Yveltal beat its massive wings, scattering dark red feathers that crackled with destructive energy.
Wikstrom stood frozen, heartbroken and terrified, but Yveltal didn't show a shred of pity.
To the Legendary Pokémon that ruled over destruction, humans and Pokémon were the same, fragile lives waiting to be erased.
Wikstrom's trembling shout only made Yveltal tilt its head in annoyance, as if it were listening to an insect buzzing too close.
"Cheee!"
With another powerful flap, the air twisted.
Oblivion Wing screamed through the sky, cutting straight toward Wikstrom.
"Gardevoir, Teleport him! Hurry!" Diantha cried.
"Sana"
Gardevoir's eyes flashed, psychic energy unfurling like ribbons.
In a blink, Wikstrom vanished from the spot, reappearing several meters away, barely avoiding the beam of life-draining darkness that tore through where he had stood.
Diantha didn't breathe a sigh of relief.
There was no time.
"Everyone focus! If we don't stop Yveltal, the citizens of Lumiose City behind us, and their Pokémon, will end up just like that Scizor!"
Her voice rang out, sharp enough to cut through fear.
The gathered trainers snapped back into action, sending commands one after another.
Explosions erupted across the battlefield,
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Beams of water, fire, lightning, and psychic power streaked through the sky, converging on Yveltal.
For a moment, it was engulfed in smoke and burning energy.
But the Legendary didn't falter.
The Oblivion Wing, which it unleashed earlier, had already drained Scizor's life force.
Its wounds were knitting back together even as the attacks landed.
As long as it could keep absorbing… it would never stop fighting.
High above, Yveltal spread its wings again.
Dark energy pulsed, gathering quickly, too quickly.
This time, its gaze locked onto Diantha's Gardevoir.
Fairy-type moves could actually hurt it.
And Teleport had already saved too many lives.
Yveltal wasn't going to give it another chance.
Diantha's aide, standing beside Gardevoir, paled as the destructive aura intensified.
"Sana…?"
Gardevoir's voice trembled.
A flicker of panic crossed her gentle face.
She had just released a Dazzling Gleam moments ago.
Her energy hadn't recovered enough. She couldn't teleport. Not yet.
Yveltal dove.
There was no time.
No way to dodge.
No way to shield.
Then, a blur of metal armor shot forward.
"Wikstrom?!" Diantha gasped.
The Steel-type Elite had returned, forcing his exhausted body to move purely on willpower.
Probopass floated beside him, humming with magnetic force.
"Hold on!" Wikstrom roared, pushing Diantha and Gardevoir aside.
The Oblivion Wing struck before anyone could stop it.
A blinding red glow flashed,
And when the light faded, Wikstrom and Probopass stood rooted to the ground.
Not standing.
Not breathing.
Stone.
Two lifeless statues.
"Wikstrom!!" Diantha's aide screamed, voice breaking.
But Stone couldn't answer.
The wave of darkness swept past them, and Yveltal lifted into the air once more, fully restored.
Every wound the Champions' attacks had carved into it… Healed as if nothing had happened.
Diantha clenched her trembling fists.
She didn't even have the chance to mourn.
Because Yveltal was already gathering another Oblivion Wing.
The battle tipped sharply against them.
With the Steel-type Elite gone, their frontline defense crumbled.
Siebold gritted his teeth as his Pokémon braced themselves.
Drasna tightened her grip on her Poké Ball, her eyes reflecting the crimson glow spreading across the sky.
Siebold, Drasna, and their Pokémon didn't even have time to react before Yveltal's next
Oblivion Wing tore across the field.
The beam of devouring darkness swept through them like a scythe.
In a heartbeat…
More bodies stiffened.
More shapes froze.
More stone statues joined the field, gray, silent, and cold.
Diantha and Cynthia could only watch, breath shaking, as more of their allies fell.
Their Pokémon were still standing, but barely.
Diantha's Gardevoir swayed, her breath shallow.
She had burned through more power than she'd ever used in a single battle.
Teleport after Teleport, saving trainers, Pokémon, whole groups at once.
Her Mega Evolution shimmered, unstable.
A soft crackle of energy rippled, and the form collapsed.
Gardevoir dropped to one knee, reverting back, drained beyond her limit.
Cynthia's Mega Garchomp wasn't much better.
The dragon was still in its fearsome Mega form, but its claws trembled and its chest heaved with exhaustion.
Even its roars were quieter now, pained and strained.
The worst part, the part that made every trainer's heart sink, was Yveltal itself.
Its strength wasn't fading.
Its aura wasn't thinning.
Its energy… felt endless.
No matter how hard they fought, no matter how much they bled…
Nothing seemed to make a difference.
A blanket of darkness crept across the sky, swallowing what little sunlight remained.
Lumiose City, behind them, dimmed under that oppressive shadow.
Then Yveltal lowered its head again.
Its eyes locked directly onto Diantha's weakened Gardevoir.
And everyone knew what was coming.
The air shook.
Oblivion Wing charged once more,
Dark, merciless, absolute.
Diantha's aide shouted in panic, but Diantha raised a trembling hand, her jaw set.
She could see it in Gardevoir's face: fear, fatigue, but a desperate desire to protect.
"Gardevoir…" Diantha whispered, pulling out the Poké Ball. Her hands shook as she pressed the button.
A flash of red light pulled Gardevoir inside.
"Every time, you protect me," Diantha whispered, voice cracking.
"This time… let me protect you."
She turned, mustering every ounce of strength in her body, and threw Gardevoir's Poké Ball as far away as she could.
She didn't know if it would work.
She didn't know if Yveltal would chase it.
But it was the only thing she could do, her last act of protection.
The Poké Ball spun through the air,
Bang!
It burst open mid-flight.
Gardevoir forced her way out, stumbling in the air as the shattered ball scattered below.
Her whole form flickered with strain.
She wanted, needed, to use Teleport.
To pull Diantha to safety.
To save the woman who had trusted her since the beginning.
But when she reached for her power… nothing answered.
Her energy was gone.
"Sanaaaaaa!!"
Her scream tore through the battlefield.
The Oblivion Wing streaked toward Diantha, a flood of darkness ready to erase her life in an instant.
Cynthia's eyes widened.
She shoved herself against Mega Garchomp's neck, trying desperately to push the exhausted dragon forward.
"Go! Move!"
But even Mega Garchomp, fierce as it was, stumbled.
Its claws dragged. It simply didn't have enough strength left to reach Diantha in time.
The beam closed in,
And just when it was about to hit,
A burst of pure white light split the sky.
The suffocating darkness trembled, disrupted.
A blazing, divine flame roared forth, tearing straight through Yveltal's attack.
A white dragon descended like a holy comet, light radiating from every scale.
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