Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 56 - Mirror, Mirror

The first clash was between Gahi and Lygo.

The first blood on both sides came from claw marks, identical, from the two Flygon. They instantly turned around and went at each other again, startling Demitri in the middle of his dash.

"Demitri, block!" Owen shouted.

Demitri looked forward and narrowly grabbed Ax's arm, just before one of his blades would have come down upon him. That left Mispy and Ani to both close their eyes and bring a reflective barrier around both of their teams. The transparent bubbles partially obstructed the strikes from the Haxorus and Flygon pairs—but it wasn't nearly enough to stop them completely.

Har shouted next. "Lygo, distract Mispy!"

The Flygon redirected himself in an instant, slamming straight into the Meganium's many vines. This was enough to keep her from interfering with Demitri and Ax, who were still grappling against one another near the center of the caverns, though it seemed like Ax had a slight edge in strength.

Ani slid back. Owen instantly knew what that meant, and he could feel it in the way her muscles tensed, channeling energy through her body. She was charging her Solar Beam—a single one of those strikes could disrupt the entire clash. And with Lygo distracting Mispy—

Owen didn't have time to think further. Gahi was moving on his own, chasing Lygo down to keep him away from Mispy. The Meganium, seeing Ani charging, mirrored her strategy—

"No, Mispy!" Owen shouted, knowing that she'd do it too late. "Heal Gahi! He's hurt!"

Gahi, hearing the order, retreated back to Mispy with Lygo in pursuit, but once Mispy sent a wave of healing energy toward him, he smirked at Lygo.

Har raised his arms and wings. "No, Lygo! Back!"

The two Flygon narrowly missed one another. Mispy tried to swat at Lygo with a vine, but he was too fast to hit.

"Ax, now!"

Ax pulled away from Demitri, but the latter pressed forward in retaliation. He fell on top of Ax.

With his tail and legs, Ax kicked Demitri into the air. Just then, Ani blasted a solid, white beam of energy from her petals. It was a direct hit, singing Demitri's scales and blinding him at the same time. Excess energy spiraled in all directions, bouncing off walls and disintegrating mushrooms. Zena ducked and narrowly avoided a stray blast; Rhys remained still, the energy singing a bit of his fur.

Demitri roared and stumbled back, covering his eyes.

Ax drew his tusk-blade again and rushed for Demitri for the finishing blow.

Oh, great, he's blind?! Owen clutched at his horns in a panic. Ani charged her Solar Beam just a bit faster than Mispy could. Ax was a bit stronger. And while Owen couldn't quite tell, it seemed like Lygo was a bit more agile, too. They really were slightly better versions of Team Alloy. But that didn't mean they'd lose. He was better than Jerry in almost every way as far as combat was concerned, and he still lost. It wasn't hopeless.

First things first—Demitri was blind. Owen had to be his eyes. "Demitri, dodge right!"

He obeyed, and just then, Gahi slammed into Ax from the side, knocking him over. Lygo came swooping in a split-second later to grapple against Gahi for a second time.

"Ani, heal up Lygo!"

Healing would be the worst thing for Owen. If they could just take out Ani, the whole team's stamina would go down tremendously. "Gahi, keep Lygo away from Ani!"