Somewhere Else far from Ravios
The room was lit by gentle candlelight. Velvet curtains framed tall stained-glass windows that cast shifting colors across the polished marble floor.
The walls were filled with ancient scripture etched in runes long lost to history.
And in the center of the room sat a man in white.
His hood was pulled back, revealing silver-blonde hair falling around a face that was handsome once, but hardened by time and loss. Eyes like hollow stars. Calm. Patient.
At his side stood a small child a girl no older than eight. She held a crude drawing in her small hands: a family of three under a pink-blossomed tree, smiling.
The man took the picture gently, as though it were made of glass.
"This is beautiful," he whispered.
The girl beamed, blinking eyes too wide. Too glassy.
"You even drew yourself holding my hand," he said softly. "That makes me very happy."
"I want us to always be together," the girl replied, her voice oddly musical.
The Apostle smiled gently, hollowly.
"And we will, little one."
He stood slowly, tucking the drawing into his cloak.
"Soon, they'll understand. Soon… the gods will fall, and the beasts will rise."
He looked out the window, where clouds roiled unnaturally in the distance.
----
"You've got to be kidding me…" Ren muttered, blood running down his temple, legs aching.
Lucario stood beside him, panting heavily. Its stance was still strong, but its fur was battered and dust clung to every inch of its body.
And still Tyranitar stood.
The corrupted beast's body steamed from the earlier Aura Sphere, but its crimson eyes hadn't dulled. If anything, they burned brighter, and the pulsing purple veins had grown thicker, stretching like webs of infection across its throat and shoulders.
Then
A crackling ball of Focus Blast slammed into its side.
Tyranitar stumbled a step not injured, but disrupted.
Ren's eyes widened as he turned.
"Mila?!"
She was running down the broken alleyway, her pink hair catching the sunlight. Gardevoir floated beside her, eyes glowing with psychic light.
She skidded to a stop beside Ren, panting.
"Couldn't let you hog all the heroism, could I?"
Ren's eyes narrowed. "That thing isn't normal. It's corrupted."
Mila looked up at the hulking monster as its head turned toward them. For a moment, it just stared.
Then it roared, and the sky seemed to shudder.
Mila's expression turned grim. "Crimson eyes… this is just like the rumors."
Ren nodded. "Worse."
The beast reared back, energy charging in its mouth.
"HyperBeam."
"Mila, move!"
Too late.
A deafening beam of orange-gold energy tore across the battlefield, headed straight for them.
"Gardevoir, Protect!" Mila shouted.
A shimmering shield formed in front of them just as the Hyper Beam struck.
The impact was cataclysmic.
Dust and wind blasted outward in a shockwave. The shield held for a heartbeat then another until it cracked, like shattering glass.
"Hold it just a little longer!" Mila cried.
But it was too much.
The Protectshattered, and the beam burst through.
"Mila!" Ren shouted, lunging.
The remnants of the blast struck Mila and Gardevoir full force. They were flung back across the stone, crashing into a nearby wall.
Ren turned mid-lunge and caught Mila before she hit the ground. He skidded to his knees, his arms around her.
She gasped, trembling.
Gardevoir collapsed beside them, eyes flickering with dim light.
"Mila!"
She groaned, clutching her shoulder. "I'm okay… more or less."
Lucario stood in front of them now, protecting both.
The smoke cleared once more.
Tyranitar stood, still not slowing down.
Ren looked at Mila. Dirt covered her cheek. Her lips were cut. She winced but nodded when he asked if she could stand.
"We can't fight that thing," she whispered.
He didn't want to admit it.
But it was true.
Even with Lucario, even together they were barely holding the line.
Then another rumble.
Tyranitar roared, raising its massive tail again.
Stone Edge.
More devastation was coming.
Ren set Mila down gently and stood, blood dripping from his brow.
"Lucario," he said softly.
Lucario looked at him.
Their eyes locked.
Ren exhaled and felt the aura spark again inside his chest.
"We can't lose."
Lucario clenched its fists, aura sensors lifting.
They would stand. Until the very end.
The ground was cracking beneath their feet.
Tyranitar loomed, its monstrous frame silhouetted against the smoke-choked sky. Crimson eyes glowed like molten glass, and the unnatural veins that pulsed across its body writhed with alien energy.
Ren stood tall, shielding Mila behind him.
Lucario planted its feet and narrowed its stance, fists clenched. Its aura sensors trembled in anticipation. Exhausted, bruised but unyielding.
"Ready yourself," Ren whispered.
Tyranitar lifted its tail high.
Another Stone Edge was coming.
The air warped.
Then
The world bent with a flash of psychic light.
A gleam of silver.
A streak of white.
And Tyranitar's tail never hit the ground.
In an instant, something sliced through the monster's attack before it even began. A shadow danced across the broken plaza. Boots landed in shattered stone. A gust of wind followed.
Ren blinked.
Someone stood in front of them now cloaked in white armor lined with navy and silver. A crimson scarf fluttered behind her like a battle standard. Her silver-white hair shimmered in the fading light, and a long scar ran from the side of her jaw to her neck.
She turned just enough for Ren to glimpse her eyes frosted steel and unwavering focus.
Commander Seris.
Captain of the 4th Ravelle Knight Division.
The White Saber of Gallanthorne.
Her voice was ice.
"Stand down, cadets."
A flicker of energy coalesced behind her as a figure teleported into place Gallade, tall and poised, its arms already drawn into gleaming blades.
No words were exchanged.
The monster roared.
Gallade launched forward with inhuman speed.
The corrupted Tyranitar lunged to meet it but Gallade was already above.
"Sacred Sword." Seris commanded.
Gallade blade glowed with blue light.
Its blade-arm shimmered with ethereal energy as it sliced downward, cutting through Tyranitar's chest in a perfect arc. The beast reeled back, snarling, flailing.
Gallade didn't stop.
It vanished with a blink teleporting directly behind Tyranitar then struck again. And again.
Teleport. Strike. Teleport. Strike.
Like a specter made of silver and wind, Gallade became a flurry of blinding slashes and glowing speed.
Tyranitar's hide cracked. Its roar twisted into a howl of rage and then pain.
Then Gallade surged in front of it, stance low, blades glowing red-hot from friction and aura.
"Close Combat."
The final strike was a barrage of righteous fury. Gallade launched punch after punch, kick after kick, unleashing the full force of its psychic and fighting energy into the monster's weakened chest.
Cracks webbed across Tyranitar's core.
And finally with a tremble and a gurgling bellow it collapsed.
Dust rose in a choked cloud.
Gallade stood tall in the silence.
Breathing steady.
Battle complete.
---
Ren lowered his arm.
Lucario relaxed slightly, though its legs shook from fatigue.
Mila pushed herself upright, wincing as Gardevoir limped to her side. Her eyes widened as she stared at Seris, stunned.
The Commander didn't glance back.
"Medic teams are en route," she said coolly. "You both need to be examined. Your Pokémon as well."
Ren stepped forward. "Thank you. That Tyranitar was..."
"Not natural," Seris finished, her voice sharp. "I've seen three more this week alone. All corrupted. All with those crimson eyes."
She narrowed her gaze, almost like she was speaking more to herself.
"The source is still unknown. But it's escalating."
She looked toward Lucario.
"And you…" she added, quieter. "You've trained that one well. Very few Lucario can synchronize aura attacks with their Trainer."
Ren froze.
But Seris didn't press the matter.
Instead, she turned to Gallade.
"Clean perimeter. Then regroup."
Gallade nodded and teleported away.
Seris followed disappearing into the crowd with the same quiet speed she arrived with.
---
Far above the city on the spire of a half-crumbled watchtower stood a lone figure.
Wrapped in white robes, with a silver mask etched with swirling lines.
From behind the mask, two cold eyes watched the battlefield where Tyranitar had fallen.
"They brought out Seris… So soon."
His voice was amused.
An Alakazam stood beside him, eyes glowing.
The man looked down once more. At the civilians. The injured. The city.
At Ren.
"A shame," he whispered. "They're adapting faster than expected."
The Alakazam raised a hand.
They vanished in a ripple of psychic light.