"BANG! BANG!"
High in the sky, Presley's ace Pokémon, Salamence, led the charge, roaring fiercely as it moved.
A storm of meteors wrapped in purple flame rained down violently on the stitched-together monster below.
This was a full-power Draco Meteor, condensed by Salamence into something that, in the past, could have flattened a small town of a few thousand to ten thousand people. Yet against this creature, it barely did anything.
Aside from carving a few extra pits into the monster's mud-like body, the attack caused no real damage.
"WWWWWU!"
Still, the sheer force of the meteors, combined with the corrosive Dragon-type energy, tore an earth-shaking cry of pain from the monster.
But pain was all it caused.
The wounds hurt, but they did nothing to slow the creature down. Worse, thin threads of twisted flesh crawled out from the wounds and stitched them shut again, erasing the damage from the Draco Meteor almost as fast as it appeared.
The price for this healing was steep, though — every living thing in the water within a hundred meters of the monster was drained dry, and the sea itself turned black, as if its very life had been swallowed.
The destruction was already visible along the coastline. If this thing pushed further inland, there was no telling how much time and effort it would take to repair the damage. But that was a problem for later. After a brief pause, the monster's massive body pressed forward again, and this time, it struck back.
Lightning, flame, torrents of water, blades of wind, shards of rock — from the hundreds of Pokémon heads dangling off its body, all seemed to wake at once, launching a counterattack straight at Salamence in the sky. Rising in dense rows, glowing with a sickly red light, the heads' open eyes held no trace of consciousness. Just looking at them made a person's mind recoil.
Even at a distance, David and the others felt their hair stand on end, skin crawling with goosebumps.
"This — oh my god, what did those lunatics actually build?"
Miles, who had already been rattled by the sight of the "Sludge Monster," couldn't hide his horror any longer.
David said nothing, but his scalp prickled just the same.
Only Presley's expression stayed calm — whether from experience or sheer willpower, it was hard to say.
The sight alone was enough to shatter most people's nerves; anyone with a fear of clustered holes would likely have fainted on the spot. David found himself grateful that Emma and Willow weren't here. If he and Miles were barely holding steady, two more people — especially the girls — would have made it even harder to bear.
"Salamence, use Protect."
"Everyone else, Flamethrower — now!"
"ROAR!"
Salamence showed no fear at the monster's counterattack. At its Trainer's command, it flashed in front of the group and raised a shimmering emerald barrier to block the incoming assault.
The attacks looked overwhelming, but individually, none carried much power. Their coverage was wide, but nowhere near enough to break through Salamence's shield. The barrage only sent faint ripples across the green light.
While Salamence held the line, Aerodactyl, Charizard, and the others seized their chance, unleashing Flamethrower together. The combined fire from several Pokémon merged into a raging sea of flame, swallowing the monster's enormous body whole.
Presley was no beginner. The moment Draco Meteor failed to do lasting damage, he had already noticed the creature's resistance to physical attacks and its unnerving ability to heal, and adjusted his strategy at once.
"WWWWWU!"
Just as expected, the wall of fire did far more damage than the meteors had. Having crawled onto the beach, the monster no longer had the sea to shield or heal it, and the flames bit deep. The pain was worse, and recovery came much slower. The creature let out cry after cry of agony.
"BANG!"
Its tentacles thrashed wildly, smashing what remained of the reefs and sea rocks scattered across the beach.
"That's it — keep going! Salamence, hold its attention. Everyone else, keep up the attack!"
Seeing the plan work, Presley's face lit up, and he kept calling out commands without pause.
Watching the fire attacks land, David and Miles wasted no time either, sending out their own Dragapult and Infernape to join in.
With two more Elite Pokémon added to the fight — Dragapult especially, an Elite Pokémon near the very peak of its class — the sea of fire grew even fiercer. With Salamence keeping the monster distracted, the combined flame assault of several Elite Pokémon pushed the creature back, forcing it slowly toward the water.
Everything seemed to be going well. But the people pulling the strings behind this had no intention of giving up so easily.
"BANG!"
"Damn it — how did these Cloudspire Alliance dogs get here so fast?"
The members of The End Church, who had believed the situation was in their favor now that their experiment had made landfall, could no longer stay calm.
"We can't wait any longer. Both Cloudspire fleets are closing in. We can't stay in this submarine."
"Activate the backup plan. Order every experimental subject still under control to attack those kids. We'll use the chaos to get to shore and break out into the wilderness to meet up with Q and the others."
With their lives on the line, there was no more room for arguing. The scattered cultists fell into agreement at once.
"Understood. I'll take control of the experimental subjects."
"The submarine surfaces now. Everyone, get ready."
The "kids" they meant were David and his group. The cultists couldn't see them clearly from inside the submarine, but they recognized Presley, and anyone standing beside him was clearly no ordinary Trainer.
That made them the perfect weak point to strike.
As the order went out, among the experimental subjects still locked in battle with the Special Security Bureau's agents, some kept fighting without reacting to the command — but others tore themselves free, ignoring their injuries, and surged straight toward David's position.
"Not good — Haxorus!"
A sudden sense of danger struck Presley, and he immediately called Haxorus, the closest of his Pokémon, back to defend the group.
But despite its scrambled mind, the stitched monster had frighteningly sharp instincts. It abandoned its attacks on Salamence entirely, enduring the scorching flames without resistance, and threw everything it had into stopping these particular Pokémon from leaving its side.
Before Presley could react, one of the experimental subjects — its chainsaw-like arms hinting that it had once been a Scizor — came charging forward.
Seeing the danger, the Zorua perched on David's shoulder tensed, ready to jump in.
"So—"
"ROAR!"
"OWOO~"
But before Zorua could move, two blasts of Flamethrower dropped from above, roasting the corrupted Scizor on the spot.
A massive shape appeared overhead, its shadow falling across the sunlit beach.