Whoosh—
Whoosh—!
Whoosh—!!
Endless frost swept across the field on a black wind that threatened to freeze everything. In an instant, it turned the entire Toxic Swamp and Audino into lifeless ice!
"It's over. Acid Spray had already eaten away at Audino's defenses, and after the damage from that last hit..." Brock felt the sudden chill in the arena. He knew that Blizzard had been powerful enough to shatter everything, including his opponent's hope of winning.
Is this the end? Damn it... is this all we're capable of? Shiki lowered his head and waited for the referee's decision. Pain from his clenched fists mingled with frustration, confusion, regret, and every other fierce emotion in his heart. At last, his eyes began to fill with tears.
The moment he realized it, he tilted his head back and covered his face with his right hand. He couldn't cry. Not now!
Audino...
Just then!
Drip, drip, drip... The black clouds summoned by Mega Audino's Blizzard suddenly released fat raindrops when the cold wind struck them.
The icy rain pattered against the frozen field. It soaked Quagsire as he stared at Audino's figure trapped in the ice, and even fell across Shiki's face.
"Audino..." Shiki looked up at the black clouds. Tears mingled with rainwater at the corners of his eyes, slid down his cheeks, and seeped into the Mega Stone...
"Audino is unable to—" The referee began to raise the red flag...
"Audino! Tabunne—!!" Shiki suddenly felt a familiar pulse...
It was a pulse from the heart. Audino's heart!
Without hesitation, he spoke the words that connected them once more. "Audino! I hear your heart...! Mega Evolution—!!"
The Mega Stone, dim just moments before, burst with an incomparably gentle radiance. Unlike the light of its first Mega Evolution, this Evolution Light was not