"Valencia!" Isa's voice echoed in the room, both Valencia and Ayana falling silent. "Your reign is over! Surrender now, or surrender will be forced upon you!"

"Well, aren't you a cocky one?" Valencia slowly turned to face Isa. "How long have you been fighting? A month? Maybe two? I've been fighting for centuries against anyone who dares to go against Axiom. Axiom was a perfectly fine region, that is until those Mercenaries decided to show their face. I thought I was finally rid of them, but of course, that one just decides that he has to come crawling back from the grave, only stalling his end."

"Says the one who's been alive for centuries." Isa gripped the sword in his hand a bit tighter, walking to stand next to Ayana.

"It's good to see you back up." She commented, shifting her gaze back to Valencia. "Garchomp, Earthquake!" She offered her hand out to Isa, pulling him up onto Garchomp's back.

"Sandslash, build up some ice and get Houndoom up with you." Isa yelled down, prompting a wall of ice to form on the ground. The ground beneath them trembled as Garchomp flew the two into the air, touching the ground again as soon as the quake stopped. Valencia had been knocked off her feet, but was getting back up again. "Houndoom, now!"

Isa closed his eyes and muttered a quick, "please work" underneath his breath before grabbing the keystone tight in his palm. "Mega evolve!" His voice shook as he yelled, opening his eyes and looking back at Houndoom. There was a slight delay before Houndoom let out a tremendous bark, light coming from the collar it wore. Isa smiled in awe as the light came from his palm, connecting with Houndoom's light to turn the Pokemon's form into the mega evolved form.

"So you really were close, then? To be able to pull off mega evolution with the Pokemon of a friend? Fascinating. I wonder if anyone else would be able to pull it off?"

Isa remained silent as Valencia spoke, glancing back to Sandslash. "You've still got enough left to pull it off one more time?" Sandslash gave a nod. "Okay. Ayana, you ready?"

"Of course." Instantly, Ayana dashed forward, making a swift downward cut aimed directly for Valencia. She was quickly blocked, but both girls staggered back from the impact. Valencia was the first to recover, moving to the side and pointing at Ayana.

"Dark Void!" She called out with a faint dark glow to her hand. Darkrai followed the motion, extending a hand out. A beam of darkness shot from the Pokemon, Ayana just barely dropping to the ground an rolling out of the way.

"Isa, if you're going to do something, do it now!" Ayana yelled back.

"I'm still thinking!" Isa responded.

"Well, you better hurry up!"

"I'm trying! Houndoom, keep Darkrai off of Ayana!" Isa pointed ahead, the doglike Pokemon giving a firm bark before sending a stream of fire up in the air, taunting the nightmare Pokemon. "Sandslash, back her up if she needs it!"

Sandslash moved ahead, running in towards Darkrai. Between the distraction of the fire and Sandslash beginning to attack, it was enough of a delay to get Isa to Ayana's side. "Never thought you could be such a leader."

"Me leading? No way I'm doing this on my own." Isa commented, his grip on his sword tightening with a small smile. "You fight her, I'm no good at one-on-one combat. I'll sneak around her and grab the necklace she's wearing. If it's anything like Aurora, she'll lose all her power as soon as it gets taken away from her."

Immediately, Ayana darted forward, raising her sword in the air. She slid on the ground and put her sword flat side up to push back the attack Valencia made. "Go!"

Isa moved in, quickly stepping to Valencia's back. He reached out and grabbed the clasp of the necklace and rose his sword to cut it apart, but was quickly pushed away when Valencia turned back and attacked him. She aimed to make a cut not much different from the one that had killed Kaden, but Isa quickly ducked, receiving only a shallow cut on his left shoulder. He put his hand up on the cut, slowly letting it heal.

"You know, back when you were a child and last saw Ayana? You should have been the one to meet me, not her. When it had first been discovered that two children of Axiom, a young boy and girl, had invaded Ruria, I specifically commanded that the boy was to be taken back to me, while the girl's fate could be left to the discretion of whichever Knight met the two. But as always, I was disobeyed, and the girl was brought to me and the boy left alive." Valencia held a hand out, and time slowed around them. "Oh, and don't act so shocked. I know Dialga was present and stopped time for you. It didn't take much effort to take hold of its power and pause time."

"Why?" Isa said after a slight pause. "Why let your people suffer? Everyone out there, they think that you're their leader, that you'll do anything to protect them. Even in Luminia, the people still think that you'll protect them despite countless refugees from the ruined villages across Axiom spreading word that not a single Patron came to help when their homes were destroyed. Leaders are supposed to always protect their people and give them comfort, especially during a time of war."

"...You have a very good idea of what leadership is, Child of Ice. But you fail to understand that I am not Axiom's leader. I am a leader of Ruria, and I do what is best for my people, not the people of Axiom. In the chance that you do end up defeating me, there would be none more fitting to lead them than you. Now, can you defeat me?" Valencia waved her hand again, setting the rest of the room into motion. Her voice grew in volume as she spoke again, sending the rest into silence. "Isa of Effervescent Village, I challenge you to a duel. The assistance of anyone else, even Pokemon, is not permitted. We fight until one falls."

Isa took a look behind him before looking back at Valencia. "You know, you forgot who taught me. The person who taught me knew when he was going into a losing battle, but he also knew how to counter that fate and turn it into a victory." He pointed his sword at Valencia, quickly swerving to Darkrai's direction. "NOW!"

There was a loud response from Garchomp, Houndoom, and Sandslash. The dragon like Pokemon was the first to move as Ayana called for it to Mega Evolve. It took to the air and flew at Darkrai, a bright light enveloping its wings as it attacked. Houndoom moved next, leaping towards Darkrai and sending streams of fire where Garchomp was forcing Darkrai to move. To finish the combination, Sandslash unleashed one more Z-Move. Ice made its way across the room, bringing the entire room to a light chill. The ice followed Darkrai around as it moved from side to side, dodging away from Houndoom and Garchomp. It sent a few orbs of dark energy to distract its attackers, but was soon brought down, and became frozen in the ice Sandslash had brought up.

Isa took the chance while Valencia had been distracted, and ran straight up to her. He made an attack, swiping forward with all his might. She deflected the hit, making an attack of her own in the same spot on his shoulder as before. He stumbled backwards for a moment, being blocked from a more fatal hit only when Ayana came to his back. She threw her sword out in front of him, intercepting the next attack.

Isa stepped back a moment, hesitating and letting Ayana distract Valencia. His mind wandered off for a bit, coming back as Ayana called his name. "You good?" She turned her head a bit back, one eye on Valencia and the other on Isa.

"Yeah." He said, a bit of confidence rising in his voice. He shook his head a bit, looking back up at Valencia. He waited only a moment longer before jumping back in, blocking a hit for Ayana.

"So you come back? That's quite an endurance you have."

"I could say the same about you." Isa pushed against Valencia, reaching out to kick her to the ground. She leaned back, using the momentum as her own and pushing Isa away from her. "Then again, living by sucking energy from life itself would do that to a person, right?"

"Clever too. Honestly, I would have loved to see you remain a faithful part of Axiom. Maybe then I could have saved you from the invasion of your home and you could be standing here with me, just having defeated the one person who you would hate the most." Valencia approached Isa again with a cocky smile, rubbing the smooth part of her thin sword against the back of her hand. "Why don't you do that?" She pointed the sword to Ayana. "Kill her, and join me. Just one little death, and your life will be spared. Maybe I can even bring back that friend of yours if you do this? You said it yourself, I'm practically the walking embodiment of life."

Isa's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Kaden. He paused for a moment before shaking his head. "He wouldn't like that. Besides, I'm not a traitor." He glanced back to see Ayana starting to gain a warm smile.

Just like when she was a kid.

The more Isa thought about it, it really was just like when they were kids. He was there, fighting for the lives of people, up against an undefeatable opponent. But this opponent had her own downfalls and cocky attitude, and Isa had learned from his mistakes.

He pulled his arm back, looking Valencia straight in the eyes. "I'm not going to make my same mistakes again!" Just outside his line of sight, Isa noticed a faint glow coming from the pitch black sword in his hand. It was a light pink mixed with a medium gray. 

His last yell was the strongest he had ever heard himself speak."It's time for you to fall!"

Isa sprung forward, swinging with everything he had. His eyes closed instinctively as a piercing cry came from Valencia's direction. He opened them after long, seeing Valencia on the floor, struggling to stand. He took the chance and reached around her neck, slicing open the clasp of her necklace.

There was an inhuman cry from the woman as she reached up, desperately making one last attempt to take Isa with her. The pale white sword threw itself weakly into the air, not moving far from where her hands had been. Her hands flew up to follow, grabbing wildly in Isa's direction. She threw her head back, arms darting back and grasping at her neck. "Y-ou!..." Her voice cracked across the room, followed by another cry.

The room soon fell silent.

Almost immediately after, Isa took a knee to the ground, letting in a few slow breaths. He held Valencia's necklace in the palm of his hand, glancing between it and the empty floor in front of him. "We did it... It's over..."

"You did it, Isa." Ayana knelt on the floor next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "You freed Axiom."

As if on some cue, a low moan rumbled across the room. Both jerked their heads into the air, watching as the ice around Darkrai faded. It looked at them both a bit somberly before letting a raspy voice shake the room. "...Well done, both of you. I did not expect her to fall so easily, nor such a group to put up such a fight. Enjoy the future you've created."

The dark wisps that made up the Pokemon of nightmares dissolved across the room, a dark aura lifting from around them.

"So he's gone. What now?" Ayana stood up, offering a hand to Isa. He took it, steadying himself once again.

"We need to go talk to the leaders of Ruria that Valencia mentioned earlier. There's still a war going on out there, and someone needs to stop it." Isa took one last look at the necklace in his hand before clenching it in his fist. He walked over to a window, one near where he had laid Kaden earlier. 

Taking one look at his friend, Isa reached a hand out of the window and let the necklace crash to the ground.