Thud!
After Team Aqua's Archie finally collapsed, the currents enveloping the shrine lost control as well, gradually seeping deep into the soil or flowing down the mountain.
Drip, drip, drip...
The scattered drops rang clear and sweet, their sound seeping into the heart.
Rumble—
The waves in the distance still surged furiously, but their momentum was already fading.
Clearly, the Sharpedo raising those enormous waves had probably sensed the sudden turn of events at the shrine, leaving them panicked, unsure whether to advance or retreat.
After all, they had neither the courage nor any reason to attack Mt. Pyre in the first place. They had only done so on their leader's orders.
"..."
Pheobe stood atop a reef at the foot of the mountain, facing a towering wave dozens of meters high and the Sharpedo darting back and forth within it.
She pressed her lips together without a word, but the shadow behind her writhed in grotesque, ferocious shapes. Clearly, the Ghost Elite was nowhere near as calm inside as she appeared.
Pheobe tilted her head to glance at the sky. It was gray and hazy, like the Spirit World.
Suddenly, she murmured quietly, "Am I... really such a pushover?"
Was she such a pushover?
Otherwise, how would anyone dare do this?
Pheobe slowly exhaled, then broke into an utterly serene smile.
"Am I... really that easy to bully?"
She suddenly began to laugh, laughing until tears streamed down her face, until she doubled over clutching her stomach, until sinister winds swirled around her amid ghostly wails and howls.
Abruptly, the laughter stopped. In its wake came a hair-raising silence, and... countless Ghost-type Pokémon circling overhead!
Even a cursory glance revealed Banette, Dusclops, Dusknoir, Mismagius, and many more, packed so densely that they blotted out the sky.
Pheobe lowered her