When the red-eyed Articuno rushed into the inner space of the World Tree, it froze.
Su Hao's Pokémon, the ones it knew, were gathered in a circle.
Not far away lay numerous craters. It was impossible to tell whether they were remnants of the earlier battle or had been smashed out by the clearly unstable Groudon.
At the center of the circle were Lucario and Su Hao, whose body in its arms no longer possessed even the faintest trace of Life Energy.
An atmosphere of grief permeated the entire space.
Even Little Mew, who was sleeping within the pillar of energy emitted by the World Tree's core crystal as it rebuilt its contract, had faintly shimmering tears at the corners of its eyes.
Little Hoopa floated dejectedly to one side. Malice, which had temporarily chosen to fuse with it because of its contract with Su Hao, had already left its body.
It remained off to the side, showing no unusual movement and no intention of taking advantage of the situation to seize Little Hoopa's body.
It merely stared at the human within the circle. The malicious mist churning around it had gone still, and a rare look of confusion appeared in its blood-red eyes.
A contract could not be broken, and it valued the spirit of contracts as well.
But... had it just been used for nothing?
Articuno folded its wings and began walking on two feet instead.
It cautiously approached the edge of the encirclement, as though afraid that even the slightest movement might be too much. Lowering its head toward Diancie, who floated beside Lucario, its voice trembled faintly.
"What... happened?"
At that, Diancie looked up at Articuno.
Surprisingly, there was not much sorrow on its face. There was only the stillness of stagnant water.
Perhaps it had