Staring into the face of this gigantic Pokemon, Charlene was assailed with doubts. She didn't know if she and her friends could handle it. But there really was no other choice.

Chelsey began first, spewing a massive geyser from her mouth. A Water Gun. The most hit its mark, but in the boiling hot volcano, it basically evaporated before it could do anything substantial.

Todd was next, ramming head first into Groudon with a tackle. Todd all but bounced off of the Pokemon's almost impenetrable hide.

Materializing a large bone from the air, Alexander leapt high and bashed the Groudon with a devastating Bone Crush attack. That definitely caught the beast's attention, but was still only able to slightly harm him.

Knowing this volcano-dwelling monstrosity would be virtually unaffected by even her fire attacks, Charlene instead willed her claws into a metallic sheen before slashing wildly at Groudon; her Metal Claw attack.

The assault was far more potent than Charlene guessed, but to her dismay, Groudon seemed unaffected by the onslaught. "EARTH POWER!!!" Groudon shouted as he stomped on the ground and roared. From underneath Alexander, the ground burst up sending the lucario tumbling end over end.

Charlene ran to Alexander, but he waved her off, managing to stand again with great effort.

Meanwhile, Chelsey was attempting to bite Groudon in order to make the Pokemon flinch, but was unable to latch on and was swatted away.

"His defenses are too powerful for us to strike through! Todd, we need you to help fix that!" Charlene called out.

Todd looked surprised. "Huh? How am I supposed to..."

"You're an eevee! You should still know that move!"

"Oh come on... Don't make me do it..."

"JUST DO IT, TODD!"

Sighing, Todd jumped in front of Groudon. The mighty Pokemon turned to face him, but then Todd sat down. Giving Groudon a sweet expression with the cutest puppy dog eyes he could muster, Todd sat there, wagging his tail expectantly at him.

"What... the..." the Groudon began, puzzled.

"NOW ALEXANDER!"

"CLOSE COMBAT!" Dashing in with all of his might, Alexander pounded on the Groudon with a series of crushing strikes. The attacks were definitely making a larger impact now, though the exertion left Alexander exhausted and gasping for air.

"That was a great Tail Whip, Todd," Chelsey said and Todd irritably rolled his eyes. It was Charlene's chance again. Lashing out with temporarily metallic claws, she drilled into Groudon as powerfully as she could manage. She felt the attack coming out more easily than it did last time. She felt her arms strengthening from the impact.

"ENOUGH!!!" Groundon bellowed, shaking the entire area. "I SHALL DESTROY THIS ENTIRE VILLAGE IF IT MEANS STOPPING YOU AND PROTECTING THE DENIZENS OF THIS CAVE!!! ERUPTION!!!"

The ground trembled fiercely. Rocks fell from all around and it was almost impossible for the four friends to retain their footing. To their shock and horror a burst of magma fired up from the ground, and blasted into them in molten tidal wave.

...Then... it was eerily quiet. The magma had vanished just as instantly. Todd dropped to the ground first, completely annihilated with the devastating attack.

Chelsey fell second. Her water-based powers no match for the volcano-amplified attack. She dropped down, face first and completely unconscious.

Of her friends, Alexander was shockingly the one to keep his footing. He wasn't lying about his training, it would seem. Charlene managed to get up as well, and the two of them looked at each other, both sensing the other's desperation.

Alexander once again leapt after Groudon pummeling him constantly. The punches took their toll on both of them. Now Alexander was visibly exhausted. From the ferocity of the blows, it felt like the whole volcano shock with each impact. Groundon struggled back, staggering and now clearly in pain.

Now Charlene didn't will the metallic covering into her claws but instead performed a wild Slash attack, which struck its mark fiercely and... from the boost in strength she had felt from he previous two attacks, she was certain that had to be all Groudon could take.

The certainty ended immediately when Groudon stood up, wounded but undeterred. With a mighty roar he once again unleashed a torrent of magma upon Charlene and Alexander, his Eruption attack virtually supreme in this environment.

Alexander strained and shook and almost made it to his knees again when he finally lost all of his strength and collapsed.

Charlene was left alone, but in spite of being a charmeleon, the move had devastated her. And more to the point, her willpower was being sapped. What good would it be if I kept fighting? she asked herself. Even if I fought against that attack, he'd just do the move again. He'll stop at nothing to kill me. So maybe I should let him so I can save... my friends...

Her friends. She looked around at the three of them. They had all battled to their breaking point, not once hesitating from Charlene's side, even when she admitted to taking what was obviously a valuable and very dangerous object.

Charlene was virtually out of power. She fell face-first into the floor. But... Something kept her from blacking out. It pushed her. Grabbed her consciousness; forced it to continue on. She HAD to stand up, even if the battle was hopeless. Groudon had gone completely wild. He wouldn't stop at defeating her. He didn't care who he went through to end her life. If she gave up now, Alexander... Chelsey... Todd... Groudon would bury them all under the volcano's wrath.

Pushed to the brink of pure desperation and thinking of nothing but protecting her friends and the village, something happened to Charlene, then. From somewhere deep in her soul, she heard the same thing as she had during the previous night's dream. "Take heart, Charlene. You were chosen for a reason. When all else fails, believe in yourself. Because I've always believed in you." An energy... new, but familiar began to run through her, starting from deep inside.

Slowly, Charlene rose to her knees. Even Groudon seemed surprised by this. "No..." she said in a strange voice. "No. This isn't right."

Charlene stood fully, her head lowered. "You claim to be protecting this world from a thief. Yet you would risk the lives of other Pokemon in the name of this twisted sense of justice."

Charlene raised her fists to her sides, clenching them. "You are no judge of me. You are no judge of any Pokemon. You are a bully, not a guardian. You put your own feelings over the safety of anyone else."

Charlene looked up, then. And Groudon really WAS stunned. For though she didn't know it, her eyes now glowed with a whitish hue. Then the most shocking thing of all happened. In a sudden burst of light, the diminished tail flame of Charlene flashed back into full size... then even larger. Then finally...

...Charlene's tail flame grew into a blue inferno! "I didn't take the Prism of Hope! I ACCEPTED it! The power of Mew lives on, dormant inside of me!" Charlene didn't know what she was saying. She only felt tangentally in control of the words. "If you threaten my friends and this world, then you will face my righteous fury!!!"

Charlene rose up into the air, glowing a bright, hot light. She didn't LEAP into the air. She levitated. She stared at Groudon. Again she spoke, unwary of her own words. "I am the Bearer of Hope! I have this power, and I choose what to do with it. And my choice is to STOP YOU!!!"

Groudon roared defiance and anger and another eruption spewed forth. The lava engulfed Charlene, throwing her against the cliff wall. It had focused entirely on her this time. Yet Charlene stood up afterward, staring with no less defiance.

"I now know better than to doubt my instincts. Your Eruption is powerful, but I see now that your heart isn't in it. You know what the Hope Prism is. You know why this charmeleon is supposed to have it. You know why you cannot take it from her, why you must retreat and never trouble this transformed Pokemon or her friends ever again. And yet, you'll continue to battle out of pride and arrogance. It is time to end this fight. By weakening this charmeleon and harming her friends, you have triggered her innermost power. Now you shall face it in all of its fury!!!" Charlene felt almost totally out of control, now. Words just came from her and she had no intent behind them. She felt her arms raise to her sides. From inside of her an energy pulsated. Groudon was levitated into the air and flung into the rock wall.

NOW, Charlene. I can't do this part! Charlene felt control suddenly return fully to her. Acting quickly and on instinct, she opened her mouth, firing a towering bellow of blue fire, which engulfed the Groudon even before the Pokemon had lander from its initial impact.

Groudon struggled to his feet, looking dismayed. His will to fight was indeed diminished. Charlene could tell from the look of him. And yet, he was still standing because he felt it was what needed to be done. In his own way, he was trying to be a protector, too.

Charlene felt completely in control of herself again. And... something about this situation... It made her know what SHE intended to do next. Charlene lowered her claws, her tail flame returning to its normal hue. "Groudon... It's time we stopped fighting. Please... This is for the sake of everybody. I would give back the Hope Prism if I knew how. But I don't know where it is. Please... I'm begging you..."

Groudon took up a fighting stance and every reflex in Charlene's body prompted her to do the same. But instead, she simply stood. Waiting. Making no move to defend herself.

A long, long moment passed. Very slowly, Groudon lowered its clawed hands. "...It would appear that I was mislead." This he uttered in the softest tone she'd yet heard from him. "My job in this world is to protect the Fire Pits from danger. I was told that you are the greatest danger to this world. And yet... here you stand, with no desire for battle."

Charlene could hardly speak. They locked eyes for a long moment.

"There will be others that seek to stop you. And still others that will seek to take the Prism for themselves. If you really are the one that was meant to carry the stone, then I wish you luck. But know this. I will be watching. If the time ever comes, I will have no choice but to stop you. At all costs."

He didn't need to explain what he meant. "If our paths meet again, I hope it is under friendlier circumstances."

"Wait, I..." Charlene began.

Leave him, the voice inside of her said, now clearer than ever before. He is from an older time. During the dark times, he fought for justice at all costs. He means only the best, he just doesn't understand our ways. Now he will likely return to his hibernation until something calls him again.

Charlene stared on before turning to her friends. To her surprise, they were being picked up and carried by the Fire Pit Pokemon. "They're fine, but it was an intense battle," Cyndaquil said. "Come and rest up. We have some things to talk about."

Charlene began to hope that all was well again until she caught Blaziken's expression. He looked at her with nothing short of distrust and anger. Charlene sighed and made her way up behind them. When all was said and done and her friends were recovered, Blaziken would have some forceful questions for her.

Charlene looked back, the looked at her hands. She'd gotten so used to being a charmeleon. But now... Now she realized that there was something else. "What happened back there...?" she whispered.

Charlene left the heart of the volcano, wondering what the future would hold for her. And yet... it was also time to stop dwelling in the past, wracked with doubt. Starting today, Charlene had to look toward the future.




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A shorter chapter this time around, and some of you will recognize this artwork from the stream tonight. Props to everyone that showed up. Anyway, this officially ties the last numbered page of The Pokemorph Stories to the first page of Mystery Dungeon - Tale of a Pokemon. I really do hope you've enjoyed it and I'll be getting back to work on Day of the Eevee again very soon.