Ayana only hesitated a moment before she acted. She locked eyes with Kaden long enough to get a gesture across, spraying a hand forward at Darkrai while grabbing her sword that hung from her side. "I've told you once, and I'll say it again. My bonds come before any region of mine no matter the circumstances. Garchomp, attack Darkrai now!"

"Houndoom, Flamethrower at Darkrai!"

Both Pokemon leapt into action, immediately making their movements. The hits didn't land, but it was enough of a distraction that caused for Darkrai's grip on Isa to slip. The boy let out a few heavy breaths, turning his head around for a few moments to regain himself. "I-I'm good." He muttered out. "I'll be fine." His voice shook as he reached his hands to the ground to pull himself up.

Kaden scoffed. "As if. You told me you'd listen, so now's your chance. I'm going to help you get to a corner and then you are going to stay there until I tell you that you can get back up again." He leant down and threw one of Isa's arms around his shoulder, hastily standing up and slowly moving the two until they were up against the wall.

"I told you, I can fight. Just give me a minute and I'll be good to go again." Isa said, blatantly lying as he continued to catch his breath.

"Nope. You're staying right here until I give you the go ahead. Darkrai's paralysis isn't like normal, I've felt it before. That takes time to recover."

"You're never going to give the go ahead, are you?" Isa asked. Kaden turned his head down with a sad smile.

"...I'll see you after she's gone." Kaden stood up, still not meeting eye with Isa.

"Kaden, wait!"

"Hmm?"

"You have to promise me that you're not going to do anything rash, okay? Promise me that you aren't going to get yourself killed." Isa spoke with a bit of a stutter as he looked up at Kaden. 

"I'm not going to make a promise to you that I know I won't be able to keep. Broken promises hurt, you know? I'd rather admit now that I might not be able to keep your promise than make it and give you a false hope."

"I'd rather know you have the confidence in yourself to think that you can win this fight than hear you say that you think you're not going to make it!"

"What I'm doing is being honest with you. The last time I fought her I should have died. And this time, knowing my luck, it'll happen to you. I know you can go on if I'm gone, but if you died, I'd have nothing left."

It took Isa a moment to understand what Kaden said, but as soon as he did Kaden was already walking back to where Ayana was facing Valencia. "Kaden, get back here! Kaden!" He scrambled to stand up, stopping when his head started to spin again. "Just don't die on me..."

"What'd you tell him?" Ayana asked under her breath as soon as she noticed that Kaden was back next to her.

"He wants to fight, I told him he couldn't. Simple as that." Kaden responded, and clutched his keystone.

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh?"

"You'd do the same thing to protect someone you cared about, wouldn't you? Houndoom, you know what to do." He held the keystone out while looking to his side. Houndoom stood up next to him proudly, letting its collar give the rainbow glow that caused it to Mega Evolve. "Ayana?"

"What?"

"Don't let Isa get involved. And if you can, I'd like this to stay my fight. No offense to you, but I've got a grudge to settle." Kaden waited for a nod from Ayana, then stepped forward while taking a small breath. "Valencia, I challenge you to a battle!" He drew his sword, staring her straight in the eye. "One on one, we go until one falls. Pokemon may attack the opposing party directly."

Valencia looked at him for a moment. "Even after a month and having met someone such as a chosen of Xerneas and the Child of Ice, you still haven't learned a thing. I accept your terms, but first? Dark Void!"

Darkrai's bright blue eyes let out a small glint before shadows dropped over the entire room. They cleared after just a moment, showing the others in the room to have collapsed unconscious. "You!..."

"You said you wanted a one on one battle? Now it's going to be one. They'll be released after we're done."

"...So be it." Kaden took another breath, putting a hand on Houndoom's head. "One more question. You call him the 'Child of Ice'. What is that? Why don't you just call him a vessel like how you talk to me?"

"Did you not know? Before Ruria came to this region, we were warned by Lugia of one who would come to defeat us if we won. It told us of a child not much younger than ourselves who would come with the essence of Life itself, and ally themselves with a Pokemon made of ice to match their icy looks. Now, if your friend doesn't fit that description near perfectly, then there's no one in this world who does. We were told that this child would defeat us, but that they may fail in their attempt. And that's exactly what I plan on happening." Valencia made an effort to show just how she was looking at Isa much to Kaden's distaste. "Do you know what kind of torture hurts the most? It's the kind that comes when those you trust and love the most betray you. Be it with their actions, their words, or even breaking a promise meant to comfort, betrayal is the best way to ruin someone. How does it feel to betray a 'friend' of yours like that?"

"Is that what you feel now, then? Knowing that one of your own, the highest of your own even, has failed you?" There was a bit of a grin to Kaden's face as he spoke. "Not to mention your own thoughts failed you? I'm willing to bet you never thought I'd be back here."

"You never thought you'd be back here either. This is all just a minor setback. For example, I know you still won't make it through the end of this day with your life. No one can cheat death."

"Says the one who's been cheating it for hundreds of years." Kaden smirked a bit at her. "That's the one difference between us, I'm not gonna cower back and steal energy from the Pokemon of Life itself while I wait for everything else to fall into place. I'll go out and make changes happen myself. Now, are we going to fight or what?" He gripped his sword a bit tighter and knelt down to Houndoom. "I'll call out moves to you, but I want you to keep Darkrai distracted so it can't pull anything over my head, got it? I'll try to keep an eye out on you to call for anything that you're unable to see. Let's play it smart this time. We've got other people who want us around this time." His voice was a small whisper, and when finished Kaden gave Houndoom a small scratch behind the ears before standing again, looking Valencia dead in the eyes. He closed his eyes, taking a long breath.

Focus.

He opened his eyes again, blocking out the world around him and narrowing in on his opponent. There was a darker atmosphere to the room, expected from the looming move of Darkrai over the rest of the room. It wasn't anything bad, Yveltal thrived in the darkness.

You've only got one shot at this, don't screw it up.

Slowly, Kaden's free hand rose from his side. He felt a small burn on his palm, the feeling very familiar. He gripped his hand almost to the point where his nails drew blood from his hand.

They're all counting on you.

Isa's counting on you.

He took one final breath before his sword hand darted into the air, picking up his feet and running. "Oblivion's Wing and Destruction's Envoy, come onto me and grant me power!"

Let's go!

Valencia stepped to the side almost immediately, pulling a thin white blade from virtually nowhere. It was shaped thin, similar to how she was built, decorated with strands of blue, green, gray, and black. Kaden had seen the weapon before, but only just now noticed the details.

"Night Slash!" His voice echoed across the room, and Houndoom leapt into the air with darkness growing around its horns. It aimed straight to attack Darkrai, leaving the Pokemon to vanish in a cloud of black. It reappeared behind Houndoom, reaching out for an attack. Houndoom leapt out of the way, sending a stream of flames. "Nice job, you keep making the calls now."

Houndoom looked back with a nod before taking on its own battle. Kaden glanced back up at Valencia, and swept his sword up in the air and back down. She moved before he could even tell, bashing her thin sword against his and knocking him back. He rolled back onto his feet, attacking again.

They kept going. Faster, swifter, trickier, stronger. Everything about Kaden's fighting was getting better as they went on.

So was Valencia's. They were mostly on par with each other, but she had the upperhand of a constant source of energy.

Kaden made a quick choice, mumbling the curse again. His free hand shot into the air, reaching out and grabbing at Valencia. His hand slipped through the air as she moved back, and he took a few steps forward to catch himself before hitting the ground. His head lifted up with a sharp motion from the forceful push of a hand just resting on his chin.

"Would you like to see something else?" Valencia cocked her head at him with a grin, and he pulled back.

"Whatever you have to show me, I don't want it." Kaden's voice was getting more commanding as he moved on, making another move to attack. Valencia grabbed his sword hand before he could get any closer, twisting it quickly and fiercely. He let out a small scream, lightly tossing the sword to his other hand.

"You can't hold forever, Admiral! How does it feel now? Knowing that your time is finally over?"

He let his right hand drop to his side while raising his left arm into the air. "I'm not done yet!" His right hand formed a tight fist, pulsing with Yveltal's energy. He waited for a moment, one that seemed to drag on forever.

Just outside his sight, Houndoom was pushing to its limits, dodging Darkrai's moves and destroying stray attacks before they could hit Kaden.

Kaden took a breath, his left hand gripping tight around the sword. Red sprays of energy danced across the sword and his entire arm. He looked at Valencia, narrowing his eyes.

He started attacking again, each move he made followed by the lights coming from Yveltal's energy. It got faster, and as he moved he kept finding her spots of weakness. The white blade she held in front of her moved faster to block the attacks.

He finally landed a hit. Right across her left shoulder, Kaden made a swift downward motion, causing Valencia's face to twist. As he saw it, Kaden's mouth grew to grin. "So much for you winning." He laughed a bit, looking over at Houndoom once more. To Valencia's terror, Houndoom was taking Darkrai down bit by bit, the dark energy around the room beginning to lift. While distracted, Kaden grabbed Valencia's hand, pulling her sword from it. "Would you like to surrender?"

"It seems you've changed. Perhaps it's the influence from the Child of Ice?" Valencia asked him. Kaden waited a moment before responding.

"Maybe it's a bit of his influence, maybe it's not. Who knows? I sure don't. " Kaden pulled his arm back, locking his gaze to Valencia's chest. She continued to look at him with the same unfazed expression, her dark eyes showing no signs of fear.

Kaden started to move his arm forward to make the last attack, but he stumbled after hearing a desperate scream. "Watch out!"

"Isa?" Kaden missed his attack, turning his head around to Isa's voice. He was still on the ground, recovering from Darkrai's attack, but looked up at Kaden horrified, pointing to Darkrai. Kaden felt something grab his hand, twisting it quickly and causing him to drop his sword.

He didn't have time to turn around and see Valencia before he felt the slash across his chest.