The cocoon of destruction that once pulsed with black, suffocating air now glowed a blistering red.
Reshiram's flames had scorched it thoroughly.
"Reshiram, that's enough," Sam called out, raising a hand.
A deep, echoing cry answered him.
The ego bruised dragon stopped its assault, wings folding back as the last bits of flame drifted off its body.
"Come back."
Holy, radiant light shimmered around Reshiram.
Its massive form dissolved into white energy and then into the Light Stone, which dropped neatly into Sam's palm.
The stone pulsed faintly with leftover anger.
Around him, the battlefield finally grew still. Smoke thinned.
The ground stopped trembling. And one by one, everyone hurried toward Sam.
"Sam!"
"Are you alright?"
Cynthia was the first to reach him, circling around as if checking for hidden injuries.
Her worried eyes scanned him from head to toe.
"I'm fine," Sam assured her, though his voice was still a little rough.
"Really."
Only when he repeated it did Cynthia exhale, tension draining from her shoulders.
Across the ruined field, Diantha walked toward the three Elite Four members, Wikstrom, Siebold, and Drasna, still frozen in stone.
Her steps were slow, almost shaky. When she stopped in front of them, her face fell completely.
"I'm… I'm so sorry," she whispered, touching Drasna's stone-cold hand.
"It's my fault. I wasn't strong enough. If I were stronger, none of you would've ended up like this…"
Her voice cracked. Tears slid down her cheeks before she could stop them.
Cynthia stepped away from Sam just long enough to pull her friend into a tight hug.
Diantha buried her face against Cynthia's shoulder, shaking as quiet sobs escaped her.
On the edge of the clearing, Olympia, who had barely spoken since the incident began, watched Sam with calm, unreadable eyes.
Her voice came soft, almost floating.
"Yveltal and Xerneas are two sides of the same coin. One brings death; the other breathes life into the world. As long as one exists, the other will too. If there's even a chance to bring them back, it would be Xerneas."
She paused, gaze sharpening.
"And you, Professor Sam… you may be able to resonate with Xerneas."
Sam met her eyes. She didn't look like she was guessing. She looked certain.
Olympia's psychic senses had clearly picked up on something.
During Reshiram's battle with Yveltal, she had felt it, power flowing through Sam, steady and controlled, feeding the legendary dragon and helping it recover energy far faster than it should have.
Even without speaking her thoughts aloud, the message was clear:
Sam possessed a power not entirely human.
Cynthia and Diantha turned to him at once.
Hope flickered in their eyes, fragile, desperate, but unmistakable.
Sam didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he gave Olympia a long, thoughtful look.
She nodded once, as if confirming everything she sensed.
With the two women watching him, Sam stepped toward the withered remains of Xerneas.
The legendary Pokémon stood like a dead tree, its branches bare, its bark flaking off in rotten sheets.
Not a hint of life pulsed from its core.
Sam placed his palm gently against the brittle bark. It felt cold enough to bite.
He closed his eyes.
The familiar thrum of power stirred inside him, Viridian force, the energy of life, bled through him.
He guided the energy forward, pushing it from his chest to his arm and into the dying tree.
At first, nothing happened.
Then, very slowly, light shimmered beneath the decayed bark.
A tiny green bud emerged, trembling like a newborn spark.
As Sam continued pouring power into it, the dead outer layers cracked and fell away, revealing thicker, healthier wood beneath.
Color slowly returned to the branches. The trunk widened.
The faintest pulse of life stirred inside the bark.
Minutes passed, though to Sam it felt longer.
His breath grew heavier, his arm numb.
But he kept going until the dying glow around the tree settled into something stable.
Finally, he let his hand fall back to his side.
"That should do it," he said quietly.
The withered tree now looked, if not fully restored, at least alive.
The air around it felt lighter, warmer, and a gentle breeze stirred through the clearing, brushing leaves that hadn't existed moments earlier.
Sam exhaled, steadying himself as the others watched in stunned silence.
The three girls stood beside Sam, all of them staring in awe at the reborn tree.
Soft light pulsed through the trunk, blue, gold, green, and pink, blending together like a living sunrise.
Before their eyes, the tree shifted shape.
Branches bent and curved, bark peeled back, and light gathered into a body that stepped out of the fading glow.
Xerneas.
Even weakened, the Life Pokémon was breathtaking.
Her wounds from Yveltal still marked her body, but she no longer looked drained or dying.
She was alive again, full of a quiet, renewing strength that would heal with time.
As soon as she stabilized, Xerneas lowered herself onto all four legs in front of Sam, head bowed respectfully.
"Yoooh…"
A gentle, melodic cry, gratitude in its purest sound.
Sam felt a faint pulse in his chest, almost like his heart was answering.
Without thinking, he reached out to touch Xerneas' glowing antlers.
Warm light pulsed beneath his fingertips.
Xerneas leaned in, making it easier, her movements soft and trusting.
A connection formed, subtle but real, like two souls brushing against each other.
"Xerneas," Sam murmured, "can you bring them back to normal?"
Xerneas lifted her head, eyes bright with understanding.
For a moment, she looked softer than any legendary being had the right to.
"Yoooooh!"
She rose gracefully, her hooves touching the ground as if tapping into the earth's heartbeat.
Light rippled outward from her, spreading across the battlefield like waves across a lake.
Grass burst from the dirt in fresh green waves.
Flowers opened as though morning had just arrived.
One by one, Wikstrom, Siebold, Drasna, and their Pokémon cracked and shimmered.
Color returned to their bodies. Their limbs twitched.
And then,
They breathed.
They were alive again.
"Wikstrom! Siebold! Drasna!"
Diantha's voice broke as she rushed toward them.
Moments ago, she had been crying into Cynthia's shoulder.
Now she couldn't stop smiling through tears of relief.
Sam let out a breath and glanced at Xerneas.
"Thank you," he said softly.
The legendary Pokémon dipped her head again.
In the world, only two Pokémon were said to hold such a blessing, Xerneas and Ho-Oh.
Ho-Oh could resurrect life, yes, but only Xerneas could restore the world itself.
Grass, flowers, the earth… she was life incarnate.
Of course, in terms of sheer battle strength, Ho-Oh could probably wipe her out with a single Sacred Fire.
But that wasn't the point. Their roles were simply different.
"Professor Samuel, thank you!"
"Truly, thank you!"
The three Elites, now free from petrification, hurried over after being briefed by Diantha.
Their gratitude came layered: relief, admiration, disbelief. Sam just nodded, a little embarrassed by all the attention.
While the joy echoed around them, events elsewhere were shifting.
Far away, in Team Flare's hidden base, a massive monitor displayed everything that had happened.
From Yveltal's awakening to its defeat, Reshiram's power, and Xerneas' revival, it was all recorded through holographic projection technology.
Lysandre watched the footage in silence, fingers folded under his chin.
His expression was complicated, somewhere between envy, awe, and cold calculation.
Behind him, a female voice spoke.
"No wonder Giovanni is concerned about him.
Someone with power like that… he's a threat to every plan the organizations have."
The woman stepped closer, her heels clicking softly on the metal floor.
It was Malva, one of Kalos' Elite Four, and secretly one of Team Flare's highest members.
She had hidden her allegiance even deeper than most.
"If we don't unite the other groups against him," Malva continued, "everything we're working toward will fall apart. He alone could ruin every operation."
Lysandre nodded slowly.
"Recognized by Rayquaza and Reshiram… It's unprecedented." His eyes narrowed.
"But Giovanni is ambitious. He won't give up the game so easily."
He tapped a screen, bringing up data feeds from multiple regions.
"Cyrus has already achieved results on his side. And soon… more players will appear. The real show hasn't even begun."
He stood, coat swaying behind him.
"Send word to our people," Lysandre ordered.
"Keep continuous surveillance on Samuel. The moment he leaves Kalos, we launch the operation to capture Yveltal."
The grunts saluted sharply.
"Yes, sir!"
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