Azure flames and blue lightning wove together endlessly across the sky, and every clash sent a shudder through the Sword of the Vale.
Steven knelt beside Skarmory first, checking its wounds. He poured a surge of Viridian Power into its body, then sprayed it with a healing mist of Hyper Potion before recalling it into its Poké Ball. He did the same for Empoleon next. Both Pokémon were badly hurt, but they still had enough stamina left to endure a lightning strike if it came to that — after all, even Hunter J's Salamence, half-crippled, had survived a direct hit from Regigigas. Since little time had passed, Empoleon and Skarmory would likely heal fully after some rest. The other Pokémon had taken serious damage too, but none of their injuries were life-threatening; a few days' rest should be enough for them as well. Steven sent a pulse of Viridian Power into Metagross before recalling it too.
Diancie was in poor shape as well, its strength badly drained. Even fighting alongside Honedge, Pupitar, and Sandslash, it couldn't break through the barrier formed by the four purple stone pillars.
Steven turned to look at Damon, who stood at the controls steering the Sword of the Vale, a Reuniclus floating calmly beside him. Damon looked entirely too confident — as if he didn't realize those four Pokémon's combined strength wasn't nearly enough to shatter the barrier.
"Do you know something?" Steven asked.
The question caught Damon off guard. "What did you say?"
"I asked," Steven said coldly, "if you know that moving this castle will destroy this land."
Damon frowned and turned his head as far as he could to face Steven. "What are you talking about? I'm only returning the Sword of the Vale to where it belongs — so the Land of the People can reclaim its bond with the earth. I'm simply giving back what was always theirs. Don't you think it's you who's talking nonsense?"
Stung by what felt like an insult to his ideals, Damon's voice rose with anger. "I just want the Land of the People restored to what it once was!" A thousand years ago, the battle between two princes, each riding Reshiram or Zekrom, had left the land in ruins. The dragon pulse had spiraled into chaos, and the Land of the People had lost its connection to the earth's power, becoming a place where neither humans nor Pokémon could live. "I've always... always wanted to make my mother's dream come true! You don't understand anything!"
Steven remained unmoved by the outburst. "Do you even know why the king moved the Sword of the Vale here in the first place?" he asked flatly.
"Of course I know!" Damon snapped. "Zekrom told me himself — long ago, the Land of the People used the Sword of the Vale to control the dragon pulse's energy. If I move it back to the Land of the People, I can control that energy again, just as before!"
Steven's eyes stayed cold. "Your legend is missing half the story. The dragon pulse only fell into chaos after Zekrom went into its long sleep — it was the battle between the two of them that caused it. The Sword of the Vale was brought here to hold that chaos in check. Moving it without care will only bring the world to ruin. The king told Victini this himself."
Damon clenched his teeth. "Impossible!" He could not accept it — could not accept that the one thing he had devoted himself to might be entirely wrong.
Steven glanced at Victini, still in pain, then called out to his four Pokémon. "Diancie! Honedge! Pupitar! Sandslash!" His gaze swung back to Damon. "Since you won't accept the truth, I'll have to force the issue."
Boom! A fresh shockwave from the battle between Reshiram and Zekrom rocked the Sword of the Vale violently, tilting the whole platform. Steven lost his footing and nearly slid off the edge. Quick to react, Sandslash dug one claw into Steven's clothing and drove the other into a stone pillar to anchor them both.
"Pupitar, return!" Steven called, pulling out its Poké Ball. Honedge swooped down and wrapped its ribbon firmly around his other hand, straining to hold him steady. Across the deck, Damon clung to the control panel with both hands, fighting to keep his own balance.
"Gaooo!" Two dragon roars echoed out, and strangely, the battle below paused. The Sword of the Vale steadied itself once more. Damon hurried to the edge and looked down.
"What is this?" He stared, frozen, at the purple glow still spreading across the ground below.
"Damon!" A red aircraft swept into view, and a woman in a red cap called out to him. "The land is destabilizing! The dragon pulse has gone out of control!"
Damon stared down at the land in silence. "What I wanted to do... it really was wrong..."
"Gaoo!" Zekrom and Reshiram shrank back down to their four-meter forms, gliding through the stone pillars to land on the deck. "The land trembles with fury," Zekrom said.
Steven shot Zekrom an irritated look — you share the blame for this too — but bit back the words. He still needed Zekrom's help. At that same moment, Damon felt the bond between himself and Zekrom snap. Zekrom had rejected his ideal.
"Reshiram, please help me save Victini," Steven said.
If Metagross had still been fit to fight, a few solid punches would have shattered the purple stone pillars easily enough. Instead, Reshiram looked up at the four pillars surrounding Victini and unleashed a stream of blue-white fire. The pillars burst apart at once, their glow fading to nothing, and Victini began to fall. Reshiram spread its wings and caught the little Pokémon gently, then offered it to Steven.
"Thank you, Reshiram." Steven took Victini carefully into his arms.
"Tili..." Victini murmured weakly. Steven looked down at it and managed a tired smile.
"Don't worry. This will be over soon." Then he turned back to Damon. "Quickly — use the Sword of the Vale to hold back the dragon pulse!"
"I... I'll try," Damon said, hesitating.
Steven strode forward and struck him hard across the face, knocking him down. "Who was it that just claimed, so confidently, that he could control the dragon pulse?" Steven was breathing hard from the effort, his face — already pale from blood loss — turning paler still.
With his ideals broken, Damon no longer believed he could command the Sword of the Vale to suppress the pulse. Steven's frustration boiled over. "And now, without Victini's power, Reuniclus can't even move the Sword of the Vale on their own!" He looked down at Damon with open disappointment, then turned to the two dragons. "Reshiram, Zekrom — I need your help."
"Gaoo!" Both dragons roared and flew out from the Sword of the Vale, intending to push the great vessel forward with their own strength.
Steven spared Damon, still slumped on the floor, one last cold glance before walking to the control panel and looking down at the surging dragon pulse below. He wasn't about to let one slap settle things between them — not for his own injuries, his Pokémon's injuries, Victini's suffering, and the disaster now threatening the land. Ten Damons wouldn't be enough to make up for all of that. But for now, calming the dragon pulse came first.
A deep rumble shook the air. The Sword of the Vale began to tremble, then slowly rise. Above it, the ring of purple light spun faster and faster, and the heart of the castle filled with a strange violet glow. Below, the dragon pulse surged upward in a burst of purple light, pouring straight into the heart of the castle all at once.
Steven hadn't expected the dragon pulse to have a will of its own — to fight back like this. It seemed intent on hurling the entire Sword of the Vale out into open space. If that happened, there would be no saving any of them.
There was only one hope left.
Steven shouted down with everything he had: "Reshiram!"