It looked like a hazy, dense cloud, a greasy blotch on my field of vision. Neither Raze nor I noticed it until it was too late. The writhing smog materialized into a hideous, ghastly form, then slid along the floor at an unbelievable speed directly at my Venusaur. Its body trailed a motion-blurred streak, a purple-black smear on reality. My poor Pokemon wailed under the vicious attack, as the devil had slashed its front legs and torn off a huge petal. Raze’s head crashed to the ground, its limbs buckling from shock. In an instinctive, retaliatory strike, it spun around and launched dozens of decimating projectiles in a Razor Leaf attack. Most of the blades passed through the demon’s ethereal trail, but several sliced cleanly through its gaseous body. Gengar stopped instantaneously and narrowed its immense, glowing white eyes. It vanished, phasing out of visibility.

The creature was just as I’d heard it described in hushed tones for years. It had a deep purple body, those surreal eyes, and a grinning maw full of large teeth. A pair of terrifying fangs hung from its jaws. Gengar’s arms tapered to a set of grisly blades, not of bone but seemingly carved out of the body itself. The same was true of its legs, adorned with two huge claws. Three rows of spines ran along its back. The middle line was large, jagged and thick, flanked by columns of smaller, narrower ones. Its ears are hard to describe—they’re huge, ragged triangles without any openings, resembling horns. The creature doesn’t have a nose, and its ears don’t appear to have any true function.

To my surprise, Gengar appeared in the exact same spot only seconds later. A dark fog rose up from around its feet, blocking out part of its body. Without warning, a thin aurora began shimmering around its outline. Black, ephemeral flames licked at its evil form, rising steadily. In my state of mental collapse, I noticed that the beast cast no shadow and levitated a few inches above the floor. My clouded mind refused to function. It wasn’t the fear that was paralyzing me. The cloud of vapors from the predator was affecting me, shutting down my systems. “Raze,” I commanded weakly. “Vine Whip!” My injured warrior extended two tremendously long, slender vines from the stalk on its back. It cracked them across the room at its nemesis, the sound of rushing wind filling the room. The whips made Gengar phase out again, but the projections passed right through and tore holes in the wall. None of our physical attacks were working.

I had to adopt a new strategy, and fast. Raze’s only real special attack was Solar Beam, and that wasn’t exactly going to work in the bowels of a tower at night. When Gengar disappeared, my mind became clear for only a brief instant, but it was enough time to formulate a last-ditch plan. I looked around at the cryptic seal and writings all over the chamber. “Are you ready?!” I shouted. “Use Take Down on the ground!” I was asking for death, but it would have come quickly anyway. Raze cast me a sidelong glance, bellowed, and jumped heavily into the air. He only cleared about a foot, but came down with a devastating force directly on the archaic seal. The ground roared and buckled, slabs of stone the size of boulders being driven upward by the impact. I had taken refuge in a tunnel entrance to the chamber, pressing my arms against opposite sides of the frame. Raze roared again, lavishing in his triumph. The great seal was shattered, and most of the ancient symbols were either cracked or crumbling. Whatever unnatural effect they may have had on Gengar should have been gone. It was time to finish this.

Page Fifteen
Page Fifteen

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