Child of Thorns - A Pokemon Sinnoh Reimagining

They found the first grunts a few minutes into their running, although they'd been hearing their steps for a while now. Further steps echoed deeper, more far away. These two men had been left behind on purpose, to guard against them, to buy the others time. They ran slower, looking over their shoulders, Pokeballs in hand. As soon as Maylene and Lucario turned the curved corner and saw them, they were seen as well.

"There!" yelled one of them, sounding terrified.

They stopped on their tracks, turning around with Pokeballs in hand. There was hesitation for a moment, but then they saw Lucario's face, and fear forced their hand.

"C-come out!"

Maylene saw the balls fly through the air as though on slow motion, the frenzied beat of her and Lucario's heart echoing together inside her head. Thanks to his proximity, she could feel it all. The texture of the rock under her feet, the precise distance between them and their opponent, each and every muscle in her body distinct like pieces of a well-oiled machine. As her feet touched the ground with her next step, her movements became perfect. She and Lucario moved in sync.

It was a rare state of mind and body, one her mother had attained plenty with her own Lucario, yet Maylene herself had only done it a handful of times. Once by accident when she was ten, once during that last practice match against her mother right before the accident, once against Mars, with her life on the line. It was a wonderful feeling, that of two bodies, minds and souls becoming one; the closest her family could get to seizing that power that was once theirs; the control of aura.

It was only a pale approximation, a painting of a fire, not the fire itself. But Maylene intended to use it nonetheless.

"RHYYYAAAAH!"

They shot forward, blood and muscles burning with energy, their steps echoing through the cavernous hallway louder than they should have, making it sound as though an entire army were marching, making the two grunts believe, for a moment, that it was a pair of demons that came straight at them.

The two men cowered, and in an instantaneous, wordless exchange, Maylene agreed to take care of them while Lucario did the same with the Pokeballs still streaking through the air. Those two were not the usual Team Galactic folk, after all. They weren't the young, scared teens she'd seen before, but older, burly looking men with beards and lines over their faces. Most likely, they'd been recruited after their escape from Stark Prison.

And that meant Maylene had no need to hold back.

Lucario jumped, and she kept running forward. In the back of her mind, she was amazed that the Pokeballs hadn't fallen yet. How long had it been? In her mind it had felt like an entire minute, but in reality it'd been less than a few heartbeats. She could see through the corner of her eyes as Lucario grabbed the two balls in mid-air, pressing tightly against them so they wouldn't open. Now it was her turn.

"Hyah!"

The man in front, the oldest, swiped at her with a meaty hand in a vain attempt to stop her, but Maylene was too fast. His arm passed over her left shoulder as she spun on the ball of her feet, the momentum from her previous run transferring onto her elbow as she slammed it against his stomach, digging in deep. There was a choked gasp, followed by all the air in his lungs leaving through his mouth in a pained splutter.

"Y-you–!"

As the first grunt wobbled back and fell on one knee, the other moved his hand toward his hip. Maylene reacted as though pushed by a spring. She didn't count with the previous momentum anymore, but she didn't need it. As soon as he noticed her approach, the man gave up on retrieving another Pokeball and instead lunged at her with both hands, intending to grab her shoulders.

It was only a second. Maylene shrunk herself and extended her hands forward, slipping in between the man's and pushing them away so they would miss her. Her fingers then closed tightly around his forearm, and she jumped.

"Hghk!"

A grunt left the man's lips as Maylene's feet pressed against his chest. But it wasn't a kick. Using his own weight against him, all she had to do was push against the right places slightly and he flew over her and onto the ground with ease, landing on his face.

They coughed and spluttered, hurrying to stand up again, but just then a blue blur passed in between them. There was the deaf sound of something impacting against their bodies, and they fell again, Lucario now standing behind them. They were still conscious, but they would most likely be unable to get up for the next few minutes.

He and Maylene exchanged a quick look and a nod.

"Let's go."

They took off again, leaving the grunts behind. How long had that been? Maylene wracked her brain trying to translate what she'd experienced into actual seconds. It couldn't have been more than twenty. But that was still more than enough time for Cyrus and his men to make good distance between them. Even with the echoes she could feel of Lucario's enhanced hearing, they could barely hear their footsteps in the distance. In fact, there was… another, louder sound. The rush of wind.

Her eyes went wide. Yes, she could feel the barest hints of wind filtering through, and the walls around them seemed to be getting clearer as they went. They were close to the exit, close to the mountain's peak. If that was true, then Spear Pillar…

"Rhagh!"

Lucario pointed it out a second before she saw it for herself. There, mere seconds away… for a moment she thought it was the flash of a Pokeball opening and her breath seized, but no, it lasted too long for that. It was light; natural light. It pressed against the exit of the cave like water filtering through the opening on a dam, flooding her sight completely, her eyes unable to adjust for a few seconds.

There was a feeling of relief, a release of tension in her muscles as she took the first step outside, sunlight hitting her face for the first time in more than a week. It was an odd sensation, the warmth of the sun combined with the harsh, unforgiving wind of the blizzard raging through the mountain range. But that didn't bother Maylene. She was used to the cold; she'd traveled to Snowpoint plenty of times by herself.

What floored her was, instead, what she saw once her eyes finally adjusted. A beautiful golden land, standing proud above the clouds.

A wall of jagged spires of rock rose in the distance, covered almost entirely in a thick mantle of snow, the setting sun casting a divine golden glow on its usual white. Its light framed the rest of the peaks in front of it, making it look like a row of crowns, like golden spears rising up from the heavens. Had Maylene's body not been moving on its own, she might've stopped due to the sheer radiance of the sight before her.

But then she saw figures, people, not too far off in the distance, and she came back to reality. To her mission.

"There!" she yelled.

Cyrus and his men were almost at the edge of the snowy valley amidst the ring of peaks of the mountain's range, heading for a small opening in between two of the smaller mountains. Maylene narrowed her eyes. That path… it lead straight to the base of the last and tallest peak. She could see it, barely a couple hundred feet up from said base; pillars shooting up from a platform of golden rock, gleaming powerfully as the last of the sun's light fell upon it.

Spear Pillar. It was so close, less than twenty minutes away running. Maylene clenched her teeth and looked to her right and left as she ran; there, all around, the curtain of toxic smoke continued to rise around all of Mt. Coronet. Reiko hadn't stopped Charon yet. No reinforcements would arrive until she did. If Maylene didn't do something, if she didn't stop Cyrus right here…

She looked up toward the people in the distance, and again time seemed to crawl. Not counting Cyrus and Jupiter, there were about eight other people, and three Pokemon. Three of the grunts were each carrying something small… a glass vat? Inside, ethereal looking creatures floated peacefully, their eyes closed. The lake siblings. And there, behind the… she saw them. Two machines as tall as a person being carried by a couple of Machamp and Kadabra. The first looked like a big, bulbous antenna; the Pokeball jammer. The second…

Something caught in Maylene's throat. A human-sized glass vat, filled to the brim with a transparent, glowing yellow liquid. Something was being pumped into it from a small, circular generator next to it; most likely what made the liquid glow.

Rowan's… Grandfather's research…

Evolutionary energy. That had to be it, which meant that the human-like black silhouette she saw on the inside of the vat… the wriggling, unnatural shape being pumped full of that energy… it was Mew's clone.

Suddenly, Maylene could very much feel the cold around her, seeping into her clothes and deeper, bleeding into her bones. In that fractured, crawling moment of time, she suddenly saw him too. Rowan, being pulled forward by one of Cyrus' men, hands cuffed behind his back. He was there. He was alive. He was…

Bound. His grandfather… bound.

Time returned to normal, and the words left Maylene's mouth before she could stop them.

"LET GO OF HIM!"

The gale seemed to carry her scream from behind her, slamming it against Cyrus and his men, freezing them in place. All heads turned her way. She could feel the shock in the air, but most of all she felt the eyes of her grandfather, the weight of his gaze on her. Even from this distance, she saw equal part relief and fear tint his expression.

Cyrus was the first to react, instinctively taking a step back behind his people. He threw his hand forward and yelled.

"A Gym leader… Jupiter, leave your Pokemon and your men behind to stop her!" he ordered. "All of you; do not let her through, no matter what!"

Jupiter yelled something back in affirmation, but Maylene didn't hear it. At the same time, both her and Lucario picked up speed, darting forward like demons on a battlefield, a roar of pure ferocity booming from their mouths outwards, exploding like a storm and slamming against their opponents. They could see the fear, the hesitation in their eyes. It was time to make that fear a reality.

The woman named Jupiter and four of the grunts stayed behind, while Cyrus and the rest –including the machines– kept going, disappearing through the path between the mountains. They were close now. Close enough that Maylene could see their foes' faces in detail, close enough that she noticed Rowan being left behind as well, held close to Jupiter.

Realization burst into Maylene's head. They were planning to use him as a hostage against her. Rage exploded from her stomach, filling her entire body, and Lucario responded in kind, eyes gleaming with hostility.

A multitude of flashes dotted the sky as Pokeballs were opened, and soon the two of them were met with six more opponents. Three Golbat, a Koffing, a Skuntank and a Pokemon Maylene had only seen once, on T.V. A Tangrowth. And out of the humans behind them, both Jupiter –who'd turned around and was now running away to join Cyrus– and the man holding onto Rowan were no threat, which meant only the three other grunts would be trouble.

Nine opponents in total. Maylene forced herself to smile, forced that fire inside her to keep burning, even against the cold fear griping at her edges.

The grunt holding her grandfather opened her mouth to speak.

"Stop right there, or we'll kill Row–!"

There was a blur of movement as Maylene grabbed something from her pocket, and then a silver gleam flew through the air with the speed of an arrow. The grunt gasped and stepped back, the small knife missing his face by inches, shutting him up.

Simultaneously, both Maylene and Lucario grabbed their weapons, a pair of wooden bokken and a staff of blue-ish light. They were close now. Only moments from their opponents. They couldn't give them the chance to threaten them; they had to attack as fast and as ruthlessly as possible.

"HHYAAAH!"

Orders were yelled out. Two of the Golbat shot straight for them, wings cutting through the air, glowing with a white energy. The rest tried to follow but weren't quite as fast. Lowering to his knees, Lucario easily jumped more than ten feet to meet their advance, snow exploding off his jump. He wound back his staff and saw as the Golbat tried to change their flight trajectory in order to dodge, but he did not give them the chance. He positioned the staff in a straight line and thrust it like a spear, hitting the first one in between the eyes. The second left his vision, but he could hear it. Feel it. A whistle in the air behind him, a hint of life. But the momentum of his jump had run out; he was beginning to fall.

He twist his body around mid-air to meet the Golbat, but just then heard a sound behind him, that of something thin cutting through the air. Tangrowth's vines. For a moment, he worried. But then he felt Maylene through his aura, felt her intention, her advance, and he worried no more.

"Rhhyaah!"

Below, Maylene heard a deaf thump as Lucario knocked the second Golbat out of the air. She darted forward like an arrow, dodging past the third Golbat and jumping toward the Tangrowth in the back, bokken raised over her head. The bulbous Pokemon was too busy trying to grab Lucario with his vines. He only noticed Maylene when she was already in the air, inches from his face, and by then it was too late.

"Brbrbrrtah!"

Tangrowth made an odd, regurgitating hum as Maylene hit it in between the eyes with both of her bokken, stunning him and forcing him to stumble back a few feet. She landed, and immediately moved again. There was no pause, no moment to breathe. Behind the Tangrowth to the right, the levitating Koffing had started inhaling deep, cheeks puffing, ready to release a cloud of toxic smoke toward them.

Not so fast.

She ran to the right around the Tangrowth, past it, while tossing the bokken in her right hand to her left and digging into her pocket, all in the span of a second. Another whistle through the air, another silver gleam. This time, there was no one to cover for the Koffing, and the small knife dug a couple inches into his forehead, more easily than she would've expected. She'd always thought that the outside of those Pokemon was hard, but that was clearly not the case.

Koffing let out a truly horrifying sound, half choke and half scream, also muddled by the clouds of poisonous smoke he began spitting all around him, not at Maylene and Lucario, but the grunts all around them, who still hadn't found the courage to step forward and fight. One of them, the tallest man, got caught in the smog and started coughing uncontrollably, knife slipping from his fingers. The other two stepped back fast and panicked, which gave Maylene the opening she n–

"Golbat!" a voice rang out.

Maylene heard a whistle behind her. Shit; the one Golbat Lucario hadn't taken out yet. She was already running toward the grunt holding Rowan, her body leaning forward, full of momentum; she couldn't turn around easily. But she could feel it behind her, getting closer. Could hear the streak of its wings through the air, the sharpness of its fangs ready to dig into her skin. She didn't want to turn around and give them even a second to breathe, to make threats and demands, but she had no ch–

Then, a familiar sound. A deep, pulsing swirling, like that of a cyclone trapped into a small, circular space. The glow followed soon after, bathing her back. And by the time the attack was fired and she heard it flying through the air, she smiled. Lucario's Aura Sphere. Maylene didn't even need to turn around to confirm that the explosion, the impact she heard just then had meant the Golbat's defeat. She saw the creature being expelled through the air at incredible speeds, becoming only a dark blur as it vanished into the raging blizzard.

Now only that Skuntank stood between her and Rowan.

"Lucario!" she roared, drawing her two bokken once more. "I'm leaving the others to you!"

"Rhyaah!"

The burly man holding Rowan in place seemed to cower at the mask of fury upon Maylene's face. He threw his hand forward and bumbled out an order.

"S-stop her! Flamethrower!"

The Skuntank inhaled deeply, and then all Maylene could see was red. A pillar of swirling flames ate through the blizzard straight at her. But she was already close, too close for a long-range attack like that to be truly effective, and as she used the momentum of her run to throw herself to the left of the attack, all she felt was a small burn on her right shoulder and the back of her foot as the flames passed over her. The pain was sharp, but it fueled her. Adrenaline flooded her body like fire, as though she were absorbing the heat of her opponent's attack, making it her own.

In that short moment before she landed, she heard a familiar voice in her head, its tone reproachful.

'Don't ever let your feet leave the ground,' her mother's words echoed. 'This is a fight, not an acrobatics display. The moment you fall, you'll become vulnerable.'

Maylene landed on the singed shoulder and rolled over, jumping up from her crouch with bokken held tightly in hand. She felt something sour in her stomach. Her mother's words bit at her heels like the frigid wind, threatening to disrupt her rhythm. She couldn't allow that. She now stood mere inches from the Skuntank, the last of its flames licking at its whiskers, its body lowering into a crouch, readying to jump at her. If she could dodge this and jump over it, she would reach Rowan. His captor had taken another step back. His hand went down, entering his pocket, and Maylene knew whatever he was searching for would mean trouble for her.

Skuntank pounced, its maw wide open, its claws wound back. Maylene fell into a crouch, and in that infinitesimal moment she was forced to guess; was this a bite or a slash? The moment she saw the dark energy start to coat the beast's claws, she had her answer. With a powerful stomp she threw herself forward, dashing under the slashing paw, the bokken on her right hand raised high over her head. A hit to the eyes would be the best–

There was a sharp whistle in the air. Amidst her deep concentration and the roar of the blizzard, she hadn't noticed it until it was too late. She felt a presence behind her, and then sharp fangs dug into her right arm, near the shoulder.

"Kh-argh!"

Golbat! Shit!

The bokken fell from her hand. The burst of pain made her lose her focus, and time started to run quickly again, at the worst possible time. Golbat stuck to her arm, fangs digging deep. Skuntank crashed against her, and all three of them started to fall toward the ground.

No, no! thought Maylene, desperate. I…

'Whatever you do, never let someone pin you down'. Her mother's words echoed in her head again. 'It is practically the worst position you could find yourself in during a fight'.

Heart beating more with fear and panic than blood, Maylene's body moved on its own, sharply, uncoordinated. Yet it was that desperate speed that saved her. Turning quickly to the side, Maylene raised her shoulder and stuck the Golbat inside Skuntank's mouth as it closed, all while extending her other arm down, touching the ground and giving her a pivot point.

"Hghyah!"

Using the strength of her left arm, she threw herself to the side with enough force to dislodge the Golbat from her arm and avoid letting both Pokemon fall on her. In the singular moment of clarity as she fell to her knees beside them, she was sure that had she attempted the same maneuver another hundred times, she would've failed every one.

Her next heartbeat came with a surge of clarity. She felt Lucario behind her, fighting Tangrowth and clearly winning, if the sound of rapid punching was any indication. She heard Skuntank and Golbat hit the ground like sacks of potatoes, and she felt the change in the wind behind her as the other grunts finally stepped forward, rushing toward her.

And she felt that chilling numbness, slowly replacing pain in her right arm. Poison. A chill ran down her spine. Golbat bites weren't particularly deadly –they usually focused on draining their victim's blood instead of poisoning them– but they did have a strong numbing an anti-coagulating effect, which meant she'd soon be unable to move her right arm at all, and it would continue to bleed until it was treated.

Maylene set her eyes forward, and moved. It was alright. There were about ten other time limits to this fight more pressing than bleeding to death.

The grunt holding her grandfather finally took the gun from its holster and raised it toward her.

Too slow.

She swiped at the air with the bokken in her left hand, and the gun went flying out of his hand.

"Y-you–!"

Maylene didn't get to listen to whatever insult the man had prepared, because an instant later she slammed against him with her left shoulder, sending him flying a couple feet before he fell on his ass.

Her feet skid across the snow a few inches as she stopped her momentum and turned around, eyes trying to take in everything at once. Skuntank had risen to its feet, and the two remaining grunts were about two seconds from reaching her

Maylene froze for an instant, fear and hesitation clouding her thoughts. Again, as if on cue, her mother's voice reached her, freezing her in place.

'Hesitation will lose you more fights than lack of skill ever will. Don't ever, ever stop to think; simply let your body decide for you.'

And her body did move on its own, but her mind had stayed behind, unsure. Skuntank, having risen to his feet, jumped toward her again, only this time Maylene wasn't ready, didn't have a plan to dodge or fight back or… or…

Do something! Her mind screamed at her. Don't hesitate! Don't…!

As she saw the beast falling upon her, a dark and bitter part of Maylene cursed at her own mother, at her constant derisiveness, her inability to approve of her daughter's progress. Even in death, the woman couldn't leave her alone.

Maylene raised her right hand in vain to at least try and block the oncoming bite, but there was no need to.

She could barely see it; a swirling ball of light which appeared in front of her vision for a fraction of a second before slamming against the large beast with the force of a cannonball. A shockwave of light and force exploded from the point of impact. The body went flying, falling completely limp upon the ground, and the two men behind it stopped gunning for Maylene and turned toward the source of the attack, eyes wide.

And that is the last thing they did. A blur zipped through the snow in front of Maylene, like a zig-zagging bolt of blue thunder. Three impacts reverberated through the air in quick succession, followed by choked grunts of pain. All the grunts –including the one Maylene had knocked on his ass– fell to the ground, all strength gone from them, Lucario standing amidst them, fists glowing with energy.

There was a moment of relative silence, a single second which Maylene took to breathe and process what had just happened. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Tangrowth's unconscious body, and realized that there were no more enemies around them that were still in any position to fight back. She glanced back at Lucario. He didn't look too bad, although she could feel the exhaustion in his bones as though it were her own, and she noticed more than a few vine burns across his arms and legs.

She didn't need to ask, and neither did he. They could keep going.

"M-Maylene… you're…"

She turned around sharply, her eyes meeting Rowan's. Her lips immediately pursed into a thin line.

"Lucario, his cuffs."

It was the work of an instant. Lucario stepped behind the man and, with a simple tug, the handcuffs fell in pieces to the ground. Rowan barely had time to grab his pained wrists before he noticed the two of them turn north, ready to continue.

"Wait!" His deep voice echoed through the wind. "Maylene, your arm… we have to–!"

Maylene frowned. "Do you really think we have time for that!?" she bellowed, anger and exhaustion venting through her voice. "You of all people should know…!"

But she didn't need to finish the sentence. Neither of them had to say anything more. As they stared into each other's eyes for a short moment that felt like several seconds, the same memory, the same familiar words came to both of them. She was sure of it.

'The weight of a life, the weight of a purpose…' It was the weakest her mother's voice had ever sounded. Right at the very end, even that part of her body had betrayed her. 'I never… could…'

The same image flashed across their eyes. They'd both been there for her during her final moments. A daughter. A mother. A light snuffed out more by regret than pain, one that would never come back.

"No hesitation," was all Maylene said.

And Rowan nodded in response. "Lucario and I will watch your back."

And they were off. Leaving behind their weakened enemies, they darted straight through the end of the valley and into the narrow path that was its exit, the sound of their hurried steps somehow echoing over the roar of the blizzard. Darkness fell on them as they passed between the two peaks, which only made the light of the sun bathing Mt. Coronet's back in the distance more blinding.

Despite her previous protests, Maylene heeded Rowan's concern and, while still running, ripped out a thick ribbon of cloth from her jacket and quickly tied it around her now completely numb left arm, covering up the nasty bite. It wouldn't stop the bleeding indefinitely, but it was something. Cyrus and the remaining grunts had a small lead on them, but they couldn't move quite as fast due to the equipment they were carrying, so it wouldn't be long before they caught up to them.

Maylene glanced to the side, and frowned. Not that she was going to complain, but seeing Rowan keeping up with their running despite being forty years older and having given up training so long ago… it was more than a little annoying.

And as soon as she thought that, her own body reminded her of how badly it was doing. Maylene could feel the light-headedness, the burning in her lungs, the hints of a pounding headache behind her eyes. She could feel the same in Lucario through their bond. It was this damned altitude; she'd heard from Candice a while ago that there was less than half of the oxygen in the peak of Mt. Coronet that there was in the surface, and she was definitely starting to feel it.

Candice…

That single thought was almost enough to trip her up. For a moment she could see her face, remember the feel of her touch, the sound of her laughter. For a moment, a cold, sharp fear almost seized her.

Maylene bit her lip strongly and shook the thought away, forcing herself to focus.

No regrets, she told herself. No hesitation!

"There!" bellowed Rowan.

Maylene saw them. As they left the shadow of the peaks behind them and the last of the sun's light shone on them again, she saw Cyrus and Jupiter in the distance, halfway between them and the base of the last peak. She saw them and the grunts around them, the three vats containing the lake siblings, the Pokeball jammer, and…

There, past all of them, the vat containing Mewtwo's clone shone powerfully, a brilliant white light bathing everything else around it. The silhouette inside was barely a shadow, but she could tell it was bigger. More substantial.

She grit her teeth, eyes burning with determination, and suddenly the exhaustion left her body as a second wave of adrenaline washed over her. As she opened her mouth to scream, Cyrus finally noticed them. He stopped in place and looked over his shoulder, his men and his Pokemon following a moment after.

"Lucario!" she yelled out, voice like a storm. "Aura Sphere!"

Snow exploded around Lucario's feet as he lunged high into the air, swirling, pulsing energy coalescing atop his paws in the form of balls of energy. At the peak of his jump, he let out a piercing roar and threw them down toward the vat, still far away. They covered the distance in a flash, barely more than it'd take a person to blink. Only Cyrus was quick enough to react.

"Kadabra!"

The psychic Pokemon jumped in front of the vat with spoon extended forward, but the barrier he materialized could barely stop the first ball of energy in its tracks. As it shattered into pieces, the second broke through and slammed against his chest, sending him crashing against the machine only to crumple onto the ground a second after.

Maylene and Rowan noticed it at the same time. As Lucario landed a few feet in front of them, a pair of red objects flew up in the air above Cyrus, round and shiny. The Pokeballs opened to a flash of light, and the man wasted no time in yelling his orders.

"Night Slash! Cross Poison!"

They were like lighting. Black and purple blurs which zipped through the air so fast that Maylene's brain barely recognized them as a Honchkrow and a Crobat before both of them fell upon Lucario.

"Rhygah!"

Still off-balance from his jump, he could only defend as both flying Pokemon slammed against him, sending him tumbling back a few inches even if they did little damage. Lucario raised his paw to strike at one of them, but they were already gone, the incredibly rapid beats of their wings cutting through even the force of the wind from the blizzard. The two Pokemon vaulted over Lucario and targeted his back, but he quickly turned around and materialized his aura staff between his paws, blocking the strike and sending his opponents back for a short moment.

As Rowan and Maylene passed by him, the Honchkrow and Crobat attempted to fall upon them, but Lucario did not allow it. He jumped in between them and spun his staff rapidly like a fan, deflecting the attack and serving as a shield for his trainer.

"Rhaw!" the Pokemon bellowed out.

Maylene didn't need a translator to understand what he'd said. 'Go on. I'll cover you'. She and Rowan exchanged a quick glance and kept running, the distance between them and Cyrus now short enough that they could see his face, the small hint of something almost like concern breaking through his expressionless face. Next to him, Jupiter gasped and jumped back, digging into the holster of her belt with her hand. Cyrus opened his mouth.

"Machoke!"

One of the two remaining Machoke made way through the humans around him and shot straight for them, while the other stayed behind to guard the vat. It was fast. It covered the distance toward them in a second, but that did not frighten nor surprise Maylene. She'd trained with her own Machoke more times than she could count. She knew the extent of their capabilities.

Yet as she raised her left arm to intercept him, something got in her way. With a yell that almost sounded like an Ursaring's roar, Rowan threw himself between her and the Machoke, catching his fists into his own hands, somehow, impossibly, stopping the mass of muscles in place. The Machoke's eyes went wide. He'd clearly not expected that, the notion of a human's strength meeting his own confusing enough that he froze for a moment.

And that was all the time Rowan needed. Moving faster than a man of his size and age should be capable of, he spun on the ball of his feet and twisted one of Machoke's arms behind his back with his left arm, while trapping the Pokemon in a tight choke with his right.

"Go!" he yelled.

But Maylene had never stopped. She darted forward like an arrow, her body moving like this was the last time it would ever do so. Every ounce of strength and focus and adrenaline was just enough to shield her against the hellish burning in her lungs, the black at the edge of her vision, the blood flying in ribbons behind her limp right arm. She was so close, the light emanating from the vat was all she could see. Through the corner of her eyes she barely noticed as the other Machoke stepped forward, as Jupiter finally pulled the object she was searching for out of the holster in her hip.

"S-stay back!" Jupiter yelled.

A gun. As Jupiter raised it toward her, Maylene thought that she should've figured that was it. She didn't quite have the energy to smile or laugh, but she did anyway. Just as the woman's finger hovered over the trigger, the second Machoke jumped in between the two of them, lunging at Maylene's torso.

"Out of my way!"

Her scream hit Machoke like a punch to the face, its strength and ferocity stunning him for only a fraction of a second. Maylene didn't waste that time. Her body moved by pure survival instinct, falling into a crouch and jumping high into the air as she threw herself back, raising her legs. There was very little chance that this would work. Out of all the times she'd tried it on her own Machoke, only about five percent of them had been successful.

She just had to pray that this was a day for lucky shots.

"HYAAAAH!"

As she flew slightly above the Machoke's arms, her thighs closed around his neck tight like a vice, a triangle choke turning into a throw as she screamed at the top of her lungs and worked her body like a master swordsman would work its blade, turning all his strength and momentum against him and sending him flying face-first to the ground, his pained grunt muffled by the snow that got into his mouth.

Maylene hit the ground, falling into a crouch before darting forward, reckless, exhausted, yet somehow full of an energy that surged into her like a candle's last burst before it goes out. She was mere feet away from Jupiter and Cyrus, so close that she could see the shock and fear in her eyes. The desperation, like a wild Pokemon being cornered. She acted the part, stumbling back, her back crashing against Cyrus' chest, her arms shooting up and forward, the gun shaking in her hands.

"Stay the fuck back!" Jupiter bellowed. "Stay–!"

Time slowed to a crawl again. As she stared down the barrel of the gun, Maylene realized that this was a coin toss. With her speed, the shaking of Jupiter's hands and the raging blizzard swirling around them, there was no way to predict where she would shoot. There was no time to think, so she didn't.

Maylene took the bet, veering slightly to the right as she threw her remaining bokken through the air. The sound of two gunshots boomed through the air. Then a deaf thump, and two simultaneous grunts of pain which were lost amidst the roar of the blizzard. The gun flew from Jupiter's hand at the bokken's impact, making it a perfect opportunity for Maylene to strike.

But she didn't. The sudden pain, the force of the impact like hammers upon her body froze her momentum in place, even sending her stumbling back a step, left foot raised slightly while the right was beginning to slip on the snow. It was numbing at first, like the feeling of being punched. But then the pain burst sharply like veins growing from a heart, burning, sizzling. In that stretched moment of time, two realizations came to her. The first bullet was the most painful, lodged somewhere in her left collarbone, shrapnel biting into it like Carvanha's teeth. The second bullet hurt much less, as it had come out clean the other side.

Through the left side of her neck.

Panic seized her, swallowing all the adrenaline, all the energy that had kept her going up until now, leaving behind only pain and exhaustion. Was the shot fatal? How could she know? Time was passing slowly, so slowly that she feared she might start to see her own life flash before her eyes.

The only reason she knew time hadn't frozen entirely was because of Lucario. She'd been so focused on getting to the machine, but now she could feel it crystal clear. As her own panic seized her, it reached Lucario too, and he mirrored it back to her tenfold. She didn't need to see to know he'd just turned to look at her, eyes wide. If their bond hadn't done the trick, then the sound of the gunshots had definitely alerted him to what had happened.

Another second passed. Maylene tumbled back another step. Her next heartbeat came wrong, muffled, pained, and suddenly the sound of Rowan and Lucario's screams sounded as though on the other side of a long, narrow tunnel. Even in that state, she realized what was happening. She was going into shock.

No, I don't… Her own voice sounded weak in her head. I don't want to…

In that moment, Maylene hoped against all reason, against all her previous failures, that she'd somehow now awaken her family's dormant abilities, the power that had been lost to them for hundreds of years, power that might just save her life, might just give her the boost she needed to stop her fall, to take another step forward. To complete her mission.

It was stupid and childish, and that is precisely why it didn't happen.

Lucky for her that another miracle occurred instead.

"S-sir! What is…?"

"What!?"

The muffled voices came into focus. The first belonged to one of the grunts carrying a lake sibling, and the second had been Jupiter.

Maylene gave one last push, used the last of her strength to stomp her left foot behind her, stopping her fall. Blood and sweat rushed down her body, tainting the snow below a dark red. She leaned slightly forward, struggling to open her eyes. And what she saw, while not expected, gave her the burst of hope she'd prayed for.

It was gone. The black ring around Mt. Coronet, the curtain of smoke that had swallowed its tallest peak for so long was starting to vanish. The last of the smoke rose around them, thinning, diffusing into the air by the harsh winds.

It was hard, but somehow Maylene forced her lips to curve up. Reiko had done it. She'd somehow stopped Heatran.

Cyrus' voice rang. "Charon… Charon must have…"

"Shit!" Jupiter screamed. "They're coming, they're gonna–!"

But Maylene wasn't gonna be polite and give her enough time to finish her sentence. She took a step forward, then another. Slow at first, she picked up speed with the third step, and by the fifth she was already running, sprinting as fast as physically possible, one last surge of strength rushing through her body, even as blood streaked behind her in ribbons, even as the wound in her neck was still there, threatening to plunge her into unconsciousness.

But she did not let it, and Jupiter only noticed her when it was too late. Pressing her left arm tight against herself, Maylene turned to the side and slammed against the woman, sending her crashing against Cyrus. Both of them fell to the ground, Jupiter managing at least to stop somewhat by holding herself up with her hands.

Just the step stool Maylene needed.

Cyrus shouted something. The grunts tried to react, tried to move and do something but it was already too late. Maylene rushed forward for only a few steps before hopping with one foot atop Jupiter's back; she felt it start to give in from under her, but she only needed it for a moment. Falling into a slight crush, Maylene used all her strength and leaped high into the air, the wind itself pushing her forward, becoming her wings.

Maylene looked down, and saw the incredulous looks on the grunt's faces as she flew over them, straight toward her objective. It was there, finally, within reach. Suddenly, she couldn't see anything else. The light emanating from that vat was overpowering, so bright and potent that it was as though it wanted to swallow everything around it. It burned itself into Maylene's retinas so strongly that it would have surely blinded her, were it not for the dark silhouette in its center.

Her eyes fell upon it as she started to fall. Even amidst the blinding light, she could tell its shape. Tall and humanoid, yet horribly misshapen in a way she couldn't have put into words even if she had the time to. A monstrosity. A life devoid of life.

Maylene raised her left fist, curled so tight she couldn't even feel it, and let out a horribly sharp scream as she brought it down upon the vat with every ounce of strength still left in her.

The sound of the glass shattering echoed louder than anything Maylene had ever heard.