Pokémon: Above the Top

Deep in a forest on the Indigo Plateau, Sato carefully examined the surroundings until he finally found the marker he had left two years ago.

Bzzz~

"Don't rush. From here on, you lead the way," Sato said as he calmed the trembling Poké Ball holding Pupitar.

Boom~

With a flash of red light, Pupitar appeared beside Sato. After scanning the area, it quickly located the cave entrance it had buried long ago.

"Taaar~"

The ground rolled away as the mouth of the cave was quickly unearthed. Pupitar dove in without hesitation, and Sato followed closely behind.

Inside the cave, Pupitar was bouncing fast. If it weren't worried Sato might lose track, it would've shot forward like a bullet.

"Go ahead, I'll find the way," Sato said helplessly as he watched the anxious Pupitar. He waved his hand, letting it run ahead. 'So much for becoming more "calm and composed"… total lie.'

"Pu~"

Unexpectedly, Pupitar suddenly slowed down and jumped back to Sato's side, matching his pace and moving forward slowly.

"Let's go together." Sato smiled, feeling deeply comforted.

"Hey! Pupitar, what are you doing? Put me down!"

Sato suddenly shouted as Pupitar hoisted him onto its back and began bouncing forward rapidly.

In a panic, Sato had no choice but to lower his head and tightly grip the gaps in Pupitar's armor to keep from falling off.

But soon enough, Pupitar came to a stop.

Sato patted himself down… his limbs were intact. He had planned to scold Pupitar, but the words got stuck in his throat.

Following Pupitar's gaze, Sato looked to the other side of the cave… where a motionless Tyranitar sat. Its eyes were closed, its entire body covered in dust. Sato couldn't even hear it breathing.

"…Am I too late?" Sato said with some regret.

"TAAAAR!"

Pupitar suddenly charged forward and slammed into Tyranitar's belly.

Boom!

Tyranitar trembled slightly, but only a cloud of dust was stirred up. Its head even tilted to one side.

"Pu-pu! Pu!"

With disbelief all over its face(?), Pupitar rammed into Tyranitar again.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Pupitar, stop!" Sato stepped forward to stop it, but Pupitar paid him no attention and kept slamming into Tyranitar.

This used to be Pupitar's favorite game with Tyranitar. Back when it was just a Larvitar, its tiny strength wasn't even enough to tickle Tyranitar.

Every time, Tyranitar would laugh heartily at it, then let Larvitar come charging at it again.

Now, Larvitar had evolved into Pupitar, and it believed it was strong enough to make Tyranitar retreat.

…But now, it no longer had that chance…

"PUPITAR!" Sato suddenly shouted. Only then did Pupitar stop crashing into Tyranitar, dazed as it turned to stare at Sato.

"Let me try."

Sato walked over to Tyranitar. Using energy sensing, he could detect a faint trace of energy still lingering inside Tyranitar's body.

Perhaps Tyranitar was already on the brink of death, but if its body still contained energy, then maybe with the help of Dark Energy, it could be revived briefly.

But if Pupitar kept ramming it like that, even Xerneas wouldn't be able to save it.

"Pu~"

Pupitar bounced next to Sato, eyes filled with longing, hoping its Trainer could bring Tyranitar back to life.

"I'll do everything I can! [Dark Energy: Energy Amplification]¹ "

Sato pressed both hands against the spot closest to Tyranitar's heart, furiously channeling Dark Energy in hopes of awakening the small amount of energy that remained within.

Pupitar stood off to the side, glancing between Sato and Tyranitar, filled with anxiety but too afraid to interrupt.

One minute… two minutes… five minutes… ten minutes passed. Sato had already started to sweat, but there was still no sign of Tyranitar waking up.

"Gengar!" Sato called out to the ground, and Gengar instantly appeared.

"First Poké Ball from the left on the battle belt, release Zoroark!"

"Gen~"

Gengar nodded, used its psychic power to locate the correct Poké Ball, and opened it.

"Zoroark, if I'm right, there's still some Dark Energy in the seed inside you. Release it, I need your help to stimulate Tyranitar."

"Zoro?"

Zoroark was confused. When did it ever have "Dark Energy"?

Sato didn't know how to explain it to Zoroark, so he simply grabbed its hand and used his own Dark Energy to sense and guide the energy inside Zoroark.

"Zoro!"

Zoroark's eyes suddenly widened, it could see the same kind of Dark Energy within itself, exactly like what was in Sato's hand.

"That's enough," Sato let out a sigh of relief. He wanted to use Dark Energy to stimulate the last bit of energy in Tyranitar, but while the quality of his energy was sufficient, the quantity was lacking.

It was like the difference between 200 volts and 500 volts.

Even though Zoroark didn't have much Dark Energy, it might be just enough to tip the scale and overwhelm something like Camerupt.

"GET IN THERE!"

Sato suddenly shouted as he forcefully channeled Zoroark's Dark Energy into himself, combining it with his own and injecting it into Tyranitar.

As searing pain surged through his body, Sato gritted his teeth and held on for one final attempt.

"PUUU PUPITAAAR!"

Suddenly, Pupitar shouted with excitement. Sato quickly looked over and saw Tyranitar's eyelids twitch slightly before it slowly opened its eyes.

"Pu! Pu-pu!"

Pupitar bounced like a fool in excitement, hopping to Tyranitar's face and trying nonstop to get its attention.

"Tyr…"

A low, aged, and nearly inaudible cry came from Tyranitar, and Pupitar leaned into its chest… this time, with unexpected gentleness.

"Tyr… TAAR"

Tyranitar let out a second sound. Its strength seemed to recover slightly, the cry was louder and carried a trace of surprise and emotion.

"Pu-pu~"

Pupitar looked up at this figure -the strongest one in its memories- but now so weak that even blinking seemed difficult.

Clatter…

Suddenly, rocks began falling from Tyranitar's back. Sato finally noticed that Tyranitar was trying to raise its arm to touch its child.

But… it couldn't.

"Zoroark, gently, give it a hand."

"Zoro~"

Zoroark stepped forward and held up one of Tyranitar's arms, helping it slowly reach Pupitar's body.

Even more rocks crumbled to the ground. From the side, Sato could see that much of Tyranitar's body had fused with the rocks behind it.

It had clearly been sitting here for a very long time…

As the arm moved, it split from the rock along with parts of Tyranitar's body.

Tyranitar's face didn't change at all; either it was enduring it silently, or it couldn't feel anything anymore.

But Tyranitar still managed to hold its child in its arms. There was a gentle light in its eyes, boundless and warm.

As if recalling something, Tyranitar's eyes suddenly lit up, and its broken body began to gradually disintegrate into sand…

.

.

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FUG!!! My eyes bro… If you didn't shed even the tiniest tear… if your eyes didn't at least glisten in the corners… leave. JUST GO.

¹. Should I use [ ] or just ' ' for Dark Energy Abilites?