-Blessed by Divinity: Eternity-

Progress

"Ampharos keep them back with discharge!"

The electric pokemon hunched over, releasing a huge shockwave as she stood back up. The entire chamber was engulfed in flying sparks and ungrounded voltages as Ampharos let loose.

Neither of the shadow titans had missed a beat, keeping us on our toes the entire time. Both shadow Lugia and Ho-oh were much stronger than their respective counterparts but no matter how much I scratched my head, I couldn't find the source of their increased power. The two shadow pokemon were relentless in their attacks, not letting up as we fought just to stay on even ground.

"Froslass use blizzard! Espeon, hyper voice!"

Both pokemon leapt into the air, letting their attacks loose. Neither opponent moved to counter the moves, only bracing for impact as they weathered the howling icy gale.

Lugia let out a terrible roar, shaking the mountain to its core. The tidal pokemon fired a jet stream of torrential water toward me, cutting away at the rocky ground beneath our feet.

At the last moment, Primarina leapt into the way, using psychic to redirect the powerful water attack to the ceiling of the chamber. There was a deafening crash as the hydro pump move smashed into the roof, causing rubble and debris to come crashing down from above.

Altaria swept me off my feet, clear of the falling rubble. It took a moment for the dust to clear but as it did, Ho-oh had cloaked itself in a harsh light, soaring down from the lofty roof. The dragon pokemon didn't have much time to act but at the last second used her hurricane to buy us an extra second.

Froslass joined us in the air, fighting against the oncoming Ho-oh with her blizzard attack. It took the combined efforts of both pokemon to dispel the opponent, the shadow titan crashing into the floor below. Ho-oh let out a reckless cry, showing that it was far from done.

"Primarina, Froslass, keep Lugia busy. Everyone else focus on Ho-oh."

Before I even finished the call, everyone had turned to their opponents. I stayed atop Altaria, scanning the environment for anything that would help us as I wracked my brain to come up with a strategy to defeat the two shadow titans.

So far, nothing we did seemed to slow either legend down, both fuelled by a continuous rage that didn't wane no matter what they put themselves through. I thought back, trying to remember if either pokemon had shown any weaknesses.

Then it came to me. Altaria had to swoop low to avoid a stray blast of fire, taking to the skies to survey the area.

The first time either pokemon looked like they had taken any sort of damage was from a sound based attack. By now, they had both caught onto this, taking extra caution whenever a wave of noise caught the walls of the cave.

This was the time I had been waiting for to prove how much I had improved as a trainer. The battle against Cynthia was a step in the right direction but I knew it wasn't enough to tell myself that I had progressed.

Then I had to overcome the mental hurdle of seeing Aaron battle. It wasn't just him, Red and the others weren't any different. The way they carried themselves in and out of a fight was incredible and for the longest time, I didn't think I could keep up with them.

But I could. Being here in this cave was all the proof I needed to tell me that I was more than equipped to deal with this. With my pokemon by my side, there was no way I could let us lose here. Our victory was guaranteed, the path to it just needed to be found.

"Altaria drop low and use dragon pulse. Ampharos you too!"

The dragon pokemon descended from the air, allowing me to jump down to the rocky floor. Altaria flew close to Ampharos, both pokemon launching beams of mystical light. The blasts of energy entwined with each other, building off each other's energy.