The chamber was quiet now.
The corrupted Pokémon lay scattered—unconscious or dissolving into shadowed ash. The Magikarp trembled quietly in the shallows. Misty knelt beside Starmie and Frogadier, tending to their wounds.
But at the center of the battlefield, only two still stood.
Charizard—wings spread wide, flame tail roaring.
And the Hive.
Its full form had finally emerged—massive and revolting, standing on six clawed limbs, each tipped with black glyphs. Its body pulsated with liquid dark metal, constantly shifting. The circular "eye" at its center now blinked slowly, as if awakening.
Skylar stepped back.
He couldn't help now.
This was Charizard's fight.
And Charizard knew it.
The moment their eyes met, Skylar spoke low.
"You're not doing this just for me… you're doing it for him."
He held Scyther's Poké Ball in his hand, then slipped it back into his belt.
Charizard gave a single nod, turned back toward the Hive—and roared.
The chamber shook.
The Hive's claws extended. Shadowed tendrils unraveled from its body and scraped against the floor with a sound like screaming metal.
Then—
It charged.
Charizard launched upward, dodging three black tendrils that slammed the ground where he'd just stood.
Skylar called out, "Wing Attack!"
Charizard dove mid-air and slashed at the Hive's right shoulder. The blow connected—but the wound sealed immediately, shifting back into place like water reforming.
"Damn… it's regenerating."
The Hive's eye glowed.
It opened its maw—if it could be called that—and a beam of dark light fired like a laser.
"Dodge left—Flamethrower!"
Charizard spiraled sideways, narrowly avoiding the beam, and responded with a wide arc of fire that washed over the Hive's body.
It screamed—not in pain, but in anger.
The fire scorched its outer shell.
The Hive lunged, all six limbs crashing forward.
Charizard flipped backward, evading with sheer speed.
But one claw caught his wingtip.
He spun out, hit the floor—rolled to a stop.
Skylar shouted. "Get up!"
Charizard pushed himself up slowly.
Panting.
Bleeding.
And still standing.
The Hive surged forward.
A dozen black spikes shot from its torso like projectiles.
Skylar shouted, "Flare Blitz—charge through!"
Charizard's body erupted in flame, forming a spiraling comet of fire. He blasted straight through the storm of spikes, taking a few to the shoulder—but breaking through and smashing into the Hive's midsection.
The force of the blow sent the creature skidding across the battlefield for the first time.
It shrieked, struggling to recover.
Now it was bleeding shadow.
Skylar's eyes widened. "That worked… it actually—"
But then the Hive's eye glowed white.
A psychic tremor ripped through the air.
Skylar dropped to one knee, clutching his temples.
Charizard roared in pain, momentarily frozen mid-motion.
And then—
The Hive struck.
One limb pierced through the side of Charizard's chest.
"NO!" Skylar's scream echoed.
Blood sprayed.
Charizard roared, wings flapping wildly.
The Hive lifted him into the air like a trophy.
Skylar stumbled forward. "Charizard!!"
And then—another roar.
From the far side of the chamber.
A shape burst from the firelight.
Arcanine.
Bloodied.
Limping.
But moving.
He leapt with every last ounce of his strength—and sank his flaming fangs into the Hive's limb.
The monster reeled, howling.
Charizard used the opening.
His claws ignited.
"DRAGON CLAW—NOW!!" Skylar cried.
Charizard slashed downward, severing the limb entirely.
He hit the ground hard, panting, fire dimming—but standing.
Arcanine collapsed beside him.
The Hive stumbled, half its chest glowing with cracks.
Skylar looked at the two of them.
Both barely standing.
One chance.
He raised his fist. "One more. For Scyther. For all of them."
Charizard looked up.
And then flew.
His tail burned white-hot.
His wings blazed.
He shot into the air—
The Hive fired a final desperate beam.
Charizard spun through it.
Roaring.
Burning.
And with both claws ablaze—
He dove like a meteor.
The moment his claws struck the Hive's core—
There was silence.
Then light.
The Hive cracked.
Split.
Shattered.
Its body convulsed.
And finally—
It exploded.
Black light collapsed inward into a sphere the size of a stone—
Then vanished completely.
Charizard landed hard.
Fell to his knees.
The battlefield was silent.
Then Skylar ran.
He dropped beside him, arms around his partner.
"You did it."
Charizard let out a low rumble.
And smiled.
Just a little.
Misty joined him.
Her team limping behind her.
She looked at the battlefield—scorched and empty.
And then at Charizard.
"I think he just saved the world."
Skylar looked at the scars on his scales.
"No," he said softly. "He saved me."