"BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM !!!!"
This time, the explosion was like an atomic bomb that just went off. The first explosion paled to the power of the second explosion.
Soon, after a few minutes, as the dust cleared and settled, the broken trees, scorched-up rocks, and the cracks in the ground came into view.
The mother Zeraora managed to send us, just outside the blast radius.
As I slowly started rising from the ground, wondering how I didn't have many injuries, I realized that Zeraora had taken the brunt of the damage. With a weak and tearful,
"Zeraaa,".
It started trying to stand up as I went forward, and I helped him up. I glanced at my surroundings. There was only one word that came into my mind, and that was utter destruction. I wondered why a move like that even existed in the first place.
That's when I spotted my Shinx and Archen with burnt marks all over their body; it looks like they were hit with the aftershock of the explosion. They seem to have fainted, but that just made me even more shocked.
That explosion clearly showed the power of the Zeraora. That explosion was so strong that it obliterated everything within one hundred metres of the centre. Not only that, but just the shockwave of the aftermath of the attack was enough to finish off Shinx and Archen, who were outside the blast radius.
Just as I was helping them,
"Shinx,"
"Archen,"
The little Shinx and Archen slowly started waking up.
However, at the very moment, I heard a cry that made me tear up just from the sound. I didn't even have to turn around, as I heard,
"Zerraaa"
The cry was neither too loud nor too weak, yet I could hear it perfectly.
The little Zeraora rushed to the centre, me following as fast as I humanly could. Only to find several charred bodies, several charred DEAD bodies.
The explosion had killed the humans near him without discrimination. Out of the three hunters remaining, two were already dead, their bodies burnt without recognition, and a smell of burnt meat was coming across them.
The third hunter was the furthest away from the centre, and seemed to be alive. The front of his body had sustained third-degree burns. Although he was alive, I was sure he would much rather have been dead.
The state of their Pokémon was no different; at the moment of the blast, all of them had come along to attack the weakened and charging Zeraora. They had no chance; their bodies, however, were built differently. Although their bodies on the surface showed burns and electric marks, they weren't in such bad conditions.
Just as I was checking the surroundings, we reached the centre of the blast. The little Zeraora started crying at the top of his lungs,
"ZERAORA !!!!"
"Zeraa Zeraaa ZERAORA !!!"
I soon reached the centre of the blast myself.
My gaze found the mother Zeraora. She was panting, her golden fur had been burnt in a few places, her chest heaving as she let out a low growl of exhaustion. The little Zeraora was by her side, whimpering, its small paws reaching up to touch her wounded body.
For the first time, I saw the mother Zeraora not as a powerful, invincible guardian, but as a mother who had fought to protect her child and had been harmed in the process.
My heart ached for her.
My only family in this world had been wounded, and their peace was now shattered.
After realising that her child was near her and crying at the top of its lungs, the mother tried to open her eyes. Looking at her, I soon realised something. I realised that this power was not natural. She had sacrificed something to take care of the hunters.
With an extremely weak and complicated expression, the mother opened her eyes and started trying to talk to her only child, but for some reason, she couldn't; nothing came out of her mouth. As I turned my gaze to her chin, I saw something that would scare me for life. I saw that she had no vocal chords left. Her neck was totally hanging by a thread.
That's when I realised she wouldn't make it. The mother would die, and by the looks of it, she didn't have much more than a couple of seconds.
I had to do something, I absolutely had to. The mother had done so much for me, from saving me on my first day to taking care of me like a mother. She had been like a mother to me, too, ever since I came into this world. I had to do something, but what could I do? Just as I was racking my brain with ideas that would not work, I heard a voice.
"Huh??!"
A human voice, A voice speaking the same language as mine, as I looked around, fearing another hunter left,
"Who said that!!"
My gaze turned to the mother Zeraora. She had her remaining arm around the little Zeraora, trying to comfort him for the last time, but her eyes remained focused on mine.
That's when I heard the voice again,
"Take care of him.", a soft, gentle and motherly voice rang out in my head.
That said, she closed her eyes, or rather her eyes closed by themselves, as if stating she is no more.
The little Zeraora that was being patted by the mother's remaining arm stopped moving. As the little Zeraora stared at the now stagnant arm, his tearful eyes slowly moved from her hand to her face. As if slowly understanding what it meant, he started crying out even louder, shaking her hand, then her body, and at last her face.
The little Zeraora called her out multiple times with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Zeraa,"
"Zerrrraaaaa"
"Zeerrrraaaaaaaaa"
"ZERAORA !!!!"
But she did not move. Her burnt, cut and damaged body lay there lifelessly.
She was gone.
She was dead.