the shadow staining the Lycanroc had expanded across his chest again. However Obsidian still appeared to be… Obsidian this time , whatever that meant at least, as the Midnight Lycanroc was all smiles after what had just occurred.

 

However others weren’t in such high spirits, as their victory today wasn’t without cost. A tired and wounded Aurora somberly gazed over the town, or at least what was left of it. But she couldn’t focus on that now, as by now the adrenaline was wearing off, and a burning pain shot throughout her body. 

 

She dropped on her rear before falling back onto the snow covered ground. There was a bright flash in her peripheral vision before non mega evolved Jade stumbled towards her. With a hand to her temple, she looked down at the Beartic and said… something. The Gardevoir’s words were just white noise to her as she continued to stare up at the sky. 

 

“Right…The mine,” Aurora thought, just now remembering that this ordeal still wasn’t over. 

 

“When does this end?”

---

 

All Aurora could feel was an intense pain throughout her whole body as she slowly sat up from the stone floor. Taking in her surroundings, she saw that she was once again inside the tavern; now with a gaping hole in its side from the Shadow Gyarados’ attack. Miraculously, the rest of the building was still standing. But the same couldn’t be said for most of Ironpost.

The devastation outside that she could see only brought the Beartic more pain until a pair of figures walked up to her. A Weavile who was tailed by the Sneasel she had saved during the attack . 

 

“That’s her!” The Sneasel exclaimed as they pointed at Aurora. “That’s the Beartic who saved me!” 

 

Frost stopped in her tracks upon seeing the large bear, her matted fur stained with dirt and blood. The others sitting around this side of the tavern were in a similar condition. A bruised Gardevoir nursing a nasty headache, a partially bandaged Obstagoon helping himself to the tavern’s supply, and a Midnight Lycanroc who looked like he had been knocked into a coma.  

 

“E-Excuse me?” She said, cautiously approaching Aurora. 

Taking notice of the Weavile, the Beartic tried to make herself appear more approachable by hunching forward as she relaxed her body. “Can I help you?” 

 

The Weavile brought her claws together as a teary-eyed smile formed on her face. “Thank you for saving my little girl.” 

Aurora gave a faint grin and nodded. “I’m just glad I was able to help.”

 

“I don’t know what I can ever do to repay you,” Frost said before Aurora held up her paw. 

“I shouldn’t take anything from you,” the Beartic replied, her gaze then turning towards their surroundings. 

 

“Then at least allow me to repair your vest,” Frost insisted. “I wouldn’t feel right giving you nothing for what you did.”

 

Aurora felt the cold air pierce through some spots of her vest before inspecting it to find some holes. She could only assume the Sneasel’s claws had torn it earlier. “Or maybe I just got more beat up than I thought…”  

 

Noticing a look of uncertainty on the Beartic’s face, Frost piped up. “It’s okay, I’m actually the town seamstress. It’d be in good claws.” 

 

With a slight nod, Aurora peeled off her vest, folding it and handing it over to the Weavile. 

 

“You know, the four of you have done more for this town than the guild has in the past year,” Frost said with a look of masked disdain. However her demeanor soon returned to its prior state. Gesturing her head at the folded vest, Frost smiled. 

 

“But for now I’ll see what I can do about this.” 

Aurora nodded before her fellow ice types walked off, a smile forming as the Sneasel turned back to wave at her. She waved back until she heard footsteps coming in her direction.

 

“You know, I didn’t take you as the heroic type,” Blake said as he approached the Beartic from behind.

 

“Lucky you didn’t go out too far either,” he mumbled. 

Slowly turning around, Aurora had a sullen look on her face. “You never answered that question I asked…” 

 

A confused look fell on the bandage-covered Obstagoon’s face. “What question?” 

“Do you have a family?” Aurora asked as her gaze trailed away from Blake. 

“Not really,” he hissed, sucking on his teeth and glancing away. “Stopped talking to the bloody bastards years ago… Guessing you do?” 

 

Aurora slowly nodded. “Now what did you do to get here?” 

Blake sighed. “Killed some ‘mons, did some things in public I probably shouldn’t have. Given what we’re doing, I guess those guildies thought I’d be useful.”

 

“So what about you?” The Obstagoon asked as he pulled up a chair. “Who’d you kill to wind up here?” 

A heavy silence hung over the two before Aurora took a deep breath. “Nobody.” 

 

Confused, Blake leaned forward in his chair. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“I am here for something I did not do,” she answered. The Beartic wished to keep talking, but hesitated. However, whether it had been out of anger, or a simple need to just talk, she soon felt compelled to continue. 

 

“I come from a town north of here, where two guild pokemon were found dead.”

 

Hearing the conversation, Jade quickly turned her head, flinching as it stirred her already pounding headache.  

 

“Let me guess, guild thought you did it,” Blake said as he pointed a claw. 

“I’m something of a… Popular figure in my town. And with them being outspoken about the guild in recent times, I feel they wanted to make an example.”

 

“But why place you here then?” Jade asked. “The coun- I heard that the council voted against Pyre’s plan. The public wouldn’t know about it.” 

 

Aurora closed her eyes as she tensed up. “…I made a deal with Pyre.”

“What was it?” Jade forcefully asked, flinching once again before raising a hand to her temple. It was clear to Aurora that she was showing greater intrigue now, but it was now the want to speak began to wane. 

 

“What do you think?” Aurora growled as she laid back on the floor. “I do this, I go home…”

Staring down at the table in front of her, Jade’s attention soon turned towards the bracelet on her arm. “You… You remind me a lot of my sister, Aurora.”  

 

The Beartic turned her head to face Jade, and could have swore she saw a tear roll down her alabaster face.

 

Quickly flicking the tear away with Psychic, Jade regained her composure. “Strong… And willing to sacrifice so much… She was the reason I was able to live in Bastion to begin with.” 

“I’m sorry, you wanted to go to Bastion?” Blake asked with a bottle in hand. 

 

“I had my own prospects at the time,” Jade hissed, side-eyeing the Obstagoon, using Psychic and cracking his bottle in half. 

Tossing it aside, Blake gritted his teeth and groaned. “So, what kind of prospects?” 

 

The Gardevoir huffed. “A new job. I wanted to bring more money to the town, and everyone there was painfully stubborn. They kept believing the special items they made would be enough to help them get by… I found the exact same charms in a stall my third day in Bastion.”

 

“They always proclaimed they didn’t need their help from Bastion,” she continued. “At least until the shadows came.”

 

Jade’s sadness soon gave way to a repressed rage. “And it was Pyre’s insistence on protecting Bastion over everything else that led to-” 

 

Cutting herself off, Jade flinched and took a few breaths. Placing a hand on the side of her head, she closed her eyes. “…Leads to this.”

 

“He is a coward who is unfit to be a guildmaster, unfit to be in charge of the city, and should have died the day-” 

“Shut. Up…” An angry voice said to them. Looking over, the three saw Titania storming towards them.

 

“This conversation doesn’t involve you,” Jade said as she watched the Tinkaton approach. “Or were manners not a thing in the scrapheap you crawled your way out of?”

“Oh I’m sorry miss counselmon, should I have knocked first?” Titania spat before pulling out the control orb. “Or did you forget who’s in charge here?” 

 

However she stepped back as Aurora pulled herself up. Walking towards the Tinkaton, she stared an icy stare before finally stopping between her and Jade. 

 

“Here I thought you wanted to see your kid again,” Titania said , pointing the orb at the Beartic.

“You wanna calm down with that crap?!” Grumbled Blake. 

 

“Don’t you kill other pokemon?” Titania snidely asked. 

“It’s not a job I take pleasure in if that’s what you’re asking,” Blake answered. “ ‘Sides, I wasn’t the one bragging about their fucking murder necklaces the other day.”

 

“I’m not afraid of you,” Aurora said with a cold, unflinching stare. “You didn’t do it when we ran, and you won’t do it now… You need us.” 

 

There was a long pause before Titania sighed and put the orb away and turned her attention back to Jade. 

 

“Pyre… Is trying,” a dejected Titania said. “There’s a lot of things no one ever sees him do for the Northern Lands.” 

 

The Tinkaton turned her back on her wards and walked off, cursing herself for getting this angry. “…Not like it’ll matter for you anyway.”

 

As the energy died back down, Aurora let out a huge sigh as the energy drained from her body. She then looked at Jade, remembering what Titania had said. 

 

‘Oh I’m sorry miss counselmon, should I have knocked first?’  

 

The words played over in her head as she and the Gardevoir locked eyes. However, rather than stay, Aurora moved to the far end of the tavern. She left her back turned to Jade as he sat down.

 

Blake glanced between the two before kicking up his feet on a nearby table. “The council, huh?” 

“I will shatter your jaw,” Jade threatened.

 

Pain once again began to rack Aurora’s body like when she woke up. However there was something different about it this time as she kept staring at the wall. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around or else risk catching Jade in her line of sight. It simply hurt too much to look at her now. 

 

“Still, Pyre manages to torment me…”