[ESCAPE ROUTE] The Woods

Theia raised her brow as Taemin's Corsola charged toward her. The pokemon was heading straight for the minefield of Minior between them, and its trainer wasn't the slightest bit wary. Corsola would never make it across. This was their last resort? A mocking smirk crept along Theia's face for a split second then vanished the next.

"Pathetic," Theia said. She didn't flinch or call out an attack. Perhaps, they should've just dug their heads in the ground like a flock of Doduo in distress, she thought. Just as Theia started to amuse herself with the imagery of her own thoughts, a panicked voice suddenly crackled through her communicator.

"A-Admin Theia, Ma'am. Ba..d..News! The...bar..rier device. It's malfunctioning! The excess energy is overloaded...it's...it's going to ex-"

Theia's eyes slowly widened. A small tremor could be felt coming from deeper in the woods, followed by the mechanical hum of a device shutting down. The reverb of the sound lingered in the area, filling Theia with a mixture of anger, confusion, and dread. The grunts in Theia's squad were just as puzzled, wondering what or who could have gotten close enough to the device to tamper with it. Everything was going perfectly and now this. All Theia could do now was lower the number of students who leave this academy alive. There would be no prisoners; kill anyone who hasn't sworn their allegiance to Team Galactic. She needed to give that order immediately now that the situation had changed.

But before Theia could reach down and grab her communicator, galeforce winds from Scyther's vacumn wave sent all seven Minior flying toward her. It was so powerful, that all of the grunts and their Golbats were unable to get any closer. Clad in a jet stream of water, Corsola managed to slip right through the Minior and was poised for a head-on collision with Lunatone.

"UMBREON, INTERCEPT IT!" Theia commanded.

The injured pokemon launched itself off the ground and headbutted Corsola. This wasnt an attack, but rather sheer willpower. Umbreon used the last of its strength to push Corsola's aqua jet off course, making it miss Lunatone by just a few inches. But it wasn't enough. Metang's iron head collided first with Umbreon, fainting it immediately, then rammed into Lunatone. For a brief moment, the coordinated attack stopped. Lunatone sustained damage, but it didn't faint so it continued to charge Moonblast. The arcane energy swelled after Lunatone had taken damage, becoming unstable. The air became electrified, almost acidic yet thinner with each breath. It was an eerie sensation that dulled the senses. Perhaps it was the unbalanced concentration of fairy-type aura, but whatever was causing it made Lunatone twitch uncontrollably. Theia didn't let that stop her; she had a job to do and she wasn't about to fail.

"Are you done?" Theia asked, tilting her head and pretending to wait for a response. But she was convinced she already knew the answer. She relished in the weakness plastered all over their faces one last time, then continued.

"Good, I hope this hurts." Theia closed the palm of her hand, compelling Lunatone to start floating higher into the air for a clean shot. Then her lips parted and the execution order started to spill out:

"Lunatone...Moonbla—"

Theia paused. Her words were interrupted by a loud thud and the sound of Lunatone grunting in pain. Magby darted across the field just in time and cross chopped Lunatone's nose, hitting the pokemon where most of its psychic energy was being channeled. A weak point. Lunatone slammed into the ground, then...nothing.

Everything went dark.

The psychic link between Theia and Lunatone was severed, rendering Theia blind. Taken by surprise, Theia reeled backwards but quickly caught her footing. She moved her head left and right a few times, her ears searching frantically in the darkness for any indication of Lunatone's status or a follow-up attack. But, all she heard was an incessant whirring that got louder until it grew to an ear-piercing ring. Lunatone had fainted, but it could no longer contain the energy it had stored. It was all about to be released at once. When they saw that Theia had been defeated, the grunts started to evacuate the area.

"Admin Theia, get out of there! That thing's gonna blow!" said the red-haired grunt. Unable to do anything to help and fearful for her own safety, she followed the other grunts down the forest path.

"YOU FOOLS, get back here!" Theia said. "This isn't over. I haven't lost. I won't lose. Lunatone...Lunatone! Kill them, Kill them all!"

As if having heard her command despite being unconscious, Lunatone's body shimmered an ambrosia tint that expanded to the shape of a large sphere. Three consecutive pulses of psychic energy echoed from the shell of pink aura, setting the forest ablaze. Theia could feel the heat slightly burning her skin, but she endured it. She was determined to succeed.

"This is what happens when you cross us," Theia said. "This is the might of Team Galactic!" A fourth pulse triggered an explosion. All seven Minior were caught in the blast and self-destructed, adding fuel to the explosion's intensity. It was music to her ears, a bombastic symphony of her victory, but then it started to get hotter with each Minior's self-destruction. They got closer and closer until Theia's screams filled the night. She had taken the brunt of the explosion and the flames seemed to devour her.



A familiar face flashed before Theia's eyes. "Cyrus?" Theia muttered. The man gave her a solemn glare then turned away from her. His form seemed to get farther away and blurred the longer she stared at it. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or if this was the afterlife. All she knew was that she needed to follow him, just like she promised all those years ago. So she did. Theia ran as fast as she could, but whatever space she had entered forbid her from catching up to him. It played tricks on her mind, making her think he was walking on the ceiling or split into six copies of himself. It was like a funhouse mirror. Nevertheless, she persisted. She ran tirelessly until it hurt to move, until she felt like she was suffocating. And eventually, whether by love or obsession, Theia somehow managed to catch up to him.

She took his hand and then everything went white.

It was uncertain whether Theia had died or escaped, but all the Azure Academy students could worry about now was getting out of the forest alive.