When Diantha and Cynthia arrived, both women froze.
The world before them looked as though it had been drained dry.
The land was barren, cracked earth stretching in every direction, as if all color and warmth had been stripped away.
A withering chill clung to the air, mixed with an eerie shade of dark red that shimmered like a dying ember.
It wasn't the red of fire or anger. It was the red of blood long dried… a sickly, unsettling glow that seemed to crawl across the ground like a spreading plague.
And at the center of it all, hovering, was Yveltal.
Black and crimson, the massive Legendary radiated an oppressive gloom.
Darkness, despair, and malice pulsed from its wings like a living fog.
Just being near it felt suffocating, as though the world itself were holding its breath.
"Che!!!!"
Yveltal's cry pierced the sky, sharp enough to rattle bones.
A destructive aura expanded outward, blanketing the heavens in a suffocating gloom.
The air trembled with raw malice.
Without warning, Yveltal released a dark red beam.
The blast shattered the earth, tearing through dead trees in wild, chaotic arcs.
Diantha felt her stomach twist.
"It's true…" she whispered, eyes wide.
"The legends say that anything struck by Yveltal's Oblivion Wing turns into a stone husk… rotten and lifeless."
Cynthia swallowed, her voice tight.
"Yeah. That's why Yveltal is called the God of Destruction."
While they spoke, Yveltal drifted through the air in erratic circles until its crimson gaze snapped toward them.
Even from three kilometers away, the Legendary spotted them instantly.
A cold shiver ran down Cynthia's spine. Diantha felt her knees weaken.
"Che!!!!!"
Yveltal's wings spread wide, glowing with a sinister crimson light.
Another blast formed, worse than the last, humming with deathly silence.
It fired.
A beam sliced through the air, screaming toward the pair riding on Cynthia's Garchomp.
"Garchomp! Move!" Cynthia shouted.
There was no way she'd let a life-stealing attack hit them, not even once.
"Roar!!!"
Garchomp surged forward like a jet, wings cutting through the wind as it twisted sharply away.
Even though Yveltal's strike was swift, the distance gave them just enough time to escape the blast zone.
The beam scorched the ground where they had been a heartbeat earlier.
As Garchomp pulled them farther back, a clear, melodic cry rang out.
A deer's call.
The sound washed over the dead land like a cool breeze.
Grass twitched. Leaves trembled.
A faint shimmer of life pushed back against the decay.
From within the withered forest, a Pokémon emerged, elegant, tall, and radiant.
A blue-black deer stepped forward, antlers branching like ancient trees.
Eight horn branches stretched outward, each adorned with brilliant multicolored lights that glowed like small suspended galaxies.
Colors shifted, left opposite right, moving in gentle waves.
Diantha gasped. "Xerneas! The God of Life!"
As Xerneas appeared, the oppressive darkness around them eased slightly.
Diantha pointed toward the Legendary, breath quickening.
"Just like the legends say… when Yveltal awakens and destruction spreads, Xerneas appears to stop it!"
Cynthia exhaled and gave Garchomp a light pat, signaling her to slow.
With Xerneas stepping in, Yveltal's attention should shift away from them, at least for the moment.
Another presence hurried up behind them.
Olympia arrived, her robes brushing the dead earth as she stopped beside them.
Her expression stayed calm, but her eyes were grave.
She stared at the two Legendary Pokémon now facing each other.
"I can feel it," Olympia murmured.
"Something has thrown life and death out of balance… Yveltal is far stronger than it should be. Its aura is unstable, wild."
With Xerneas stepping onto the battlefield, Yveltal's attention snapped away from Cynthia's group entirely.
"Che!!"
Its wings beat once, and a surge of corrupt energy rippled outward.
The sky dimmed as if a massive black curtain had been pulled across the sun.
Shadows thickened until even the air seemed stained with darkness.
Yveltal had activated its Dark Aura.
The oppressive energy intensified, twisting the battlefield.
Every dark-type move it used would hit far harder, like an invisible hand pushing the destruction even further.
"Che!!!"
Yveltal rose higher, wings unfurling.
Dark red light gathered between them, condensing into Yveltal's most feared move.
Oblivion Wing
A sickly crimson beam, thick with decay and death, shot forward with terrifying speed, its destructive power aimed straight at Xerneas.
"Yooo!!"
Xerneas's antlers glowed. Four luminous beams shimmered outward, filling the area with warm, vibrant color.
The Fairy Aura blossomed, bathing the battlefield in gentle light that pushed back against the creeping gloom.
At the same time, Xerneas called upon her signature ability,
Geomancy.
The earth pulsed beneath her hooves.
Energy flowed upward like a calm tide, filling her body and enhancing her strength.
Her attack, defense, and speed began to rise with each heartbeat.
She had fought Yveltal countless times in ages long past.
She knew its patterns, its aggression, its rhythm, its hunger to drain life.
Usually, she could gather the earth's energy at her own pace, then counterattack.
But today… Something was different.
The Oblivion Wing hurtling toward her was faster, sharper, and far more dangerous than she remembered, its energy twisted with a violent crimson she had never faced before.
There was no time to dodge.
"Yoo!!"
The beam crashed into her.
A pained cry echoed across the wasteland as Xerneas staggered backward.
Dark red energy dug into her body like claws, leaving a deep, corrupted wound that pulsed with withering force.
The decay didn't fade.
It clung to her, gnawing at her life like a parasite.
That single blow had hurt her badly.
And Yveltal wasn't finished.
"Che!!!"
The destruction in its aura surged again. Another Oblivion Wing formed instantly.
No pause. No breath. Only relentless death.
Xerneas barely managed to leap aside, hooves striking cracked ground.
She tried to stabilize her energy, to finish drawing strength from the earth, but there was no opening.
Yveltal fired again.
And again.
Each blast tore through the ground, leaving holes of dead soil in its wake.
Xerneas moved from one patch of earth to another, trying desperately to regain an advantage, but every time she tried to gather power, another crimson beam forced her back.
From the very start of their clash, she had been shoved into a corner.
Despite being the God of Life,
Xerneas was losing.
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