The world was chaos.
Dust and light tore through the clearing as the Dragonite fought with everything it had. Muscles trembling, breath labored, blood trickling between scales—it was a titan in freefall, held up by rage and instinct alone.
Ray watched from behind a twisted root, heart hammering against his ribs, throat dry.
He had seen many battles now, some fierce, some dangerous—but this… this was war.
And Dragonite was losing.
The Ursaring was the first to fall. A winged swipe from Dragonite's claws tore across its chest mid-Hammer Arm, sending the bear-like titan crashing against a boulder with a sickening crunch.
Ursaring – Combat Level: 40 | Status: Dead
Next was Golbat.
Trying to blindside Dragonite again, it dove from above—only for Dragonite's tail to lash upward in perfect timing, catching the creature in the jaw and snapping its neck mid-flight.
Golbat – Combat Level: 35 | Status: Dead
Toxicroak didn't even scream.
Caught in the radius of a desperate Hurricane attack, it was thrown like a ragdoll into a tree—and didn't move again.
Toxicroak – Combat Level: 41 | Status: Dead
Luxio tried to run.
It was fast.
But not fast enough.
A brutal Outrage-charged slam crushed its ribs into the forest floor.
Luxio – Combat Level: 38 | Status: Dead
Four Pokémon.
Gone in seconds.
And yet… Dragonite stumbled.
Poison seared its veins. Its flight wavered. Each breath came slower, each flap of its wings heavier.
It collapsed to one knee.
Bleeding.
Gasping.
The Sneasel—the final Pokémon, still unharmed—landed on Dragonite's back, claws gleaming with Night Slash.
Ray moved before he thought.
"Pidgeotto—NOW!"
The bush exploded behind him as he leapt out, fury on his face, eyes blazing.
Pidgeotto shot through the air like a bullet, slamming into Sneasel mid-strike and sending it tumbling backward.
Ray didn't stop.
He ran straight to Dragonite.
"Sneasel's distracted, now's your chance!" he shouted.
Dragonite's eye—only one still open—locked onto him.
And it understood.
With a roar that shook the very bones of the earth, it reared back.
Its wings snapped outward.
Its chest glowed.
White-hot energy spiraled into its throat.
And then—
Hyper Beam
The forest erupted in white fire.
Everything vanished.
Trees.
Soil.
Sound.
Sneasel disintegrated before it could scream. The poacher, eyes wide and hand halfway to another Pokéball, was vaporized.
No remains.
No body.
Nothing but ash on the wind.
Ray hit the ground hard as the shockwave passed over him. He shielded his head, teeth clenched, the very air trembling around him.
Silence.
Smoke.
Ash.
And a faint, wheezing sound.
He looked up slowly.
Dragonite still stood—but only barely.
Its wings were shredded.
Its body quaked with every breath.
It turned its head toward the cage.
Toward its child.