Death.

I turned just as it lunged forward, blade raised. My heart stopped—

I wasn’t fast enough.

But something pink blurred in front of me.

Tinkatuff.

It planted its feet, lifting its hammer with both hands like a shield.

The blade struck.

Screech—

Metal screamed.

Then—

Snap.

The brown hammer split in two.

And the blade carved clean through.

Tinkatuff hit the ground hard, blood misting the air.

“No—no no no—” I dropped to my knees and scrambled to it.

It wasn’t moving.

Its body lay limp, blood pooling fast into the grass. The spot where the blade struck was torn open, deep, real. This wasn’t a game. This wasn’t a faint. This was…

Death.

My arms shook as I lifted its broken body. Its tiny hands still clenched the splintered handle of its hammer.

Kartana hovered back, blade still dripping.

“Annoying interference. But no matter.”

I couldn’t breathe.

Then—

Something felt wrong.

I looked down.

My brain tried to piece it together, tried to trace the sensation crawling up my nerves—until realization snapped like a rubber band.

“Where’s… my leg?”

I collapsed backwards.

My leg.

My leg.

My left leg was gone from the knee down.

I could still feel the moment it vanished, like it had never existed in the first place. The pain rushed in after, a wall of fire and white noise that drowned out the world.

I screamed.

I screamed until my throat burned.

Kartana floated over me.

“Exquisite. Such unfiltered despair. I thank you, child, for this memory. I shall etch your failure into my legacy.”

It raised its blade again.

Ready to end it.

Then—

A sharp whistle pierced the air. Something cut through the trees like a comet.

BOOM.

A projectile struck near Kartana, erupting in a burst of flame and smoke.

I shielded my face.

When the smoke cleared, Kartana was still there—untouched—but no longer alone.

From the woods stepped a man in a long white lab coat, adjusting the cuffs on his sleeves, unfazed by the tension in the air.

“Welcome, welcome…” he said, voice calm, deliberate.

“Beast from another world.”

I gasped, rolling onto my stomach to see who it was.

Through the haze, I recognized the man.

The professor.

The one from the starter Pokémon lab.

Hair still falling over his right eye. Hands gloved. Eyes sharp.

I’d never seen him like this before. At the Lab he never smiled when issuing the Pokemon to kids. But now, he’s smiling from ear to ear, in his hand an ultra ball.

“Let’s get started shall we.”

Authors Note:

Hi guys, you all don’t understand how excited I am to bring this upcoming fight to life, I’m about to cook so unbelievably hard(I think) this entire story leading up to this has been primarily focused on materializing the relationships between each character, making it feel relatively tedious to me but now this is where the fun begins.

WERE CLOSE TO 100 VIEWs I GOT TO LOCK IN AND SHOW THEM WHAT IM ABOUT.

Also can someone buy me vol one of The Fragrant Flowers Bloom With Dignity PLEASE I’m sick of reading it online.

My phone is literally at 11 percent rn and I have NO CHARGER, newest chapter will probably be up later tonight at the time this is uploaded. (Yes 2 chapters a day is insane I know I’m unemployed)