Pokemon - From the Brink

Chapter 26 - Broken

"Let me go! Please!" Celebi cried, flying restlessly around the Apex of Time, watching the apocalyptic monster tear through people like they were nothing.

"We cannot leave!" Palkia boomed.

"But they need us!" The little sprite begged.

"If you go, the balance will crumble." Giratina reminded her.

"But...!"

"There is nothing we can do." Palkia said.

"If we don't do something, there won't be a world to watch over! Do you see that thing?!" She was getting frustrated.

Nobody acted. Neither of the powerful beings opposite her, nor the diamond-encrusted egg between them.

"...You would really stand back and watch them die...?" Celebi was heartbroken.

"If we leave this place and make time and space unstable, the inhabitants of this world will soon fall regardless." Giratina bellowed.

"Damned if we do, damned if we don't, huh...?" The Time Travel Pokemon sighed sadly. "Something... There has to be something I can do...! Someone – anyone, please!" She brought her hands together in prayer.

*

Fear was trembling through my whole body as I lie down on the ground, watching as the people in the stands were erased where they stood, there one second and gone the next. Innocent people with lives – with hopes and dreams, aspirations and wishes – people who had family and friends – all snuffed out without so much as a warning, or a chance to say goodbye.

"N-no...!" I tried to get up, but my body just wouldn't move. "Stop...! Stop...!" I began to cry at how hopeless it all was. The screams were overlapping, drowning out all thoughts in my head. My heart was racing and I was scared, terrified to the core. "I don't want to die...! I don't want to die!" My fingers clawed uselessly at the dirt as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Ngh... N-Nelly...! Nelly!" I wanted desperately to run to her, to try and protect her. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't push myself up. "Gah... No... NELLY! Ack... No..." I shook my head in anguish. Then I had an idea.

"Grovyle! Grovyle...! Bond with me...! Lend me your strength like you did before – please!" I cried, thinking back to the time when our bond had reversed and I had been able to move with incredible speed.

But Grovyle didn't answer. He was face-down in the dirt, completely unconscious.

"Grovyle?! Grovyle PLEASE! PLEASE!" I begged, smacking the ground in desperation. Still nothing. It was no use.

"No...! Aaaa-haaahhh..." I sobbed, face wet with tears. "Help...! S-someone – Aaaah.... Anyone...!"

*

Kiria had dashed straight for her large bag the moment the black vortex had appeared in the sky. She forcefully yanked it out from under the bench, her heart thundering in her chest. She practically tore the flap open, revealing a whole stash of the pink orbs that were the only known way to counter the demon. Even so, the thing was much, much more aggressive – she hoped and prayed that these small spheres were still strong enough to hold it at bay.

"Holy sh*t!" Hikaru screamed.

"Jesus Christ!" Xene practically tumbled off the bench.

The whole team was shaken, petrified by what was unfolding before their eyes. If it went on, they too would meet their end here.

"Come on, come on...!" Kiria shovelled as many spheres into her pockets as she could. "Listen to me!" She shouted back over her shoulder. "Throw these into the stands! As many as you can!"