Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 45 - The Balance of Power

Everyone, aside from Anam, his spirits, and Nevren, was gathered around at the large, rocky cavern. The warmer air made it difficult for non-Fire Types to fight for long; Step, sensing this unfair advantage, breathed out a frosty cloud, cooling the room in a matter of seconds. Alex protested quietly and rubbed his cannons together. Most of the others consciously or unconsciously huddled a bit closer to him while the room's temperature averaged out.

It was here that Owen had trained as a Charizard fighting Manny; where he had lost against the Fighting Guardian. But Owen knew he would have won if he didn't hold back. He was just trying to control himself. That's why he lost. He was already past Manny, right? And Jerry would be no different, only this time, he was in total control. He had no reason to hold back. This battle would be over even faster than their encounter in Ghrelle's domain.

"Make sure he has a Reviver Seed!" Owen remembered.

"I don't need one," Jerry said.

"Oh, for the love of—yes, you do, Jerry!" Star said, rubbing her forehead. "And so does Owen! This stupid thing is for a purpose, not for killing each other! Now make sure you have one on you, and you know the rules from there, right?"

"Pfft, rules. I'm going by street rules," Jerry said, bouncing from foot to foot.

Manny tossed a seed to Owen; he caught it and slipped it into the bag tied around his shoulder. Amia ran over to Jerry and handed him a small bag as well, containing just the seed. Realizing that Jerry's wing-hands may struggle with working something and tying it around his neck, she helped and slipped it over his head. With that, the combatants were ready.

"So, are we really doing this?" Owen asked, looking at Star.

"Yes," Star said.

"Why?" He glanced at the others, who were sharing either Owen's confused expression, or Star's stoic eyes. In particular, he was unnerved that Rhys had his arms crossed, focused not on Owen or Jerry in particular, but the battlefield as a whole.

Owen then looked to Jerry. The way his heart beat, and the way his lungs inflated and deflated with such depth... Owen could only interpret that as a flame. A fire that he thought only those of his Type could get, but no. Jerry had a fire in his heart, too. He never felt it before; Jerry had felt cold, desperate, and hungry. But now? That must be it, Owen realized. They energized him, so now he's feeling better. Hmm... maybe I should be more careful after all, even if he's not Mystic.

It wouldn't be right to act haughty with Jerry anyway. He had a rough day. He thought back to how he had fought before—he often used Rock Blast. He wasn't sure how an Aerodactyl could know such a technique, but that didn't excuse the fact that it would be bad news for his normal form. He kept his Grassy self in mind, which would dull the blow, at least compared to his Fire-Flying default.

"And..." Star raised her tiny arm up, "begin!"

Owen beat his wings in the air, creating a flurry of pinpricks of Fire Traps in all directions. Jerry doubled back, recognizing the maneuver from their first encounter.

"Don't think you can get me with that again!" Jerry shouted. "I know your trick!" He opened his mouth and fired a set of rocks at the first one, detonating it. This caused a chain reaction, every single blast fizzling into a bright flash. Owen pushed through a gap in the explosions, mouth aflame, the back of his throat aglow. He blasted a jet of flames straight to Jerry. The Aerodactyl flew into the air, glancing at the ceiling to get a feel for how much room he had, and then dove down, straight for Owen with his jaw outstretched.

Owen couldn't help but roll his eyes. Despite his initial psyche-up to not get confident, he had to marvel at the one-track mind that Jerry had for battle. He shouldn't have expected much from an almost-ex-criminal, though.