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BOOOOM!
Relentless thunder ripped across the sky, its deafening roar echoing through the mountain range.
Matt staggered to his feet, drenched and shaking. Rain poured down in a solid wall, turning the broken stone beneath him slick and treacherous.
Sparse, dying shrubs clung to the shattered earth around him.
He pulled a Poké Ball from his belt and threw it forward.
Clack!
Heat erupted in a blazing wave as Arcanine erged, vaporizing the heavy rain around it into swirling steam.
Its orange fur bristled, striped like a tiger, and its cream mane flowed in the storm winds. Burning sparks licked at the corners of its jaws.
Ordinarily, releasing a Fire-type in this weather would be reckless. But Matt had no choice.
The psychic backlash from owstic still pounded at his skull with every heartbeat. He needed a mount fast, loyal, and strong enough to carry him through the storm and Arcanine was the only Pokémon he had that fit the role.
The great canine gave a low rumble of concern. Matt ran one hand over its head, whispering thanks as warmth spread back into his frozen limbs.
He pulled a pouch of specially-prepared Rhyperior food from his pack and held it under Arcanine's nose.
One sniff. A sharp bark.
Matt's pulse steadied.
BOOM!
Arcanine leapt forward, paws slamming against jagged rock as though it were level ground. Matt ducked into the mane, squinting through the rain. Thunder bood again closer.
They were getting near.
Ahead, a huge canyon opened in the earth black and silent, its rock walls stripped of all greenery. Silver lightning clawed across the sky above.
Matt dismounted at the canyon mouth and crouched down. Deep in the mud beneath his feet was a massive two-toed footprint.
"Rhyperior..."
And heading inward.
Every instinct scread danger but the bond he had with the Pokémon he'd raised since it was a Rhyhorn burned stronger than fear. Nodding to Arcanine, he stepped inside.
The gorge swallowed them. Rain pattered. Thunder crackled. And then...
Bzzzzzt.
A faint hiss of electricity.
Matt's eyes snapped upward. A tall shape stood in the shadows vaguely feline.
Lightning flashed—
...and revealed Zeraora.
Yellow fur streaked with black and blue lightning patterns. Braided mane whipping in the wind. Ice-blue eyes, emotionless. Blue sparks danced over its body, vaporizing each raindrop before it landed.
Matt's breath caught in his throat. A Mythical Pokémon.
Zeraora took a single step forward.
The entire canyon detonated in blue lightning.
He never even saw the movent.
One heartbeat, he was looking at the Pokémon—
Next, he was staring at his own headless body, neck charred black.
"...Oh..."
"So this is... death?"
His severed head hit the ground with a wet thud.
Zeraora flicked its claws, flinging away charred shards of flesh. It tilted its head almost disappointed.
"RAAAAAW!!"
Arcanine howled in grief, erupting in flas. The remaining three Poké Balls on Matt's belt burst open, sending his entire team into the storm in a furious charge.
Zeraora didn't even blink. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novᴇlfire
CRACK!
A blinding flash of blue.
Four Pokémon hit the ground monts later, broken and silent.
The canyon fell still once more.
In the darkness, a single black-and-yellow Poké Ball rolled away, unnoticed, coming to a stop beside a jagged stone.
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