By the time we boarded the flight out of Miami, the terminal lights had blurred into streaks of gold behind my eyes. I must've still been riding the high from the battle, because the second I saw the words First Class on our boarding passes, I felt Zoey's mind spark like a firework beside mine.
Ohhhh, she breathed, settling into the leather seat beside me and immediately lowering it as far back as it could go. This is nice. This is stupidly nice. Why don't you do this more often?
I buckled my seatbelt, glancing around to make sure no one was watching her too closely. To the world, she looked like a bored twenty-something in leggings and a hoodie, scrolling on her phone. Only the faint shimmer at the edge of her illusion gave her away to me.
Wait until you see the hotel I picked out, I projected back dryly. Perks of being funded by terrorists, I guess.
Zoey choked on nothing, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Oh my God, Atrea.
Skyla slid into the seat across the aisle, giving us both a smile before leaning back. "This is... a step up from the bus."
"That's one way to put it," I said.
The moment the flight attendant handed out warm towels, Zoey's thoughts hit me again with the emotional equivalent of a gasp.
We get presents? Why does anyone sit in coach ever? You kept this from me?
Because you'd bully me into flying like this every time, I replied, eyes closed.
Correct.
As the jet lifted off, Miami fell away beneath us, a glittering curve of coastline swallowed by night. Zoey tucked her legs under her illusory "human" form and stole a second drink from the attendant when she wasn't looking. Skyla didn't notice; she had her forehead leaned against the window, watching the lightning flicker softly in the distant clouds over the mountains.
"Everything okay?" I said cautiously
"It just feels weird not being in the cockpit."
I looked down. She must've caught my expression because she smoothly saved the mood.
"Not that I don't like all of this, of course."
She leaned in and softly kissed me on the cheek.
Four hours later, the captain announced our descent into Denver.
The city unfurled below us like a blanket of starlight, long roads illuminated by gold, skyscrapers rising like glass teeth, and behind it all, the shadow of the Rockies stretching far beyond the horizon.
I felt Zoey's mind quiet for a moment as she stared down through the window. Pretty place to lose a gym battle.
Wow, I shot back. Inspiring.
I try.
The cold hit us the second we stepped outside. Denver's air wasn't like Miami's. It was sharp and bit at my cheeks like it wanted to wake me up.
We checked into the hotel I'd picked, a towering glass building with gold lighting running up its edges like molten veins. The lobby had marble floors, velvet chairs, and a giant fountain with a sculpted scene of Groudon battling Kyogre looming above.
Zoey whistled in my head. Okay... okay, this is better than first class. I take back every complaint I've ever made about your spending habits.
Skyla stood beside the fountain, staring around with wide eyes. "Atrea... this place is ridiculously expensive."
"I know," I said cheerfully. "It's great."
We rode the elevator up to the nineteenth floor. Zoey kept her illusion up perfectly. Her hands were tucked in her hoodie's pockets as she leaned against the back wall. Even after all these years, her illusions still blew me away.
After Skyla and I had finished gawking at the chandelier for the fifth time and Zoey was done ransacking the minibar for anything that wasn't bolted down, I pushed open the balcony doors to let in the cold mountain air.
"Simon, you want out?" I asked, already unclipping his ball.
The penthouse balcony was fucking enormous, easily big enough for a whole flock. The city sprawled hundreds of feet below us, the lights sparkling like spilled jewels. When Simon emerged, he stretched his wings with a low rumble that vibrated through the railing.
I forgot how thin the air is up here, he murmured in my mind, tail swaying as he leaned over the balcony.
Skyla smiled and stepped up beside me. "Let's give them a chance to stretch."
She unclipped her own six Poké Balls gracefully and tossed them in a smooth arc. The balcony burst with red light.
Altaria puffed up immediately, cooing at the stars.
Talonflame landed with a clack of talons, wings flaring bright with embers.
Skarmory's metal feathers sang softly as he unfolded to full height.
Swoobat drifted upward in a spin, heart-shaped nose wiggling as she squeaked.
Swellow hopped to the railing immediately, puffing his chest out before settling his tail feathers and staring after the group, sharp-eyed, quiet, statuesque.
"Bit of a loner, that one," Skyla murmured. "He's always preferred watching from a distance. Even as a Taillow, he'd disappear for hours at a time. I used to panic looking for him." She smiled wistfully. "Now it's just... him."
Taylor, Skyla's Swanna, took one look at the penthouse ceiling and leveled an assessing stare at the chandelier.
"Taylor, no," Skyla warned.
Taylor, of course, did exactly as she pleased.
She hopped, powerfully for a bird her size, and landed squarely on the chandelier. The entire fixture swayed ominously, crystal rain droplets chiming together like nervous laughter.
Skyla pinched the bridge of her nose. "Every. Single. Time."
Zoey laughed telepathically in my head. I like her.
Skyla winced. "Taylor! Sweetheart, gentle! Gentle!"
Taylor ruffled her feathers with a grumpy honk, then settled down on the chandelier like it was her birthright.
Skyla turned to me, "Translation, please?"
"She said something about being a queen."
I snickered. "Still majestic, though."
Zoey laughed telepathically in my head. I like her.
The biggest surprise was Swoobat.
She fluttered gently down from her Poké Ball, circled once, then drifted straight toward the L-shaped couch where Zoey, Skyla, and I had taken our seats.
"Oh-" I began.
But Swoobat didn't hesitate. She nosed right into Zoey's side, rubbing her soft, furred head against Zoey's mane like they were old friends.
Zoey froze, ears twitching.
What is happening?
"It's affection," I whispered out loud, amused.
Swoobat wiggled once, cooed happily, then curled right up against Zoey's hip. Within seconds, she'd tucked her wings close, pressed her cheek into Zoey's fur, and drifted off to sleep.
Zoey stared at me, horrified. She's... touching me.
"Be nice," I murmured.
Zoey let out a telepathic sigh and placed her palm gently on Swoobat's head. She hesitantly smoothed her fur in a slow stroke... then another. Swoobat relaxed even deeper, her breathing soft and even.
Fine, Zoey muttered, but there was warmth tucked into it. She's kinda sweet.
I'm just here cause you're warm, tricky fox.
Skyla sat on the other side of Swoobat, her expression softening in a way I hadn't seen before.
"I met her during a police operation in Santa Monica," she said quietly. "We were breaking up a trafficking ring near the pier. They had... a lot of Pokémon crammed into crates. Scared. Hungry. Hurt."
My throat tightened as Skyla continued.
"She was the smallest of them. Tried to defend the others even though she could barely stand. When we got them out, she refused to let go of me. Wrapped herself around my arm the whole night."
"And now she trusts Zoey, apparently." Skyla laughed softly. "Didn't expect that, considering how hard Zoey hit her in their battle."
Zoey tried to look offended, but Swoobat snuggled closer, ruining the effect.
Then Skyla leaned back against the cushions, eyes drifting back up to Taylor.
"You know," she said softly, "Taylor was my first. My very first Pokémon."
I glanced at her. "Really?"
She nodded, her expression warming with memory. "I was twelve. My grandpa used to take me and my mom to Malibu Creek when I was little. We'd go birdwatching every spring. It was always peaceful, just quiet water, and tall grass."
She paused, fingers brushing behind the sleeping Swoobat's ear.
"Except one year when it wasn't. A flock of aggressive Fearow came out of nowhere. They must've been nesting nearby. Grandpa pushed me behind him, but we didn't have a Pokémon with us. I'd never been that scared in my life."
I imagined it, a twelve-year-old Skyla, trembling behind her grandfather as razor-sharp beaks circled overhead.
"But then," Skyla continued, voice softening, "a Swanna landed between us and the Fearow. She was massive. Elegant, but terrifying to a kid. She drove the whole flock off on her own. Didn't hesitate."
A small smile touched her lips.
"I remember standing there with this cheap plastic Poké Ball my grandpa bought me from a gas station. I was shaking so badly I could barely hold it. I didn't even look, I just held it out with one hand while hiding behind his waist with the other."
Taylor cooed from her chandelier perch, rocking the crystals again.
It's been wonderful watching her grow up.
"Then she stepped forward," Skyla whispered. "Touched my wrist with her beak, and nudged the ball. Three clicks for a perfect catch with a ball I didn't even throw."
She laughed softly. "I didn't choose her. She chose me."
A fact you seem to forget sometimes, Taylorteased.
I leaned back into the couch, watching all of them, Skyla's team, each with their own history, their own scars, their own quiet triumphs.
Outside, Flygon and Skyla's aerial trio wheeled together over Denver, their silhouettes cutting across the moonlit sky.
Inside, Swoobat snored against Zoey's shoulder.
For one rare night, nothing went wrong, and all of us were safe and together.
Morning sunlight spilled through the penthouse windows, washing over the scattered pillows, half-finished room service plates, and the open balcony where Simon and Skyla's fliers had returned at dawn. Taylor was somehow still perched on the chandelier. Swoobat snored on Zoey's lap.
I stretched, rubbed my eyes, and reached for my jacket.
"You ready for this?" Skyla asked, tightening her boots.
"Of course," I said, pulling my hair into a ponytail. "It's just another gym."
Skyla opened her mouth like she wanted to argue, then exhaled and shook her head. "Right. Let's get you checked in."
We gathered everyone, and Zoey slipped into her illusory "human" shape with a flick of her mane, Trilla returned to her Poké Ball, and Skyla recalled her team one by one. Swoobat clung to Zoey's neck until the last possible second.
Zoey grumbled in my mind as she peeled her off. If she keeps doing that, people are gonna start thinking I'm a daycare worker.
"You'd be great at it," I whispered.
I most certainly would not.
She said, raising a paw to her chest in mock offense
We walked through downtown Denver together, the wind cold enough to sting my ears. Towering glass buildings cast long shadows over the sidewalks, and traffic hummed like a restless heartbeat.
Drayden's gym address led us into a massive stone-faced structure wedged between two skyscrapers, carved dragons spiraling up the entrance columns.
I grinned. "See? Not so scary."
Zoey elbowed me mentally. You say that like statues can't come to life and eat us. You ever met a Darmanitan?
Inside, though, the lobby was... empty. Quiet. Too quiet.
A single desk. One clerk. And in the center of the marble floor sat a circular platform etched with swirling symbols. It glowed with an ominous mix of violet and blue.
I stopped short.
"Uh... Skyla?" I pointed. "Why is there a teleport pad in the middle of his gym?"
She winced. "Yeah. So, Funny story. Remember how I told you his gym wasn't like any of the others?"
"Yeah."
She raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
"And you shook it off?"
"Yeah."
"Well, Drayden's real gym isn't here. This is just the transport hub. The actual arena is... let's call it 'very inconveniently placed.'"
I crossed my arms. "Define inconveniently."
She smiled gently, stepping closer. "You'll see."
As I approached the platform, Skyla touched my elbow.
"Atrea," she said softly, "I need to tell you something."
I turned. "What's up?"
"I have to leave for a few hours. Santa Monica called. My Grandpa needs help with maintenance on the hovering tarmac. One of the stabilizers failed overnight."
I blinked. "He's okay, right?"
"Oh, yeah. Fine. Just... stressed. And he asked for me specifically." She offered a small, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I wanted to be there to cheer you on."
I nudged her shoulder. "Skyla. It's okay. We'll be fine."
Zoey flicked her hood back, smirking. We'll win this quickly and call you afterward.
Skyla didn't hear the words, but she caught the confidence in my expression and exhaled in relief. "Call me the second you're done."
"I will."
She stepped forward, kissed my cheek lightly, then squeezed my hand. "See you soon."
Then she jogged toward the exit, boots clicking across the marble floor until the door swallowed her in sunlight.
Zoey and I approached the swirling pad. The blue runes pulsed like a heartbeat.
This is gonna be fun, she said, cracking her knuckles.
I stepped onto the platform.
A chime sounded, and the world lurched.
Color twisted around us, blue, white, and violet, that seemed to bend like a heat shimmer. My stomach did a somersault, Zoey swore telepathically, and then we reappeared on solid ground.
Cold wind smashed into my face instantly.
I staggered forward, eyes wide.
We were standing on a carved stone platform jutting out from a cliff face.
Below us: a sheer drop stretching thousands of feet.
Above us: jagged peaks scraping the sky.
Behind us: a cavern opening framed by dragonhead rock formations, glowing with firelight.
Zoey stepped to the edge, whistling. Okay... this is actually badass.
I wrapped my arms around myself, staring into the vast expanse of the Rockies.
"Holy shit," I breathed. "We're really up here."
Zoey nudged me. Welcome to Drayden's gym, Atrea.
And the wind howled like something ancient waking up.
The cliff top was colder than I expected. Not the soft coastal cold I was used to, this was mountain cold, thin and sharp and restless. The PAP barrier hummed behind me, a faint light between me and a drop so deep it blurred into pale blue nothing. Even knowing the barrier was there didn't stop my stomach from tightening every time the wind shoved at my back.
Drayden stood a good forty yards away, centered perfectly before the enormous cavern carved into the cliff. The cave wasn't just big, it was deep, hollowing straight into the mountain in a way that swallowed light. Even midday sun couldn't reach past the first twenty feet. Everything deeper was pitch black.
He didn't turn to look at it. Not once. His back stayed to the cavern like he didn't even register the darkness behind him. As if nothing in there could ever threaten him.
He raised a hand slightly, palm open, fingers relaxed.
Then said:
"Step forward."
For a heartbeat, I thought he meant me.
Then something behind him shifted.
The darkness in the cave rippled, not a creature walking forward, but like a curtain of shadow being disturbed by something massive. My eyes narrowed as I tried to pierce the gloom, squinting as the wind stung my face.
I couldn't make out any details. The only thing I could be certain of was that it was hanging upside down.
A low, throaty rumble vibrated out of the cave and into the stone beneath my feet. The sound wasn't loud, but it was heavy like a pressure in my skull.
"What..." I breathed, leaning forward instinctively.
Drayden didn't move. Didn't even flick an eye toward the sound.
He trusted whatever was coming. Completely.
A silhouette seemed to peel itself from the ceiling. This thing unfolded and stretched its limbs, wings loosening, as its claws scraped against the stone.
Before I could even register what I was seeing, it let out a sound.
Not a screech, but a scream.
A high and low frequency layered together, a note so sharp it made my teeth ache. It rattled the cliff, stirred the air, and tore dust from the cave ceiling in thin streams.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Simon's wings twitched beside me, his hovering faltering for a split second.
The creature detached fully from the ceiling and dropped straight down behind Drayden, wings tucked tight. Drayden didn't flinch. He simply lowered his hand. Then the Noivern hit the updraft.
Its wings snapped open wider than any Noivern I'd ever seen. Massive, leathery sails caught the rising wind and wrenched the beast upward in one fluid, effortless arc. The gust was so strong it blew my hair back and nearly took my beanie.
Noivern burst out of the cave mouth like a missile, eyes glowing bright red. His ears, huge, dish-like sonar organs, rotated toward us with unsettling precision.
He was enormous.
Even Simon, who normally stared down threats without fear, recoiled slightly in the air.
Atrea
His voice hit my mind in a thin, strained line.
That's not normal.
Noivern hovered effortlessly in the violent wind, body rigid and perfectly still while the updraft whipped around him. He towered over Simon in the air; his eyes weren't just focused.
They were locked.
Pinned onto Simon like the Flygon was prey.
Drayden folded his arms, his cloak snapping behind him.
"Sound isn't controlled," he said, voice steady despite the gale.
"It is harnessed."
Simon stiffened, wings humming as he prepared Boomburst.
I saw doubt flicker in his eyes until determination hardened over it.
He inhaled sharply to generate a vibration in his chest.
Boomburst detonated outward a second later, the shockwave distorting the air as it blasted toward Noivern.
It hit.
At least, it looked like it hit.
Then the pressure wave bent upward like gravity had rotated ninety degrees. Something seemed to yank the attack toward Noivern's massive sonar organs.
My breath caught.
Noivern absorbed the energy.
All of it.
Then the glow in his eyes intensified.
And for the first time, Drayden's lips curved into something faintly resembling respect.
"What is harnessed..."
Noivern opened his jaws.
"...can be returned."
He fired Simon's Boomburst back with zero charge-up time.
The blast slammed into Simon so hard that I felt it in my ribs.
Simon's consciousness flickered briefly. Fear, confusion, and apology, then went silent as he crashed into the stone at my feet, the up and down movements of his chest the only sign he was still alive.
The referee's voice barely reached me over the wind.
"Flygon is unable to battle!
Drayden finally spoke again,
"A dragon's voice is a force of nature, Atrea Morgan. You came here to challenge a Dragon Master, and now you understand what that means."
Noivern screeched again, the air shuddering around him before he returned to the cave as if nothing had happened.
For the first time since starting my journey, I wondered if I'd made a mistake. But the next Pokéball on my belt pulsed gently.
Not telepathy, just the faint, rhythmic thrum of Trilla's aura reacting to my fear.
I unclipped her ball, swallowing hard. "Trilla... It's your turn."
Light flared across the arena as I released her.
Trilla materialized with a soft glow, her poise steady even though she knew we were down one.
Before she could take a step, however, sunlight burst through an opening in the clouds.
A white shape floated down through the warmth like a petal. The Altaria touched the stone across from us, her wings blooming outward into thick clouds of shimmering down. She cooed, the sound harmonious and gentle.
But her eyes were razor-sharp.
Trilla whispered into my mind.
She's... beautiful.
A pause.
But she's not here to play.
I nodded slightly. Stay close and let her make the first move.
Then Drayden raised his arm, pulling his sleeve back to reveal a bone white bracelet with a glinting gem seated in the middle.
"I forged this at 17 from the vertebrae of a Dragonite I killed with my bare hands."
Trilla stiffened beside me.
He killed a Dragonite? Alone?
I couldn't make myself answer.
Drayden lifted the bone-forged keystone high.
"Altaria. Ascend."
The keystone ignited.
A beam of radiant light lanced out toward the Mega Stone braided into Altaria's plumage. The air pulsed once, twice, then exploded into a cyclone of blinding white.
Feathers blew outward like a storm of snow as wind whipped across the valley.
When the light dimmed, Mega Altaria hovered above the stone, wings now enormous clouds of shimmering cotton, her feathers refracting color like a prism. Her voice rang out in a piercing, harmonic dragon-hymn that shook the stone at my feet.
I swallowed hard.
Trilla... can you match that?
For a moment, Trilla didn't speak. She stared at Mega Altaria, at the raw, churning power radiating from her, and the air around Trilla trembled.
Then she turned her head toward me, eyes glowing white as her aura ignited.
A pulse of psychic light detonated outward from her chest, rippling across the battlefield. My hair lifted from my shoulders. Dust swirled in slow spirals around her feet. The air itself thickened with resonance, a vibration that hummed against my sternum.
Her silhouette blurred, edges dissolving into flowing light.
Then the transformation began.
Crystalline plates unfurled across her chest like blooming petals.
Her arms elongated, swathed in radiant psychic energy.
Her dress split into rippling veils of starlit fabric that fluttered despite the still air.
A horn of brilliant white formed along her headcrest, blazing like moonfire.
She rose from the ground like a star ascending.
The light crescendoed, then shattered outward in a burst of glittering motes.
And Mega Gardevoir descended gracefully, landing between me and Mega Altaria with the poise of a duelist stepping onto the floor.
Her presence was different now, taller, sharper, confident in a way that made my breath catch.
She glanced back at me, eyes glinting with fierce certainty.
I can now.
Her aura burst outward like a star igniting. Light spiraled around her chest, rising through her limbs in radiant coils. Crystalline armor blossomed along her dress, her form stretching and sharpening. Trilla completed her Mega Evolution by releasing a harmless, but blinding wave of light.
She lifted one hand toward Mega Altaria, her stance steady.
You're ready, I told her. Stay focused.
Drayden lifted one finger.
"Moonblast."
Altaria fired instantly.
A massive sphere of moonlight crashed toward Trilla like a detonating star.
Protect! I sent sharply.
Trilla crossed her arms. The barrier formed, but the attack struck before it fully solidified.
The shield shattered with a crystalline crack, and the shockwave blasted Trilla backward. She hit the stone and skidded, digging trenches with her heels to stay upright.
I'm alright...
Her voice trembled.
Altaria dove, wings glowing as she prepared another strike.
Thunderbolt! I commanded.
Trilla thrust both arms forward, arcs of lightning bursting from her palms. The bolts lashed upward and struck Altaria across the wings, sending her spinning off-course mid-dive.
Altaria righted herself with a powerful flap, drifting higher.
"Sing," Drayden called.
Altaria's melody floated over the arena, a serene note that vibrated against the PAP shield.
Trilla staggered.
Her voice... it's pulling at me...
Anchor to me, I told her.. Not her song.
Her eyes snapped open, aura stabilizing.
Then she inhaled and lifted her arms.
Psychic! I ordered.
Trilla hurled a spiraling beam of shimmering force upward. It smashed into Altaria's chest, driving her back through the air.
Drayden didn't hesitate.
"Altaria. Sky Attack."
Mega Altaria shot upward, glowing brighter and brighter until she was almost blinding, gathering momentum like a comet preparing to drop.
Trilla braced.
Her voice shook.
Now THAT is going to hurt if it connects.
I stepped closer to the field. Meet her. Don't run.
Trilla nodded and gathered her strength. Both of her hands began to glow a sinister purple while a sphere of dazzling light manifested above her hair.
Altaria turned in midair and descended like a shining meteor.
Go! I shouted.
Trilla vaulted upward, propelled by a burst of psychic force from the ground, meeting Altaria halfway in the sky. She sent her attacks flying toward Altaria with both Shadow Balls, connecting with her wings. Altaria was already well into her Sky Attack and had no chance of stopping on her own.
They collided with an explosion of light.
Wind blasted outward, stone cracked beneath the shockwave, and feathers of cotton scattered like embers.
Trilla screamed with effort.
I. Won't. Yield!
Her last-second Protect began to falter with the force of Altaria's attack, but Trilla's Moonblast cooked off at point-blank range.
The explosion lit the valley.
Mega Altaria shrieked as the force drove her earthward uncontrollably. She crashed into the stone below, wings flickering. The Mega glow bled from her feathers as she tried and failed to stand.
As the dust settled, the referee raised his hand.
"Altaria is unable to battle!"
Trilla dropped to one knee, panting hard, her Mega form flickering.
Moonblast may have won us the fight, but the explosion didn't just hit Altaria. There's a reason it's meant to be used from a distance.
She had won, but took some serious damage in the process. She was hurting. Badly.
"Impressive," he said, voice carrying like a rolling stone. "Few Pokémon can push Altaria that far. Fewer still without a Mega Stone."
Trilla wavered on her feet, her glow flickering like a candle in the wind.
Drayden extended one hand toward the cave.
"But you aren't here for flattery."
Three pairs of cold blue eyes opened in the shadows.
"Hydreigon. Your turn."
Hydreigon drifted out of the cave like a waking nightmare, silent and weightless, its three heads snapping and twitching independently. The air around it felt colder, heavier, as though its presence alone drained the warmth from the valley.
Trilla swayed beside me, still in her Mega form, but her glow flickered at the edges like an ember desperately trying to stay alight.
Atrea...
Her voice trembled softly.
That aura... It's hateful
Just give me what you have left, I told her gently. I'm right here.
She nodded once, lifted her chin, and stepped forward.
Drayden didn't even raise his voice.
"Hydreigon. Flamethrower."
The dragon's central mouth opened.
A twisting beam of burning energy blasted out with no charge-up, no warning, just raw, instinctive destruction.
Trilla, Protect! I sent, panic spiking.
She threw up the shield, but only had the time to manifest the first half. It blocked the attack, but just then, Hydreigon's other two heads launched two more. There was no hope of dodging. The torrents hit Trilla square in the chest.
She screamed, her body slamming back into the stone hard enough to send a wave of shrapnel out in all directions. Her Mega form flickered violently as the crystalline plates on her dress shattered into psychic dust.
"Trilla!"
She pushed up onto one knee, shaking, her breath ragged.
I can still fight... let me try...
Her hands trembled as she summoned the charge for a Thunderbolt. Electricity crackled between her palms, then snapped into a jagged bolt that tore across the arena toward Hydreigon.
The dragon didn't dodge.
The bolt suddenly dissipated a second before it would have landed. Trilla collapsed to the floor in defeat; the lasting damage from Hydreigon's Flamethrower was too much to overcome after all.
The referee raised his flag.
"Gardevoir is unable to battle! Hydreigon wins!"
My legs were moving before I realized it. I dropped to my knees beside her, heart in my throat. Her breaths were shallow, her body limp in my arms.
I'm... sorry... Atrea... I just... couldn't...
I held her close, squeezing my eyes shut.
You were incredible, I told her, my mind burning with intensity. You don't ever have to be sorry.
Hydreigon drifted silently back behind Drayden, its three heads watching me with the calm indifference of a predator waiting for the next challenger.
Drayden's voice rolled across the valley like distant thunder.
"Your Gardevoir possesses great heart. But dragons do not yield to heart alone."
I stood, returning Trilla to her ball before clipping it back onto my belt.
Then I reached for Nick's.
"Alright, big guy," I whispered under my breath, pulse pounding.
"Your turn."
I threw the ball as my Haxorus materialized.
He hit the ground and let out a guttural roar that echoed through the entire valley. He slammed one foot down, making the ground tremble with the force of it.
Hydreigon didn't flinch.
I didn't even get the chance to breathe before I felt Hydreigon charging up.
Dragon energy built in all three maws at once. Three swirling spheres of molten, unstable power lit the cave entrance behind him.
Nick dodge! Move! I ordered sharply.
His response was instant.
He swung his massive tail behind him and slammed it into the ground directly toward me.
A shockwave rippled under my boots, not enough to hurt me, but enough to rip my footing away. I fell hard onto my palms, dust exploding beneath me.
I stared up at him, stunned.
"Nick, what the hell was that?!"
He didn't even look at me.
Hydreigon unleashed all three Dragon Pulses simultaneously.
Three beams of electrified draconic energy slammed into Nick's chest, shoulders, and face, a torrent of blinding white-violet light that should have vaporized him where he stood.
Hydreigon snarled, increasing the output as Nick disappeared behind the torrent...
...but then the outline of a hulking body pushed through the glare.
Nick was walking forward. Walking. Not running.
Each step sent fractures crawling through the stone.
Hydreigon's eyes widened in disbelief. The side heads sputtered, then roared and poured even more power into the attack.
It didn't matter.
Nick kept coming.
The Dragon Pulses cooked his scales, blistering deep red burns along his chest and arms. Smoke curled from his shoulders. His teeth were bared in a snarl so feral it didn't even register as pain. This was rage.
He broke free of the beams' reach with a final step, then lunged.
He crashed into Hydreigon with Outrage, the impact detonating like a bomb. All three heads screeched as Nick plowed straight through them, driving Hydreigon bodily into a boulder the size of a truck.
The rock shattered.
Hydreigon hit the ground in a heap, dazed, two of its heads flickering in and out of focus. It tried to float up once more, but Nick was already on top of it.
He slammed his fist into Hydreigon's middle head. Then again. And again.
Dragon Claw ignited across both hands, his claws glowing neon blue as he raked across Hydreigon's chest, wings, and throat, over and over in a blur of savage strikes.
Hydreigon shrieked, but Nick didn't stop.
He beat the dragon down until Hydreigon finally collapsed, trembling and unable to rise.
The referee's voice cracked over the ringing in my ears.
"Hydreigon is unable to battle!"
Nick stood over the fallen dragon, panting heavily, not from exhaustion, but from fury. Smoke still curled off his burned scales.
I swallowed hard.
Nick... My voice went soft. You're hurt.
He didn't answer. But the trembling from his right arm was all the response I needed.
A silent admission that he was hurting.
Drayden let out a single, piercing whistle.
The sound echoed across the valley.
The mountainside rumbled.
A landslide of loose stone shook free, tumbling down the high cliffside to our left. Boulders crashed onto the arena floor with thunderous slams.
Then a shape vaulted over the lip of the cliff.
The opposing Druddigon landed in a crouch that cracked the stone, then rose in one smooth motion, completely unfazed by the climb he'd just made.
His eyes locked onto Nick like he was studying an animal that he respected... and fully intended to break.
Drayden crossed his arms.
"Druddigon. Show him the strength of stone and scale."
Nick reared his head and snarled, stomping forward.
Nick, wait-! I tried to reel him in, but again, he didn't listen
Druddigon didn't dodge the reckless charge. Instead, spikes erupted along his scarlet carapace and forearms. The jagged, crystalline protrusions gleamed like freshly cut diamonds.
Nick swung first with a wide hook aimed to break Druddigon's jaw.
Druddigon leaned into it.
Nick's fist slammed into the protruding spikes, realizing too late that Druddigon had turned to put a cluster of spikes in the punch's path.
A crunch echoed, and blood misted the air as Druddigon's needles tore into Nick's knuckles. He roared in pain and fury.
I flinched. Nick, pull back! He's baiting you!
He ignored me and swung with the other arm.
Druddigon pivoted once more, so the spikes raked across Nick's ribcage, carving three deep lines into the burned scales.
Nick snarled, dropping to one knee.
Druddigon moved instantly. He clamped his jaws onto Nick's arm. The following roar shook the cliffs.
Druddigon planted his feet into the stone as the muscles around his neck bulged, and with a single mighty movement, he swung Nick like a ragdoll and hurled him across the arena. Nick hit the cliffside with a sickening crack. The impact shook loose rocks from the mountainside. Before he could rise, Druddigon slammed both fists into the ground.
"Rock Slide!" Drayden commanded.
The cliff above Nick crumbled, as boulders dislodged in a thunderous cascade. They crashed down onto Nick's position in an avalanche of stone and earth, and the dust cloud swallowed him completely.
The referee raised his flag after a long, heavy silence.
"Haxorus is unable to battle!"
My heart sank.
I stared at the settling debris, the shape of Nick's body half-buried beneath the rubble.
I returned Nick to his ball and reached for Scizors. Nick had refused to listen, and now it had cost him. I deployed Scizor in preparation for the next round.
Drayden lifted two fingers to his mouth and blew another whistle. This one was sharper than before, higher, like a blade of sound slicing up through the valley. It cut off quickly, but the silence that followed felt loaded and expectant.
Some instinct made me look up.
The PAP shield shimmered faintly above us, distorting the view of the cloudbank that pressed low over the mountaintop. At first, nothing moved. Then, without warning, the entire cloud layer ruptured in a burst of vapor as something enormous punched through it from above.
A streak of blue and crimson plummeted toward us like a falling star.
The creature accelerated toward the battlefield at the speed of sound, controlled only by the absolute confidence of something that knew it could survive the landing. Air pressure shifted so violently that my ears popped. Loose earth stirred in tiny spirals around my boots. Hydreigon, having woken up from its beating, backed away, letting out a quiet whimper as its heads looked down. It gave the descending shape a wide berth.
Salamence hit the ground like a meteor.
The impact blasted dust outward in a circular shockwave, cracking the stone around the landing point in jagged fractures. A shallow crater formed beneath the dragon's weight, no more than a few feet deep, but wide and violent enough that bits of shattered rock tumbled into its edges. The sound of it, the deep, concussive thump, echoed off the rock face like distant thunder.
For a moment, Salamence remained motionless, eyes closed, its body crouched low in the center of the broken stone. Smoke curled upward from the scorched line of descent in the sky. The air around him shimmered faintly from the heat.
The valley held its breath.
Then his eyes flashed open, locking onto Scizor. Salamence roared and sent a Hyper Beam into the sky. Then his gaze leveled with Scizor once again, steam venting from its nostrils with every breath.
The dragon unfolded his wings in a single, fluid motion, casting a broad shadow around him.. Muscles rippled beneath his scales as he rose fully from the crater.
Drayden didn't shout or gesture. He simply regarded the dragon with calm familiarity, the same way someone might acknowledge a weapon they had forged long ago.
The dragon's gaze shifted toward me, and the pressure that followed hit like a physical force. My chest tightened. My heartbeat stuttered. Something in Salamence's stance, the coiled power, the smoldering fury, the confidence of a creature who had never lost a battle he meant to win, made every instinct in me scream caution.
Scizor, I whispered, forcing steadiness into my voice. Go.
Scizor launched forward in a blur of red metal, both thrusters igniting at full burn, a rare, reckless burst he rarely used outside of desperation. The air cracked behind him as he rocketed straight toward Salamence.
That was exactly what Drayden wanted.
The dragon inhaled sharply.
"Flamethrower," Drayden said, voice as calm as falling snow.
A jet of white-hot fire burst from Salamence's mouth. Scizor strafed left in a perfect arc, predicting that Salamence would track him.
But Salamence didn't pivot. He held the line.
Scizor drifted right again, cutting back toward the center, expecting Salamence to move the torrent of flame to where Scizor had been. In doing so, he ran straight into the still-streaming Flamethrower.
The impact was instantaneous. Red armor flash-heated to orange as his thrusters sputtered. Scizor dropped to his knees with a metallic scream, claws digging into the stone as his whole frame shuddered under the searing blast.
"Salamence, grab him."
The dragon shot forward.
Scizor move! I snapped across our link, my pulse spiking. Get out of there now!
He tried, but his legs buckled as he struggled to stand. His burned plating locked for half a second, and that was all his opponent needed.
Salamence slammed into him with a full-body tackle, locking both arms around Scizor's torso. The steel plates shrieked under the crushing force of the dragon's grip. His acceleration didn't stop. Salamence crashed Scizor through three boulders before spreading his wings completely and taking off. Scizor struggled, but Salamence's sheer strength was overwhelming.
My breath caught in my throat.
"No," I whispered
Salamence pivoted mid-ascent and tucked into a dive, his hold tightening around Scizor as he rotated into a textbook Seismic Toss.
They hit the ground in a bone-splitting, metallic explosion.
Dust shot upward. The crater deepened as cracks in the stone radiated outward in spiderwebbing lines.
When it cleared, Scizor lay in the center of the impact, limbs limp, armor blackened from the Flamethrower and warped inward from Salamence's crushing grip. He didn't move.
The referee raised his flag with a shaky breath.
"Scizor is unable to battle!"
I stood there motionless. The battle had lasted maybe seven seconds.
Salamence didn't roar in victory like I'd expected it to. Instead, it bowed its head to Drayden, who nodded in response. The beast took to the skies once more and tore through the clouds once again. To Salamence, this hadn't been a fight; it was an extermination.
Salamence's crater was still smoking when Drayden raised his arm and called across the valley:
"Haxorus."
The name alone felt heavier than the mountain.
The massive dragon smashed through a section of the cliff face above and behind Drayden, then dropped down in a blur of dark metal and earth. He slid down the rock face like a falling blade, punching a tusk into the stone to slow his descent, sparks raining off the cliffside. At the final thirty feet, he kicked off, landing in a crouch that shook dust loose from the PAP shield above.
Even after everything I'd seen so far, there was something different about this dragon. Something heavier. Older. He didn't posture or roar. He simply existed, and that was enough to make the air feel thinner.
Beside me, Zoey crouched low, mane bristling, breath steadying itself into something cold and focused. Her eyes narrowed into slits of burning red.
He's huge, she murmured, the thought like a rough whisper in my mind. And he's grinning at me.
She wasn't exaggerating.
Haxorus looked up from his crouch, eyes locking onto her with a slow, predatory curve of the mouth.
Don't let him bait you, I warned. Illusion pattern three.
Zoey's lips curled into a wicked smirk.
Then she split.
Two perfect duplicates burst outward from her position, sprinting in opposite directions through the drifting dust. Their movement refracted through the haze, scattering Zoey's afterimages across the battlefield in flashes of shadow and light.
The real Zoey vaulted upward, using the smoke to mask her trajectory. Her body twisted midair, claws drawn back to strike down from above. For a heartbeat, the timing was perfect. For a heartbeat, it looked like she had him.
But Haxorus wasn't looking at the clones.
His pupils tracked something else entirely: her. His head snapped upward.
He sees me?!
Haxorus' arm shot out like a piston, claws locking around Zoey's neck mid-air. The impact cracked like a rifle shot. The illusions evaporated instantly, dissolving into curling wisps of shadow.
Zoey gasped, a sharp, broken sound, as Haxorus tightened his grip.
And then he swung her down.
He drove her into the ground with enough force to crater the stone beneath her. The shockwave rattled the entire valley, dust and debris erupting in a ring outward from the impact.
"Zoey!" I screamed, legs moving before I realized I'd stepped forward.
She tried to rise, but Haxorus planted one massive foot on her chest and forced her flat against the stone.
A low, resonant hum built between his tusks, glowing with pale, sickly blue.
Atrea?!
Zoey's terrified plea hit me like a spark through a wire.
The Dragon Pulse detonated point-blank, engulfing her in a column of blistering energy. The blast tore across the PAP shield in pulsing rings, the light so bright it washed out the entire field for a second.
When it faded, smoke curled from a fresh crater.
Zoey lay at the center of it, her fur scorched and her whole body trembling. Her chest rose only in shallow, uneven breaths.
The referee's voice echoed through the haze.
"Zoroark is unable to battle! Victory to Gym Leader Drayden!"
I ran.
I skidded the last few feet and dropped to my knees beside her, hands shaking as I brushed her singed mane out of her face.
"Zoey, please! Look at me!"
Her eyes cracked open, barely, but still flashing with anger.
He... didn't fall for it, she rasped, each word strained. Guess the old man's dragon's smarter than he looks...
My throat tightened painfully. After all that, she still had the nerve to make jokes.
Haxorus stood silently a few paces back from the crater he'd made with my partner's body. He watched me with an expression I didn't have a word for. Not pity. Not cruelty, but something colder. A predator's stillness.
Zoey's voice brushed weakly against my mind.
Don't... let him... win...
"I won't," I whispered. "I promise."
I recalled her gently, the light swallowing her battered form, and stood on legs that weren't entirely steady. My heart hammered hard against my ribs like it was trying to break free of my chest.
This round was over, and the next would decide the shape of my anger forever.
"I need you," I whispered.
I threw the ball.
Swampert landed heavily, water spraying off his arms as he squared his stance. The moment he saw Haxorus, something like instinctual dread flickered in his eyes, but under it lay determination.
Haxorus had already begun to move.
He didn't roar, but simply shifted his weight forward in a slow, inevitable stride as the ground trembled beneath his feet.
Hydro Pump, I said, forcing strength into my voice even as my chest tightened.
Swampert dug his feet in, pulled both arms back, and unleashed a roaring blast of water that tore across the battlefield. The torrent smashed into Haxorus, engulfing him in a thunderous white spray.
For a moment, hope flared in me.
Then his silhouette appeared through the water.
Moving forward.
Walking through the blast as though pushing through a stubborn wind. His arms crossed over his face, shoulders hunched slightly from the pressure, but his stride never wavered.
Atrea... Swampert's thought shook against mine. He's still coming
Don't stop! I snapped. Don't let him through!
He shoved harder, the Hydro Pump surging with a desperate roar. Water exploded across the stone, tearing it apart in jagged chunks, but Haxorus kept advancing, step by brutal step. Swampert's arms trembled under the strain. His lungs burned. I could feel it through the telepathic link like a second heartbeat rattling inside my chest.
The blast flickered as Swampert inhaled sharply, forcing it back alive for one more heartbeat.
And then it died.
The instant it faltered, Haxorus burst through the spray.
The first punch landed across Swampert's cheek with a sound so violent it felt like it cracked something inside me.
Not bone, but something emotional.
Swampert reeled backward with a strangled gasp.
Haxorus surged forward, landing another blow, this one to Swampert's ribs. I felt that one too, a lancing pressure tearing through the link between us.
The third punch caved into Swampert's stomach, lifting him several inches off the ground before he crashed to his knees. Another fissure split down my center, sharp and bright and unbearable.
Haxorus's elbow slammed into Swampert's jaw.
Another crack in my mind. My fingers curled into fists, and my breath hitched.
Swampert staggered upright, wobbling.
Hammer Arm, please! I begged, voice cracking aloud and through the link.
He spun weakly and brought his arm down in a heavy arc, but Haxorus caught it in his palm with effortless disdain, like stopping a falling branch.
Swampert's eyes widened in horror as Haxorus swept his legs out from under him.
Swampert hit the ground on his back. My vision tunneled.
Haxorus drew his fist back. Swampert looked at me, one eye swollen, one eye terrified.
I'm sorry... Atrea...
As the dragon's fist came down, something inside me snapped
"ENOUGH!!!"
The scream ripped out of me like I'd torn open my own lungs. The sound wasn't human. It was something raw, psychic, and primal, an emotional rupture so immense the air itself buckled.
A pressure wave blasted outward from my chest, completely silent yet violently physical. Dust lifted from the ground, and the PAP shield convulsed in rippling waves. Even the cliff face groaned under the strain.
Haxorus froze mid-strike.
The dragon's eyes widened as a sudden, invisible force knocked the wind out of him. He staggered for a moment before his eyes went white.
Then he crumpled like he'd been shot in the head.
The impact shook the battlefield, and for a heartbeat, no one moved.
Not Drayden. Not the referee. Not even the wind.
I slumped forward over Swampert's limp body, sobbing into his shoulder, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
Swampert... please... please... stay with me...
My voice was a shattered whisper, telepathic and audible all at once.
Haxorus groaned weakly beside Drayden, trying to rise but failing, holding his head as though a spike had been driven through it.
Drayden's eyes darted from his fallen ace to me
For the first time since I'd met him, he looked unsure.
He approached with slow, wary steps, as though afraid I might shatter the world again if he moved too quickly. When he reached speaking distance, he opened his mouth. Before he could speak, I lifted my head. My vision was blurry with tears, but the fury burning inside me could've melted steel.
"Mark my words... 'Dragon Master,'" I spat the title like venom, "you will lose the next time we meet."
Drayden didn't smirk or scold me. He just nodded.
"I look forward to our rematch then."
He crouched, pulled a Full Restore from his belt, and sprayed Swampert with practiced care. The restorative light washed over him, knitting wounds and easing the swelling. Swampert's breath deepened, and his eyes fluttered open.
Atrea?
I hugged him, sobbing into his shoulder.
Behind us, Haxorus managed to stand again, wobbling, one hand pressed to his skull as though dull pain rang through it with each step. He walked back toward the cave without complaint or pride. Just a quiet, shaken awareness of what had hit him.
Drayden watched his dragon go, then looked back at me. For once, his expression wasn't flinty.
He was... fascinated.
"I have battled hundreds of the best that this challenge produces," he said quietly. "But you, Atrea Morgan..."
His eyes flicked to the cracked earth, to Swampert, to the shaking rubble still lingering from the psychic shockwave.
"...are the most intriguing of them all."
Then he turned and followed Haxorus into the shadows of the mountain.
I returned Swampert to his ball so he could rest with the rest of the team. We'd lost. Badly. Even worse, I didn't have Zoey's sarcasm to get me through it; she was in her own ball, healing from the burns Haxorus gave her.
The light from the return teleporter faded, and the world reassembled around me in a wash of neon, headlights, and cold mountain wind. Downtown Denver glowed under the dusk sky, but all I could feel was the roaring in my ears.
I'd lost, and every misstep replayed on a loop, each one worse than the last.
Why didn't I switch earlier? Why didn't I control the pace? Why didn't I trust them? Why didn't Nick trust me?
A fresh wave of anger surged through me at the thought of him ignoring me mid-battle, overriding my calls like I was some rookie trainer with a borrowed team. He made the wrong read, and Drayden made us pay for it.
As I crossed the empty plaza, however, my fury bled into something hollow.
Maybe he ignored me because I didn't earn his respect. Maybe none of them did. Maybe this whole journey-
I stopped walking. My hands were shaking.
I pressed both palms against my temples.
"Stop," I whispered. "Stop thinking."
But the thoughts wouldn't stop. Everything felt too loud inside my head. Too sharp.
And that's when the worst idea I'd ever had occurred to me.
Just... listen. See what they're thinking. See if they hate you, too.
There were dozens of Pokémon in the area, perched on balconies, walking with their trainers, or gathered near the fountains. I could only pick up faint whispers of their minds brushing against mine.
I reached for them.
And when I did, the entire world screamed.
A thousand voices detonated inside my skull at once: fear, hunger, boredom, confusion, territorial instinct, pain, joy. Noise noise noise noise! Something burst behind my right eye.
A white flash carved down the center of my vision.
Pain lanced through my skull so violently I didn't even have time to scream before my knees hit concrete.
I collapsed onto my side, clutching my head, breath trapped in my throat. My thoughts were static. My vision flickered. And a warm liquid slid down from my left nostril.
Oh God. Oh God, what did I just do?
I tried to call for Zoey, but she was sealed in her ball, healing. Trilla too. Swampert was exhausted, and Skyla was still on her flight back from Santa Monica.
I was alone, and the world was spinning. A pair of headlights blinked on across the street. A van pulled out of the alley with its high beams on. Slow and purposeful.
When I tried to push myself up, the pain detonated again, white-hot and blinding. I collapsed flat on my back, as my vision narrowed to a tunnel.
All I could hear were heavy footsteps and a voice I didn't recognize: "There. Grab her."
Then the world went dark.