The Mask Maker

Morai's Fall

"Morai!" Looker called, waving his way through a wall of smoke. The Battle Subway's grounds had been marred by fiery streaks clawing their way throughout the building, leaving deep cuts in their wake.

"You have to leave," he continued. "They want you here for some reason. If you leave, there's no point in continuing these attacks."

Morai looked around. The subway had taken significant damage. Trainers were getting carried away to hospitals because they had become too injured to battle. It was all so surreal, and it was all because of her.

"I can't leave," she finally said. "This is my fault, and I have to fix it,"

"You're doing exactly what they want you to do!"

"Even still, it will stop when I defeat the other three Pokémon. I know what they want me to do, and I'm not going to do it." Morai didn't give Looker a chance to respond before she ran into battle again, looking around to see if Malamar had made any progress. She looked to Gyarados, and saw her Pokémon lying on the platform. It had fainted.

Gyarados let out a mighty roar and sent its tail swinging right at Morai, who rolled back just in time to miss it. She called Malamar back to its ball and began to run again, dodging the beast's tail as it furiously swung back and forth, only stopping to charge a Hyper Beam and aim it right at her.

Gyarados was lying on the train tracks. It's gigantic body was crammed between the tunnels leading into the underground, giving it nothing to do but attack from one place. Morai tried to find a pattern that would reveal an opening for her to reach its forehead, but she couldn't discern one.

"I need a group of people to tie its tail down, and a group to keep its head occupied!", she yelled. Surprisingly, the people around her seemed to listen to her. A group of Depot Agents emerged from the back rooms with some heavy rope, and a group of police agents made their way toward Gyarados' head. The first group managed to get the rope around its tail, but it was too strong. The rail staff were simply pulled along as if they weighed nothing at all. Finally, one of them called out a Vanilluxe and had it freeze the tail to the ground. More ice-type Pokémon joined in, and other Pokémon started attacking Gyarados directly.

When the angry Pokémon stopped to steel itself against the oncoming flurry of attacks, Morai ran in toward its lowered head. She reached a hand out, as if it would bring Gyarados closer. It was only a second before that she realized Salamence was flying right at her. There was no time to dodge it, and it sent her flying through the air and hitting the ground hard with a thud. The trainer tried to take a breath, but it was only shallow. Pain kept her from breathing any deeper. Her already cracked mask was on the verge of breaking. In the distance, she saw the blurry Gyarados start to glow, and it transformed into a bulkier, meaner version of itself.

It had Mega Evolved.

That's...impossible.

Morai struggled to stand, clutching her side. The newly evolved Mega Gyarados was now able to move around, launching itself from the tracks. It pounded into the opposite wall and almost caused it to collapse, then it started to burn everything in its sight.

"Move your focus to Gyarados and the fires!" Morai heard an unmistakeable voice command. It was one of the Subway Twins, trying to maintain their stoic composure as they watched their livelihood get burned to the ground. 

Morai listened to the cacophony of different desperate voices, sirens, and general destruction. She wanted to close her eyes, but something wouldn't allow her to. She just stood and watched. Everything seemed almost dreamlike.

"Wake me up," she whispered. "Please."

In that moment, it all seemed to click, and Morai made a decision. She was going to do what it took to stop the madness, even if it was exactly what Giovanni wanted. Her friends weren't going to suffer any longer.