The tightly compressed jet of water tore through the air, streaking toward David like a bolt of lightning.
This deadly sniper attack made no attempt to hide itself. It came straight at David, out in the open, and yet there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.
In this critical instant, neither David nor any of his Pokémon had time to react to the blow closing in on him.
It was simply too fast!
This Inteleon, only a step away from true Elite-level strength, had spent a long time charging its attack, pouring nearly everything it had into this single killing move. Against strength like David's and his Pokémon's, there was no way to respond in time.
This was not an opponent David should have had to face at this stage. Given how carefully this operation had been planned, even a near-Elite Trainer could have fallen here with one moment of carelessness.
Snapping into action, Dragapult moved at once to turn back and shield David, but the twisted, modified Pokémon in front of it had no intention of letting it through.
Heavy physical modification, energy corruption eating away inside their bodies, and the berserker serum acting almost like a lit fuse — all of it had taken its toll.
Whatever intelligence or awareness these modified Pokémon once had was long gone, worn away by endless suffering. All that remained was a raw instinct for destruction and a savage urge to tear apart anything nearby.
There was only one end waiting for them: to keep fighting and destroying until their own lives burned out completely.
As if sensing what Dragapult meant to do, they ignored their wounds and threw themselves forward in an almost suicidal effort to block its path.
Gunk Shot. Flash Cannon. Giga Impact.
One of them, a Golem that had been modified into something like a living fireball, charged straight in, clearly intending to use Self-Destruct on Dragapult.
The resulting blast turned the surrounding area into a wasteland. Luckily, the location was fairly secluded with few people around, and after the first explosion, most of the innocent visitors had already fled the scene.
That, combined with David and his Pokémon deliberately steering the fight toward empty ground, was the only reason the whole water park hadn't already been leveled by the clash of these few Pokémon alone.
An Elite-level Pokémon has enough destructive power to wipe out a small city, if it truly meant to. In an ordinary battle, though, Pokémon don't let that kind of energy run wild so carelessly.
Even so, the fighting still reduced a large part of the water park to ruins. Casualties were expected to be light, but the water park here in Magic City would likely need to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Under normal circumstances, Dragapult could have handled these Pokémon without much trouble, given a little time. Even boosted by technology, they had only just barely brushed against the edge of Elite-level strength.
There was still a wide gap between them and true Elite-level, let alone against Dragapult itself, a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary standing at the very peak of that level.
But right now, there was no time to spare. David's life was in immediate danger, and protecting him mattered far more than finishing off a handful of modified Pokémon.
Just as Dragapult prepared to push through the enemy's attacks and force its way back to David's side, it suddenly froze in place.
It wasn't the only one. A small, adorable figure, who had been getting ready to slip out from a gap in the shadows to protect David in secret, also froze in confusion.
"Boom!"
Then, to the astonishment of everyone watching, Pokémon included, a thin layer of pale cyan flame ignited across David's body.
It was a powerful presence, difficult to put into words. Faint as it was, the instant it appeared, every eye nearby turned toward it.
Inteleon's all-out, certain-kill attack met those faint cyan flames and simply disappeared, vaporized as easily as a weed by the roadside.
Watching from the shadows at a distance, Yade was just as stunned by the sudden change. Having his sure-kill strike fail so completely was hard for him to accept.
Worse, this sudden shift in his target stirred up some painful memories he would rather have forgotten.
Still, there was no time to dwell on it. The window for his escape was nearly closed, and he had to leave immediately. Any longer, and he might not get away at all.
"Damn it!"
This mission had cost him dearly.
As unwilling as he was to give up, Yade had no choice but to fall back. As the old saying goes, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to gather; for now, saving his own life came first.
"Beheeyem, Teleport. It's time to withdraw."
Beside him, Beheeyem, with its odd, bobblehead-like head, gave a nod. A wave of Psychic energy wrapped around itself, its Trainer, and Inteleon.
An instant later, the assassin's group vanished from where they had been standing. They were heading toward a pre-arranged escape point, and since this stretch of coast was so close to the sea, it wasn't hard to guess how they planned to leave Cloudspire.
Though the assassin himself escaped, he left the modified Pokémon behind without a second thought. They had only ever been tools he'd purchased for the job, not worth the risk of staying to protect while fleeing for his life.
Those modified Pokémon showed no interest in fleeing either. They kept attacking Dragapult without restraint.
Though startled by the sudden change in David, Dragapult knew dealing with the enemy came first. Once it confirmed David was no longer in danger, it turned its full attention back to the Pokémon in front of it.
A fierce smile spread across its face. Now, at last, it could deal with these attackers properly.
Even though the killing blow had ultimately failed, the fact that David had been targeted at all was more than enough to fill Dragapult with rage. It was ready to show these Pokémon exactly what true Dragon Rage felt like.
Facing down the fury radiating from Dragapult, a shiver of dread ran through the twisted creatures before it.
Meanwhile, the small, adorable figure who had been hiding in the shadow gap, quietly watching over David rather than actually helping, was every bit as confused as everyone else.
Its large eyes flickered with even greater bewilderment.
Lord Ho-Oh! It seemed, somehow, in some way, that the Rainbow Hero chosen on your behalf had just been swept away right in front of him.
That day, little Marshadow felt, for what seemed like the very first time, the sting of watching someone dear get taken right before his eyes... But at that moment, David had no attention left to spare for what was happening around him. From the instant the cyan flames had ignited on his body, his consciousness had gone completely blank. Pulled by some unknown force, he kept sinking, deeper and deeper, into his own inner world, until he arrived in a vast, pitch-black expanse.
Then, just as suddenly, a figure of pure white stood out against that darkness, brilliant and unmistakable.
Through the haze, David saw a majestic form, covered in magnificent snow-white feathers, with cyan flames burning gently across its body.
But its condition was clearly far from well. Chains of pitch-black, mud-like energy bound it tightly in place.
Worse still, that same dark, corrupted power kept eating away at the radiant white deity, causing the cyan flames on its body to flicker weakly, like a candle struggling against the wind, as though it might go out at any moment.
A look of deep sorrow crossed its face. Though it spoke no words, its expression alone conveyed just how dire its situation truly was.
David simply gazed back at it in silence. Within its ice-blue, crystal-clear eyes, it seemed to be trying to tell him something... [Hurry and grow stronger! True Hero, there is little time left!]
"Wait, I still have..."
David reached out, wanting to ask something more, but there was no time left for him. The pitch-black space around him began to tremble violently, as if it were on the verge of collapse... Then, a blinding flash of white light swept across his vision, and David's consciousness returned. That dark world, somehow both real and like a fading dream, vanished completely.