The clearing before the crater wasn’t the worst place to wait. Dragonflies’ wings flashed amber as the sun moved in and out of clouds, and the scent of goldenrod was sweet on the wind. White-throated sparrows filled the air with their song like carefree whistling. Hello, little ones, Poppy thought, her paws shaking (it was a waste of effort to try to stop them, she realized some time ago). Today might be my last day alive. Would you still be singing if you knew that? I wonder…
If you change your mind, Poppy, just let me know… Ann’s voice was quiet, as though it were nervous, too.
I won’t, but… If I don’t survive, tell the shaymin what happened. And Lavender.
You have my word.
From beside Poppy, Xerneas tossed its head and issued forth a wave of sparkles like dyed stars. Whatever technique it used had a calming effect—Poppy’s pulse steadied, and for a moment today didn’t seem like such a big deal.
Poppy looked up at Xerneas’ face. “Thank you.”
Think nothing of it. I am just glad we are on the same side today.
Poppy thought she detected a psychic nuance, something extralingual, that suggested the word we included someone besides her and Xerneas, but she didn’t comment on it. At any rate, she was glad to have Xerneas on her side too. The two had tried a couple of sparring matches earlier in the day, and even if what Ann and Lavender had said about the stars was true, Xerneas was still at least as strong as Poppy.
Footsteps rustled in the distance—the cadence was too deliberate to be ferals. Poppy grabbed the face mask from her bag and slipped it on. She didn’t know if it would work, but she had asked Ann to get it for her anyway. Anything that might conceal her identity.
The elites were first to emerge. Lucario, lairon, feraligatr, noivern, just like Ann had said. A couple dozen other pokemon—a mix of spectators and medics—fanned out along the edge of the clearing.
“We weren’t expecting two,” said the lucario—Thorn, the leader of Team Blast Burn, and the only one whose name Poppy knew. He stood unsettlingly still, barely even seeming to breathe, his expression camouflaged by scars.
You still outnumber us, do you not? said Xerneas.
“Are they strong enough?” asked the feraligatr, squinting at Poppy. “I’d rather not risk more lives than nec—”
Poppy’s vine struck a deep furrow into the earth, ending right at the feraligatr’s feet. The spectators flinched, and some backed up. The sound, a bassy thud, reached Poppy’s ears a moment later.
“Never mind,” said the feraligatr, smiling wryly.
“Shall we begin?” The noivern withdrew a wonder orb from her bag and exchanged glances with all the combatants.
Poppy took in the nourishing feeling of the sunlight on her back and tried to burn it into her memory. Then she nodded.
The noivern tossed the orb straight up. Perhaps it was just an anxious flight of imagination, but Poppy thought she glimpsed her own masked face on its surface. A heavy remorse whelmed her, as though it were not a reflection, but a part of her soul trapped inside the groundbound glass.
The orb began to descend, and Poppy tore her eyes from it. She needed to focus on her opponents. Four on two, but they still couldn’t know how strong she was. She’d pulled that last strike.
The orb hit the ground.
The feraligatr directed hydro pumps toward Xerneas while the lairon positioned his steel body to provide cover. Thorn’s aura spheres rocketed toward Poppy, but her swift footwork ensured none met their mark. Poppy struck just as he began charging his next attack; he raised his arms in something resembling a block before the blow sent him flying.
At the same time, Poppy glimpsed movement above. Some reflex from her sparring sessions with Holly caused her to launch swift. The stars smothered the sky; a joltik might have squeezed between them, but not a noivern. As Poppy’s winged foe corkscrewed to the ground, her tension eased. Two hits so far, unanswered. It was with a confident heart that she struck again at Thorn, who had since recovered from her last attack, gashed arms notwithstanding.
Thorn did not dodge or block. Instead he whipped around and grabbed the vine between his paws, leaning into the attack to keep his balance. That was fine by Poppy; she simply struck with a second vine. This hit was more promising than the first—the shock passed all the way through the vine and rattled Poppy’s bones. Thorn flew backwards while Poppy prepared an energy ball to follow up with.
But, to her surprise, Thorn had not lost his grip when she had struck him. Using his hold on the first vine and the momentum from Poppy’s attack, he twisted his body and pulled hard. By the time Poppy felt the slack on the first vine run out, it was too late.
Thorn hurled Poppy across the clearing. She flew too quickly to orient herself. She reflexively wrapped herself in vines to try to soften the impact with whatever she was bound to hit.
Poppy cried out as the wind was knocked out of her. A loud crack reverberated across the clearing as the tree snapped from the impact, and Poppy’s momentum carried her into a second one. She sank slightly into the wood, but this time the trunk held.
Poppy peeled away from the tree and tumbled toward the ground in agony. It felt like she had been crushed against a bed of thorns, and when she inhaled it was like pressing shards of glass into her lungs. It was all she could do to keep her eyes open.
As Poppy made her second revolution in the air, she glimpsed Thorn. His stance was wide, and a nascent aura sphere glowed between his bloody paws.
In spite of the pain, Poppy did her best to clear her mind and waited. She tracked Thorn as she spun, kept her eyes on his paws. Maybe it was just her anticipation, but the moment seemed to stretch on and on for seconds, as though Thorn were delaying his attack on purpose. The aura sphere grew larger and brighter, gradually obscuring his figure. Just looking at it made Poppy’s eyes tear up. Maybe that was his intention…
Finally, Poppy saw it—that now-familiar motion as Thorn thrust his arms forward. Right as he released his attack, Poppy reached out with a vine and pulled herself toward one of the tree branches below. The aura sphere passed just above her; she felt its spectral chill on her tail before it hit the tree with a deep thud.
Even though it felt like tearing herself in half, Poppy twisted her body and managed to land on her feet. She ignored the shock that passed through her and took a ragged breath as splinters rained down on her. From this angle she could see Xerneas’s attackers, supine and unmoving, and Xerneas itself, fur soaked, down on one elbow, shaking.
Even if Xerneas had been in better condition, Poppy hadn’t the time to call for help. Thorn summoned a beam of aura from his paw and rushed her. She tried to strike, but Thorn anticipated the attack—he cut her vines in two with the beam before they could reach him, and as the severed halves fell limply to the ground, Poppy suddenly felt very vulnerable.
Instinct told Poppy to retreat, but Thorn was moving at a pace she could not match. Instead she met his charge just as he neared striking distance, turning to slash with her tail.
It was pointless. Thorn parried effortlessly, throwing Poppy off balance. His own slash grazed Poppy’s neck and head as she jumped back. Poppy seethed—it felt like a shard of ice. Her mask, now cut across its length, fell to the ground, and she felt the open air on her face.
Then Thorn jumped back himself, toward the center of the clearing, and stepped away from Poppy. She studied his face, trying to discern his intention. His gaze seemed… softer, than before.
The chill along Poppy’s neck quickly yielded to a lingering, burning pain. She felt something wet the fur right around her collar—something warm. The feeling came in intervals, like…
Well. It was like a heartbeat, wasn’t it. Poppy glanced down and saw bright red.
Ann…
Poppy, I’m trying, but… that’s beyond healing. I… I’m sorry. Ann gave a trembling sigh. It’s over. You deserved better than this. You really did. I promise I will remember you for as long as I live.
The moment was surreal. Poppy stared at Thorn and at the spectators as their faces turned from anxious to pitying. She sat down slowly and summoned a vine—this time not to attack, but so that she could press something against her wound. Her artery had been cut lengthwise, she realized, and blood had already begun to stream down her chest and soak the soil below.
Just try to stay calm, she thought, as the beginnings of dizziness began to manifest. You’ll only bleed faster if you get nervous…
But then, what difference does it make? I’m already dead. I should just ask Thorn to finish me off. She clenched her jaw. God damn it, if I’d just—
“Poppy!”
Poppy’s thoughts were interrupted by a mournful wail, like a suffocating loon. Her eyes went wide, and she froze. Carefully, she turned her head to her right.
The sight of Lavender’s face stung more than Thorn’s slash had; her teeth were bared in an ugly grimace, her snout so twisted and wrinkled she was almost unrecognizable. It was the first time, as far as Poppy knew, that her partner had ever looked old.
Poppy took a ragged breath and blinked away her tears as her friend took a tentative step toward her. Slowly, she stood and did the same. Laurie was there too, just behind Lavender, and the lurantis bowed with sorrow in her eyes.
At least I can be with Lavender, Poppy thought as she took another feeble step. Maybe she’ll understand. And even if she doesn’t…
Maybe it was a sense of acceptance, or maybe it was her consciousness slipping, but Poppy’s anxiety began to fade. She imagined Lavender’s warm embrace, her sweet scent. Soon, she would…
She stopped. Laurie. Seeing the lurantis sparked a memory. That scar… Her wound, that had healed so quickly.
Ann. Can you teleport me into the crater?
It takes about five seconds for me to do that, Poppy, and it’s far too obvious. They’ll strike you down before you get the chance. Please, just be with—
Try.
Ann paused. It’s been tried before, Poppy; to withstand direct contact with the planet’s energy would be practically im—
I don’t care, do it! She commanded as she sucked in a breath. Now!
I— Ann’s voice cracked. …As you wish, dear Poppy.
Poppy’s body began to glow white. As Ann predicted, Thorn realized what was happening and dashed toward her. Poppy tried to lift her vines, but she was too weak. The most she could do was stagger dizzily away, trying to put some distance between herself and her assailant. Judging by Thorn’s speed, she had maybe half of a second.
I’m am an idiot, aren’t I… Poppy braced herself for the inevitable.
A brilliant, pink streak slammed into Thorn’s side, right in the same place Poppy had wounded him earlier. Thorn staggered, nearly falling over, and looked back up to see a wearied Xerneas place itself between Poppy and him.
“Out of the way!” Thorn growled as he launched an aura sphere. Xerneas tried to defend with another moonblast, but the aura sphere passed through it and knocked the legendary away like a toy.
The exchange took about three seconds. Not enough. Poppy clenched her jaw as Thorn turned toward her again.
“Stop!”
A familiar bolt of lightning flashed from behind Thorn. He twitched from the thunder wave and then whipped around to face his assailant—none other than Lavender—just as she let loose with swift.
Poppy’s eyes went wide. “Lavender…”
Poppy didn’t have time to see the rest of the exchange play out. Her body flashed, and she found herself tumbling into the mouth of the crater that had just a moment ago seemed so far away. She looked down; blinding white light greeted her. Even when she closed her eyes, the brightness made her head ache.
Am I stupid? asked Poppy as the wind rushed by, splattering her blood onto her chin and face.
Look… If I thought there were no chance of this working, I wouldn’t have done it. It’s true that no pokemon has survived this before, but then again, none of those pokemon had my help.
So how would you place my odds?
Less than one percent, Ann said reluctantly. But, then again, that’s just the kind of chance an explorer would take, isn’t it?
Poppy smiled weakly. Goddamn right…
That was the last thing Poppy thought before the light swallowed her.