When Rhyhorn and I emerged from our hole moments after Charizard flew off, I got a front-row seat to Blaine's answer for a question I'd never thought to ask.
How does one kill thousands of people quickly?
It was like I'd stumbled somewhere and now found myself sitting in the front row of a class on how to commit a statistic rather than a murder.
It takes an especially twisted sort of mind to sit and ponder how to kill people in droves.
I could see how the earlier stages would have played out in my mind.
He'd scout the locations, perhaps at night so no one would be the wiser. Then he'd release his pokemon… then he'd fill the town with choking smoke… explosions went off not in scattered patterns, but in controlled, centralised points that could only have been the police and fire stations. While everyone was looking inwards… he burned a circle around the town, encasing it in flames.
The final nail in a thousand or more coffins?
Two Charizards on high, flying within the smoke, all but hidden as they shot fireball after fireball at houses.
I could just barely make out a man on one of their backs wearing a gas mask that reflected the light of the fires below.
He was the conductor of a horrifying minuet of murder.
This was Blaine of Cinnabar.
Chills that were entirely at odds with the temperature around me ran down my spine.
I'd sat across from this man plenty of times in the past… And not once had I ever thought just how terrifying he could be as an old monster of the war.
Here he was, in his prime, burning a town in a manner that was entirely too calculated and… practised.
Like he'd done this plenty of times before.
"Tunnels," I rasped in the suddenly dry air as smoke caused me to cough. "WE're going to need to make tunnels to evacuate everyone," I stated to Rhyhorn, who nodded firmly.
The smoke could have been handled in an instant with a good flying type. Which was a rare thing for me to find myself thinking, but there it was.
I saw a pair of flying types rising from the ground and turning like they were going to address the smoke only for fire to leap out of the smoke and ignite the poor helpless birds.
They fell screeching from the sky.
"We're going to have to be sneaky about it too," I muttered. Rhyhorn nodded once and at my directions he dove into the ground and created a path under the wall of fire.
While he worked I shifted, feeling useless before turning back to the now on fire Bark Town.
Screams and shouts were coursing through the night air and terror was mixing with the smell of smoke.
"Rhyhorn… keep making tunnels on this side of the town," I ordered, knowing that at least here and to the south and east there weren't going to be one of Blaine's pokemon thanks to our beat down of his Flareon.
Rhyhorn popped out of the tunnel and shot me a confused look.
I gestured towards the town. "I need to get people moving here to evacuate. Make five more tunnels here and then another five over there," I stated pointing to the backyard of a house that was on fire.
"I'll go help those people first," I said as I moved to put actions to my words. As I ran, I made sure to get a low to the ground as I could, where the smoke wasn't as dense.
Coughing and shouting within the house gave me an idea of the residents' state of being.
I opened the door quickly.
"Hello! If anyone's in here I need you to get low to the floor and crawl outside!"
Soft thumps were my answer and three people crawled their way to my voice.
"W-what now?" gasped one of them.
I pointed out in the direction of the tunnels. "I have a Rhyhorn making escape tunnels, use those to go under the forest fire!" I declared.
"Thank you!" they gasped before hurrying away. One of them remained however.
"What about our neighbours? I can't leave them behind!" one of them, a young man, declared with wild eyes.
"Get a wet strip of cloth over your nose and mouth, stay low and get others to copy you. Have them move to the south or to the east," I declared.
The man nodded. "Right! The sea or the river!" he declared as he moved off to a nearby house.
Watching him for a moment and seeing that he was actually doing what I'd advised, I nodded and moved on myself.
I'd moved into one of the streets, only to find myself facing a group of people that were glancing around nervously.
"We need to get out!" shouted a man.
"Where's my husband?" called a woman as she twisted her neck this way and that hysterically.
"Has anyone seen snippers?" wailed a girl.
I clapped my hands once, causing the sound to reverberate.
"Attention! We need to evacuate people in an orderly fashion! Please! The first point we need to do is to get ourselves out of danger before we can do anything else!"
My words were followed by an explosion going off behind the crowd.
They hadn't seen it, but I'd seen the distinctive 'Fire' kanji of a Fire Blast launching itself out of the smoke to ignite the collapsed buildings. Gas lines in more than a few houses that had ruptured caught alight and quickly exploded, sending debris and shrapnel flying further.
As hot as it was being in this suit of armor, I suddenly liked wearing it more than not.
"I will be directing everyone towards evacuation tunnels!" I proclaimed.
With a way out offered, people began to move.
There were still a few people lingering, and others who only wanted to help. The first, I reassured, the second lot, I directed into positions to help direct others along.
I quickly had a stream of people going towards the tunnels but for all the success of my actions a dread was starting to build.
Blaine wasn't an idiot.
He would surely be able to see the mass of people moving and know something was going on.
He'd sweep down and finish the job if he could.
The surety of it made my stomach churn even as my body shuddered with the heat. I paused near a well to toss water over myself only for the contact with the metal to cause a hiss of steam to rise off my body. Shit, I was a walking talking steel type right now in an inferno.
No, focus. I needed to focus on the issue of Blaine finding the people evacuating.
He'd kill them all….
That was… unless I could keep his attention somewhere else.
Another wave of Fire Blasts shot out of the sky and lit up a cluster of houses, causing the heat to spike suddenly.
The people who were still in the town screamed.
"A Fire Legendary is attacking us!" bellowed someone as more Fire Blasts rained down.
I stared up at the sky, well aware that it was no Legendary showing its displeasure.
Rather, it was a man…
I'd seen pictures of him as a young man. He was handsome with his long flowing locks of gold and his spikey moustache. Even then he'd had a glint of intelligence, however.
I could just imagine him up there on his pokemon's back, grinning as the town burned.
From within Bark Town, a small girl screamed in fear, and I clenched my fists. He needed to be stopped.
Tugging on the bond I summoned Rhyhorn to my location. At first, all I got was a querying response causing me to grimace.
Right, Rhyhorn wasn't Bertha with her understanding of me and my tics. I tugged on the bond, trying to emphasise that I needed him.
That got a more positive response and I relaxed as I felt the earth shaking… oh, he was sprinting towards me.
I was about to demand he stop when he burrowed under a house, accidentally causing it to collapse on itself and… huh, that kind of helped create a bit of a fire break.
Rhyhorn popped up next to me covered in dirt. "Good job, boy," I offered as I led him into a jog towards the centre of the town. "We've got to delay blaine bud. If things get too deadly, we're going deep into the ground alright?"
"Rhy!" he agreed with a short bark.
Great… good, yup… somehow I knew it wasn't going to be that straightforward.
When we reached a point that would have us far enough away from the people fleeing the town I stood and looked up. "Rhyhorn… take them out!" I commanded, channelling power into my voice and my companion as another pair of Fire Blasts descended.
Rocks shot up into the air, launched like artillery blasts. Bertha would be proud.
They intercepted the Fire Blasts, causing several detonations within the air, and then a strange silence settled upon the town. I could almost imagine the refugees and the people still wandering around, looking up at the sound.
I was more interested in the man looking down upon us. Smoke began to lower, and from within them I saw a pair of wingtips cutting through the smoke, like Sharpedo of the sky.
They began to circle above, only to lock onto my position, circling tighter and tighter.
I felt my heart thundering, only to catch a flash of movement off to the side.
"Rhyhorn dive!" I called as I dove to the side.
Rhyhorn followed the command without questioning me, which was the only thing that saved us from being taken out by a Flame Blitz.
I rolled up and onto my feet only to find an Arcanine shaking its head as it backed out of the rubble.
Arcanine turned towards me, growling, and I raised my fists. "Come on then, let'—" Rhyhorn shot up out of the ground and slammed into Arcanine's jaw. Locking it up and stunning the powerful fire type.
"Keep it down!" I ordered as I twisted and grabbed up a chunk of the road to hurl it down the other direction.
This… this was just like fighting Koga. He'd gone on and on about fighting in the war being all about misdirection. Using something attention-grabbing while other pokemon struck from the sides.
I hadn't thought he'd been talking about Blaine using the same tactics.
The beat of wings had me rolling forward out of instinct as a flamethrower washed over the position I'd been in.
"Tch! You're like fighting a Geodude!" called a man's voice, causing me to glance up and spot Blaine hovering nearby, observing the fighting on the ground.
Blaine and I locked eyes, his gas mask flashing with an ominous light.
Right, so there were two charizard in the sky, an Arcanine brawling with my Rhyhorn, and possibly more pokemon lurking in the wings to jump out at me.
Fuck, this was precisely the position that Koga had told me to never find myself in. It was made worse by my choice of attire.
Here I was, coated in metal, with a single pokemon to my name, defying a man riding a powerhouse pokemon.
He waved his hand dismissively, and his Charizard's wings began to tuck.
I was already moving, sprinting into a nearby building while warning Rhyhorn to break off his fight with Arcanine.
The fact that Arcanine hadn't gone down yet worried me.
Just like the lack of two specific pokemon that I knew Blaine would have to own.
The building I'd thrown myself into went from homey and safe to a flaming deathtrap in seconds as what had to be a trio of attacks being launched from various angles.
I turned on a dime and jumped as behind me Rhyhorn hit Arcanine once again from below.
I broke through the home's kitchen window, glass splintering everywhere only to tuck and roll and keep moving.
With the use of rock strides, I powered away from the aflame building before lunging into the neighbouring house where I slammed into the wall and heaved in lungfuls of air. Staggering into the kitchen I smashed in the tap fixture and let water gush all over me.
Outside I heard angry roars letting me know that the Charizard were on the move again and I called Rhyhorn to me but I made sure to stress going underground.
Rhyhorn punched through the floorboards only to get stuck. He awkwardly blinked at me and curled in on himself. "Rhhhhhhyy," he whined like he was expecting to get punished.
Oh, right, he didn't know any better.
"Buddy, this isn't my house, I don't care if you break stuff," I muttered. If I'd said that to Bertha she'd have immediately broken something just because she could, or because her tail would have broken a wall, but Rhyhorn just popped out of the floor and shook himself.
That caused him to brighten up and I shook my head, offering him some water from the sink that had been filling up since I'd broken the tap. He took long slurps as I took stock of our situation.
Yeah, we were still up shit creek but now we could surely break off.
A flash of light caused me to whirl around with relief. "Sa—" then my eyes locked onto Celebi, who was worriedly looking me over.
"Oh, it's you," I muttered.
"Cele!" pouted the damned nuisance Legendary pokemon. It jerked in the air, chiming like a bell and causing a soothing wave of energy to wash over Rhyhorn and me.
Oh… Heal Bell was nice.
Rolling my shoulders, I huffed. It was going to take more than that to get on my good side.
"Well, you've put me in the thick of it, are you happy now?" I muttered, indicating the aflame town. Still, it was good to see the Legendary pokemon.
Celebi's antennae twitched as it darted to the sink of water, touching it once and causing it to glow.
Ah, Life Dew, great, just great, Celebi was support specced? I took a sip and felt my energy levels shooting upwards.
Ah… a Support Legendary could probably do better than just a flat twenty-five percent return to health, couldn't it?
"Please tell me you know another water-type move?" I asked.
Celebi nodded, and I sighed in relief. "Good, a strong Rain Dance would…" I trailed off when it shook its head. Oh. No Rain Dance… a move that would have been perfect for this situation…
I felt like grabbing and shaking Celebi. "What good are you?" I growled.
Celebi twitched in annoyance, only to flinch as the sound of a building collapsing caused us to look outside. We both looked at the burning town only to shiver.
Fucking hell, I did not want to go back out there. Celebi seemed to share my concern.
Hmmm, a grass type in the middle of an inferno, yeah, this wasn't a good situation for Celebi.
"Have we done enough? Can we—"
Another young girl's scream cut through my words and had me twisting to catch sight of a small brown-haired girl clutching a Rhyhorn toy in her arms.
A Rapidash was towering over her, its mane aflame as it snorted in anger.
It reared up, hooves poised to smash downwards.
I didn't think I acted. I whipped the shield I'd been carrying with me for the last few days and tossed it like I was Captain America. It smashed into Rapidash's head and the pokemon toppled to the side only to catch itself. Damn Blaine and his well trained pokemon! I cursed as I reached for the next best thing to throw.
The kitchen sink followed after the shield, now thankfully devoid of healing water, through the window and straight into Rapidash.
Rapidash fell on its side, whining in pain and shock.
Knowing I had to keep on the pressure I pointed and Rhyhorn exploded through the wall, Bulldoze causing them to tear through the street and into the next house.
I strode out of the… was this the third or fourth house we'd wrecked tonight? Fuck it, doesn't matter.
"Hello, young lady," I greeted her as I knelt, extending my hand towards her like the world wasn't burning around us. "I like your doll."
She stared at me, eyes filled with tears and trails of snot running down her face. There might have been some unfortunate smells, but that was to be expected of a small child in a terrifying situation, and I didn't hold it against her in the least.
"S-sir knight?" she gasped hoarsely. Only for her eyes to widen and her finger to point behind me. "Look out!"
I leapt at her, scoping her and my shield up in my grasp. I held it behind me blindly only to grunt as a wave of fire washed over the shield.
A tongue of flame ran over my shoulder, drawing a hiss of pain.
Rather than stop rolling, I kept going, tucking so the girl was safe before skidding to a stop.
Behind me, Magmar stood tall.
Fuck, Blaine's signature pokemon.
It inhaled with an evil glint in its eyes.
I hissed, knowing it was canonically Blaine's most powerful pokemon, and that it was about to blow us away with a wave of flames.
I drew back my shield for another throw, letting fly only for Magmar to melt the shield with a blast of fire.
Magmar looked to keep exhaling fire and burn me and the girl only for a ball of water to blast out of the house I'd just come from to smash into Magmar's head.
"Cele!" chanted Celebi as it swept forward, another Water Orb in its hands.
"Welcome to the party," I muttered, only for a beat of wings to have me turning and running, the girl still in my arms.
"Sir Knight what's happening?" asked the girl fearfully.
"We're tactically relocating!" I proclaimed as Rhyhorn once again broke off bullying a stunned fire type to charge after me. I jumped, spreading my legs and reinforcing my body so that when I landed atop Rhyhorn's back I didn't destroy anything important.
"Get us out of here Rhyhorn!" I ordered only for a Charizrad to drop out of the air and hit us head on, sending us flying to the side.
Again, I had to tuck and roll my shoulder before I hit the ground. Rhyhorn landed next to me on my side.
Fuck, of course Blaine wasn't going to let us keep hitting and running.
A thump from behind us let me know where the other Charizard was.
"You're an annoying little Ratata," declared a man's distorted voice.
"And you are a villain the likes I have never seen before," I replied, standing and rolling my shoulders only to stiffen when I noticed that the girl in my arms was limp.
"Young miss?" I asked quietly. Oh, no, I hadn't crushed her when I fell had I?
The soft rising of her chest allowed my heart to unclench. She was just knocked out, not dead.
"A villain? How childish! I suppose I shouldn't expect more from a man dressing up as a knight of all things!" mocked Blaine. Rapidash staggered up to his side with its teeth bared while Magmar stomped towards us.
He eyed his pokemon. "You have been truly vexing, but I tire of this," he sniffed and waved his hand at us. "Die," he said calmly and his pokemon responded by launching fire at us.
"Protect!" I ordered, tucking into Rhyhorn's side as I grasped at any chance to stay alive.
The shield orb manifested moments before the fire washed over us, and I shuddered and leaned back against Rhyhorn, who dug in, eyes glancing this way and that.
I noted idly that the flames grew less intense but didn't let up. That had to be the Charizard taking off again.
Hmm, he was expecting a counterattack from us, wasn't he?
"Rhyhorn! Dig!" I commanded, and he threw himself into the only space not on fire.
I dove after him, causing my armour to become coated with dirt, but considering the alternative, that was vastly superior.
We dove deep into cool earth, and Rhyhorn arced us around and back out a few houses over.
When he exhaled he released a cloud of smoke. Fuck, that wasn't good.
"Celebi? You around?" I muttered, only for the Legendary Pokémon to appear once more with a flash of light.
It tapped Rhyhorn and I again.
"Please tell me we're out of danger now," I growled as we began to sneak towards the eastern tunnels.
"Cele!" Celebi replied only to twitch as a heatwave washed over us.
"I know you're still there Knight!" spat Blaine as the fires around us brightened and grew more intense.
Fuck, he was using aura now, showing that he was getting serious. "Hooooo? What's this? There are people fleeing? Oh you sneaky, sneaky rogue. It was a nice attempt, but now I'm going to burn them all!" he called.
I stopped and turned slightly.
Fucking Blaine.
I handed the girl to Celebi who was glowing and scowling behind us. "Get her out of here and get back as fast as you can," I ordered.
Celebi didn't hesitate, taking the girl only to drop as the girl's weight bore it to the ground. Before they could hit the ground, Celebi and the girl vanished in another Teleport.
Then I turned, Rhyhorn moving up next to me, our minds locking in. Rhyhorn dove into the ground once more as I inhaled, knowing what I needed to do once more.
I called up the dark mountain and held it, causing Blaine's attention to snap onto me.
Through the fires and ash of Bark Town, we found each other, him still atop his Charizard and me on the ground, glaring up at him.
"You shall not hurt them more than you have!" I spat.
He shook his head and scoffed.
He was about to mock me only for Rhyhorn to shoot out of the ground in an attempt to catch Magmar unawares.
This time Magmar was ready for it however, and instead of being caught the powerful fire type exploded with Fire Spin, launching Rhyhorn back slightly.
Rhyhorn wailed in pain, and I knew it had been burned. It didn't stop Rhyhorn from struggling to his feet.
"There. Your tactics won't work anymore. Where is the othe—" Blaine started to ask only for a rock to smash into Charizard's face.
Charizard fell from the air, and for a moment, I hoped that Blaine was about to be crushed, timeline integrity be damned.
But then he twisted in the air and waved his hand, causing a splash of flame to soften the ground. He still landed heavily and staggered, letting me know that had hurt him.
"Magmar! Deny them the ground!" Magmar punched the ground and I felt the surrounding land warm up while under Magmar's fist, a glow built up.
Lava Plume. Shit.
Blaine was denying me as much as he could.
This was not looking good. I swallowed.
"Celebi, I take nothing back about all the insults cause you earned those, but you're gonna have to come in clutch here if you don't want to be haunted by Sabrina for the rest of your life," I muttered as the Charizard I'd hit with a Rock through rose to its feet.
Fuck these things just weren't staying down now that they were aware of us, were they?
Celebi must have known what I said wasn't just an idle threat, but a promise.
A lash of psychic energy suddenly lashed Charizard out of nowhere causing the other pokemon to flinch.
Ah, Future Sight.
I nodded my head. "Yup, that'll about do it," I said, taking off into a sprint to deal with the suddenly vulnerable pokemon.
The Charizard roared, twisting its neck this way and that. I jumped right as Rhyhorn stomped, causing a wave of Earthquake to wash out and knock Rapidash off its hooves. Magmar merely sank into the magma it had been forming, cackling at us.
I grabbed at the road under my feet and once more threw a rock only for it to be intercepted by Blaine of all people as he raised his fist and unleashed a Flamethrower that he was boosting with a mechanical tool within his sleeve.
I ducked behind some rubble as Blaine's team regathered itself.
"Get back up Rapidash, we're not done!" growled Blaine as his pokemon staggered about.
Oh, good, it had—
A trio of glass bottles smashed into Rapidash's flank causing it to shake itself off as the potion went into effect.
Fuck, I hate competent enemies!
Heaving, I began to adjust my armour straps. Fucking hell Celebi, a fire type against a knight? That was just asking for roast Brock!
Celebi appeared on the other side of Charizard with an orb of power in its hands only for a twin jets of fire to launch from Blaine, covering his pokemon's blindspot.
Celebi twitched, somehow caught by surprise and screamed in fear as it caught ablaze. It vanished in a blur, like a flaming comet, heading for a nearby water well.
"Hoh? It couldn't sense me? Interesting? That must mean the emitters are working as intended. Good to have confirmation of that. Judging by its reaction to my fire, that was a grass-psychic no?"
Blaine was a terrifyingly smart man, I suddenly recalled.
"I've never encountered such a pokemon before," mused Blaine. "You, the fool in the armor, who was that pokemon?"
"Like I'd tell you!" I called as I leapt out of cover and hurled the remains of my shield, sending it spinning towards the man only for it to be swatted out of the air by Charizard's tail.
I tried to pincher Blaine with Rhyhorn also launching an attack only for it to be intercepted by Rapidash throwing itself in the way.
It locked eyes with Rhyhorn and snorted.
Beneath my feet the feeling of heat continued to build.
Shit.
I threw myself out of cover right as a plume of lava erupted from where I'd been.
Magmar clicked its tongue in annoyance but continued to kneel. Fuck, it was reshaping the field.
I rolled behind yet another pile of debris, knowing my time behind cover was going to be limited. I eyed the next patch of land only to grimace. If I was a bastard like Blaine… I'd lay a trap on that position.
Instinct more than any experience warned me of what was to come but I couldn't find any solutions to my problems.
"Hmph, you have no appreciation for sharing knowledge?" taunted Blaine, like he was in any way, shape, or form, standing upon a moral highground.
Looking around at the burning town, I knew my response.
"Not with you, Blaine of Cinnabar," I growled.
Blaine chuckled. "Ah, I see my reputation precedes me, just as yours does, Sir Boulder."
That had me pausing in surprise and my silence must have been telling as he chuckled. "Yes, I've heard of you. From that fool Oak, as well as from the various sightings during the war," he declared. "It always pays to know who influences who, and you… Well. Oak… he's a special trainer, isn't he? You were quite the enigma you know?"
Then he snorted. "But now I see that you are just a fool playing at duty and honour."
"Better than being the monster playing at being a man," I replied honestly, sucking in breaths as Rhyhorn built up energy. We had one shot at making this work.
That made him fall quiet, only for him to sigh, like I'd disappointed him. "The war will end soon. Of that I have no doubt, but what state other nations will be in will be what makes the difference. For Kanto to rise, Johto must fall," he stated clinically.
"How narrow-minded of you," I replied, my eyes dipping towards his Charized's flames and how it was beginning to pulse like a heartbeat and grow brighter.
Oh, you sneaky fuck, trying to monologue and get away with it.
"Hmph, I don't expect a man gallivanting as a Knight to understand the intricacies of power!" He waved a hand. "You bore me, you can die knowing I will report your treachery to Oak."
He gestured, and I leapt over the rubble, knowing it wasn't going to do me any good. "Not today!" I roared, whipping my helmet off my head and sending it hurtling into Charziard's head.
I wasn't sure if it was luck, skill, or a slight nudge happening from Celebi, but the helmet slammed home over Charizard's muzzle causing the empowered Overheat that Blaine had been stalling for to blow up in its face.
From the side, Rhyhorn shot forward, thundering forward and into Rapidash who tried to counter attack.
Once more Rapidash was blown away however as a glow upon Rhyhorn's horn announced the move we'd been building up for.
Rapidash was blown back in surprise, and Blaine's other two pokemon were caught by surprise as Rhyhorn got close.
Rhyhorn grinned as he turned his head, horn still glowing as he threw himself into the ground.
Through the bond that had been growing between us for days now, I felt the triumph singing through his veins as a move synonymous with his mother activated.
Rhyhorn's Horn Drill hit the ground and caused it to crumple and buckle.
Magmar found itself launched as the lava beneath it became pressurised.
The Charizard both flinched and shot into the air, Blaine leaping atop his mount only for spikes of rock to slam into them. Blaine twitched as one tore his gasmask off his head and caused his face to become bloodied.
Charizard got into the air and Blaine leaned down to glare at me. "A most vexing fool." he muttered, reaching for his pokebelt.
My heart lurched when I spotted that he had a full twelve pokeballs on his pokebelt. I'd only seen six so far… fuck.
Then a trumpet like call sounded out… from the east.
Blaine's head snapped up and he glowered.
"It would seem a tactical withdrawal is in order," he remarked, tapping his Charizard. He gave me another look over. I must have looked a mess, no doubt covered in soot and ash.
I could only hope that I was unrecognisable. He scoffed once as beams of red light shot out, recalling his pokemon as he flew away to the north.
I blinked, unsure what had driven him off at the end there.
I made to take a step only to stumble as a wave of exhaustion washed over me. Rhyhorn darted over and caught me gently. "Rhy horn!" he rumbled, and I chuckled.
"Sorry, just a bit cooked right now," I replied, looking around the burned-out town.
Huh, was this supposed to be a win? It didn't feel that way, more like I'd survived a wildfire through luck and low cunning.
Mounting up on Rhyhorn to get a better view of the situation, I found much of Bark Town still aflame.
From the east… a dragonite was racing towards us, on its back was… oh.
I smiled, knowing things were going to be alright.
It was at that moment that Celebi returned. It was singed and looked rather miserable, but it was back.
I was about to ask if it was okay and how Blaine had burned it when it smirked and tapped me on the shoulder.
Instantly, the scene shifted, and I suddenly found myself back in the jousting arena, sans helmet, shield, and lance.
My eyes locked onto the lance angling for my chest, and knew I was fucked.
Oddly enough my opponent—Galachad or something?— noticed my situation and tried to abort the strike. He still struck me in the armour, sending me flying off Rhyhorn's back.
I sailed through the air, but I never hit the ground.
I blinked, thoughts coming slowly as an angel appeared next to me in a flash.
"Brock? Sabrina whispered, her tone worried as her hands twitched towards me.
I coughed once. "It's Celebi's fault," I remarked before allowing myself to slump and pass out with a smile on my face.
It was good to be home.
[hr][/hr]
A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!
I hope the Time Arc was a fun read. I decided a while back I didn't want to repeat the Movie beat for beat, but also realised I could use Celebi's time fuckery powers to show off some different moments that impacted the HE world.
And yes, this signifies the first Legendary pokemon Brock and Sabrina aren't going to want to see again.
Thanks go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!