The Unyielding Façade

Part 18 - The Truth

"Azul! Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked, glancing back and forth to the three legendary deities and to her.

Then suddenly, he saw white flash in front of his eyes. Knowing he wouldn't have the time to give a command, the young man rolled to the side right as thunder struck right where he was. The rumbling of the thunder followed shortly after as the light faded out. Smoke particles rose from the spot where it stuck.

"Stay back!" he yelled out to the girl.

Tornadus spun around and formed a whirlwind around the three. The force deflected the snow and sent them flying towards every corner of the room. It was just like a protective, moving barrier. However, the young man just kept a stoic demeanor as he kept an eye out for any deflected snowballs. He buried his face in the red scarf as he pulled himself together.

"Alright, Froslass, can you use Blizzard again for one final push?" he asked.

The snow land Pokémon nodded and called upon a snowstorm. The cold wind swept all the snow around them and directed it towards the three deities.

Wait, no! Isn't it just going to be deflected again? Matias thought as he took a step into the room.

However, to his surprise, the three deities soon stopped moving. The barrier of wind faltered, leaving them exposed. Soon after, the three fell into the pile of snow, fainted.

H-how did he...? Matias thought as he looked around.

Only then did he start feeling the chilly wind soaking into his skin, which triggered goosebumps across his arms.

This bone-chilling cold... it even stopped the three legendary Pokemon and slow them down... they couldn't even form a proper whirlwind to protect themselves... Matias thought as he looked around, and all of these snow...

"Phew, finally... great work, guys!" Antonio said and high-fived the Pokémon around him.

"Antonio, you were amazing!" Azul called out from across the room.

Uh-oh... now's the time to think about this, Matias thought as he eyed the girl.

"Azul, what are you doing here? Are you alright?" Antonio said as he made his way towards the girl, "I thought you were-"

"I was, the kidnapper dropped me off here and locked me in here for a bit..." Azul said and hugged her arms, "she left the room a while ago and I thought it's a good chance to escape..."

"She? So someone broke into this place and locked you up here?" asked Antonio, "do you recognise her? What does she look like?"

"I knew her... she was one of the other girls who got kidnapped with me..." Azul said and hung her head, "she said... I would only be able to find out about the truth if I be patient and wait here..."

So, that's what this is all about...? Antonio thought, but what good will that do?

"And then, I met that gentleman over there who helped me found my way here," said Azul and turned to Matias, "he said he was looking for you,"

Antonio turned to Matias, squinting his eyes as he looked at him from head to toe. The blonde man gestured the Pokémon to come over with him as he made his way to the strangely-dressed man.

"Calm down, it's me," Matias said, still with his low-pitched voice.

The younger man was a bit taken aback by his voice, but he quickly recognised it and paused in his tracks.

"Mat-" he said.

"That's me," Matias cut in, "I came here to help, but seems like you managed to handle it all on your own,"