The Legend Thief - Part 5: The Cure

Chapter 38: The Legendary of Ice

The group broke, and Shell and Raichu took off to battle Articuno.

The legendary of winter was flying over the maze, leaving a trail of frail snowflakes in her wake. Raichu sparked his fingers, and summoned twin ribbons of lightning. He quickly combined the two, and blasted it at the Articuno.

The electricity directly at Articuno, but at the last second, the pokemon swerved gracefully in a circle. Frost delicately fell from her wings where they had been disturbed by the attack. She opened her beak and attacked with a blizzard. The wind flew at them, carrying snow and ice.

"Lunatone! Psychic, please!" Shelly commanded. Her pokemon's eyes glowed blue, and the two were lifted upwards. Raichu and Shell tumbled on the bushes. The wind came, frosting the leaves and pushing everything away. Raichu squinted, trying to look at Articuno while gripping the branches.

The wind stopped, and the two shook off the ice.

"Get back to the ground!" Shell said, "The bush walls will give us some cover." Raichu nodded, and the two jumped down from the bush with a thump.

"What do you suppose of your aim? Is it good?" Shell asked.

Raichu thought for awhile, and then said truthfully, "No. I'm more of a mid-range."

Shell nodded, "Ok, that's good. Lunatone's rock attack is close range anyways. Remember, you have to be fast. Ok? Ok. I'll get her close."

"Lunatone, use confusion!" Shell said. Lunatone shot a beam of blue light, hitting Articuno in her head. The legendary wobbled a bit, before regaining stability.

"No use... I suppose the GMO razzberry overrides the effect of confusion." Shell sighed, and then perked up again, "Let's try to get near her instead."

"Does lunatone know teleport?" Raichu asked hopefully.

Shell smacked her forehead, "Lunatone can't learn that move. We have to trekk there by foot."

"You make it sound like an epic journey..." Raichu said.

"In some ways, it is," Shell replied.

The two ran through the maze, Raichu blasting apart the leaves with lightning. And indeed, it wasn't easy. The interval between them was rather wide, and Articuno rained snow and ice down upon the two.

"Watch out! Ice shards!" Shell said. Her hand twitched... until she remembered she had lost her powers. Her heart wavered a bit, until she froze it again. No. She couldn't let herself feel. Emotions, in this scenario, were a weakness.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Raichu said, and he zapped apart the shards into splinters.

They dodged ice beams and frost breaths, hid under leaves during blizzards, and blasted apart ice. Eventually, they reached Articuno, and stood right below her.

Raichu quickly charged a bolt of lightning, spun once for added energy, and shot at Articuno. The bird was engulfed in lightning, and then in rage flew down at them in an aerial ace.

"Quickly, stone edge!" Shell said, and lunatone's eyes glowed blue again (Avatar State, YIP YIP!). Giant stones erupted from the earth, pushing up the bushes and turning the dirt. Articuno, too late to stop, crashed into the rocks. Smoke and dirt flew everywhere. Shell coughed and tried to see through the dust.

She could see a faint silhouette of the bird, and with a gasping breath, commanded, "Use moonblast!"

Lunatone summoned a swirl of cherry-blossom light, and sent it flying at Articuno. Raichu followed with his own electro-ball. The two joined into one, arcing with electricity and trailing light behind.

Boom! The attack hit Articuno, and sent the dust flying away. The legendary squaked again, and rose back up. But her wings were too tangled in the rocks. She screeched, annoyed, and sent an array of ice shards at them. Raichu held out his palm, and sent a blast of lightning, quickly demolishing the ice.

"Cover me! I'm going to get close." Raichu said. Shell nodded, and Raichu ran towards Articuno.

Shots of light arced across the air, flying around Raichu and then colliding with Articuno's attacks. Stone edges rose up from the ground whenever the ice shards would get too close.

Almost there! Raichu thought, as he approached Articuno. The legendary waved its feathers, and formed a safeguard.

Raichu grumbled, and shot a bolt of lightning. The electricity was cut into pieces, sparks flying off the shield.

Shelly ran up to Raichu with lunatone. She said, "Don't worry! I got it!"

"Lunatone! Stone edge again... if you may." Shell asked. Lunatone dipped its head in a nod, and once again summoned the stones to erupt from the ground. However, the stones not only appeared outside of the shield, but inside.

With each stone that collided with the protection, a crack would appear. And the web of crevices soon spread, as if being spun by an strange spider. Eventually, the entire thing shattered, shimmering into shards, and then to nothing.

Raichu quickly jumped at Articuno, and zapped her with lightning. Electricity arced across the legendary, bright and instant. When it ended, the bird had only a little health remaining.

Shell sighed, and dropped her mask. She smiled, and looked up at Articuno sorrowfully.

Perhaps in that second, Articuno had broken out of the drug. As if the curtain of her eyes were jolted away for a moment. Her eyes flashed with the sharp blue of winter, and Shelly knew that she understood .

"Sorry, Articuno." Shelly whispered, and then in a stronger voice, "Lunatone... moonblast."

And so, the legendary of ice was defeated.