Ash's Story (Part 6: Unova)

Chapter 61: Doors After Storm

The sea rose around the broken ruins while the storm refused to end above us in every direction at once, relentlessly.

Giovanni was gone beneath the collapsed altar, but the power he had forced open still screamed through the Abyssal Ruins. Red light ran across the stone like cracked veins. Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus circled above us, free from Giovanni's direct command and still trapped inside the pain he left behind.

Meloetta strained against the altar field, trying to sing through exhaustion.

I stepped forward, but Alice caught my arm. "Not straight through. The floor is breaking."

"I know," I said, even though my whole body wanted to run.

Delia stood beside Golurk, face pale under the ruins' red glow. Seeing her alive still felt impossible, but the storm gave us no room to fall apart yet.

"We need Meloetta's real voice at the center," Delia said. "The recording broke the balance. Her song has to answer it."

Golly's new Cofagrigus spread its shadow arms across a cracked wall, sealing memory-light that tried to leak out again. Haunter and Lampent stayed beside her, while Zorua pressed close to her leg.

Golly's Cofagrigus's meaning came deep and exact. "Names are anchored. Living chooses the next breath."

Golly nodded with shaking control. "Then we make a route."

Swanna, Mantine, and Unfezant carried us across the broken platforms in careful turns. Pikachu rode with me, still trembling from the electricity he had absorbed from Thundurus. Zekrom hovered above, thunder held back because one wrong strike could shatter the ruins completely.

Zekrom's meaning rolled through the storm. "Power waits because truth protects."

We reached the altar as another burst of red light threw Alice and me to our knees. Meloetta reached toward us, eyes bright with fear and trust.

"Meloetta," I shouted, "you are not alone!"

Meloetta's meaning came like a torn melody trying to become whole. "Song stolen. Song returns if friends hold."

Alice took one side of the altar. I took the other. Delia placed her hands on the cracked stone behind us, and Cynthia guided Garchomp into position below the pillar to brace it.

"Now," Cynthia called, voice cutting through thunder.

Meloetta sang with every friend holding steady.

The first note did not silence the storm. It gave the storm something else to hear.

Tornadus beat his wings so hard that the rain moved sideways. Thundurus fired lightning into the sea, and every strike made the frozen surface glow from underneath. Landorus circled the highest remaining pillar, body twisting against the red light like the earth itself had been tied to a command it hated.

Meloetta's voice shook under the red pressure.

I wanted to take the strain from her. I wanted Arceus light, Zekrom thunder, Pikachu's electricity, anything that could make this faster. Then I remembered Giovanni's hand around the Reveal Glass and understood the trap. Faster power was what had broken the ruins in the first place.

"Meloetta," Alice said, voice calm despite the platform splitting under us, "we are not asking you to overpower them. Just let them hear you."

Cynthia turned to the lower platforms. "Everyone, stop attacking! Defensive moves only!"

That command traveled through the battlefield. Garchomp stopped mid-lunge and dug its claws into stone instead. Hydreigon pulled back from another Dragon Pulse and used its wings to shield Iris from debris. Milotic wrapped water around the injured Pokémon near the lower stairway, while Reisa kept one hand raised to keep the formation calm.