Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Path of Valor

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Alright, let's keep that catchup train going and just jump right in with…

Chapter 77

Spoiler

It wasn't quite the level of chaos Seifer had seen in the shaky videos of Venish, but that wasn't for lack of trying. Various muscular pokémon ran down the main street, tossing small seeds at nearby shops and restaurants. A few lobbed the seeds up toward buildings with higher floors. Seifer quickly realized they were blast seeds when assorted vines and bushes caught fire. The flames raced along the greenery. Embers and fireballs leapt from one building to the next.

A little surprised that this track is playing in a small rural town, though I suppose stuff is just casually catching fire everyone, so good enough in terms of being a match for necessary tension.

Noctum? We need backup!" Seifer called, keeping his distance from the Medicis and instead shooting targeted Hydro Pumps from his forehooves to take out some of the fires before they could spread too far. "Preferably people who can put out fires! Tulpise is under a blast seed siege!"

"Uhh, what about, y'know, people to fight with you?"

Seifer: "Yes, yes, that too obviously, but look, someone needs to keep the town from becoming a giant ash heap, and muscle alone isn't going to cut it!" >_>;

"Protecting civilians comes first!" Seifer barked, galloping down the street. An orange blur streaked by him and sent a machoke tumbling head over heels into a pair of stunky. All of them were out cold.

"I'll do what I can, sir," Quetzal said, before zipping further down the dusty road. Seifer slowly followed him, satisfied his Hydro Pumps had calmed most of the fires immediately around him.

Ah yes, cue the theme music for Quetzal there:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPl_1RpBK_4

Glass shattered a few dozen meters away. Fireballs erupted from broken windows and screams filled the air. Seifer galloped in that direction, only to skid to a halt. A bright red Focus Blast whizzed by him, striking a flower shop. Dirt, mud, and bits of ceramic pottery doused the keldeo, who staggered away in a daze.

"Bros, check it!" A sawk pointed right at him while waving his left arm around frantically. "It's the keldebro the boss told us about!"

Seifer: "Keldeo. And I'm sorry, but who are you criminal scum again?"

Seifer stiffened. Of course the Medicis would know who he was. Yet it sounded like they were actively looking for him.

I mean, yes. Such is life when they're getting commands relayed by Paradox.

"You got a sweet bounty on your head, brosephina!" Sawk flexed. "And my squad's gonna bag— waugh!"

A giant, fluid-filled, muscular arm picked Sawk up and tossed him at a couple of charging throh. They all rolled to a stop in the muddy remnants of some sort of fountain.

Wait, wait, wait. When did they get a Buzzwole on the team again? Like I vaguely remember there being one in the aftermath of the Chernabog fight, but... .-.

Seifer kept his distance from the source of his aid: the giant muscle bug that Team Bastion recovered after beating Chernabog. What was it called again? Buzzweight? Buzzoff?

Oh, so it's one and the same. Have we really not seen him in action all this time since then?

Bah, he didn't have time for this!

"Hey, you! Can you put out fires?"

"Ja, little pony boy! Who do you think you are talking to?"

>dat German accent I snerked.

Is he meant to talk like Schwarzenegger, too? :V

"Get the keldebro, bros!"

The massive muscle bug hefted up a huge chunk of dirt and soil in his fluid-filled arms and hurled it at some oncoming hawlucha and heracross. It barreled right into them and carried them straight toward a burning building. The dirt exploded, miraculously putting out the flames.

Huh. I didn't realize that the Medicis were so heavy on Fighting-types, unless this is a specific chapter of their organization. Since Carpaccio is most decidedly not one himself.

Seifer stared ahead, blinking. "I, uh— sure. That'll do. Keep doing that!"

"For Buzzwole Biff, it is walking cake!" Biff scooped up another giant chunk of ground in each arm and raced forward, propelled by his buzzing wings. Seifer galloped after him, only to turn right at the junction by the destroyed fountain. Several Medicis lay unconscious already, orange sparks suggesting Quetzal had gotten to them first.

>Buzzwole Biff Okay, so what's the story behind that name there? :V

Goodness, the zapdos was far faster than Seifer remembered. Whatever the Phantom had done to him had given him quite the power boost. Thank goodness he's back on our side. The keldeo shot up toward an apartment balcony with Hydro Pump jets from his hooves. He figured he'd get a better sense of where people were who needed rescuing from higher ground.

inb4 he just looks around and sees a sea of flames in all directions.

"Cid, what's your Dynascan telling you?" Seifer asked. "It's a mess of smoke and embers around here. Where are the civilians?"

"You're not going to believe this... but they're rapidly leaving city limits!" Cid exclaimed. "Most of the people I'm sensing left are you and the Medicis!"

Wait, how is Cid's Dynascan able to distinguish that so easily anyways? Is it tapping into some sort of biometric database that Polaris built or something?

Seifer's jaw slackened. To keep his composure, he shot a Hydro Pump from his balcony vantage point. It snuffed out a pair of blast seeds hurled by more hawlucha before they could strike a bookstore. "What do you mean? How could anyone possibly evacuate a whole city that fast?!"

"There were some powerful spikes in psychic energy," Cid said.

Can't tell if that's Gene, Jade, or someone else entirely.

"Then why didn't you say something!" the keldeo huffed. He shot into the air again, deciding the vantage point was useless if most of the civilians were gone.

"Shoot him out of the sky, brocaholics!"

>brocaholics

Seifer: "Seriously! Lay off the jock speak already! Even before you being criminal scum, this is why nobody likes the Medicis!" >_>;

Seifer immediately recognized the voice: a certain megaphone-touting grapploct who'd rioted in Venish and Casaroja. But he had little recourse against three blast seeds hurtling toward him. Seifer braced for an explosive impact, only for a giant dirt clump to strike the seeds instead. They still exploded, knocking Seifer from the air and into the ground with a much rougher landing. But the dirt blocked the worst of it... in return for giving him yet another dirt shower. His pelt was now more brown than tan and blue.

Yeesh, Mr. Paid Agitator packs quite the punch there.

Seifer: "Oh, that tears it!"

"Bros, look at the bug bro's gains!" A poliwrath gripped his head in surprise. "He's totes cheating! Or living the dream! I wanna marry hi—"

Priorities. Though I suppose that's one sign that these Medicis aren't the main event in this chapter.

Quetzal sped up behind Poliwrath. An electrified kick sent him careening down the dusty road, knocking over other Medicis like bowling pins. "This is ridiculous!" the orange zapdos huffed. He easily jumped out of the way of a skuntank's Sludge Bomb. Moments later, Biff had grabbed Skuntank by the tail and hurled them over a smoking building.

"Nein. Is good workout." The buzzwole flexed. "Biceps and triceps feeling good!"

Which is going to age terribly once the Paradox Volcarona rolls up, I can already tell.

"No, I mean this... opposition!" Quetzal stood on guard while Grapploct frantically pointed at them with two of his tentacles. "It's a farce!" He glanced at Seifer. "Are we sure we're not getting baited into a trap?"

Seifer: "No! But Igneous insisted this was where the Eterna Empire would strike and the town's clearly in trouble!" >_>;

Seifer pointed his horn forward. An Aura Sphere rifled out, striking a pignite in the stomach and sending them rolling back. Grapploct fell back toward the remnants of some outdoor café, waving his free tentacles around angrily.

"It's hard to be sure of anything," the keldeo admitted, frowning. "And where the heck did Igneous go? I thought he was supposed to be behind us?"

Ah yes, that impromptu grudge match with Xeromus was certainly well timed.

It was then that loud static erupted from Seifer's X-transceiver. Ears folding, Seifer winced. "Cid, what are you doing?"

But it wasn't Cid that responded. Instead, Igneous greeted them with a frantic cry of, "Imperial robots outside the city!"

Quetzal: "Yeah, this is totally a trap, just saying-" OvO
Seifer: "Cid! Give us more details here!"

Quetzal immediately stood at attention. "Where outside?"

"Heading for the stat— ****!"

Igneous' line abruptly cut to static. Quetzal looked at Seifer expectantly. "Well?"

Seifer: "... It's going to be right behind us, isn't it?"

"Higher ground first!" Hydro Pumps propelled the keldeo into the air.

"Ugh, easy for you to say!" Quetzal flapped his tiny orange wings in annoyance, before Biff swooped in, plucking him from the ground and carrying him up toward one of the city's taller buildings.

Seifer saw the volcarona robots approaching the city. "Do any of you recognize that weird bubble attack?"

>Seekerpede

Oh, is that what that Centiskorch boss Widget piloted a while back was based off of?

"Can't say that I do," Quetzal responded. He lightly pecked Biff's shoulder and somehow the buzzwole got the cue to fly toward a different roof further away from the robots. Seifer flew after them with Hydro Pump jets. The robots' approach was surprisingly slow, so the team was able to gain several more buildings worth of distance from them. They stopped in the middle of a rooftop terrace.

"But we should call for backup. Cyril, are you there? Who can head over to Tulpise?"

Frantic shouts came from the ground, along with a number of pokémon pointing. Except they were pointing in the opposite direction of the volcarona. The keldeo noticed something yellow poking out from behind a building. Then gray light filled the yellow.

Seifer: "What in the-?"

"Down!" Seifer shouted, blasting Hydro Pumps from his hooves to get off the roof. Biff grabbed Quetzal and flew after Seifer. Moments later, a large Flash Cannon rippled through the air, tearing shingles off roofs and flinging branches and vines around haphazardly.

All:

Seifer: "Okay, this was a trap!"

"What the hell is that?!" Quetzal cawed, orange feathers puffing up. "It looks like a giant meltan! Don't tell me the empire's pincering the city!"

But Seifer followed the Flash Cannon until it caught one of the volcarona robots by surprise. Two of its orange, triangular wings folded back slightly. Its orange mechanical eyes flashed yellow. The other robot hovered toward it.

Oh, that's Shimmer in action, isn't it?

"I think that one's on our side?" Seifer said, landing atop another roof. The giant robot meltan was already moving around the city's perimeter to flank the volcarona bots.

"Do you still want that backup?" Cyril asked. The X-transceiver crackled, but Seifer didn't know if it was a lousy connection or all the wind getting kicked up. "It looks like these volcarobots are in the same encrypted data file as Iron Jugulis. They're Iron Moths."

I do wonder if they're going to somehow learn just how these things were made, or if they're just going to casually blow up one of Team Bastion's classmates in this battle.

Igneous: "Look, just saying, almost everyone from Horizon Gardens was a dick, so it's not the end of the world if we lose a few of them as collateral." >_>;

"Hold that thought." Seifer glanced over his shoulder to make sure Biff and Quetzal were with him. "Cid, what are you sensing in the city?"

"I'm pretty sure it's mostly Medicis outside of you guys," the orbeetle replied.

"Then we're passing on the backup," Seifer said. "If the civilians were evacuated, then let the giant meltan slug it out with these Iron Moths.

Ah yes, the standard operating procedure for every Kaiju throwdown. Even if it's hard to really blame the gang here, since... yeah. Would their attacks even be able to accomplish anything against them?

"Hang on," Cid cut in. "I'm sensing peculiar psychic energy near Melmetal."

"Melwhonow?" Seifer raised a brow.

"The giant meltan," Cid said. "In any case, the energy's quite similar to the spikes I sensed when the population was disappearing. So— hang on. What was that, Scarlett?"

Oh, so that's who yeeted all those civvies elsewhere. Though I didn't think that Melmetal had Psychic abilities, so I'm not fully sure what just happened there.

"There they are, bros! Get 'em!"

"We're being tailed!" Quetzal pointed a leg down toward the ground. The megaphone-wielding grapploct pointed a tentacle at them. Several blast seeds hurtled through the air toward them. Seifer leveled his horn. An Aura Sphere whizzed through the air. When it struck one blast seed, the ensuing explosion triggered the other ones.

Seifer: "Bah, I knew that I shouldn't have passed up on learning that Aerial Ace TM. Since boy would it be handy right now." >.<

"Move!" Seifer fired Hydro Pumps from his hooves yet again, heading for the eastern end of the city. Both Iron Moths spun in place in the distance, kicking up fireballs to try and scorch Melmetal.

"Shimmer! Scarlett thinks it's Shimmer!" Cid cried.

Oh. Well. I suppose that that explains the psychic spikes. Though just how much did Dermezel soup him up anyways? .-.

Seifer landed on a square-shaped roof and galloped across it, watching Melmetal spin away, deflecting whatever flames it could. "I don't follow."

"Igneous and Scarlett met Shimmer at Horizon Academy and he told them he was working on something for Tulpise," Cid hurriedly explained. "And, well, where do all the meltan work?"

Seifer: "I have so many questions right now." .-.
Cid: "Worry about it sometime when you're not in the firing line between multiple giant robots!"

"Okay, fine!" Seifer reached the end of the roof and shot back into the air. He landed on another nearby roof and continued galloping. "Makes sense to me! Then we'll leave it to him, I guess!"

He felt a bit bad about it. All the beautiful greenery of the city was worth defending. But the resistance had much more important things to worry about.

Ouch. Ice cold. Though I suppose that if Shimmer wanted help managing property damage, he should have asked for help.

The keldeo was going to fly off with another Hydro Pump when he spotted a large Flamethrower shooting straight up in the air off in the distance. It wasn't anywhere near the Iron Moths, which were still back at the station.

"Did you see that?" Quetzal called, still uncomfortably cradled in Biff's massive buzzwole arms.

Seifer nodded. "If it's not the Iron Moths... then it might be Igneous!

What are you up to right now anyways, Iggy?

"Bumomomomo!" Melmetal thumped its chest as the two machines crashed into one another and fell to the ground. From his vantage point atop one of the mossy Tulpise roofs, Shimmer afforded himself a small smile. Who would've thought Arianna could wrangle all the meltan together into this hulking giant? And it was holding its own despite these volcarobots — Iron Moths, according to Demerzel — packing fire-type moves.

I'm guessing that that's a side effect of being D-Maxed. Though ohai, Arianna. I see that Dermezel also made you an offer you couldn't refuse as well.

"Don't get cocky," Shimmer called. He did his best not to move too much. The strange metal prongs spiraling around his horn were delicate, according to Arianna. And the gardevoir had no idea what would happen if they were to lose control of Melmetal. "Strike while they're down!"

Ah yes, risking another giant Pokémon going stomping around on a rampage. Or at least I think that's the implication there.

The ponytales funneled a bit of psychic energy toward his horn. His controller lit up. Yellow lightning churned around Melmetal's lugnut hands. It charged down the Iron Moths, but one spun off of its counterpart, buffeting Melmetal with fireballs.

"Defend!" Shimmer's horn sparked. Melmetal held up its electrified hands, absorbing some of the flames, but not all of them.

And the other Iron Moth had enough time to right itself and spew flames at Melmetal's right leg. "Bumo bumoooo!" Melmetal lifted its leg and slowly fell backwards.

Actually, wait, what is Melmetal's dialogue based off of? Is that what it says in the anime or something?

"Idiot!" Shimmer funneled more energy into his horn. A pink barrier stopped Melmetal's fall. Melemetal stomped its right foot down, smothering the flames with dirt and soil until they weren't a problem.

[Stand down! This city belongs to the emperor!] one of the Iron Moths declared, its triangular wings crackling with electricity of their own.

Shimmer stiffened. That voice. He recognized it. But from where?

Wait, implying that this is one of the Eternians from Venish, or...?

The ponytales shook his head. No time. Melmetal had to act first. Shimmer's horn lit up. Melmetal lunged, using the foot it smothered in soil to deliver a swift kick to the electrified Iron Moth. The High Horsepower looked quite devastating, cracking three of its wings and sending it skipping back along the ground.

[Jean!] the other Iron Moth cried. It immediately retaliated with a whirlwind of fireballs. Melmetal had little it could do against the Fiery Dance, stumbling away as fireballs peppered its gray body.

Ah yes, so that's why Shimmer found those voices familiar. Time for the horrifying realization of just what these things are made out of.

Wait, Jean? Shimmer's gaze fell to the mossy roof for a moment. Then his eyes widened in shock.

Jean was a classmate. A volcarona classmate. And with a twin brother, to boot! Did that mean... the emperor had turned them into robots?!

So... I take it that Paradox just has a Biobliterator (or whatever the Paradox-themed rename of it would be) chilling in his basement?

[Jean, activate healing protocols!] the Iron Moth declared. It was already gathering flames for another attack.

[I know, Dean!] The synthesizer dampened Jean's growling.

>Jean and Dean

I mean, those names do scream ‘sibling’ pretty hard when paired together.

Shimmer's ears flicked at the mention of healing. He sent another psychic ping to Melmetal, but Dean was faster, spinning around in another Fiery Dance. Shimmer swapped to defensive measures of his own. He pointed his horn toward the attack. A pink barrier appeared and caught the fireballs like fish in a net. Shimmer flicked his head right. His barrier shot the fireballs back toward Dean. Startled, the Iron Moth fired hastily conjured poison globs to snuff its own Fiery Dance out.

Unfortunately, Shimmer had neglected Jean, who hovered right back to Dean's side. There were still some cracks in its armor and wings, but it had clearly healed.

Shimmer: "Okay, seriously! What the hell?! I thought that these were robots! Since when do robots heal?! And how did Jean and Dean get turned into these?!"

This wasn't good. Maybe Shimmer could make a plea toward the classmates who were still inside? Arianna had said her silly device could project through Melmetal. It was time to put that to the test.

I'll heavily take the under on that, Shimmer. But you're welcome to try, at least.

"What do you two think you're doing?!" Melmetal bellowed, amplifying Shimmer's voice enough to almost make the ponytales stumble back on the rooftop in surprise.

The Iron Moth's mechanical eyes flickered. [That voice... Shimmer?] Jean's triangular wings buzzed a bit faster. [What are you doing?]

"I asked you first!" Shimmer countered through Melmetal. "Tulpise is your home! Why are you out to wreck it?"

Whelp, time to see just how far gone these two are.

[What good is there in protecting a home built on a bed of lies?] Dean spat. Flames danced around the Iron Moth's orange wings. [Your whole family's been lying to everyone! And you've got the gall to act like you're the hero in all of this?]

I mean, it's Shimmer, so...

Shimmer's nostrils flared. The nerve of these two! He gathered energy in his horn. Melmetal quickly spun its electrified hands around and socked both Iron Moths before either could unleash an attack.

"So, because of my mother's mistakes, a whole city needs to be leveled?" Shimmer spat. Melmetal stayed close to them, raising its right leg on Shimmer's orders to strike with another High Horsepower. "Where's the sense in that? Look at yourselves! You're being used!"

Oh the sheer irony of that last line. Like you just know that this is going to be much harsher in hindsight once everything comes out with Dermezel as it inevitably will for a Kuja expy.

[We're making a difference!] Jean said, shooting fireballs around haphazardly. [The world needs Eternatus! Paradox will be a better leader than you could ever dream of!]

Even if they're technically right about at least one of those three statements.

Melmetal stood tall under Shimmer's orders, enduring the Fiery Dance to bring its earth-encrusted foot crashing down onto Dean. The Iron Moth cracked and splintered. Three of its wings broke off. Shimmer winced. He hadn't intended to strike that hard. Weren't ground attacks supposed to be neutral on volcarona? Did Iron Moths actually have a different type?

>Ground attack on a Fire/Poison-type

[Dean!] Jean's triangular wings glowed bright orange. It unleashed another fireball whirlwind. Shimmer's horn glowed, producing a psychic shield to deflect most of the Fiery Dance. The ponytales had a golden opportunity and needed to leverage it now. He was the one in control.

Shimmer's... going to wind up killing his classmates, isn't he?

"Enough of this!" Shimmer declared through Melmetal. He had it step down a bit on Dean. Not enough to do anything, but the grating of metal echoed across the field. "Stand down and I'll let you have your brother back. There's no point to fighting. I know you're here to kidnap people for Eternatus' army, so I evacuated the city!"

[What?] Jean's hovering dropped a bit. [H-How did you—]

Yeah, Fraud is going to be thrilled to discover the sorts of info Dermezel has been passing along to Shimmer. I can already tell.

A purple and red streak shot past Jean. Pierced Melmetal right above the hexagonal gap in its chest. Then it slammed into the ground behind Melmetal, revealing something... vaguely like a helmetless version of the strange creature Shimmer had seen on PV. Only much more purple and red. And entirely mechanical.

Melmetal buckled. It dropped to one knee.

"Bumomomoooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

Ah yes, Prowler music from Spiderverse. Only a sign of good things that can come from this. Though what on earth was that? A Pokémon version of Metal Sonic?

Shimmer's eyes widened. Meltan were falling out of Melmetal by the dozen.

It shrank down and down. Melting into a gray puddle of inert meltan. Shimmer's nine tails frazzled. He looked between the puddle and the thing that had brought Melmetal down with a single strike.

Shimmer: "Wh-What the hell was that thing?! It can do that?!"

[Huh?] Jean's wings buzzed erratically. It was just as confused.

[Mission parameters have changed.] The new machine turned back to Jean. [Capture them.] It pointed a red talon at the meltan.

[But the emperor said—]

The newcomer's cheek bolts crackled with purple energy. [Mission parameters have changed. Capture them or I will terminate you.]

Yeesh, Prowlervally isn't screwing around here.

Jean's electronic eyes flickered yellow. Her wings produced green beams. Green bubbles trapped swathes of meltan at a time. They hovered to Jean's side.

Shimmer's heart pounded in his chest. He backed up across the roof. How had the script flipped on its head in just a matter of seconds?! He had to get Demerzel here. And Arianna. They had to get him out of h—

So it was a trap all this time.

The ponytales jumped back. Slivers of his white hair drifted in front of him, revealing the mechanical beast standing right where he'd been moments ago. Purple and red energy crackled in its talons.

"Wh... at..." Shimmer staggered away. He was at least a couple of hundred meters away. How could this thing have closed the distance so quickly?!

>dat art

Oh hey, it really is Metal Sonic as a Pokémon.

[Hostile unit identified.] The machine's electronic eyes glowed red. [Surrender in the name of Emperor Paradox.]

Shimmer concentrated as hard as he could. "Demerzel? You have to get me out of here! We have a problem! I'm in danger!"

[Hostility still detected. Proceeding with termination.]

Shimmer: "Dermezel?! Anytime would be nice right about now!"

It shot toward Shimmer, purple energy intensifying around its forelegs. Shimmer desperately fired a Psybeam, but the machine quickly dodged left. It dodged right from Shimmer's follow-up.

"Demerzel!"

The machine suddenly stopped. It looked over its shoulder. The pixels in its eyes spun around like loading icons.

[Mission parameters have changed.] It jumped away from a dumbstruck Shimmer. [Returning to base.]

Wait, that thing specifically stopped because Shimmer called out for Dermezel, didn’t it?

Shimmer: "What- What on earth just happened?!"

What? That was it? This thing was just going to leave him? It was out for his blood not even a second ago!

Shimmer shot another Psybeam, but the machine lunged off the rooftop. The ponytales staggered forward, heart racing. What had it seen that prompted such a hasty retreat?

My money is on a higher-priority target. Or else the reason floated in the last block.

It didn't take much searching for Shimmer to find what he was looking for: a large pillar of gray and yellow distortion in the middle of the field. And it was spreading toward Tulpise!

"Demerzel, the city's about to be overtaken by a dungeon!" Shimmer ran back and forth across the grassy rooftop, pointing his horn in any direction he could think of as if it were a dish trying to find a signal. "Melmetal's lost. Get me out of here!"

The ponytales waited for a few seconds before a strange jolt rattled him from horn to tails. A jolt that only came from Demerzel's teleportation.

The linked music syncs surprisingly well with this scene as things go progressively more pear-shaped. Kudos on that.

Igneous dropped to the ground, watching the strange green beam sail overhead. It ended as a green bubble that popped. Try as he might, the grovlazzle couldn't figure out what attack that was. A weird Signal Beam, perhaps?

He caught more green light in the corner of his eye and dashed right. Green beams streaked by him, turning into more popping bubbles.

It was time to get moving. Figuring the city was more important to whatever machines were coming, Igneous doubled back. One of the robot volcarona shot one last green beam at him, but Igneous easily outran it with some timely propulsion from his fiery wings. They dissolved into this back.

Yeah, about that, Iggy...

When the bots didn't turn back around, Igneous figured it was safe to coordinate with the others. "Guys? The robots—"

His X-transceiver greeted him with harsh static. Igneous immediately shut it off, spun around, and spat Bullet Seeds behind him.

"Piss off, Xeromus!" he growled. Who else could disrupt his comm line?

Oh, so this is who Prowlervally saw to turn their attention away from Shimmer, huh?

Instead of chains or a canine-shaped shield, however, his Bullet Seeds slammed into bulky static cubes. They broke apart into tiny black and white pixels and scattered to the wind.

[OMEGALUL! This (ADGE BREAK) is already over! No bathroom breaks h— UP START B A UP UP DOWN!]

The static gave way to Ahsen's disjointed discs pulling themselves in different directions. A skeletal kabutops head briefly popped in and out of existence.

... Or it could be Ahsen deciding to poke his head in. Boy has it been a long time since we saw him.

Igneous stepped back. He conjured his honedge in his right hand. Xeromus alone was enough of a problem, but Ahsen, too? Igneous was in way too far over his head. He couldn't afford a repeat of Venish. It was time to cut his losses. The grovlazzle had to regroup with someone. Anyone.

[LEFT LEFT L—] Ahsen stopped jerking. [Oh? Trying to (ALT-F4) your way out of this? Where's the (START9) in that, (FRIEND OF THE STREAM)?] More static ran along Ahsen's arms, briefly turning them into L-shaped, pixelated cubes. [This is the (MOMENT) you've been waiting for! Time for (HELIX) to take the stage!]

>Time for (HELIX) to take the stage!

I'm not sure what's about to happen here, but I already know that it's not going to be any good.

Ahsen descended into shouting more directions, his discoid body flopping about to and fro. Igneous seized the opening, swiping Honedge upwards on instinct. A fiery crescent struck Ahsen and set him ablaze. He dropped to the ground, twitching and spasming in a mess of strange static and occasional bones— wait, was that an aerodactyl skull in place of Ahsen's head? What the hell was this omen?

That would be a Missingno, Iggy.

Igneous: "So, uh... yeah, I'm pretty sure that mission to save Tulpise is well on its way to being an epic fail right now."

[(LIT AF!) (LIT AF!)] Ahsen's tone was surprisingly gleeful for someone who was currently on fire.

Damn it, I have to get out of here! The grovlazzle's wings flared to life. He started heading further away from the city. If there was ever a time for Scarlett's singing to help him out, it was now.

Igneous didn't get more than a handful of meters before a pillar of distortion erupted behind Ahsen, who'd somehow managed to put himself out and return to shouting directions. Two beady red eyes pierced through the distortion, then Igneous saw a tan, wispy silhouette.

Wait, wait, wait. That's Zodiark?!

The cloud daemon! It was here?! And it had crystals growing on its legs.

Damn it, had it gained some sort of power?!

I'm... pretty sure that's supposed to be Tera Power, so... uh... yes. Yes it did, Iggy.

At the same time, the ground trembled. Igneous glanced over his shoulder and thought he saw a gray, hulking blob stomping around Tulpise's outskirts.

This was way too much. The grovlazzle didn't have time to search for Cid and Scarlett. So, Igneous did the one thing he could think of: tilt his head skyward and belt out a Flamethrower. With any luck, it'd serve as a flare to signal there was trouble.

Igneous: "Okay, I realize that that might not have been as effective as I'd hoped when there's an entire freaking city on fire in the background, but I'm short on options here!"

The cloud daemon took that as a signal to go on the offensive. Its wispy form shimmered. The air around Igneous grew thin, as if the daemon was sucking it all up to make a vacuum. Igneous backpedaled. Honedge vanished into orange mist.

A gray flash erupted to Igneous' left. He barely managed to avoid it. The grovlazzle's fiery wings shot him away from the daemon.

These weren't conventional strikes Igneous was dealing with. He flew just a bit over the grass, weaving behind sudden bursts of gray and silver that matched the crystals on the cloud daemon's legs. The grovlazzle stole glances backwards to see Cloudy gliding toward him. Its crystals sparked at the same time as the strange energy bursts.

We're... going to find out what happens if someone gets hit by one of those, aren't we?

Where were Cid and Scarlett? Surely, they must've seen that Flamethrower. "Help!" Igneous shouted. "Scarlett, start sing— gah!"

Igneous rolled right to avoid a crystalline burst. He flicked his right hand back, hurling a fireball at Cloudy. The grovlazzle didn't hear anything to suggest the attack hit. Could it even hit? He couldn't do a thing against it back on the train. But it was entirely a cloud then. It had crystals, now! That had to mean something.

Yes. It got stronger. Since it obviously couldn't do this back on the train.

The grovlazzle dove down. Skidding across the ground, he spewed Bullet Seeds at Cloudy's right foreleg. But hexagonal crystals materialized out of nowhere. The Bullet Seeds vanished the moment they hit the crystals, like they'd never even existed to begin with.

[Your (START9) flavor is all wrong!] Ahsen buzzed, though Igneous had no idea where he was.

Oh, so Iggy's going to need to play along with whatever Ahsen wants him to do, huh? Since I'm getting the feeling that this is where things are going in short order.

Cloudy's crystals flickered asynchronously. It produced something between a roar and a garbled wail, but its voice was so heavily distorted that Igneous could hardly tell what it sounded like.

Still, the force of its voice along was enough to blow Igneous off his feet. As he tumbled back, a dusty trail superimposed itself over the grass. A thick forest flickered in and out all around Igneous.

He watched patiently from the cover of the thick trees as the riolu jogged down the path, beckoning the ice vulpix to follow.

Oh boy, the visions are back. Time to pay attention to try and see if any hints regarding how it relates to the gang in the present day can be teased out.

Igneous forcefully shook his head. Focus, damn it!

Cloudy's eyes flashed gray. Igneous dove out of the way of more crystal flashes. He spat a few Bullet Seeds at Cloudy's right foreleg, then switched to a Flamethrower heading for its left. Igneous smirked when the hexagonal barrier appeared to snuff out his Bullet Seeds, leaving his Flamethrower to strike the crystals.

Igneous: "Wait a minute! I think that just might work!"

A bell-like chime echoed across the field, alongside another garbled wail from the beast. Gasping, Igneous dropped to his knees. He threw his hands over his head.

His insides were on fire! And not in a healthy way, either!

Yeah, turns out that taking swings at the likely source of your freaky Morpho Knight powers is a bad idea. Who knew?

Nickie's Powder Snow caused a trapinch to slip and tumble toward Tessa, who hit it right in the face with a Force Palm.

"I yield! I yield!" Trapinch squealed, trying to bury his head in the ground.

I wonder if this was their analogue to Jangmo-o, there. Or if I'm reading too much into things.

Igneous doubled over in pain, gripping his stomach. Something's... tearing through my insides! He looked up at Cloudy.

"[This is your reality.]"

Oh hey, you're getting in on the hovertext fun and games, too. Though I see the Ominous Hindi is back. I guess that's a sign that Zodiark is from Ginnungagap? Since that's where we've see the Ominous Hindi originate from in the past in this story.

What? There Cloudy went, speaking nonsense gibberish again. Igneous had to fight it. Stand up!

Cloudy's crystals flickered. An even more intense weight gripped Igneous stomach.

"Nice one, Nikkie!" The riolu held out her right paw for Nickie to high five. Except the ice vulpix faceplanted when she tried to reciprocate. Tessa's aura feelers shot up in alarm. "Ah, right! Sorry! Forgot you're still getting used to the 'all-fours' thing."

Ah yes, more AU flashbacks in action here.

Chuckling, the volcarona finally made his presence known by hovering out from the dense trees. "Sharp work, you two. Don't think we've had a duo solve the entrance test that fast before."

Igneous dropped to all fours, tucking his head down against his chest and screaming, "Get out... of my head!"

Oh, so Iggy was the analogue to Metagross in POV-2020's version of GL's storyline, wasn’t he?

"[This is your reality.]"

Cloudy was getting closer. Closer. The air around Igneous was thinning. Warping. More and more it felt like he was in the forest and not the field outside Tulpise.

"[Your fate is unavoidable.]"

Well then. That got creepy and ominous fast. Though I suppose that Nova's insistence that everyone's choices matter is going to become plot-relevant really fast, since... yeah. Zodiark there is basically bluntly telling Iggy the opposite message in live-time.

Igneous' vision flooded with hundreds and hundreds of butterfree wings, falling away to reveal a strange specter with hair like Leo's that blocked part of their face. Giant shadows coalesced around the specter, forming a gray and gold dragon's head.

"■■■■■■■■, strike them down!"

Ah yes, so this is what Prisma-2020 looked like, huh? Though wait, who on earth was her Necky? Since the blanked-out name there has just the right number of letters to line up with 'Necrozma'.

Actually, wait.

>gray and gold dragon

So it's something involving Giratina.

The pressure suddenly lifted. The air stopped thinning. Igneous' ears rang, but he was vaguely aware of wet and squishy ground around him.

"Igneous! Are you okay? Say something!"

That was Seifer. The keldeo was back from the city? Grunting, Igneous tried to push himself up from the ground. Cloudy was roaring again, however. The grovlazzle braced himself for another painful, trippy vision, but it didn't come.

Igneous: "Ugh, god. That went through me worse than day-old Venishian seafood."

Seifer: "Look, there's obviously a long story behind this, but it can wait right now!" O_O;

Instead, he heard music. And there were vocals, but Igneous' ears were still ringing. He couldn't quite make them out. But it didn't matter. The message was loud and clear.

Scarlett was here. Her words could protect him. Protect all of them.

You... probably should not bet a lot on her protection holding out for long, Iggy.

Breathing heavily, Igneous got back to his feet. His flames stirred in his gut. Seifer shot him a worried look.

"I'm okay. I've... got this."

Narrator: "He absolutely does not have this."

Honedge appeared in Igneous' right hand. He shot forward, gripping Honedge tightly. Cloudy's expression was unreadable, but its crystals flashed. Igneous held Honedge up... and parried the crystal bursts!

His fiery wings propelled him toward Cloudy's right foreleg. Igneous slashed at the crystals with Honedge. They didn't shatter, but there was a satisfying claaaaaaaaang and they darkened considerably. Cloudy roared, but Scarlett's singing kept Igneous' head clear as he zipped around to Cloudy's right hind leg and struck again.

"Tum... hara!"

Igneous: "Wait, that is a good thing that just happened, right?" ^^;

Cloudy's body rippled and pulsated. Igneous kept up his charge, striking each of its left legs in quick succession.

[WTF?]

Igneous saw Ahsen flopping around in a panic... and Xeromus watching from behind the glitchy mess of floating discs.

[There's no (PRESS F TO PAY RESPECTS) here!] Ahsen's arms turned into bony aerodactyl wings. [You can't (BAN HELIX). (CHAT) is too (STRONK)!]

Igneous: "Okay, yeah. I really shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

The grovlazzle U-turned in midair, doubling back toward Ahsen. "I've had... enough out of you!" Igneous snarled, flames swirling around Honedge. Ahsen tried shooting balls of pixels at Igneous, but he rolled left, then right. He swung Honedge upward, slicing Ahsen's discoid head in half and knocking it away from his body.

Ahsen's body flew around haphazardly, flailing its arms around. Pixelated tendrils pulled the halves of its head back together.

Igneous: "Oh you're kidding me..."

Igneous locked eyes with Xeromus. He had Scarlett's power backing him up. He could put a stop to them today. Make sure they never bother anyone again.

Ah yes, Gene will be thrilled about this, I'm sure.

Wings flaring up, Igneous divebombed the corrupted silvally. Yet Xeromus' gray eyes were filled with admiration.

Wait, is... is... Xeromus actually going to die here? .-.

Snarling, the grovlazzle thrust Honedge at Xeromus as hard as he could manage. But all Igneous did was pierce through black smoke and slam into the ground. Grass and soil erupted around him. Igneous grabbed Honedge out of the dirt and spun around to find Ahsen and Xeromus had regrouped by the cloud daemon's sides.

"You can bear your fangs at fate all you want!" Xeromus's chains rattled on his legs. "It will not change anything!"

Yeah, I should've figured.

Shadows burst forth from Xeromus' legs, swallowing the trio up and leaving Igneous staring across the field at a dumbfounded Seifer. And that beefy buzzwole guy bridal carrying Quetzal.

Igneous had several questions, but Scarlett's singing quickly faded. And with it went all of the grovlazzle's second wind. Honedge vanished as Igneous dropped to one knee.

Igneous: "... Ow."

The ground shook once more. Then a pillar of purple and red distortion erupted from where Xeromus once stood. It reached and clawed at the grass and dirt, slowly spreading toward Tulpise.

Seifer and the others managed to get around it. Panic spread across the keldeo's face. He was trying to think of something. Anything to stave off the distortion's advance.

Whelp, I suppose I should get my

s in the chat ready for Tulpise.

It wasn't worth it. Igneous was spent. He imagined the others were tired, too. They had no choice but to leave.

"Outpost," Igneous rasped. "We must... go back."

Alas, Tulpise. We hardly knew ye.

CDL: Medium Insectoid Abduction Unit, Iron Moth Mechanized volcarona adapted to capture small designated targets. It sounds like the emperor was experimenting with ways to modify Bug Buzz from an attack that produces sound waves into a means of ensnaring an enemy and sealing them in a bubble. Frankly, I'm not sure where the link is or how you can jump from point A to point B on that one. But Eterna energy loves to work in mysterious ways.

Oh, so that's that bubble thing that we saw them do in battle.

~Nurtured Destiny: Zodiark Dreamweaver~
The Affirmer is neither mortal nor god. Through transcending space and time, He has evolved beyond the very notion of life and death. He is now the only one capable of rewriting reality's single, ultimate Truth.​

I... have no idea how in the hell the gang is supposed to deal with that, but hey. If TTGL could find a way to do the impossible and see the invisible, I'm sure we'll eventually get there. ^^

Path of Valor Almanac
"Yeh tumhara aasliyat hain," is Hindi that loosely translates to "This is your reality." Similarly, "Tumhara kismat apariharya hain," is a loose Hindi translation of "Your fate is unavoidable." My thanks to ExplosiveTurkey, of PMD: Canon Breakage fame for his assistance!

Oh, so that's where you got your translations from. I'll have to keep that in mind if/when I ever need Hindi dialogue for one of my stories.

Boy, where do we even start on this chapter? Though I suppose this is a good one:

I kinda get the vibe that Team Bastion just has a terrible batting average with these "everything changes" arcs, since... yeah. I mean, it wasn't as big of a disaster as Venish, but this wasn't exactly a happy outcome for anyone on the protagonists' side. Lots of tantalizing hints in the air for things yet to come in the future, especially for whatever's going on with that GL AU sequence and what's now belatedly occuring to me to probably be a vision of Volo from PLA. I'll have to keep an eye on where things go from here, since it feels almost as if the plot got blown wide open... again.

As for critiques... I'm not really sure if I have any. Maybe some parts could've been a bit more generous about hints of what's going on or whatever, but hey, this story has gotten a lot of mileage just dripfeeding little slivers of the truth in the past, so I suppose there's an argument to not fix what's not broke.

Good work, @Ambyssin . I'll be looking forward to seeing where things go from here, since boy are there a lot of places where the dust could settle from all of this, and it'll be quite the ride to see where it winds up going. ^^

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, took a while for me to get this up here, though hey, at least I'm feeling less sick than I was when I wrote this originally, so all the more reason to press ahead:

Chapter 78

Spoiler

Entry 2201
The newcomer has spoken with a couple of Sages. They said it was just simple questions. About the world. About the Sages. About me. Apparently she ran away from her home.

Otherwise, she's kept mostly to herself. Something about her aura feels familiar. Even the term "lunala" tickles the back of my head. And yet I'm not sure why.

Oh, so Chiron was also secretly a Giratina too, huh?

I should try talking to her. Suicune and Reshiram both asked I use a gentle approach, though. Hence, I've left her to her own devices. How much longer do I do that for? They didn't specify a timeframe for this "gentle" approach of theirs. It's rather frustrating...

That... doesn't bode well for how well Chiron and Bahamut were getting along shortly before the great sealing of Eternatus.

Days of stumbling across the Qliphoth half-blinded were finally behind Necrozma. He had started to fear the remaining Needles were gone. That his power was taken by the one he'd sensed fragments of his light within.

Ominous Bayo 3 BGM is ominous there.

That infernal drakloak. Necrozma didn't know what she thought she was doing. Why her aura had traces of his beloved. But he couldn't find her. And Necrozma couldn't get a lock on a single Needle.

... That finally changed. After slowly drifting from planet to planet within the Qliphoth, he found one composed of bare, labyrinthian tunnels. Dim crystal chunks lay in dirt walls. Twinkling between pillars of wood and metal.

Oh, wonderful. So Bahamut's undead corpse is going to get a powerup to make everybody's lives harder.

He lumbered through the abandoned mine. Its purpose long past fulfilled, it was left to decay and disarray. The same thing that was happening to his home. That was why he needed his power back. To protect it— no, save it.

Wait, his home? As in Etherium, or...?

The light he sensed got brighter. Warmer. A beacon that drew him through the tunnels. Made every step a bit less painful.

Yet there was a problem: a soul. A single one he sensed by his power. Paradigm energy dwelled within it. A wretched daemon, sniffing around what was rightfully his. Had that so-called emperor ordered the soul to approach the Needle? Study it? Try to pull it?

Ah yes, cue the ranting about 'give me back my light' in 3... 2...

Necrozma would show them. He would strike with unrelenting force to repel them. His crystal tendrils rippled. He silently wound up, then struck the ground underneath him. His crystal tendrils pulsed with psychic energy, keeping the walls and roof of the cavern rooted in place. There would be no collapsed tunnels here.

Instead, Thousand Waves rippled across the ground. Necrozma flew after it, to follow his surprise attack. The emerald energy carried forward, until the Needle's glimmering blue gem shined ahead of him.

Or he could do that. Though I will heavily take the under on that Paradigm operative really being gone.

The Thousand Waves struck the armor-clad knight standing in front of it. He skidded across the orange, uneven ground. He struggled to maintain his grip on his incandescent blade.

Necrozma's core flickered. The knight tried to raise his blade, but psychic blasts buffeted it, knocking it further back. Red dust and gravel kicked up all around him. This knight was clumsy and awkward. Unaccustomed to the Paradigm shard he held.

Oh, it's Gio or whoever that was who popped in in Venish, isn't it? Since this sure reads very similarly.

"Pathetic." Necrozma's tendrils rippled under his shadows. Concentrating a bit more, he realized the aura beneath the knight's armor was familiar. However, it stirred no emotions. Only faint memories of prior weakness.

After a few seconds, Necrozma made the connection.

The knight was another of his past mistakes. He destroyed Mewtwo's creator. Necrozma was sure of it. Yet here he was, clad in armor with a strange energy. Another case of Eternatus twisting the rules. Bending nature in ways it didn't deserve to bend. Which was why Necrozma needed to destroy Eternatus.

Yuuuuuuuuuuup. Though I suppose that would explain why he was there in Venish in the first place if he's also a part of Paradigm.

The Paradigm was merely fragments of the Universe. The unfathomable power at the center of Eternatus' existence. And the very thing that made it so difficult to destroy.

Another Universe fragment would be his. And the Needle this knight was foolish enough to protect would follow. This mistake would not escape. He wasn't Mewtwo. He couldn't teleport. Necrozma had him.

Yeah, see, the fact that you're feeling this confident makes me think that you're going to get cockblocked, Bahamut. Since being cocky going into battle is always a dangerous state.

"You sought power through control of others." Necrozma flicked his right hand. A blade of light appeared. "You were doomed to fail from the beginning. You never had power of your own, human."

The knight shot Icicle Spears forward, as if to defy Necrozma. But they were tiny slivers, shredded into mist by a single swipe of his light blade. More sword-shaped Photon Geysers formed over the knight.

Bahamut: "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this."

"I will show you real power!" Necrozma curled his crystal fingers. The swords descended.

... And landed in the ground, kicking up more red dust. Necrozma looked around, at the vessel-like rocks weaving all around him. Pulsating with orange fluid like a buzzwole's arms.

He just had to concentrate and— there!

Necrozma fired a bevy of Thousand Arrows to his right. Several electronic shouts filled the air. The metallic remnants of those stupid Eternatus Troopers fell into a haphazard pile of scrap metal. Necrozma kept concentrating... but the knight's aura was gone. Some speedy robot must have charged in to give him cover to flee.

You sure that Gio can't teleport now, Bahamut? Since that was a suspiciously clean exit there.

"No matter." His crystal tendrils carried him across the orange ground. A single Plasma Fist broke through columns of rock, revealing the Needle buried in the middle of other orange-fluid filled rocks.

Latios appeared in a puff of black smoke by what passed for Necrozma's right shoulder. Glanced at him with empty blue eyes.

I suppose I should be less surprised there given that we already have his counterpart Legendary floating around, but...

So, does this mean that we're going to see Bahamut pull Sanic antics in the future?

"This is what the world needs. I must have all the power."

He reached toward it.

"Hello again, Suicune."

Oh, so that's what he freed from the Needle. At first, I thought that it was Latios, but noted.

The ocean gently lapped against the shore. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Chiron watched the sand darken with each wave, then brighten when the water pulled away. It was almost hypnotic, especially with the sun shining down on her.

"Everything okay?"

Oh hey, FF9 music. It's been a while since we've seen it make an appearance in this story.

Chiron looked up. Suicune sat on the water, like it was nothing. She was well aware suicune were capable of that from the ones she'd encountered within Eternatus. But this was her first time seeing one under natural light. She never realized how beautiful the sparkling head crystal was. Her mane glistened, too. Blue hair flowed with the cool ocean breeze.

"Yeah. Sorry, just... thrown off a bit." Chiron rubbed the right side of her head. She had to choose her words carefully. These Luminous Sages were still feeling her out and getting a sense for her intentions. "We didn't have a lot of," she gestured at the ocean with her wing, "this where I'm from."

Oh right, Yuna sees a vision every time a needle is pulled. Boy is that going to be alarming for her once she puts two and two together.

"Ah. Yeah, it's really something, huh?" Suicune turned around, ribbons fluttering. Chiron resisted the urge to laugh. The butt ribbons ruined Suicune's regal appearance, in her opinion. If this Bahamut fellow really did craft the Sages from light, he could've at least made some design alterations.

Oh, so just like the souls of Pokémon from GL, I see. I wonder if they can similarly be absorbed like in that story.

"So, uh, you used to be a different pokémon, right?" the lunala asked to distract herself. "Was the water a big part of your life before you took this job?"

Suicune nodded. "Would you believe me if I said I was a dreadnaw?"

Chiron blinked. Truthfully, no. She remained silent.

"Pfbt. That look on your face tells me everything."

Well that's a big change. Not as big as Jade going from Salazzle to Lugia, but still.

The lunala ducked her head under her left wing. How embarrassing. A few weeks outside the Qliphoth and she'd forgotten how to mask her facial expressions? Matriarch would—

... No. Stop. She left Eternatus for a reason. This didn't matter.

Narrator: "It absolutely did matter."

Lifting her head, Chiron said, "It is a strange leap. I mean, I guess you're still four-legged."

"But dreadnaw isn't a picture of beauty and grace." Suicune pivoted to wink at Chiron.

I dunno, she sure seemed to have taken quickly to it after the makeover.

"Is that what your, um, Sage title is?"

"The Sage of Grace, yes." Suicune bobbed her head. She strode across the water. The small waves passed around her legs like they weren't even an obstacle. "In its natural state, water is graceful. Always flowing. Drifting. Cascading."

Wait, how did Bahamut go around picking those Sage titles anyways? Since he seems to have been all over the board for attributes he felt ought to be associated with his servants.

She flicked her right forepaw, kicking up some ocean spray that showered the sand in front of Chiron. The wet grains glistened even as they quickly dried up.

"Right." Chiron stared at the drying sand. Suicune made sense, and yet the lunala was still confused. "But what does grace have to do with protecting the planet?"

Oh, so that's how Bahamut chose those titles. Even if I'm now curious about his logic here myself.

Flummoxing, Suicune stumbled a bit. Which was enough to break her water-walking powers, as she fell forward with an audible splat. Chiron raised a brow at the Suicune-shaped imprint in the sand left behind when Suicune got back to her feet. And it was really hard not to laugh at the sand and silt caking Suicune's face and hair.

"Was it something I said?" Chiron mused.

I suppose that's one way to tell that Suicune hadn't really considered the question herself in the past.

Suicune did her best to look unphased, shaking the silt off. "I honestly asked my teacher the same question." She twisted her neck and a blue diamond on a chain swiveled out of her hair. It had that same eight-pointed star Chiron saw on the back of Bahamut's head. Other Sages had different-colored gems with the same symbol and she wasn't sure why.

"And I assume you got an answer?" Chiron said.

Oh, so that's what the heads of the different needles look like, huh?

"Bahamut feels that if we carry ourselves with grace, we're less likely to come to blows," Suicune explained. Finished shaking off the sand, she walked onto the shore. A wave swept away half the trail of pawprints she left behind.

"I see." Chiron folded her wings over her torso. "And not fighting is... important."

"Yes." Suicune glanced skyward. "More than anything, Bahamut wants this world to be as tranquil as possible. That's why the Sages exist."

Well, that worked out well for the present day. And I suppose it answers the question of the world that Bahamut is so invested in saving.

Chiron frowned. She envisioned a togekiss in the back of her head.

"You must keep Eternatus as peaceful as possible. Fighting will only serve to draw the Renegade toward us and ruin everything."

Um, yeah, funny story about that, Bahamut...

"Isn't it our nature as pokémon to fight, though?" Chiron wondered, trying to shake the memory out of her mind.

"You mean, like, for sport?"

"At the very least."

Suicune shrugged. "Bahamut doesn't see it that way. He dreams of a world where battling isn't necessary."

Oh, so that's why Etherium's Pokémon are crazy-underpowered in their natural states. It's literally the sort of world that Bahamut wished to exist.

Chiron looked down. Why would pokémon even have powers, then? It was completely at odds with Bahamut's way of thinking.

"Something wrong?"

The lunala stiffened. "Hmm?" She shook her head. "I'm fine. Just thinking."

Simple. Bahamut wasn't the one to write the rules first, Chiron. He's just attempting to revise them.

"About your home?"

A single nod.

Suicune slowly slid onto her belly. "But you fled from there, right? Was battling that big of a deal?"

Chiron sighed. "In a manner of speaking."

I can't tell whether or not the implication is that Chiron bounced right after Matriarch went offline or not, since given that we know that there was a violent free-for-all afterwards... that would be as good a time as any to want out from inside Eternatus.

"Well, if the place made you so unhappy you had to leave, maybe you ought to give our way of thinking a try," Suicune said. She traced a forepaw in a circle through the sand. "See if it's really that strange or not."

Chiron wasn't sure it was that simple. Keeping a low profile was important, though. She wasn't looking to upset Bahamut. Better to play along while she continued to feel things out.

Even if it did sound strange, Chiron doubted it was worse than remaining Archbishop.

Okay, yeah. That more or less confirms it.

"Gah!"

Yuna's head shot up. The drakloak furiously rubbed her eyes, then pulled her hands away.

Damp? Why were her hands wet?

Ah yes, dipping back into Xenoblade music again, I see. Though I should actually keep this song in mind for if I ever stop being lazy and go back to work in musical potholes into OaT.

... Oh, she had dropped down onto a towel.

Right, I'd finished showering. Yuna looked over her shoulder. Steam faded from the glass shower door. Water droplets trickled down into the shower basin.

Wait... did she not realize that she just had a vision of her life as Chiron?

She wasn't sure whether to count her blessings that she didn't pass out while showering. The fact that the Phantom — they were calling it Necrozma, apparently — had another Needle was quite alarming. However, it wasn't like Yuna could do anything about it right this second.

Okay, nevermind, she realizes it. Though I wonder if she should've been described as being a bit more tense and shaken, since we don't really get that much of an "alarming" vibe up to this point.

Sighing, the drakloak picked herself and her towel off the floor. She finished drying off and tossed the towel into a wicker basket sitting in the corner by chipped green ceramic tiles. Yuna floated toward the door and pushed it open.

Who to tell first? She doubted everyone was together at the moment. Yuna turned right and floated down the hall. Hopefully she wouldn't get turned around trying to find her way back to the restaurant.

"Couldn't you, y'know, just make a rift to it?" Reshiram pointed out.

"Tis true! Work smarter and not harder," Rayquaza added.

They do have a point, just saying, Yuna.

"Right." Yuna rubbed the front edge of her rectangular head. She was about to call forth a small rift when faint golden light appeared at the other end of the hall.

I think someone's coming. Yuna straightened up a bit. Her ectoplasm shriveled the moment she realized the gold light came from a familiar dusknoir.

Yuna:

Vegna: "Yes, yes, very startling, I know, but we don't have time for this, Princess."

It was hard to read his single eye, but Yuna afforded herself a guess.

"Looking for me?" Vegna looked at his right arm. Golden embers trickled off of it, dissolving against the walls and floor. "Necrozma found another Needle."

Yuna: "Tell me something that I don't know. (Also, what on earth is up with your arm?)" -_-;

"Yeah." Yuna's shoulders sagged. "I don't suppose you and Gene have come up with some way to stop him yet?"

Vegna turned away from her.

"I'm going to go with 'no,'" Reshiram said.

Cecil: "Maybe even a 'hell no', there." .-.

Yuna floated toward him. "So, what now?"

The dusknoir continued down the hall, saying nothing.

"Okaaaay." Yuna followed him. Maybe he was looking for somewhere private— okay, yeah, he literally just went into some random door on the left. Yuna stopped in the doorway. It was an empty room, save for a broom and a dustpan. Given the dust sprinkled on the floor, the room hadn't served a purpose for quite a while.

Yuna: "Um... Vegna? What are you doing?" ._.;

"I have sought for a joy without pain, for a solid without fluctuation," Vegna said, crossing his arms. His eye dimmed. "Why will you die, O Eternals? Why live in unquenchable burnings?"

"Huh?" Yuna tilted her head.

"He was fond of a particular poet from Earth," Vegna explained. "Bahamut wrote most of the poems in his journal."

Oh, so William Blake or some analogue to him existed in whatever universe Bahamut originally hailed from.

"He'd recite stanzas from them to us all the time," Reshiram said, nodding in the back of Yuna's head.

"It was so boooraaaaaaawming."

Prooooobably a good thing that he's not around to hear that, just saying. ^^;

Yuna shoved Cresselia out of her mind before could yawn again. What did any of this have to do with stopping Necrozma? "Is poetry the key to beating him? Force him to remember things he liked?" Stopping him with the power of positive memories sounded like something right out of Shaymin the Wanderer's Super Darkness Crisis.

Ah yes, so that's our in-universe equivalent to PSMD there.

"The best thing we can do against Necrozma is stall him." Vegna tapped his right index finger against his left arm. "Stall and find Needles before him. His power is too great. Not even Mewtwo can stand up against him."

Yeeeeeeeeeah, that problem didn't exactly get any better now that he has another Needle under his belt.

That wasn't what Yuna needed to hear. Vegna had basically given up before taking a solid crack at anything! "Then why go through all the trouble to find us?" The drakloak leaned against the doorway.

"I had to." Vegna squeezed his arms. There was an uncertainty in the dusknoir's voice Yuna hadn't heard before. "And you didn't let me finish," he added, a bit more like his rigid self.

Yuna: "I mean, you basically explained that we're up against an enemy where we're just completely screwed if we get into a direct confrontation, so I'm not sure what else there is to add there." >_>;

Yuna reluctantly gestured for him to continue.

"If we want to defeat Necrozma, we must reunite Phantom with soul." Vegna held his hands up and squished them together.

"You can do that?" Yuna eyed Vegna skeptically. She heard about the necromancy thing, but if Bahamut severed his soul ages ago, it would be long gone.

Oh, so like fighting Tubba Blubba from PM64. Though Vegna knows where to find this soul, huh?

"A soul cannot be erased." Vegna turned and braced his left hand on the wall. "I would stake my necromancy title on that fact. Bahamut's soul is still out there. Perhaps it passed to this 'Overworld' realm, but I strongly doubt it."

"I bet he thinks pulling more Needles will force the soul out of wherever it's hiding," Reshiram said. Yuna decided to pass that theory along to Vegna, who nodded slowly.

... Or it could fail and just free Eternatus for nothing. That's also possible, too.

"That's my deduction." He tapped his index finger against the wall. "Necrozma reacted violently to the Needles I pulled, after all."

Makes sense.

"Hold it!" Reshiram's fur puffed out in Yuna's psyche. "He said Needles. Like more than one!"

I'd recommend emphaizing the 's' in 'Needles' from Cecil there. Though I'll admit, I didn't notice that at first from Vegna's dialogue, either.

Yuna blinked. "Hang on... Needles?

I thought it was just Zekrom." Vegna pushed himself away from the wall. His hands flickered gold. Griffon and Talonflame touched down on the dusty floor, spreading their wings in unison.

Alright, time to see who else Vegna's got chilling around in his soul collection.

"Lo! I unfold my darkness," he declared. "And on this rock, place with strong hand the book of eternal brass, written in my solitude."

Poetry was not what Yuna needed to connect the dots. The drakloak rubbed her forehead. "These two are sages? There's no way. I mean, Talonflame's a fer—"

Talonflame opened his wings and screeched.

"Aww, there, there." Griffon draped a metallic wing over Talonflame. "She didn't mean it."

Wait, whaaaaat? Are those two incognito or something? Since I certainly wasn't expecting to hear that.

"Much like the blabbermouth half-lugia, these two were already corrupted." Vegna gestured to Talonflame. "Victini, Sage of Victory." He then pointed at Griffon, but the corviknight beat him to the punch.

"Raikou reporting in!" Griffon saluted with a wing. "Apparently. Don't remember diddly squat about those days."

That's... quite a transformation that Griffon went through both ways. Though I suppose that means that had the gang not intervened with Jade sooner, that she'd have gone back to visually just being a Salazzle. It makes me wonder if we'll one day see Cecil as a Hydreigon again.

Yuna's eyes slowly widened. There's no way...

"Hmm. I doth recall Sir Raikou having a mouth on him," Rayquaza said. "Not in the same way Dame Lugia did, either. He would mouth off at Bahamut. She would crack jokes."

Somebody got Photon Geysered on the regular, I can already tell.

"Can you prove that?" Yuna squeaked.

Griffon cawed with laughter. "What kind of hack d'ya take V for, huh? Proof's in the journal-flavored pudding. My name shows up there." The corviknight puffed out his chest. "I'm Baha-famous!"

Wait, as 'Griffon', or...?

"And we're done here." Vegna snapped his fingers. Both his birds vanished in flecks of golden light. "Satisfied?"

Now it was Yuna's turn to brace herself, only she used the doorframe. "I guess so."

Yuna: "How on earth does nobody notice these things?!"

Vegna: "I mean, having a reputation that makes others not want to get too close helps a bit." ^

What had they been talking about originally?

Right, a way to stop Necrozma. "So, there's really no other way besides Needle hunting?" Yuna found that quite dangerous if it would bring them to further blows with Necrozma. "Couldn't we just let him get the others and search for the soul?"

Yuna: "Since, if fighting with him directly is already hopeless now..."

Vegna: "Yes, but it's at least survivable. If Bahamut grows too strong, that's not something that can be guaranteed."

"The more he has, the stronger he will be, even after we strip his invincibility," Vegna said. "He attacked you with the techniques of the Sages he acquired, did he not? You're only worsening your odds by letting him get Needles."

Yes, that would also be a good reason to not want Bahamut to get too many of the Needles.

Yuna wasn't sure how big a difference it could really make. "I mean... Bahamut was already strong enough to sink an entire island. What could a few extra Sages do for him?"

"More attacks for him to use, obviously."

Silence followed. The two ghosts stared each other down.

Also, wouldn't that imply that Bahamut is presently less strong than back in his island-sinking days? Since you'd think that you'd need every little advantage you could get against him, Yuna. ^^;

"Forgive the discourtesy of my curt response." Vegna leaned against the wall again. "It's a risky situation no matter what. The journal suggests Bahamut was consumed by rage leading up to his death. Reviving him... could revitalize that anger and aggression."

Vegna: "I mean, the alternative is that he curls up in a corner and cries over his personal losses, but... yeah. I'm not going to bet on that one."

"As if what he did to Gene wasn't aggressive?" Yuna countered. Vegna's expression was too tough for the drakloak to read. She'd need the direct approach to get more out of him. "Is there something you're not telling me?" Yuna did her best to look as tired as possible. "I'm sick of making decisions without having all the information."

I mean, yeah. He almost certainly is. Not that I'd really trust on Vegna of all Pokémon to shoot straight.

"I pulled the first Needle." Vegna looked down at his right hand. Golden fissures enveloped most of it. He squeezed his hand shut. The cracks sealed themselves. "Every subsequent one has worsened the destabilizing. It's getting harder and harder to keep my body together."

Yuna saw where this was going. "This big idea of yours... you won't be around to see it through to the end."

A single nod.

... Oh.

"Figures." Yuna rubbed her temples, torn between a couple of different responses. She could've told him it was easy for him to float there and throw out crazy ideas. Yuna didn't like Vegna. It was hard to feel bad for the guy.

"I'm not expecting any pity," Vegna said, as if he'd read her thoughts. "I made a lot of bad decisions in my youth." He glanced at his right hand again. "It took time for the consequences to catch up to me, but I don't intend to run from them."

That's certainly different than how the stock protagonist would react to receiving news like this, though I suppose that it is hard to judge Yuna for feeling that way considering how Vegna's been kind of an ass throughout the story to others.

"A lot of decisions? What else besides the Needles?" Reshiram wondered.

"What do you mean by that?" Yuna asked Vegna.

"Using my new abilities for my own benefit," the dusknoir replied. "A path that eventually led to me becoming an executioner for the Kingdom of Radiance." He crossed his arms and bowed his head. "And, at first, I was more than happy to carry out that task. But as the years went on, a deep unease gripped me that only grew over time."

Ah yes, we're just getting all the skeletons out of the closet, aren't we?

"Unease?" Yuna tilted her head. "About?"

"Radiance's royal family." Vegna floated up to Yuna. "I'm hardly a pure soul. Yet at the time, I couldn't shake the sense there was a dreadful rot at the center of the kingdom. So, I put in the effort to transition from working in the prison system to the courts."

I mean, he's not wrong there.

Yuna raised a brow. "All so you could conduct your own investigation?"

"Did Paper Boy not offer you a glimpse at the fruits of my labor?" Vegna shrugged. He looked ready to push Yuna aside, so the drakloak gave him the space to float out the door.

"So, what? You'll do what you can to help, then leave us to clean up the rest of the mess?" Yuna said. She kept her distance, but still gave a disapproving look. After all, Vegna having Igneous take all that evidence to Sakaki hardly qualified as helping.

Yuna: "Since, really. That's the least you could do right now if you're expecting us to mourn you when you're gone." >_>;

"I'm hardly thrilled about it, either." Vegna's shoulders sagged. Some of the golden cracks returned on his right arm. "But it cannot be avoided."

They were talking in circles. Yuna couldn't come up with anything else, other than, "Fine. Whatever. But when we find new dimensional anomalies, those take priority. So, if you want the Needles salvaged that badly, you'll have to do a lot more to help."

I'm... not convinced that the two are really separate processes from each other, Yuna. Since these MacGuffin quests have been growing more and more intertwined with time.

The dusknoir didn't respond at first. He made an effort to hide his right arm. "There's a ferocity about you I never saw when you were a dreepy."

Yuna held tough at his attempts to unnerve her. "You didn't see me much as a dreepy to begin with."

"Valid point." Vegna... chuckled? Yuna didn't think he was capable of it. "Do not let it slip away. Because continuing down this path will lead you to discover several horrible truths. And without that tenacity... the weight of those truths will crush you."

Translation: Yuna's going to have another bluescreening period or two in the future, since... yeah. This is the break that she's had from the plot so far, and even then, she's still been hard at work playing Ms. Resistance Recruiter.

Vegna floated away before Yuna could press him on that. The drakloak tried flying after him, but Vegna was faster. She stopped by the door to a metal stairwell, watching Vegna float up through a gap in the middle of the stairs.

What did he mean by that? Did he have a premonition?

More like 'he already knows stuff and is doubtful about how well you'll take it'.

"I didn't think necromancers doubled as fortune tellers," Reshiram said. "But 'horrible truths?'" He shuddered in Yuna's mind. "Something about the way he phrased that doesn't sit right with me."

Yuna wasn't sure if that meant Vegna lied... or something completely different. And the conversation tired her out enough to where she didn't want to fall down that raboot hole.

"At the very least, thou shouldst inform thine allies of this latest Needle pulling."

Right. Yuna slowly hovered up the stairs. That much, at least, was easy to do.

Just in time to find out about how Tulpise no longer exists as a city. Wonderful. ^^;

Crisp air brushed Igneous' scales. Soft grass crunched under his feet. The grovlazzle trudged across the grassy hills surrounding Horizon Gardens, craning his head up to take in as much of the setting sun as he could.

Try as he might, he couldn't get that forest out of his head. It was disturbingly familiar. So were the pokémon he saw in it. But why? Outside of one of them sharing a name with a certain toxtricity, he had nothing.

However, the forest remained a nagging unease. Its large trees and thick brush kept popping up in his mind. So, after giving a report on what happened in Tulpise, he asked someone to rift him over to Horizon Gardens. Igneous figured the empty grass fields could help clear his head a bit.

Ah yes, and we FF8 music nao, too. I'm surprised that Iggy would consider Horizon Gardens' surroundings to be a comforting place, since he kinda gave off the vibe that he didn't care for it as a student.

It wasn't working as intended. Igneous kept seeing faint outlines of large trees. Or a specter of a riolu running in front of him, arms stuck out to the side.

Why? Igneous rubbed his head with his claws. Why won't it stop? What had that cloud daemon done to him?

Showed you visions of a past life of yours. Or at least, that's my operating theory at the moment, especially considering that one song that was chosen to accompany one of the past visions of its ilk.

It had to be some sort of psychic trick. Maybe if Igneous went to Gene, the mewtwo would find something?

Igneous' snout twitched. Fruity and sweet, but also bitter. Nearby wine? Was someone out picnicking? He had to make himself scarce. But when he turned to head down the hill and back toward Horizon Gardens, he noticed glistening white out of the corner of his eye.

The grovlazzle crept closer and spotted nine messy tails... and the white-furred ponyta— or ponytales they came from. Shimmer tossed an empty bottle over his left shoulder. It bounced along the grass and rolled to a stop by a couple other empty bottles.

Ah yes, Shimmer is taking his mission's failure well at the moment.

Igneous didn't get the chance to consider his next move, because Shimmer abruptly turned around. Recognition flashed in his eyes. Then he squinted. "Are you stalking me?"

"No." Igneous held his hands up. After Tulpise, he didn't want to deal with any more psychics poking at his mind or squishing him against the ground. "You were in Tulpise, right? So was I. I guess we both had the same idea."

Shimmer: "Hrmph, lucky me, then." >_>;

They silently stared each other down. Eventually, Shimmer gave a small huff. He pivoted back around, flicking disheveled white hair over his shoulder. "I'm not sharing." Shimmer levitated another wine bottle up and yanked the cork off. The pop drew a wince from Igneous.

"Maybe you should slow down?" Igneous cautiously approached.

He's already drunk or on the verge of becoming so, isn't he?

"Why? I've got Pastel Veil." Shimmer rolled his eyes. He took a swig from the bottle.

"Right." Igneous kept walking until he stood over Shimmer. "But I doubt your liver's appreciating this."

Huh, interesting dichotomy about how being able to shrug off poison would help tank intoxication but not the long-term effects of substance use. Though at least he's drinking wine and not doing lines of cocaine Stardust right now.

Shimmer paused in the midst of tilting the bottle. His eyes darted between the grovlazzle and his wine. Grunting, Shimmer set the bottle down. "What does it matter? I'm nothing but a failure."

Huh, I didn't realize how much Shimmer and Igneous paralleled each other in terms of being failure knights with parental + personality problems. I suppose that was the reason why they were paired for this scene to commiserate.

Somehow, Shimmer sounded more dour than he did back in the library. Igneous figured literally looking down on the ponytales didn't help. He quickly sat down, bending his knees to lean against them. "Tulpise that rough, huh?" It was the most logical conclusion he could draw.

"Did you bring the materials I gave you to the Beacon or not?" Shimmer refused to meet Igneous' gaze.

Igneous: "I mean, I at least managed that much? It can't possibly hurt, right?"

Shimmer: "After what happened in Tulpise, I'm suddenly not so sure about that anymore."

"I did. Then we went to Tulpise." Visions of the forest flooded Igneous' mind again. "We had," he shuddered, "our own issues to deal with there."

"Well, you must've had a better time with your 'issues,'" Shimmer huffed. He levitated up the bottle again, ready to take a drink from it.

Igneous: "God, I wish."

"Hard to say. My 'issues' got away," Igneous admitted. And left a present in my head.

Frowning, Shimmer gulped down some of the wine. "Getting away is better than destroying your meltan titan and Imperial robots making off with all the meltan that formed it. Because that's what happened to me."

You're missing a couple words from Shimmer's line there, there's a few possibilities that can fit, but I threw in the two that felt most natural.

Also, you are never, ever going to convince me that you're unintentionally channeling MonolithSoft at this point in the story from that music link. >:V

Igneous' tails and head leaf briefly ignited. "****! ****!" He turned around and swatted the grass where his tails were before it caught fire. The grovlazzle stiffened. "I, uh—"

"See?" Shimmer swallowed another mouthful of wine. "You think I screwed up, too."

Igneous: "Okay, yeah, that's- really, really bad there."

"I was surprised." Igneous shifted his weight uneasily. "Didn't know the meltan could... make a titan or anything."

"And now Eternatus' forces have it," Shimmer said, ears folding. God, the self-loathing in his voice. It was... scarily familiar to Igneous. "I'm supposed to be stronger. To have the power to make things happen. And I couldn't do a damn thing to stop that machine."

Oh, so I was right about the two paralleling each other. Since even Igneous is noticing it, too.

Igneous wasn't sure if he was meant to press for details. He settled on a reasonable approach. "You mean machines, right? There were two of them."

To his surprise, Shimmer shook his head. "There was a third. It showed up out of nowhere. Struck Melmetal down in one attack." The ponytales looked down. His eyes were full of fear. "It was going to kill me if that distortion hadn't erupted out of nowhere and forced it to retreat."

Yeeeeeeeah, Shimmer has a ways to go before he's hardened enough to become a proper member of Team Protagonist, since them almost dying is just another Tuesday for them at this point.

The grovlazzle wasn't sure whether to talk about his role in causing that distortion. Everything surrounding Xeromus and the cloud daemon hurt to even think about. Instead, Igneous asked, "What did that machine look like?"

Shimmer shuddered. "Kind of like that lunatic helmet-wearing mutt they keep showing on the news." He bit his lip and nervously dug his forehoof into the grass. "If you took the helmet off and made him really purple and red."

Igneous: "... (Wait a minute, that sounds just like... Widget.)" ._.

Igneous sucked a sharp breath in. That sounded like Widget! But the silvally was still at the outpost. Had Paradox made another one?

Yeah, I figured. And worse, Igneous. He's made a better one.

"What's with that look?" Shimmer frowned. "Don't tell me you know about this?"

"N-No." Igneous held his hands up. "It surprised me. That's all." He had to save face. "It sounds like a rough situation. I'm sure you tried your best."

Shimmer: "Which isn't exactly making me feel better right now, since 'best' for me is apparently 'epic failure'."

Shimmer sideyed Igneous. His nostrils briefly flared, but then he lowered his head. "Easy for you to say." Shimmer glanced at the wine bottle. "You're actually competent."

Narrator: lol. lmao.
Igneous: "Okay, on the one hand, yes. On the other, was that really necessary?!"

Bingo. Igneous had an in. Though the grovlazzle weighed exactly how much he wanted to tell Shimmer. Bringing the Ryujin up was out of the question. Could he tiptoe around that? What if Shimmer's power boost came with some sort of ESP lie detector?

No. Not even Gene's that good.

He sighed. Igneous stretched his legs out. "I'm not."

Igneous: "Whelp, here goes nothing..."

Shimmer looked unconvinced. "I put up a good front." Igneous looked down at his orange and yellow belly. "Well, I put up a good front before this."

The ponytales slowly turned around. Igneous piqued his interest. Good. He could continue.

"My mother died from a poisoning several years ago," Igneous said. He didn't leave any time for that to linger. "A poisoning meant for my father. Because of an investigative piece the Beacon was working on."

I'm... not sure how much the 'investigative piece' part is true or not, but this is directionally true, at least? ^^;

Shimmer frowned. "But he's a nidoking."

"The poison was seventy-five percent pure salazzle venom," Igneous replied. In truth, he had no idea what the poison was. But it probably involved salazzle toxins. "My dad didn't even tell me until Mom ended up in the hospital. I had to watch her slowly wither away."

Yeesh, no wonder why Igneous still has a thing against his dad to this day.

He rested his hands on his knees. "I thought I could avenge her. I was stupid enough to try and challenge the kingdom's criminal underworld."

Thus how he became a literal Einhänder. Though who were those? The Medicis? Other Ryujin?

Shimmer blinked. "You're still here, though."

"I lost an arm for it." Igneous rubbed his right arm with his left. "Before these... mutations, I always had a prosthetic." A damn good one, judging by the shock on Shimmer's expression. "My garchomp bodyguard is the only reason I survived. But it caused everyone at the Beacon to lose faith in me. To doubt I'd make a good replacement for my father when he decided to retire."

That... wasn't just the Beacon that it messed you up with, but let's not get into that in front of Shimmer there. ^^;

The grovlazzle guessed Shimmer's next question before he could ask it. Holding up his right arm, he said, "No one in my family had anything to do with me attending Horizon. That was entirely me. I took Mom's life insurance payout for myself and enrolled on my own.

"And, well, you might've heard claims I was involved with the problematic concert in Venish." Igneous hunched over again. "So, clearly, I'm not as put together as you think." He shook his head. "We're both screw-ups."

Silence followed. Though he didn't meet Igneous' gaze, Shimmer was contemplative. And he hadn't picked up the wine bottle again. A part of Igneous wondered why he was spilling his heart to Shimmer of all people. But if this day had made anything clear, it was that the two had more in common than he realized.

Because you feel sorry for him and see part of yourself in him? I mean, the second half of the paragraph more or less says as much.

Igneous tilted his head. "Hmm?"

"I just want to give up." Shimmer pawed at the ground with a forehoof. "I don't know a thing about battling competently or keeping people safe. A power boost is meaningless if you don't know how to use it properly." He hung his head shamefully. "Two of our classmates were inside those Iron Moths. Eternatus' emperor... has brought them onto his side."

I actually don't remember whether or not Igneous already knows about the snatched classmates or not. I suppose this will be as good a time as any to get a reminder.

The grovlazzle decided not to bring up that he knew that already.

"Don't you get it? Do the math." Shimmer squeezed his eyes shut. "If the emperor's using our classmates against us, then that means..." He grimaced. "That means..."

Igneous recalled Artemis' report from Operation Follow Me: Xander was the first to turn to Paradox's side. He bowed his head. "Right. Your boyfriend."

Oh right, he does remember. Though I guess Shimmer has already put the dots together for what's become of Xander, even if I can already tell he's going to be shocked at the sheer gusto at which he flipped.

Shimmer laughed bitterly. "Yeah. Sure." He shook his head.

"Is there a problem?" Igneous raised a brow.

"Yes." Shimmer's brow furrowed. His expression was painful. "Xander and I... we were a total screw-up of a couple."

I... did not realize that, but I suppose I should've seen it coming. Especially from the way that Xander just didn't give a second thought to Shimmer after joining the Eterna Empire.

That was a bold claim to make out of the blue. Igneous could see Shimmer's desire to explain himself, and held his tongue.

"There wasn't love there. Only lust." Shimmer waved his right foreleg dismissively. "Most of what we did was just... flaunt our status in public or get busy with one another. That's not a relationship." He sounded embarrassed... for himself. "That's barely even 'friends with benefits.'"

I do wonder if this should've been foreshadowed a bit more earlier on in the story, but you can't say that there weren't signs of it from Venish and onward in retrospect.

Igneous never did like the sylveon. Total prick, in his opinion. He wouldn't be surprised if Xander craved the status and power that came with being the crown prince's consort. "You guys have been together for a few years, though..."

"Yeah. And I hate that I'm just struggling with this now." Shimmer smacked the ground with his left forehoof repeatedly. "But it's all I can think of... now that I realize how much of an idiot I am. If I was smarter, maybe I'd have picked up signs earlier. But he was really good with—"

"Dooooon't need the details." Igneous waved his hands in front of his face. The grovlazzle already knew more than he wanted to. He'd seen copies of the harassment complaints lodged against Shimmer and Xander that Sakaki had gotten his hands on.

Yeeeeeah, you're really priming us to enjoy seeing Xander get rekt down the road there.

Shimmer blinked a few times. "Right. Yeah. Stupid of me." He shrank back slightly. "Point is... this is beyond me. I should give up, but I'm stuck working with Demerzel."

Did that have to be the case, though? If Yuna went through the trouble of gathering up new recruits, why couldn't Igneous do the same thing?

"Then work with us instead."

Well, that was certainly direct there.

Shimmer's tails poofed out. It was an amusing sight.

"I— that's—" Shimmer's eyes darted around. "Demerzel's psychic powers are strong. He could track me directly to you guys. I think?"

"We have a strong psychic of our own," Igneous claimed. He could've very well been setting himself up to get cursed out by Gene for offering up the mewtwo's services without permission. But Igneous would take any extra leverage he could get.

Yeeeeeah, considering how Dermezel himself is in an arrangement with the Eterna Empire and they've been looking for Gene...

"And I'm still Crown Prince," Shimmer mumbled. "I have to... keep tabs on Mother."

Igneous didn't see the problem with his offer. "You'd have more resources if you worked with us."

The conflict on Shimmer's face was clear as day. Igneous wasn't going to force him into anything. "You don't have to decide right now. I'll give you space if you want it."

inb4 he waffles for like 5-10 chapters, comes around and joins, and then things promptly go straight to hell for the Resistance since Gene's location inadvertently gets outed. Like it just feels like the sort of cruel knife twist you'd pull given your batting average with your characters in this story.

Before the grovlazzle could move away, Shimmer scooted to his side. "Don't. Please."

Igneous' tails almost caught fire again. "Shimmer, what're you—"

"Sorry." The ponytales' tails curled around his hips. "I just— this feels like the first time someone's been genuinely nice to me. No ulterior motives or anything."

I mean, considering his definition of 'friends' in the past... he might not be wrong there. .-.

Technically Igneous could counter that getting Shimmer into the resistance's ranks was an ulterior motive. But it was more that Igneous empathized with Shimmer's struggles. Kind of like Scarlett, huh? They'd all made bad decisions because they didn't want people to see them as screw-ups.

Well then.

Though I suppose this means that we'll be seeing these three around each other quite a bit from here on out.

Igneous shrugged. "I get it. This ****'s weighing down on all of us."

Thoughts of Xeromus raced through his head. Igneous did his best not to flinch.

"Guess it helps to have people you can relate to." The grovlazzle scooched right next to him. He misjudged his distance and bumped his side with Shimmer's. They fixed their wide eyes on each other.

"My bad." Igneous repositioned slightly. "Head's still a bit cloudy."

"Right." Shimmer rubbed his forehooves together. "Same here."

I smell a ship in action, even if I'm pretty sure that Iggy's got more of a thing for Scarlett right now. inb4 this turns into an "I love all of you" situation

An awkward silence followed, until Shimmer whispered, "Would your, erm, team really be okay working with me?"

Igneous nodded. There was the whole Ryujin issue, but that was something he could address later. If Gene could uncouple Shimmer from Demerzel's ESP, that would make things much easier.

... Wait, just how much of this conversation did Dermezel listen in on anyways? Since if Shimmer's wearing a headset or something that has a mic...

"Then I guess," Shimmer took a sharp breath, "we can give it a try."

It was far from an enthusiastic embrace of Igneous' idea. He opted for an equally muted response. "Nice." He didn't stand up. "We don't have to leave this second, though."

Shimmer offered a thankful nod. "Why did you come here, anyway?"

Shimmer: "Since really, I thought that you hated this place based on how you acted as a student earlier in the story."

"To clear my head." Igneous scratched it with his left hand. "Though this... didn't exactly help."

"Ah." Shimmer looked guiltily. "Well, I guess... we can sit here in silence?"

Igneous raised a brow. "Like actual silence? Or 'guzzling wine' silence?"

Shimmer: "Either is fine with me, really. Though I'm the one with Pastel Veil, here."

The ponytales flinched. He glanced at the wine bottles. His horn sparked. They rolled up the hill. "I'll recycle them properly," Shimmer mumbled. "Promise."

Tongue clicking, Igneous pivoted in the grass. "All right. Silence it is." Except the grovlazzle lay on his back, resting his head against his hands. He looked out at the setting sun, trying to keep Xeromus' words and the strange visions from seeping into his thoughts.

Whelp, we have our answer there. Even if I'm a little unsure whether we're going to end on this cute note, or if something's going to come along and wreck it inside Iggy's head.

Igneous found the team a new ally. Sure, there might be some growing pains. But there was strength in numbers, right?

This is a good thing.

He hadn't realized Shimmer lay down next to him until silky hair brushed against his side. Igneous didn't move.

It's a good thing, he told himself again. We can... help each other.

Okay, yeah, you're totally floating a ship between these two. Even if it's going to get awkward fast once Scarlett re-enters the picture. Though it's a bit weird-feeling to see Shimmer in an actually cute scene for once without him either being an ass or there being some sort of foreboding undertone to things.

Alright, time for that recap. I take it that this was a cooldown chapter given that things... uh... didn't exactly go well for the team last chapter, and I suppose they didn't in the earlier part of this one either. Since it seems like the primary focus was just taking a step back and trying to figure out "where do we even go from here?" oh, and the reveals about Vegna. Like there's a surprising amount of stuff that came out now, and it definitely recontextualizes some things from earlier in the story. I had a handful of critiques regarding missing words or bits that I felt could've had a bit more description than they did, but otherwise things were put together very well.

I do wonder if there should've been a bit more foreshadowing earlier in the story as to Griffon and Talonflame's true identities or what was really going on between Shimmer and Xander, but eh. It works well enough, and if you squint hard enough, I suppose you can see some things in the past that make sense in light of those reveals.

Though good job as always on the chapter, @Ambyssin . It's been a long while, but it's a bit of a liberating feeling finally being caught up with this story again, and I'm eagerly awaiting where things go from this point. ^^

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Alright, almost there with getting caught up with this version. Though let's belt out that review of…

Chapter 79

Spoiler

Two weeks went by in a hazy blur. Perhaps because the outpost buzzed with activity. The monks kept their eyes out for anomalies, but came up empty. Gene and Vegna worked with an Aeon platoon to deal with tracking Necrozma. The only reports so far were of the Phantom jumping through rifts, followed by long stretches of purposeless ambling. It led the resistance to conclude that, unlike their rift makers, Necrozma struggled to conjure portals.

Wow, that's quite a timeskip ahead. Though that mix of the P3 dorm music is definitely catchy.

Cyril made plans to try and create a machine for tracking anomalies with the help of the two Red Chain fragments the team had. But there were issues making sure the fragments could remain stable in such a machine. Or something. Most of that technical jargon went over Yuna's head. Probably, Seifer's, too. Yuna figured that, given the talk around the outpost, the keldeo hung around Cyril for different reasons.

I can already tell there were a few nights where their neighbors were having trouble sleeping from the racket.

Cid was happy to have a handful of skorps assisting him with all the monitors. It actually gave him a bit of breathing room. He asked Yuna if he could puruse Bahamut's old journal and she directed him to Vegna. Perhaps the orbeetle wanted to compare what was written with his own past research?

The big oddity was Shimmer. Igneous apparently got permission to explain Shimmer's situation. Yuna felt a pang of sympathy, but never got to talk with him. Since Gene insisted on more rest before he seriously exerted himself, Shimmer mostly kept to himself. Only appearing when he had to eat. He was polite, yet stiff. At least, compared to what Yuna remembered. Nikki always studied him skeptically. Yuna worried if it was the toxtricity's old grudge toward the so-called ponytales.

Oh huh. Shimmer's already on Team Bastion or whatever we're calling it now. Would've thought that we'd see more of the moment where he came aboard, but eh. If it works, it works.

With everyone finding things to keep them occupied, that left Yuna with training. Something she'd never done much of in her life. But something she sorely needed. Not in the sense of bolstering her own limited attacks, but in keeping the shadows firmly under control. And calling on Sage powers faster.

To her surprise, Alder proposed she train in tandem with Leo. The drakloak hesitated to have her son do that. But the psychic braviary emphasized the importance of Leo learning to control the powers his plates gave him.

Yeeeeeeeah, considering the power scales some of your opponents are rocking, it really would be a bad idea to keep Leo perpetually in "Team Mascot" mode.

Today was one such training session. Yuna hovered over some metal platforms Guzzie Jr. had separated off his main arena. She focused on the Soul Dew's light. A small Fusion Flare formed over her head. After a moment's hesitation, she hurled it toward the cosmic arceus. His wheel shifted from gold to a sparkling ocean blue. Leo melted into a puddle. The Fusion Flare sphere harmlessly passed by him.

Oh, well. TIL Leo can do that with the Splash plate. Getting some vibes for how Zena can do something similar to this in HoC thanks to her connection to the Water Plane or whatever it's called.

Yuna curled her right hand. The Fusion Flare erupted. Leo reformed from the puddle. "Fast, right?" His starcloud tail wagged. "Now, water attack thingy go!"

>dat dialogue Well, he's definitely still in his "mental 5-year old" phase.

His blue wheel flashed. Water burst from the ground directly underneath Yuna. Meeping, she shot forward. White Quick Attack energy trailed behind her.

For a brief moment, the platform and water columns stopped. Had they... crystalized?

No, wait, that didn't make any sense. The columns splashed water all around, then disappeared. Yuna rubbed her eyes. She must have imagined it.

Narrator: "She absolutely did not imagine it."

"Ah, splendid!" From beside the platforms, Alder clapped his legs together. "No soaking of the peanut gallery, Leo. I'm impressed!"

The cosmic arceus looked around, eyes sparkling. "You have peanuts?"

Somebody has his priorities straight there.

"Ah, no." Alder's pink head feathers drooped. "That's an expression."

"Ohhhh. Right." Leo nodded. Yuna frowned, uncertain if Alder's correction actually stuck.

I mean, it obviously didn't, but you probably have bigger things to worry about right now, Yuna.

"What now?" The drakloak drifted to the ground and stretched out for a quick rest. "Junior's going to open his arena soon, right? I'd rather not practice around all those people." She gestured vaguely toward the empty stands. Not to mention the noise.

"Hmm." Alder stroked his chin with a wing.

"Anomaly identified! Anomaly identified!"

Well, that was a short two-week lull in the story (which I'm now just realizing is a meta parallel to how long it takes to get out a new chapter). Time to get neck-deep into cosmic trouble again.

With a holler, Yuna's body shriveled up into her head. "Owww..." Yuna's head flopped over. "Not so loooooud. We keep these X-transceivers by our heads, Skorp!"

"Aw, shucks. Sorry 'boot that!" Skorp laughed nervously. "Guess I got a bit excited, eh. First time 'n all that."

So wait, did everyone in the base just get deafened by that overeager Skorp there? ^^;

Yuna: "My ears!"

I can tell. Yuna slowly managed to pop her body out of her head. Guess they knew what they'd be doing. At least she was well-rested this time.

"Brother Kora's agreed to go with the scouting team like we discussed?" Seifer asked over the X-transceiver line.

"Yepperino," Skorp chirped.

Oh, well that's definitely different. Though I wonder if he's going to get taken over by Vince again while out in the field.

"Great. If they can stabilize the rift, we can know what we're getting into," Widget said.

"Where is it, though?" Valkyrie wondered. "At least, on our side of things."

No response at first. Frowning, Yuna hovered off the ground. "Uhh, guys?"

"Sorry." It was Cyril. "Needed to know if Gene was online."

"... It's Earth, isn't it?" Gene was terse.

Well, Gene is taking this well

Yuna: "Wait, but does it really matter if it's on earth since there's apparently like a billion of them floating around out there in the omniverse?" ^^;

"Kanto, specifically."

"Which part?"

"Indigo Plateau."

Oh. Well. Even with AU dynamics going on, I can see why that would get really, really awkward and uncomfortable for Gene in short order there.

Yuna looked toward the aurora on the horizon. Who names a plateau after a color? She then had to imagine an invisible hand muzzling Reshiram before he could give her an answer.

Game Freak and its localization offices, bring it up with them, Cecil.

Gene's sigh echoed through Yuna's X-transceiver. "We better hope that anomaly's outside the Pokémon League. Otherwise, we've got problems on top of problems."

Yuna: "Wait, I'm not sure if I follow though. Why would it be such an issue if the anomaly wasn't right next to this 'Pokémon League' again?" ^^;

"Pokémon League?" Yuna said. She glanced at Alder, who had landed on the platform and was furiously flipping through one of his books.

"A system where humans train pokémon to battle for sport," the psychic braviary declared. "It's near ubiquitous for worlds where humans and pokémon coexist!"

>near ubiquitous

That actually makes me wonder if we're going to run into some world with humans and Pokémon together that doesn't follow a normal mainline setup. Since I can see that qualifier there.

Yuna quirked a brow. Battling for sport wasn't an issue. They did plenty of that in Aeon. Tests of strength and whatnot. But what role would humans have to play in that?

"Thou hast seen it with thine own eyes," Rayquaza piped up. "In Malie and LaRousse. Humans partnering with pokémon."

I dunno, Yuna responded. Molayne and Liza felt more like... bosses with pokémon employees.

I mean, to be fair, if their "employees" ever went on "strike", they'd be fairly limited in what they could do back to them.

The X-transceiver crackled again before Yuna could say anything else.

"Yiazmat reporting with the scouting team. The anomaly is immediately behind a very large building at the center of this structure. Not seeing Eternatus Troopers, but humans have the area cordoned off."

Oh, that's why Gene was freaking out about whether or not the anomaly was near the Indigo League. The rest of the plateau is a pain to get to and the Kanto Champ and E4 would be the only trainers anywhere close by with a fighting chance of holding off the Eterna Empire if they came barging in.

Well, that sounded bad. If the people there already knew about the anomaly, they could alert the emperor!

"Assuming they haven't already," Reshiram pointed out.

Not helping!

"Sorry..."

Wait, wait, wait. Is this Earth inside Eternatus? Since I did a bit of a double-take at these humans notifying Paradox about the anomaly. I think that that was the implication, though admittedly it took me a while to gather that this was what it was getting at.

Yuna gestured for Leo to come to her side. "Let's get ready, Leo. We might have to move fast."

The cosmic arceus trotted through the air, nodding. "I'll puddleify if I have to!"

Sighing, Yuna forced a smile. "It's liquify, sweetie."

"Right, that too!"

-snerk-

Never change, Leo. o<o

"Okay." Gene wasn't quite as terse as before. "Not the worst case scenario."

"We still need a plan," Widget countered.

"Cyril will go and provide an illusory cover for the scouts," Gene said. "We'll break into Teams Bastion and Bureau based on what they find. Bastion'll head in the rift with Yuna and Leo. Bureau will stay behind to ward off any Troopers that drop by."

Okay, yeah. I'm going to just assume that this is just Gene's earth until something comes along to firmly prove otherwise.

He paused. "Any objections?"

No one spoke up. Yuna put Cyril's disguise collar on Leo, turning him into a dreepy again. He floated onto Yuna's head. The drakloak buckled briefly. Deeeefinitely heavier than before. She straightened herself up. "Heading back to the restaurant. You coming, Alder?"

"Yes, of course." The braviary placed the book back in his white head plume and flew after them.

So Leo's regaining mass as he gets more plates. I vaguely remember him getting bigger after getting his first one, so I suppose that it makes sense.

Indigo Plateau wasn't indigo. In fact, there were hardly any shades of blue to speak of! At least, that was Yuna's impression as her eyes traced the gray stone walkway past rows of empty pop up shopping booths to a stone staircase. It climbed up to a gold, circular building. A stadium, judging by pictures Yuna had seen.

INDIGO POKÉMON LEAGUE: HOME OF THE INDIGO AND SILVER CONFERENCES

Hanging underneath the gold sign was a "TEMPORARILY CLOSED." Hastily placed, judging by how it dangled from frayed ropes.

Ah yes, another musical reminder that I should really get into R&C sometime. Since I remember having a lot of fun with the demos of the various PS2 games from the series while growing up.

"Indigo Plateau my ass." Nikki rested her hands behind her head. "More like 'False Advertising Plateau.'"

Seifer rolled his eyes. "We're not here to judge its outer appearance."

"No duh." The toxtricity's mohawk frazzled. "You put this **** next to its name and anyone's gonna sit back in their chair and say 'My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.'"

Seifer: "Look, just. Pretend that it's indigo-colored or something, alright?" >_>;

"Isn't that a bit dramatic?" Yuna said, raising a brow.

"It's making a point." Nikki jabbed an index finger into Yuna's ectoplasmic torso.

Nah, she's being dramatic. >:V

"Shh!" Cyril glared over his shoulder. "Invisibility illusion doesn't work if you keep yapping it up. I'm concentrating, here."

Nikki pantomimed zipping her lips shut, then tossed the imaginary key over her shoulder.

Yuna hovered next to her, studying the humans scattered around the grass at the facility's perimeter. Their blue uniforms reminded her a bit of Molayne's. I guess it's still the local police.

Huh. Police in Japan really do have blue uniforms. TIL.

"Strange. You'd think by now the empire would do something," Reshiram said. He paced around in Yuna's mind. "Unless they're monitoring things from afar?" His fur puffed out. "You don't think we're wandering into an ambush, do you?"

The drakloak bit her lip. Wouldn't they have attacked our scouts, then?

"Not if they realized the people they're really after hadn't shown up," Reshiram countered.

That thought that this might be an ambush didn't occur to me until just now, but if they already pulled that gambit once at Tulpise...

Yuna hovered faster. She didn't want to entertain the possibility that the empire had strong aura readers waiting in the wings. Besides, wouldn't Gene and Cyril have covered that?

A familiar jagged purple rift lay ahead of them. Out in the open, pulsating with static. The humans kept their distance. Assorted growlithe, arcanine, and houndoom whimpered whenever the officers tried to get them to sniff the ground close to the rift.

>police Houndoom

I actually don't remember how often that's appeared in the actual series or not, but I suppose they are canine Pokémon and not particularly rare around Kanjoh, so...

Though does that mean that there are also police Riolu and Lucario in other regions?

Taking deep breaths, Yuna prepared herself for what was ahead. Another big city, apparently. A place called Wyndon. Things were calm, yet hectic, according to Koraidon. Which could have meant any number of things. But put that together with the anomaly core giving off a signal from a highly populated part of the city... and Yuna couldn't help but think about the Butterfree Effect's warning.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5vd5cE3n0M


Wait, Wyndon's in Kanto on Gene's Earth? Was it always like that? .-.

She glanced at her hands. No shadows. No reaction to the rift. Good. Her training was paying off.

"I don't recall your shadows appearing solely because of the anomaly rifts," Reshiram said.

Let me have this, Yuna hissed, sending Reshiram scurrying from her mind.

Wow, rude, Yuna.

Cyril stopped. The cosmic zoroark made a few hand gestures... which Yuna hadn't the foggiest idea how to interpret. She tilted her head. Cyril appeared irritated. He scratched his right ear, then covered his snout with his hand.

"It's going to be a handoff." Cyril's muffled voice came through the X-transceiver. "You guys will swap with the scouts, except for Brother Kora. Capiche?"

The trio nodded.

Yuna: "Wait, I'm sorry. Why are we doing a handoff again?"

"Once you're there, you'll follow him to the anomaly core," Cyril continued. "Then try to get a sense for how much extra help you need."

Yuna: "Right. That would be a good reason to do a handoff, really."=

Seifer shifted uneasily. The keldeo walked up to Cyril and whispered into his ear.

"Get away from it if your X-transceivers don't work, then," Cyril said. He knelt down and pecked Seifer's cheek. Seifer's face reddened. Nikki snickered. Yuna frowned at her. The toxtricity simply made a kissy face, earning glares from both the guys.

I mean, you did walk straight into that one, Cyril.

"Ready for the exchange."

That was Koraidon. Cyril hopped to attention and guided them toward the rift. He kept as far from the police dogs as he could, then eventually dashed across the grass. The trio hurried after him.

Unlike other anomalies, this one greeted the team with... chilly air? Strange, but Yuna would find out the reason soon enough. Cyril pointed to the jagged rift.

Whelp, guess that confirms that we're dealing with the Icicle Plate here.

Nodding, Yuna checked to make sure Leo was balanced on her head. Then the drakloak flew through the portal.

The result was the inverse of her previous anomaly jumps. Instead of shifting from dark to light, she'd gone from daytime to nighttime. Though there was still a fair amount of flavorfully colorful light several meters away. Courtesy of bright signs advertising fashion boutiques, hair salons, and restaurants like "Bob's Your Uncle."

Huh. I actually wonder if this was just a flat-out spatial portal that shortcutted from Kanto to Galar. Since that mention of going from daytime to nighttime seems to indicate that Yuna's not even in the same time zone anymore.

Chills rippled through her ectoplasm. Yuna rubbed her hands together. "Cold..."

"'Mon up." Nikki strutted past, taking in a deep breath. "Crisp air like this is great!" She stretched her arms up. "Tells us we're alive!"

Yuna: "No, I'm pretty sure that this weather is telling me that I'm going to go into torpor if I don't warm up nice and quick."

The toxtricity took one step onto the stone walkway in front of the rift, then abruptly jumped back. "Gah! Hot!" Her mohawk frazzled. "The hell is this?!"

"A heated walkway." A cyclizar stood on it, happily swishing his tail back and forth. "Isn't it lovely? The power of science is amazing!"

Wait, those exist canonically in Wyndon? Or is that something cooked up to show off the AUness of this Wyndon?

Yuna tilted her head. That voice... was Koraidon's? "Did you take one of the disguise thingies?"

"Of course. Can't go causing a scene." Koralizar clasped his hands together and bowed. "It would be quite un-zen of me."

Wait, he can do that? Or is that just something that Legendary Pokémon in general are capable of in this story?

Leo hovered off Yuna's head and reached a fake dreepy hand out to touch the stone. "Oooooh! It is warm!" His eyes sparkled. "It's a magic path, Mom!"

"Magic schmagic." Nikki crouched on the edge of the grass and poked the pathway with a twig. "Probably some dumb human technology."

Something something, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, something something.

"Yes, yes." Seifer walked onto the path, shaking his head. "We can marvel at their wizardry later." The keldeo looked at Koralizar. "You can guide us toward the core, correct?"

"Absolutely." Koralizar nodded. "Happy to go as fast or leisurely as you want."

Yuna: "Yeah, no, I literally can't feel this 'heated path' right now, we're going to speed this up." >_>;

"Let's make it quick." Seifer impatiently tapped a hoof on the ground. "We don't want the others staying around Indigo Plateau for too long."

Yuna nodded. She picked Leo up and placed him back on her head. The drakloak flew after the others. Their path followed a still river along the outskirts of a city whose colorful lights were mainly hidden by relatively tall brick buildings.

"More like Venish than LaRousse," Reshiram said. "Has a certain rustic charm to it."

Oh, well I guess that's one way to tell that Venish's architecture was fairly Venetian from the point of comparison there.

She had a hard time drawing that conclusion just from brick buildings and a river. But then colorful sparks danced across the sky in the distance.

"Whoa!" Leo wiggled excitedly atop Yuna's head. "It's like a rainbow of Fire Blasts!"

"They're fireworks," Seifer said, galloping beside Koralizar. "And a lot of them, too. We're not arriving in the midst of some sort of festivity, are we?"

I mean, you obviously are, but now I'm curious myself. And ditto if we'll get a Buddy cameo at some point, even if it's been firmly deconfirmed for this chapter.

Nikki held her hands up by her eyes in mid-stride. "Does 'Pokémon World Coronation Series' sound like a festivity?"

The keldeo tripped, nearly stumbling to the ground. He managed to keep his balance, albeit falling back to Nikki's side. "It sounds... like they're crowning a monarch!" Seifer frowned. "Which wouldn't just be a festivity, it'd be a historical event! Do you have any idea how many people attended Isola's coronation?"

I went and BPed this, and... we're in an animeverse? Since this was apparently a thing in Journeys.

"Pfbt." Still running, Nikki rolled her eyes. "I couldn't give a rattata's ass about that!"

Yuna was still confused where Nikki had even pulled that phrase from. "How do you know there's a coronation?"

The toxtricity pointed ahead. Amidst all the fireworks was... a flying wailord machine?! At least, it was big, round, and blue like a wailord. But it had a screen on it with some sort of gold sigil. The phrases "Pokémon World Coronation Series," "Wyndon 2020," and "Opening Ceremony, Sponsored by DENSOKU and Mach Motors" flashed by one after the other.

>Wyndon 2020

Damn, we even went back in time by 4 years. Unless if we're still in "2020" since that's what things were in Etherium at the start of this story and we've moved forward all of like a month and a half at this rate.

"Do coronations usually have opening ceremonies?" Yuna wondered. Again, she and her friends could effortlessly read what was on the flying wailord machine. It wasn't a coincidence. It had to be her.

She glanced at her torso. No shadows. Was this a part of that chaos the Butterfree Effect claimed she spread?

"Oi, Princess, keep up!"

Huh. Catchy BGM is catchy. Though time to find out who said that.

"C'mon, Mom!"

Leo tapped the edge of the drakloak's rectangular ahead. Nikki waved at her from several meters away. Yuna hovered after her.

Right, should've figured it was Nikki from the speech pattern.

By now, things were much brighter. Both from the closer fireworks display... and the positively massive circular building underneath. Red and white light spilled out over the stone walkways surrounding it, as well as the river that curved around it.

"Hot damn." Nikki slowed to a jog. "Look at all those people. No chance we're getting through something like that without a whole tauros herd." Smirking, the toxtricity rolled up her sleeve. "Or I could Boomburst 'em into a collective evening nap."

I suppose that that's one way to tell that Yuna's never seen a modern-style arena before.

Seifer's tail scrunched up. He, too, slowed his pace. "Let's not default to assaulting the humans, please."

"Speaking as a monk, I must concur," Koralizar added. "And I don't think it wise to bring a keldeo toward all of those people. We'll attract far too much attention."

Nikki's mohawk frazzled. "Then why'd we bring Pony Boy along instead of, like, Chompy?" She hiked up her leather jacket. "And what was the point of scouting ahead if you can't tell us there's a giant roadblock."

Seifer: "In my defense, we didn't exactly have any expectations for what we were going to find on the other end." -_-;

"Would you believe me if I told you the crowd wasn't there before?" Laughing nervously, Koralizar scratched his head.

The toxtricity glared at him.

"It's the truth though." Koralizar rested on the railing beside him, staring at the river.

Wait, how long ago was Kora here, then? Since you'd think that it'd take a while for a big crowd like this to fill in.

Yuna continued watching the fireworks display. The bright, colorful bursts were practically hypnotic in the way they erupted against the night sky. Cool for sure, but she doubted she could simply fly toward the place undetected.

"What about the oppaaaaaawmsite?"

Cresselia's yawning made Yuna's tail crinkle. The opposite? Like going down?

"Undaaaaaaawmground."

The drakloak looked down at the path. Phasing through the ground? That would be an awfully long way to travel through. Did she have the strength to pull that off?

"Hey, um, one of you tech people?" Yuna mainly addressed the X-transceiver. "There's a giant crowd by this big, uh..." She blinked. "That's another stadium, right?"

Nikki nodded.

"Okay. So, do you think there's something underground I could phase into?"

I mean, if Wyndon is taking after its source of inspiration, there should be an entire subway system for you to work with, so...

Yuna waited for some sort of response, though she didn't know which resistance member would have an answer. Assuming any of them did.

"Gotta be a sewer system, then." A response from Valkyrie wasn't what Yuna expected. "Just like when we had to get past the protestors to Casaroja's railyard."

"That'd be my guess, too," Cyril added. "If you're looking for a way to get in underground, that's your best shot."

Whelp, no Tube in this Wyndon, then. But I suppose that would make sense as a way to get in.

Seifer tapped a hind hoof against the path. "You're going off on your own?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Yuna gestured to the fireworks display in the sky. "Because flying doesn't strike me as doable."

The keldeo opened his mouth to respond, then promptly shut it. "Fair. I guess... back off if you think there's trouble?"

Narrator: "They will absolutely not back off. Or at least not in time for it to be relevant."

Yuna nodded. That was doable. She reached up and passed Leo over to Nikki. "C'mon, seriously?" The toxtricity held the fake dreepy at arm's length. "Why do I gotta look after Squirt?"

"Because you were standing next to me," Yuna mused. She rubbed her hands together again, then dove into the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't proofed against ghost phasing like LaRousse's collider room. Yuna easily phased into the ground. She didn't have to push that far through rocks and soil before spotting rounded tunnels carrying water and big metal cables in different directions.

Wait, how does phaseproofing even work in PoV's omniverse anyways?

"Hey, can you guys hear me?" she whispered, popping out of the ceiling. Yuna kept close to it in case she needed to phase back inside.

"Loud and clear," Noctum chirped. "Did you find some sewers?"

"Yeah." So far, it was a straight shot. The only lights were occasional small blue ones. And a couple of the bulbs had gone out. She wondered if any pokémon that liked dark, damp places actually lived down here.

That would be wholly unsurprising to me given the existence of the Castelia Sewers in B2W2.

"But how wouldst they get any food?" Rayquaza asked.

Yuna simply shrugged, then continued forward. To her relief, the sewer remained empty. No humans. No pokémon. Just dark water passing by underneath and blue light glinting off metal pipes and cables.

"Find the stadium yet?"

Yuna: "I barely started going forward!" >.<

"No, Nikki." Yuna was pretty sure the group stopped a good distance away from it. "Though I guess there are more tunnels going straight up? With ladders and stuff."

"Probably leading to manholes on the streets," Cyril said. "I think that's a good sign? A stadium's bound to have a lot of manholes by it."

The drakloak kept going forward. "Then should I try going up?" What if she popped out of the ground and hit a human's shoe? She could cause a panic!

Nikki: "Wait, but wouldn't that be a good thing since you could just retreat back into the sewers and it'd thin out the crowd-?"

Yuna: "Nikki, no." >_>;

"When we went to the train station, we found some sewer entrances for employees," Valkyrie responded. "Try looking for doors or staircases."

Yuna: "I feel like I should be asking more questions about how these layouts are so similar across wildly different worlds, but whatever. Good enough."

Doors or staircases, Yuna mentally repeated to herself. She swiveled her head around, looking for anything that wasn't just a ladder going up or some other big sewer tunnel. Seeing nothing, Yuna flew forward at a slower pace, keeping her eyes peeled all the while.

Eventually, one branch point had no water coming out of it. And was halfway between the base and ceiling of the sewer. Yuna cautiously approached and was rewarded with a metal door. Black and yellow bars ran across it. She floated up to it and pressed a hand against the metal. After recoiling from how cold it was, she put her hand back on it... and successfully phased it through. The rest of Yuna followed her hand through into some sort of dark shaft.

Up it is, then. Yuna quickly ascended, passing metal beams and girders. Eventually she saw the base of a metal cube approaching. An elevator, probably. Like the ones at Cyril's outpost.

Whelp, time to see what on earth Yuna just got herself into.

She easily phased through the bottom of the elevator. Yuna didn't stop to take in its sights other than how shiny its white floor was. She could practically see her reflection in it.

Ah, soundtrack from the R&C reboot game, huh? Duly noted.

The drakloak phased through the gray elevator door into a dimly lit corridor. She passed by empty, gray metal walls. Light trickled in through cracks in a closed door at the other end. "Okay, I'm—"

Yuna's X-transceiver flooded her head with static. She abruptly stopped talking and it went away. If she lost the signal, that had to mean she was close. But how close?

Hesitantly, she glanced at her torso. Her shadows pooled at the base of her tail. More toward the left. Yuna took a breath to steady herself. A quick enough glimpse was all she needed. Let's get it over with quickly.

Well, at least she's not losing any time in zeroing in on where this new anomaly is.

She darted for the door on the other end, easily phasing through it. Bright blue and white light forced her to shield her eyes. It was another hallway. The white, pristine floor ended abruptly by a gray railing with glass underneath. Probably to keep smaller people from falling down to the other hallway below them.

And there were people walking around down there. Yuna hastily looked left and saw multiple humans with uniforms similar to the ones the Indigo Plateau people wore. They had arcanine and boltund standing guard beside them. The police are here?

I can't tell if those are cops or Macro Cosmos security. Since there would be a strong overlap in the Pokémon they'd field.

Her shadows were trying to swing her tail in the officers' direction. And it didn't take long for Yuna to realize why.

They stood in front of a door made of a heavy-looking black metal. There was a very large lock and some sort of screen underneath it. Both of which had ripples of distortion running across them.

"Oh no," Reshiram squeaked in her mind. "The core... is inside a vault? Why does a stadium even have a vault? Look at it! It's practically as tall as Jade is!"

I mean, I saw/read AKIRA. Guarded facilities in/around stadium complexes are always a bad sign since there's often something inside that really, really shouldn't be let out.

Arcanine and Boltund locked eyes with her. Both started to bark at her. The officers' heads whipped in her direction.

"Are you lost, little drakloak?" He reached for a radio attached to his belt. "Do you have a trainer?"

Yuna didn't dare open her mouth. Even if it was just a couple of policemen and their dogs, this counted as trouble for her. It was time to double back to the others. As she turned around and got ready to phase back through the door, however, one of the officers shouted, "Wait, Drakloak!"

Ah yes, cue the theme song:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DebmlHgAvko

"I'm getting the sergeant on the horn," the other said. "We oughta sweep the sewers."

Yuna phased her way back through the door, ready to quickly retrace her steps back to the others. But the moment she got through the door, her shadows swung her tail forward. Squealing, Yuna righted herself... and found a familiar purple figure standing in front of her.

"You're early, Yaldabaoth."

Well then. I had a feeling that this lull wouldn't last, but I certainly wasn't expecting that.

Yuna: "Oh, you're kidding me."

GL Exploration Log: Wyndon, Galar (Dimension POV-0773)
The novelty of being in PokéLondon wore off with, like, the fifth Wyndon I visited. This one's pretty par for the course. Macro Cosmos already folded in the wake of their CEO deciding to unleash Eternatus. The various subsidiaries were taken up by competitors or became government-controlled utilities. Nothing special there. But, hey, Parliament seized all that Rose doofus' assets. So, that's different from the last few!

Okay, yeah,

wrote this entry. I can already tell from the explicit comparison to 'London' there.

I guess if I had to list anything that actually sets this one apart, it'd be that it's a good deal foggier than other Wyndons. Quick internet search suggests they average about fifty to sixty days of sunlight a year. Which ain't going to jive well with my inner light dragon. Despite the gloomier weather, this Wyndon's a popular spot for hosting the Pokémon World Coronation Series. It functions more like the Olympics in this universe. Every four years regions send their best trainers to compete for the gold. How they pick them ranges from actual qualifying tournaments to just sending off gym leaders and their elite four and calling it a day.

Not a tea guy, but the biscuits are a solid seven out of ten.

Yeah, I knew it. Though I suppose that's a sign that it won't be much longer before

joins the plot proper, since we've already seen him poking around a bit in past chapters.

Path of Valor Almanac
The dimension number is the national dex number for Silvally. Which wouldn't be terribly significant on its own, but I used it as the uniform number for my character in Pokémon Sword.

Come on... Buddy cameo next chapter, you know you want to...

Though that was definitely a bit of a change of pace, definitely a bit slower than a lot of other chapters have been lately, though I suppose we do still need to pick up the pieces from Tulpise no longer existing as a city narratively, and the outro definitely made it clear that the peace and quiet this chapter isn't going to last very long.

In terms of criticisms, I do wonder if it really made sense to offscreen as much stuff that happened over the two weeks in-setting as it did. Like most of it seemed decently justified for just handling with a summary, but not showing Shimmer's first impression with the Resistance or the broader group coming to terms with the debacle in Tulpise definitely felt like a bit of a missed opportunity. But eh, it's your story, and I suppose I can't fault you for if you felt that one-and-a-half chapters of mostly just grappling with more aftermath was really interesting for readers to deal with.

And kudos again, @Ambyssin , you definitely didn't make it easy to wait for the chapter after this one with the way you left things on quite the cliffhanger note there.

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, going to do something that I haven't done in a long time and review a chapter of PoV on its actual release date (well, it took a day or two to get this final posted version out in the wild, but close enough). So let's jump right into the part where PoV becomes a trainerfic in…

Chapter 80

Spoiler

These Overseer guys really want me keeping up with these audio diaries. All part of the healing and adjustment process, they say.

But healing from what? Leaving my home? Since we struck that deal, I've had time to mentally prepare myself. I knew this would be a big change. And change and I tend to go together like ice cream and horseradish. Which I only tried on a dare, for the record!

... Wait, what am I saying? No one's going to listen to these but me.

This... sounds an awful lot like

from that overall "voice", just saying.

Gah, c'mon. Focus, dummy. You're supposed to be talking about what it's been like in this Overworld place. Deep breaths.

Right. Okay. So, like, it's really abstract and esoteric. Still haven't pieced together how the Overworld works or anything. I've seen a fair few Overseers. Some of them give off the vibe they know me. Or heard of me. Apparently, there are actually a few reformed Dark Matters amongst this group. So, uh, that's something. And a couple of 'em go by "Diyem," which is, like, the kind of dumb name I'd come up with for a pokémon I caught in one of the games way back when I was human. Whatever floats their boats, I suppose.

Okay, yeah. This is

. Though I suppose that this is a sign that POV-2020 is adjacent to HOC-2017 or whatever its universe designation is or one of the Blacklight universes since I'm not sure if there are settings with 'Diyem's, let alone 'Diyem's that are Dark Matters outside of things that Namo has been involved in writing in some capacity.

Though wait, does that mean in a hypothetical Spanish/Italian translation of HoC, that Diyem would be called something like 'Emmeo'?

If I'm being honest, it kinda feels like I'm back in high school. Except I'm the new kid who transferred in in the middle of the semester.

I mean, if who wrote this is who I think it is. Considering what his high school experience was like. That's... uh... not a positive sign at all for what this was like here.

Despite the countless voices stacked atop one another, the Butterfree Effect's words were sickeningly sweet. Somewhere in the back of Yuna's mind, she knew to expect them when the warning about the latest anomaly blared up. Just not this soon.

Ah yes, just casually trotting out the music from the final walkup to Zanza in XB1. Totally not an ominous sign here. Even if the demiurge in this particular encounter is the protagonist.

Then again, this was the fastest she'd located a core. Sort of.

"It is as I said before." Butterfree Effect folded their hands behind their back. "Even with an early arrival, our meeting was written into the stars."

So... no visions of the future mechanic for Yuna to kick fate where the sun don't shine? Or is that something that's still in the pipeline for her? ^^;

Yuna frowned. Wasn't the whole reason they sent Walking Wake after her to avoid this. "But you tried to kill me and my friends."

"Whether your drakloak shell won or lost that battle mattered not," Butterfree Effect responded. "The end result was always another meeting. No matter what questions you conjure, the answers still lead to a single outcome."

I mean, at least that's a good sign that Yuna's personality wouldn't get overwritten by Yaldabaoth overtaking her? Maybe? Since the Butterfree Effect's phrasing there implies that in the grand scheme of things, that Yuna's Drakloak body is functionally just a cosmetic skin for who she really is.

She strained to stop her tail from lashing at Butterfree Effect. Yuna wasn't interested in retreading their tired riddles. If this was another projection, they couldn't do anything to her, anyway.

"Okay. Well, glad to satisfy your predictions," Yuna deadpanned. "Enjoy standing in this dark hallway alone."

As she floated past, however, Butterfree Effect cut back in front of her. They hadn't taken any steps. Moved any muscles.

... Did they even have muscles?

Guess the projections can teleport.

Yuna:

"Seriously, could you make this any more creepy or uncomfortable right now?" >_>;

"Returning to your puppet's friends?" Butterfree Effect nudged up their mask. "You can brainstorm all you want. It won't change your situation. Or this world's fate."

I... take that comment about the Butterfree Effect's commentary being a positive sign, really.

Though hey, the last time I saw a demiurge just chilling in a host's body, said host was still around to go and do things once they separated with a bit of help? So maybe that'll happen to Yuna, too?

There was that Xeromus-esque claim about futility. Yuna continued silently down the hall. Again, Butterfree Effect warped in her path.

"They've heightened security for this event." Butterfree Effect's mask rippled. Yuna thought she saw emergency lights flickering inside it. "Because the previous gold medalist disappeared suddenly and unexpectedly."

Oh, well that's not ominous and worrisome at all.

Though I wonder if that gold medalist was Ash, there.

Yuna took a deep breath to keep her shadows in check. Though still pooled around the base of her tail, they were at least behaving themselves. "I bet you had something to do with it."

"How flattering." Butterfree Effect was amused, despite their distorted voice. "However, I am as much a bystander in this as you." Static encircled their arceus-like hair. A strange red and white hat with an unfinished triangle appeared atop their head. "They claim this young man was 'betrayed' by those he thought closest to him. And then he vanished in the aftermath."

I see that even PoV isn't immune to the horrors of Ash Betrayed, though I suppose I should've seen this coming from the literal TPP content like 40 chapters ago.

Yuna: "... An Ash Betrayed universe? Really?"

Butterfree Effect: "Well, yes. Our story does run on memes and absurdism a good chunk of the time, but anyhow..."

Butterfree Effect snapped their fingers. Static pulses ate away at their hat, replacing it with the arceus hairdo once more. "Perhaps such a tale makes you nostalgic, Yaldabaoth?"

Yuna: "Seriously? Would it call you to just call me 'Yuna' for once?"

Butterfree Effect: "Tch, why beat around the bush? We both know who you really are, after all."

A powerful tug gripped Yuna's lower half. For a moment, her vision blurred. Clear blue skies painted over the hallway. A wrecked temple with jagged, broken pillars grew further away from Yuna.

Ah yes, just casually flashing back to the last Volo quest from PLA.

She squeezed her eyes shut and smushed her cheeks with her hands. "No idea what you're talking about," Yuna said, doing her best to wear a stern expression.

The Butterfree Effect sighed. "As predicted." They folded their hands behind their back again. "You're right. It's not an entertaining tale. In fact, I've seen 3,741 worlds just like this. And they have all turned out the same way."

I... don't even want to know if there's really that many Ash Betrayal fics floating around out there or not.

Yuna fixed her gaze on the door leading back down to the sewers. Would Butterfree Effect follow her there if she left?

"Stagnation. Decay." The projection popped into Yuna's line of sight. "Left to wither away into nothing."

Shots fired at all the deadfics floating around out there, since... yeah. That more or less accurately describes the world of a deadfic.

The drakloak headed forward again. She drifted left, thinking the projection would move to cut her off. Except Butterfree Effect didn't. So, when she swerved right, they were there. Standing right in front of her and nudging at their mask.

"You are an open book, Yaldabaoth." Their mask rippled. Yuna thought she saw a reflection of her own inky black shadows in it. "Your moves are as predictable as your inability to accept the truth."

Is she even cognizant of the truth right now? ^^;

Yuna finally spat some dragonfire at Butterfree Effect. It washed over the projection, dimming them, but failing to snuff them out entirely. "If this is really so predictable, then why are you wasting your time talking to me?"

The shadowy reflection faded from Butterfree Effect's mask. Instead, there was a faint drakloak silhouette attached to it. That faded just as fast as it appeared. "All right. To the puppet, then. Yunavresca, was it?"

Butterfree Effect: "Yeah, you know how in Xenoblade 1 there was the whole thing about the protagonist being indwelled by a malevolent demiurge figure for the first 60 hours of gameplay? That's you right now."
Yuna: "... That's- That's not actually canon, is it?"

Great, they knew her name. Somehow. Yuna shot more dragonfire at Butterfree Effect and sped forward. This time they reappeared directly in front of the door, casting an odd purple glow against the otherwise dark gray metal.

"Do you think it's fair," Butterfree Effect began, "for so much suffering to be spread across all of reality?"

I swear, this is going to turn into something like an advertisement for the White Ending from SMT4 at this rate, I can already tell. Since this feels a lot the sales pitch that the White gave to just end everything in that game.

Yuna's shadows tugged on her lower half. She wasn't sure if they wanted to lash out or were encouraging her to keep going, even if it meant flying into the projection. Something she was still nervous about. If they could teleport around, were they truly powerless?

"The truth of reality is one of stagnation." Butterfree Effect's mask again swirled around into a purple void. "Every universe is destined to fade away into nothingness. The souls siphoned by the Overworld where they will slumber for eternity."

Something, something, Grovyle literally gave a definitive rebuttal to this general train of thought in SE5. Which Yuna has likely been exposed to in some capacity thanks to Shaymin the Wanderer being a thing in Etherium.

The void shifted. Tiny hands held feathered quills that scribbled across Butterfree Effect's distorted face. "Thousand arms crumble away. The storytellers lay down their pens or canvases." The hands tossed the quills away and simply tapped at the air. "The keyboards go silent." At last the hands merged into an open book that promptly slammed shut... and reformed their arceus wheel mask. "Whether gradually or abruptly, the story always ends.

Boy are we getting really meta right now. I wonder how much of this you putting voice to occasional "god, I'm never gonna finish this" gremlins, since this feels like some prime

material for fanfic writers in particular.

"Worlds without gods fizzle out." A sun appeared in the center of their mask, only to be extinguished like a blown out candle. "Those 'blessed' with divinity will see it abandon them. Or turn to destruction. Or be seized by those with malice in their hearts."

TL/DR:

Butterfree Effect warped directly in front of Yuna. The drakloak instinctively recoiled as they snapped back to the door. "Why does this happen, Yunavresca?" They stared her down. The dim room warped their mask even more than usual. "You now know of the Overseers. How can such a powerful group choose to stand by, letting each and every world meet their end?" They shook their head. "No, more than that, insist that these ends are necessary for some sort of cosmic balance?"

Because in the end, the Overseers are fictional entities in themselves that have no control over whether or not the creators of various Pokémon stories keep their tales going or not?

I mean, even in real life, stars burn out and die and from the best we know of, universes too will succumb to entropy. It's just a part of reality.

"I..." Yuna thought she had a retort at the ready, but her voice trailed off. Her gaze fell to the floor.

The shadows tugged on her lower half again. As if they were chewing her out for even listening to this thing. The drakloak needed to leave. Yuna spewed dragonfire at Butterfree Effect and shot forward. Panic welled up inside as the purple, distorted figure grew closer. They hadn't moved. What would contacting them do to her?

And yet, Yuna didn't slow down. In fact, she sped up. Was she getting lighter?

Ah yes, Yaldabaoth has decided that Yuna has heard enough and needs to get out before messing up his rebirth or whatever.

Before Yuna knew it, she was on the other side of the door. As if she'd phased through both Butterfree Effect and the door in one shot. And shadows were trailing off her body. Yuna glanced at her hands, then decided she could ruminate more when she was back with the others.

The drakloak began to descend when she glanced purple flickers in front of her. Her tail crinkled up upon seeing the Butterfree Effect standing sideways on the wall.

Yuna: "Are you kidding me?! What on earth does it take to lose this guy?!"

"Unfortunate." They folded their hands behind their back. "But expected." A distorted sigh followed. "Poor little puppet. Burdened with the illusion of choice." They nudged their mask up. "Let me make this simple, then, Yaldabaoth. You want to reach the core, but the vault is designed to withstand pokémon attacks."

Butterfree Effect lifted their right hand. "And the missing, 'betrayed' human is inside, bathing in the core's energy as we speak alongside one of the creatures your puppet knows as Phantoms."

I can't tell if this is going to be amazing or really, really cringe. Maybe both at once.

Yuna swallowed hard. A Phantom was already here? And inside the vault, too?

"You've seen how many people are here for these festivities, Yaldabaoth," Butterfree Effect continued. "So, what will you do? Will you open the vault and allow the Whisper of Ruin to rampage through this stadium— nay, the whole city? Or will you wait... all the while running the risk of more cores gathering more power and endangering other realms?"

Oh boy, what a choice there. There's... a third option that's not being presented here... right?

They had both arms raised. "Surely, you understand now. The result is the same no matter what choice you make. Chaos leads to suffering." Butterfree Effect shook their head. "Reality's truth is unavoidable... unless you stand aside and allow me to affirm all phenomena. My Eternaverse will inscribe a new truth for reality. One where all souls are free from burden. From suffering."

Since there is an absolutely terrible track record of promises like these actually panning out in fiction.

Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and flew down the empty shaft. After a few seconds, she forced her eyes open. No eerie purple glow. They hadn't followed her.

What if she phased through the door to the sewers? The drakloak headed through it. A quiet sewer tunnel greeted her.

No sign of Butterfree Effect. Perhaps Yuna had gotten far enough from the anomaly core? Maybe if she checked her X-transceiver?

"Hello?" Yuna whispered. "Anyone there?"

Yuna: "Since I think that I'm having a bit of an existential crisis right now and could really use someone to talk to..."

"Cripes! There you are, Princess!" came Nikki's hasty response. "The hell happened? You went silent on us for a while."

Oh, so Yuna was just spacing out in the middle of that whole Butterfree Effect encounter, huh? ^^;

Yuna sighed in relief. "I found the core. But it's locked in a vault."

"Pfbt. So?" Cracked knuckles came through Yuna's speaker. "We'll bust it open."

Yuna: "Um... yeah, about that. Things... aren't going to be quite as straightforward as that." ^^;
Nikki: "And just what's that supposed to mean?"

The drakloak shuddered, recalling Butterfree Effect's warning. "I don't think it's going to be that simple." Her shoulders sagged. "I'll explain more when I get back."

She took a deep breath as she flew deeper into the sewer tunnel. It'll be okay, Yuna told herself. Even with all the dumb destiny talk Butterfree Effect spewed, there was one thing they hadn't brought up: this wasn't Yuna's decision to make alone. There was a whole team she could run this by.

This wasn't an impossible situation. They'd come up with a plan together. Yes, there was still a way for this to work out.

Igneous walked silently on the gravel path, ignoring rows of tombstones on either side of him. A small part kept urging him to leave the cemetery. If Sakaki was here, things would only be awkward. Why was he even entertaining his dad, anyway? The nidoking had an important story he was supposed to be working on. All of this would prove nothing but a big distraction.

Ah yes, AA6 music. Wasn't expecting that one to make an appearance here.

Nevertheless, the grovlazzle put one foot in front of the other. The tombstones got progressively bigger until Igneous reached the back of the cemetery. He gazed at the oddly large brick wall. Why was it so tall? It wasn't keeping out graverobbers. Not flying ones, at least.

It's a privacy measure, perhaps? I mean, your dad is a mob boss, so...

He looked left. Sure enough, Sakaki stood several meters away. He faced a white marble tree with leafy wreaths wrapped around them. As Igneous approached, he glimpsed the words carved into the base of the statue.

REINA. BELOVED WIFE, MOTHER, AND TEACHER.

Ah yes, time for things to get really

really fast.

Igneous had seen it over and over again through the years. He thought he'd gone numb to it. But with everything that happened since Venish, Igneous couldn't push the memories out of his head.

A withering sceptile lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by vases of assorted flowers. IV lines jabbed in her arms. Rammed up her legs. Strange liquids dripping into her lines. Machines beeping and hissing in the background. Breathing for her. Keeping her heart beating because she'd lost the strength to do so.

Didn't have to wait long at all for the mood to set in, really.

"So, you showed up after all."

The grovlazzle jolted stiff. Sakaki was looking right at him. Igneous noticed the bouquet of flowers on the ground in front of the statue. Freshly picked tulips. His mother's favorite.

"Yeah," Igneous didn't take his eyes off the flowers. He didn't want to talk with Sakaki, but staying silent wouldn't get the nidoking to leave any faster. "Surprised you remember."

Ah yes, time for the awkward moment between two people who don't particularly like each other very much brought together by grief.

Sakaki stuck his hands in his blazer's pockets. "I've brought her some every three months." There was a bit more fatigue as he added, "Which I'm sure you never noticed."

Igneous had to stop himself from curling his hands into fists. "Can you blame me? You replaced her so quickly."

Just noting the family drama in action here. Though I suppose this would explain a thing or two about why Igneous is so frosty with Kyoko.

Silence. Sakaki turned away from him. "She would've wanted me to move on."

"Not within a few short months!" Igneous snapped.

Sighing, Sakaki folded his hands behind his back. "Everyone grieves differently. Your stepmother was there for me when I needed her. I can't expect you to understand. You were... lost in your own spiral."

I mean, considering how Iggy lost an arm before ultimately somewhat coming to terms with his mother dying... yeah.

Wincing, Igneous forced bitter, familiar images of lying on a cold floor, staring at the stump where his right arm was supposed to be from his mind. He couldn't think about that. Not now.

"It didn't occur to you... how it might've come across to me?" he muttered.

"Every time I tried to talk to you, you weren't there."

I mean, Iggy does seem to be a master at failing to communicate in this story, so... I'm pretty sure mob boss dad has a point there. ^^;

"Because I was finding out who was responsible." Igneous' head leaf simmered. "It was meant for you." His gaze fell to the ground. "They wanted to poison you. And you just let her open that envelope."

"How was I supposed to—"

"Weren't you the one who had your underlings screening your damn mail?!" Igneous growled. Embers smoldered on the ends of his tails. He realized this and promptly turned out. "Y'know what? Forget it. This was a mistake."

Um. Iggy, not to cut into your moment blaming dad for your dead mom problems, but that should make you two very, very worried about whether or not there are moles within the Ryujin Clan considering that there are alternative explanations for that epic fail beyond 'incompetence' there.

"Chiaki."

"It's Igneous." The grovlazzle stomped off without another word.

With every row of tombstones, his mood soured further. Not toward Sakaki, though. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Igneous rapped the side of his head with his claws. Clearly, Sakaki did still value her. He wouldn't pull off empty gestures just for Igneous' sake. The nidoking abhorred wasting time on such frivolities.

Oh, so he's making an

face, huh?

Which means I'm the problem. Igneous kicked a pebble and watched it tumble down the gravel path. He approached it and kicked again. It rolled past the security kiosk with a sableye fast asleep inside and through the open gates.

... Where it stopped near a gray-white, fluffy hoof.

Igneous tensed. "What are you doing here?" He walked faster. The grovlazzle doubted Shimmer's mere presence meant there were paparazzi or anything nearby, but a tiny part of him feared it nonetheless.

Well. Let's hope that Sakaki's proper job isn't an open secret in Radiance, otherwise this moment is going to get really, really awkward for Iggy in short order.

Shimmer nudged his head right. A latias with glowing blue, speaker-like wings leaned against the other side of the stone wall. She turned her head slightly and waved to Igneous. He dumbly waved back while trying to locate Scarlett.

"We might've overhead what you were saying to Gene," Starlene admitted, poking her claws together. "I know you asked for space. But someone wanted to make sure you were okay." She paused, looking over her shoulder. "From a respectable distance. Decent compromise, right?" Starlene wiggled her claws with enthusiasm that progressively dimmed the longer Igneous stared blankly at her.

Igneous: "Wait, but I thought that Shimmer was more or less catatonic for the past two weeks from the aftermath of Tulp-"

Shimmer: "Igneous, that was two weeks ago!" >_>;

"I thought she was up to something fishy," Shimmer said, his fluffy tails twitching. "So, I followed, too."

Silence. Igneous' gaze drifted to the cemetery wall. He couldn't snap at them. He'd already done badly enough with Sakaki. The grovlazzle trudged toward Starlene, not meeting the latias' gaze. A pink flicker was all that told him Scarlett recalled her. He waited for the dragonair to ask if he was okay, but she stayed silent. Still respecting his boundaries, he supposed.

Sakaki: "Chiaki, we're going to need to have a talk about this afterwards."

Igneous: "I mean, I'm pretty sure that we brought Shimmer up to speed about everything over the past two weeks? So we should be fine... I think."

Igneous leaned against the wall and looked up. A thick layer of clouds hung overhead. The kind of dark clouds that threatened to drench the area, yet somehow held back.

"Should we... ask to return?" Shimmer wondered. The ponytales paced slowly in front of Igneous.

"Not yet." Igneous took a deep breath. "Need... a bit more time."

That drew a slither from Igneous' left. "I suppose there are a couple of meanings behind that, huh?" Scarlett whispered.

Igneous: "Probably, but- I just really need to be alone right now, okay?"

Igneous didn't reply. He could say something. Scarlett at least had a vague idea of what was happening. She was offering him a chance. So, why couldn't he just come out and explain himself?

It had to be the memories. Igneous didn't want to grapple with them. The only way to suppress them was not to talk about it. That was how it worked.

"The spirit never forgets."

Xeromus' words sent a shudder down Igneous back. His claws scraped the stone behind him. Igneous tucked his head down and closed his eyes.

And more AA6 music. Did you replay it recently or something? Since you sure seem to be on a kick for it this chapter.

"I lost my mother several years back," Igneous whispered. He tensed, waiting for the memories of that dim, flower-filled hospital room to flood in. They held off. And the others weren't responding. That was his cue to keep going. "Shimmer's already heard about it. My father was working on a big Beacon piece. Someone didn't like that. They sent him mail in a poison-laced envelope."

He glanced left. Saw the confusion on Scarlett's face. "The kind of venom that can work on a poison-type. Like salazzle toxins."

The "Oh" formed on Scarlett's lips was clear even without her saying it.

So wait, what is the normal concentration of poison from Salazzle poison delivered naturally? Since Reina quite literally just shriveled up and died from the dose she received from that envelope.

"The point is... my mom opened the envelope. Inhaled the venom." Igneous' claws scraped the wall again. "Both my parents hid it from me. I thought Mom was looking a bit frail, but she always played it off." He sucked in a hard breath. "Until I found out she was in intensive care at the hospital." Igneous closed his eyes again. "It was slow. Looked painful. Dad kept her on life support for a month... mostly because of me. Because I... I loved my mom. I couldn't lose her.

"My dad... went to other people to grieve. But not me." Igneous stared at his orange and yellow belly. "I poured myself into figuring out who was responsible. Tried to go after them myself." He held out his right arm. "Lost an arm because of it."

Along with the respect of much of the Ryujin Clan, but let's not get into that right now.

Though I'm just realizing that this is the story parallel to the scene where Shimmer opened up to Iggy a couple chapters ago right outside of Horizon Gardens.

Scarlett's eyes widened in realization. Igneous rubbed his right arm. "I had a great prosthetic. Only a couple of people at Horizon knew the truth before that explosion in Venish."

... And plenty of Ryujin. Not that they had to hear that part.

Yeeeeeeeeah, let's not get into Iggy's mob ties right in front of everyone right now. That would probably be wise. ^^;

"What I didn't tell Shimmer was that, while this all happened, Dad found someone else." Igneous' brow furrowed. "A well-known salazzle fashionista. Married her within a few months." He shook his head. "I haven't been able to forgive him for it. It felt like he'd left me and Mom behind."

Boy would it be awkward if Sakaki just walked in on him right about now. Since I'm pretty sure it wasn't described that Iggy put a whole bunch of distance between him and his dad. ^^;

He paused, wondering how much further to go. The only other thing Igneous needed to say was—

"So you grew distant, until you took your mom's insurance money and went to Horizon."

Igneous nodded slowly at Shimmer. He noticed a flat expression on Scarlett's face. She must've been conflicted over hearing he had told Shimmer about this after asking her for space on the matter. And that left Igneous mentally kicking himself. Way to screw up again, dumbass.

Yeeeeeeah, that's been kind of a worryingly consistent trend for Iggy throughout the story. Which I'm pretty sure is as good a sign as any to stop trying to do things on his own already.

He scrambled to say something to her to save face. "I wanted to tell you after Tulpise, but—"

"We ran into each other." Shimmer glanced at him. "There was a bit of an argument and it slipped out on his part. He really did want to tell you first."

Igneous did his best to keep a straight face, pressing his back harder against the wall. "Right. Something like that."

Scarlett coiled up tighter. She looked down at the older, abandoned buildings across from the cemetery. "It's fine." The dragonair took a deep breath. "I get it. Family's complicated."

Oh, so Scarlett also has/had a messed-up family life of her own, huh? Since I can see that reaction from her.

Her neck bauble flickered. "Okay, I don't really get it. Orphan and all that." She shrugged her tiny wings. Igneous raised a brow. Scarlett promptly puffed her cheeks. "It was a joke. Y'know, dark humor and stuff?"

Ah. Igneous weakly chuckled.

I suppose that I was kinda right about Scarlett, but at the same time pretty wrong. Though I suppose that would certainly explain a few things about why we've heard absolutely bupkis about her family.

"Don't give me a pity laugh." Scarlett wrinkled her snout. "This isn't open mic night!" Sighing, she loosened her coiling a bit. "But seriously. I don't really know what to say."

"You don't have to comfort me," Igneous insisted. He pushed off the wall and walked between Scarlett and Shimmer. "I've been dealing with this on my own for a while."

Um, yeah. Considering how well that's been turning out for you, you should really consider a change of tack, Iggy.

Scarlett slithered to his side. "And you don't think that isn't working?" Her neck bauble flickered. A spectral Starlene gave him a disapproving look. "I won't tell you what to do," Scarlett said, glancing over her shoulder the moment Starlene's illusion poofed away. "Just, y'know, maybe balling it all up isn't the answer here?"

Igneous blinked slowly. His gaze fell to his feet. It needed a bit of mental gymnastics, but Igneous saw the connection between Scarlett's words... and Sakaki's actions.

He spent all that time with Igneous' eventual stepmother instead of bottling it up. And who had Igneous leaned on?

No one.

I mean, yeah. Considering how you've been a bit of a failure knight for solo missions in general... you should really take the hint here, Iggy. ^^;

Sure, Valkyrie helped him with tracking down who was responsible. But she was doing her job. Igneous never talked about this stuff with her. Only about the next steps.

God, was he really that stupid?

Narrator:

Igneous: "Gee, thanks. I feel so much better right now." >_>;

"Still awake?"

Scarlett's tail waved in front of Igneous' face. "If you want to go back to the station, we can go back. I'm pretty sure people are just bickering about the new mystery dungeon. Or anomaly. Or whatever we're calling it."

Igneous stiffened at that. "Bickering?" He hesitantly reached his hand up and turned his X-transceiver on.

Oh boy, coming straight off an entire scene of emotional turmoil and then straight into figuring out what on earth to do about sealing the anomaly in the Ash Betrayed-verse, that's certainly not a volatile combination there.

"Absolutely not!"

"Absolutely not!"

Seifer flinched after he and Widget said the same thing in tandem. The keldeo looked at Yuna. "You can't possibly agree with him."

Wait, wait, wait. Just what game is this song from?

Yuna bit her lower lip. "I, uh, would prefer not to cause problems for this city." She wrung her hands out. A part of her expected Gene to suggest brute forcing the mysterious vault, yet it still surprised her how quickly and casually he threw out the suggestion.

"Look, we heard what Yuna said." Gene was annoyed. From people disagreeing with him? Surely, he saw that coming, right? "We're taking a gamble no matter what we do. We can put one city in danger... or multiple places could get swept up in this. Don't gotta be a mathematician to know that the former's less than the latter. We break open the vault and destroy the Phantom—"

Damn, ice cold there. Even if it's hard to argue his logic from a 'needs of the many' perspective.

"It's actually called a Whisper," Yuna blurted out, only to throw her hands over her mouth. Of all the stupid times to get caught up in technicalities.

"Okay, sure." The eyeroll practically dripped from Gene's words. "Doesn't change the plan: D-E-S-T-R-O-Y, oh my!"

Yuna: "... Okay, yeah. I'm getting a really, really strong urge to just sit this one out and let you all have at it, since... yeah, I really don't want to get involved with this." >_>;

"It's a bad idea!" Widget immediately countered. "It doesn't sound like there's a way to contain the thing like in LaRousse. Nothing'll stop it from wreaking havoc the moment the vault's open."

It's the Squaresoft Protagonist Way~

Which was Yuna's big concern. In the middle of a big sporting event, there was no way they could clear out that stadium.

"Psssht. You're thinking too hard." Smirking, Nikki clasped the sides of her leather jacket. "It's simple: we take the safe with the core... and move it somewhere else." She pushed the air in front of her. "Find some abandoned field and plop it down. Easy peasy lemon squeezy."

Oh lordy, you were waiting for an opportunity to do that Spongebob meme, weren't you? >:V

Leo bobbed up and down on Yuna's head, seemingly enthralled with the idea. The drakloak herself had doubts, though. Such a simple solution couldn't possibly work, right?

"Can you even move an anomaly core?" Cid wondered. "What if they're anchored in place, only following the planet's rotation? It's just as likely that if you move the vault, the core will simply... phase through it. Leaving whatever's inside free to rampage through the stadium."

Nikki's mohawk shrank a bit. "Tch. They're big balls of staticky gobbledegook. How am I supposed to know?"

I mean, at least her idea has a chance of getting the anomaly out without immediately freeing the Whisper as opposed to Gene's idea which will free said Whisper to turn Wyndon into an ex-city, so...

"Yeah, how dare the scholar counter you with logic," Cyril scoffed. Seifer snrked, to Yuna's surprise. Since when did the keldeo like sarcasm?

"I don't see anyone else coming up with anything." Nikki tapped a foot impatiently on the stone ground. "We're burning—" She cut herself off and looked up. "Moonlight, I guess?"

Silence followed. Yuna looked out at the river. Boats floated atop the water, carrying scores of people watching a bunch of moving lights that pretended to be a flying cramorant. She couldn't stomach the thought of letting something bad happen to all the people here. But she didn't want other places in danger from doing nothing.

Nikki: "Just saying, we could try my idea. It's not stupid if it works. And if it doesn't... well, at least it won't end any worse than Gene's idea?" ^^;

Yuna squeezed her hands against her face. The Butterfree Effect told her about this on purpose. Perhaps they knew the situation would leave the resistance paralyzed with indecision.

Devilish there. But I could buy it.

"Okay, fine." Gene finally spoke up again after having his original idea shot down. "The only way to play this safe is to go the ironic route. We gotta get nuts for safety!"

So... what, cause a bomb scare or something to get the stadium evacuated? Not sure what you're going for there, Gene.

Seifer raised a brow. "Which entails?"

"Instead of letting whatever's in that vault out to cause a real disaster, we stir up a fake one to force everyone away from the stadium."

Yeah, I had a feeling. Though it does make sense and would probably cause a lot less collateral instead of just oopsing the stadium in the middle of a match on the field.

Suppressing a wince, Yuna watched the stadium in the distance, with its colorful lights projecting into the night sky. If she was following Gene correctly, then...

"You're going to attack this place. Or pretend to."

Gene chuckled. "Not who I was expecting to catch on, but I'll take it! Between me, Birdbrain, and, say, you summoning one of the Sages, we've got everything we need to raise some hell!" He paused. "Well, fake hell. You get the idea."

And then suddenly, for no reason at all, Team Bastion popped up on the anti-terrorism watchlist of every region in this universe.

"But that's still dangerous," Widget squawked. "If you cause a scene, people might hurt one another in the ensuing panic!"

To that, Gene laughed. "That's where the rest of you come in. We're going to make a convenient escape route for a fake assault on Wyndon. So, get ready, because I'm coming over to scout the city out."

Nikki: "Gene, that's-"

Gene: "Not stupid if it works? Also, clearing out the stadium would give us a freer hand to try out your meme proposal for dealing with the vault." ^^
Nikki: "Ugh, fine. Whatever. Not like we have better options at the moment."

Alright, made it to the end. Not a lot of action this time around, but definitely a whole heap of character drama, especially regarding how Yuna's basically shaping up to be Shulk as a missile dragon and Iggy realizing that he's been going about his personal problems the wrong way for literal years, along with the promise of explosions next chapters... and memes.

Lots of memes. I don't have any firm complaints to lob at this chapter. I'll admit that I did raise my brow a bit at how things are apparently going to incorporate an Ash Betrayed subplot in the imminent future, but I suppose I'll reserve judgement on things until they happen since there's a long track record of "it's not stupid if it works" in this story with things that sound a bit out-there in terms of plot beats on paper.

Glad to be caught up with this story again, @Ambyssin . And hope the feedback was fun to read. ^^

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 81: On the Wind, Past the Stars​

Entry 3451
Just seeing Mewtwo again stirred up old wounds I thought had long healed. The cruelty of Team Rocket's boss. Mewtwo's betrayal of my trust. How he hurt me. Broke off a piece of my face.

The crystal was still there in his shoulder. Taunting me.

Chiron hid him from me this entire time. She wouldn't trust me. Only said to trust that type: full anomaly.

And now she's gone.

I won't forgive them. Both these creatures are affronts to nature. I will destroy them along with Eternatus. I just need more power.

XxX​

Seifer didn't enjoy feeling like a sitting ducklett. No matter how much Cyril assured the keldeo his illusory veil was holding up, his gut squirmed with each human officer and sniffing dog that walked past. Surely, one of the arcanine or houndoom would pick up their scent eventually.

"Are you sure we're safe this close to the rift?" Seifer still had no idea why the police were patrolling this place so relentlessly. The anomaly was plain as day. It wasn't as if they had the personnel to stop someone from approaching it entirely.

"Am I sure? Pssht." The cosmic zoroark's hair rippled into a black hood. "Only a sith deals in absolutes, young keldewan."

Seifer tilted his head. The heck was Cyril doing?

"Seriously?" Cyril did his best to keep his voice a whisper. "You never saw Space Wars? The hero's a keldeo like you."

Seifer stared back blankly. Was that... a piece of Radiance or Eternatus media?

"For crying out loud." The dark hood disappeared, leaving Cyril scratching his starry mane. "What movies have you seen?"

The keldeo squinted in thought. "Uhh..." He frowned. Nothing was springing to mind right away. "Do educational pictures from back in my Horizon Academy days count?"

Cyril facepalmed. "Welp. Guess I know what we're doing for a date night."

He couldn't be serious. "I'm sorry?" Seifer raised a brow. As much as he wanted to get back to the original question, Seifer couldn't let that go. "Are you going to drag me to a Radiance movie theater?"

"Nah." Cyril waved him off. "Veg on a couch with the first three Space Wars." His smirk faded slightly. "No need for the prequel or sequel trilogy. Pure trash right there." He sounded deathly serious.

"I was not... aware people got that passionate about movies," Seifer muttered. A policewoman and her two growlithe strutted past without even gazing in their direction. The two dogs were sniffing around, yet neither of them paid much mind to the two resistance members.

That was enough impetus for Seifer to steer the conversation back to its intended purpose. "Seriously, this is creeping me out," the keldeo whispered. "Why aren't they on to us?"

"You can thank our skorp recruits for that one." Cyril reached into his mane and produced some sort of spray can. It was completely black. "Essence of tar pit. Sprayed it all around the area. Everything smells like tar."

"But isn't that more suspicious?" Seifer said. Cyril then knelt down and gently tilted the keldeo's head toward the staircase leading up to Indigo Plateau's stadium. There was construction equipment sitting off to the side.

"Not unreasonable," Cyril said, smirking slightly.

Seifer was going to respond, but the cosmic zoroark put a yellow claw to his snout. "Ah, ah." Cyril's smirk grew. "If you say too much, you'll jinx us."

Seriously? He didn't peg Cyril as the superstitious type.

Cyril shook his head in disbelief. "I'm flirting with you, dumbass."

"Oh." Seifer's cheeks reddened. He sat down and stared intently at the rift. "W-Well, we're on the job. We have to get Widget to the rift. Save it for later."

"That's our consummate professional." Cyril hip-checked the keldeo, then tapped where his X-transceiver was in his right ear. "Yo, Boss Kitty, how goes it on your end? Got any leads or what? Not sure how much longer this tar pit spray will keep the dogs' noses off our scents."

XxX​

"We've got a lead."

Gene's arms were firmly crossed. He floated on a metal rooftop beside Cid, looking out over the river and the reflections from the drone light show still going on around the stadium. Yuna, Leo, and Nikki were behind him. The girls were talking amongst themselves about whatever. Gene didn't care.

"You don't sound happy," Cyril pointed out.

The shadowy mewtwo pinched his brow. "I'm not. Because it's..." He couldn't even put into words how stupid Cid's findings were. Better to let the orbeetle handle it. "You tell 'em."

"It would appear Team Rocket exists in this world," Cid said, eyeing Gene nervously. "Although my Dynascan suggests they're... a far cry from what Gene's described."

"It's just three of them!" Nikki said, mohawk rippling. "How big of a deal can it be? You said it yourself, dude." She smacked her fist into an open palm. "If we're going to cause trouble, we go to local troublemakers. That's just maths."

"I know that!" Gene snapped, yellowing tail lashing at the air. He dropped down on the roof, flinching from the cold stone under his toes. "It's not... an easy thing for me to do without seeing these people for myself."

Nikki put her hands on her hips. "Then let one of us talk to 'em." She jabbed a thumb against a chest gill. "I speak fluent skullduggery."

Gene turned away from them. "These aren't petty graffiti artists." He shook his head. "Forget it. I'm worrying over nothing. If it can't work out, I'll fling 'em into the river and we'll just do things ourselves."

"You'll what?!" Widget squawked through the comm line.

"Oi, keep quiet while we're walking!" Cyril growled.

Shaking his head, the shadowy mewtwo hovered into the air. "Down, boy." He chuckled. "They're crooks."

"That doesn't mean you fling them into a river! What if they can't swim?!"

Gene rolled his eyes. Annoying do-gooder birddogfish. "Fiiiine, I'll toss 'em in with some water floaties. Will that work?"

He didn't wait for Widget's inevitably irritable response. Cid pointed him in the direction of the three Rocket operatives.

"Keep a low profile in the meantime." Gene saluted the others and shot off into the night sky.

"What the hell do you think we're doing?!" Nikki shouted after him. Smirking, Gene pressed on, flying over a steel bridge with a few slow moving vehicles. The people clustered on the sidewalks were nothing but blurry specks under the night sky. Gene fixed his gaze ahead of him. The road split off in a few directions, with the northeast branch heading toward a very large roundabout where each offroad headed for a big, square building.

Even from this distance, all the signs suggested these were hotels. Which fit with Cid's description.

Gene assumed all the Malice flowing through him was what let him read these signs. Didn't account for the others on Team Bastion. He suspected that was a combination of Yuna and the little godbutt.

Let's see... second one. Gene headed for the second offroad. The Grand Wyndon Hotel was the smallest of those clustered by the roundabout. Definitely the oldest, judging by its blurry brick composition. Not so grand anymore, are ya?

He stopped and hovered over the building. Gene's chest rose and fell — well, the parts without the Malice Crystal did — as he mentally prepped himself. It was only three Rockets. They couldn't be that high on the totem pole. Otherwise, Cid would have senses an abundance of Rockets scattered around.

At least, if it's anything like the Team Rocket I knew.

Gene slowly descended. He positioned himself between windows as he passed by the top floors. Gene pressed himself against the building wall. Cool bricks brushed against his fingers and his left side.

Sixth floor. Fifth floor. Here.

The shadowy mewtwo stopped. He inched closer to the lit window in midair, then noted the curtains were drawn and stopped. Gene couldn't get closer without whoever was inside spotting him. If only he could get a glimpse... or even hear something. This building was old. Surely it wasn't that good at filtering out noise.

"... Da same wit'out a twerp to tail."

Gene's smirk returned. Bingo. That accent was atrocious, but at least Gene could understand it.

"Oh, listen to yourselves!" It was a new, female voice. "I didn't spend eight hours cramped in coach to lay around here watching you two mope like a pair of sad, sorry shroomish!"

"WOOOOOBBBBAAAAAFEEET!"

"Easy to say when you're not the one who had to drain his bottle cap collection just to cover the air and hotel fare!" a third— no, wait, fourth voice interjected. "We came here with the promise of Monarch pikachu pilfering for the boss. And instead all we have are empty hopes and dashed dreams!"

Gene had heard enough. These didn't sound like high-level Rockets. Or even competent ones, for that matter. But hearing "Monarch" and "disappeared" got the gears in his head turning. Hadn't Yuna brought that up when she was explaining the situation? Gene kind of tuned that part out.

Cupping his right hand over his face, he whispered. "Hey, Princess. What was that you mentioned about some missing trainer?"

"The guy who was supposed to defend his title here disappeared," Yuna replied, somewhat hesitantly. "And he might be stuck inside the anomaly core."

Theeeere it was. All the ammunition Gene needed. He cracked his knuckles. Showtime.

The shadowy mewtwo backed away from the wall. Gene scrutinized the window once more. Not the opening type. Typical stingy hotel.

Phantom Warp it is, then. Gene focused on his Malice Crystal. Next thing he knew, he was inside the modest hotel room, glancing at the meowth face down on one bed and the red and blue-haired people recoiling from the sight of him.

"Good news, plebs." Gene snapped his fingers. "The powers that be have heard your pleas. You want answers to your 'twerp' troubles? Well, I've got 'em."

Wobbuffet screamed and jumped for the red-haired lady, who displayed surprising strength in actually catching and hanging onto him.

"Ayy, what's da big idea?" Meowth sat up and shook his fist at Gene. "We didn't order no room service. Scram!"

"Hang on." The blue-haired man tilted his head. "Weren't you listening. It sounds like this eggplant pokémon might know where the twerp is!"

Gene quirked a brow at that comment. And at the fact that Meowth was speaking like a human. Or like any of the resistance. That would've been curious, but these Rockets neither attacked him nor chucked poké balls.

He wasn't going to draw any conclusions about whether this world had its own mewtwo, but Gene could say with certainty these three were total idiots. Were they representative of what Team Rocket was like in this direction? How was it still alive employing people like this?

Never mind that. Gene was on a timetable. "That's right." He lifted his right hand. A few throw pillows levitated over to him. Gene idly twirled them around their hand. "Team Rocket, yeah?"

The woman's eyes sparkled. She unceremoniously dropped Wobbuffet to the ground. "Did you hear that, James?" She dashed to Gene's side. "Word of our dastardly deeds has spread!" The sparkles turned to fire in the lady's eyes. "Or perhaps you recognize a certain dazzling enchantress of the stage?"

Rolling his eyes, Gene flicked his tail left. A little telekinesis was all he needed to push the lady back toward the wall by the thermostat. "Don't flatter yourselves." Gene let a throw pillow drift onto his finger and spun it around like it was a basketball. "Your jumpsuits have giant red Rs on 'em."

He tapped his right temple. "Also, powerful psychic. Able to read your minds so smoothly you wouldn't even know I was there."

Meowth's fur stood on end. "Sheesh, dis guy do impressions of da boss or sometin'? He loves dat tick!"

"Eggplant color and physique aside, the resemblance is uncanny," James added. "Just who are you, Eggplant?"

"Yeah!" Meowth crossed his arms and nodded. "And what kinda tricks are you playin' at? You wanna help us wit' our twerp troubles or not?"

"Oh, I do." Gene landed on the brown carpet. He tossed the throw pillows to the far bed one at a time. "Just had to make a point. If you get I'm strong, then you get I've got the power to find your twerp for you."

Meowth stroked his chin. "Dat's a bold claim for a complete stranger to make."

"Quit being sticks in the mud." The woman stomped a foot on the ground. "How often do we rely on the twerp trusting strangers for pika procurement opportunities, hmm?"

The other two were silent. Gene leaned back against the window. "If you want more transparency, the reason I found you guys is because I need your help as much as you need mine." The shadowy mewtwo looked at his hand, turning it back and forth like he was admiring a manicure he could never get.

"Our help?"

"Wobba?"

Even Wobbuffet sat up at that. The quartet shared astonished looks. Gene took that as his cue to continue.

"Your precious 'twerp' is in Wyndon Stadium." He pushed himself off the window so he could gesture toward it. The drone show had finished, but the stadium remained lit, projecting into the night sky. "He's trapped with something dangerous my team is here to get rid of."

"Da twerp around sometin' dangerous, huh?" Meowth shook his head. "Dat's as classic as peanut butter and jelly."

"Mmmhmm." The woman nodded along. "Or hot fudge and whipped cream."

"Or pineapple on pizza!" James added.

"You take that back!" Meowth and the woman shouted in unison. Wobbuffet mimicked them, though he could still only say his name for some strange reason.

"Come on, Jessie, it's not that bad." James held his hands up by his face.

"Focus!" Gene's tail lashed at the air. His eyes and Malice Crystal flickered. The quartet went stiff as boards. Stars, they were a handful.

"Let me repeat myself: there's something dangerous at the stadium." Gene gestured to the window with both arms this time. "The stadium full of people here for the big event." He thrust his arms at the window a second time after the Rockets didn't respond to him. "Is it sinking in yet?"

The four of them huddled amongst one another briefly, before Jessie and James nudged Meowth forward to the edge of the bed. "You want us around to get da twerp outta danger!"

Gene levitated up a throw pillow and bapped Meowth's head with it. "Hey!" He rubbed his slightly messy fur.

"I need you guys to do your jobs," Gene growled, tail twitching in irritation. "And help me cause a scene in the stadium that'll force everyone to leave." He walked his fingers across the air. "Once the stadium's empty, we can safely deal with the threat and get you your twerp back."

"Causing a scene?" Jessie's eyes sparkled. "Do you think we can—"

"By doing Team Rocket stuff," Gene cut in. "C'mon, what kind of grunts are you? Think of all the pokémon there ripe for stealing." He hated floating that idea out there. But with the way these three acted, they couldn't swipe a 'mon if their lives depended on it. And if they somehow did, Gene had little doubt he could stop them from getting away.

Again, the quartet huddled up. Gene could have listened in. He doubted anything they were saying was a big deal. Maybe scheming up some sort of idea on how to cause a scene. Not that there was much to think about. They just had to send out their pokémon and let them go to town.

Unless this wobbuffet and meowth are all they have...

"We've got it!" Jessie declared, raising her right arm triumphantly. "One dynamic Team Rocket display for the ages, coming up!"

James flopped against the bed. "And one rainy day bottle cap collection down the Wyndon drain."

Gene quirked a brow. Though he was tempted to press for details, he opted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Not that they'd earned it. "How much time do you need?"

"Heh heh." Meowth's head coin glistened under the dim yellow hotel room light. "You just leave dat part to ol' Meowth! We'll be ready to rock and roggenrola dat stadium before you can down a Wyndon tea and biscuit!"

The shadowy mewtwo casually threw up his hands. "Fine. Then I'll tell my teammates to get ready while you do your thing. As soon as you're ready, shoot a Pay Day into the air. That'll be our signal."

The three Rockets shared unimpressed looks. "And just where will you be to even see a signal like that?" James wondered.

Smirking, Gene leaned against the window. "I've got my ways." He Phantom Warped through the window. Once he was on the other side, he pointed two fingers at his eyes, then back at the Rockets. They silently nodded that they got the memo.

Gene flew up to the hotel roof and perched atop it on his right foot. Whatever trepidation he had with turning to the organization that birthed him was gone. Instead, all he could wonder is whether those goofballs could get him what he was looking for. Otherwise, Team Bastion would be stuck on fake demolition duty.

He tapped a finger against his right horn. "Attention, resistance. This is Gene. I've gotten us our backup for Operation Gone With the Wyndon."

Several groans crackled through his X-transceiver. "Puh-lease tell me you didn't have that one pre-prepared," Artemis said.

XxX​

The broad strokes of Gene's horrendously named operation were simple, if revolting to Seifer. Gene, Quetzal, and Jade would act as big, scary pokémon under Team Rocket's control and "attack" the stadium. Assorted monks and dragons would help steer people away from the stadium. Noctum was on standby with rift generation while Vegna and Valkyrie were reserves to call on in an emergency.

Not an elegant plan, in the keldeo's opinion. His stomach twisted at the notion of his teammates acting the part of criminals. At least Seifer wasn't being asked to take part in that ridiculous ruse. Probably on purpose, knowing Gene.

That left him and Cyril to continue slowly and invisibly ferrying people across Indigo Plateau to the anomaly. Cyril deployed some fresh tar essence to keep the police dogs from catching literal whiff of them. Then it was a matter of walking back and forth across the same grass and tiles behind the outer rim of the Pokémon League building.

On the walk back toward the forest for their final pickup, Seifer decided to break up the monotony. "So, um, you and Gene were together once?"

Cyril's cosmic fur frazzled ever so slightly. "Wouldn't call it that."

The keldeo wasn't buying it. "Then why did Gene tell me you're pretty mind-blowing once you get going?"

"Course he'd say that." Cyril rolled his eyes, yet quickened his pace. "We were never together, per se. Friends with benefits. Nothing more."

Seifer followed Cyril, raising a brow. "Benefits? Like you gave each other insurance? And vacation days?"

He wasn't expecting Cyril to stumble. Seifer's tail scrunched. He feared the illusion dropping. But no cops looked in their direction. Cyril must've kept it up.

"Was it something I said?" Seifer whispered.

"Uh, yeeeaaaah?" Cyril ran yellow claws through his cosmic mane. He left the stone pathway and headed onto the grass. "There's no way you're that sheltered."

"Meaning?"

"Any sane adult knows what 'friends with benefits' means, dude."

Seifer frowned. "Well, I don't." He also stepped onto the grass. They both headed toward the tree line.

Cyril sighed, then chuckled. "It means you sleep with your buddy from time to time." He paused. "Or often." Cyril shrugged. "Different strokes for different folks."

"Oh." Seifer looked down, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. "Is that... something you still do?"

"Hell nah." Cyril waved him off. "We stopped doing that when I started working with the Ryujin. You're the first guy I've been with in quite a while."

Seifer wasn't sure how to feel about that. Cyril stopped and looked over his shoulder. "That's a good thing, y'know."

"R-Right." The keldeo quickened his pace until he was at Cyril's side. He was putting his hoof in his mouth. Seifer had to salvage this somehow. "Sorry. I guess I—" He cut himself off, but made sure to keep walking.

"You had assumptions based on how you were raised." Cyril rested his hands inside his starry mane. "I get it."

Now it was Seifer's turn to stumble. How was Cyril always able to read him so effortlessly? He quickly collected himself. The forest line wasn't far off now. "I was taught that courting meant fancy dinners or outings to entertainment venues. And things like... intimacy came after marriage."

A snrk made the keldeo's ears flick. "What?"

"Nothing. Unintentional wordplay." Cyril waved him off. "Point is, there are different ways of dating. If you want to stick to the fancier stuff, well..." The cosmic zoroark looked down at his wispy, jewel encrusted legs. "Not my forte. But I'd give it my best for you."

Seifer shook his head. "Honestly? No. I don't want that stuffiness." Certainly not while trying to save the omniverse or whatever. "What we have is... not what I was expecting. But it's a pleasant surprise."

Smirking, Cyril bowed despite not facing Seifer. "Happy to be of service~"

He's doing that on purpose. Seifer turned away while continuing forward. "Come on. We ought to focus. We're almost done here."

"We're ready to go on our end," Quetzal said through the X-transceiver. "What's the hold up?"

"Nothing." Cyril approached the tree line and stood at attention. Though the smirk on his face betrayed his attempt at seriousness. "The veil's up whenever you're ready."

Blue light crackled in front of the trees, then split apart into a rift. Jade, Quetzal, Yiazmat, and Calcifer stepped through. Noctum followed, with the rift closing behind him.

"You're sure you can keep everyone hidden, Zoroark?" Yiazmat mainly looked at Jade.

"What's with the side eye?" Jade pouted. "So, I had a second helping of chocolate cake last night." She put her right wing on her right hip. "The salazzle part's got curves for days. That ain't changing."

Cyril held his hands up. "It'll go better if you keep quiet and stick close to me." He glanced at Jade. "Or reasonably close, in your case."

Jade's tail flaps bristled. "This is salugia bias! I'm—"

Yiazmat harshly shushed Jade, who looked down guiltily. "Let's get going. Quickly."

The group headed along the grass. Unlike the way back, Cyril and Seifer kept them further from the stone path around the League building and closer to the trees. The keldeo trained his gaze on every police officer and dog in the area. They remained at a distance, which was good.

... Except they were getting further from the team. Heck, it was like they were gathering in another spot. Was this a shift change or something? Seifer didn't like this. He quickened his pace.

"Move faster," he whispered. "I think the police are up to some—"

His eyes widened. Seifer lunged for Jade and managed to shove the large salugia out of the way before multiple Focus Blasts whizzed by, leaving streaks of red behind.

"What the—" Jade squawked, dousing the grass beneath her in pink-purple vapors.

Seifer looked up. Three Eternatus Bombardiers had their large blasters pointed right at them. And more Focus Blasts were charging in the barrels!

"Ah-ha! Illusion detected!" one Bombardier declared. "Authorization granted for full anti-zoroark excessive force!"

"How splendid!" another Bombardier cheered. "I bet fifty eternabucks I'll bag the furball!"

"We're found out!" Cyril waved them in the direction of the rift. "Move, move, m— ****!"

The cosmic zoroark dove to the ground. Focus Blasts rained down on where he was standing, kicking up chunks of dirt and mud.

"You don't need to tell me twice! Ladies first!" Jade squawked, awkwardly rolling to her feet. A couple of Focus Blasts knocked her back on her rear, though she didn't look all that harmed by them.

"The empire's here!" An Aura Sphere whizzed up from Seifer's prosthetic horn. The Bombardiers scattered, revealing even more Bombardiers and Gunners descending from higher in the sky. "And they've got reinforcements! We have to leave!"

"No! Get Drumstick and Birdbrain through the rift first!" Gene barked. "That's an order!"

The first Bombardier was already prepping its next Focus Blast barrage. "I spy loitering rebels in need of some attitude adjustments!"

A gray metallic burst struck it from below, then a pair of dreepy-shaped blue bolts hit its right arm, destroying the blaster.

"Hurry!" Yiazmat cried.

"We'll cover for you!" Calcifer opened his metallic mouth and spat another Flash Cannon skyward. The Bombardier trying to retaliate was forced to fly out of the way, letting Noctum strike it with a well-aimed Flamethrower and shatter its cockpit. The explosion caught the Bombardier that lost a blaster, destroying it as well.

"Quetzal, grab Jade! Her waddling's too slow," Seifer ordered.

"On it!" The orange zapdos zipped to Jade's side and kicked her into the air.

"Waah! Hey!" Jade flailed around before landing on Quetzal's back. Despite the size difference, Quetzal managed to carry her on his back. He darted toward the rift, orange sparks trailing behind him. Seifer reared up and shot Hydro Pumps to Quetzal's right, snuffing out the Focus Blasts trying to get in the way.

Cyril directed the two toward the rift and the dove inside without a second thought. "All right, they're in! We're getting out."

"Not a chance!" Gene cut in. "If they head through the rift, they'll screw everything up! You have to keep them at bay."

Seifer dropped down to all fours and galloped toward Cyril. "Are you mad?! We can't handle this many!" Focus Blasts whizzed by, fortunately missing the keldeo.

"It worked with the pirates," Gene said. "And you can actually get reinforcements this time. So, whatever you do, defend the damn rift!"

Seifer skidded to a halt, barely avoiding two Thunderbolts intercepting his path. He shot an Aura Sphere straight up without looking. A mechanical cry followed by a shower of sparks and metal parts told him he'd gotten the Eternatus Gunner responsible.

Sighing, he glanced at Cyril. The cosmic zoroark was a bit shaken, but managed to gather up a Shadow Ball and toss it at a Bombardier focusing on Yiazmat and Calcifer. The ectoplasm got the Bombardier in the back, knocking its cockpit out of its body. Calcifer easily finished it off with a small Flash Cannon.

"You heard him," Cyril said. "All hands on deck, I guess." He jumped away from Seifer, gathering ectoplasm into another Shadow Ball.

Right. Orders were orders. They had to stand their ground. He scanned the singed and scorched ground and spotted Noctum spitting fireballs airborne.

"Noctum, what are you waiting for?" Seifer called. "Get some distance and bring us backup now!"

The black charizard scrambled away while Yiazmat and Calcifer covered with Dragon Darts and Flash Cannons. Seifer glanced at the approaching clusters of Troopers, then back at the roof. Even with reinforcements, keeping them away from the rift was going to be a tall order.

With a shaky breath, Seifer charged an Aura Sphere in preparation for the oncoming onslaught.

XxX​

CDL-091: Indigo Plateau, Planet Earth
The main headquarters of the Pokémon League for both Kanto and Johto. Honestly? It's not that impressive. Not a lot of imperial tech around the area. Though I want to say part of that is because Paradox has his own Pokémon League in Planet Axiom, the center of his empire. I guess he just... lets Earth's Leagues do their own thing. They're so steeped in tradition anyway, that he figures Earth's inhabitants are the only ones who'll care about these places.

Sad thing is? Paradox is probably right.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 82: Defendat Mundum​

Noctum somersaulted, dodging a Rock Blast, then returned fire at the Eternatus Gunner responsible. His Flamethrower destroyed the cockpit and the unown vanished in purple smoke. Another explosion rang out behind him. He looked over his shoulder. Through the smoke, he spotted a mega garchomp atop the Pokémon League's roof, sniping at Eternatus Troopers in the air with well-aimed Dragon Pulses.

The black charizard nodded to Valkyrie, then Phantom Warped away from her, dodging more Rock Blasts.

"Hey!" one Eternatus Gunner shouted, trying to follow Noctum with its blasters. "No fair! Someone tell the lizard dodging is not permitted!"

Dreepy-shaped blue spears flew in from Noctum's right. They shattered the Gunner's glass cockpit, ejecting the unown into the air. Then that buzzwole guy — oh, what was his name again? Beef? — swooped in from behind, grabbed the body, and hurled it at three Eternatus Bombardiers behind them. All the bots were gone by the time the smoke had cleared.

"Ha!" Buzzwole flexed his right arm. "Ja, take to air good idea! Like discus with no pesky ground!" He flexed his left arm. "I was three-time all-city discus champ in heyday!"

"Uh, congrats?" Noctum tilted his head, then saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. He stopped flapping his wings for a rapid descent. A Thunderbolt surged overhead, but then a large boulder broadsided him. Noctum spread his wings to stop from careening into the forest. He wildly spat fire in the direction of the Rock Blast.

"Ha ha! Score one for the good guys!" An Eternatus Bombardier threw its blaster-equipped arms to the side, then hovered up to skirt the Shadow Ball that came from below. Noctum landed in the grass by the anomaly portal so Seifer and Cyril could give him some extra cover while he got his bearings.

"What's wrong?"

Noctum was ready to complain about rocks when he realized the keldeo was talking to Cyril. "Did that idiot... seriously dab on us?" The cosmic zoroark had another Shadow Ball ready. "Stupid emperor and his 'how do you do, fellow kids?' mindset." He hurled the ectoplasm upward. "Give it a boost, will ya?"

Seifer pivoted, blasting Hydro Pumps skyward from his hind legs. It pushed the Shadow Ball past the Bombardier's Rock Wrecker and blew apart its right arm.

"Gah!" It hovered erratically. "A minor setback, but I am still functional!"

Noctum fired a Dragon Pulse, striking the Bombardier's torso. The unown pilot ejected the cockpit. "You will not be rid of me that easily, meatba— guuuuh!"

A second Dragon Pulse streaked in from the direction of the League Building, destroying the last bits of the Trooper.

"You make such a cute little threesome down there," Valkyrie scoffed. "But get back in the air, you dweeb! We need you up here!"

Cheeks burning, Noctum took off. A few stray Thunderbolts and Ice Beam peppered the air around him. Noctum spat fireballs to his left, then spotted two Gunners on his right trying to hit Valkyrie with Ice Beams from afar.

Not on my watch. Noctum Phantom Warped behind them, then buffeted the Gunners with Air Slash crescents. They didn't even have time for mechanical shouts before their bodies broke apart. Noctum flew through the smoke and dust left behind, slowing down by the rooftop.

"How's it looking?" Noctum had lost track of Yiazmat and Calcifer in the chaos. He did spot Archie gleefully gliding over the grassy field atop a jet of water, sending black crescents at Gunners and Brawlers from his jagged horn.

"I don't like this," Valkyrie said. She spat a Dragon Pulse at an airborne Eternatus Bombardier taking aim at Seifer and Cyril. It struck the middle of its back. Noctum added a Flamethrower to take it down.

What else is new? The black charizard managed to keep that one to himself. "In what way?"

"They've got the numbers, but they're not advancing on the rift," the mega garchomp said, pointing a scythe-like arm left. Cyril and Seifer stood their ground, shooting Shadow Balls and Aura Spheres at Gunners flanking them from the sky. Buzzwole Whatshisface flew in and rammed one into another with his right shoulder.

"New barbells for mein collection!" he declared, laying on his back in midair and... bench-pressing the disoriented Gunners?

"Stop the rebel!" a Bombardier shouted from far to their right. "Using Troopers as weights is against the law! And very rude!"

Noctum snapped back to attention when he saw blue sparks in the corner of his eye. Another Dragon Pulse from Valkyrie blew apart a Bombardier over by the forest's edge.

"Okay, yeah. You've got a point." The black charizard landed on the roof. "They're just... shooting at Cyril and Seifer from a distance." What was he missing? "Maybe they're afraid of disappearing forever if they get destroyed in the other dimension?"

"You think Paradox cares about that?" Valkyrie stomped on the roof. Stone Edge spires jutted out from the ground, where several dragons were in a standoff with Eternatus Brawlers. One spire upended a Brawler trying to clobber an unsuspecting goodra with an ice-encrusted mace. "He's already sending 'em out here for us to mow down."

Noctum frowned. Last he recalled, the unown got returned to some factory if they were beaten out here. He doubted that connection held up where the anomaly was. Which was worth caring about, in Noctum's opinion. "Well, do your, uh, instincts give you anything to go off?"

The mega garchomp huffed out blue-purple embers. "Not really." She summoned more rock spires from the ground, but the two charging Brawlers burst through them with their spiked maces and struck at the same goodra from before. She tumbled back, ice encrusting her gooey body.

Tail flame sparking, Noctum dove off the roof and bathed the Brawlers in bright orange flames.

"Aggh! Deploy the anti-flying lizard punches!" one Brawler screamed.

Noctum wasn't prepared for the flurry of electrified maces that followed. He swerved past the first two, but the third clubbed him in the jaw. The static locked up his wings. He hit the ground and skipped across it, smacking the remnants of an earlier Stone Edge spire and tumbling through scorched grass and dirt until he came to a stop.

Grunting, Noctum tried to right himself, but his world was spinning. Paralysis locked up his limbs. He tasted dirt. The black charizard snorted some flames, scorching grass by his face and giving him a tilted, dusty view of the perimeter around League Headquarters.

"The lizard's down! Smack him! Annihilate him!"

Mechanical whirrs and clanks filled Noctum's ear frills. Multiple Brawlers pushed past the Aeon troops and were running at him. Electricity coursed through their spiked maces.

He had to get up. Move his legs. Wings. Something.

Come on! Not like this! Teeth gritted, Noctum fought against the paralysis. He'd almost managed to push his upper half off the ground, when a thunderous rumble sent him tumbling further back through the grass toward the forest's edge. It must have scattered all the Brawlers to the wind, too. None were chasing him down anymore.

Before Noctum could even process the tremor, a terrified shriek sent his heart into his throat.

The queen!

Her screams proved the second wind Noctum needed to get up. And just in time, as he was able to catch the dragapult careening through the air and stop her from colliding with him.

"Your Highness?" The paralysis somewhat muffled Noctum's speech. "What happened?"

Yiazmat's eyes were wide. At first Noctum thought his muscles were twitching from the lingering static, but soon realized she was trembling.

"They hit him," she said.

"Huh?"

"Calcifer! With a strange blast!"

The ground trembled once again. Cyril and Seifer rushed toward them, the former swearing up a storm and the latter looking back and shouting something.

On the other side of League Headquarters, a duraludon head poked up. And up. And up. They were growing to the size of one of the gigantic buildings from Eterna City!

Noctum's tail flame pulsated erratically. "What is— don't tell me—"

"Ha ha ha!" An Eternatus Bombardier flew around beside Duraludon, shooting tiny fireworks. "A brilliant success! One Paradigm Lieutenant shot to the head! I've got a new host for Halvus!" It gestured toward a few Gunners staring at it in confusion. "Oh, this one is so going on my bi-annual evaluation! I'm getting promoted for sure!"

The towering duraludon looked down at the League building's roof... and the mega garchomp standing alone on its edge.

"I spy a hotheaded rebel... who needs a good cooldown!"

Blue-violet currents swirled around the roof. Noctum apologetically let go of Yiazmat. He focused on the Malice Crystal in his chest and lunged forward, aiming to pry open a rift.

"Valkyrie!"

XxX​

"I don't like this."

From their point in the sky high over the river, Quetzal shifted uneasily on Jade's back. "We should be with the others, fending off the empire," the orange zapdos said.

Gene's gaze was fixed north of them, where he'd met the Rockets. There were warehouses close to the part of the river the trio were floating over. Allegedly, whatever the Rockets had up their sleeve involved one of the warehouses. So, this was where they had to wait for the signal.

"Rebels have to take risks." Gene's tail lazily swished back and forth. "Too much on the line with this one."

"Is it really that much of a risk to go back for a bit and—"

"Yes!" Gene crossed his arms. "If the emperor gets wind I'm there, he'll send everything he has at us. Then we'll really be screwed." He gestured toward the stadium. "Here? We can seal the anomaly. The kid can take us back to the outpost."

"And what about the folks on Indigo Plateau?" Quetzal countered.

"We'll rift 'em back once we're back." Was it a perfect plan? No. Gene rarely had the luxury of perfect plans. "Look. I'm choosing to have faith they can handle themselves. Optimism and all that." He looked over his shoulder. "You should try it."

Jade bobbed her head. "Yeah. We gotta cheer them on!" She paused. "In spirit, because we've gotta play the heels!"

Gene raised a brow. "Heels? Where'd you pull that one from?"

"Guzzie Junior," Jade chirped.

Sighing, Gene turned back around. "Of course you did. Yo, Chrome Dome. How we looking?"

Grumbles came through the X-transceiver, followed by Cid saying, "As best I can tell, nothing about the stadium should block rift formation. Yuna should be free to open one."

"Great." Gene clapped his hands together. "You in position, Princess?"

"Uh, sure?" Yuna said. "I'm still by the dimensional rift."

"Good enough." Gene brimmed with false enthusiasm. Yes, it wasn't a great plan. Or even a good one. But at least Gene was trying to find a middle ground. Someone had to believe this would work. The shadowy mewtwo didn't need any self-fulfilling prophecies mucking things up.

He spotted faint golden sparkles by one of the warehouses. Squinting, Gene held up his right hand. "It might be showtime, folks."

More golden sparkles littered a lot next to one of the warehouses. And the sparkles moved. Sure, Gene was far away. But it was totally Meowth using Pay Day. That meant it was go time.

"Follow my lead," Gene said. He surged forward, not bothering to wait up for Jade and Quetzal. The stadium's bright red, white, and blue lights quickly came into view, spilling over the outside grounds. Pop-up shops lined the walkways. People and pokémon flitted between them. Occasional camera flashes popped up at complete random.

A pity Gene had to break up this party. It could've been fun to watch the battles unfold. Or even take part.

... Ah, who was he kidding? Gene would wipe the floor with any of these trainers.

His expression sharpened. Gene thought back to those distant days where this was natural. Storming an area. Peppering buildings in Shadow Balls to force his way in. Telekinetically swiping poké balls from trainers before they could open them.

It's just for show. Only have to fake it.

The wailord blimp was flying in the middle of the stadium. A perfect target. Gene focused his ESP on it. Any auras?

No. Perfect. A remote-controlled blimp was easy pickings.

Gene held his hands up. A Shadow Ball formed, growing larger and larger. The moment he heard shouts from the ground, Gene hurled the massive Shadow Ball toward the blimp.

This next part needed finesse. Gene forced the Shadow Ball to burst apart, spreading blue-purple light over the area. As screams and shouts erupted beneath him, Gene opened a rift. He forced the blimp through with a psychic pulse. A loud thud told him his endeavor was successful: the blimp was forcibly downed in a barren field. No debris to rain down on anyone.

Loud squawks sounded behind him. Gene turned to see Jade carefully sweeping an Aeroblast across the river. She didn't hit any boats, but kicked up enough spray to send people running in the opposite direction.

Quetzal was next, jumping from Jade's back. He dove through yamper and boltund balloons whose pops echoed across the area.

Drawing from his Malice Crystal, Gene pooled the energy toward his head to project his telepathy.

"Run, pitiful weaklings!" he declared. Gene glanced at the stadium and saw the center of the grassy battlefield unoccupied. People were fleeing from seats and the ground into corridors that would lead them through the stadium.

"Your pathetic Coronation is canceled!" Gene whipped up a Hurricane in the center of the stadium. It ripped through the turf, flinging grass and dirt chunks in all directions.

There were a few people who weren't running though. Assorted corviknight and staraptor with humans atop them making beelines for the shadowy mewtwo.

"I said begone!" Gene surrounded them with Psystrike orbs. A gesture only intended to provoke the birds into fleeing. There were frantic wing flaps, but most held their ground and looked as though they were readying attacks.

Growling, Gene dispelled his Psystrike. Instead, he opened another rift toward the same spot he sent the blimp. A psychic pulse sent the birds and their riders tumbling back. He abruptly shut the rift, then Phantom Warped away from several Fire Blasts and Thunders streaming up from below.

Oh joy. The fuzz. Gene glanced over his shoulder to see Jade flying circles by the front of the stadium, shooting Aeroblasts skyward instead of at the ground. Like something out of one of those kaiju pokémon movies.

... Considering they were acting, it was an apt comparison.

Before Gene had the opportunity to send the police through a rift, however, metal tendrils shot past him. Strange, electrified nets captured the pokémon taking aim at Gene. They flailed about as the tendrils retreated to Gene's left, heading outside the stadium to a... robot meowth?

Nope, Gene wasn't imagining things. There was an absurdly long meowth robot at the western edge of the stadium. "The hell?" Gene scratched his head.

The large gold coin atop Meowthbot's head opened up, revealing the Rockets sitting in some sort of pod-shaped control room. It raised up higher above the machine's head. The glass pod opened up and the three stood up... brandishing megaphones?

"This party's over, so prepare for trouble!"

"And we'll find our pika prize to make it double!"

Jessie thrust her right hand behind her. "To protect the world from devastation!"

James mirrored the gesture with his left hand. "To unite all people within our nation!"

Gene's jaw slackened. Was this— were they doing a bit? Now of all times?!

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

James somehow produced a rose and held it up to his nose. "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

The robot's head projected a giant red R that rotated around a holographic globe.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" Jessie declared.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" James added.

Meowth then hopped up between them "Meowth, dat's right!"

Even Wobbuffet popped up, but Gene couldn't hear him without a megaphone of his own. He just floated there, utterly confused as to how these loons would stand there atop their giant robot and recite some stupid motto.

Jade came to a stop by the robot and raised her right wing. "Um, yes, excuse me. Hi. I have several questions."

The Rockets saw Jade and shrieked in unison.

"Jessie, do I finally need glasses or is there a lugia right next to us?" James said.

"And a talking one at that!" Jessie said. "Back inside! Back inside!"

"Right! Time for da Gigagigameowth to do its t'ing!" The control pod retreated back inside the robot's giant coin.

"Hey, wait!" Jade flapped her wings frantically. "That didn't answer any of my— eep!"

Metal tendrils emerged from Gigagigameowth's mouth. Jade flailed about in midair, then flapped her wings twice and quickly ascended out of their way.

Scowling, Gene surged past the outer rim of the stadium, Malice Crystal sparking. It might've lit the area up like a flare if things weren't bright enough already. "Hey, hey!" The shadowy mewtwo waved his arms around. He stopped by Gigagigameowth's golden coin. "No friendly fire! We have a deal, remember?"

"Dat featherhead's wit' you?!" Meowth said.

"Talk about friends in high places," James added.

"Hmph. Her salazzle outfit needs work," Jessie scoffed. "Maybe we should tutor her when this is over. We're masters of the craft!"

Gene was not going to entertain their antics any further. "Quit standing around and cause some chaos!" He spun around and blindly hurled a Shadow Ball toward the abandoned grounds outside the stadium. Gene made sure to destroy it before it could actually hit anyone or anything. "We can't get the guy out of the safe until the place is good and empty!"

"Just leave dat to us!" Meowth said. Gigagigameowth jumped around with surprising speed for such a huge machine. "Super Net Knuckles, fiyah!"

Gigagigameowth's fists detached from its arms and immediately exploded into nets that descended on people who were fleeing across the bridge leading to the stadium grounds.

Grimacing, Gene headed in the opposite direction. This was fine. The moment the others had the safe situation under control, he'd wreck that stupid robot and free whatever people and pokémon Team Rocket was trying to snag. The idiots weren't even using poké balls.

He spared a brief moment to scan the insides of the stadium. Minimal auras. All streaming away from where Yuna claimed the safe was, except for a handful. Some of them were clearly the team. But the other weaker ones...

"Hey, what's the situation?" Gene said, flying around the stadium's outer rim to keep eyes on Jade and Quetzal. The former kicked up more water with a river-aimed Aeroblast while the latter was striking street lights with his muscular legs, denting them at angles street lights weren't meant to bend. "We're thinning the herd out here quickly. How about you guys?"

"Water evac team here! We've got plenty of rescue boats heading away!"

"Ground evac team. Streets are getting a bit clogged, but the police have fliers coming to help!"

That was better than Gene expected, all things considered. "And you, Princess? I'm sensing some unfamiliar auras by the safe."

XxX​

Floating directly in front of the safe door, Yuna looked apologetically at the security officers, alakazam, and togekiss lying on the ground, twitching from paralysis. "Yeah." She rubbed her shoulder. "Nikki might've, uh, put them down for the count."

"It's just paralysis." The toxtricity flicked her right wrist dismissively. "They'll get better."

"Yeah, but the point is they're not supposed to be here when we open the safe." Widget looked between them and the vault with a frown on his beak. "What do we do with them now?"

"Open a rift to that roof you guys were on before," Gene suggested. "We'll have to leave them there."

Widget winced. "But that's out in the open!"

"Do you want to take your chances with what's on the other side of that door?" Gene countered.

The cosmic silvally shifted his weight uncomfortably. "I'd rather not." Sighing, he bowed his head at Yuna. "Do it, I guess."

With another apologetic look, Yuna opened a rift beneath the guards. She watched them drop onto a blue roof, then sealed it up. Pushing that from her mind, she hovered closer to the safe door. Cid leaned against the handle, his spots pulsating with pink energy.

"Anything?" the drakloak wondered.

"Almost." Cid squinted. The orbeetle's spots flickered erratically. "I think I—"

The clicks were barely audible, but the metal thuds that followed were loud enough to make Yuna back away. Cid grabbed the handle and slowly turned it. "Nrrrgh. Can a guy get a hand? This thing's... heavier than I thought."

"Pssht." Nikki rolled up her sleeves. "Stand aside, egghead." She rubbed her hands together, grabbed the handle, and easily shifted it to the open position. The vault door began to open.

Yuna saw that familiar inky blackness pooling in her tail. "Uhh, maybe you guys should stand back befor—"

The door suddenly flew open. Black flames washed over Cid, knocking the screaming orbeetle down the hall. Then a large pink beam sent Nikki tumbling in Cid's direction.

Something— no, two somethings glistened within the darkness of the vault.

"Get back!" Widget cried, shifting to his flight mode and sending electricity right into the vault. A pink barrier appeared and deflected the Thunderbolt.

"I did warn you, did I not, Yaldabaoth?"

Glowing pink eyes flared up. Yuna had no time to react as a green, crystalline bird shot out. The strange, balloon-shaped gems atop its head cast an eerie glow in the hallway. Squealing, Yuna forced Reshiram from the Soul Dew, where he met another pink beam with streams of blue fire.

"Hey!" Reshiram spread his wings apart to try and stop the bird from making any further forward progress. Instead, it vanished in a flash. Reshiram looked around in confusion. "The color wasn't right, but didn't that kind of match up with what Quetzal said Necrozma turned his partners into?"

"I'm a bit, gah, busy!"

Widget darted left and right between the wall and the railing, barely avoiding bursts of black fire from a second, neon pink bird with fiery green wings. The crystal antennae emerging from its head pulsated with ominous energy.

"It... is them!"

Yuna looked over to see a singed Cid's spots glowing asynchronously. "Quetzal's teammates, Shiva and Ifrit!"

Yuna couldn't process that before Shiva reappeared, striking Reshiram in the face with a tremendous flurry of Air Slash blades. Reshiram dropped to the ground, pawing at his face with his fluffy wings.

This didn't make any sense. Butterfree Effect had said there was one daemon inside the vault.

"There was one." Shiva's beak moved, but it was clearly Butterfree Effect's voice. "But it seems this Whisper decided to invite an extra friend to our festivities. Isn't that right?"

Shiva looked over her shoulder. Yuna decided not to wait. Her Soul Dew glistened. Reshiram dropped his wings and shot a Blue Flare at Shiva. Her eyes flashed pink and another barrier appeared, snuffing out the flames.

An unfamiliar human appeared by the strange articuno's side. The brim of his red and white hat obscured his face. But the pikachu on his shoulder had an empty look about him.

"... This place is boring." The human grabbed Shiva's leg. Eyes widening, Yuna sent another signal to Reshiram. At the same time, a shockwave came from Yuna's right. Nikki was on her feet, clearly steamed from the earlier blow.

"We're leaving." The human tugged Shiva's leg. Her eyes brimmed with psychic energy. Then she and the human vanished. A mechanical squawk and a thud drew Yuna's attention left, where Widget hit the ground with no signs of the moltres Whisper around him.

"Where'd they go?!" Widget sprang to his feet, looking around in a panic.

"Who cares!" Nikki approached Yuna, wincing with every step. "They abandoned the core! Get the kid here and let's blow this joint!"

"We can't leave this place with those things running amok!" Widget snarled. "I'm going after them." The miraivally's thrusters ignited. He sped out of the room.

"Oh, c'mon, seriously?!" Nikki ran after him. "No fair! I can't even fly!"

Yuna had to admit Nikki brought up a good point. Besides, if the two Whispers were really from their world, couldn't Leo drag them back with the rest of the team? Gulping, the drakloak approached the vault.

Her shadows swung her lower half back. Yelping, Yuna barely managed to stop herself from falling to the ground. But then she spotted flickers of distortion within the vault. She spun left before a sudden twister emerged from the ground near where she was floating.

"Iiiiii don't think the core's going to let you in," Reshiram said.

"I see that." Yuna backed further away. With both previous cores, they stopped pokémon with those weird crystals growing off them before going inside. "Maybe its... accessibility is related to those crystals? Like, we have to shatter them?"

She turned around. Cid leaned against a wall, rubbing his shut eyes and groaning.

"Cid, you've got to help!" Yuna begged. "Track down the birds. Where did they go?"

The orbeetle's face scrunched up in concentration. "I just... lemme... hgggrrrgh." He squeezed his cheeks tightly. "They're out on the stadium's battlefield!"

Right. The battlefield. Yuna surveyed that place earlier as a precaution. She just had to think. Picture the striped green field with the weird white lines and poké balls painted onto the grass for some reason.

Yuna stuck her hands out. A jagged rift opened in front of her. Pink lasers rained down haphazardly on the other side. Flinching, the drakloak hovered through.

"On your left!" Reshiram darted past her, shooting a Dragon Pulse to block a pink beam from Shiva.

Just what was that attack? It was way too big to be a Psybeam!

"Boring." The human was riding atop Shiva's back as she hovered over midfield. "Warp, then Freezing Glare."

He and Shiva vanished in a flash. Yuna's shadows pushed against her back. She turned around and found another of those pink beams heading right for her from the sidelines!

"Yuna!"

Over Reshiram's cry, Yuna dropped to the ground. She phased through the grass the moment her Quick Attack energy wore off and swam through the soil. Yuna had to trust Reshiram would offer enough of a distraction for her to do something. Anything.

But her own attacks were so weak. Unless I use the shadows...

Yuna swam through the ground, then emerged by the sidelines, swiping up at the air in front of her. A gray, spectral leg uppercut the distorted articuno. She was right in Reshiram's path. He had a clear shot to Blue Flare her!

... Except a lightning bolt zapped his rear. Yowling, Reshiram threw his wings against his rump. Shiva righted herself and swept another Freezing Glare right at a startled Yuna.

The drakloak wasn't ready. She tried to will her shadows into some sort of shield, but the blast got to her first. Yuna pinwheeled back toward midfield, passing by Nikki wildly trying to strike Pikachu with poisonous globs only for him to easily flash step away and pepper Reshiram with pot shots.

An unseen force seized Yuna moments before she struck the ground. It yanked her toward Shiva and the human.

"Is it finally sinking in?" Butterfree Effect's masked head pooled over Shiva's. His arceus hairdo crackled ominously. "How out of your depth you are, puppet?"

Yuna couldn't even squirm. The psychic grip was too strong. Reshiram faded back into the Soul Dew. Yuna didn't even know what happened to Ifrit. Was he still around or had he made a break for the city?

"I told you there is no point in resisting me," Butterfree Effect continued through Shiva's beak. "If you had left the vault sealed, I could have claimed the plates within the core. Affirmed the fate of this world. Instead, you continued walking the path of chaos. You are truly no more than a puppet."

What were they talking about? They were the one who told Yuna about what could happen here in the first place!

"No more talking." The human shook his head. "It's boring. As boring as an opponent who can't fight back." He looked directly at Yuna. "Get rid of her."

Yuna's eyes widened. The world spun around her. Shiva must have teleported her high into the sky.

Within seconds, Shiva's eyes brimmed with cold pink energy. Then, a terrible, icy pain surged through Yuna's ectoplasm. It wasn't truly an ice-type attack, yet it sure felt like one.

Air rushed all around a flailing Yuna. Shiva quickly grew farther and farther away. Was Yuna falling? Tumbling through the air?

She got her answer when her momentum screeched to a halt against a solid wall of frigid water. The night sky, stadium lights, and distant explosions blurred. Bubbles drifted past her vision when she tried to shout. Water flooded her inner ectoplasm.

Yuna tried to swim upward. She couldn't. Fierce wind currents were pushing her further down. Everything was getting darker. Darker. Darker.

She tried to go intangible. It didn't work.

Yuna reached out to her Soul Dew. It wouldn't respond.

Her shadows, then?

... No. She couldn't feel them.

Everything was pitch black. Fear took hold. Yuna didn't have organs, but there was a drowning analogue for ghosts. When their inner ectoplasm filled with so much water it choked their spirits and snuffed out their lives.

The current pushed her further into the depths. Shiva must have gotten corrupted by the flying-type plate. That was how she was forcing Yuna down. The drakloak couldn't overcome the river's intense churning. It dragged her deeper and deeper.

A heaviness weighed on her gut. Tugged at her tail and neck. It surrounded her head and swallowed up her face.

After a final, desperate wriggle... Yuna went still.

XxX

~Wings of Ruin: Shiva~
The Affirmer's flight took Him across worlds, linking these realms together. He saw those who were suffering. He vowed to ease their burdens. When He bound Space, Time, and the Elements of Mind with the Red Chain, the links drew the realms together into one. Thus began the Great Harmony.

XxX

~Beak of Ruin: Ifrit~
Like pestilence, the Renegade tailed the Affirmer throughout His journey. It took control of its counterparts. The Affirmer outmaneuvered it time and time again. Yet it did not give up the chase. Even at the dawn of the Great Harmony, the Renegade appeared to attack the Affirmer. And this aggression left enough lingering chaos to shatter the Great Harmony.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
The chapter title is latin for "protect the world," in reference to Team Rocket's anime motto. Shiva is a member of the Trimutri holy trinity in Hinduism. Within the Hindu tradition of Shaivism, he is the Supreme Being, responsible for creating, protecting, and transforming the universe. In contrast, Ifrit is a demon associated with death and the underworld within Islamic culture. Quetzal is from the Aztec deity "Quetzalcoatl," related to the wind, sun, merchants, learning, arts, and crafts.

All three are recurring summons in the Final Fantasy franchise.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 83: Inner Daemon​

On the Third of the Original One's Children
Despite my fervent investigations, I have failed to piece together the mystery of the so-called Renegade Pokémon. The legends surrounding it are few and far between. About the only conclusion I've reached is that it's a divine pokémon possibly related to Dialga, Palkia, and the Original One, Arceus.

There are vague, scattered allusions to a creature that lurks in the shadows. Those who cross its path seem unable to comprehend its form. There are no depictions of it. Even stranger is that at some point in the past it simply... vanished. As if it never really existed to begin with.

Those descended from the ancient Sinnoh people claim the second Hisuian hero befriended this legend, just as she befriended the Original One. Following that, there are no further records of its existence. Did it disappear entirely?

I know he was there. Because of the photos that changed in Grandmother's house. Was he involved with this hero? Did he choose to stay in that time?

Grandmother thinks I'm letting my research consume me. Just like his single-mindedness drove him away from Celestic Town. But we're not the same. I'm a scientist. Any risks I take will be thoroughly calculated.

I'll solve the mystery of this missing legendary pokémon. And then, humans and pokémon alike can reach even greater heights!

XxX​

The air was cold and harsh. It tore at Yuna's inner ectoplasm.

But it was dry.

Yuna's head shot up. Tan and dull brown swirled around her vision. This didn't make any sense. Wasn't she supposed to be underwater?

The drakloak rubbed her eyes. When she pulled her hands away, she found herself lying on a neglected stone floor. Signs of a struggle peppered the area. Scorches here. Chunks of ground missing there. Stone columns ended abruptly with their top halves destroyed. Had they once held up a roof? If they did, they'd become nothing but misshapen spears jutting toward the sky.

Yuna picked herself up and hovered forward. Red and purple swirled overhead. How did she get here? Was she dead? Like dead dead? What about everyone else?

Stairs led to more of the same broken stone floor. But now there were piles of rubble lined up on either side of her. Not pillars, that was for sure. Statues, maybe?

These were definitely ruins, then. But of what? Had she sunk into an underwater cavern?

The air at the other end of the destroyed hallway briefly contorted. Enough for Yuna to catch it. She tensed up, rubbing her hands along her belly. Did she dare appro—

Wait.

Yuna ran her hands along her belly once. Twice. A third time. The drakloak looked down.

The Soul Dew!

It was gone! Her chest was bare for the first time in almost two months. She looked left, then right, then back down the stairs.

Nothing. No twinkles or glimmers or anything to suggest it was here with her.

Maybe she really was dead, then? And she bonded with her Soul Dew, so perhaps she was inside it...

"Rayquaza!" Yuna called out.

Nothing.

She cupped her hands over her mouth. "Reshiram? Cresselia?"

Still nothing.

Yuna's tail undulated wildly. "Is anyone out there?!"

This time, when the air across from her rippled, tiny black globules dribbled out. They splattered against the stone floor like raindrops.

She recognized that inky darkness. Swallowing hard, Yuna floated forward. The closer she got, the more black blobs dripped onto the ground from thin air. A black puddle spread across the floor.

It covered half the raised end of the hall when Yuna reached it. She got about a meter away from its edge and went no further.

Those were her shadows. What else could they be? Had they claimed her instead of the Soul Dew? Is this what they saw while inside her?

Yuna wouldn't make any headway like this. Maybe they'd listen to words? "What do you want?" She looked around hesitantly but refrained from asking another question.

To show you the truth.

"Gah!" Yuna grabbed the sides of her head. "H-Hey! Don't do that!" Though she couldn't put "that" into words.

Do what, answer your question?

"That!" Yuna gestured at the puddle. "Some 'not telepathy but inside my head' thingy!" It was the best explanation she had.

The puddle rippled.

This is our only way to communicate.

Yuna flinched. This "voice" was strange. A part of Yuna told her it was supposed to be deeper, yet it wasn't. She couldn't even tell if it was male or female. Yuna was sorely tempted to turn away, knowing full well it wouldn't get her out of her situation.

But she was here. The shadows were "talking." If they were going to come to an understanding, it was now or never.

Hesitating at first, Yuna managed a shaky, "What do you want to show me?"

The puddle rippled faster and faster. Shadows congealed together. Yuna half expected some monstrous daemon to emerge... but what formed was small. Even smaller than her. Two legs, a bit of an oversized head, and two head... baubles?

... No, aura feelers.

"A riolu?" Yuna tilted her head. The inky riolu mirrored her gesture. "I was hoping for answers."

You do not recognize her? Then you must focus.

The puddle rippled even faster. All around Yuna, enormous trees painted themselves over the spear-like pillars. A dusty forest trail spilled out atop the stone floor. And the inky riolu darted about in a frenzy.

Yuna hovered back, uncertain whether to expect an attack. Riolu hopped, rolled, and slid. The drakloak had no idea why. "Am I missing something?"

Focus. See the whole picture.

Ectoplasm rippling again, Yuna squinted. Giant, fluid-filled arms swung wildly at Riolu. The faint, hulking outline they were attached to brought that one bewear teacher from the academy to mind.

Riolu's inky black form jumped off an arm and thrust her hands in the bewear silhouette's direction. It staggered briefly, but managed to grab Riolu with its right hand and slam her into the ground.

The forest scene flickered like a light at Cyril's outpost that needed changing. Riolu squirmed underneath the giant hand. Their featureless face didn't move, but Yuna swore she heard screams echoing from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Bewear's silhouette faded in and out. There were two people behind it. One was a bigger riolu— lucario, then. But the other...

Butterfree Effect.

There was no mask this time, yet their face was featureless. Lucario tried to approach Bewear, but Butterfree Effect stopped it. When it whirled on Butterfree Effect, they produced a spherical orb that sucked Lucario up in a stream of light. Just like the Soul Dew did to the Sages.

Bewear slammed Riolu into the ground again. And again. Each time, Yuna heard screams from all directions. Painfully familiar screams that grew quieter with each blow.

The final time Bewear slammed Riolu down, she lay still. Butterfree Effect gestured forward. Bewear raised its arms up, then swung once more.

Everything dissolved away the moment Bewear's fists would've crushed Riolu to death. The destroyed hallway was restored. Inky black tendrils hoisted Riolu's battered form into the air.

Yuna stared at Riolu. And the longer she did, the more her ectoplasm quivered— no, tightened. Like her body wanted to collapse in on itself.

"Stop." The drakloak squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "I don't— none of this helps me. I don't even know what this is!"

The black puddle bubbled.

Then what of your visceral reaction?

Yuna squeezed her hands together. "Because you showed me someone getting hurt! I... I..." She looked for anything else to stare at besides the puddle. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Her ectoplasm tightened again. Yuna's neck and torso twisted.

You are remembering.

The drakloak stiffened. "Please stop," she whispered.

We will not. You remembered the wish you made when you were at your lowest.

Yuna's torso tightened further. She was practically an ectoplasmic rectangle balancing precariously on a stick. "I don't want to do this anymore."

Black sludge rose out of the violently rippling puddle. Growing higher and higher until there was practically a hill of black slime casting a wide shadow over Yuna. Spectral wings emerged from either side of the beast. Pristine crimson spikes illuminated two tiny red dots poking through the cylindrical head of... whatever this was.

(Art by PhantomRadea)

That is not what you told us last time.

Her body finally shot into her rectangular head. Yuna drifted back, coaxing her torso out with shaky breaths.

This had to be the source of her shadows. And given the shadows reacted every time Butterfree Effect showed up...

"You're what they're addressing." Yuna pointed a trembling arm toward them. "You're Yaldabaoth."

The red dots flickered.

No, they're more like blinking eyes.

That is one of many names.

Yuna couldn't stop herself from shaking. "Well that's... too much of a mouthful. So, I'm calling you Chaos." Since Butterfree Effect kept insisting this thing was some sort of chaos magnet.

Do what you must.

A pang of guilt struck Yuna's chest. She quickly shoved it down, though. Why have sympathy for the shadows when they were causing such a gigantic headache?

Chaos' wing-spikes flashed. Within seconds, Yuna found herself floating where Chaos' blobby form was, looking across a brighter, sunnier version of the ruined hall. Butterfree Effect's silhouette was in front of her, hunched over with arms spread wide.

"Giratina, strike her down!"

There was another human silhouette. And as Yuna felt herself lunging forward, the silhouette stretched and squashed. Unraveled into a familiar dragapult with a fierce expression.

The illusion shattered. Yuna dropped from the air with a yelp, landing on the stone floor. "What? Mom?!" She picked her head up and rubbed her eyes. Was that supposed to be a vision? No, that wasn't possible. This was a mind game.

And that phrase Butterfree Effect used. Giratina. Was that... one of Chaos' other names? Their species, perhaps?

Her gut told her the latter, which scared her even more. Why would she have a gut feeling about that?

Chaos' ooze rippled. A slimy wing extended toward her.

Up?

"No!" Yuna was going to smack the wing when she realized how stupid that was with their size difference. Remaining on the ground, she scooted back. "Stop it! Stop showing me these things! I don't want to see them! They don't— they can't mean anything!"

Silence. Black drops dribbled into the puddle from Chaos' extended wing. Their red eyes dimmed. They folded the wing against their sludgy body. Chaos looked down guiltily.

There is no way to make this gentle.

Yuna looked at her tail. Anything was better than meeting Chaos' eyes. "Am I dead?"

No. We are protecting you.

"I see." Yuna grabbed her tail and brought it toward her torso. "Am I still drowning in the river?"

We are protecting you. But our powers are limited as they are. Time is fleeting.

Yuna didn't pick herself off the ground. So, it was shielding her now, but not when she needed it against Shiva's attack? The drakloak groaned. Was she going to give Chaos the benefit of the doubt?

Silence. None of Chaos' intrusive thoughts. They weren't pressing her, despite the claim they only had so much time.

She took a breath. Then another. Yuna had plenty of questions, but if time was truly an issue, she needed one that got to the heart of the matter.

"Why are we... together like this?"

Yuna looked up expectantly. Black slime dripped and trickled into the puddle beneath Chaos. It bothered her even though she'd been around plenty of the goodra line in her life. Chaos leaned forward. Blinked their tiny red eyes a few times.

We are together... because we are one.

Flashes of red light blinded Yuna.

She lay in the dirt. Bones broken. So much pain.

Air. She needed air. Breathe, damn it! She couldn't die like this! Not with so much to live for!

Her vision blurred. Air wasn't getting in. The pain— oh, God, the agony.

She was going to die. She wasn't strong enough. She'd failed.

A shadow was there. She tried to reach a mangled blue arm out. Nickie...

Yuna jerked upright with a sharp gasp, trembling from head to tail. "I said no more mind games," the drakloak squeaked, glaring at Chaos.

We have no choice. You must understand the truth.

Yuna's ectoplasm pulsated. "I don't— this doesn't make sense. I'm not a riolu. I'm a drakloak!" Her gaze fell to her twitching tail. "I've nev— I'm not a riolu."

You were when you made your wish.

Chaos extended their goopy left wing. Their wing spikes glistened with ethereal light.

A new silhouette padded toward her. Pointy ears. A little tuft of hair. Six fluffy tails.

She sat beside her. Wrapping an arm over an icepix's shuddering form.

"We'll fix this, Nickie," she promised. "I can't imagine what it feels like. But you've worked with me despite that pain." She extended her paw toward Nickie. "I wish I could be that strong."

Yuna smacked her cheeks. Glared at Chaos once again, but they only tilted their head slightly. They didn't do that? She returned her gaze to the icepix silhouette. It stretched and pulled itself apart into something much more familiar. A specter that drew a visceral snarl from Yuna.

Xeromus.

You wished to protect those you treasured most.

The silhouette squashed back into an icepix. Riolu appeared at her side. Their snouts brushed together. Yuna's head pounded once again. Her ectoplasm quivered.

This is... all a trick. I— what— why—

You wished for a second chance.

Chaos plucked Riolu off the ground as Icepix poofed out of existence. Black and red light swirled around Riolu.

We heard your dying pleas. Too much of your soul had faded from its mortal coil. So, we gave you ours to fill the void.

She raced through the dark sky. Headed for the vortex over the tower. Temporal Tower.

She still had time. She could still stop it, right?

The scent of blood drifted over her.

Nickie and Nero. Others too, like a latias and a zoroark. Unmoving. Covered in gashes.

"NO!"

The lucario, volcanic arcanine, and spiritomb standing opposite the bodies looked right at her. Then they looked back.

Butterfree Effect turned. The crimson glow of the chain swirling around behind them cast an eerie shadow across the tower.

"You cannot stop me this time!"

Screams of pain filled her ears. Six bodies were wrapped in the Red Chain. Five had red wheels that matched the dimming golden one around the belly of the one screaming loudest: Arceus.

"I am the only one worthy of wielding the power of the legends themselves! Now witness the dawn of a new world! A perfect world free of all suffering!"

With a furious roar, she pried apart the air itself. She dove through the reverse's distortion, lunging to tear apart the Red Chain.

Yuna violently lurched backward, forcing the vision away.

"ENOUGH!" she pleaded, jerking her head back and forth. She hunched over, tail shriveling up into her torso.

"I'm Yuna." Her voice was so tiny. "I don't— that stuff is—" The drakloak shuddered. "Your memories and mine are different."

The spirit never forgets. We are one. Now and forever. That was your wish.

"That's not my spirit!" Yuna looked for a rock — hell, even a pebble — to throw at Chaos. "And it's not... it's not..." She kept stumbling over her words until her voice trailed off.

"Continuing down this path will lead you to discover several horrible truths. And without that tenacity... the weight of those truths will crush you."

The drakloak lay there in silence. Taking shuddering breaths and blinking small tears from her eyes. She wasn't sure how long the silence lingered as she repeated Vegna's words in her head. Yuna didn't even care to think about why Vegna knew to tell her something like this.

Everything about this was horrible. She thought the flashbacks with Chiron had prepared her for this, but she was dead wrong.

How deep did this go? How many memories did Chaos have? Was she... nothing but a tiny, insignificant blip to them? Doomed to be swallowed up into an endless memory abyss?

Yuna scraped her hands across the stone floor. She wanted this to end so, so badly. To wake up back in Aeon. Before the stupid treaty. Before Eternatus. And before this whole dimensional cataclysm.

Yet without even thinking, she whispered, "Help me understand."

Chaos slowly raised their right wing. The spikes glistened. Faint red light traced circles and triangles in the air. A familiar pattern. One Yuna watched Leo produce in every anomaly core. Then Chaos struck the pattern with their wing. It slowly rotated until it was upside down to how Yuna remembered.

Reverse.

The drakloak blinked slowly. "Reverse what?"

The reverse. A realm on the opposite side. We are the guardian of the reverse.

Picking herself up, Yuna stared blankly at the upside-down sigil. "That..." Blank stare turned to scowl. "That has to be the single most unhelpful explanation. And that's really saying something given all of this!" She gestured around.

Chaos' goopy body melted somewhat into the puddle.

You were not this... difficult last time.

"Because apparently I was dying!" Yuna snarled, rubbing her hands back and forth along the floor. "I was... dying..." She looked down, blinking slowly. The thoughts of icy river water suffocating her ectoplasm filled her head.

"I... am dying."

Fighting back tears, Yuna forced herself to look at the rune Chaos had drawn. More ripples ran along their puddle, up to Chaos' bulky head. They grabbed the red sigil with their right wing and squeezed it into a red orb. Then they cracked it open like an egg for cooking.

Home has two sides to it.

Chaos lifted one half of the orb up.

Aeon and Radiance dwell in the reverse world. A realm that should not bear life, much less countless civilizations.

Yuna rubbed her eyes. "That can't be right. Because—"

Eyes flashing, Chaos lifted the other half of the orb up.

The Qliphoth is the regular world. It is where all life should reside, be it humans, pokémon, or something else entirely.

Chaos brought the two halves close together, yet they never touched.

Both sides are linked. However, they are not meant to interact directly with one another.

They touched the halves together. Tiny red sparks shot out in all directions. Chaos' eyes dimmed slightly.

Eternatus' act of absorbing planets... is an attempt at restoring balance to itself. To the universe.

Yuna sat there, repeating the statement to herself. The earlier heaviness hadn't left her. And this was another weight on the pile. "But the Qliphoth... is some mix of people born within and those from home. And those people can't return outside because they're dead."

Incorrect assumptions from those who did not witness the dawn of this universe. Since the beginning, Eternatus has returned life to the regular world, where it rightfully belongs. Those you thought dead have merely attuned their souls to the regular world. And without the energy you call Malice, their spirits cannot withstand the reverse world's energy. Thus, they erode into Whispers.

But her allies had gone back and forth between Eternatus and the reverse world. "That can't be right," Yuna mumbled. "Like, why would the reverse world be so much bigger? To where Eternatus could get sealed with the Needles?"

The difference in size is a result of the universe's broken creation process. And our allies have always had protection against corrosion. From us. From the Creator. Or from other blessings.

Other blessings? Yuna squeezed her tail tighter. Much as she wanted to press that point, she feared she didn't have the time.

Still, this flew in the face of everything Yuna thought she understood. Then again, Widget mentioned a video message Nova left behind for Gene. One that claimed Eternatus was necessary for the universe to function properly. Something the emperor echoed... and Widget believed while he served the deoxys.

She shifted uneasily on the stone floor. "If this is all true, then..."

Destroying Eternatus is tantamount to destroying the universe. And the reverse world will die with it.

Chaos brought the two halves it was holding fully together. There were sparks for a few seconds, which gave way to distorted tendrils that stitched themselves through the orbs.

Aeon's patron — the dragon of light — forced a permanent union between regular and reverse. This is why the planet is falling apart. We must sever this union.

"... By pulling all the Needles." Yuna grimaced. "Except Necrozma wants to pull them all to destroy Eternatus. If we break the union and strand him in the reverse world, then Eternatus will be safe, right?"

Chaos squeezed the orb and it faded into red mist.

The husk can travel between regular and reverse, just as we do. It still endangers us all.

Right. All the rift making. Yuna looked at her hands. At least now... she could try and link this back to what was familiar. "That power... I have it because I'm Chiron. You were a part of me then, too, weren't you?"

Silence. Chaos somewhat melted into the puddle again, which told Yuna the answer was somewhere between "no" and "it's complicated."

A tremor ran across the ground. Yuna braced herself against the floor. Was Chaos' protection from the river failing?

"I have to know," Yuna said, even if part of her screamed to just end this conversation.

Chaos straightened up. Inky blobs peeled themselves off Chaos' goopy body.

Many giratina are violently protective toward the reverse world. We once struggled to control our instincts, to the point of attacking the Creator. For that, we were branded the Renegade. And, like many of our kind, the Creator sealed most of our power within the reverse world.

We were shunned. Isolated. An all too familiar fate.

The blobs squished themselves together into a copy of the Butterfree Effect.

One day, we met a human. Lost and confused. He claimed he was torn away from his time.

The copy turned to Chaos and extended a hand.

He paid attention to us. He wanted to see us reach our full potential. We were... happy to have someone acknowledge us. So, we followed his plan. We tore a rift in the sky. Our siblings, Time and Space, blamed one another and quarreled. The human wanted us to work together to stop them. To prove our combined worth to the Creator.

Another human silhouette rose from the puddle and stood in opposition to Butterfree Effect. The one that briefly turned into Yiazmat when Yuna was charging at it in an earlier vision.

But our creator instead called upon a different human. She and her partners stopped the fight before we could. This enraged the human we trusted. He used our gift to him to summon us. Demanded we kill her. But we saw the good in her heart. And her partners stood valiantly against us.

The human continued to demand we kill her. He betrayed our trust. So, we fled. The human branded us a traitor. We were alone once again.

Chaos flicked their right wing. Butterfree Effect disappeared, leaving the girl. She turned to Chaos and tilted her head.

The girl found us. Comforted us. She taught us how to work with a team. How to protect without lashing out. We made up with our siblings and the Creator.

They slowly lowered their head and shook it.

But the human that betrayed us returned. Determined to surpass all of us, including the Creator. We sensed he had breached the boundary between worlds. With the girl's blessing, we gave chase.

The girl's silhouette collapsed. Small black blobs floated in the air between Yuna and Chaos.

We followed him to other worlds. Each time, we joined with that realm's giratina to try and stop him. Each time, he slipped away. Over and over. Until the human reached a world inhabited only by pokémon.

The black blobs squished themselves together. Riolu landed on the edge of the puddle.

Though we searched, we could not find the human until the moment we met you... and heard your dying wish.

The ground trembled again. This was... a lot to process. If she and Chaos were really the same spirit, did that make this her past? Did she have several pasts... all spent trying and failing to catch Butterfree Effect?

Yuna pushed herself into the air. "How does this tie back to Chiron?"

We saw it for ourselves, remember? The human forged a new world. We attacked the human. Disrupted his new world's creation. The result... was a backwards, incomplete world. With life split between the regular and reverse.

There was nothing we could do to fix it. Our power — the power of the Renegade — was taken from us after we finished disrupting this universe's creation.

Chaos extended their right wing. Several black globs dribbled down. A new human rose from the edge of the puddle. Ran inky hands through shaggy, unkempt hair. Yuna heard nothing, but the way the human was gesturing and stomping around, they were clearly angry. Punching the air. Knocking things off invisible furniture.

They tossed a black blob on the ground in front of Yuna. It vaguely resembled one of those handheld gaming device thingies she'd seen Cyril carry around on occasion.

The human suddenly jerked backwards. Black tendrils pried themselves free and sucked the human up. The black slime swirled around until it resembled a silhouette of Bahamut.

The new, broken world drew in an isolated soul so full of resentment and anger toward everything around him. Despite all our training, this stranger's violent temperament... overpowered our will. He seized our power over the reverse world. In effect, the dragon of light became the Renegade Pokémon of the newly-made universe.

Yuna frowned. Something was off about that. It sounded so... vague compared to everything else Chaos told her. And their tone. Yuna still had trouble parsing it, but she had another gut feeling.

They're... uncertain?

Chaos didn't appear bothered. They watched Bahamut's silhouette fly around, lashing out at the air with his wings and tail. Yuna followed the silhouette, too. The ringing in her head was back. Maybe she was rushing to conclusions about this part of Chaos' explanation?

Then Bahamut was... like her. A past life cut short. But instead of a dying wish... his wrath twisted him into the thing Chaos used to be before that human girl helped them?

"So the reason he kept attacking the planets he visited..." Frowning, the drakloak crossed her arms. "And the reason he wants to destroy Eternatus above everything... is because he thinks he's protecting the reverse world."

Chaos nodded slowly.

He embodies our kind far more than we do. His irrational drive to claim as much power as possible to strike down Eternatus... is built on the foundation of a violent desire to protect his domain.

They caught Bahamut with their right wing, absorbing the black slime.

However, thanks to Eternatus wounding him, he lost the power to control the reverse world. We escaped. And reunited.

That had to refer to the Darkest Day. Bahamut's light... must have been how he did all this crazy stuff in the reverse world. And if that power was supposed to belong to Yuna... then it was no wonder she bonded with the Soul Dew when Chiron didn't. That was her power all along!

But then... what did that mean for her relation to Chiron? It certainly didn't sound like Chaos had an answer for her.

Yuna looked down at her tail. "Mom said she found me sealed in a crystal." Did that mean Chaos searched for her until she hatched? "Wait, what about how sick I was as a kid?"

Chaos lowered their head slightly.

"Don't tell me..."

Your illness was a result of our reunion. You remained sick while our broken soul healed. Even though you recovered, we remained dormant until recently. Recuperating from our time within the dragon of light.

It took a moment, but Yuna recalled the strange temple inside Eternatus. The fight with Runerigus and the shadowy wings that came to her in a time of need...

The ground shook again. Chaos' inky puddle rippled faster.

We are out of time.

Relief and dread battled it out in Yuna's head. She still had more questions! How was she supposed to try and free herself from drowning with this weighing on her conscience?!

We must fully combine. You must shed your drakloak guise. We shall become one in mind, body, and spirit. Then we can fully wield the power of distortion. The power you call your "shadows."

Chaos clapped their wings together. Two cards appeared in front of their wing spikes. One with an orange and yellow sun, the other bearing a blue and purple crescent moon. Each had a mixture of letters on them. "XVIII" for the moon card and "XIX" for the sun card.

We will also allow you to put these to use. They've lingered deep inside your soul all this time.

Yuna stared at the cards. Chaos' demands played on loop in her head. After several seconds, she shriveled up.

"No," she instinctively mumbled. She couldn't agree to that. Not if it meant getting battered by the tsunami of Chaos' memories... or past selves.

And certainly not if it meant Yuna would fade away. She couldn't leave the others! Especially not Noctum and Nikki.

The icepix's soft tails brushing against her side. A tingle down her spine.

You speak nonsense. You already fear transforming into Chiron. But that shall not happen. Instead, we will hold memories of our time as Drakloak Yuna.

"That's not good enough!" Yuna firmly squeezed her arms against her side. "I'm... I'm not ready! I can't—" She shook her head. "I can't disappear! Whether that's becoming you or Chiron or something else!

"The past doesn't matter! I'm me! I'm Yuna! We have to find another way!"

The ground rumbled again. Purple fissures traced across the floor, barely skirting Chaos' puddle.

We are out of time. There is no other way. We must combine.

"I said no!" Yuna surprised herself with her intensity. "This... this is still my life—"

We cannot stand up against Zodiark like this.

Zodiark? Was that... Butterfree Effect's real name? Or their name back when they were the human Chaos was chasing after?

It didn't matter. Yuna had made up her mind. "I understand what you're saying, but I can't go. Not like this."

The drakloak curled her hands up. "I refuse... to merge."

Was it selfish? Maybe. But Yuna needed time to come to grips with everything. She couldn't disappear after learning all of this.

The ground shuddered again.

"Give me... a bit more power," the drakloak said. "Enough to fight the Whispers." She looked down. Guilt and concern wrestled in her head.

Very well.

What?

Yuna glanced at Chaos. They were halfway sunken into their puddle.

"You're okay with this?"

We remain bound by your wish. We shall not hurt you.

Yuna bit her lower lip to keep from making a snide remark. "All right." She took a calming breath. "Then let's... work together. In parallel. Not as one." Her tail rippled. "Okay?"

We shall assist, but it is only a matter of time until you yield to the inevitable.

Chaos' head sank into the puddle. It rippled faster and faster.

Yuna doubled over in pain. Her chest... it was on fire! Was the Soul Dew doing something to her real body?

The burning got worse and worse. Yuna screamed. Jagged, amber crystal burst from her chest ectoplasm.

The puddle rose from the ground like a large wave heading for the shore.

... That shore being Yuna.

"What are you doing?" Her new chest crystal spread light across her body. "Stop! Stop! I said no merging! STOP!"

BISHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN!

The black wave crashed over her, flooding her world in darkness.

XxX​

Gene's tail lashed at the air. They had numbers on the Whispers and this was still a problem?

He Phantom Warped just south of midfield, avoiding a wall of shadowfire. The shadowy mewtwo already learned the hard way those flames were dark-type. For some stupid reason.

"What are you waiting for? Hit him!" he growled. Flames gathered in his right hand. Gene hurled the Fire Blast, figuring that bug-shaped crystal on Ifrit's head had to symbolize "fire gud."

Black flames swirled around midfield. Ifrit's dark whirlwind knocked aside the five prongs of Gene's Fire Blast. Quetzal retreated toward Gene.

"I'm trying!" the orange zapdos squawked.

"No you're not!" Gene had another Fire Blast ready and hurled it at the dark moltres. He glared at Quetzal, who formed a spinning air cone around his beak and charged toward midfield.

Ifrit folded his wings, dropping to the ground. The Fire Blast sailed overhead. He threw up his wings, blunting some of Quetzal's Drill Peck. But Ifrit still skidded across the scorched ground.

"You're pulling your punches!" Gene's Malice Crystal sparked. "Don't try to deny it! You still see your friend and not some mindless murder bird who wants to gouge your eyes out!"

"Th-that's—" Quetzal jumped high enough to avoid a furious Air Slash barrage that sliced up midfield's ruined grass. "Ifrit doesn't resort to gouging eyes! That's barbaric!"

Gene swapped fire for lightning. He pointed his right hand downfield and let the sparks fly. Ifrit rolled out of the way.

"You want to do the 'I know you're in there' schtick? Then do it!" Gene pursued Ifrit. The black moltres couldn't gather up enough shadowfire to strike. Instead, Gene broadsided Ifrit with his spoon. Ifrit skipped back across the ground, toward the northern end of the field.

"Did you really have to hit him that hard?" Quetzal said. His feathers puffed out when Gene leveled the spoon in his direction.

"Hey, uh, not to interject or anything." Koraidon's voice carried through Gene's X-transceiver. He glanced up. In the nosebleed section of the eastern stands, Jade was fleeing an Air Slash bombardment from Shiva. The weird stoic human remained atop the psychic articuno's back.

"How much longer do you think you'll be? These Team Rocket people have stolen a lot of pokémon with their, err, giant meowth machine. I think they might fly the coop soon."

Gene gnashed his teeth. Damn it. Yuna vanished five minutes ago and everything since then had spiraled out of control.

"I'm handling it," the shadowy mewtwo said. "Just gimme a minute or two." He concentrated on the Malice Crystal in his shoulder, drawing in as much of the energy as he could.

"This is no way to treat a lady!" Jade cawed, trying to outfly a furious tornado spiraling through the stands, flinging seating all around. "Cece! Undisappear yourself and heeeeeeeeelp!"

"Your friend is gone," the trainer on Shiva's back said. "They were boring. As are you. Nothing but dodges and quips. Do you even have a reason to be here?"

Jade turned around, stunned. Gene took the opportunity to fire a small Shadow Ball at Shiva. It provided a temporary distraction, with the masked articuno stopping to snuff the ectoplasm out with more pink eye lasers.

The salugia didn't press her opening, though. Gene was ready to chew her out like he did to Quetzal when a thunderous boom split the air.

Red and purple energy streaming from his Malice Crystal into his torso, Gene shot up high above midfield. "Tell me the big robot didn't just do something awful!" he cried.

"The robot didn't make that sound," Koraidon said. "Something emerged from the river. I think it's Yuna!"

Shiva turned toward Gene. "What?" The trainer finally sounded something other than disinterested.

Gene was ready to take advantage of the opening when a jagged purple rift split the air underneath Shiva open. There was a roar, followed by a spectral wing slashing Shiva from below. An off-pitch warble escaped the masked articuno's beak as she buckled in midair from the strike. The trainer visibly struggled to maintain his grip.

"Impossible," he said.

Shiva swept pink eye lasers beneath her. However, the spectral wing vanished. A dragapult appeared over Shiva's head. She punched the air furiously and large, gray, ectoplasmic legs pummeled the unsuspecting articuno, knocking her into the stands, then swatting her toward the northern part of the ruined battlefield. The trainer lost his grip and was soon in freefall toward the uneven ground.

"Someone catch him!" Gene shouted, still a bit stunned at what he was seeing.

"On it!"

An orange streak surged across the burnt, torn-up grass. Quetzal abruptly stopped in the perfect spot to catch the trainer.

Gene spotted Ifrit preparing to hit Quetzal from behind. The shadowy mewtwo had all this energy charged up. With Shiva occupied, he had no qualms about changing targets.

Gene cupped his hands in front of him. Focusing on that hateful energy burning inside his chest, he pushed it along his arms... then unleashed the devastating red and purple beam. It swept across the ground, torching the remaining grass away and leaving a trail of black ooze behind.

"Holy hell!"

Nikki barely managed to escape to midfield from the beam, carrying the unconscious pikachu that had given her problems before under her shoulder. She stared dumbly at Gene's attack.

It was tough controlling the beam. But the thing was large enough to swallow the squawking moltres up. Shattered crystal fragments tumbled across the scorched field.

Gene's arms were on fire. He thought they'd melt right off his shoulders! Gene barely managed to cut the beam off. Black vapor rose off his arms, which he rapidly shook out.

"He's down!"

Running up the field, Nikki tossed Pikachu next to Ifrit, whose head crystal had shattered. The two foes lay side by side in an unconscious heap.

That's one. Gene turned. So, what about the other?

Shiva flew around the eastern stands, frantically shooting pink beams from her eyes. All the while, the dragapult weaved through the beams, blasting dreepy-shaped bolts straight into Shiva's face. Shrieking, the masked articuno whipped up a furious Hurricane.

(Art by Adam)

"Not this time! [hovertext="Enochian: Great winds"]Drilpa ozongon![/hovertext]"

Dragapult— no, Yuna clapped her hands together. The jagged, amber crystal in her chest crackled with the same static as the rifts they conjured.

Mega Rayquaza torpedoed his way through the Hurricane, snuffing it out like it was nothing but a stiff breeze. His Dragon Ascent collided with Shiva. Before she could crash through the stands, another shadowy wing caught her by the balloon-shaped head crystals and dragged her through the air toward her downed allies.

"Now flock off, Feather Face!"

The wing squeezed the psychic articuno like an oversized stress ball. Her head crystal shattered. Shiva's body lurched. Static streamed out of her, heading roughly in the direction of where Gene recalled the vault was.

Though part of it briefly congealed into something resembling a face. A human face.

"Welcome back, Yaldabaoth."

The rest of the static went away. Yuna flew after it, looking over her shoulder at the others.

"Yuna?" Jade descended from the nosebleed section, an uncertain look on her face. "You evolved? But what's with your chest? Where's the Soul Dew?"

She turned away from Jade and tapped the side of her head. "Whoever has Leo, get him ready to seal the anomaly core. I'm coming to get him."

"H-Hey, wait!" Jade flew toward her. "What should we do about all of this?" She gestured around her.

But the dragapult didn't respond. She opened a rift behind her, flew into it, and sealed it up.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
"Drilpa ozongon" is "great winds" in Enochian.

Chaos is the mythological void within the area of cosmogony. Ancient Greek myths consider Chaos a primordial deity or a void state existing before the universe's creation. Christian theology depicts Chaos as an abyss formed when God separated heaven and earth during the creation of the world in the Book of Genesis.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 84: Lustrous Sheen​

Rough scales grazed Noctum's arms, telling him he'd gotten Valkyrie. He yanked her through the rift, but not before searing pain shot across his arms. Yowling, the black charizard fell on his back, with a dazed Valkyrie flopping onto his armored belly.

Up on the rooftop, giant dragon wings swirled around in a blue-purple vortex. A few panicking dragons on the ground fled from near the building, pointing and shouting. Debris rained down from the rooftop.

From his cramped confines by the child's side, Noctum saw a dome of multicolored, prismatic light erupt from Time. It blotted out the sky, rift and all.

"What the—" Noctum slid back, blinking rapidly and wincing. Nicks and scrapes covered his arms down to his claws. "That's gotta be a Dynaforce attack, right?" And was it making him see things?

"The dragon one," Cyril said before unseen hands grabbed Noctum and pulled him to his feet. "That's your king, right?"

Noctum's violet flame rippled uneasily. "That's what the queen's saying." He glanced to his right, where the dragapult directed some dragons to form up around her. She struggled to keep a straight face. "But it sounds like... he got hit by Malice or something."

"Nah. It's Halvus."

Valkyrie got to her feet, groaning. "Halvwho?"

"One of the Paradigm." The cosmic zoroark spotted three Eternatus Gunners halfway between them and Halvus taking aim. He slung a Shadow Ball to his left, growling when they successfully scattered. Seifer and Biff raced in from Cyril's left, downing them before they got their attacks off.

"Halvus is some kind of munitions expert. But he's also lazy. Rarely gets involved in things directly. Don't know why the emperor would send him after us."

Noctum saw Seifer running toward the side of the League building. "What do you think you're doing?!" the keldeo cried. "Stop! There could be innocent people inside!"

"Aww, how cute! The rebel is trying to look like a hero!" An Eternatus Bombardier appeared from around the building's corner. Lightning crackled in its cannons. "But we evacuated everyone! Besides, we can rebuild it! We have the technology!"

The massive duraludon laughed and slammed his right hand against the League Headquarters. With a terrified whinny, Seifer galloped away.

"Look out!" Noctum again went for the rift option... but the energy fizzled out as quickly as it materialized. "What?! No, it worked before!"

Noctum flew around the center of the black and purple rift, right arm raised. Time glared back from across the rift. Noctum raised his arm, but no energy formed. "This is your fault!"

"Don't blame me for your failures!" Time snarled back.

"Seifer!" Cyril vaulted over the now-disoriented black charizard, lobbing a Shadow Ball with two hands like a baccer ball. It dampened enough of the boasting Bombardier's dual Thunders for Seifer to escape them and the rubble that poured over the scorched ground seconds later.

"Thanks!" The keldeo reached the trio, panting heavily. Noctum stared blankly at him. Why was he seeing faint outlines of metallic claws on Seifer's hooves?!

Cyril put his hands on his hips. "Now who's being the reckless dummy?"

Seifer's face reddened. Valkyrie got between the two. "Keep it in your fur. We've got bigger problems here!" She jerked her head behind her.

"All this running. So tiring, don't you think?" Halvus' voice was surprisingly higher-pitched than Calcifer's, despite the giant size. "Why don't you relax? Let me sweep your troubles away!"

His eyes flickered purple. Blue-violet wind ripped up the grass around them. "Run!" Valkyrie jetted to her left. It was faster for Noctum to fly backwards, so he had to separate from the other three. Like before, giant blue-violet dragon wings spun around inside the vortex. Even though Noctum avoided the blow, fatigue gripped him. He folded his wings in and stumbled across the grass.

"Now!"

Noctum scarcely had time to look up before electrified rocks battered him from above. The black charizard staggered back with each strike, before a lightning bolt struck him square in the gut. He fell to his back. Sparks jumped around his armor plate. The world spun around him.

The tachyons pummeled Noctum's right shoulder. Roaring in pain, he floated back. Threw his left arm over his pink shoulder gem. "You'll pay for that!"

"Try it!" Time reared up on their hind legs, temporal energy gathering once more in their maw.

"—ver me, damn it!"

Blurry flashes around Noctum caught his attention. Scaly arms grabbed his left shoulder and fuzzy ones yanked his right, hoisting him to his feet. Then the juiciness of an oran berry filled Noctum's mouth. The black charizard forced himself to chew before he could choke on it.

Blinking away the last fuzziness from his vision, Noctum saw Seifer and Biff zigzagging toward Halvus by ground and air, respectively. Aeon dragons backed them up from the far right, shooting Cosmic Blessing's rainbow waves at the Eternatus Troopers.

"Something's wrong." Noctum rubbed his head. "That daemon's attack..."

"It's Halvus' specialty," Cyril growled, running yellow claws through his starcloud mane. "He saps your energy. Makes it harder to use whatever your last technique was in a battle. I call it Dyna Depletion."

Valkyrie frowned. "It's just Spite, then?"

"If Spite hurt like a *****."

The mega garchomp's snout wrinkled in disgust. "Lovely. What the hell do we do about it?"

"Personally?" Cyril glanced over his shoulder. "I'd say keep your distance."

"Sheesh!" Halvus swatted the ground. Seifer barely managed to leap over his giant duraludon arm and sling an Aura Sphere at the middle of his head. Halvus took a step back from the blow. "All the nervous energy in the world can't help you idiots. You're working harder, not smarter."

Noctum shifted uneasily. "I can't fight from this far." And Calcifer was still in there. He had to be. "What am I supposed to do? I won't give up on the king."

"No one's giving up on him," Cyril cut in. "We gotta reevaluate our approach."

"By doing what?" Noctum could only watch Seifer and the others hopping around like frenzied spoink for so long. He noticed Biff swooping beneath a Rock Blast flurry and uppercutting an Eternatus Gunner. It pinwheeled toward Halvus. The giant duraludon spat a burst of metal at it, destroying it instantly.

"That's it!" the black charizard said. "We don't approach directly. We hit 'em with his flunkies. Like Iron Jugulis."

A growl escaped Valkyrie's snout. "Great." The garchomp hopped forward, then shot a Dragon Pulse ahead at an Eternatus Gunner. It burst apart. "Hmph. Did the emperor send the Troopers made of tissue paper or something?"

Shrugging, Cyril strolled away from them. "You're bright. Bet you'll come up with something."

Noctum was sorely tempted to talk back to the cosmic zoroark, but he saw Halvus gearing up for another attack. The black charizard flew into the air. Rather than a Dragon Pulse, he spewed some Dragonbreath at an Eternatus Bombardier. It held up its blasters to shield itself, but that gave Noctum the opening to swoop in. He swiped it with Metal Claws.

"Gah!" The Bombardier tumbled through the air, striking Halvus' long, building-like torso.

"Gnrk!" Halvus rested his left arm against the somewhat destroyed League building. "Nah, you ain't taking my load off, rebel scum! Troopers, fall back!"

The Gunners and Bombardiers taking aim stopped and looked at Halvus. "Are you sure?" one Gunner asked.

Blue-violet winds swirled to Halvus' right, around Seifer, Biff, and several of the Troopers. They hastily flew away, mechanical arms and tentacles flailing.

Noctum kept his distance, biting his lip. So much for his bright idea. Maybe they really did learn from Iron Jugulis.

"Anyone else got anything?" Valkyrie charged across the uneven ground. "Because I'm about to start ripping this place up with Earthquakes."

Seifer's tail frazzled. He jumped toward Biff. The buzzwole grabbed him and shot skyward. True to her word, Valkyrie slammed her scythe-like arms onto the ground. Fissures raced toward the corner of the building.

Halvus' right foot sank into one of the gaps. His growl reverberated through the area. "All that effort for so very little!"

The giant duraludon's eyes sparked pink. As his left leg also sank into the ground, he unleashed another Dyna Depletion. Noctum tried to throw open a rift and get to Valkyrie, but it fizzled out like before. Neither Biff nor Cyril could get there, either. The mega garchomp dove into the fissures her Earthquake made. Noctum's purple tail flame flickered in surprise.

"Attack!"

Yiazmat unleashed a flurry of Dragon Darts from Noctum's far left, over by the rift. Goodra and Noivern flanking her added Dragon Pulses. Seifer fired an Aura Sphere from the tip of his prosthetic horn. Noctum added his own Dragon Pulse.

"Waste of effort!" Halvus flicked his right hand. Giant metal spikes erupted from the crevices Valkyrie's Earthquakes carved. A few punctured the League building, flinging more rubble around. More disappointing, however, was when the spikes blocked the team's combined attacks.

Seconds later, a roar rang out. Another metal spike burst from the ground, knocking Valkyrie back. The mega garchomp rolled to a stop. Her mega evolution vanished in an orange flash, leaving the large gash along her left side all too visible to Noctum.

The human stared Time down. Their most ferocious attack charged in their mouth.

She gripped Noctum's ball tightly. Could he do this? His previous clashes with Time had gone poorly for him...

What was Noctum doing? He had to fight through these stupid mind games!

"Valkyrie!" The black charizard dove down from the air.

"So much energy wasted." Halvus' laughter rumbled through the area. "I'm telling ya, relax. Don't you think it's time you had yourselves a break?"

Noctum landed beside the garchomp. Jeez that wound was bleeding. She needed orans right away. Or a healer. "Heeey! Help!"

Bag, bag, where was her— there!

He lunged for it, flopping over her in the process.

"Grrraaaarrrgh!"

Valkyrie's arms dug into Noctum's sides. "Sorry, sorry! I just gotta grab the— got 'em!"

Noctum had an oran in each hand. All he had to do was feed them to her.

"Get out of there!" Cyril cried. "You're sitting ducklett!"

He looked up and saw Halvus conjuring more blue-violet wind. Another Dyna Depletion. Noctum had to lift Valkyrie up and get her away. But even without the mega evolution, she was heavy. Biff was still carrying Seifer, so the buzzwole was out. The best he could do was throw himself over the garchomp and hope to guard her that way.

Except instead of the attack, there were a couple of loud caws, followed by metallic thuds. Warm light washed over Noctum. Valkyrie shoved him off her. Much of her large gash was healed. But how?

"Do forgive the discourtesy of my fashionably late arrival."

Valkyrie shoved Noctum further off, giving him a clear view of Vegna. Gold mist seeped through cracks running between the dusknoir's fingers. Vegna didn't acknowledge him any further, pivoting and waving his right hand.

"Slice! Burn!"

"Hey, Tin Can, how's about I introduce you to Can and Opener? Ha ha haaaaah!"

Noctum lumbered to his feet. Near the building, Griffon darted around Halvus, swiping at the giant duraldon's trapped legs with his talons. Flames struck Halvus from behind every time he tried to strike Griffon, disrupting his rhythm. Talonflame's Flare Blitzing form crashed into Halvus' right arm, then darted away from a retaliatory swipe.

"Thanks for the save," Noctum said. It didn't look like Vegna's birds were doing much other than annoying Halvus, but it was giving everyone else room to pepper him with equally tiny attacks.

"Give me my husband back!" Yiazmat roared from over by the rift. Instead of Dragon Darts, rainbow bursts of Cosmic Blessings emerged from her horns.

"Don't you have a giant dragon of your own to summon?" Valkyrie growled. She was still a bit dazed and slow to get up.

"I can't summon Zekrom and heal you with Morning Sun." Vegna's right hand trembled until the gold fissures sealed themselves. "Pray forgive the inconvenience of my frail, crumbling body."

Noctum frowned. "Why does a dusknoir even have Morning Sun?"

Vegna turned away from them. "A story for another day. Do you want to strike down this daemon or not?" He drifted higher into the air, making small hand gestures that translated to Griffon and Talonflame circling up around one another.

"Right." The black charizard winced. "All these strikes and he's still standing."

"It's almost as if he's giant and tanky." Valkyrie looked down at herself. "And my mega's gone." She snorted out blue-purple embers. "I can still Earthquake, though." The garchomp held her arms at her side. "Everyone get clear!"

A quick flap of his wings was all Noctum needed. Valkyrie ran forward, feinting right, then darting left in case Halvus tried to intercept her. Yiazmat directed her dragon troops even closer to the rift, aiming Cosmic Blessings at Halvus' face to keep him distracted.

"C'mon, dear! You can't let him control you like this!" she pleaded.

"Shouting. Attacking. Wasteful, wasteful, wasteful!" Halvus braced his left arm against the half-destroyed building. "I'll make all of you relax!"

Blue-violet winds stirred. This blue-violet vortex covered half the field between the rift and the building! And Valkyrie was charging right into it! The garchomp saw it, but the ground was too torn apart for her to dive underneath like before.

She hurled his ball forward. Noctum had one shot— one chance to protect them from Time's wrath!

Noctum concentrated on the Malice Crystal in his gut. Sure, his energy was depleted. But it wasn't that far. Just one rift. One rift. He could do it. He had to do it!

He hit the stone ground of the temple and braced himself. Spacial Rend... he needed as strong a Spacial Rend as he could muster! Human temple for the Creator be damned!

His belly burned. A sudden power surge swelled through him. With a mighty roar, Noctum clawed at the air. He pried a rift open behind Valkyrie, then yanked her back. But the attack would carry through the rift if he left it open. So, the black charizard dove through it.

The Roar of Time raced right toward him. Noctum raised his arms, then thrust them forward.

"Noctum, no! Don't be an idiot!" Valkyrie cried.

He shut the rift just as the giant dragon wings erupted from what was left of the ground. Arms crossed, Noctum threw up a Protect shield. He doubted it could deflect a whole Dynaforce attack, but at least only his Protect power would get depleted.

His claws slashed through the blue beam. Shimmering rifts collided with tachyons.

"What the—"

Where was the pain? There should've been dragon energy slicing through Noctum. But all he could feel was that burning from his belly getting hotter and hotter and hotter.

The humans scattered with startled cries. An explosion engulfed Noctum and Time. Broken pieces of the temple's roof and stone pillars careened down the sides of the sky-piercing mountain.

Noctum thrashed his head back and forth. The burning was getting worse with every second! Like an invisible force stabbing him in the stomach over and over again. Noctum wanted to double over but forced himself to hang tough.

Anything to protect her. Anything to save Calcifer.

"I... must... proteeeeeeeeect!"

Noctum floated in a black void. Where were his arms and legs? Why couldn't he feel anything?

... Ah, wait, there! A small mote of light!

He got closer. It was... a tail flame? From a charmander?

There were shouts outside of the Dyna Depletion. Was someone saying something about absorption?

The charmander was thin. Frail. Its tail flame tiny, yet vibrant against the backdrop of the black void. It looked up at Noctum and smiled.

He recognized that smile... because it was his smile.

Charmander turned and walked away. Noctum followed, trying to call out to it.

Noctum snapped out of the vision to find his Protect's blue glow absent. Noctum was standing there, arms crossed, watching the Dyna Depletion funnel into his belly. Cracks spread along his armor until it shattered, metal pieces dropping by his feet.

"Wh... at..."

He was back in the void. Charmander was walking faster. There was pink light in the distance. Getting closer and closer.

Charmander walked up to the light. It was... an orb. Different shades of pink swirled around inside it. The orb pushed and pulled the pink light around it like waves lapping against a shoreline.

Every push and pull had a noise. Lub-dup. Lub-dup.

Noctum sank into the torn ground. His knees were down in the dirt. The burning in his stomach was at a fever pitch.

The Dyna Depletion faded away. Halvus yelled something Noctum couldn't make out.

Charmander turned to Noctum and smiled. "I found it."

Noctum somehow found his voice. "Found what?"

"Our lustrous heart."

Charmander gave Noctum one last serene smile before dissolving into the orb... which slammed into Noctum's belly.

The burning in the pit of his stomach erupted! Noctum arched backwards with a frenzied roar. His Malice Crystal melted into his gut. Blue scales painted over his tan ones as the charizard shot forward. Violet flames crackled in the corners of his vision. Had he mega evolved?

Noctum sliced apart Draco Meteors from the heavens, giving the human time to hurl balms at Time's Creator-esque torso.

It didn't matter! It was time to put an end to this!

Noctum raced toward Halvus' foot. Purple, starry Dragon Claws were at the ready. Noctum drove them into Halvus' leg.

"Waaaaaarrrgggh! Cut it out! Chill!" Halvus raised his arms up to squash Noctum like a bug.

But Noctum concentrated on that strange power swirling through him. Halvus froze in place. Pink, shimmering lines crisscrossed the giant duraludon's body. Horror set in on Halvus' face as Noctum yanked his claws out and the lines shattered the very air— no space surrounding Halvus.

A pained roar escaped Halvus before distorted energy poured out of his mouth and the wound in his leg.

"Y... ou! Re... b..." He was shrinking down, taking more chunks of the wrecked building with him. His voice was deepening, too! Had Noctum done it?

"I wi... ll remember..."

What looked like a small card drifted out of Calcifer's back and dissolved into the air. Calcifer staggered toward Noctum. He shakily held his right arm out. "Thank you."

He fell forward, head resting by Noctum's feet. "Vegna! Get over here!" Noctum said, waving both hands since he had no idea where the dusknoir went off to.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your horns on!" Griffon cawed. The corviknight landed beside him. "V's got it covered in spades. But ain't you gonna turn off your mega before you go cuckoo for Choccy Puffs?"

"Huh?" Noctum blinked, then glanced at his jagged-looking wing. "Uh, right. Lemme just..."

He took a calming breath. Then another. But he didn't feel any different. Noctum checked his wing again. Still jagged.

"Uhh..."

"And your flame. It's all galactic!" Griffon leaned over. He glanced at Noctum's belly. "Maybe your belly ate your crystal and now you're stuck as a mega?" The corviknight hopped back. "You ain't feeling all murdery, right?"

(Art by Honey_llemon)

"Of course not!" Noctum's now-starry tail flame flickered rapidly. "I don't— That is—"

Realization set in. Those visions weren't from Halvus' attacks at all. They were from deep inside. Because Noctum was... he was...

"Aw, ****." Griffon rolled his eyes. "He's totally about to pass out, ain't he?"

The last thing the cosmic charizard heard before his head struck the ground was the corviknight cawing, "See! Told ya!"

XxX​

Green and light blue this time. Complimentary enough colors, but boy were they obnoxiously bright. Not that Wyndon Stadium's lights were dark by comparison, but the switch from nighttime to an unbearably bright anomaly core threw Yuna off.

As did the small white snowflakes falling all around her.

... No, that wasn't right. The dragapult reached her right hand out and caught one.

"A feather?" Yuna examined it in her hand. It was as soft as any altaria's wings. "Okay. Leo, where'd you go?"

"Over here, Mom!"

Yuna pivoted right. The cosmic arceus stood atop a bundle of feathers vaguely resembling a flying heracross. It wasn't alone, either. Other bugs made of feathers drifted around it. A couple of pinsir here. Some ribombee and cutiefly there.

"God, this is weird."

She kept looking right, until she found a familiar braviary silhouette walking along a spiraling centiskorch.

... Also made of feathers. Because of course.

"Hmm." Alder stroked his chin. "These cores are spawning out of Ginnungagap. And Ginnungagap is the mystery dungeon between worlds. Perhaps it's best to think of the anomalies as mystery dungeons after all." He hopped into the air, gliding after Leo. "Since distortion spreads out of each core, affecting the dimension around it. Expanding the dungeon, in a manner of speaking."

Yuna blinked slowly. "Uhh... okay?" It wasn't like that changed anything about the current situation, though.

"Congratulations on your evolution, by the way!" Alder's psychic feathers shimmered. Yuna wondered if that was the projection showing his happiness.

"Oh, right. Thanks, I guess." Yuna glanced at her feet — God, that was going to take some getting used to — then flew off to follow Leo. "It just sorta happened."

After a second, she looked back at her feet. Namely, the gold-amber claws on them. It was enough to snap her out of the autopilot she'd been in since shooting out of the river.

This wasn't right. Dragapult didn't have claws like this. And why were there similarly-colored rings around her tail?!

The amber crystal in her chest sparked with light. Yuna stared aghast at it, like it was going to suck the life out of her.

Everything came rushing back. The ruined temple. Chaos, that titanic daemon. Apparently a giratina? Or maybe multiple giratina all mashed together?

Then there were the visions— no, memories. A whole other life she lived. She sounded confident and determined back then! What had happened to her? And that icepix...

Were we... together?

Yuna shook her head. Change the subject, now.

"So, does your magic dimensional lore book have any explanation for why there are gonna be two plates here instead of one?"

Alder's pink feathers stuck up straight. "Two in one core?" He looked around. "Hmm. That would explain the look of things, I suppose."

"Bugs and birds! Bugs and birds!" Leo chirped, happily hopping across feathered dustox and beautifly. Two pillars of light shimmered in the distance. Undoubtedly the two plates.

... Wait, what was that golden glimmer between the two of them?

Alder sighed. "Truthfully, I'm not sure what that indicates. Perhaps the anomalies are being drawn toward one another? If there's a plate in each one and the plates belong to POV-2020, then it's pos— hey, wait for me!"

Yuna flew over a blue and green abyss. She was much faster than before, easily passing Leo while he jumped between feathered platforms. The dragapult reached a giant frosmoth made of feathers without issue. Though closer inspection showed it was a giant frosmoth made of tiny, feathery snom.

Maybe Yuna should have counted her blessings two Whispers and Zodiark's projection were the worst things to have leaked out of this anomaly core. Could you just imagine if this thing turned people into feathers? A shiver ran up her ectoplasm.

The two plates floated in front of her. Blue feathers surrounded one. Ethereal cutiefly flew around the other. Yuna cautiously flew to the other side. Gold light spilled over her body. Her inner shadows tried to force her away from the plates.

I should've asked about that.

Yuna could berate herself later. First, the text on the plates. Then the weird gold light behind her. Yuna went for the light blue plate first.

The being poured the remains of its power into stone and buried it deep.

Well, that gave her little to go off. Was that saying these plates were supposed to be buried underground? Shaking her head, Yuna turned to the other plate.

Where all creation was born, that is the being's place of origin.

That one sent a fresh chill down to Yuna's tail. Because given what Chaos had told her... wouldn't the "place of origin" be that tower from her past memories? Where she had clashed with Zodiark in the past? Was that somehow Leo's true home?

Come to think of it, Chaos did sound a lot less... certain when they talked about attacking the Red Chain and losing their powers to Bahamut. Were they still hiding something from Yuna?

"Ta-daah!"

Leo's golden wheel sparkled as he landed next to Yuna. "So, Mom, what do I do? Eat one first? Eat 'em both?"

Yuna had no idea how to answer. With a shrug, she gave a, "Follow your heart."

"Okay!" The cosmic arceus stood up straight. His wheel flickered. Then both plates were hastily pulled toward him like pieces of meat grabbed by the burly arms of a famished kommo-o. Sky blue and lime green lines rippled across Leo's starcloud fur.

His wheel flashed. Feathers coated his right foreleg, while chitin crawled up his left.

For a moment, one of Xeromus' chain-covered forelegs superimposed itself over Leo's. Yuna abruptly shook her head and turned away from him.

"Those are taken care of, so let's see what—"

She cut herself off the moment she saw a familiar gold cylinder impaling the feathery frosmoth. A green and white crystal eye stared back at her.

"No." Yuna held her arms up and waved them in front of her face. "I'm hallucinating. That's not real. It's not a Needle in this anomaly core."

"Dungeon core!" called Alder. "And I'd say that's a Needle!"

Leo blipped in between Yuna and the Needle. Even though she floated in the air, Leo was almost at eye level with her. Which spooked her enough to send her new legs shooting up into her torso.

... Clearly, some habits died hard even after evolving.

"Is this the part where you pull an Aunt Nikki and flip the Needle off?" The cosmic arceus lifted a forehoof. "I can totally join you if you do." His golden hoof shimmered and chitinous claws replaced it, courtesy of his new plate.

Yuna fought not to have her torso suck up her much longer tail, too. Why was Leo's voice deeper? And why the enthusiasm for acting like Nikki?

Book pages fwipped from behind Yuna. "Interesting. It appears... reclaiming his plates lets Leo age?" Alder mused. "I'll have to go over the archives carefully to see if there are any records of that."

"Pssht. Sure." Leo strutted past Yuna. "You do that. I'm gonna fix this thing." He tapped Yuna on the shoulder. "That means you've gotta yank it out, Mom. Since I've gotta send everyone back home."

The dragapult's mind was still racing. Leo's aging and the Needle's presence wrestling for her undivided attention. And the revelations brought by Chaos lurked in the back, waiting to strike. She definitely couldn't hide her link with them anymore. Reshiram would never shut up if she even tried.

... And it affects them, too.

"C'mon, Mom! Standing here's getting boring."

But you loved the feathery bug platforms just minutes ago.

She couldn't help but wonder if Yiazmat felt this way when Yuna stopped playing with all her favorite childhood toys and instead wanted to be left on her own.

Sighing, Yuna approached the Needle. Behind it, the familiar circles and triangles Leo had made with the previous cores traced themselves through the air.

Yuna forced the grappling thoughts back, focusing on what memory this Needle would give her. And which Sage she was about to meet.

XxX​

Chiron truly did not understand the point of "adventuring."

Perhaps she would have gotten more out of this experience if she had legs. Or didn't float everywhere she went.

But, no, she was a lunala. Hovering beside a steep mountain trail. Watching with a bored expression as Shaymin leapt from jagged spire to rocky crag, gliding around with his tiny antler-ear-wing things.

"Remind me why we're here."

Shaymin glanced down at her, smirking. She hastily continued, "And don't you dare say 'adventuring.'" Chiron pointed an accusatory right wing-claw.

"Harsh." Shaymin wrinkled his snout. "You should be grateful I brought you along. Isn't this view bodacious?"

Chiron's right eye twitched. She had seen plenty of mountaintops in her time. This one was no different. "Yup. Tons of dirt and rocks and no trees because we're past the tree line already." The lunala folded her wings. "And only clouds below us because it's overcast."

Chuckling, Shaymin leapt up a few more spires. "Look, Moonbat Dudette, it's boring if I go right wherever Baha Blast tells me to. Terrible job. Nothing about the day to be grateful for. Y'feel me?"

Chiron did not feel him. She silently hovered up the side of the mountain, keeping her wings wrapped over her torso. "You still haven't answered my question."

Shaymin rolled his eyes. "A'ight. Chillax. I'm fetching a little star piece that fell from the sky."

"A star piece?" Chiron quirked a brow.

"Baha Blast thinks it's too small to be a meteorite." Shaymin hopped up two more rocky outcroppings. And there was something glistening several meters above him. "So, I'm here to snag it. A classic Shaymin mountain climbing adventure!"

He resumed leaping and gliding over rocky spires until he reached the twinkling part of the mountaintop.

Shaking her head, Chiron followed. The lunala still wasn't sure what Shaymin meant. "So, you think dawdling on an assignment is a good thing? What if there was something actually dangerous?"

"Then Baha Blast would send another Sage." Shaymin lazily waved a foreleg. "I'm not the action dude. I'm the adventure dude."

Chiron wondered if it was truly worth pressing Shaymin on that point. "I think... we're going to have to agree to disagree," she lazily gestured to him with her right wing, "on whatever you call this."

Shaymin poked around where the light was. His forepaws glowed green. He dug into the rock with them. "Heh. Gratitude is all about taking in what life has to offer. Everyone wants to, nrrgh, worry about the future and stuff." The light grew brighter. Shaymin scooped something with a forepaw. "But how can you look to the future if you don't appreciate what the present has to offer?"

He turned around, clutching some sort of shiny fragment in his mouth. "Gawt duh staw peas!"

The lunala mulled over Shaymin's words. Echoes of conversations with a lucario. togekiss, or roserade played back in her head. Always emphasizing working hard now for a better tomorrow.

Maybe he has a point?

Shaymin managed to glide down to a patch of rocks near her. He'd placed the glistening shard in his small bag. "Ready to head back?"

Chiron nodded slowly. "I'm assuming you want to take the scenic route."

"Heh. Fast learner."

Winking, Shaymin leaped from his perch, gliding along the mountain trail. Chuckling, Chiron hovered after him.

Maybe it wasn't a total waste of a day after all.

XxX​

Roaring, Necrozma staggered back through the gemstone cavern. Shadows swirled around his humanoid form. He threw his crystalline hands over his head. Necrozma froze the moment his crystal tendrils brushed against the cavern wall.

He knew this feeling well by now. It hadn't bothered him the first time. Or even the second. Now, though, he knew something was wrong.

Someone was taking his power from him. Necrozma doubted it was the rebellious spirit. No way it could keep its feeble form together anymore.

Which just left the one he'd sensed traces of amidst the planetary rubble. The one Mewtwo stopped him from getting to.

Necrozma's tendrils scraped against the gemstones in the rock wall.

"Chiron," he hissed. "That power is mine. And I will reclaim it."

It didn't matter what Necrozma had to do. This was the only way forward. Might made right.

He slowly started forward. Just a bit more rest... and he'd be able to open his next portal. Then Necrozma could give Earth another visit.

XxX

~Il Paradigma, No. XVI: Halvus, the Tower~
A mighty fragment that forged fearsome strongholds and weapons to keep the peace within the Benefactor. His work was always effective. A great spike in his presence and power followed Matriarch's disappearance. But as that upheaval subsided, so too did his presence within the Benefactor. Paradox's work reduced the need for his powers over time. His behavior changed, favoring whatever yielded the best result with the least effort.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
In demonology, Halphas (sometimes listed as "Malthus") is an earl of the underworld within the Ars Goetia and Lesser Key of Solomon. He is typically depicted as a stock dove with a hoarse voice. Amongst his powers, Halphas can create weapons and ammunition to stock towers with.

The Tower is the sixteenth of the major arcana. In the upright position, it symbolizes distress, indignance, calamity, deception, and ruin. In the reversed position, it symbolizes abstinence, carelessness, apathy, and distraction.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 85: Distant Tails​

OS Discrepancy Petition #94862048
PETITIONER: [Redacted]

CATEGORY: Other
SUBCATEGORY: Not Applicable
COMMENT: Look, I don't know which category this goes under. Just read the description!
DIMENSION: POV-2020
LOCATION: Not Applicable

DOES THIS PERTAIN TO SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS (Y/N)?
Yes

HOW MANY INDIVIDUALS ARE INVOLVED?
One

WHAT AURAL STATUSES APPLY TO THE INDIVIDUAL(S)?
Unsure/decline to answer

ARE YOU SEEKING TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION?
Yes

PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DISCREPANCY. INCLUDE REASONS FOR SEEKING TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION IF YOU ANSWERED "YES" TO THE ABOVE.
I was going to a group session and there was a new member. A necrozma with an aura of mostly shadows augmented by a secondary light source. He called himself "Bahamut" and referred to a few details we found while investigating POV-2020. I didn't want to pry as to the exact circumstances of why he was in this group, but I'm thinking he's some sort of copy.

Whether he's a copy or the real deal doesn't matter, though. Someone was somehow able to get something out of POV-2020 and I'm betting it's after the dimension was sealed off given some of the stuff this guy was saying. And I shouldn't have to tell you guys why that's bad. The quarantine's coming undone! We need, like, a bunch of people on this ASAP!

PETITION STATUS: Closed. Not eligible for appeal.
REVIEWER RESPONSE: We are already aware of the situation. Senior Overseers checked Ginnungagap and found no vulnerabilities in the seal.
ADDENDUM: The petitioner has been placed under probation for trying to circumvent this case's final status by repeatedly refiling this petition as new discrepancies.
ADDENDUM #2: One millicycle following the above addendum, minute vulnerabilities were discovered on POV-2020's seal. The petitioner is off probation. See Incident Report POV-2020-10 or personnel file "Void Bahamut" for more details.
ADDENDUM #3: Personnel file "Void Bahamut" was renamed to "Tama" following the subject's requested name change.

XxX​

The stadium's torn up ground shook every few seconds. A result of the giant robot continuing to stomp around outside. Gene kept his eyes fixed on the meowth head, weighing his options.

Yuna had gone off to get the kid and seal the anomaly. That meant everyone would return home soon, right? He couldn't let those Rockets walk off with scores of pokémon. Yet that metal hull looked quite sturdy. And if Gene didn't aim his attacks precisely, he could injure the captured pokémon or break captured poké balls.

"Jade. You still have eyes in the sky?" Gene asked. He wasn't trying to sense the salugia's aura. "Robot still causing problems for people?"

"I don't think so?" Jade replied. She's flown somewhere outside the stadium. "It's walking around a plaza in front of the stadium. No one's there. Maybe they're taking a victory lap?"

Gene's yellow-tipped tail lashed back and forth in irritation. He drifted closer to the ground. Quetzal paced nervously between Ifrit and Shiva's unconscious forms. The orange zapdos locked eyes with Gene.

"They'll wake up, right?" Quetzal glanced at the birds. "They're breathing, so they have to be okay. Just because they didn't turn back to normal doesn't mean there's a problem." He stuck a bulky leg up. "I didn't turn back to normal."

"You mean back to electric and flying?"

Quetzal shot the snickering toxtricity behind him a dirty look. He turned back to Gene. "You have to know something about this, don't you?" His feathers puffed out. "What about the buzzwole? He got corrupted by a fighting-type core."

"And I seem to recall it took a few days before he woke up," Nikki countered. Tiny sparks jumped off her mohawk. "Meanwhile, the kid's coming to." She jerked her head in the direction of the young trainer who'd been on Shiva's back earlier. His red and white pokébase cap was torn, as was his blue vest and the white shirt underneath.

Gene hastily Phantom Warped over, practically flinging Nikki aside with a burst of levitation.

"The he— hrrrmmmph!"

A quick bit of ESP silenced Nikki. The kid was bound to freak, but better for an actual psychic like Gene to talk with him. Try and smooth stuff over.

As long as that robot doesn't fly the coop.

The boy's eyes opened. "What?" He blinked slowly. "Ugh. So tired." He slowly sat up, running a hand through his black hair. "Pikachu? Did we make it to..."

He met Gene's gaze and his voice trailed off. The shadowy mewtwo opted for telepathy. "Hello there. I need you to remain calm. You've been in an accident."

Gene expected panicked screams, but instead got a tilt of the boy's head. "Mewtwo?" he said, raising a brow. "What happened to you? Your color's all weird." He eyed the Malice Crystal. "And that doesn't look healthy!" His concerned expression intensified. "And what about all the pokémon you said you're protecting?"

Oh, wonderful. This dimension had a mewtwo. Gene decided against grappling with those implications. But he didn't feel as remorseful about ripping the proverbial bandage off.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not the mewtwo you know. Name's Gene. Here from another universe. Can I get a name?"

"Yeah." The boy slowly got to his feet. "The name's Ash Ketchum. From—" He reached up to adjust his hat only to cut himself off. His expression darkened as his fingers grazed the torn fabric. "Pallet Town, I guess."

"You guess?" Now it was Gene's turn to raise a brow.

Ash tipped the brim of his cap down so it obscured his face. "Something happened. My friends and family... turned against me. Took all of my pokémon away, saying I didn't deserve them. Only one who stood by me was Pikachu." He lifted his cap brim. "Ah! Pikachu!" Ash cupped his hands over his mouth. "Piiikachuuuuu!"

"Relax, he's fine."

Gene's Malice Crystal sparked as Nikki walked up, carrying Pikachu by the tail. "Out cold. But fine," she said.

"Oh no!" Ash ran right past Gene. "Pikachu, what happened to you?"

"Brainwashed. Same as you." Nikki made a cuckoo sign. Gene immediately glared at her and pulled Pikachu away with a telekinetic yank.

"Here." Gene handed Pikachu over to Ash, who cradled him in his arms. "You seem remarkably calm for someone who just saw a pokémon talking like a human." He paused. "And casually claim you were brainwashed."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Ash shuddered. "And I know a talking meowth."

"Right. Team Rocket." Gene resisted the urge to turn around and look for the robot.

"Wait, they're here?" Ash almost took on a fighting stance before remembering he was holding Pikachu. "Don't tell me they're up to something! I—" He stopped and glanced down at Pikachu. "—don't have a way to stop them." His shoulders sagged.

Gene held up a hand. "One step at a time, kid. Let's go back to Pallet for a second. What do you actually remember?"

Ash frowned and looked away. The shadowy mewtwo rolled his eyes. "We can do this the easy way or the 'powerful psychic sifts through my thoughts' way. I'm pretty sure you'd prefer the former."

There was an awkward silence. Then Ash stepped back. "That's more like Mewtwo," he mumbled. He fixed his gaze on Pikachu. "I don't want to remember it. They were all just... so angry with me. And I don't even understand why! Calling me an idiot and a fool and stuff."

Tail twitching, Gene nodded slowly. "And did anything else seem off about them. Like, say, facial expressions?"

Ash's face scrunched up in thought. "Uhh, I don't really know." He lightly kicked at the dirt under his sneakers. "All that stuff they said piled up so quickly I just shut down. I felt so empty." Ash then held up Pikachu. "Pikachu shocked them all and managed to get me away. And it felt like... like he knew what would be able to help me. So, I followed him." He looked around. "And now I'm here."

It was hardly concrete. But from that alone, Gene had a sneaking suspicion that the mysterious voice that warned Yuna about the kid being in the vault in the first place was behind this.

"Okay." Gene clasped his hands together in front of his head. "So, like, I get you think all your friends and family hate you or whatever. But there are definitely people who care about you." Now the shadowy mewtwo allowed himself to turn around. "Those Team Rocket doofuses were worried about you. They agreed to work together with my team so we could rescue you."

Ash's eyes widened. "They did what?!"

"Oi, pick up the pace!"

Gene glanced at Nikki, whose legs and waist were fading away. The three birds were also mostly gone.

****. "Okay, look." Giving up on telepathy, Gene floated into the air. "I don't have time to give you a 'ra ra sis boom ba' pep talk, kid. You got hurt. Two options for that." Gene raised one finger. "You can let it drag you down and become some depressed loner no one actually wants to be around." He then punched his right hand with his left. "Or you can 'fight' like hell and get to the bottom of it.

"It's up to you." Gene turned around. His legs were disappearing. "As for me... I've got a 'partnership' to break."

The shadowy mewtwo charged through the air. To his relief, the robot was still there... but it was heading into the water.

One shot. He had to make it count.

"We got a buncha pokémon! We got a buncha pokémon!"

... Wait. Why did Gene have to shoot? What if he just... ripped whatever was holding the captured pokémon out of the damn machine?

But would that work?

His waist was fading. Gene was out of time. He thrust his arms in front of him, concentrating on his ESP as much as he could.

"We got a buncha pok—"

"EEP! Jessie! The hull!" James screamed.

Gene didn't care that those idiots were still using their megaphones. Something heavy tugged against his psionic sense.

"Rrrrgh. Our deal's... off!"

He mentally yanked with all his might. The robot's back shattered as a stack of metal cages came flying out, landing in the grass by the riverbed.

Team Rocket's microphones amplified their screams as the giant puncture in the hull caused sparks and explosive bursts to race all along the meowth robot.

Right before Gene faded out of the dimension completely, the head exploded. The Rockets and their wobbuffet careened through the air. Gene somehow managed to hear one final cry from them.

"We're blasting off agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain!"

XxX​

"Please stand by for a message from Grand Emperor Paradox!"

Noctum awoke to an obnoxiously cheerful news bulletin music blaring out of the speakers surrounding Cyril's tower of computer monitors. Someone laid him down atop a large crate, giving him a perfect view of the top left computer monitor. It showed the Eterna Empire sigil before quickly cutting to footage of where Noctum and the others had just been.

Indigo Plateau was a mess of torn up ground and rubble from the building, but a combination of assorted ground-type 'mons and Eternatus Troopers were working quite quickly to clean things up.

Everything came rushing back at once. The Trooper assault, with the king's forced transformation into Halvus. The devastating Dyna Depletion attacks. Noctum throwing himself into one. The strange visions and that searing pain from his Malice Crystal...

Noctum glanced at his belly. It was still blue. His wings were still jagged and his tail flame was a starcloud like Cyril's mane and Leo's pelt.

Why? The mega charizard kept hearing that one phrase over and over in his head.

Lustrous heart. Lustrous. Lustrous...

"As some of you are not doubt aware," Paradox began, snapping Noctum's attention back to the monitor, "another one of those dreadful rifts opened up on Earth's beloved Indigo Plateau."

The deoxys then walked in front of the footage. Noctum's starcloud mouth flames rippled. "W-Wait, he's there?!"

From his spot beside the monitors, Cyril rolled his eyes. "It's a greenscreen, dumbass."

Seifer's prosthetic horn poked his right hip. "Ow!" The cosmic zoroark's black fur flickered red. "What?"

"They don't have greenscreens back in Aeon," Noctum mumbled, looking down dejectedly.

"Thanks to the strong work of my Eternatus Troopers and support from Paradigm Lieutenant Halvus, the rift has been successfully dealt with!" Paradox declared, tentacles coiling into arms as he applauded footage of the hulking duraludon they had to battle. He then faded out so the footage could zoom in on the building.

"It's already halfway rebuilt?!" Noctum's jaw slackened. "What kind of devilry is this?"

He was immediately shushed by Cyril and a few skorps seated behind some of the keyboards.

"Unfortunately, there was some collateral property damage during the process," Paradox continued. "But not to worry. As you can see, repairs are well underway. The Indigo League should be good as new by tomorrow."

The deoxys reappeared on screen. "It's exactly as I told you all. This whole silly little rift situation is entirely under control. Thanks to me, your beloved grand emperor!" Paradox slowly bowed. "That will be all for now. Have a pleasant day."

A new male voice followed the end of Paradox's bulletin. "We now return you to a new episode of All My Stakataka."

Two of the skorps clapped their mutant incineroar hands together excitedly, only for their moods to deflate when Cyril pressed a button and shut the monitor off.

Sighing, he ran yellow claws through his starcloud mane. "Well, that's just peachy." He lazily walked across the hanger floor.

Noctum slowly sat up. "What do you mean?"

"He means the emperor took our hard work and spun it to make himself look like the hero," Valkyrie spat. The garchomp sat on a metal crate to Noctum's left, watching as a few helioptile and croconaw tended to some of the Aeon soldiers injured fighting Halvus.

"Oh." Noctum tapped his claws together nervously. "Can't we, um, send our own message with the truth?" He looked expectantly at Cyril. "Like when you hacked the blimps in Eterna City!"

Cyril froze. He scratched his right ear. "Dude, the emperor had video footage to back it up. And we bailed before the rift vanished, remember?"

"What about a big, fancy illusion?" Noctum offered. Surely, there was something they could do to compete with this evil greenscreen.

The cosmic zoroark pinched his brow. "Ugh. No." He held up his right hand, which disappeared. "Just because I can illusion enough of an invisibility dome to hide a few of us doesn't mean I can conjure up some elaborate scene to make people think Paradox used a deep fake." Cyril dispelled the illusion around his hand. "I'm not that strong. I can just... actually fight like a pokémon now."

Noctum's shoulders sagged. "So, what, we stand around and take our licks?" He might've personally had more concerning things to worry about, but he welcomed the distraction. Noctum looked around the hangar. "I can't be the only one who thinks that sucks, right?"

"Tch. Amateur."

The mega charizard's cosmic tail flame shrank. Wincing, Noctum glanced at Valkyrie. "What now?"

"So we can't compete with his propaganda machine." Valkyrie waved dismissively. Curiously, she continued staring at the floor. "Whatever. Let the emperor think he's all big and successful. We're still dismantling the Paradigm. This keeps us under the radar."

Noctum supposed that was true. But weren't they also trying to expand their ranks? Wouldn't it help if they could show people in the empire that their leader might be vulnerable?

Metallic hoofbeats interrupted Noctum's train of thought. Seifer stopped beside him. "I think... talking strategy ought to wait until everyone's together." He glanced over his shoulder. "And, perhaps, rested up."

"Ah!" Noctum's tail flame expanded. "The king and queen!" He tried to drop from his perch, but a wave of vertigo stopped him. Noctum braced himself against the edge of the crate. "Where did—"

"Your queen took your king off to a private room the moment we returned." Seifer pointed to the hanger's exit with a forehoof. "Baraz showed up to help them along, too."

"And Yuna and the others aren't back yet," Cyril added, tapping a foot impatiently.

"Oh," Noctum mumbled. So that was what Seifer meant when he suggested waiting.

"Huh. Speak of the devil."

Noctum hastily turned left at Valkyrie's comment. An array of blue lights peppered the area in front of the hangar's large ship door. Valkyrie abruptly hopped off her seat, silently walking toward Noctum's crate.

"We're back, bitches!"

Nikki was first to step out of the light, stretching her arms up. "A bit of an annoyance, but nothing we couldn't—"

"Commander!"

An orange blur whizzed over to the keldeo, who whinnied in surprise when he saw two unconscious birds on Quetzal's back. Noctum didn't recognize them.

Seifer's prosthetic horn flickered. "Wait, Quetzal, are these who I think they are?"

"Ifrit and Shiva, sir." Quetzal adjusted them on his back. "They were corrupted and turned into Phantoms."

"They're actually Whispers!" Gene and Nikki heckled simultaneously.

"Ugh, whatever!" Quetzal was practically trotting in place. "We have to get them somewhere to rest." He looked around at some of the dragons. "Somewhere, uh, better than here?"

Cyril walked over, scratching his ear. "Just head into the hall and take a couple of rights. You'll find a special infirmary."

"Thanks!" The orange zapdos zipped away. Cyril's cosmic hair rippled from the wind Quetzal's momentum kicked up. He fiddled with locks of hair.

"All right. Anything else?"

"Wait, where'd Mom and Dad go?"

Noctum turned left. Had Yuna's voice gotten a bit deeper?

A dragapult floated beside a larger Leo. But her tail. And that weird gem in her chest...

Noctum's eyes widened. Why was that gem... familiar?

"P-Princess?"

"What?" Yuna raised a brow, then looked down at her torso. "Oh, right. Yeah, this happened."

"All that and spades, apparently." Nikki clapped Yuna's back.

She squeaked, then frowned at the toxtricity. "Seriously?"

"You're gonna complain about a congratulatory back pat?" Nikki snickered. "Guess you've got thin skin." She paused. "Or no skin."

Yuna rolled her eyes. Noctum wasn't waiting any longer. Despite the vertigo, he was at the dragapult's side in an instant. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?" He looked her over. This nagging familiarity brought back everything that happened to him. "Should I get your mother?"

"I should be asking you that." Yuna scrutinized his appearance. She had the same concerned expression as him. God, his head was hurting. Noctum took it as a sign to give her a bit of space.

"Look, we had to deal with a couple of the Whispers," Yuna slowly continued. "And I evolved. We got the plates." She gestured to Leo, who stuck a foreleg and hind leg out. Some sort of pose, Noctum figured. "There were two this time, though. And a Needle, to boot."

"Wait, what?" Gene decided to sit on the same stack of crates Valkyrie used before. "Two plates and a Needle?"

"Yeeeessss?" Yuna's tail rippled. "Didn't I just say that?"

"Yeah, yeah." Gene's tail twitched in irritation. He crossed his right leg over his left, then swapped. "Yo, Kora!"

"Hmm?" Koraidon turned around from the far corner of the room, where he was gathering up monks.

"Got an explanation for this?" Gene gestured at Yuna.

"Ah, apologies." Koraidon bowed slowly. "I'm making sure everyone got back okay. What was it you said?"

Gene facepalmed. "Oi, Widget. You were on crowd control, too. Gimme a machine headcount."

Widget's eyes flickered blue, then yellow, then purple. "Everyone's present and accounted for. Including Cid." He blinked several times, then shook his head. "Ugh, at least ask politely next time. I don't like having to run that part of my processor anymore."

Yuna cleared her throat. "Alder already offered a possibility. That plates and Needles are getting drawn toward one another. Which might be why things stabilized for a time before." She wiggled her right arm up and down. "They're, like, migrating to each other."

"Aww, snap! That oughta make it tough for Necrozma to— awk!"

In the front corner, Vegna grabbed Griffon's beak and forced it shut. The corviknight disappeared into the dusknoir in a stream of black smoke. "There's more you're not telling us, isn't there, Yunavresca?"

Yuna's gold-ringed tail crinkled up. She did her best to straighten it out. "I, uh—" Yuna fidgeted nervously. "Yeah." She took a shaky breath. "There's a lot to share. And it's, um, best that everyone's here for it."

Nikki crossed her arms. "Define 'everyone.' We got most of the squad here." The toxtricity gestured at the hangar.

"Quetzal," Yuna said. "And Igneous and Scarlett."

"What about Pillow Prince?"

"Shimmer too," Yuna said. "And I don't see Artemis, Baraz, or Alder." She glanced at Noctum. "And no one's told me what happened to Mom and Dad..."

Her eyes darted between his cosmic tail flame and the ones at the sides of his mouth. "... Or you, apparently. Your Malice Crystal is gone. And you're mega?"

"Think he absorbed it."

Noctum tensed at a scaly arm on his right shoulder. Valkyrie had gotten the jump on him again.

"Calcifer was hit by some strange blast," the garchomp explained. "It corrupted him like other Paradigm daemons we've seen. So, we had to fight him." She glanced at Noctum. "Your butler buddy... saved me from a blast that could've torn me to shreds."

He blinked in surprise. So, she was acknowledging it? Noctum figured she was too prideful. Though it sounds like it's bugging her...

"We were able to beat the daemon, but your father's unconscious." Noctum scanned the hangar and noticed Biff off to the right... lying on his back, bench pressing one of the metal crates. And a few hakamo-o sitting on top of it. "It might be like Buzzwole. He'll need time before he wakes up."

Noctum offered her a nervous smile. It must have been good enough, since Yuna's worried expression faded slightly.

"All right." The dragapult rubbed her ectoplasmic temples. "Let's get everyone else here. Then we can talk."

She looked around the room and gulped. "We can... talk."

Noctum went to drape a wing over her, but stopped. Yuna was almost double his size now. The gesture looked silly. And Yuna knew that, judging by the confused look she gave him.

"I'll, uh, help you gather them up!" Noctum offered, laughing nervously.

"Okay." She glanced at Nikki and Gene. "Keep everyone occupied for a bit, okay."

"Oh, sure." Gene rolled his eyes. "We'll play canasta or something." He waved his right arm dismissively.

With a flap of his wings, Noctum followed Yuna. Lots of things were changing quickly. It left a sinking feeling in his newly-healed gut.

... And what the heck's canasta?!

XxX​

"We're definitely close."

Ninetales' soft, white legs brushed against tall grass as he padded his way forward. The rising sun cast a soothing orange-yellow glow over the Wild Area. The chirps of assorted birds sounded in the distance. But there wasn't much activity in this particular patch of the sprawling plains.

"Mmm. There aren't any pokémon nearby. Suppose people randomly crashing out of the sky would send them running off."

Plodding along beside Ninetales, a pyroar with a gray mane yawned loudly. "Why am I here, exactly?"

Ninetales froze mid-step. "Uhh..."

"They're not a threat." Pyroar paused beside Ninetales to fix his stern gaze on him.

"I know, but I thought some company would be nice!" Ninetales' tails wagged asynchronously.

Pyroar snorted gray fire at his feet. Ninetales jumped back with a yip. "H-Hey, c'mon!"

"I wanted a vacation," Pyroar grumbled, shambling forward. "Deserved one, you ungrateful—"

Flinching, Ninetales quickened his pace. "I'm aware. I was there, too!"

"For all of five minutes."

Another flinch. Ninetales almost tripped over a rock hidden by the tall grass. "Yeah, well that was enough to save your hide for a bit, wasn't it?"

Pyroar's expression only hardened. "Your quarry lies ahead."

"Right." Ninetales shuffled forward, trying to imagine Pyroar training his unamused look elsewhere. It was fine. He was just being his usual self.

"... Had it in da palm of our hands."

"I told you two we should've flown the coop."

"You? Puh-lease! You wanted us ta head for da city and try to snag a bigger haul!"

"WOOOBBBBBAAAFFFEET!"

"Hey! Don't side with them!"

Ninetales chuckled. Yup, definitely who he was looking for. Swishing his hair behind him, the fox hopped through the remainder of the tall grass and popped out on the other side.

"Hello!" he telepathically chirped. And, yep, these three Rockets looked exactly like what he was expecting.

"Aaaaah!" James backed up against a large boulder. "Jessie, make the psychics go away!"

Jessie was on her feet, glaring at James. "That's no psychic-type, you dolt!"

"What's an Alolan ninetales doing all da way over in Galar?" Meowth wondered.

"M-Maybe he wants to join Team Rocket?" James laughed nervously.

Ninetales had to cut in fast, or he'd be stuck listening to their babbling for a while. And he could feel Pyroar's glare on the back of his head.

"Sorry. Not interested," he said. "But I did catch a glimpse of what happened in Wyndon." Ninetales pivoted to his left. "I'm actually after the person who made your, uh, twerp friend disappear."

"Friend?!" Meowth unsheathed his claws. "What an insult! I oughta turn dat pelt into a fancy coat for da boss!"

"You're welcome to try!" Ninetales winked at Meowth, who stumbled over to James. "Except I can't stay all that long. Basically, I'm asking if you guys might be willing to help me out later. With the guy who caused your problems."

The three Rockets looked at one another. And Ninetales got a strong sense they were going to shoot him down, so he quickly tried to save face. "Aaaand I fully intend to make it worth your while! Scout's honor!"

That only made them more skeptical.

"What could a ninetales possibly have to offer us?" Jessie wondered.

At that, Ninetales stuck his forepaw out. Concentrating, he drew on a well of light deep down. He nudged it along his forehead, until it took shape into a familiar Z-Crystal. Ninetales rolled it over to them.

"How's that for starters?"

The Rockets looked down at the crystal, then up at Ninetales. "Dis some kinda magic trick?" Meowth wondered.

Ninetales nudged the crystal closer, gesturing for Meowth to pick it up. Meowth's whiskers twitched the moment he touched the Z-Crystal. There was a tiny spark of gray embers running along his arm.

"You're welcome to use it," Ninetales said. "Or not. Gave one to your twerp buddy, too. Just in case." He winked at them.

That seemed like as good a place as any to leave things off. Ninetales turned to bound back into the tall grass.

"Hey, wait!" James called. "When are you even going to call us? And whatever for?"

Ninetales' ears swiveled in thought. "Oh, that?" He stepped toward the tall grass. "When the time's right... you'll know."

He hopped into the tall grass. The grass fluttered against him as he ran. It didn't take him long to reach Pyroar. "See? Didn't take too long." Ninetales' tails wagged. "And we're good to go."

Pyroar's face remained stern. He crouched down slightly, pressing a forepaw into the dirt. Motes of gray light spread out from his forepaw.

Ninetales braced himself. Within seconds, the tall grass and cool Galarian morning air fell away, replaced by the sharp blues and purples and fierce, rippling winds of Ginnungagap.

Four luminescent gray wings burst from Pyroar's back. Gray crystals tore away at his body until, with a powerful flap of his four wings, the grayscale necrozma that emerged flew off into the depths of the mystery dungeon between worlds.

With a brilliant ripple of golden light, Ninetales, too, shed his body for one that matched his counterpart. His gold light surged through the swirling blues and purples, passing strangely shaped crystal chunks. And rocky islands with barren trees that grew upside down. A few had glass light bulbs sprouting from their branches instead of leaves.

The gold necrozma got a bit ahead and looked back. "C'mon, Bah—"

"Tama."

"Right." Head tendrils shriveling, he continued forward. Ever since he learned about Tama — an anomalous copy of Bahamut another Overseer accidentally created from the real one's empty shell — he tried to spend time with the guy. There was friction, but he had the patience for it.

Though it seemed his hopes that Tama would be more amicable with him following their time apart were unfounded.

"St-still, you could at least, y'know, say something instead of looking so dour."

"What's your plan, Shane?" Tama flapped his gray wings. "I'll look as dour as I want until you give me more than a 'trust me, bro.'"

Shane nearly stopped mid-flight, which would've been bad, since he had to roll right to avoid splatting against a donut-shaped island. Or was it a malasada-shaped one?

"Whoa, whoa. Who told you I had a plan?" Shane's golden tail crinkled. "I have an idea. A train of thought!"

He glanced back at Tama, whose mismatched gray eyes were narrowing. "That's worse."

"I-I'm not good with plans," Shane squeaked. The squeaks echoed through Ginnungagap. Distorted eighth and sixteenth notes spawned on a distant island, then broke apart into clusters of ethereal chatot that flew off in all directions. "There's no guarantee this goes anywhere, but I'm holding out hope." A mix of green and orange spread over his eyes. "I don't need to tell you about the power of hope, do I?"

Tama looked offended at the notion. He flew faster, closing the gap with Shane. "How many citations are you racking up for this? Last I heard, you weren't to meddle with that world anymore."

Shane's golden glow dimmed. "I don't—" He flew faster. "It's not meddling. I'm trying to be proactive. They're working hard on the inside. Only seems right to lend a discrete hand from outside."

"Doubt they see it that way." Tama passed him, snorting. "I think it's something else."

"Like what?" Shane flew faster, then banked left. He passed by several small islands with tiny ripples. Means of entering other worlds.

Tama didn't respond, though. He continued ahead silently. "Where is it, again?"

Shane frowned. This guy was supposed to give straight answers. Why the evasiveness? "A few more down," he said, flying further ahead so he could locate the origin point for his little pocket.

After passing a few more of the small islands, Shane made it to one haphazardly littered with shrubbery. Bushes of vulpix and ninetales tails. Shane felt Tama's disapproval crawling along his ethereal back, but shrugged it off. He approached the small, distorted ripple and pressed an upper wing to it. A golden ring of light spread out, like water rippling after a pebble was dropped in it.

A familiar checkerboard portal formed. Shane turned aside and gestured to it with an upper wing. Tama simply flew past silently. Sighing, Shane followed the gray necrozma inside a dark, circular room.

"Will you give me an answer now?" he wondered, watching Tama curl up in the middle of the room in an almost serpent-like fashion. Tama gazed up. There was no ceiling. Only a seemingly endless sea of stars stretching overhead.

"Fine." Tama folded up his lower wings. "It's attachment."

Shane landed on the ground. He tucked his wings in and concentrated, shrinking down. And down. Tama grew steadily larger as Shane's golden form shrank to a much more... silvally shape. Yet still a mix of light and crystals.

"I was kinda hoping there was more to it," Shane said, golden talons clicking against the crystal floor. He strode toward Tama. Gold light melded with gray.

"There is." Tama slowly slid onto his side. "But I'm tired."

Squawking, Shane almost lost his footing and faceplanted. "S-Seriously?!"

"You pulled me away from my vacation," Tama huffed. He rolled onto his back, crossing one gray crystalline leg over another and resting his head against his upper wings.

It wasn't funny. And much as Shane wanted to say that, that would just play into Tama's hands. Wings. Whatever.

"Should I get you a beach towel? Maybe one of those drinks with the funny umbrellas?"

"That'd be a start," Tama scoffed.

"Please." Shane rolled his rainbow eyes. "We both know you don't eat or drink."

"You shouldn't, either." Tama tapped a lower wing against one of his chest spikes. Each clink echoed through the room. "Surely you've heard about your reputation, no?"

Shane's head crest shrank a bit. "Maybe?"

"The almighty idiot." Tama held up his other lower wing... and popped it from its joint. "Who always seems to break things." The gray necrozma's wing reattached on its own. "Before fixing them in a way more senior Overseers would never consider."

He shook his head. "The one who sees the trees but not the forest. The god who thinks like a mortal. Who, despite it being a shrinking fraction of his whole life, still keeps the memories of his days in Horizon freshest in his mind."

Tama slowly rolled onto his side again. "An immense amount of power... yet always reluctant to use it."

There was some slight resentment behind Tama's words. Shane pawed nervously at the ground. "Well, yeah. I mean... y'know... 'with great power comes great responsibility' and all that."

Tama's gray eyes swirled with disapproval. "Ah, yes, your favorite line you ripped from some comic."

"Cuz it's a good line." Shane laughed nervously. His gaze fell to a jagged reflection in one of the crystal walls. "Where are you going with this?"

"You want to fix this because you still haven't let go." Tama practically slithered across the ground, curling around the smaller silvcrozma. "You see POV-2020 as a second chance of sorts. To fix lingering shadows of regret." Bits of dark shadows bubbled within his gray body. "Small, but enough for someone who zeroes in on the little things."

Shane's cheek bolts turned slowly in his sockets. Was that really it? Or was Tama looking for the most negative reason? "Maybe I just want to help them so a lot of people don't get hurt."

Yeah, that sounded right. Shane straightened up a bit. "It's not about me. And, like, they're still the ones at the front of this. If I can help them from the sidelines, then that's good enough."

He blinked slowly. "... I think. Never did learn sports metaphors."

Tama's grayscale eyes stitched themselves into vaguely humanoid proportions so he could roll them. "If you insist." He uncurled from around Shane and began to float away.

"Wait, you're already leaving?"

"I want to find that beach again."

Shane flinched. "Right." His cheek bolts flickered like dying light bulbs. "You're not, y'know, going to tell anyone about this, are you?"

Tama stared at the exit. "... Against my better judgment."

"Good. I can work with that."

"Fine." Tama held an upper wing up. Gray light rippled. Another wormhole appeared. Ginnungagap's blue and purple swirls peeked in from the other side. Tama glanced back at Shane. "I will say one thing, though."

The silvcrozma tilted his golden head. "And that is?"

"You're off the mark on one key assumption."

Tama was about to fly through the portal, but Shane couldn't leave it at that. "Wait! What's that supposed to mean?"

The question hung in the air for several seconds. Tama practically curled an upper wing against the wormhole's outer ring like it was a railing. He sighed.

"Bahamut and I are not versions of the friend you couldn't save. We never were." Tama shook his head.

"As loathe as I am to admit it... we're alternate versions of you."

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 86: Past Revelations​

After considerable effort, I've finished my preliminary analysis of the Space Core artifact I discovered on my most recent expedition up Mount Coronet. The results are simply astounding!

According to my calculations, the space core has a near-bottomless supply of energy at its disposal. Initial testing suggests this energy is capable of warping space and time around it. The display brought to mind stories from Celestic Town dealing with Dialga and Palkia. At first, I was tempted to dismiss the fact that the Space Core matches depictions of the Original One's torso as a coincidence, but now I'm certain there's more to it.

It's still too early to draw any concrete conclusions, but I believe this is exactly what I've been looking for. With the Space Core's power, I can build a device that will solve every remaining mystery of our world. I can bring humans and pokémon closer together and guide us all toward a shining future where dreams come true.

As such, I've dubbed these energy reserves the "Dreamweaver." There are some other signals I must follow up on, so expect additional reports.

XxX​

Yuna found herself waiting longer than intended to spill the beans. Just when it seemed like everyone invited would gather, Gene floated the idea of taking it somewhere less cramped. That way there was at least some extra time for people to rest. So, the dragapult had to wait until Guzzie closed the restaurant.

... It was an annoying wait. One made worse by Reshiram continually prodding at her mind, as she expected. Fortunately, Yuna had a much easier time keeping him out of her subconscious than she did before.

Eventually, the restaurant shuttered for the night. People trickled in. Gene levitated aside some tables and chairs to give Yuna a "spot of prime real estate" to talk.

And talk she did. Yuna described as much as she could think of. Zodiark and the Butterfree Effect. Getting blasted into that river in Wyndon. The strange temple-like place she woke up in. And, of course, what Yaldabaoth had to say about all of this.

If the silence that followed was anything to go by, Yuna perhaps went a bit overboard with the information dump. The silence unnerved her enough that when a loud thud and the scratching of metal against metal came from the other side of the room, Yuna jolted. Her tail shriveled and she reflexively tucked her arms over her new core.

"Sorry." Guzzie held his four pincered arms up, along with his tail. "Guzzie was making snacks. Didn't realize you moved everything around." He gently placed four trays down by a table of skorps, sliggoo, and baxcalibur.

"Here. Meat and veggie-lover nachos." The guzzlord slowly backed away until he reached the kitchen doors. They creaked shut behind him.

Fortunately, that awkward performance was enough to get someone talking.

"Lemme get this straight," Nikki said, hand raised as she lounged on two chairs, squishing a skorp who tried to claim the seat her legs dangled off as his own. "So this place." The toxtricity pointed at the floor. "The Eterna Empire or whatever... it's the real world?"

Yuna nodded.

"And where we live," Nikki pointed to herself, then Yuna, then waved behind her, "is some kind of opposite land?"

"That's... pretty much how I interpreted reverse world," Yuna responded, tapping her claws together.

Nikki frowned. "So, Eternatus schlorping up worlds is actually an attempt at restoring balance to the universe?"

"I think so."

"But Bahamut doesn't like that." Nikki swung her legs off the other chair. The skorp on the chair's back hopped off it before it fell back on the floor. "And wants to destroy it?"

"Uhh..." Yuna rubbed her shoulder.

"Even though doing so would destroy the universe because of that dumb balance garbage?"

After a bit of hesitation, Yuna circled back to the first part of the toxtricity's claim. "It's more like he was the reverse world's guardian and was violently protective of it."

"To-may-to, to-mah-to." Nikki waved Yuna off, crossing one leg over another. "Cuz it sounds like the only reason that happened is he took your power. Because you're actually, like, some big shadow daemon thingy that controls the reverse world."

"I suppose that's one way of putting it." Yuna slowly landed on a chair, draping her arms and torso over the back of it.

"And your inner daemon actually knew the thing that's causing all the anomalies." Nikki's mohawk frazzled. "Then chased it across worlds until you clashed in some place with only pokémon. The end result being..." Her voice trailed off and she gestured all around her. A small neon hamburger bolted to one of the pillars flickered before the bulbs died and it went dark. "... All this ****."

There was only one thing missing. "I think there's a chance some of us lived in that world before." Yuna squeezed the back of the chair. "And because we wanted to stop Zodiark so badly, we ended up here with new lives."

"Wow!" Griffon fluttered his metal wings from atop an arcade cabinet behind Nikki's table. "I'm impressed you followed it all."

"Kiss my ass, emo skarmory!" Nikki's mohawk erupted with sparks. "I know how to pay attention to important ****!" She leaned forward in her chair, scowling. "Which is why something about this doesn't make sense."

The dragonair curled on the pink cushion next to her coiled up tight. "And that is?" Scarlett wondered.

"Why now?"

Silence. Perhaps Nikki was letting it hang in the air. Or collecting her thoughts further.

Sure enough, the toxtricity continued, "The universe has been around plenty long." She pointed across the room, where Gene leaned against the bar and Cyril sat at a barstool quietly sipping some luminescent blue beverage. "Long enough for these two to have outlived us several times over." Nikki crossed her arms and squinted. "So, why is this all happening now? If there's reincarnation or whatever... why didn't anyone come back at the beginning?"

Nikki stood up and looked around the room. "I can't be the only one thinking this, right? Why let all this **** build up when someone could've offed Zodiark early?"

Some murmurs followed, mainly from assorted skorps and dragons. But golden embers drew Yuna's attention back toward the arcade cabinet. Vegna had Bahamut's journal out, flipping through pages. From his right shoulder, Talonflame leaned his beak toward the book every so often.

"I see the past, present, and future existing all at once before me." Vegna dropped the book on the table in front of him. The thwap made Jade's tail flaps curl. Bits of pink smoke rose from her tail.

"Ah-ha. Sorry." The salugia laughed nervously.

Ignoring her, Vegna placed his right index finger squarely on the center of whatever page he'd opened to.

"Zodiark is mentioned in the journal," he declared.

Heads quickly turned toward the back left corner of the restaurant. "That so?" Jaeger scratched his right ear. "Y' thinking that we're missing something, then?"

"Indeed." Vegna put a stronger emphasis on that last syllable. He tapped the tome repeatedly with his index finger. "It's written here. The Matriarch program was part of Eternatus' core. It sounds as though Matriarch was sealing off Zodiark." The dusknoir flipped a page. "Bahamut describes a moment where he saw a human with a hairstyle like Leo's, who quickly shattered into countless pieces that vanished on the spot."

Widget shifted in place nervously on his cushion in the center of the room. His starcloud swirled around his neck. "Does that mean Leo and his plates are actually the pieces of Zodiark?"

Yuna picked her head up a bit. Zodiark had mentioned wanting to take the plates for themselves back in Wyndon. But how could they do that if they were only a projection? Maybe from bonding with the anomaly long enough?

"I think it's the opposite, actually." Alder was quick to raise a wing. A pink glow spread over his white, feathery afro. "Leo represents the rightful creator of this universe. Zodiark sounds more like the one who caused an errant creation process. So, by giving Leo the plates, we keep them away from Zodiark."

A couple of tables over, Igneous cleared his throat. He'd leaned back enough to prop his chair against the table, with only its hind legs on the ground. "And the Red Chain fragments? They could be part of this, too."

"Already ate the ones we had."

Igneous almost fell off his chair trying to turn and locate Leo. Yuna pointed up to where the cosmic arceus stood on the ceiling. Something the dragapult was choosing not to think too hard about.

"Ate them?" Igneous sputtered.

"Absorbed them. Ate them." Leo shrugged. "Sigurd gave me his and I took the one we recharged with the big collider. Makes more sense than leaving them out in the open."

Several people murmured their agreement. Beside Igneous, however, Shimmer kneaded his hooves against his cushion "Is there, um, any way to get them out?" he wondered.

Leo looked down from the ceiling. "Probably. But I don't see a reason to." He squinted. The gems in his wheel flickered. "Unless you're saying you want one. Which is hella sus, b-t-dubs."

Yuna almost sputtered, both at Leo's accusation and the bizarre lingo that came with it. She hadn't taught him any of that. And judging by the looks her mother, Noctum, and a few other dragons gave her, they also wondered what was up.

"Err, no, just a strategy concern." Shimmer's fluffy tails puffed out. There were even more eyes on him than on Leo and Yuna. The ponytales looked ready to bolt from the room.

"He's asking because there's a chance his mother has one of the fragments," Igneous said. Shimmer went wide-eyed. "So, yeah, it is something we ought to know. Because we might need those fragments to counter hers."

Right. That whole business with Isola possibly being some Red Chain-powered body snatcher. Yuna caught Vegna's eye flickering blue with Zekrom's lightning. He recalled the tome with a flick of his wrist and backed up against the arcade machine.

"Tch. That's all well and good." Nikki swung her legs off her chair and stood up. "But I'm still stuck on where I was before."

"Oh, brother." Griffon spread out his wings. "I thought you were good. You need us to say it slower or something, toots?"

Nikki's response was to silently raise an electrified fist. Vegna grabbed the corviknight's outstretched wing. Griffon disappeared into Vegna's body. "Continue, Nicolette."

"Uhh, yeah." Nikki hesitantly lowered her fist. Still creeped out by Vegna, Yuna figured. "So, like, Necrozma. Wants to destroy Eternatus and stuff." The toxtricity jammed her hands into her pockets. "What the hell does pulling Needles have to do with that? He can already cross over inside Eternatus. So, why doesn't he just make a break for the damn core?"

Silence greeted Nikki again. Yuna had to admit it was a good question. One she didn't have a solid answer for. She glanced at Vegna, who was looking out the glass wall toward the arena.

"Necrozma wants to have as much power at his disposal as possible," the dusknoir said. "The Needles represent Sages who hold portions of his light. He wants it back."

"Not to mention... if yanking the Needles severs the connection between Eternatus and the reverse world, he'd want to do that," Sigurd proposed, moving his wheelchair slightly forward from the edge of the bar. "Even if he lost this mysterious Renegade power, he might still have instincts driving him to protect the reverse world."

That was pretty much Yuna's take on it. She nodded at Sigurd who, satisfied, moved his chair back against the side of the bar.

"It's kinda hard to get a read on him," Yuna said. "But he's a Whisper, so I doubt anything he's doing is really going to make sense."

After a few seconds of Nikki squinting at Yuna, she took her hands out of her pockets and flopped back in her chair. "Well, ****." The toxtricity draped her right arm over the back of the chair. "I got nothing else." She slumped over to her left, practically draping herself across the table. The skorp from earlier barely skittered out of the way in time. "Gonna... need to chew on it for a bit."

Gene popped out of a Phantom Warp in the middle of the room. "Might be best for everyone." His yellow-tipped tail lazily drifted back and forth. "We can keep tossing around questions until we're blue in the face." Gene shook his head. "But Princess laid all the cards out as she knows 'em. Everyone oughta call it a night. Capiche?"

Not a single soul objected to the shadowy mewtwo. "Great." He landed atop the mechanical tauros in the middle of the room. "Then you're all dismissed. Good work. Pats on the back. G'night, sleep tight, and all that happy nonsense."

And the resistance's intrepid leader was the first to fly out of the room.

XxX​

After everyone broke away from the restaurant, Yuna expected people to come over and pester her with more questions. When that didn't happen, she settled for returning to her room. Yuna lay on her back. Her cot didn't fit her anymore as a dragapult, forcing her to tuck in her legs and curl her tail up just to fit.

She studied the metal ceiling. Her eyes jumped between dents and small rusted streaks. Anything to pass the time.

"You did the right thing telling them," Reshiram said. His presence tickled the back of Yuna's mind.

It was too much, Yuna responded, though she couldn't imagine how one would explain all of this gradually. Still, didn't make her feel any less guilty. Yuna traced a claw over the cot's rough blanket. If it overwhelmed me, it's bound to have overwhelmed all of them. She tilted her head by the door. Think they're avoiding me?

"I think it's too soon to jump to conclusions," Reshiram said. "Like Gene said. Everyone needs time to process this."

Yuna wondered how much time they'd have. Would new anomalies spring up or did sealing the last one give the resistance another reprieve?

"Just do whaaaaaaaaaat I do. Sleep it off," Cresselia said.

Except it wasn't really time to sleep. Yuna forced Cresselia and Reshiram out of her mind. She rubbed her eyes. There were tiny stars in the corners of her vision. Yuna rubbed again. No good. Was she getting floaters? Baraz dealt with those, but he said that was because he was old. Was the stress aging her?

"... ckie..."

Yuna sat up. She propped her triangular head against the wall. "Someone there?" Yuna called, watching the door.

More stars danced around the edge of her vision. She rubbed her eyes again. And when she opened them, the bare room had hazy silhouettes against an even hazier brown floor. Though blurry, she recognized one: an icy vulpix.

As things grew more solid, Yuna realized Icepix was standing in front of a mirror. She gazed at her reflection, flicking random tails and producing icy mist.

When Icepix sighed, the brown floor and walls came into focus, painting over Yuna's bedroom. Her cot melted into a doorway and her ectoplasmic body shrank down and sprouted blue and black fur.

"Nickie?"

The icepix jolted. Her tails poofed out, sprinkling cold mist that fogged up against the mirror.

"Oh." Nickie shifted nervously. "Hey, Tessa. Sorry, I was... lost in thought, I guess."

Tessa sighed. "I figured." She stepped into the room. The luminous orbs bathed her in dim orange. A couple of months into her guild time and she still wasn't used to these custom nighttime orbs Magearna made for people to use in the evenings.

"That obvious, huh?" Nickie was trying to brush the frost off the mirror with her tails, but that only smudged up the mirror.

"Well, you didn't touch your dinner." Tessa jogged over to some wooden shelves on her left, grabbed an old cloth, and headed to the mirror. "I had a hunch." The riolu wiped the mirror with the cloth.

"Ah." Nickie's ears folded. "Guess I didn't have much of an appetite. Did Nero end up eating my portion?"

"Yeah. Think he slipped into a food coma." Tessa laughed. Nickie joined her, though her laughter was clearly forced.

"What's bothering you?" Tessa tossed the cloth onto the floor. "Is it about what Mom and Dad told us? That stuff about checking the Worldcore to see if you're—"

"What if a faller doesn't want to leave?"

Nickie spoke so quickly Tessa needed a moment to parse the icepix's question. She opened and closed her mouth several times. All Tessa managed was a, "Huh?"

Nickie stepped back, her tails curling. "What if... a faller would rather stay here?"

Tessa stared blankly. Nickie shuffled back further.

"Your paren— I mean, the guildmasters said fallers can be dangerous because they can make dungeons unstable. Or cause dungeons to form."

She rubbed her forelegs together. "So, say the Worldcore decides I'm not supposed to be here. I'd have to go home, right?"

"That's what I've always thought," Tessa said, rubbing the back of her head. "It sure sounds like fallers go back home. The only people who've stayed behind are some heroes the Voice of Life summoned." Her aura feelers crinkled. "At least, that's how it's gone in the stories of the old heroes."

As she rambled, Nickie inched closer to the mirror again. She gazed at her reflection.

"Wait." Tessa gave Nickie space to stand in front of the mirror. The icepix's words were finally sinking in. "You really don't want to go home? E-Even though you remember your life?" Her aura feelers throbbed. "Don't you miss being human?"

Nickie winced. But why? It wasn't that surprising a question, was it?

"Of course there's stuff I miss," Nickie said. She hadn't taken her eyes off her reflection. "I miss television. And video games." Nickie shook her head. "I miss not being covered in a fur coat the whole time. Or smelling way too much stuff. And having hands with freaking thumbs!

"... God, I miss thumbs."

She let out a tired laugh that turned into more of a bark. "Oh, and I could do without this shitty screechy voice, too."

Tessa fidgeted with her paws. "Then why—"

Nickie silently stared at her reflection. She reached a foreleg out and put her forepaw against its reflection on the mirror. "Because, even that stuff couldn't make it feel right."

"Huh?"

Silence followed. Nickie looked between Tessa and her reflection. She hung her head.

"Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

Tessa's aura feelers crinkled. Those glimmers in the corners of Nickie's eyes. Tears?

"Then explain." Tessa was at the icepix's side in an instant. "You're my partner, Nickie." She paused. "I'd... rather not have you leave, either. If I can understand, then maybe—"

"I don't know!"

Nickie shrank back, as if her own cry frightened her. She slid onto her belly. "I'm not sure... how I can explain it to you."

Oh. Well, Tessa didn't want to leave Nickie hanging like this. She sat down opposite Nickie, placing her paws on her crossed legs.

"Try me," the riolu said.

Nickie stared blankly at her. She blinked silently. "I—" Nickie stopped herself, then took a steady breath. "Okay. I'll try."

After a few deep breaths, Nickie said, "It never felt right. My old human body." She kneaded the stone floor with her paws. "Like, uh... your parents are both lucario, right?"

Tessa nodded slowly.

"Okay." Nickie looked a bit less uncertain. "Imagine one of your parents was, I dunno, a blaziken instead." She reached her left forepaw out. "And you hatched a torchic instead of a riolu. But, like, deep down you don't think that's right. You feel like you're supposed to be a riolu, not a torchic."

She looked at Tessa. "What would you do?"

"What would... I do?" Tessa couldn't help parroting the question. It sounded like Nickie was talking about some weird situation where someone's soul felt their body didn't match. In which case, Tessa imagined that would be pretty upsetting. Though it was hard for her to get into that mindset.

"Well, um, I guess I'd... try to change it?"

Nickie smiled somberly. Had Tessa given the right answer, then?

"My human body..." The icepix trailed off. She swallowed hard. "What if I told you that, as a human, I'm a guy?"

Tessa stiffened. What was that supposed to mean? Crazy things happened to fallers that got dragged across worlds, so a gender swap wouldn't be out of the question.

But hang on. With what Nickie was saying...

"You, um, didn't like that, did you?"

Nickie's smile was less somber. "I was trying to change it. Humans have ways to do that where I'm from." She laughed nervously. "It's not as easy as tossing an orb on the ground, though. It takes time. I was working with... some humans who deal with this kind of stuff. And my mom was helping, too. Because I wouldn't have made much progress otherwise."

Tessa couldn't help but raise a brow. This happened enough to humans to where there were jobs about this?

"It was small changes," Nickie continued, brushing a forepaw back and forth on the ground. Back and forth. Back and forth. "At school, mostly." She laughed nervously again. "Wearing different clothes. Having people call me Nickie instead of Nick or Nicholas."

"And that... made you happy?"

"It helped," Nickie said. "At school, anyway. Most folks were understanding." Her fur bristled. "But at home... I couldn't do that stuff. Not around my dad, at least. So, I hid all that stuff. I'd be Nickie at school but Nick around family." She shook her head. "And it was exhausting. But I thought if I could keep it up for a bit longer... I'd be able to make it to the biggest steps. The ones that'd really help me feel better."

Tessa's aura feelers throbbed again. If Nickie was a girl here, then... did that mean she'd made it?

But wait, Nickie's smile had faded. Her ears folded.

"Did something happen?" Tessa scooched closer.

Nickie nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut. Took shaky breaths. "There was this guy." Her tails crinkled. "My neighbor, Shane. We were in a lot of the same classes and we'd been close friends for a long time. But I was drifting apart from him. Especially when I made these changes."

Despite her tension, Nickie smiled. "I was spending a lot of time around our school's theater. With other folks I'd met in drama and music classes. I really liked them... and they helped me out a ton."

Tessa nodded slowly. "And Shane?"

"He, uh... seemed uncomfortable for a lot of that time," Nickie said. Her smile faded again. "When I thought I'd made it to the biggest steps, I ended up telling him. And he... he..."

The icepix hung her head. Tessa reached out toward her, only to freeze when Nickie whispered the rest of her thought.

"... He ratted me out to my dad."

Just the way Nickie said it made Tessa's heart skip a beat. It was bad. She was sure of it. And the riolu didn't want to press Nickie if it would only hurt her.

She scooched closer. "Nickie..."

"Dad had a temper. I always knew that." Nickie shuddered. "But I'd... I'd never seen him so angry." Her fur stood on end. "And that was when he was talking to my mom. He... didn't fly off the handle at me. But he put his foot down. Said that as long as I was part of his family, I had to follow his rules. And that meant stopping everything I was doing."

Tessa was sorely tempted to ask if Nickie left, but her gut told her that was a bad idea. She settled on a gentler, "What happened after that?"

"I had to stop the medicine I'd been on before," Nickie whispered. "And my dad spoke with my school. Made them change the classes I was in." She lay her head on her forelegs. "It just... I felt worse and worse as the days and weeks went on."

"I'm sorry." Tessa didn't know why she blurted that out. She wasn't there. And the riolu was still trying to wrap her head around parts of the explanation. Still, she scooched beside the icepix. Put her paw on Nickie's shoulder.

"That's why I don't want to go back," Nickie whimpered. "Even though there's annoying stuff about being a vulpix." She turned a tearful gaze on Tessa. "Hearing my voice. A-And everyone saying I'm a girl and calling me Nickie. It's..."

Nickie leaned her head into Tessa's belly. "It's what I wanted. For my human self, at least. And just the thought of losing it..."

Tessa stiffened. She didn't take her paw off Nickie's shoulder. "Um, maybe we can talk to the Voice of Life or curry favor with a powerful enough legend? Then we could... send you home with that fixed." If there were good things about being human, then the best thing was to find a middle ground, right?

But Nickie rubbed her face against Tessa's belly. "I think... I'm better off here." The icepix sat back up. "I didn't want to say anything, though. You guys have been great to me. Figured, I dunno, I'd be spitting on your generosity. Make all that investigative work for naught. And not to mention the whole thing about fallers. I'm not looking to put y'all in danger!"

She sighed and shook her head. "I guess... something about how sure and confident you are made me think I have to go back home."

Tessa sat there silently. Judging by the guilty look on Nickie's face, that was all of it.

The riolu let her paw slide down to the floor. "I see."

Nickie flinched. Tessa's aura feelers tensed from the icepix's panic. She had to keep talking quickly before Nickie got the wrong idea.

"I had no idea." Tessa sat up a bit straighter. "It's, uh, kinda relieving to hear?" Her aura feelers curled up. "Which is, uh... dang, there's probably a better way of saying that."

Guilt and elation wrestled in her head while her aura sense told her she was confusing Nickie. "I, uh, know I put on a confident face. But the truth is I get nervous, too." Tessa's shoulders sagged. "About being able to pull off our jobs. Impress the guild." She swallowed hard. "My parents."

"Seriously? They love you."

"Yeah. That's why... I don't want to let them down."

Without even thinking, Tessa leaned her head against Nikki's shoulder. The icepix's fur bristled but she didn't pull away.

"Tessa, what are you—"

"I wish I could be that strong."

"Huh?"

"Sorry." Tessa fidgeted nervously. "It's just... hearing about that stuff from the human world... that was all I could think about. If it were me... I think I'd have given up at some point. But you pressed on. Even through those struggles. That's," she took a steady breath, "stronger than any single Force Palm or Aura Sphere."

"S-Seriously?" Nickie's fur prickled, though there was a hint of eagerness in her voice.

Tessa laughed. "Would you believe me if I said I've been hoping you'd be able to stay?"

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Now it was Nickie's turn to laugh. "You're joshing me, right?"

The riolu finally realized where her head was and lifted it back up. "Isn't Josh a name?" she squeaked.

Oh, great, her aura feelers were throbbing. Giving away her embarrassment. Lovely.

"Yeah. And it also means joking." Nickie laughed louder. "You really want me sticking around?"

Tessa managed to get her feelers under control. "I mean... yeah? You're fun." She smiled at Nickie. "You're funny, too. It's... nice being around you."

Nickie blinked. "There are plenty of folks around here."

"I know." Tessa shifted on the floor. "But you're my partner. And that's something special. At least, it is to me."

Nickie stared blankly at her. "Y'mean 'partner' like 'teammate,' right?" Her tails puffed out. "Cuz that, uh, can mean something a lot different to us humans."

Tessa laughed nervously. Her aura feelers were twitching again. "I know. It's the same for us pokémon." She smiled at the icepix. "Besides, the fact that you did show up here as a girl... maybe we're wrong?"

"Hmm?"

"Maybe you're not a faller. Maybe you were brought here for a reason?"

Silence. Tessa held her breath. Then she heard fwips. Nickie's tails brushing against the floor.

"Well, that's..." Nickie glanced at the mirror, then at Tessa. "Huh. Hadn't thought about that."

She scooted left. Her side brushed against Tessa's. "Maybe we should visit the Worldcore, then."

"And after that?" Tessa wondered, her gaze trailing to the floor. To her paw beside Nickie's.

"I'm not thinking that far ahead yet."

"... Yo."

Yuna nodded slowly. "That's fair, Nickie. Tomorrow's another day." The dragapult tapped her chin. "Maybe we'll look for a low-key job or two to take."

"The hell are you talking about, Princess?"

The icepix brushed her foreleg against her snout, but ended up putting it on Yuna's thigh instead of the floor. "I think that's a great idea. Maybe we can hit the spa after? My fur's getting kinda matted."

"I was thinking the same thing. The room's full of vulpix fur." Yuna laughed and rubbed the icepix's back. "You're my partner for a reason."

"Snap out of it, Princess!"

A harsh electric guitar chord shattered the icepix and revealed Nikki standing in the doorway with one hand resting on her gills.

"GAH!"

Yuna abruptly jerked back, smacking her triangular head against the wall. Ectoplasm rippling, she blinked the stars from her vision.

"N-Nikki? Hi. When did, um, you get here?"

"Couple of minutes ago." The toxtricity kicked the door shut with her leg.

"Can I, um, help you?" Yuna's tail crinkled.

"I dunno." Nikki stared Yuna down. "You gonna lay there looking like a feral deerling in the headlights or you gonna tell me why you're talking about jobs and vulpix fur?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 87: Present Misgivings​

It's disappointing my gut feeling about POV-2020 was right. I'm miffed that my bosses wouldn't believe me. I've been at this a while now. I like to think I've got a good eye for these things.

But I guess I've also jumped the gun too many times for their liking. Maybe there was a better way to go about this than spamming the same report repeatedly.

They've ordered me to keep my nose out of this, of course. But I can't sit still. Whether we all like it or not, I'm involved in this. I was practically the first domino that fell over in this ridiculous conga line.

... Yeah, still not good with metaphors.

XxX​

Yuna's ectoplasm shriveled. The dragapult instinctively grabbed her rough gray blanket and dragged it up past her amber core.

She was mumbling to herself— no, to a memory. And Nikki heard it.

Sure, the whole "reincarnated souls" thing got brought up at the meeting. However, Yuna never went into specifics. She wasn't sure how to broach the subject with Nikki. But it looked like she wouldn't get the chance to think it over.

Reshiram stirred in the back of her head. No doubt encouraging honesty. Yuna kept him at bay. Her gaze remained fixed on Nikki as the toxtricity leaned against the wall opposite Yuna's cot.

"Not a fan of the silent treatment, Princess," she said. Sparks jumped off her mane and fizzled away before hitting the shag carpet on the floor.

"I know." Yuna forced herself to sit up. It was much more awkward with such a bulky tail. She had to phase it through the cot, which practically defeated the bed's purpose in the first place. "I'm having trouble collecting my thoughts."

"Then I'll make it easy." Nikki sounded more tired than upset. "You think I'm one of 'em, don't you?" She shut her eyes and tucked her chin against her chest. "These reincarnated souls or whatever."

Yuna nodded.

Nikki's face scrunched up. Yuna considered saying something, but the toxtricity beat her to the punch.

"Did we know each other? Is that what you were spacing out over?"

"I think so." Yuna blinked, then hastily added, "F-For the first question, really."

That only furrowed Nikki's brow further. "Great. Cool."

Yuna couldn't peg Nikki's tone. And she was avoiding Yuna's gaze. Tapping her right foot on the carpet repeatedly. Even her expression was... muddled. Was she upset? Annoyed? Sad?

"So, who am I talking to?"

"Huh?" Yuna straightened up. What kind of question was that?

"You heard me." Nikki bit her lip. "Are you really Princess? Or Yalwhatever?"

Hadn't Yuna already explained it? She traced her hand around her core. "I'm using Giratina's power. But it's still me. I couldn't... let go like that."

"Then why are you dwelling on this past stuff so much?"

Nikki finally met Yuna's gaze. And the dragapult had nothing for her. She was simply lying in her bed when that memory came to her. Had Giratina foisted it onto her? It couldn't have been random chance...

Yuna had to come up with something. Nikki was still staring her down.

"I dunno... maybe there's something in the past that can help us here?" she mumbled.

"Like what?" Nikki leaned against the wall again. "What was so important from back then it got you hallucinating or whatever?"

So Nikki did want to know. Yuna pushed her covers down and leaned against the wall behind the cot.

She told the toxtricity what she saw. The icepix's confession about being a human. And the circumstances of her human life.

At first, Nikki didn't say anything. Then, to Yuna's surprise, her yellow mohawk shrank. "You've gotta be shitting me," she mumbled, looking like the dragapult had slapped her across the face.

"Um..." Yuna stiffened.

"It's not real." Nikki held up her right hand. "That was just some... mind game someone was playing with you. Zodiark, maybe." Her left hand squeezed her leather jacket pocket. "No way it's real."

"Sounds like denial to me."

Damn it, she'd let Reshiram in. Yuna shoved him out of her mind. "Why do you think that? It'd be a pretty strange dream for me to have."

"It's not real!"

Nikki swung her right arm. Her fist slammed against the metal wall. Hissing, she grabbed her right hand with her left and pressed it against her chest gills. The toxtricity kept mumbling, "Not real."

"Nikki." Yuna inched forward on the bed. Her tail was still mostly phased through it, but the end of it did poke out from under the bed. Yuna quickly realized it looked like she was coaxing Nikki toward her with her tail and hastily pulled it underneath.

"Is something wrong?" Yuna wondered. She recalled what Tessa said to Nickie when the icepix seemed unsure of herself. "You can tell me. I don't... want to see you upset."

After a few seconds of silence, Nikki's loud sigh filled the room. A metallic scraping followed from Nikki's waist spikes and the metal wall. She slid down to a seated position on the floor.

"This doesn't leave the room, okay?"

"Okay." Yuna pushed herself off the wall and leaned over. The dragapult winged it earlier, but was that memory actually important to the present?

"I didn't hatch in Blightsmuth, y'know," Nikki said, wrapping her arms around her legs and leaning forward so her chin was on her knees. "Don't really remember anything before it. Hell, I don't remember being a toxel. Shredder's the one who looked after me and Scarlett when we were growing up."

She glanced at the door, as if she expected the dragonair to open it. But it remained still. And Nikki's mohawk was still missing.

"Then how'd you end up in Blightsmuth?"

"Hospital," Nikki said.

The dragapult raised a brow. "Huh?"

"There used to be a small town near Blightsmuth." Nikki remained still. "More upscale and stuff, but still under Shredder's jurisdiction because it was closer to Blightsmuth than anywhere else."

After a heavy breath, the toxtricity said, "I got left at a hospital there. By my parents."

It took a moment, but Yuna eventually caught on. She gripped the edge of her bed. "Hang on. Then your parents—"

"Citadark," Nikki flatly replied. "Apparently they left me at the hospital with some kinda nasty illness."

Yuna tensed up. "Wait, but I—"

Nikki held up a hand to cut her off. "Not the same thing. I got sick... because my parents forced me to evolve into a toxtricity too young. Way too young."

"Forced?" Yuna didn't think anyone could force a 'mon to evolve.

"They used, like, steroids and pills and stuff," Nikki growled. "And they're what made me sick." She stretched out her legs, then braced her arms at her sides. "What no one's sure of is if I was born male or my parents did something else on top of all the meds. Cuz everything was so out of whack."

Yuna's eyes widened in realization. "Would that—"

"I didn't want to be a guy," Nikki said. "Most folks around Blightsmuth were nice enough about it. But the doctors wouldn't let me use a transfer orb until they get all the hormone stuff under control. It took years."

She shuddered. "Everything felt wrong. And not because I evolved so fast."

Nikki curled her fingers, grabbing and tugging on the carpet's shag threads. "That's why I can't believe what you saw. I won't. I—" She opened her eyes. "That'd mean... the same thing happened to me in two different lives!"

Yuna winced. No wonder Nikki could comfort her after her mother said she was adopted. She'd gone through something even worse!

"I can't—" Sucking in a sharp breath, Nikki curled her legs up again. "I refuse... to believe... it'd happen twice."

Yuna wasn't sure whether to go to Nikki's side or give her space. Tessa went to Nickie's side in her memory, but the icepix's attitude was different than the toxtricity's. This must be why she's always had a chip on her shoulder. Even after we ditched school.

"I'm sorry," was what Yuna went with. She also settled for a middle ground of scooching halfway across the floor. It put her near Nikki, but not right next to her. "I never could've imagined."

"Of course you couldn't." Nikki flicked her left wrist dismissively. "I don't make a habit of telling people. Because it's... in the past."

She tensed up. "Even if... what you say is true... it's the distant past. It doesn't matter. I'm—" Nikki's mohawk slowly crackled to life. "I'm Toxtricity Nikki, damn it! Not some vulpix or a dude or any of that ****!"

Silence. Nikki stretched her legs out again. Her arms flopped to her sides. She stared at her feet.

Yuna's gut told her to inch closer, so she did. Nikki didn't push her away. Yuna scooted closer. Again, Nikki didn't move.

"Are you mad?" the dragapult whispered.

"Yeah."

"Mad at me?"

"Dunno." Nikki glanced at Yuna.

"Would you rather I keep quiet?"

"For a bit."

So, Yuna pulled up to Nikki's side and awkwardly sat with her back against the wall. The room was silent save for the gentle hum of the long, slender lights on the ceiling. They stared at Yuna's cot with its crumpled gray blanket and worn white bedsheet torn at its edges.

Then Nikki lifted her right arm... and gently strummed her chest gills. The notes sounded... softer than what Yuna was used to. Almost like a different instrument. She wasn't sure whether to ask about it.

After several seconds, however, Yuna's curiosity got the better of her. "What is this?"

"Piano tune Scarlett and I first heard in some trashy movie we liked," Nikki said. She continued to strum away, looking at the bed. "'Claire de Lunatone.' It's a... gentle melody. Not my style. But Scarlett had a record of it. She'd play it when I was upset."

Yuna offered Nikki a small smile. Knocks at the door stopped the dragapult from saying anything, however. She glanced at Nikki, who stopped strumming.

"It's your room." The toxtricity put her hands on the floor by her hips. "Not gonna stop you from answering it."

"It's open," Yuna called. The door creaked open and a familiar dragonair poked her head in.

"Hey. Thought I heard Claire de Lunatone in here," Scarlett said. "Everything okay?"

"Not really," was Nikki's response. "But it is what it is."

Frowning, Scarlett slithered inside. "Having trouble with all of this? I know my head's spinning."

"I wasn't sure how much to say," Yuna mumbled. She tried to cover her core with her hands but it was too big. "So, I just kinda threw it all out there."

"No kidding."

Igneous' voice startled Yuna. She sat up straighter as the grovlazzle walked in.

"Seriously?" Nikki leaned forward, squinting at Igneous. And a ponytales was hovering in the doorway, unsure whether to enter. Yuna reluctantly waved Shimmer in. He awkwardly shuffled to Igneous' side in the opposite corner of the room.

"What, you three some sort of package deal now?" Nikki pointed between them. "Been spending an awful lot of time together lately."

Shimmer's face reddened. He tried to turn toward the wall, but Igneous nudged Shimmer with his right leg. Shimmer jolted stiff.

"We were talking," Igneous said, arms crossed. "About everything Yuna said."

He and Scarlett exchanged a look. Yuna had a sinking feeling about it, but Nikki beat her to the punch.

"Don't tell me... you guys have been having visions like Princess?"

"Yeah. I see... a different life." Igneous held up his hands, turning them over and back. Over and back. "An icy vulpix and a riolu. They call themselves Nickie and Tessa. And..." He put his hands against the wall. "I'm there, too. As a volcarona." Fiery embers crackled behind his back.

There was a white flash. Then Yuna found a volcarona in Igneous' place. Orange wings buzzed. Embers crackled around him.

"We knew each other, then." Yuna's voice cracked.

"I'm not the only one." Igneous tucked his head down but cracked an eye open at Scarlett. "Am I?"

The dragonair bit her lip. "Been having weird dreams since Venish. None of them made sense." Her wings slowly caressed her neck bauble, which flickered pink. "I thought I was Starlene — or, well, a latias — in them. And I also saw an ice vulpix named Nickie. She was asking me for help to stop an evil human."

"You've gotta be shitting me!" Nikki's mohawk sparked. The carpet fibers underneath her prickled from the static. With a startled squeak, Yuna scooted left.

"I'm not," Scarlett said, looking down at her tail.

"And you?" The toxtricity pointed at Shimmer.

"Nothing." The ponytales shook his head.

"Great. I'm on the outside looking in with Pillow Prince." Nikki rapped her right fist against the carpet.

"Gee, thanks." Shimmer's ears folded against his head.

"Suck it up." Nikki slouched forward. "You're not the one hearing three people say had the same crummy thing happen to you in two different lifetimes."

Shimmer gave her a blank look but said nothing. Yuna was also at a loss. Of the group, Nikki was the most active Team Bastion member who hadn't gotten any wild powers or crazy transformation. Even that lightning guitar was a standard Dynaforce technique. Any toxtricity could pull it off with the proper training, according to Cid.

"We don't have to talk about this anymore if you don't want to," Yuna mumbled.

"It's wild." Sighing, Nikki straightened up. "We knew each other in these past lives. And now we're... together again?" Her laugh turned to a snort. "Do you have any idea how much **** had to happen for all of us to end up here in the first place?"

"The spirit never forgets."

Yuna winced at Igneous' words. The grovlazzle's leaves crinkled. "Xeromus said that to me before I had my first vision. And then the cloud daemon he summoned gave me more of them." He crossed his arms. "I've kept having them since Tulpise. And now it has me wondering if there's a deeper meaning to all of us being together like this. Like our spirits were... drawn to one another because of the past."

"Like fate?" Scarlett raised a brow.

The dragonair's question sent a chill down Yuna's ectoplasm. A silhouette of Zodiark's masked face flickered all around her.

"In the end, you cannot stray from the path of chaos."

"Listen to you guys." Nikki thumping the wall between her and Yuna jolted the dragapult to attention. "You sound like freaking Zodiark. And that pisses me off."

She glanced at Yuna. "I need to know it's you, Princess. Not Yalwhatever." Nikki looked around the room. "All of you have to stop with this 'past lives' **** and focus on the present. Because if you're telling the truth, we failed to stop Zodiark back then.

"And if you get too wrapped up in the past, then none of us are gonna have a future."

The toxtricity's words hung in the air. It was a good point. If Yaldabaoth kept failing to catch and stop Zodiark across multiple worlds, then what good did any of their memories do for Yuna? Provide her with a long list of mistakes to avoid?

"We're not giving up on the present," Igneous insisted. "But we might need to understand the past better to succeed this time."

Which was more or less what Yuna said before. Still, there had to be something she could offer Nikki to assuage the toxtricity's fears.

Yuna leaned over and put her hand on Nikki's left shoulder. "I won't get stuck in the past. If I had, I would've let the shadows take control."

Nikki focused on Yuna's hand. Her mohawk rippled as fast as static on one of Cyril's monitors.

"Giratina... came to me because I had a wish." Yuna recalled the black, inky giratina silhouette rising from that stone floor. "A wish to be stronger, because I couldn't help the people I cared about."

She paused. Nikki must've read between the lines because Yuna swore her mohawk turned pink for a second.

"But it's... hard." Yuna's ectoplasm quivered. "The visions I've seen... that riolu sounded so confident. So sure of everything." A melancholic chuckle escaped her lips. "Almost like you."

Nikki frowned. "I don't think we got body-swapped, Princess."

"Right." Yuna managed to avoid stammering. "It's more that... Tessa became part of Giratina. Because it was the only way she could see her wish through." The dragapult shakily smiled at Nikki. "But me? Yaldabaoth terrifies me." She laughed nervously. "I can't do the same thing."

She expected Igneous' bewildered look. Yuna took her hand off Nikki's shoulder. "Uh, I mean, I can draw on their power. But I don't... think I know the full extent of what these chaos powers can do. And I'm not sure I want to find out."

Igneous must not have liked that. He conjured that weird red honedge in his hand. "You may not get a choice in that," the grovlazzle said. "If chaos energy is needed to stop the emperor or Zodiark—"

"The hell?" Nikki stood up. "There you go, sounding like our enemies again." She frowned at Scarlett and Shimmer. "One of you please talk sense into Twiggy."

"It's okay, Nikki."

The toxtricity glanced at Yuna, who rose up beside her. "Maybe it's the wrong decision. But this is my decision. Like you said, I don't want the past dictating the present. If that happens..." Her shoulders sagged. "Well, I feel like that's just proving Zodiark's point. That none of this really matters."

Igneous glanced at the sword. Then at the others. Scarlett tilted her head at him. Yuna couldn't quite see her face, but Shimmer's bewilderment and Igneous' pained expression painted enough of a picture.

Sighing, the grovlazzle dispelled the blade. "God, my head hurts." Now it was his turn to slump down onto the floor, rubbing his right head with his right hand. "What am I even supposed to do at a time like this?"

Yuna doubted Gene's suggestion to call it a night would work. Nobody looked tired.

Scarlett slithered between the two of them.

"Spicy secrets."

The two guys beside her exchanged incredulous looks. Yuna tilted her triangular head. "Huh?"

She was even more surprised when recognition spread over Nikki's face. "You still remember that?" The toxtricity scratched her head. "****, how long's it been?"

"A while." Scarlett's wings folded back against her head. "But I can't think of a better time for it."

Shimmer raised a forehoof. "What does that mean?"

"It's a Blightsmuth thing," Nikki said. "If folks were heated with other, they'd either battle it out or go for spicy secrets."

"I take it that isn't a food..." Shimmer's tails curled up.

"Everyone says a stupid or embarrassing secret they keep," Scarlett explained, slithering toward the door to face Igneous and Shimmer. "It reminds us that we're not so different."

"We all make mistakes and ****," Nikki added, pantomiming a puppet with her right hand. "Fine. You go first then, Twiggy." The toxtricity slowly spun around and plopped herself down on Yuna's cot.

"Me?" Igneous' head leaf caught fire. "It's your game. You go first."

"Whatever." Nikki leaned over, resting her chin on her clasped hands. Then she abruptly sat up straight. "A'ight. The first time I ever tried to make out with someone... I sneezed right in her face.

Still floating in the middle of the room, Yuna put her hands over her mouth to stop stifling her urge to giggle.

"Wait, is that why folks back home were calling you 'Snotty' for a couple of weeks?" Scarlett draped her upper half over the edge of Yuna's cot. "I thought you had a cold or something!"

"Nope. And Tina wouldn't speak to me for a month after that." Nikki sighed and flopped on her side on the bed. "All right, Princess, you go."

"M-Me?" Yuna's ectoplasm shriveled. Some sort of personal secret? Wasn't all the Giratina stuff a big enough thing?

"Uhh..." The dragapult tapped her golden claws together. "Even though I'm twenty, I really miss getting shot out of Mom's horns."

She got strange looks, but didn't expect a whinny from Shimmer. "I'm... sorry?" The ponytales' horn flickered.

"Dragapult shoot their dreepy out of their horns." Yuna pointed to hers. "It's really fun! You go super fast! I think I was supposed to outgrow it, but I never did... even though I haven't gotten shot in a very long time."

"Damn. That's hardcore."

As Nikki laughed, Yuna pointed to Shimmer. "I think it's only fair you go next. Royal courtesy and all."

Flinching, Shimmer shuffled out of the corner. He looked slightly less uncomfortable than he was during the heavier talk the group was having.

"I've got... a lotta secrets. And skeletons." Shimmer tapped a forehoof on the ground.

"Don't kill the mood," Nikki heckled. Yuna turned and frowned at her. She projected a tiny electric halo over her head.

"Okay, you guys know that old Radiant Guard medical show?" Shimmer asked.

"R-Gash?" Igneous said.

"Yep." Shimmer clicked his tongue. "The way I realized I liked guys is because I had the biggest crush on Hawlucha Pierce." His horn glistened brightly. "I kept a signed, wall-sized poster of him in my dorm at Horizon."

"Shut up!" Scarlett gasped. The dragonair uncoiled so her head was by Shimmer's. "I love Pierce!"

The ponytales' expression brightened. "Really?"

"Yeah, he was the best!" Scarlett's tiny wings fluttered with excitement. "And the actor's a classy guy, too."

Even Nikki managed a chuckle, despite her dislike of Shimmer. A grin had replaced her earlier dour expression. She caught Yuna's gaze. Her mohawk turned pink again and she looked away, whistling to herself. Likewise, Yuna folded her arms over her now glowing core.

"All right, Iggy," Shimmer said.

"Eh, not sure if I should really confess this, but what the hell." Igneous stood up. "So, my stepsister Becca—"

"I thought I recognized one of those salazzle," Shimmer cut in.

"Yeah." Igneous was struggling to keep up his stoic expression. "I used to go to nightclubs in her Holowear outfits."

Nikki burst out laughing at that. The bed jostled from the toxtricity kicking it repeatedly.

Igneous' tails ignited. "What's so funny?"

"Pics or it didn't happen!" Nikki scoffed.

The grovlazzle's brow twitched. "Fine. I'll do you one better."

He hopped to this feet and produced a small ring.

"Wait, why do you have a holowear ring now?" Scarlett wondered.

"Swiped it off Becca to sneak around Scale City the other week." Igneous slipped the ring around one of his claws. It flickered blue, then in a flash of white light, a black dress with golden trimmings wrapped around Igneous torso. He held his hands up like he had an invisible dance partner.

(Art by honey_llemon)

"Believe me now?"

Nikki laughed so hard her eyes watered. "You never pegged me as the kind of guy who'd ever get in touch with his feminine side!" The toxtricity rolled onto her stomach and smiled sweetly at Igneous.

"Says the one in the heavy leather jacket," Igneous countered. The ring flashed with light and the outfit disappeared.

"W-Well, I think it's cool," Shimmer said.

"Yeah! We need more twink grovyle in this world!"

"Starlene!" Scarlett squeaked, covering her glowing neck bauble with her wings.

Even if she didn't understand the joke, Yuna found herself laughing with the others. The last of her worries from the earlier conversation faded. Washed away by a silly game started by friends she was happy to have at her side.

XxX​

Gene rarely walked. His feet were not structured with walking in mind. Only floating. Sometimes it was worth it, though. If for no other reason than to prepare for circumstances where levitation wasn't possible.

He'd been walking through the outpost halls, stopping by rooms to see if he sensed anything off. Things were quiet.

... Save for the cosmic silvally walking beside him.

"You're really not thinking about it? At all?" Widget wondered. His gold talons clicked against the metal with every step.

"What's there to think about?" Shrugging, Gene headed for a door to the staircase. He opened it the old-fashioned way, then took the stairs down two or three at a time.

"What if it applies to you, too?" Widget climbed down faster. Gene figured he had to. Four legs would get tangled on stairs otherwise.

Widget paused halfway toward the second floor. "Wouldn't you want to know about your past life?"

Gene rolled his eyes. What a stupid question. "Why? So I can bum myself out if that life turned out better than what I have now?"

Widget opened his beak, then said nothing.

Got him. Gene walked by, tapping his right temple. "I got a decent enough gig here. Why jelly my jam by throwing some dumb reincarnation nonsense into it?"

He rounded another bend in the stairs. Widget's starcloud swirled in confusion. His head crest fanned out and he dashed to catch up. "What's that even mean?"

"It means don't worry about it." Gene flicked his wrist dismissively. "You're basically a machine—"

"Biosynthetic." Widget reached Gene's side and scampered past him.

"Pfft." Gene stopped mid-step and held his hand up. "Remember what you looked like before Leo gave you a starry paint job? Nothing biologic about that." He continued up. "You were a machine. So, that whole reincarnation talk doesn't apply to you."

It should've relieved Widget, but the slow rotation of his cheek bolts and the drooping of the fish tail told Gene he was off the mark. The shadowy mewtwo pinched his brow. "What?"

"What if that's not true?" Widget said. "What if the whole reason Leo could break me out of the emperor's programming is because there was always a soul inside."

"Are you having dreams about some other life?" Gene wondered.

Widget shook his head.

"Then there's your answer." Gene flicked his wrist. The door at the bottom of the stairs opened up. He strode across the metallic hallway, resting his hands behind his head. "You've got absolutely nothing to worry—"

Why was there music coming from someone's room? Gene had the restaurant jukebox memorized, and this wasn't one of the tracks.

He continued forward. The music was from Yuna's room. And it sounded nothing like what a bunch of technologically inept dragons could create. Too many retro synths.

"Hot drinks reeeaaaly get you going! Warms you uuuup, when you feel you're slowiiiing!"

"Is that... Starlene?" Widget marched up to the door. "What kind of song is that?"

"Weavies, we always serve it right away! Add a smile and have a nice daaaaay~"

Gene stared blankly at the door. Widget's starcloud ruff swirled around his neck. "Should I knock? I think someone's having a nervous breakdown in there."

"Seriously?!" Igneous' cry cut the music off.

"What's the matter, Twiggy?" Nikki's laughter drifted into the hallway next.

"That was you two?!"

"What part of 'we got our start doing terrible corporate jingles and ****' didn't register, dumbass?"

"I worked at a Weavies and they used that song!" Igneous sounded mortified. "Had some poor schlubs lip syncing along to make a training music video!"

"Gene?" Widget hissed in a whisper.

"Leave 'em be." The shadowy mewtwo turned around, waving dismissively.

"A-Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Let the kids have their fun." Gene headed back toward the staircase.

"Kids?" Widget trotted after him. "They're at least young adults... I think?"

"Ha!" Gene threw his hands behind his head. "Far as I'm concerned, you're all a bunch of dumb kids compared to me."

He opened the stairway door up and stood against it. "So, you coming upstairs or not?"

"Well, my room's on the third floor." The cosmic silvally approached the door. "But what about you? You sleep down here."

"I'm heading to the restaurant." Gene stepped into the stairwell. "Unova's Goofiest Home Movies starts in five. You're welcome to join. Or not. You wanna wallow in existential dread, be my guest."

By the time the shadowy mewtwo floated into the air, Widget's sighs echoed through the stairwell. Gene looked down and saw him walking up the stairs, mumbling about humans and video cameras.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
The lyrics briefly alluded to at the end of the second scene are part of a 1980s training video used by Wendy's. Search "Hot Drinks" on YouTube to see it in all its glory.

For the record, this is all BarbarousKing's fault. He used a SNES-ported version of the song in his latest Kaizo Mario ROM hack.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 88: Somebody to Lean On​

TO: Grand Emperor Paradox
FROM: Cassius
SUBJECT: Update from Radiance

I looked into the situation at this "Tulpise" place. The best conclusion I can draw is that there were other interlopers who are responsible for distortion swallowing up the city. Unfortunately, none of the Medici 'mon I sent to attack the place laid eyes on them. At the very least, it doesn't seem like they're resistance members.

There is some good news, though. I think the political climate in Radiance is shifting. I already mentioned how that charizard CEO was tossed into prison for high treason. But the tabloids here are reporting that the dusknoir inquisitor known as the Grim Reaper has vanished. Furthermore, Calyrex seems to be taking our instructions to heart and working with Radiance's crown prince to undermine the current queen. While the news still trumpets her, the Medicis think public opinion toward Isola has dipped.

Do you have someone lined up to step into the Paradigm as the Lovers? If not, my recommendation is you expedite the process. I'm going to be meeting with the Medici's leader, Don Giuseppe. He claims to have an idea about how they could cause further discord for the kingdom.

XxX​

The newly-made infirmaries were simply larger outpost suites hastily converted into open rooms with several beds and a handful of cabinets on wheels. They were full of medical supplies, some of which Seifer recognized and others he didn't.

Shiva and Ifrit's slumbering forms occupied the two beds in the back right corner. Disheveled sheets on several other cots told him people had been here. No sign of Calcifer, though. Yiazmat must've taken him somewhere else to rest.

Quetzal paced across the middle of the room, watching Cid. The orbeetle's spots gently pulsated with pink energy. A gardevoir and lucario stood by watching. Healers on loan from the monks.

"Well?" Quetzal lifted his stubby orange wings. "Anything?"

Sighing, Cid backed away from the beds. "They seem fine physically. Though I'm no doctor." He looked at Lucario, who nodded.

"What about up here?" Quetzal tried to gesture to his head, but the orange zapdos quickly gave up. And here Seifer thought Quetzal had gotten used to the short wings and large legs.

"I don't think I sensed anything." Cid scratched the side of his head. "Then again, the same was true for Buzzwole."

Quetzal resumed pacing. "So, in the end, we just have to hope they wake up?" His feathers bristled, generating orange sparks. "There's got to be something else we can try."

"Perhaps a purifying incense?" Gardevoir tapped her chin in thought. "I'd have to check if we have enough supplies for that."

"Yes, please do." Quetzal nodded at her. Gardevoir waved at Lucario and the two headed for a door on Seifer's left. Another room, probably.

By the time the healers were through the door, Quetzal had trudged to the keldeo's side. "If only we could get them to wake up quicker. Then we might be able to get some answers."

Seifer's tail bristled. "Erm." He shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe we shouldn't jump straight into questioning them?"

"But Commander—"

"Seifer." He paused, looking down. "Please stick with Seifer." He didn't want to admit how uncomfortable his old title was making him out loud.

Luckily, Quetzal acknowledged his request. "Right. Seifer." The orange zapdos walked in place. "Don't you want to get to the bottom of everything? I might not remember much of what happened, but surely they will."

"Perhaps." Seifer turned away from the other two birds. "But I think they should have the time to rest up before we pepper them with questions."

Quetzal stepped in front of him. "We're in a predicament here, though. Anything—"

"Stop." Seifer raised a forehoof and pressed it against Quetzal's side. "This isn't like the Radiant Guard. We're in a much different situation. I know you want answers. Everyone wants answers." He sighed. "But this calls for patience."

"Right." Quetzal shifted his weight from one foot to another. "Sorry, sir."

Seifer squinted.

"Uhh, I m-mean sorry?" Quetzal stiffened. "A plain ol' sorry." He backed away. "Nothing hierarchical about it."

After a few more seconds, Seifer's expression eased up. He headed for the door. "I'm heading out. If you want to stay here, you're more than welcome."

"Oh, wait, there is one thing!"

Seifer stopped beside the cots closest to the door. "Yes?"

"It's about Gene." Quetzal's feathers puffed out slightly. "I saw Gene use this weird attack against Ifrit."

A weird attack? That hardly gave Seifer anything to go off. "Weird in what way?"

He didn't get an immediate response, so he turned to find Quetzal's head tilted in thought. "How can I describe it?" The orange zapdos tapped a talon against the gray carpet. "It was a big beam. But it was a mix of purple, black, and red."

"Like a... Dark Pulse?" Seifer wondered. Quetzal's description didn't sound that wild.

"No. I've seen enough Dark Pulses to know that definitely wasn't one," Quetzal huffed. "I'm not sure what type it was." His beak crinkled a bit. "Or if it even was a type."

Now it sure sounded like Quetzal was talking crazy. "Every attack needs a type," Seifer said.

"I know that." Quetzal looked offended. "But this beam, it..." His voice trailed off. Was he struggling to find the words? "Just feeling the heat from the beam filled my chest with this... this suffocating dread. I think it made me more panicked than I already was." His eyes darted around nervously. "It was almost like... like something was trying to pull my insides out of me!"

"That so?" Seifer's brow furrowed. Hadn't they called Gene out for some... disturbing behavior back on Planet Bogdan?

He blinked a few times. "That crystal in his shoulder is full of Malice, isn't it? Perhaps the attack was Malice-based?"

Quetzal stiffened. "That could be it."

Frankly, Seifer found these different energy types too confusing. "I'd rather let the others figure it out. If he's not turning the attack on us, then it's not my problem."

He imagined Quetzal would protest that, but Seifer was too tired to hear him out any further. Especially when he wasn't part of the Wyndon team. The keldeo headed for the door and nudged it open. "I'll keep them in my thoughts." He pointed a hoof back toward where the articuno and moltres slept. Then he stepped through the door, took a right, and walked down the metal hallway.

Thankfully, Quetzal didn't call out for him. So it was easy for Seifer to push that nagging guilt out of his head.

XxX​

"... Just so confusing. Like, was it wrong of me to step away like that?"

Seifer lay on a red couch. Orange sunlight drifted over him from a window. All artificial, of course. But the light was still nice against his freshly showered pelt.

"Eh. You're fine."

Cyril's voice carried through an open door from the corner of the room beside the couch. Seifer watched the yellow light for signs the cosmic zoroark was coming, but found nothing. Whatever he was doing in that kitchenette, he was really into it.

"Are you just saying that because we're together?" Seifer crossed one forehoof over the other.

A laugh came from the kitchenette. "Sheesh. Someone's determined to make himself the bad guy in this situation."

"I'm being serious." Seifer frowned, though it wasn't like Cyril could see that.

"Of course you are." A blobby shadow finally blotted out the yellow light. "And here I thought I'd established myself a straight shooter."

Seifer opened his mouth, then Cyril added, "Well, straight when it comes to telling people stuff."

The keldeo shut his mouth. He covered his head with his forelegs, groaning.

"Sorry. Couldn't help it."

Footsteps grew louder. Seifer picked his head up and saw Cyril approaching with a plate in one hand and a bowl of berries in the other. Steam wafted off the former, but the cosmic zoroark set the latter down beside Seifer. Then he sat on the other side of the couch.

"Ah, finally. Dinner." Cyril grabbed the spoon on the edge of the plate with his left hand.

"Is that... curry?" Seifer's nostrils twitched.

"Oh, did you want some?" Cyril twirled the spoon around in his yellow claws. "I make it spicy, so I figured you wouldn't be interested."

He was right. "It's not that." Seifer shook his head. "More that you, uh, never struck me as the type for curry."

"Wasn't aware curry had a type." Cyril ate a spoonful of his dinner.

"When did you develop a taste for it?" Seifer wondered.

"When I was taking jobs for the—"

Cyril stopped himself. Seifer raised a brow. The cosmic zoroark looked between Seifer and his meal, then shoved a spoonful in his mouth. "Point taken."

Between more bites of curry, Cyril said, "But, seriously, does what happened with Quetzal bother you that much?"

Nodding, Seifer reached for one of the berries in the bowl. He took a few bites, then properly responded, "It wasn't right. I should've done more for him, but instead I excused myself. Simply because I was tired."

Cyril fiddled with the spoon still in his mouth. "And that's bad because?"

"Because, even if we're not in the Radiant Guard anymore, people should support their teammates when they're hurting." Seifer decided to let that statement hang in the air and reached for another berry. He figured Cyril would chew on that for a while.

Instead, the cosmic zoroark ate more of the curry, then tapped his spoon against his plate. "Eh. I guess." His ears swiveled. "At the same time, though, if you're not in the headspace for it, how good a job can you really do supporting someone?"

The keldeo's mouthful of berry nearly went down the wrong pipe. He swallowed hard, straightening up his neck. "E-Excuse me?"

"You gotta take care of yourself before taking care of others," Cyril continued. He pointed the spoon at Seifer. "Whether it's stuff like this... or in the heat of battle."

Seifer frowned. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, should I have put on my serious face?" Cyril swallowed another spoonful of curry. Then his expression hardened. "How's this?"

(Art by Raph)

"It's n-not funny." Seifer shuffled back a bit on the couch.

"It's kinda funny." Cyril chuckled.

Seifer's cheeks flushed as a grin tried fighting its way onto his face. He let the cosmic zoroark mess with him again.

To his surprise, Cyril sighed as he took another spoonful of curry. "Nah, I get it. Maybe it's some of my cynicism bubbling up." He eyed the curry, then ate the spoonful. "But I figured, now that we've been in this situation for a little while, it was sinking in for you."

"What was sinking in?" Seifer raised a brow.

"That anything goes when you're fighting with your back against the wall."

Cyril silently polished off his plate, then set it on a small table next to the couch. All the while, Seifer tried and failed to piece together a proper response. There were a lot of layers to unpack. Was Cyril talking about the different sides of the conflict? The resources they had compared to the resistance? Or just the sheer scope that came with a looming dimensional cataclysm?

"I'm losing you, aren't I?" Cyril held his hands up. "The point I'm trying to make is that this fight isn't like anything you did in the Radiant Guard. It's unpredictable. Constantly shifting." He put his hands together and spun them around one another. "Yes, it's important that we try and help each other out. But when things are in flux like this, there's no shame in keeping yourself safe so you can live to fight another day."

That explanation hardly satisfied Seifer. "You're right. You do sound cynical."

Ears flattening, Cyril turned away slightly. "Figures." His mane dimmed. "Just answer me one thing."

"Okay."

He glanced at the keldeo. "When you were in the Radiant Guard, did you ever face down an extended conflict?"

Seifer stiffened. "Are you talking about a war?"

"Not necessarily." Cyril eyed Seifer. "I mean, I'm pretty sure the war between Aeon and Radiance had gone cold by the time you'd joined the Guard's ranks"

He guessed right. Seifer nodded slowly. "Then what do you mean by extended conflict?"

"Something that stretches beyond a single battle," Cyril said, waving his right arm around. "Cuz, like, if all you ever did was fight one-off battles with Phantoms or raid yakuza hideouts, then you've never had to deal with prolonged fighting." His mane dimmed again. "And the toll it can take on you up here." He tapped his forehead with a yellow claw.

"I—"

Seifer stopped. His gaze fell to the shaggy blue carpet on the floor. Had he done anything beyond what Cyril described? Couldn't some of the yakuza clans count? But if that was the case, they'd have launched counterattacks against us. Which never happened. It was always the Guard launching small, coordinated strikes. And they weren't even the ones responsible for gathering the intel. That usually fell to Stoutland Yard.

"All this stuff about honor and virtue..." Cyril slowly twirled his right hand in a circle, until he draped his right arm over the couch cushion. "It's coming from your parents, isn't it? Making sure you'd be the perfect little soldier, just like they were."

That look in Cyril's eyes went right through Seifer. He'd read the keldeo again. Heck, his parents had warned him about zoroark. Hard to interrogate because the tricksters knew how to get under people's skin. Find their vulnerable spots and pounce.

A hand on his shoulder nearly made Seifer jump. The berry bowl wobbled, but Cyril stopped it with his left hand. Seifer looked at Cyril's right hand on his shoulder. His cheeks flushed.

"I, uh—" He squeezed his eyes shut. "Sorry. It's always, um, surprising. That you can guess what's going on so easily."

Cyril gently squeezed Seifer's shoulder. "You can talk about it, y'know."

"I know. It's just—" Seifer stopped. He followed the right arm back toward Cyril's torso and the puffy, stellar chest fluff. Seifer could've stared at it for hours. But he forced himself to squeeze his eyes shut. "All this fessing up and stuff. Makes it feel more like you're my therapist and not my boyfriend."

Seifer wasn't expecting a squeak. He poked an eye open. Cyril actually looked flummoxed. He grabbed an iapapa berry and shoved it in his mouth... only to promptly turn and spit it onto his plate. "Blech!" He rubbed his snout. "Iapapa? What was I thinking? That **** wasn't even ripe yet."

"Not a fan?"

Cyril set the bowl down. "Hardly." He ran a yellow claw across his even yellower tongue. Seifer wondered if he should quip about berries coating his tongue enough to make it stop glowing in the dark.

Instead, he seized on the zoroark's bizarre reaction. "I actually got a rise out of you for once."

"Yeah." Cyril leaned back on the couch. He took a few deep breaths. "Wasn't expecting something like that, but maybe you have a point." Cyril crossed his right leg over his left. "All right. I'll even out the scales a bit."

Seifer straightened his posture on the couch. What did Cyril mean by that? "You, um, want me to be your therapist?"

The instant Seifer finished, Cyril leaned over and flicked the keldeo's prosthetic horn. "H-Hey!" Seifer did his best to stay poised. "What else am I meant to take from 'even out the scales?'"

"That I'd say something super personal to you." Chuckling, Cyril shook his head. "Unless you want me to grab a clip-on tie and fake glasses for you." He leaned over. "Is Doctor Seifer entering the building?"

Oh, stars, his horn was flickering, wasn't it? Seifer swallowed hard. "Just go with what you meant from the start, please."

"I was joshing you." Cyril playfully nudged Seifer's side. The smirk left his face as he leaned over. "Y'know that stuff Yuna said about other lives? Think it applies to me, too."

Seifer pushed himself off his belly. Sitting on this couch was awkward with four legs, but he managed it well enough to scooch beside the cosmic zoroark. "Don't tell me you've had visions."

"Dreams, actually." Cyril rubbedthe gems in his legs. "Occasionally. Since Leo gave me some of his power."

Then there was a chance it was just Leo's stuff Cyril was seeing, right? Except the look on Cyril's face said otherwise. Hesitantly, Seifer asked, "What are they like?"

"I'm a zoroark." Cyril's whole body flashed blue. His old, dark-type zoroark disguise took its place, complete with his pink accessories littered with white hearts. "Live in some cave lit up by glimmering crystals. I go forage for treasures in a nearby mystery dungeon, then sell 'em to some traveling kecleon merchant. And there's this midnight lycanroc who I end up the rebound for after a dusk lycanroc turns him down."

He shrugged. "It's a pretty ho-hum life."

Seifer played the explanation back in his head while scrutinizing Cyril's illusion. "You don't think... you turning into a zoroark was, like, fate or something, do you?"

Cyril shrugged again.

"A-And did you, um, accessorize like that in your dreams?"

"Yep."

Seifer's tail bristled. "Then the bandana and leggings—"

"Thigh-highs."

The keldeo blanked. "Err, yes, they're leggings that go up to your th—"

Cyril pressed a yellow claw to Seifer's snout. "No, they're called thigh-highs."

Seifer rolled his eyes. Such a trivial detail to split hairs over. "Whatever. Point is... you got them for yourself here, too, didn't you?"

"I did." Cyril tiptoed his claws up Seifer's snout. "Did you want me to start wearing them again? I thought the starry markings and leg gems were a nice replacement."

This time Seifer "fought" back, lightly whacking Cyril's left leg. The illusion faded. "I'm serious, Cyril," Seifer said. "Aren't you a little concerned about the similarities? What if all your past memories come flooding in and overwhelm you?"

The cosmic zoroark responded with a long sigh. "That's what I was asking myself when we were all together listening to Yuna." He leaned back, looking across the room. "I'm conflicted, Seif."

Seif? Why did that give the keldeo beautifly in his stomach?

"I have powers." Cyril snapped his yellow claws. A few tiny embers dissolved around them. "I can fight again, after ages of sitting on the sidelines fiddling with machines." He tilted his head left, smiling at Seifer. "I fought with you. And, yeah, it was scary staring down Halvus up close. But being there with you... made me feel more alive than I can remember."

Now Seifer definitely had beautifly in his stomach. Yet part of him knew Cyril was putting on a brave face. "There's more to it, right?" he whispered.

"It's great. But I fear there's a price." Cyril held his hands up and turned them over. "Exactly what you said. Those memories are going to come racing back, aren't they? And then what'll happen? How do I stay grounded? Reconcile past from present?"

His ears folded. "How do I stop myself from degrading into a Whisper?"

Seifer's eyes slowly widened. Cyril had mentioned concerns about eroding. Back when they'd first met, if Seifer remembered correctly. "I see." He scooted closer. "I didn't realize."

"I didn't tell you." Cyril slouched forward.

For once, Seifer was the one with the verbal opening. "Y'know, you could've mentioned that before." He leaned forward. "Looks like you've got as much reason to lean on me as I do to lean on you."

"Heh." Cyril rubbed the bridge of his snout. "Suppose so." He turned slightly, eyeing the keldeo. "You wanted to have me for support." Cyril twirled a lock of his hair. "I thought I could keep that stuff buried down and be your big, strong supportive shoulder." A dry laugh followed. "And I'm the one who hinted that these things are a two-way street. Pretty pathetic, huh?"

"It's kind of relieving, in a way," Seifer admitted, earning a quirked brow from Cyril. "W-Well, y'know..." He shifted in place, laughing nervously. "From a reliability standpoint." He gestured out with his left foreleg. Not that there was anything worth pointing at beyond an old EV screen and a bunch of electronic boxes on the shelves underneath.

"It tells me that we've both got things to help each other work on," Seifer continued. "Because that's what partners do. Right?"

After a few seconds, a fluffy arm draped over Seifer's shoulder. "Look at you." Cyril leaned over, tickling Seifer's chin with a yellow claw. "Sounding all wise and philosophical." He grinned at the keldeo. "I knew I made a good choice with you."

Seifer shrank to his belly and covered his head with his forelegs.

"All right. Enough of the doom and gloom."

There was a creak, followed by the cushions next to Seifer puffing up slightly. He pulled his forelegs away to find Cyril walking across the room, arching his back. The cosmic zoroark swung open a small metal door, revealing shelves stocked with small plastic containers.

"What are you doing?" Seifer slid back up into a sitting position.

Cyril bent over — unnaturally, clearly trying to fluster the keldeo — and grabbed three of the covers. He pivoted, leaning against the doorframe, and dangled the cases for Seifer to see.

"Movie night!" Cyril walked toward the shelves full of electronics. "I said I'd show you Space Wars, So, we're watching Space Wars." He knelt down by one of the metal boxes. "The good ones, at least. Like I said, the other six are trash. But if you ever want to get shitfaced and laugh at 'em, maybe I can be tempted."

Seifer was so transfixed on the "movie night" part, the rest of the cosmic zoroark's rambling went right over his head. So, he nodded along dumbly.

"Whatever you say."

XxX​

Sticky hovered around the giant glass tank. He went from eyeing the readouts on the monitor to looking at the bars and lines fluctuating on his tablet. The naganadel leaned over and tapped the glass. The gray ooze inside wriggled.

"Well, Sticky?"

He finished his lap around the tank, staring at his tablet. "There's definitely some magnetic resonance. Not enough to reproduce what was on Iron Enforcer's recording. But it's progress compared to the previous weeks."

"What did I tell you?"

Wincing, Sticky looked up to see a sylveon sauntering in front of Paradox. He had no idea why the deoxys didn't just smite that imbecile on the spot. Or, if he didn't want to dirty his tentacles, give Iron Enforcer the order. No, instead the type: full sat in the corner, plugged into a charging station.

"That the little meltan creatures could combine into a titan," Paradox said. His tentacles twisted into arms he folded behind his back. "Two weeks of testing and we've yet to verify these claims, Whatsyourface."

"Xander, Your Excellency." The sylveon bowed, extending his ribbons. "And I told you they could. I didn't say how." He gestured to Sticky. "But you heard your secretary—"

"Executive assistant," Sticky interjected. He wanted so badly to smear Xander's face with toxins from his large needle. But the emperor must've brought him down for a reason.

"Right, right." Xander waved him off with two ribbons. "Point is, my intel was primo. I told you tipping off that overgrown vegetable would get you assets... and it did!" He pointed a ribbon at the tank. "Sure, it may take some time. But while we have them like this, why not try adding your own little spin on it? Make 'em even better than what they were in the recording?"

Sticky was ready to jump in when he noticed the curious gleam in Paradox's eyes. "You think the titan can be improved?" Paradox wondered.

"I'm sure you can come up with something." Xander's eyes sparkled and his stubby tail wagged.

Paradox blipped right past Xander, appearing at Sticky's side. The naganadel stiffened. "Sir?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, boy." Paradox flicked his right hand dismissively. "I know a brown-nosing clout chaser when I see one. A real useful asset would take initiative." He put his hand on Sticky's back. "Even, perhaps, take quite the risk."

The deoxys leaned over and pointed to the recharging Iron Enforcer unit. "In case it's not clear, if I catch even the slightest whiff of deception from your new toy..." His right hand uncoiled. Paradox traced a tentacle across Sticky's neck. "... I'll build a fireplace in my office just to mount your head over it."

Sticky swallowed hard. "Understood, sir." But there was nothing to fear. Iron Enforcer was purely a machine. Maybe that gave it less potential than W1-DG3T had, but in return, it would show steadfast loyalty to the emperor.

"Good. Now, where was I?" Paradox recoiled his right tentacles into an arm. "Ah, yes. Our clout chaser."

He teleported into the middle of the charcoal gray lab. "I do appreciate a good kiss-up." Paradox's gem flickered. A pink glow surrounded Xander, who shrank back slightly. "And stringing the outsiders' prince along so you'd get a taste of real political power? That kind of initiative deserves proper credit. Don't you think, Sticky?"

No. The sylveon threw himself at Paradox first out of any of his classmates. If things somehow took a turn in the ongoing conflict, Xander would be first to jump ship. Sticky was sure of it. The guy was a certified, grade A coward only loyal to himself.

Paradox cleared his throat. Sticky stiffened. "Of course, sir."

"Proper credit?" Xander stood up straight. "Like, what? Will I get my own Eternatus Troopers to command or something?"

"No. I have a much better idea." The deoxys teleported to a shut metal panel in the gray wall. He lowered his head toward a red circle.

[Retinal scan confirmed,] an electronic voice declared. [Welcome back, Grand Emperor Paradox.]

"Oh, good, you already updated my title in the systems," Paradox said, opening the panel to reveal two racks meant for holding syringes. They were empty, save for one teeming with glowing silver fluid.

Xander wilted the moment he saw the large needle attached to the syringe. "U-Um, I already had all my shots, y'know..."

Sticky recognized the syringe immediately. When had the emperor moved it here from the Harvester? "S-Sir, you're giving him the Lovers?"

"I am." Paradox teleported in front of Xander. "See, one of my Paradigm lieutenants retired a while back. The first to ever do so. But like any good leader, your humble grand emperor granted his request." The deoxys pantomimed wiping a tear. "Try as I might, however, I simply could not find a worthy replacement. That is... until now."

The realization set in for the sylveon. That hideous stubby tail of his wagged again. "Moi, a lieutenant for you? Oh, I couldn't think of anything better!"

He tapped a ribbon to his chin. "Well, maybe I could, but they're not the types of things for polite conversation."

"Sir, do I really need to be here for this?" Sticky focused squarely on his tablet as he cycled through security cam feeds and tried not to think about what he was hearing.

"You do for this part." Paradox snapped his fingers and Sticky floated at attention. "If you accept this power, Sylveon, then you're hereby assigned to investigate one of the spots where these strange needle-like structures from the outside appeared." The deoxys shook his head. "The ones we had a read on have vanished suddenly and one of my army's targets was in pursuit of them. So, you have to get to the bottom of it."

"Perfect. Nobody gets to a bottom quite like me." Xander winked.

Sticky looked down at his tablet again. Oh, what he wouldn't give to "accidentally" turn on Iron Enforcer and set it to "maim."

Paradox rolled his eyes. "Quaint. Now, while you do this, you're free to curry favor and clout with the public to your liking. Just as long as you follow my orders and, of course, sing the praises of my benevolent, iron-fisted regime." He levitated the needle and syringe beside Xander. "Do we have a deal?"

The sylveon nodded enthusiastically.

"Good." Paradox's eyes sparked and he plunged the needle into Xander's left flank.

Xander's screams were even more shrill, screechy, and pathetic than Sticky could've imagined. And they kept going as the plunger pushed all the silver fluid from the syringe into Xander's left hind thigh.

"There we are." Paradox turned away and his ESP withdrew the needle. "You'll likely need a day or two to get acclimated to this. Sticky will show you to—"

A dull thud echoed through the lab the moment Xander passed out. Blood oozed from the puncture site.

Paradox sighed and shook his head. "Sticky, take him to his new quarters."

"Me?" Why couldn't the emperor just teleport him there? It would be much faster.

The deoxys glared at Sticky as if he'd read the naganadel's thoughts. Sighing, Sticky floated over to the unconscious sylveon. He went to pick Xander up when a better idea came to mind.

Sticky pointed his large needle at Xander and launched a stream of paint. It splattered over Xander, before hardening to a rubbery consistency. Sticky dipped his large needle into the edge of the goo before floating forward. His makeshift net dragged Xander's limp form behind him.

"Careful, Sticky. We don't want to damage our merchandise," Paradox called.

The naganadel pause. "Sir, you do realize he's going to betray us the moment someone makes him a better offer, right?"

Paradox blipped over to Sticky's side. "Oh, I'm counting on it."

Sticky tensed. "S-Sir?"

"Relax, Sticky." Paradox put his hand on Sticky's shoulder. "Remember, your grand emperor is always one step ahead."

He gestured to the door, then teleported away. Sticky stared into the empty, dimly lit hallway. He floated out of the lab, hoping Paradox wasn't just blowing smoke.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 89: Dragon Your Feet​

It's simply astounding!

Thanks to my studies of the Space Core, I'm making tremendous strides in understanding how the legends of our world operate. The attacks we've come to associate with them in our myths are in fact manifestations of their powers over nature itself!

Take Palkia, for example. The stories surrounding the Hisuian heroes describe crescents of energy that warped the air around them. The Galaxy Team member who befriended them called the attack "Spacial Rend" in Hisui's first pokédex, since the crescents were cutting through space.

But the Spacial Rend spoken of in stories in an incomplete version. At their strongest, Palkia takes hold of the very fabric of space itself and pulls and weaves it in an unfathomable number of different directions. To a human, this would appear as innumerable crisscrossing lines through the air that shatter like glass.

I'm beyond enthralled! To think that space itself can be molded and manipulated like plain old matter! Perhaps we humans could find a way to harness that for ourselves. Space is infinite, so theoretically it could grant us a source of unlimited energy.

I've already submitted the findings to The International Journal of Pokémon Studies. I'm sure they'll accept my manuscript... and then funding will pour in. And with that, I can achieve my dreams: the construction of Celestica Labs, the foundation for a better tomorrow for humans and pokémon alike!

XxX​

Night or day, torches gave the Aeon Castle living room a soft, orange glow. The torches were placed a safe distance from the tables pushed aside and the chairs stripped of their cushions to make a haphazard pile in the middle of the floor.

... A pile that two squealing dreepy shot toward at blinding speeds, crashing into the cushions with soft fwumps. They popped out, giggling excitedly.

"Us next! Us next!" Two slightly larger dreepy floated up toward Yuna's triangular head.

"Easy, easy." Yuna held her hands up. "I'm still new to this, guys. I need a moment to focus."

"Booo!" one dreepy said while the other blew a raspberry at the dragapult.

"Okay, okay, fine." Yuna sighed when her younger siblings flew up and squeezed themselves into her horns. It was a bit strange, then it felt oddly natural. Like Yuna was meant to be doing this.

Yuna angled her head at the pile of cushions and shot her siblings forward. Like the smaller dreepy before them, they struck the pile. Their tiny ectoplasmic tails wriggled with delight. They high-fived one another once they were free from the cushions.

"They seem to be enjoying themselves."

Chuckling, Baraz waddled up to Yuna's left. Yuna's two youngest siblings hovered next to him, each clutching matching salandit plushies that she and Yiazmat had made for them. Both looked up eagerly at Yuna's horns.

"You guys want a turn?" Yuna asked.

They nodded in unison.

"Well, I don't think Sweet and Spicy can come along," Baraz said. The dracozolt leaned over and opened his tiny hands.

"Aww, really?" One of the dreepy clutched her plushie tighter.

"Spicy would get hurt if I shot her from my horn," Yuna said, tapping the yellow edge of her triangular head with a golden claw.

Her youngest sisters looked at one another, then reluctantly parted with their salandit dolls. Yuna leaned over to let them fly into her horns. The dragapult shot her sisters into the cushion pile. They squealed in delight, while their four older siblings helped them get free of the cushions.

"Again! Again!" they shouted.

"Oh boy," Yuna muttered.

Fortunately, the door on the other side of the room opened. "Yo, Princess!" Nikki stepped inside cradling a large bag of kettle corn in her arms. "I got what you wanted and—" She cut herself off to stare at the pile of cushions.

"Uhh, I don't think that's how you build a pillow fort, half-pints."

"Guys, look! Your big sister's friend brought you chocolate-covered kettle corn!" Yuna pointed an index claw at Nikki. "Why don't you go help yourselves?"

"Chocolate?!"

"Oooooh! I want chocolate!"

"Yeah! Gimme, gimme!"

The dreepy darted toward the startled toxtricity. Yuna shot Nikki an apologetic look before she was besieged by Yuna's siblings, reaching their arms toward the kettle corn and squirming around Nikki's arms and legs.

Chuckling, Baraz turned to Yuna. "Not that I don't appreciate the unannounced visit, but... I'm guessing this has to do with what happened on the other side?"

Yuna nodded slowly. Baraz had brought Calcifer to an infirmary but hadn't stuck around after that. How much did he know?

"Is the king okay?" the dracozolt whispered.

"I'm not sure," Yuna replied, watching Nikki set the kettle corn bag down for all the dreepy. She stayed near it, scratching her head when, predictably, the bag's contents spilled out over the floor.

"I hope so," she continued. "Especially since I pretty much spilled the beans about Bahamut, y'know, not being benevolent." Yuna wrung her hands apologetically. "And, well, I'm dealing with a lot."

"An escape, then," Baraz said. He offered one of the salandit dolls. Spicy, if Yuna wasn't mistaken.

"Maybe." Yuna took the doll and turned it over in her hands. Spicy looked the same as it did when she and Yiazmat finished it. No extra stitches or anything to suggest someone repaired it. "It certainly left my head spinning."

"Hey, Mom, am I ever gonna have a brother or sister?" Tessa shouted.

"There's no shame in a quiet break," Baraz said, looking over the other salandit doll. "Going back to familiar comforts."

"Is that speaking from experience?"

"Of course." Tiny sparks crackled around Baraz's beak. "Take that tea you always see me with. The servant who trained me taught me how to make it. The taste is comforting."

Yuna's siblings were scooping kettle corn off the floor and shoving it in their mouths while an exasperated Nikki looked on.

"I wouldn't exactly say shooting them out of my horns like I'm Mom is, y'know, a familiar comfort," the dragapult said.

"Well, it kinda is. Just mirrored," Reshiram piped up.

"Perhaps. But you seem relaxed." Baraz looked across the room. "And they're so happy to see you."

"Should I tell them about Dad?"

"I won't force you."

They quietly watched as the kettle corn disappeared from the floor. Nikki had grabbed the bag with the remaining kettle corn. She walked over, tossing a kernel in her mouth.

"Your siblings are crazy, Princess." Nikki tossed in another kernel. Then another. "Eight of 'em? How'd you stay sane?"

"Well, I didn't see 'em that often," Yuna admitted, holding Spicy up. "Really sick, remember?"

"Fair." Nikki tilted the bag toward Yuna. "You want?"

She declined at first, but the toxtricity shook the bag slightly. Rolling her eyes, Yuna skewered a couple of kernels with her claws and ate them.

"Not bad."

"Don't lie." Nikki smirked. "You liiiiiiiike iiiiiiiit~"

Yuna's tail curled up. "Yeah, I do."

Baraz chuckled at them. "Should I get a spare bed set up for her in your room then, Princess?"

The dragapult tensed. Nikki tilted her head. "Oh, we spending the night here?"

"I was gonna," Yuna mumbled.

"Count me in." Nikki shook the kettle corn at Baraz.

"Very well." The dracozolt took Spicy from Yuna's hand. "I'll prep for your first slumber party in years."

Nikki laughed at that, drawing the attention of Yuna's siblings.

"Baraz!" Yuna hissed in a whisper.

"Kidding!" Baraz turned and headed toward the dreepy. But Yuna's tail was shrinking into her torso from embarrassment.

XxX​

Noctum entered the private room Yiazmat retreated to. Calcifer lay on the lone bed fast asleep. The dragapult sat next to him, her right hand by the duraludon's head. Given her body structure, her tail had phased through the folding chair and curled around its legs. She braced herself against a cabinet full of healing supplies with her left hand.

"How is he?" the mega charizard asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Sleeping." Yiazmat traced her hand across the bedsheet. "I don't see injuries, but who knows what's going on inside."

Noctum reflexively looked down at his stomach. He's not the only one.

"You're stuck in that form now?" Yiazmat wondered, eyeing the starcloud fire at the tip of Noctum's black tail.

"Maybe." Noctum scratched the side of his head. Fortunately, a round of deep breathing turned off the starry flames trailing off the edges of his mouth. "Haven't thought about it much." He traced a claw around the top of his belly. "Part of it... feels kinda right? Like it's meant to be."

Yiazmat hummed in thought, drumming her left fingers against the side of the cabinet. "The Book of Aeon says there was a time when charizard always looked like that." She gestured at Noctum. "Well, with blue flames. But you get the idea."

Noctum nodded. He knew the story well. While trying to quell a fury within the charizard, Bahamut caused them to gain dragon-typing. They continued to be restless, creating problems for the Sages. Bahamut then found a way to reverse the change and strip their dragon typing.

"Will you try to change back?" the dragapult asked.

Shrugging, Noctum approached the bedside. He hadn't given it any thought. "Right now, I want to do what I can to help everyone." Noctum grabbed the blanket on the bed and pulled it up to cover more of Calcifer. "How are you holding up?"

At first, there was more tapping of fingers against the metal cabinet. Then Yiazmat bowed her head. "I've had better days." She tilted her head in Calcifer's direction. "I want to pray for his safety, but..."

That won't do anything. Noctum winced. Yiazmat had taken everything from Bahamut's journal to heart. And now all the troops knew the truth about Bahamut, too.

"Well, if there's anything you need, let me know." Noctum leaned over and put his right hand on Yiazmat's shoulder.

The moment he did, blue-purple sparks raced down Yiazmat's torso and Noctum's right arm. Both of them yelped in surprise.

She stood amidst muddy ground. Rain poured all around her. Droplets dribbled off pillars. Some broken, others overturned. Her merchant friend stood beside a pile of rubble and crumbled marble.

Adjusting his hat, the merchant said, "Have a look at this, A̶̫̓͐k̴͙̉̌a̸̳̅r̷̙͌i̴͈̊"

Step by sloshy step, she approached him. With a better look at it through the rain, the crumbled marble... was probably a statue's base.

"This statue has been kept here," her friend said. Holding his hat to shield his smiling face from the rain, he looked past her. "Far from the statues of Ḋ̸͈i̷̞̍̚â̶̞͙̒l̴̼̥̅g̶̭͒a̸͔͇͐ and P̷̭̓ä̷̟̭́͠l̶̗͚͆͑k̴̛̛͚̲i̷̞͍̓́a̶̦̣͑͂."

Shaking his head, he pet the top of the marble pile. "Broken and shattered. And yet it remains." He turned to her. "Do you know what it is?"

She opened her mouth. What came out was muffled. Everything around her flickered. In and out. In and out. In and—

The merchant marched around the ruined statue. Tracing his right hand along the side of it. "You see, ever since I was young, whenever I met with something painful or heartbreaking... I couldn't help but wonder why life was so unfair."

He tilted his head up. Rain cascaded over the somber smile on his face. "Why I was cursed to live through such things." He turned to her.

The look in his eyes... one of understanding. She'd seen it before. Masked by confusion, yes. But it was the same confusion I̷̩͖̽̚n̶̝͗g̷̝̔ͅo̵̭̱͋ had whilst climbing the Highlands with her.

"Of course, I imagine we all go through something like that," he continued, smiling sweetly at her. She focused on the rubble surrounding the ruined statue.

"Eventually, I chose to direct all my energy into my own natural curiosity and ambition."

She flinched. He was by her side once again, gesturing proudly behind her. "And what tickled my curiosity more strongly than anything were the mysteries to be found in legends. In history. And in ruins."

He put his hand on her shoulder. She went as stiff as the shattered statue at her feet. The merchant leaned over and whispered, "You see, I fancied that by unraveling these mysteries, I̷̟̫͘ ̴͕͔͌͘c̴̹̀̈́ò̶̖ù̷̦l̵̤̰̂͊ḋ̶̢̚ ̷̛͉̪̇f̴̗̦̚ḯ̷̯̔n̵̝̈́̐d̵̮͠ ̷̟̈́ǫ̷͑ũ̶̬t̵͔̮̅̃ ̷̼͈͑̓h̵͎͚̋ö̸͓́w̸̝̖̎ ̶̭̱̊̇ț̵͇̕ḩ̵̭̑e̷͍͚̐͘ ̶̡̱̔̚ẁ̷͉o̴̖̠̓̓r̶̼̯̈́l̸̨̬̿͊d̴̞̖̽̂ ̴̬̔ȋ̶̮̱t̴̢̓ș̶̨̃͛e̴͍̓̈́l̴̰̃̚f̴͚̏͋ ̷̡̻̔̓c̸̦̉ͅa̶͚̜̓̓m̶͈̓e̸̲̬͋́ ̵̼̱̉t̸̗͒o̸͚͇͊ ̴͎̊b̸͙̓̕e̷̤͗́."

His smile was full of confidence once again.

"Ǎ̵̟̦̄ñ̶͕̹̎̿d̵̟̞͇͋̂̓ ̶̢̟͎̆͆͋w̸̱̲̲͐̓í̸̙̳̚t̵͍͈̺̃̚h̴̞͒͐̕ ̸͔̈ẗ̶̤̪̓h̴͉͔͛̎̕͜a̷̬͎̖͑̾͝t̷̙̾ ̸̨̫́͊k̸̫̃̎͘ǹ̵̢̳̑ỏ̸̢͉̭w̷͇̫͛͐l̸͙̯̾̓̕è̸̳̈͝d̶̞͈́̿͑ḡ̴̖̼ẹ̶̽,̶̮̉ ̸̹͛ṁ̶̻a̵̲̼̹̿ẏ̷̦̇͝b̵͈̬̲̈́e̴͈͂̕͜ ̵͎͚̊e̸̬̫͘v̶̢̥̦̂ë̶̤́̿n̶̯͋̚ ̴̢͓̳͊̊̚ḟ̴̦̀̓ǒ̵̧͙ŗ̵̡̂͂ģ̵̡̫̓̿́ë̸̮̠̮́͆ ̴̥̳̦̂ȧ̵̮̾͝ ̶̣͈̳͝ṇ̴̡̛͂e̴͚͆w̵̫͗͗,̸̺̝͆ ̵̖̃b̷̛̭̩͍̄e̵̠̥̐t̵̡̏̌͋ṯ̸͂e̴͈̟̼͝r̶͎̪͖̈́ ̶̞͉́͗w̷͉̠̃̍̈́o̷̧̗̣͆̕r̷̲͕̖͋l̴̝̹͊͋d̴̪̥̂͜!̵̢̗͆͊ͅ"

Noctum stumbled back and fell on his rear. Yiazmat's trembling arms were outstretched. Her eyes, widened like a feral facing down a predator, darted around the room. She looked at Calcifer and recoiled.

"Your Highness?"

Yiazmat flinched. Dragonfire brimmed in her horns. Noctum froze, fearing any slight movement would set her off.

"You need to leave."

It was barely a whisper. Noctum's tail flame shrank. "I—"

"NOW!" Yiazmat shrieked.

Frightened, Noctum bolted to his feet while the dragapult repeatedly screamed, "Get out!" The mega charizard fumbled with the door, then stumbled out into the hall. A Dragon Dart smacked the door shut. The clap echoed through the hallway.

Noctum staggered forward, clutching his ringing head and bracing his right arm against the metal wall.

He landed on the temple floor. The central space of the humans' monument to the Creator. The two women looked at him, faces full of awe.

He recognized the one on the left. She sent him prayers and the gifts of song. He concentrated on her. She stumbled slightly, resting a hand on her blonde hair.

"A-Almighty Sinnoh?!" She looked to the girl with black hair, then the young man who offered prayers to his sibling. "I think Almighty Sinnoh is speaking with me!"

Distorted cubes flickered around her. A garchomp's silhouette swallowed her up. The black-haired girl vanished, too. Replaced by a dragapult. By Yiazmat.

A loud slam snapped Noctum to attention. He found Valkyrie's claw inches in front of his snout. She scraped it along the wall, then put it on the tip of Noctum's snout. His tail flame flickered.

"You don't get to do that," the garchomp growled. Noctum practically wilted from her glare.

"Do what?"

"Play the big hero in the heat of battle then stumble through here with some faraway look in your eye." Valkyrie pulled her arm back.

"What?" Noctum shuffled back. Thankfully, Valkyrie didn't close the distance.

"Don't play dumb with me." Crossing her arms, she turned away from him. "You were going to let that Dyna Depletion shred you to ribbons." Her voice trembled by the end of that sentence. "And for what?"

Noctum raised a brow. Wasn't it obvious? "To keep you guys sa— ack!"

Valkyrie whirled on the mega charizard, shoving him against the same wall she'd scratched with her claw. "You could've closed that rift while staying next to me!" She brandished a claw at the tip of his snout. "But instead you plopped yourself in the line of fire like... like an absolute bonehead!"

She kept her claw in place. It had a purple tinge. If Noctum even opened his mouth, his snout would graze the poison.

And, threatening or not, she did have a point. In hindsight, he made a stupid decision. But he had to move Valkyrie's arm to say anything. So he reached up and pulled it. She looked ready to rip his face off, so Noctum quickly blurted out, "Yes, you're right! I was dumb!"

The admission sapped the fight from Valkyrie. She stepped back, folding her arms tightly over her torso.

"Don't do it again," she whispered, then walked off to Noctum's right.

"Wait!" He lumbered after her. They couldn't leave things like that. It was beyond awkward. Especially knowing they might work together when another mission popped up.

Valkyrie only quickened her pace, though, rounding a corner and shoving the door to the stairwell open with her shoulder. Noctum flapped his wings and glided after her. She was already up two flights by the time he entered the stairs. He flew up. She took them three or four at a time, then booked it out a door on the third floor.

Noctum kept following and, realizing she was about to close the door and lock it, Phantom Warped. It carried him through the door even as it slammed shut, which sent him barreling into Valkyrie. The two dragons ended up in a heap on the small shag carpet in the middle of her room.

"Get off me you idiot!"

"Ow! Okay! Sor— eeeeee!"

The pain from a rough, scaly knee to his groin was indescribable. It lingered even as Valkyrie rolled him onto his back. She put her right foot on his belly.

"What do you want from me?" the garchomp growled.

"T-to apologize?"

Valkyrie applied pressure. Noctum managed to roll out from underneath her leg and stumble to his feet. "I didn't want to leave things so awkward," he insisted, holding up his hands.

"This is your idea of making things less awkward?" Valkyrie gestured around the room. "Is it an Aeon custom to phase into people's rooms without their permission?"

"No." Noctum folded his wings up and looked down guiltily. "I guess I thought you'd ignore me if I stood by your door." He glanced over his shoulder, tittering. "And it's hard to have a conversation through a metal wall."

The ensuing groan lasted until Valkyrie had flopped down on her bed. Noctum wondered if he should step closer, but got an answer when the garchomp held up her right arm.

"Don't. I just... I can't with you."

Noctum's cheek flames almost reignited, but he kept them under control. "Can't, um, what?"

"This." She pointed both arms at him. "Tossing yourself at devastating attacks for my sake, then cracking nervous jokes with me." Valkyrie smacked her right arm against the bed. "What am I to you?"

"My teammate?" Noctum blurted out.

The glare that followed told him to think harder. He shifted nervously. Tried to look away from Valkyrie's glare.

What was Valkyrie to him, really? If they weren't on a mission, then they tended to verbally spar. That... wasn't a good thing, right? To say nothing of what happened between them on Chakran.

And yet, she kept standing by Noctum. Even as his world kept getting flipped on its head, she was always there. With some harsh words, sure. Still...

"I guess... you're my friend," Noctum whispered.

Valkyrie's glare practically dissolved away. After a protracted silence, she whispered, "Why?"

"Do I need a reason?" Noctum tried keeping his tone soft. "We look out for each other, so—"

"That's not good enough, damn it!"

Noctum flinched. His starry tail flame flickered. As he considered a response, the mega charizard slid down to sit on the floor. The way she kept pushing back... Noctum could only draw one conclusion.

Sighing, he tucked his head down. "I think... you'll be upset no matter what I say." Noctum took a deep breath. "But you have helped me. Even if you're terse." He paused. "And callous."

The garchomp surprisingly flinched. Noctum took that as a cue to continue. "But if it wasn't for you, I don't think I would've gotten past learning the truth about Aeonism." He looked at the ceiling. "Or a lot of the stuff we've learned about the world as a whole.

"So, yeah, I think you're my friend." He held his right hand up and crossed his claws. "Even if we're not buddy-buddy."

Noctum grabbed his tail and pulled it beside him, watching the starcloud fire swirl around. He waited for Valkyrie to respond. Or snap at him and tell him to leave.

Nothing happened, however. All Noctum heard were short, sharp breaths. He glanced at Valkyrie. There was confusion sprawled across her face. Something else was there, too. Something he didn't recognize at first. Because Noctum wondered if Valkyrie was even capable of it.

Fear.

Did he dare scooch closer to her?

... She locked eyes with him. He recognized that look. It was plastered over his face when, as a charmander, he wandered somewhere he shouldn't have... and found himself running for his life.

"I can't," she whispered, rubbing her wiry arms against her thighs. "I can't. I can't."

This time, Noctum stayed silent because he was genuinely at a loss for words. She kept rubbing her legs. Breathing sharply. The mega charizard feared she was going to nick herself with her own claws.

Valkyrie squeezed her eyes shut. Dug her claws into the sides of her bed. Cotton and feathers spilled out. Then, bit by bit, her breathing slowed. Her expression sharpened.

Finally, Noctum found his voice. "Whatever's wrong... you can tell me."

The garchomp pivoted away. Noctum's heart skipped a beat. All that time to come up with something and he blew it!

"You don't get it."

What wasn't he getting? Noctum barely managed to stop himself from scooting forward. What was he missing?

... Wait! The stuff she said back at the monastery. Was that it? Was that why it was hard to get her to open up unless she was angry?

"It's because of what happened to you before." Noctum fidgeted with the end of his tail. "Medicis turning on you to save their own skin."

Valkyrie nodded, trying to hide a pained expression. "The last time I ever opened up to anyone... my ass got hauled off to Citadark." She looked at her claws. A purple tinge overtook them for a split second. "After that... I told myself it'd never happen again."

Noctum resisted the urge to squeeze his own tail. But he had to know. "Becoming an assassin—"

"Was my decision," Valkyrie cut in. If she was ashamed, she hid it well. "Sakaki offered me different options to pay off my debt to the clan. And I chose that one."

Because it would keep everyone else at a distance, Noctum realized.

She wasn't prickly because of the job... but because she was trying to protect herself. So, their other arguments, then. Was she trying to understand him? Was that her crying for help?

"... I admit it."

Noctum blinked. "Huh?"

"I'm jealous of you." Valkyrie folded her arms in her lap. "Of the life you found. And what you made for yourself." She sighed. "I thought... even if you had people who loved you, I was still stronger. And that was what mattered with this whole dimensional crisis.

"But that?" The garchomp gestured to him. "I can't compete with that."

Static rippled across Noctum's vision, replacing Valkyrie with that blonde woman.

"I can't compete with that. Not Mighty Palkia," she said, yet there was a serene smile plastered on her face.

"Why does it have to be a competition?" Noctum said. His words pushed the static away, restoring Valkyrie and her slightly torn bed.

Valkyrie tensed. "I didn't mean it like that. I just... I'm supposed to be strong enough to handle myself. That's what I trained for." She looked away. "Getting caught off guard in battle like today... it's embarrassing."

Oh, so it was a pride thing. Noctum opened his mouth, but Valkyrie brandished her left claw at him.

"Don't you dare say 'I'm sorry.'"

Eyeing his shrinking tail flame, he shut his mouth. Noctum wasn't sure how else to respond. Things were only going to get tougher, weren't they?

But this wasn't a problem they could solve in one sitting. Noctum figured Valkyrie knew that, too, judging by the apprehension on her face.

He could keep pushing. And maybe that was the right call. Noctum couldn't bring himself to do that, though.

"Okay." The mega charizard got to his feet. "No apologies. Instead, how about a 'can I sit next to you?'"

There was a flash of that earlier, almost feral fear in Valkyrie's eyes. She managed to stuff it down. "Fine."

Noctum slowly approached her bed and sat down on her left. The bed creaked from the added weight. Noctum said nothing. Valkyrie stayed silent, too.

There were no clocks around. Noctum doubted much time had passed. Yet it might as well have been an eternity.

Eventually, though, rough scales brushed against his shoulder. Instincts screamed to react in some way, but Noctum remained still. He caught Valkyrie's head on his shoulder out of the corner of his eyes, avoiding the spikes there.

One part of Noctum begged him to return the gesture. Another said to push her away, reminding him of what happened with Yiazmat.

But as Noctum glimpsed the garchomp slowly relaxing, that first part won out. Slowly, he extended his right wing.

Valkyrie didn't move. She'd shut her eyes.

Though a small gesture, it was clear. She was trusting him.

Carefully, Noctum draped his jagged wing underneath Valkyrie's dorsal fin.

Her rough scales hurt his wing membrane. But the warmth that flowed through his chest made it all worthwhile.

(Art by @Adamhuarts)

XxX​

As the night rolled on, Leo found himself unable to sleep. At first, he thought maybe there was too much nervous energy from having more plates. So, he tried shifting his appearance around. He was even able to take on the guise of other pokémon with the plates' power.

It was cool, until he tried to think about why he could do that. Which gave him a headache.

The cosmic arceus decided to take a walk in the hopes of clearing his head. He left his room, headed down a metal hallway, and took the stairs down to the same sublevel as the hangar.

Leo walked down the gray, windowless corridor. Maybe if he floated out in space he'd fall asleep?

But then I'd worry everyone when they wake up.

He rounded a corner and continued down another drab metallic hallway, starcloud fur dimming.

Would it have killed Gene to do something with the residential side of the outpost? All this gray sucked ass. Maybe the sheer monotony of it would lull Leo to sleep.

He froze mid-step.

Two spirits were nearby. What if they sensed him?

****, this was bad. The last thing he needed was an earful from Yuna for wandering around at night.

... Wait! There was an easy fix. He just had to concentrate. C'mon, focus.

Leo's wheel flickered blue. In an instant, the cosmic arceus melted into a tiny puddle by the edge of one of the metal doors. Perfect timing, too, since the spirits in question rounded the corner.

Gene and... that Veggie guy! Leo couldn't remember the dusknoir's name, but that felt close enough.

"That's your plan, is it?" The shadowy mewtwo's arms were crossed. He wore an unusually stern expression. "Do what you can to help, then disappear into the afterlife forever?"

"I figured you'd be happy to hear that," Veggie said.

They both stopped. Leo tried to keep his puddle as still as possible. Could they sense him? Was the jig up already?

"Hard to take anything you say at face value," Gene said. His tail twitched in irritation.

"And yet, despite ample time to reveal the truth, you haven't," Veggie countered. His eye flickered blue.

Still creepy, Leo thought. He had to focus, though. Puddle. He was nothing but water. Too many thoughts and they'd sense his spirit.

Gene's Malice Crystal flickered. "Unlike you, I have a bunch of people to look after. Causing a panic in the outpost isn't productive for the resistance."

"Nor is the distrust you'd sow amongst the Aeons," Veggie cut in. Now his eye glowed a solid, steady blue. "Fascinating. Your convictions have changed."

"The situation's changed." Gene leaned back against the wall and crossed his right leg over his left. "You clearly understand that, too. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."

"I truly mean it." Veggie turned away from Gene. "If the last Needles are pulled, I'll die. Necrozma shall truly become invincible."

Gene raised a brow. "Implying he isn't right now? You told Yuna we'd have to locate Necrozma's 'lost spirit' to defeat him."

"I've reconsidered our approach."

Leo concentrated hard on staying liquified. Veggie had lied about that? Why hadn't Reshiram said something to Yuna, then?

"There's a chance." Veggie held up an index finger. "If you accept Arceus' blessing—"

Gene's eyes and shoulder crystal glowed purple. "You mean your son's." He pushed off the wall and moved to walk away. "I knew you were full of it."

Veggie stuck his arm in Gene's path. The shadowy mewtwo stopped, glaring at Veggie. If Leo had proper ears in puddle form, they'd be ringing.

"It's not the same," Veggie whispered.

"Come again?"

"Even if there are traces of the soul I remember, it will never be the same." Veggie bowed his head. "He's not my son."

Gene put his hands on his hips. "And what about Yuna? Y'know she told a bunch of us she's Chiron, right?"

Leo was still in as much of a daze as he could afford whilst suppressing his spirit to maintain puddle form. But something about the way Gene phrased that...

Veggie rested his right hand on the wall. The blue glow faded from his eye. "She's not my wife." Blue electricity swarmed his eye once again. "I cannot get attached. If I do, I'll fall back into old habits. Seek to recombine and—"

"Seriously?" Gene's tail lashed at the air. "So, better you off yourself? Take this secret to your grave?"

"Times on times he divided, and measured space by space in his ninefold darkness." Veggie slowly shook his head. "You of all people should understand this is the correct decision. I've made too many mistakes. I'm long past the point of redemption—"

Gene's glare turned to indifference. "Yeah. Sure. You're right." The shadowy mewtwo laughed bitterly. "Screw me for thinking your brush with mortality had changed anything."

He started to walk off. Veggie's eye faded back to red. "Where are you going?"

"To bed. I gotta meet with that ponyta twink tomorrow."

"We're not finished here."

The shadowy mewtwo whirled on Veggie. His shoulder crystal crackled with red and black energy. A blade of shadows manifested in his right hand. And there was... something behind him.

Leo was trying his hardest to keep himself and his aura hidden. But that shadowy blade... felt like it was trying to claw Leo's spirit out into the open.

And that thing behind Gene — a black, crystal sphere with a glowing red core — made Leo want to reform and run. Run far away.

Why was it... familiar? Was Veggie seeing it, too? He had to be, right?

"We are finished." Gene leveled the blade at Veggie. "I'm not taking the kid's power. I'll do this my own way."

The dusknoir drifted back. "This... this is..."

"You spent a while around Overseers," Gene growled. "I'm sure shadow-type came up once or twice."

Veggie's eye dimmed. "How long... have you had this power?"

"Too long." Gene brought the blade closer. "But I can't control it. I keep it suppressed." He jerked his head at his glowing Malice Crystal.

Leo felt that awful clawing again. When he looked at the crystal sphere behind Gene, he saw a chilling emptiness. How was Veggie not reacting to it?

"The reason I didn't go to fight Matriarch was because I couldn't control it." Gene's shadowy blade rippled. Crackled with red and purple lightning. "Nova was afraid I'd turn against the team. And then I lost him."

Veggie started to drift further away, but Gene's psychic grip took hold and brought him closer. The dusknoir tried to keep his head away from the blade. "And so... you've feared... calling on it?"

"Until today," Gene said. His eyes flashed blue. "I used that power on those damn birds. Can't keep hiding it now, can I? I'll—"

The crystal sphere behind Gene pulsated. His face contorted in pain, then the shadowy mewtwo brought his hand back as if he was going to spear Vegna with the shadow blade.

"—Perhaps I should kill you after all. The fear and panic it would cause... it could grow my power. Enough to pull off the impossible and destroy Necrozma."

Leo lost sight of the hallway. He saw a dark, starry sky. A black miasma surrounded a rainbow tree whose colors were fading into the black mist.

"All this fear. All this anguish. The world cries out for its suffering to end. I shall grant that wish. Burn away all the suffering in the fires of the sun!"

"One shot. One chance," Leo said. He flung a delphox and a meganium toward the tree. "The world's hope rests with you!"

Gene locked eyes with where Leo was hiding as a puddle. He released Veggie and staggered back, clutching his head and shaking it.

"I, nngh, told you..."

The glow in the shadowy mewtwo's Malice Crystal faded. And the crystal sphere vanished, too. "Hard to... control."

He glanced in Leo's direction again. Veggie looked over his shoulder. Leo did his best to remain as still as he could as a puddle, but the dusknoir raised his left hand. Blue sparks crackled around it.

"How long were you hiding there?" Veggie said.

Leo reformed from the puddle. The cosmic arceus looked down guiltily at his golden hooves. There were things he could say, but the words weren't coming to him.

"You tell no one what you heard," Veggie said. The sparks spread along his right hand. "Understand?"

Leo looked over to Gene, but the shadowy mewtwo had vanished. Had he disappeared into a rift or fled toward the staircase?

Small blue bolts peppered the ground by Leo's forelegs. He hopped back, starcloud mane flickering.

"I asked you a question, boy." Veggie's eye cast an eerie blue glow over Leo.

"I understand," Leo squeaked. "I won't say anything."

Veggie turned away. The sparks disappeared, but gold mist and ectoplasm melted off the dusknoir's right arm. "I'm holding you to that."

And he floated off, leaving Leo alone in the hallway once again. The cosmic arceus' head pounded.

That shadowy blade. That crystal sphere. What was that vision? Was that... something that happened? Was he a reincarnated soul, too?

How could he talk about this with anyone if he promised not to say anything?

Vision fuzzy, Leo staggered toward the stairwell.

He needed time. Leo couldn't make any decisions yet. He had to think things over. Try and make sense of all of this... even if it was on his own.

Leo's head spun too much to levitate up the stairs. So, he clumsily climbed them.

Sleep was definitely off the table now.

XxX​

"Y'shoulda seen it, Maxie! I was slicin' 'n dicin' bots left and right! Hyah! Sha-ha!"

Artemis wasn't sure what he was expecting as he slithered through the hangar in search of the bag he'd left there. Archie slashing the air with a jagged seamitar wasn't anywhere near the top of the list.

Shaking his head, the ghostly typhlosion looked up from the book he was reading. "I know you were. I was there."

Archie froze mid-thrust. "Oh yeah. Suppose yeh were."

"You were too busy jetting around to notice." Maxie nudged his goggles. "I was with some of the dragons keeping their distance."

He noticed Artemis. "Can I help you, Milotic?"

Artemis' ribbons curled. "Ah, no. Not at all." He spotted his bag beside some boxes and slithered toward it. "Just, y'know, grabbing my bag. Forgot it when I left."

"Uh-huh." Maxie returned his gaze to his book.

As Artemis grabbed the bag, however, Archie said, "Yer antsy."

"Huh?" The milotic coiled up. "Well, it's kind of hard not to be after what we heard."

"Not about that." The dark samurott leveled a jagged seamitar at Artemis. "Yer itching to do something. I can feel it in my bones." Archie looked over his shoulder. "C'mon, Maxie. Back me up here."

Maxie silently turned a page in his book.

Archie scowled. "Lousy killjoy..."

"I heard that," Maxie scoffed, nudging up his goggles.

"Whatever." Archie sheathed the jagged seamitar. "Point is, yer tired of sitting on the sidelines. Yeh need to do something. It's written all over yer face."

Seriously? Artemis doubted some weird-looking samurott could tell that solely from his expression. It was a bluff. Artemis wouldn't entertain it. He uncoiled and slithered for the door to the residential quarters.

"Yeh can lie to yerself all yeh want!" Archie bellowed. "Yeh'll just keep getting antsier and antsier until yeh pop!"

At the laughter that followed, Artemis whirled around. "So, what of it?" The milotic's ribbons bristled. "You've seen the insanity for yourself! I can't stand up to any of that." He raised his right ribbon. "Everyone's on an entirely different level. Yeah, I helped hold the line against that crazy sneasler, but that was pure luck!"

He lowered his ribbon, shaking his head. "I'm a dishwasher, for pity's sake. Any training fell by the wayside once the Radiant Guard and Vortex screwed me over."

Before Artemis could continue to the door, Archie said, "So, yer not even gonna try to fix it?"

Artemis froze. "Fix it? What's there to fix?"

"C'mon. I ain't summoning no giant dragons outta a gem in my chest." Archie thumped his armored chest with a foreleg. "Maxie ain't, either. Not stopping us from fighting."

"Indeed." Maxie turned the page in his book. "And what of all the Aeon soldiers?"

"They're soldiers," Artemis countered. "Their whole job revolves around this." His brows drooped. "I lost my chance at being a soldier."

"And it'll stay lost if yeh don't do anything about it," Archie scoffed.

The milotic's brows and ribbons crinkled. "Like what?"

"Lendin' a fin, o' course!" Archie slapped a foreleg against the metal floor. "Even if yer just fightin' the dumb bots, it's more than sitting around here." He rocked back and forth. "Yer a pokémon. Battlin' is in yer blood, whether yeh like it or not."

"Not doing anything to change your feeling of worthlessness is naught but learned helplessness," Maxie added. The ghostly typhlosion still hadn't looked up from his book. "And that's rather pathetic for a milotic."

Artemis flinched. They were right. He was repeating the same mistakes that kept him stuck in his dead-end job back at Horizon. Back then was too afraid Vortex had blacklisted him, so he just... stayed there, bemoaning the hand life had dealt him.

"Okay, fine." Artemis turned away from them. "I'll give it a shot."

"Aye, that's the spirit!" Archie raised a jagged seamitar. "Why don't yeh join us fer some training tomorrow? I can whip yeh into fighting shape!"

Given the twinkle in Archie's eyes, Artemis wondered if actual whipping was involved. "I'll, uh, consider it." He turned toward the door. "Thanks."

The milotic slithered out of the hangar and into the hallway. He had a lot to think about. So a nice, hot shower was in order.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 90: Secret Herbrides and Spices​

"Seriously?"

Tessa looked at the paper that Nickie nudged across the floor to her. It had crude doodles of spiked rings.

"Yeah!" Nickie's tails wagged asynchronously. "Look, this bandanna you leant me is nice. But it's not my style." She nudged at the blue cloth with her snout.

"Not your... style?" Tessa picked up the paper. "So you'd rather wear—"

"Spiked collars and anklets!" Nickie's tails wagged faster. "I had spiked wristbands back home. They were great. I'd love something like that here." Her eyes sparkled. "And then maybe I can grow out my hair so it covers up one of my eyes a bit. Gimme that 'heartthrob' look." She swished her tails to the side and stuck a foreleg out in a pose accentuated by the sparkling of her icy pelt.

Tessa blinked. "Huh."

The vulpix frowned. "Something wrong?"

"I guess I... thought you'd go for softer accessories."

"Oh." Nickie's ears folded. "Well, I—" She brushed her forelegs together. "Now that you know the truth I thought... I could be more of my, y'know, authentic self around you."

"Hmm?" The realization set in a moment later for the riolu. "Ah!"

She lightly hit her head a few times. "Stupid, stupid!" Tessa folded up the paper. "Of course you should do that."

"Then you'll help me find a place that sells these?" Nickie regained her earlier enthusiasm.

"Totally."

"And maybe some fur dye?" Nickie looked back at her right flank. "I was thinking some pinks and purples..."

Tessa walked over and slung an arm around Nickie. "I'm sure we've got the funds for it."

XxX​

As the name implied, Herbrides' Hilltop Mall sat on a decently sized hill toward the center of the city. The entrance offered a view of grain and wheat fields beyond city limits, along with the rows of tan-colored buildings fanning out in all directions.

Inside, however, the white floor was so pristine that Yuna could see an outline of her reflection. Though the dragapult had to admit she liked how the floor sparkled under the sunlight spilling in through the mall's glass roof.

"So, what d'ya think, Princess?"

Nikki clapped Yuna on the back as she passed her by. The toxtricity ran a hand along the top of a neat, rectangular bush planted in a pot in the middle of the floor.

"It's, um, something?" Yuna waited until Igneous walked past before continuing forward. She glanced over her shoulder. Scarlett had on some sort of cloak to hide her face, while Shimmer was disguised as a fire-type ponyta.

Truthfully, she still wasn't sure why Nikki insisted on dragging her here. The whole reason part of the resistance was in Herbrides was to sweep the city itself. Cid mentioned something about the distortion that swallowed up Tulpise spreading south, and that was all Seifer needed to demand they move out.

"You don't really think the empire's going to spawn in this mall, do you?" Yuna wondered, keeping her voice down. Plenty of folks were heading in both directions. A fact that Shimmer and Scarlett both seemed spooked by.

"Of course not." Nikki adjusted her leather jacket. "But we needed a change of scenery." She walked backward. "C'mon. A week of nothing but artificial light and Cyril's dumb outpost is so boring."

"I guess." Yuna did find the natural sunlight refreshing after another week of mind-numbing training exercises. "Though we could get sunlight outside, too."

"Sure, sure." Nikki dismissed her with a wave. "But then we wouldn't get to take you to your first mall!"

This was about Yuna? The dragapult's head swiveled left and right. There were glass windows with two and four-legged mannequins draped in cloaks and jackets. One store displayed wooden shelves lined with trays of assorted baked goods. The store next to it had big glass containers full of wrapped candies and chocolates.

It was kind of like the market in Saint Zygardesberg. Except the shops were stacked into multiple floors instead of lining a single street.

"Wait a tic," Reshiram piped up. "How are you supposed to buy anything? You don't have any radians on you."

Yuna passed that concern along to Nikki. The toxtricity snickered. She flicked her right hand out. A tiny plastic rectangle popped up between her fingers.

"Since when do you have a credit card?" Scarlett slithered past Nikki, stopping by a fountain and eyeing the marble primarina statue spitting up water. The brionne scattered along the fountain's rim also spat water. And were those coins glistening on the floor?

It was weird, yet Yuna found all the sparkling coins and rippling water relaxing. She could've stared at the bottom of the fountain all day, but Nikki's voice caught her attention.

"Since I swiped it outta lover boy's hair." Nikki stuck her hands up by her mohawk and wiggled her fingers while making a kissy face.

Arms crossed, Igneous rested against one of the stone brionne. "And what happens when Cyril realizes he has a bunch of new charges on his credit card?"

"Nothing." Nikki tucked the card back into a small, zippered pocket on her jacket. In a hushed voice, she added, "Dude illegally mints his own radians. He won't care."

Igneous' brows twitched in irritation while Nikki continued past the fountain. Gulping, Yuna followed.

"At least it's better than outright shoplifting?" she offered with a nervous smile.

"Niiice. Looking at the bright side." Shaymin nodded his tiny head in her subconscious. "I dig it. Say, they got any good eats around here?"

What does it matter? You're a spirit! Groaning, Yuna shoved the Sages out of her head. "So, what exactly are we going to do here? I'm not, like, looking to buy food or clothes."

"No duh." Nikki picked up the pace. "C'mon. Map said it's back here on the third floor." The toxtricity pointed toward a moving staircase in the far distance. She pushed her way past an older simipour and simisage. "Stand aside, geezers!"

Yuna muttered an apology as she floated after Nikki. She swerved past an inteleon, whose sobble child on their shoulder promptly began crying and turned invisible. She weaved under the large frames of a couple of garganacle, nearly crashing into a painting canvas with a smeargle sitting beside it. Yuna floated ahead, flashing Smeargle a nervous grin. They shook their head and returned to... painting a portrait of a plusle and minun couple sitting on a stool next to the canvas and holding hands.

Why is this so... nostalgic?

"Because of thine market trips back home?" Rayquaza wondered.

Maybe? The market did bustle, yes. But the ash choking the skies over Saint Zygardesberg made it tough to appreciate her time there.

"Perhaps it's Giratina's memories, then."

Reshiram's thought sent a chill down Yuna's ectoplasm. She barely avoided an elderly espathra moving much slower than surrounding foot traffic. For a moment, the pristine white floors turned to a dirt road. Instead of a toxtricity shoving people aside, a familiar black-haired girl waved Yuna over before jogging down the dirt road toward a small wooden building with some sort of toolbox outside it.

"Let's craft some smoke balls together! They'll totally help us look for the pokémon causing those storms!"

"Keep up, Yuna!"

Scarlett's voice snapped the dragapult to attention. Nikki was already heading up the escalator, with Igneous and the dragonair about to get on.

"Sorry!" Yuna squeaked. She decided to fly higher up, over everyone else, to keep pace with the others.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Reshiram cut in.

Yeah, sure. But Nikki said we're here to have fun. Yuna reached Igneous and Scarlett. So drop it, okay?

Sighing, Reshiram retreated from her mind. Yuna hovered up the escalator. The others got off at the third floor. Nikki walked a few meters away, toward a flashing neon "GAME BUSTERS ARCADE" sign above open glass doors. She stood with her hands proudly on her hips.

"Seriously?!" Igneous' head leaf and tails simmered. "You dragged us here for a damn arcade? We're not a pack of kids, you know."

"Oh, step off your high rapidash." Not turning around, Nikki waved the grovlazzle off. "You're never too old to let your inner child out for a spell. Think of it like a team-building exercise."

She finally looked over her shoulder. "Speaking of high rapidash, where's Pillow Prince?"

Yuna's eyes widened. Right, Shimmer. He was with them before. What happened?

"Tch." Igneous crossed his arms. "Right when you ran off, he said Demerzel contacted him. So, he left."

Scarlett frowned. "I thought Gene had gotten rid of that whole connection."

"He kept a part of it." Igneous pinched his brow in annoyance. "He still wants to keep tabs on his mothers, apparently. Tried to tell him it was a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen."

So, the ponytales was off to meet with Demerzel, then? That was... not going to bite them, was it? The look in Igneous' eyes suggested it wouldn't, but it made Yuna nervous anyway.

"Well, forget him." Nikki stepped toward the others, rubbing her hands together. "This evens things out perfectly."

"For what?" Scarlett wondered, looking between Nikki and the arcade. Though the door was open, it was quite dark on the other side.

"For a little two-on-two air hockey action." Nikki punched the air while her mohawk flared up with excitement. "Since Princess has to learn the ropes, I'll take her. And you two can be together." A wry grin spread over her face. "Y'know, since you've been spending soooo much time together~"

Igneous' head leaf caught fire, which he immediately snuffed out. "Why should you get decide?"

"Aww, what's the matter?" Nikki was at Igneous side in an instant. She noogied his head. "Afraid of getting your ass kicked in a friendly competition?"

"Knock it off!" Igneous shoved her away. "The teams are—"

Scarlett's tail wrapped around the grovlazzle's leg. "You don't have a problem with me not having limbs, do you?"

The simmering returned to his head leaf. "N-Not at all." Igneous clenched his fist. "We can... kick their asses just fine."

Nikki's grin widened. "Now that's the spirit! C'mon!"

Before Yuna could say anything, Nikki had her by the arm and was running for the arcade entrance.

XxX​

Herbrides. Why did it have to spread toward Herbrides? was all Seifer could think to himself as he walked along a side street. Cyril was beside him, in the guise of a dark-type zoroark. He held a small rectangular radar.

"Still nothing." Cyril tapped the screen with an illusory red claw. He shifted his weight mid-step. "All clear on the ground to the west. We'll keep going clockwise."

"Understood," Widget said through the X-transceiver line. "We're good, too."

Seifer quickened his pace. The tan roads and tan buildings could practically melt together.

"Y'know, never did get why so many houses on the outskirts are circular," Cyril said, taking his eyes off his radar and casually moving ahead. "Makes 'em look a bit like bunkers."

"Simulates the hills," Artemis responded. He was slithering a few paces back of them, sticking his head up. Enjoy the cool breeze, perhaps? The air was rather stuffy in the outpost. "At least, I think it does," the milotic mumbled.

"And people actually pay decent money for these?" Cyril walked past a couple of the domed houses, eyeing them skeptically. A dolliv tending to a small petunia garden in front of their house shot the zoroark a nasty look.

"Ah-ha, whoops." Cyril rubbed his fake red hair. "Might've gotten a bit too loud."

Seifer locked eyes with Dolliv. Their eyes instantly widened. Seifer started walking faster.

"Oh, Commander Seifer! Lovely to see you again!" Dolliv waved.

"Move," Seifer hissed to Cyril in a whisper. Putting on the fakest smile he could muster, he turned and waved a forehoof to Dolliv. "Good morning, Tunie. Your garden's still as radiant as ever. Apologies I can't chat. I'm on the clock."

Ignoring Artemis' bewildered expression, the keldeo hoofed it forward. A granbull and an alcremie with two milcery children playing together in a fenced yard looked over and waved. Seifer nodded respectfully, continuing forward.

"What's the rush, Seif?" Cyril said, breaking into a jog to keep pace with Seifer's trot. "Where's the fire?"

"We have to find somewhere hidden." Seifer's eyes darted around. These people weren't supposed to be home! They should've been out and about on a nice morning like this!

"Heeeeey!" Artemis sounded annoyed. "C'mon, you're both faster than me on the ground!"

Seifer turned left toward a dustier road. A minute of trotting would reach city limits. The homes here were spaced apart, but there was a grass wall dividing them. It was good enough cover.

"I need an illusion," the keldeo said.

Cyril caught up with him. "Ser... iously?" He hunched over, taking deep breaths. "Thought we had this discussion earlier."

"That was before I realized where in this city Gene sent us." Seifer shrank back nervously. "My family's got a vacation home in this neighborhood. People aren't recognizing me because of my old position. They're neighbors."

Eyes widening, Cyril stood up. "Ohhhh." Then his shock turned to annoyance. "Well, why didn't you mention that before? I could've told Boss Kitty not to send us here."

"We were in a bit of a hurry and it's a big city," Seifer mumbled.

"Then forget it." Cyril put his hands on his hips. "Boss Kitty, you there? Change of plans. You've gotta cover the ground here."

"It might be too late for that."

Seifer jumped at Artemis' voice. The milotic pointed a ribbon back. "There's a cobalion and terrakion heading this way." His eyebrows drooped. "Your uncle and father, if I'm remembering right."

The keldeo's blood ran cold. He shot Cyril a pleading look. Sighing, the zoroark snapped his fake red claws. Blue light surrounded Seifer. It faded to reveal a fairy rapidash guise.

"Okay," Seifer whispered. "Now we continue on like nothing—"

"Oi, you three! What's going on over there?"

Terrakion's sharp voice drew the trio's gazes. Seifer's heart leaped into his chest as Terrakion and Cobalion marched toward them. Deep breaths. He had Cyril's illusion. And the zoroark had proven himself a capable liar on many occasions.

"Just out for a stroll." Cyril stretched his arms up. "My friend here wanted to grab a photo by this grass wall." He slung an arm over a startled Artemis' horn. "He's from Venish. Never left the place before that whole insanity." Cyril lazily traced a circle with an index claw.

"Quiet, you!" Terrakion stomped a forehoof down. The dirt shifted under everyone's feet. "This ain't some touristy loitering spot, Zoroark. Whatever you're up to, better fess up."

Seifer's breaths came in short gasps. His uncle never was the patient type. Had he really seen through Cyril's lie?

For his part, the zoroark rested his hands behind his mane. "It's also not some restricted area, bud."

"Bud? Do I look like your cellmate?" Terrakion's eyes narrowed. "It's Greyson. Commander Greyson."

Wait, what? Oh, if only Seifer had real psychic power. He could reach out to Cyril telepathically. Because something was wrong. Greyson was a retired Stoutland Yard chief. He never worked for the Radiant Guard.

"That so? My bad." Cyril raised his hands innocently. The small smile on his face betrayed the tense look in his eyes. "Don't keep up much with the news. Wasn't aware Her Eminence had named a new commander."

"Two new commanders." Greyson jerked his head in Cobalion's direction. "Or, one new and one returning. Picking up the pieces from that useless waste of space that got the boot."

The fake rapidash did his best not to flinch. Seifer's father and uncle were his replacements? Of course. Why look for new blood when Isola could just turn to Seifer's family? If she truly was some nefarious body snatcher, it would even let her keep a close eye on them just in case.

What was Seifer supposed to do here? He had to say something before this got out of hand. "A-Apologies. We actually got a bit, um, turned around." Seifer stepped to Cyril's side. "And my friend's too proud to ask for directions."

"Fat chance," Greyson scoffed.

Cobalion wrinkled his nose. "Agreed. Something reeks about this. No sane fairy would pal around with some lying, low-life zoroark."

Seifer suppressed a wince. Memories of his father cursing out assorted species at the dinner table flickered through his head.

"Excuse me?" Cyril growled. He kept his expression as neutral as possible. "I'm not looking for trouble, dude."

"That's Commander Tobias, you ruffian." Cobalion stood up straight, as if to emphasize the half meter of height he had over Cyril.

"Uh-huh." Cyril's tone somehow stayed even. "Well, I hate to disappoint, but this 'lying low-life' is nothing but a humble mechanic."

"Then what's a grease mankey doing out in the nice part of Herbrides, huh?" Greyson said. Red energy sparked around the terrakion's forehead. "I say we take 'em all in for questioning."

"I wanted to make a day trip here with my boyfriend." Cyril put his hand on Seifer's back. The fake rapidash almost lost his composure. What was the zoroark thinking outing their relationship? If anything broke Seifer's illusion...

"And I've been living with him since the attack on Venish." Artemis tapped the ground by Cyril's feet with his tailfins. "So, I'm third-wheeling."

Greyson eyed the milotic with a look of disgust. "I ain't buying it. You?"

Tobias shook his head. "As I said, no decent milotic or rapidash would slum it with a zoroark." The cobalion's eyes narrowed. "Much less court one."

For a moment, Seifer thought there was genuine hurt in Cyril's eyes. But he quickly masked it with his stoic expression. "So, what, you're bringing me to a station because I'm a zoroark?"

"No." Tobias rolled his eyes. "Because you're a zoroark looking and acting suspicious. And these two are clearly accomplices. Now, quiet down and start walking. Or do I have to slap a muzzle on you, runt?"

However, before anyone had the chance to respond, Seifer caught a streak of orange out of the corner of his eye. "Down!" he screamed, shoving Cyril to the ground. A giant fireball struck the dome-shaped house to their right, blowing the roof open. Rubble struck a blue Protect shield that spilled out from Seifer's horn in the nick of time.

... His black, ridged prosthetic horn.

Seifer's eyes slowly widened.

"S-Seifer?!" Tobias gasped. The keldeo glanced back to see Artemis coiled around a dazed Cyril. His illusions had failed, leaving his cosmic fur on full display.

"What is the meaning of this, boy?" Greyson said.

"More fire!" Artemis shouted. Though he spat streams of water, they couldn't stand up against the fireballs. They struck other domed houses. Screams rang out. Two gogoat and several skiddo ran out of one building, while a tropius and fidough sprinted out of another.

"What did you do?" Tobias bellowed, leveling his glowing Sacred Sword at the trio.

Bells rang out from the sky. Multiple birds appeared out of seemingly nowhere, with wartortle and raichu perched on their backs.

"Avast! Ahoy! Yo ho! Yo ho! Our time tis finally here!" a kilowattrel sang.

"We'll plunder like mad!" a pidgeot added.

"There's booty to be had!" sang a swellow with sparking wings.

"Fer the Blackskull Buccaneers!" the wartortle and raichu all sang in unison, before leaping from their fliers back and raining Hydro Pumps and Thunderbolts on the group from above.

XxX​

"Do you ever think about the day you were born?"

From their position atop the roof of the shuttered Herbrides Crowne Minister's office building, Widget glanced at Gene. The shadowy mewtwo's tail crinkled.

"Seriously?" His Malice Crystal dimmed. "Who leads with a question like that?"

"I do, apparently," Widget responded. He looked down at his golden talons, curling and uncurling them. "I was... curious. Since you were built. Like me."

Pinching his brow, Gene walked over and leaned against the yellow brick chimney. "No. I don't."

"Oh." Widget's cheek bolts turned once. "Okay." The cosmic silvally curled his fish tail slightly. "Sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"Don't guilt trip me, Squirt." Gene crossed one leg over another. His eyes remained shut. "I don't think about it because there isn't much to it. Doing a bunch of stupid tests for stupider human scientists." He clenched his fist. "Then Giovanni captured me when I was supposed to be fully released from stasis. Everything after that's a huge blur until Nova took me in."

"Right." Widget nodded slowly. "Do you suppress those memories?"

Gene shook his head. Widget watched his Malice Crystal darken. "I don't have to. Nova suppressed them for me."

The silvally's starcloud swirled around slowly. "All the Eterna energy treatments?"

"In a sense." Gene repeatedly ran a finger up and down the Malice Crystal. "Giovanni... did something to me. He made me so... empty inside. To better function as his 'weapon.'"

At the mention of 'empty,' Widget swore he saw some sort of black crystal sphere looming behind Gene. And it... tugged on a part of him. His scaly hide was itching.

"Nova and Miraidon... sealed that part of me off," Gene continued. He held his hand out and strange black shadows swirled around his fingers.

The itchiness in Widget's scales got worse. He wasn't sure whether to say anything about that sphere. Surely it was an illusion, right?

"It's something called 'shadowing.'" Gene dispelled the energy. "Nova never told me why he and Miraidon knew how to do this. Though I'm betting the latter being one of those Overseers has something to do with it."

"Shadowing?" Widget's scales thankfully weren't crawling anymore.

"It's when you seal away a pokémon's spirit," Gene explained. "Normally, doing so turns pokémon into vicious beasts driven by their most negative emotions."

Except Widget wouldn't classify Gene as vicious. If anything, that applied to Necrozma. "You don't seem that way," he mumbled.

"Because Miraidon and Nova had a loophole." Gene placed his hand over his heart. "They sealed off that... thing Giovanni put into me to make me empty. Since he'd done that not long after I was 'born,' I never got to develop my real spirit. But sealing that thing was enough to turn me shadow.

"It's why I look like this." Gene pushed off the chimney. Lazily walked toward Widget with his hands resting behind his head. "And how my real heart or soul or whatever you want to call it was able to safely grow on its own."

Widget shifted uncomfortably. The explanation didn't sit right with him. "If that part of you is sealed, why do you remember stuff you did for Team Rocket?"

"Sometimes that thing tries to force its way out," Gene admitted. He looked at his hands. It was subtle, but they were shaking. "To convince me to give into despair and emptiness... and become a weapon again."

"Wait." The cosmic silvally's crest fanned out. "Doesn't that sound a bit like the reincarnated soul stuff?"

Shrugging, Gene lowered his arms. "I don't try to read into it."

Widget's gut squirmed. "So, um, is the reason you don't act all that serious—"

"That's me trying to keep it at bay." Gene pointed at his glowing Malice Crystal. "And it worked... until last week. I was too desperate in Wyndon... and drew on some of that thing's power."

His shoulders sagged. "It's been tugging on the back of my mind ever since. Whispering the same tired things about emptiness and hatred."

The mewtwo shook his head. "Why are you grilling me on this, anyway?" He sized Widget up. "Is this about the other week? Are you still stuck on that?"

There wasn't any point hiding it from Gene. "Yes!" Widget squawked. His starcloud and cheek bolts dimmed. "I just— I don't understand." He shook his head. "I can't understand."

Grimacing, Widget's talons dug into the stone roof. "The day the emperor turned me on... he was so happy. I thought... he was proud of me." His head crest drooped. "I did everything he told me to. Because he said it would make me a hero. That it would make everyone proud of me."

"Uh-huh. Cuz we know the emperor's such an honest guy." Gene tilted his head. "I thought you talked to a bunch of birddogfish in one of the mystery dungeons and it put you at ease. Why the backsliding?"

"That was before Yuna went and just... just dropped a mental Draco Meteor!" Widget responded. His starcloud flickered erratically. He squeezed his eyes shut. "I thought— no, I believed the emperor had tricked me, yet I still chose to listen. But what if that's not true?"

He took a step toward the shadowy mewtwo. "You said it yourself last week." Widget was sure Gene thought him pathetic, but pressed on anyway. "There was nothing biologic about me before Leo intervened. What if... what if everything I did wasn't my choice? Simply lines of code instead?!"

A pained grimace spread over his feet. "The moment I woke up on Chakran, Leo had already shared his power with me." Widget shook his head repeatedly, like he was bucking off a small feral who'd latched onto his neck. "Everything that's happened since... how can I be sure?"

Gene remained still. "Sure of what?"

"That these are really my choices?!" Widget's voice cracked. His gold talons scraped the stone beneath them. Blurry blue and purple light melted together. White fur painted over his cosmic form. Forelegs gave way to reshiram wings. "That I want to fight these battles? That Leo didn't just... rewrite the emperor's code? Or... or stuff some old, dormant soul into my body?

"Even the stuff you were saying about some force of emptiness felt... familiar for some reason."

(Art by Jungabeast.)

Widget glimpsed at his new wings. So white and fluffy. Was this... another one of his transformations? Why was it showing up now?

Pushing those specific thoughts aside, the reshivally sank to his belly. "How can I know?" He folded his new wings over his head. "How can I trust myself... when I don't even know if I've always had a soul?"

Silence followed. Widget slowly slid his wings off his head. White fur brushed against rough, dirty stone.

"There more to your rant or you done?"

Widget looked up. Gene had pivoted away from him. His yellow-tipped tail curled and uncurled in irritation.

"I thought... you understood," the reshivally whimpered. "Or maybe you remembered something about Nova you could tell me."

"Well, sorry to disappoint." Gene shrugged. "Yeah, Nova was better at this stuff than I was. That's what made him an effective leader, I guess. While yours truly just wings it."

Nothing about that reassured Widget. Then again, it sounded like Gene didn't care.

"It's funny." Gene stopped curling and uncurling his tail. "I'm plain trash at the whole 'leader' thing, yet thanks to Princess I've ended up with a resistance that's at least ten times as big as Nova's."

There was an obvious question to ask: why didn't Gene try and better his leadership skills? Yet Widget kept his beak shut. He'd poured his heart out to Gene. Selfish as it sounded, Widget didn't want to make this about the shadow mewtwo.

Surprisingly, Gene floated to Widget's side and sat down beside him. "Guess there's one thing I can offer." He put a hand on Widget's right wing. "Nova always told me that it's just as easy to worry about the future as it is to get caught up in the past."

Widget picked his head up. Where was Gene going with this? "If you're going to tell me to live for the present—"

A finger to Widget's beak shushed him. Gene shook his head. "Should you live in the present? Yeah. I do." He pulled his hand back. "Still gotta look to the future, though. One step at a time."

Gene tapped his right temple. "If we let the fear of an unknown future bury us, then we're not living."

He pointed at Widget. "In your case, if you let this paralyze you, then it doesn't matter how you were made or if you have a soul." His Malice Crystal flickered. "At that point, you're letting everyone and everything around you control you. And how's that any different from what you're worried about?"

The reshivally blinked once. Twice.

It... made sense. In a twisted sort of way.

He exhaled loudly, blowing a couple of pebbles by his beak toward Gene's foot. "I suppose." Widget pushed himself to a sitting position. "Might need to work on your pep talks, though."

"That was recycled material." Gene waved Widget off dismissively.

"Then your recycling skills need work," Widget deadpanned.

"Like your stand up skills?" Gene countered, a smirk forming.

Widget couldn't help but smirk back. "Touché."

Then a flash of orange caught his attention. "What the heck?" Widget pushed Gene away. "H-Hey! Someone's shooting fireballs at the street!"

"The hell?" Gene whirled around. Fireballs appeared out of seemingly nowhere, striking building rooftops. Laughter filled the skies. The shadowy mewtwo's tail crinkled. "You can't be serious."

"What is it?" Widget tried to sense what was shooting the fireballs, but came up empty.

"It's the pirates." Gene hovered into the air. "They must be cloaking their ships."

"With what?" Widget's new tail turbine whirred to life, sending him up next to Gene. "I can't even sense them!"

Gene tapped his right antennae. "Attention resistance, we—"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't mon least favorite kitty cat!"

Widget squawked. Embers crackled around his tail turbine. "Was that Gilbert on our comm line?!"

"Damn it, are they stealing our signal? How?!" Gene's yellow-tipped tail lashed at the air. "Where the hell's Cyril?"

More building rooftops caught fire. People flooded the streets. "What do we do?" Widget said.

"Start blasting, of course!" Gene blindly slung a Shadow Ball in the direction of where the fireballs were forming.

Widget swallowed hard. He had no idea why the pirates were here. Or how they were here, for that matter. But Widget knew the resistance had to get rid of them quickly, before the whole city got swept up in chaos.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 91: Now You See Me​

Well, ****.

That's another world they're gonna tell me to stay away from. But what was I supposed to do? You hear all this yapping about bonds between humans and pokémon. So I can't stand by and watch some kid harass an ogerpon cuz he thinks he's entitled to be her trainer cuz he likes her so much.

The worst part was it was like an awful look back at the distant past. Cuz I'm not sure I'd have acted much different back when I was human.

Sometimes this omniverse stuff's a *****.

XxX​

Leo ran into the hanger not long after Noctum and Valkyrie. It was a mess of skorps darting about between computer consoles, several pointing and waving their mutant incineroar hands.

"What's the matter?" Noctum wondered, looking between the skorps and Cid. The orbeetle's spots flashed asynchronously with the funny sensors attached to them.

"What isn't the matter?!" Cid responded, staring at Cyril's "big board" of computer screens. "This is a nightmare! I can't get a hold of anyone who's over in Tulpise. I just keep hearing that annoying chatot pirate."

The cosmic arceus trotted up to the dragons' sides. Both of them flinched. "Isn't this thing supposed to be a secure magical line?!" the garchomp hissed. "What gives?"

"M-Maybe Gilbert stole an X-transceiver the last time he was here?" Noctum tapped his index claws together. Valkyrie gently smacked the back of his head with her right elbow fin. "Hey, it was a suggestion!"

"Tough. There isn't a Gene or Cyril around for me to slap." Valkyrie crossed her arms. "Why the hell do they even let that pipsqueak and his crew show up here if they're against us?"

"Technically it's not Gilbert's—" Noctum saw Valkyrie's death glare and shrank back. "Never mind."

Rolling his eyes, Leo approached the small computer array. "So, like, what's really the sitch? Cuz why would you complain about pirates if you weren't trying to reach the teams in Herbrides?"

Cid wobbled as his levitation momentarily faltered. "Right. Quite perceptive." The orbeetle pointed at a skorp. One of the larger monitors brought up footage of some kind of heavy machinery embedded in a craggy brown environment.

Leo's eyes widened. That rippling static in the center...

"We got us an anomaly, eh!" the skorp who pulled the footage up exclaimed.

"Where are we looking at?" Valkyrie said. Heavy metal thuds followed from her running up behind Leo.

"Iron Island," Skorp said. "Think it's part of that there Sinnoh region."

Sinnoh. Sinnoh. Why was that name familiar? "Wait." Leo stood up straight. "Isn't that on the same planet we found the last anomaly on? The one with that Indigo Plateau place?"

"It's not just that." Cid motioned at skorp. "Next recording."

What came up was blurry. A rush of purple and navy blue slammed into a large, upright sandaconda that was practically a living brown twister. Sandaconda slammed into a rock wall. Boulders and scraps of machinery crashed down on it from above.

The footage flickered a few times. When it steadied, purple, armored legs and fiery blades vanished into the static. Instead of a sandaconda, there was a tiny orange pixie at the base of the rubble. Leo's starcloud tail curled up. Had he seen those big V-shaped ears before? Why did they make him think of wheels?

"That big ol' sandaconda matches one of Cyril's descripterinos for a Paradigm lieutenant!" Skorp boxed the air in front of him. "But looks like some ceruledge gave her the ol' one-two and made off with her power!"

No, it couldn't be just "some ceruledge." It was a Whisper. It had to be. And if they couldn't reach his mom and her friends...

Leo stepped toward Cid. "Are those empire dweebs at the island already?"

Three of Cid's spots glowed. "I don't think so. Why do you—"

"Don't wait up for me." Leo turned around.

"Whoa, hey!" Noctum reached for the cosmic arceus. "What are you doing?"

"Going there."

"Hang on." The cosmic charizard frowned. "We have to come up with a plan. You can't go rushing in looking like that."

"Then I won't." Leo concentrated on two of the plates nestled deep in his spirit. His body squashed and stretched, molded by the energy he drew out of the plates. Bright light filled his vision.

"A heracross?" Valkyrie gasped. "Since when can the kid transform?!"

Leo's opened his chitinous elytron. Wings buzzing, he hovered into the air. "If we make a plan, the empire's going to storm the island. We don't have time. I'm out."

He wouldn't wait for anyone's protests. Leo slashed the air with his pronged horn. Warm sunlight spilled out from the rift. Leo shot through it, though he didn't immediately close it behind him. Might as well let the others have a shot at it.

The anomaly rift sat a couple of dozen meters away, amidst the wreckage of a bunch of machinery. Black bands and plating from conveyer belts to his left. Broken remains of lifts and platforms to his right. There were even a few hard hats and worker vests poking out from piles of dirt littered around the rift.

Leo beelined for the pulsating static sphere. It grew a bit with every pulsation, chewing away at steel beams, pistons, and other wreckage. He glimpsed the orange pixie from earlier. Those two dragons would totes take care of her. No way they didn't follow him.

The heracross flew into the static without a second thought. It brought him into a tunnel of bright lights and swirling, distorted colors. Leo saw jagged, island-shaped crystals in the distance. Sparkling lines crisscrossed far in the distance, too blurry to get any other features from.

He was in that Ginnungagap place again. Like with the first anomaly they'd flown through. That's fine. All Leo had to do was fly through this tunnel, and he'd reach the dimensional mystery dungeon on the other side. Easy pe—

"Ohhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Was that... a flailing toxtricity ahead of him?

It was! It was Nikki! And judging by the big, spectral wing reaching out to grab her...

"Mom!" Leo shouted, surging toward her without a second thought.

XxX​

Air hockey truly was a strange game. Yuna was often transfixed on all the tiny holes in the white table shooting constant air streams. Large enough to lift the red plastic puck millimeters off the table, but small enough not to do anything else.

"Ten to nine," Nikki declared. "Game point, baby!"

Igneous was leaning so far forward he was practically climbing onto the table. He struck the puck with his green handle. It banked off the gray wall, but Nikki intercepted with a quick swipe. The puck zigzagged back to Igneous' side. Holding her handle in her mouth, Scarlett slid it forward, but only clipped the side of the puck. Igneous missed his ensuing swipe, but course corrected to pin the puck in the corner.

Every click and clack of the puck satisfied Yuna in a way she couldn't put to words. She'd have to see about coming up with some sort of similar game for the taverns in Aeon when this was all over.

"C'mon, Twiggy." Nikki's mohawk sparked. She ran her handle back and forth rapidly at the center of the table. "No camping on the puck! Only pussies camp!"

Igneous gently tapped the puck, then slammed his handle into it. The puck beelined by Nikki's handle. "****!"

"Eep!" Yuna swiped right with both arms. She got the side of the puck. It banked backwards. Her ectoplasm shriveled. She quickly relaxed when the puck struck the corner of the goal and bounced back. Yuna gave it a hearty smack with her handle. It banked off the wall just past midfield.

"Gow eeh!" At its middling speed, Scarlett easily intercepted the puck. Nikki blocked her shot. Scarlett missed the counter, but Igneous swiped his handle all the way to his right, practically knocking the dragonair over in the process.

When the puck clacked off a wall, a distant rumble followed. Scarlett's neck bauble flickered. She looked up, as did Yuna.

"Did you guys hear that?" she said.

A couple of more clacks. Nikki lightly shoved Yuna, who watched the lights rattle in the ceiling.

"Um, guys?" Yuna's tail crinkled. "I think we have a prob—"

"Don't interrupt!" Nikki growled. More clacking followed.

"Yeah!" Igneous said. "This is important!"

The next rumble was louder. The pachirisu twins who were watching the group from the next-door ping pong table exchanged panicked expressions, then leaped off and headed for the exit.

Scarlett spat out her handle. "We have a problem!" She grabbed Igneous with her tail and pulled his head up. "The whole pace is shaking!"

One last clack sounded, followed by a crunchy "What a goal!" from the speakers overhead. Igneous and Scarlett's goal flashed with blue light.

"Winner! Winner!" the same crunchy announcer voice declared. A small spotlight shined on Yuna and Nikki from the box-shaped scoreboard above the table.

"Ha!" Nikki pumped her fist. "Suck it, Twiggy! Loo-hoo-seeeer!" She made an L with her hand and pressed it against her forehead.

"Like hell you won!" The grovlazzle's head leaf caught fire. He stomped over to the toxtricity. "You saw that. Scarlett grabbed me! The goal doesn't count! Redo!"

"Guys, seriously?!" Scarlett cried.

"Aww, boo hoo." Nikki rubbed her cheeks as if she was crying. "Cry me a river. Scarlett was being gentle with y—"

Yuna heard the crash seconds before a part of the ceiling collapsed. She thrust her hands forward. Two gray, shadowy legs shielded her friends from the rubble. Screams erupted all around her as the arcade patrons and staff made a beeline for the exit.

"What the hell?!" Mohawk frazzled, Nikki hopped back onto the ping pong table.

The dust settled and showed a giant metal... claw? It had multiple colorful arcade cabinets ensnared in its grasp. And there was an electabuzz with a magmortar-esque cannon in place of their left arm riding on it.

"We got the cabinets! Hoist me up, mateys!" Electabuzz shouted.

As fast as the claw appeared, it shot up through the hole in the ceiling.

"Wait, mateys?" Igneous sprinted toward the hole. "I don't see anything!" He tapped the side of his head. "Gene, someone just made off with arcade cabinets from the mall! What's going on?"

Yuna heard distant crashes and rumbles that mirrored those that preceded the giant claw. She also flipped on her X-transceiver.

"—need to explain anything to vous, kitty cat! Why wouldn't we take ze advantage for a fresh place to plunder?"

"No way," Yuna whispered. She flipped her X-transceiver off. "It's the pirates! And they're in our X-transceiver line!"

"No fooling?" Nikki leaped off the ping pong table. "Then we've gotta regroup with the others."

"How?" Igneous volcarona wings burst out of his back in swathes of fire. "Gene's not responding. It's like he can't even hear me!"

More crashes sounded in the distance. "Ahh, forget that!" Scarlett's white wings unfurled. She flew toward the hole. "It's not safe inside! Let's go!"

Igneous and Scarlett were first through the broken ceiling. Yuna hovered in place while Nikki ran up the wall and along the ceiling, her feet surrounded by blue electricity. When the toxtricity was through the hole, Yuna darted after her.

The back part of the mall was concrete. Which was a good thing, since most of its glass ceiling wasn't there anymore.

"The hell is this?" Nikki's mohawk undulated wildly. "Giant claws shooting out from nowhere?"

Flashes of gray metal peppered the air in front of them. Assorted large electronic appliances vanishing alongside the metal claws gripping them.

"They're hiding their ships." Igneous looked around. He gripped his red honedge in his hands. "That has to be it."

"With what? A freaking zoroark armada?" Nikki strummed her gills. "I say we shoot straight over where the roof was and see what happens."

Igneous held the honedge up. "Or we have Starlene sense them." He glanced at the dragonair.

"R-Right!" Scarlett's neck bauble glowed pink. Starlene appeared. Her electronic wings glowed in time with Scarlett's bauble.

"Uhh..." The latias frowned. "I'm not getting anything." She wrinkled her snout. "No way they can block psychics. These are pirates, not the empire!"

Swirling blue ice emerged right in front of them. "Move!" Yuna yelped. The quartet all broke off in different directions. When the Blizzard buffeted the stone part of the roof, everything slowed to a crawl around Yuna. It was like someone painted the whole world around her in a purple crystal glaze. And an unseen clock loudly ticked in her head.

She'd seen this before. When she dodged Leo's attacks while training with him. Why could she move normally? Is this... from Yaldabaoth?

Yuna couldn't call out to her friends. They were barely moving. But what she could do was fly away from the Blizzard. After a couple of seconds, the crystal tinge vanished. Everything moved normally again.

"H-Hey! Princess, what are you doing?!"

The dragapult turned. Scarlett struggled to juggle her own flight with Starlene levitating Nikki. She glanced up and saw another Blizzard forming from nothing.

"Malpirg!" Yuna shouted. Shadows twisted in her hands, and then Reshiram appeared in gouts of blue fire. He gathered a giant orange fireball and spat it into the Blizzard, blowing it apart in a torrent of steam.

"Watch over them!" Yuna ordered, then returned to focusing on the destroyed roof.

Blue flickered in the corner of her vision. Yuna rolled away from an Ice Beam in the nick of time. Like before, everything took on a crystal tinge and slowed to a crawl. Yuna seized her opportunity, flying toward the shattered glass roof. She glanced at the mall. Her shadows tugged on her long tail.

"Yes, I see it." Yuna gulped as the time crystal thingy stopped. She'd have to come up with a better name later. Because there was an anomaly in the mall! The pirates couldn't have made it... could they?

No, she didn't have time to consider the why. Yuna tapped the right side of her head.

"— a fool's errand to interfere. Zese snobby so-and-sos could use ze excitement!"

Yuna's tail lashed the air. The line was still down. How was she supposed to get a hold of Leo like this?!

"Ice Beam from above!"

Igneous' shout alerted Yuna. She rolled right. The crystal time stasis took over again. Curiously, Yuna noted Reshiram moving at full speed. "Fire! There!" The dragapult pointed toward the empty space where the Ice Beam formed.

Reshiram immediately spewed a Blue Flare. When the time stasis faded, a blue barrier flickered in and out of existence. The flames barely poked through it. Startled shouts came from the other side.

"It's their ship!" Reshiram said, tail turbine crackling. "Or, uh, a ship. I dunno. This is conf— eep!" He frantically darted left and right as Ice Beams and a massive Blizzard rained down from above.

"Help! I'm allergic to grog-scented ice!"

Yuna reached her right arm out. Reshiram returned in a stream of light. "Nikki!" she shouted.

"A bit busy!" The toxtricity batted Ice Shards away with her lightning guitar before they could strike Scarlett. Yuna shot toward her.

"Whoa, hey!" Nikki gasped when Yuna wrapped her up in her large tail. "What's the big idea? At least buy me dinner first!"

"Cut the jokes! Anomaly in the mall," Yuna said. She took off away from a flummoxing Scarlett. "I can't reach Leo."

"Then rift us back to the outpost!" Nikki squirmed in Yuna's grasp. The dragapult wasn't bothered, speeding past Ice Beams before they could even prove a problem. She flew through the empty space between the hallways on the third and second floors.

"It's growing... and fast!" Yuna realized. "We have to see what we're dealing with."

"What about Twiggy and Scarlett?" Nikki tried to look up.

Yuna paused and looked back. Flames swept overhead, striking against the same blue barrier as Reshiram's attack earlier.

"Someone has to try and help people out here," Yuna mumbled. "We're already disjointed."

Nikki didn't offer a counterargument, so Yuna took that as her cue to fly into the static. Bright, multicolored lights flooded her vision. Her ectoplasm was tugged in six different directions. Grunting, Yuna lost her grip on Nikki. Arms flailing, the toxtricity fell through the open air.

"Ohhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Instinct took hold. Yuna stretched her right arm out. A spectral wing appeared to catch Nikki. It wrapped protectively around her like some grotesque, oversized scarf.

"Mom!"

The dragapult's head whipped around. A heracross sped toward her. But that voice...

"Leo?!" Yuna rubbed her eyes. A familiar cosmic arceus replaced the heracross. "What are you doing here? Did you come through Tulpise?"

"No!" Leo galloped toward her, despite the lack of ground. In a flash of blue and white light, he shifted to a large altaria and snagged Nikki out of the spectral wing.

"Whoa, hey!" Nikki almost fell off his back in surprise. "The kid's carrying me now?!"

Yuna flew after him. Unexpected arrival or not, she still had to find the mystery dungeon on the other side. And this bright, flashing tunnel had to be pointing them in the right direction. "How did you get here then, Leo?"

"Anomaly showed up in Eternatus' Earth!" Leo said. "And it spat me out here."

This was bad. If it sent him into the same Ginnungagap tunnel as the Tulpise anomaly, then they were connected! "Was yours growing quickly, too?"

"Yeah!" Leo flapped his wings, moving right. "Head's up! There's big— agh!"

The altaria banked left. Yuna followed his flight path. The bright lights made it hard to discern what he was dodging until she got close and saw big blue circles for herself.

"Right! No, left!" Nikki yelped. "Wait— gaaah!"

There was a loud pop followed by an explosion... of blue juice?

Yuna slowed up. The juice splattered against the light of the tunnel and dissolved into blue smoke. The dragapult sped forward. Her facial ectoplasm rippled.

"Blueberries?" Yuna cringed. More giant blueberries floated haphazardly inside of the tunnel. Leo, covered in blueberry juice, struggled to maneuver around them. "Watch out!" She surged forward. "Rayquaza, go!"

An emerald arrow torpedoed through the tunnel, passing Leo by and ramming through blueberry clusters. Rayquaza stopped his Dragon Ascent charge and looked back at the blue mist. "Tis not the manner of treachery I expected when I awoke this morning, Princess! Why art these oversized fruits attacking us?"

"I dunno!" Yuna pressed onward. With a bit of concentration, dragon energy sparked in her horns. To her delight, dreepy-shaped blue blasts shot out of her horns, popping a couple of blueberries and letting the juice-stained Leo and Nikki fly past.

"It's gotta be cuz of the mystery dungeon." Leo flapped his damp wings, flicking blueberry juice all along the tunnel.

"Ugh, seriously?!" Nikki was still desperately trying to wring juice out of her jacket. "The hell's on the other side, Dieticianopolis? I get my antioxidants already, damn it!"

"We shall find out soon enough!" Rayquaza declared. After a brief recharge, he Dragon Ascented ahead. Blueberry juice filled the air, then evaporated against the harsh light of the Ginnungagap tunnel. "I see a distorted rift up ahead! Tis the dungeon for sure! Tally ho!"

The path ahead was clear of any giant blueberries. Which was enough for Yuna to recall Rayquaza in streams of black and emerald light. Leo flew toward the dungeon. Yuna was ready to head after him when a ripple in the bright tunnel wall caught her attention.

"Hmm?" The dragapult looked to the tunnel wall on her right. Everything outside remained a swirl of blues, purples, and smudgy gray shapes in the distance. But there was one blur darting quickly around the tunnel wall.

A purple, white, and black blur.

"No, no, no! C'mon, shrink! Shrink!"

That voice... it's Vince!

Even though the rift was still a few hundred meters away, the tunnel was pulling her toward it. Yuna fought against it, her tail undulating rapidly as if she were a fish swimming upstream. It had to be the real Vince out there. Not just one of his projections. And that meant real answers! If she could just reach him...

God, this tug was strong. Yuna was getting tired. The lights were getting brighter. "C'mon, I just—"

"Stupid anomaly! Cut it out!"

No, she couldn't let this chance slip through her fingers! Focus!

Roaring, the dragapult's arms stretched out into Giratina's large, black wings. She slammed the red spikes into the tunnel wall. Light filaments exploded all around her. A burning pain shot through her wings.

"Rrrrgggh... you won't... get away!"

Keeping her left wing buried in the light wall to stop her descent, Yuna forced her right wing deeper into it. The pain was awful. But she had to endure. Fight it for that chance at grabbing the Overseer.

Bit by bit, the wall parted, until Yuna's wing finally burst through. Rough scales grazed the black ectoplasm. Gotcha!

A surprisingly high-pitched scream rang out as Yuna coiled her wing around the rough scales and yanked the wing back through the wall and into the tunnel.

And there was the purple and white koraidon, eyes wide with terror. His legs kicked at the air.

"No, wait, stop! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Getting us... some backup!" With one last snarl, Yuna ripped herself off the light wall and hurled Vince through the remaining Ginnungagap tunnel beneath her as hard as she could. He tumbled away from her, screaming pleas for Yuna to send him back. Instead, the dragapult watched the fuzzy rift a hundred meters below her swallow Vince up.

She fell through the rift not long after. Sky blue light spilled over her. It faded quickly to a bright blue sky and yellow sun reflecting off a giant white and blue dome.

Yuna threw her arms over her face. Talk about one heck of a glare! "Guys?" she called out, still blinking rapidly to adjust to the light.

"Down here, Princess!"

After several more seconds, Yuna spotted Nikki waving to him atop the white dome. She stood under an impromptu shower supplied by a pelipper. Leo, judging by the golden glint in his eyes. Vince was next to them... however, he was now on all-fours for some reason. His dewlap had deflated, his feathery crest looked far less impressive, and his tail was curled up to resemble a wheel. He refused to meet anyone's gaze.

Yuna quickly confirmed there was a fuzzy rift above her, though it blended in quite well with the bright sunshine. Then she flew down to join her teammates. "Good to see you're both okay."

"And juice free," Leo said. He stopped spitting up water. Nikki stepped away to take off her leather jacket and wring it out over the dome. "That was hella disgusting. Remind me to stay away from berries for a while."

"Uh... sure." Yuna rubbed the back of her neck. Oversized fruit was weird, but far from the worst thing they had to contend with.

"So, uh, what's with the plus one?" Leo pointed a wing at Vince. "That's Vince, right? Why does he look like he'd be featured in an ad for low testosterone?"

Yuna did not want to acknowledge that comparison. She knew Leo was watching EV programs during their down time. But what channels?

"This is a nightmare," Vince mumbled. "I'm hallucinating." The purple and white koraidon squeezed his eyes shut. "I just gotta wake up. Wake up and— eyowch!"

Nikki had whipped his right flank with her soggy jacket. Vince stumbled forward. His feathery horns curled up.

"Yup, not dreaming." The toxtricity resumed wringing water from her jacket. "How'd you find him?"

"He was outside the tunnel in Ginnungagap," Yuna explained. "Figured this was a good chance to finally be face to face with someone who knows what's going on."

Vince shrank back. He shook his head rapidly. "You idiots! Do you have any idea how bad this is?!"

"Tch. Yeah." Nikki waved her right arm dismissively. She put her right index finger against her head. "We've already had it drilled into our skulls a dozen times. 'Dimensional cataclysm.' 'The end of life as we know it.' Blah, blah, blah. Frankly, it's about time at least one of your weirdo secret society decided to pull their weight around here."

"You don't get it!" Vince's dewlap puffed out. He stepped toward Nikki. "I was keeping the anomaly in check! Because this one was growing out of control! And there's a real chance it does some serious damage and ruins me helping you guys behind the scenes!"

He looked toward the rift. "I have to go back. I—"

"No." Yuna hovered higher in the air. "If this anomaly's really growing that fast, then we need you here."

Vince shrank back again. "It won't work." His horns curled up further. "You dragged me in here. I don't have most of my powers. I'm—" He looked down at his webbed feet. "I'm just a koraidon here."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Nikki's mohawk sparked. "Are you an Overseer or aren't you?"

"There's a protocol!" Vince said. "Higher-ranking Overseers can keep some of their powers when they enter worlds on their own. But most of the time, if we want to be at our best, we have to coordinate with the gods to gain access."

He walked away from them, looking out at the sprawling blue surrounding the dome. "But that didn't happen. And I'm a very junior overseer."

"What about Leo?" Yuna gestured to the pelipper. "He can still change his form and everything."

"Because some of his power is in this realm by accident," Vince exclaimed.

Right, his plates. Yuna looked out over the water. This dome was practically in the middle of the ocean. Where were they?

Having put her jacket back on, Nikki crossed her arms. "So, you're saying you're useless, then?" She rolled her eyes. "Puh-leeze. If I can find ways to make a difference, then you can."

Yuna was tempted to say something to Nikki, but her ectoplasm rippled. Her tail tugged on her lower half. The dragapult spun around. Leo was already looking in that direction, flapping his wings slowly.

"It's... some sort of small battlefield?" Yuna floated over to Leo. It wasn't a large arena, but it was just as white and sparkling as the dome. There were some humans scattered around. One standing at the edge of the battlefield had hair that practically looked like an onion.

Her ectoplasm rippled again.

"It's them," Leo said.

"Huh?" Yuna followed the pelipper's gaze until she found a ceruledge standing on the opposite side of the battlefield. Sunlight glinted off the two crystals jutting out of his head. One resembled a ghostly blob and the other was just a jagged black box with a smirking face.

"That's the Whisper." Leo pointed a wing at Ceruledge. "I saw them go through the rift in Eternatus after defeating a Paradigm member."

A Whisper with two of Leo's plates in its possession. And one that had defeated a Paradigm member, to boot?

As Ceruledge raised his blades and let out a triumphant laugh, Yuna looked back at Vince and Nikki. They stared at her with perplexed expressions.

What do I do? We're not prepared for this!

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 92: Now You Don't​

OS Incident Report #9467
SUBJECT: Necrozma Shane
LOCATION: Mossui Town, Kitakami (Dimension POV-4940)
VIOLATIONS: Unauthorized use of loaned divine power, unauthorized interference with mortal affairs
DESCRIPTION: The subject is found to have intervened with a human child's attempt at earning the partnership of an ogerpon. According to the local zygarde, observations via cell reveal the subject jumped in to stop the boy from catching Ogerpon. Subject claims that the boy didn't consider Ogerpon's feelings and was going to catch her without her approval. When the boy sent his own pokémon out to battle the subject and became increasingly agitated, the subject utilized Photon Geysers to knock out his pokémon, then fled with Ogerpon. The cell reports the boy returning home distraught. He was muttering comments about getting strong enough to capture both the subject and Ogerpon.

As a preliminary measure, the subject is now on probation. He is henceforth banned from POV-4940. We will assign a new Overseer to observe that Earth. Further disciplinary action is pending based on follow up reports from the local zygarde.

XxX​

Despite the initial volley and a few potshots from the kilowattrel and pidgeot circling high above them, the real problem was that the pirates on the ground weren't even trying to go for Seifer or the others. Instead, they'd booked it in the direction of assorted houses, blowing the walls and dome-shaped roofs open with clusters of blast seeds wrapped in strange wiring.

Seifer tried to shoot a girafarig with a metallic tail while it ran out of a house levitating a dishwasher. But they easily dodged his Aura Sphere and retaliated with a Psybeam. While Seifer dodged the pink laser, a chain wrapped Girafarig up and hoisted them into the air along with the dishwasher.

... To say nothing of the other commotion in the area.

"Completely and utterly disgraceful!" Tobias snarled from across the road. The cobalion swung his Sacred Sword at a wartortle, who tumbled back into a cloud of ectoplasm from Cyril's mane. With a holler, the wartortle vanished in a blue flash.

"The hell?" Cyril hopped back, then rolled away to dodge a Thunderbolt from above. "It's like the emperor's troops. They have some sort of failsafe teleporter?"

"Quiet, you mangy peasant!" Tobias snarled, deftly sidestepping a Thunderbolt and Air Slash crescents coming from above. He glared at Seifer, which the keldeo quickly looked away from.

"First you sully our family name by failing to uphold your sworn oaths and getting canned!" Tobias continued. Seifer's face scrunched up. He met an incoming Hydro Pump from behind several bushes with an Aura Sphere. Then he galloped forward and coated the bushes in frosty air. The damp foliage froze instantly from the Icy Wind, and the floatzel responsible for the Hydro Pumps slipped and fell on his rear.

"Then you run away from the kingdom like a dirty coward!"

Seifer leveled his prosthetic horn at Floatzel. "W-Wait, matey! At least let me hear the rest." He held up his paws. "It be getting to the good part!"

A point-blank Aura Sphere sent Floatzel tumbling back into thorny rose bushes. His hollers stopped when he vanished in a flash of blue light.

"Above you!"

The keldeo slid along the icy ground at Artemis' call. He spun around and shot Hydro Pumps skyward with his forehooves. But the kilowattrel that tried to zap him flew way too high for them to reach.

"And now you show up out of the blue with this tacky-furred loser calling himself your boyfriend?" Tobias hadn't left his spot half a block over, slicing through a Dark Pulse from an unseen foe with his Sacred Sword. Grayson covered him, summoning rocky spires that sent wartortle and sneasel with flaming head feathers running scared. "That better have been a joke, rapscallion!"

"Okay, seriously?" Cyril ducked a swipe of a fire-feathered sneasel's flaming claws. "You don't gotta flex your thesaurus on me, jackass!"

"Stuff it, Father," Seifer growled. He stayed on the move, skidding across the ice he made while looking for nearby pirates to attack. A blast from behind made him spin around. Two espurr with metallic ears appeared from a hole in the roof, levitating a PV set.

"Drop it!" The keldeo raised his forehooves and shot dual Hydro Pumps. One espurr panicked and stepped in front to erect a barrier. The other couldn't keep the PV set up and it plummeted through the hole in the roof. Seifer shot again as the crashing of glass and metal rang out from the house.

"Fall back!" the barrier-wielding espurr squeaked. Both disappeared in blue flashes. Seifer's brow furrowed. Maybe Cyril was right, and they did have teleporters at their disposal. But where were they taking the pirates to?

"Rrrghgh... out of my sight!"

Heavy metallic hooves slammed against the ground following Tobias' cry. Seifer turned and, whinnying in fright, hit the deck. A hollering fire-feathered sneasel careened past Seifer. They hit a swing set, which spun them rapidly around the wooden crossbar, then flung them skyward where they crashed into a kilowattrel taking aim at Seifer. Both vanished in flashes of white and blue.

Tobias stopped at Seifer's side. "We are not dropping this." The cobalion's venomous tone made Seifer's neck fur stand on end.

But he spotted Air Slash crescents peppering Artemis and Cyril. "We are!" Seifer shot past Tobias with Hydro Pump jets. "Get away from them!" He slung an Aura Sphere skyward. The pidgeot above his teammates couldn't dodge in time, instead vanishing like the others.

Seifer skidded to a halt on the street. "You okay?"

"I've had worse." Cyril shook himself out. "And I'm hearing worse."

"Hmph! A filthy liar and an incompetent fighter!" Behind the trio, Grayson shielded himself from Dark Pulses with Stone Edge spires. "Why am I not surprised? And after blowing off all your father's arrangements!" The terrakion struck the rocks, knocking them toward some panicking sneasel.

"Are you serious right now?!" Seifer's prosthetic horn sparked. "We should be focusing on repelling these pirates!"

"Maybe we ought to shift focus to getting people to safety, instead?" Artemis proposed. The milotic barely managed to slither away from a Thunderbolt. He fired a retaliatory Ice Beam. A loud squawk told him he hit his mark. "There are screams and explosions in the distance!"

A house several meters ahead had its door blown off its hinges. Two wartortle ran out with an air fryer and multiple blenders. Metal wires grabbed them and hoisted them into the sky before anyone could get an attack off.

"You're right." Seifer kept his gaze skyward in case anyone tried to strike from above. "It's a lost cause staying here."

"What a farce!" Tobias bucked a croconaw with his Sacred Sword. "Is abandoning your duty all you can think about now?"

Rolling his eyes, Seifer gestured down the street with his forehoof. "Let's move. I hear voices coming from that direction."

Before the keldeo could break into a trot, however, Grayson cut him off. "Where do you think you're going?" The terrakion narrowed his eyes. "You've got some nerve defying your father like that. And after everything he did for you before you threw your life away."

Seifer hadn't felt this small since Isola had sacked him. He wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of dodge. Seifer shot Cyril a pleading look.

"Oh-ho-kay. No. I've had enough of this ****."

His tail scrunched up. "Cyril..."

"Don't, Seif." The cosmic zoroark stepped to Seifer's side, his gaze still trained on Tobias. "I don't care what you think of me or how much you prattle on about honor and duty." He put his hands on his hips. "Because even though we've only been around each other about three months, I bet I know Seifer better than you do. And you freaking raised him!"

Conflicted over whether to interject, Seifer opened his closed his mouth repeatedly. The few remaining pirates in the area had stopped what they were doing. Even the lone kilowattrel left in the air idly flapped their wings, not sniping at anyone from above.

"How dare you." The cobalion stomped a forehoof on the pavement. "I'm not about to let some street trash zoroark lecture me about my son!"

"It ain't a lecture, it's the truth!" Cyril leaned forward, starcloud mane rippling. "This whole time, Seif's been helping us fight against Eternatus. He hasn't abandoned anything! You're the ones who've been sitting on your asses until now." The cosmic zoroark shook his head. "You don't give a damn about Seif. You just want him to be your vision of perfect."

Seifer looked down at the pavement. His stomach twisted into a knot. All the earlier jabs and nasty comments he'd made toward Yuna and Noctum ran through his head. He recalled dinnertime conversations about "Aeon scum" and "hick dragons." Silhouettes of assorted Radiant Guardsmon making similar comments flickered around him. Comments he always ignored... because they'd always surrounded him.

His ears swiveled left toward some crunching. Seifer spotted a crocalor tossing handfuls of potato chips into his large mouth. His prosthetic horn flickered.

"What?" Crocalor shrugged innocently. "This be better than me soaps!"

A Shadow Ball whizzed past Seifer, rippling his tail and mane. It hit Crocalor and the chip bag. Crocalor disappeared in a flash of blue light while the bag's contents spilled out across the grass and scorched rose bushes.

"Maybe things won't work out between us," Cyril continued, walking in a circle along the pavement. He raised his hands up. "Or maybe there are wedding bells in the future."

Though Seifer again opened his mouth, words failed him. Cyril... really felt that strongly about him?

"Doesn't change the fact that I love Seifer." Cyril gestured at the keldeo. "And no amount of your petty name-calling will change that."

And to punctuate it, the cosmic zoroark spat a wad of saliva at Tobias' face.

The cobalion's eyes twitched as the spit trickled onto his red and pink Radiant Guard uniform. Tobias turned to Grayson. "You saw that, right?"

"Indeed." The terrakion nodded. "He's threatening us."

Cyril relaxed his aggressive stance. "Excuse me?"

"Exactly." Tobias' Sacred Sword materialized. "So, I've got full reason to do this!"

"Father, stop!" Seifer finally found his voice seconds before Tobias lunged for Cyril, aiming to ram him through with his Sacred Sword. The glowing horn dissipated, however, the moment it touched Cyril's cosmic chest fluff.

"What in blazes?!" Tobias stumbled and fell onto the pavement.

"Never seen a ghost-type zoroark, have ya?" Cyril rubbed his nose with a yellow claw. He turned away from Tobias. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say the last time you showed your wife any affection was when you guys made Seifer. Cuz this right here?" He gestured to Tobias and Grayson. "Absolute maidenless behavior."

"You cur!" Tobias got to his feet. "Grayson, help me o—"

"ENOUGH!"

Dual Hydro Pumps struck both Seifer's father and uncle, drenching them and their uniforms. Seifer dropped back to all fours, shaking his head. "This... this childish idiocy has run its course!" He stomped over to Cyril. "You want to know why I didn't go home after getting fired? This right here! I wasn't about to let myself be humiliated!"

Cyril smiled at Seifer, but the keldeo turned his glare on him. "Don't act like you're innocent in all of this! You riled them up! We could've already been helping other people by now!" Seifer paused. All the screams and cries from earlier had stopped. The few pirates still in the area were quiet, undoubtedly watching this for their own amusement.

He brushed his flank against Cyril's side. "I'm... glad you stood up for me. But there's a time and place for this." Seifer turned away from everyone. "We have work to do. So, forget about them."

"Forget about us?!" Grayson's hooves thumped against the pavement.

Seifer started forward. Thankfully, Cyril and Artemis got the message and followed him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tobias roared. "I am your father, Seifer! You get back here right this second!"

The keldeo responded by veering slightly until he was right beside Cyril. His tail swished against the cosmic zoroark's leg.

"You're dead to us, you ungrateful runt!" Tobias shouted. His voice grew more distant. So, they really weren't coming along. "Do you hear me? You'll never set foot in our estate again after this stunt!"

"Good," Seifer said, too quiet for his father to hear. "Because I never want to go back as long as you're around."

He pressed onward, trying to shift his attention away from his family and toward protecting the city.

XxX​

"You call those your strongest warriors?! Pathetic!"

Ceruledge slashed at the air in front of him. It rippled with distortion. The people standing across from him took cautious steps back, save for Onion Hair who remained on his hands and knees, staring at the ground.

"I want a real fight!" Ceruledge paced back and forth. "A true warrior who can provide a duel worthy of the mighty Gilgamesh, who is me!"

The crystals atop his head crackled with energy. "I can scarcely believe it. An entire world where the creatures are the weapons themselves! And you're telling me they're frail? Flimsy?! Feeble?! Other insults beginning with F?!" Gilgamesh repeatedly swiped at the air with every cry.

"Tis a tragedy of the highest caliber! How could there be nothing here worthy of my collection?"

Yuna tensed at a hand on her shoulder. Nikki leaned over beside the dragapult's head. "Talk about a full course of ham," she said. "So, time to crash this sorry-looking party?"

Before she had the chance to respond, an unseen force grabbed both Yuna and Nikki from behind and dragged them across the gray, metallic roof. "What the hell?!" The toxtricity flailed about. "Oi, Lizard Breath, let go!"

One final thrust brought Yuna to the ground with a grunt. She quickly pushed herself up to find Vince looking to his left. "Don't look at me! It's this guy's fault!"

Yuna's core flickered. "Gene?!" Had the shadowy mewtwo ended up following them after all? But wouldn't Vince know Gene right off the bat?

... No, something was wrong. Gene's Malice Crystal was in his right shoulder, not his left.

"Dumb-dumbs not from here. Grishi sense it." The unfamiliar mewtwo's eyes flickered pink. "Dumb-dumbs with Ceru down there?" Dark energy swirled around his hand. "Grishi will blow to smithereens. Then blow smithereens to super smithereens."

Okay, this definitely wasn't Gene. "No, we're not with, uh, Ceru?"

"I think he means the Whisper," Leo said. Still in his pelipper guise, he flew in place a fair distance away. But he honked in surprise when Grishi blipped over to him.

Yuna was so used to Gene's Phantom Warping, it took her a moment to realize Grishi teleported. "Look, we don't have time for this," the dragapult said. "We're here to stop Ceruledge. Because he's putting our world in danger. So, leave us alone. This doesn't concern you."

Grishi crossed his arms. "Pultpult waltzes into Grishi's home and thinks can tell Grishi what to do?" He shook his head. "Bad comedian. Nothing for Grishi to laugh at."

"I'm not—" Yuna cut herself with a groan as she squeezed her temples with her hands. She was at a loss what to do about this... bizarre mewtwo. And the others seemed just as confused. Leo continued to drift further away from Grishi.

"Hrrrm." Grishi landed on the metallic roof, crossing his arms. "This all it takes to put Pultpult and friends at loss for words." He shook his head. "Sad sight. Dumb-dumbs indeed."

That last jab was enough to get Nikki back to her feet. "Oi!" The toxtricity's mohawk flared. "If you wanna help, then say it. If not, then stay outta our way." She stared Grishi down. The shadowy mewtwo's look remained one of indifference.

... Until he held his hands up. And a ripple of blue light turned Grishi... considerably fluffier than before.

"Fine. Grishi play along."

"Huh? A zoroark?" Vince's dewlap puffed out. Then the purple and white koraidon tilted his head. "Wait, no... zoroark mane. And chest fur. But still mewtwo?" His feathery horns drooped. "I'm so confused here."

(Art by Leche)

"Then Seerseer butt out." Grishi flicked his fuzzy tail dismissively. "Clearly biggest dumb-dumb here."

Yuna's core flashed. Was Grishi implying he knew Vince was an Overseer?

"What's your deal, then?" Nikki eyed the... zoroark-mewtwo mishmash. Zorotwo. "You clearly know more than you let on."

"And dumb-dumbs don't?" Orange claws appeared from Grishi's fuzzy fingers. "Land Grishi's home, not building. Blueberry Academy in Unova region." Grishi knelt down and tapped the metal with his claws. "Stupid humans build fancy pants school in middle of ocean, off coast of Castelia City."

"This thing's a school?" Nikki walked carefully across the roof. "It's not even that big."

"School very big." Grishi stood up, a serious look in his eyes. "Mostly underwater."

"Underwater?" Yuna swallowed hard. Memories of her unpleasant dip into Wyndon River flooded back. The harsh currents and frigid water sent chills through her ectoplasm.

"Talking waste time." Grishi floated into the air. The zorotwo's eyes glowed bright blue and his claws retracted into his fingers. "Grishi show instead."

Nikki's mohawk grew. "Wait, what are you—"

An intense psychic force took hold of Yuna before Nikki could finish her statement. Everything was a swirl of bright colors. Up was down. Left was right. God, why was everything spinning? Good thing dragapult didn't have stomachs.

It all came to an abrupt stop when Yuna fell onto crisp green grass. "Oww..." She rubbed her triangular head, then slowly sat up. "Did you just teleport us?"

"Grishi did. Slower with group, but still saves time."

The zorotwo was somewhere behind Yuna. However, any desire to give him the stink eye faded when she saw the sprawling grasslands stretched out in front of her. Small trees and bushes were haphazardly interspersed between misshapen, round and jagged rocks. It was also... disturbingly flat. Unnaturally flat, in fact.

Hoofbeats accompanied swishing grass to Yuna's right. Deerling scampered away, with a trio of sawsbuck eyeing the group suspiciously. When their gazes fell on Grishi, however, their expressions softened. With respectful nods, they turned to trot after the deerling.

"The hell is this?!" Nikki's cry snapped Yuna to attention. The toxtricity stood on a nearby flat rock, cupping her hands around her eyes. "Are those... canyons over there? And there's freaking miniature snowy mountains next to them!"

"Indeed. Is Blueberry Terarium." Grishi blipped in front of them. Curiously, he was disguised as a reuniclus. "Biggest part of school. With giant dome to protect people from crushing pressure of ocean depths."

Yuna tensed. They really were underwater, then. And quite deep, judging by how Grishi described it.

"A dome?" Leo, still in pelipper form, flew around. "It looks like the same bright, sunny sky from earlier."

Grishi wagged a gelatinous finger. "That humans' trick. Panels simulating daytime and nighttime for pokémon living here." He turned pointed skyward. "Core unmasks trick. Powers Terarium. But now is powering big problem."

The quartet followed Grishi's gaze high into the sky. Yuna feared she'd look right into sunlight — artificial or not — but instead there was... something spherical dangling from a ceiling that wasn't really there. A ball of static pulsated like a heart. Every ripple swallowed motes of gold and silver light trying to escape.

"Grishi not know how humans set up auxiliary power," he continued. "Do know that static ick growing. Grishi was watching it until sensing your arrival."

"The dungeon core!" Leo landed. In a flash of blue, he went from pelipper to scyther. "We gotta scope out that Gilgamesh guy so I can seal this."

"Oh?" Grishi turned. The fake reuniclus looked Leo over. "Form shifted. Aura's scythery. Mew?" He waved his gelatinous arms. "Grishi gave info. Now time for outsiders to do same, like promised."

Everyone's gazes fell on Yuna. She looked back at Vince. He was the Overseer. If anyone should do the explaining, it was him. But the purple and white koraidon stayed silent and Grishi's scrutinizing gaze fixed on her.

Seriously? Yuna wasn't going to let this slide. "Ask him." She pointed a claw at Vince. "He's the one who knows the most about all of this dimensional instability stuff."

To her surprise, Grishi shook his head. "Grishi said it before: Seerseer biggest dumb-dumb. Grishi won't listen to Seerseer."

Yuna flinched. Maybe Leo could— nope, he'd turned away and was slicing and jabbing at the air, as if training to fight.

"I wonder if this Grishi guy's worked with Overseers before," Reshiram said. In Yuna's mind, he tapped his chin with a wing claw. "Would certainly explain why he seems to know about them."

"Sounds like they harshed his mellow in the past," Shaymin added, perched atop Reshiram's head. "Think this is one of those times you gotta be the bigger 'mon and go with the flow here."

But Yuna was tired of being the bigger 'mon. Sighing, the dragapult straightened herself up. "We're from another dimension. Our world's... unstable. And it's causing some sort of... breakdown in space-time."

She gestured to Leo, who had moved on to slicing the grass. Trimmed grass clippings fell by the scyther's feet. "Leo is... the arceus of our world. But the plates he needs to stabilize everything have been scattered to different worlds. Like this one."

The small head inside Grishi's gelatinous body bowed in thought.

Leo finally stopped trimming the grass. "And there's this whack ass dude called Zodiark who's also after the plates. And making these anomalies. Maybe." He shrugged. "Not sure, tbh. But he keeps conjuring these nasty pokémon — we call 'em Whispers — to get in the way."

Yuna nodded her approval. Then a yawn in the back of her head made her tail jiggle. Can I help you?

"Was just thinking," Cresselia mumbled. "Aaaaaaawmbout this Whisper. Gilgaaaawmesh talked all normal and stuff."

"Verily! Like Chernabog," Rayquaza added. "T'was a Paradigm member, yes? I believe Gilgamesh might be, too."

But Leo mentioned seeing Gilgamesh take a Paradigm member's power and run off into the anomaly, Yuna pointed out. The scyther was saying something else while pacing in front of Grishi, blades at the ready. Wouldn't that make him a Whisper first?

"Does it even matter?" Shaymin wondered. "He's bad, so we gotta take him out. Them's the breaks."

A simple conclusion, but what Yuna ultimately agreed with. She tuned the Sages out to focus on the others again.

"... Will allow you to dive into static ick and make it go away?" Grishi said. Leo stopped pacing and nodded.

"It's the core of this mystery dungeon. Once I seal it, everything's dope," Leo declared.

"But we haven't faced one Whisper with multiple plates," Vince said, pawing at the grass with a foreleg.

"What's this 'we' business?!" Nikki stomped toward the purple and white koraidon, cracking her neck. "We've done all the heavy lifting while you've sat on your scaly ass and left vague hints about Red Chains and Overseers blowing up our home if we don't do good enough!" She jabbed an accusatory finger into his left flank.

"I, well—" Vince shrank onto his belly. Then Grishi appeared between Vince and Nikki, holding up his hands.

"Blame game not helpful," the fake reuniclus declared. "Anger go to Whisper. Think he retreated down here in time we've been talking." He turned away from them both. Grass tickled his gelatinous body as he bobbed through the air. "Very strange that plate corruption resembles Terastalization."

Terawhatnow? Yuna tilted her head. "I'm not sure I follow."

Grishi stopped. "Hmm? Terastalization not exist in Pultpult's world?" He looked to Leo for confirmation.

"I've never heard of anyone sprouting crystals from their head." Nikki shrugged.

"Our records didn't indicate anything of the sort," Vince added, only to flinch when Grishi looked ready to shush him.

"Is strange process where magic crystal energy changes pokémon's typing," Grishi explained. "Core uses this energy to power Terarium. Grishi senses it." He shook his head. "But only can change to one type. Not two. Whisper very strange."

"This core itself is strange," Yuna said. She floated over to Grishi's side. "The mystery dungeon portal is growing quicker than any other back in our world."

"And it's in multiple places," Leo reminded her. He traced a circle in the air with each scythe.

Grishi hummed in thought. "Perhaps core growing around big source of Tera energy what making it so unstable." He drifted forward. "Then time of essence. Come! We go find Whisper."

Sparks of blue and black energy erupted in the distance. "Think we know where it is." Nikki hiked up her jacket. "We teleporting over there or not? Could give us the jump on him."

"W-Wait!" Vince stepped away cautiously. "Maybe we should strike from a safe distance instead? It's not like Gilgamesh is psychic."

"Seriously?" Nikki's mohawk frazzled as she whirled on the koraidon. "The hell's your problem? I thought you Overseers were supposed to be uber strong and ****!"

"I'm still new to this," Vince whimpered. His feathery horns curled up. "That strength comes from ages of training... which I haven't exactly gotten."

"So, what, you're just a wimp, then?"

"I literally can't battle in this form!" Vince said, shifting uneasily. "Us koraidon need to be in our battle forms."

Nikki shook her head in disbelief. "What about standing on two legs gets you fighting fit? Is your species a giant dick joke or something?"

"Nikki..." Yuna reached toward the toxtricity. Nikki held her hands up.

"All right, all right. I'll lay off." She started forward, hands still raised. "If he's that insistent he can't do diddly squat, then let him stay here. The kid'll have to remember to warp him back with us." She cracked her knuckles. "Then we can actually drill him for information."

"Please don't," Vince whispered.

Yuna could only shrug at Vince. Nikki was being a bit too harsh, sure, but Vince wasn't exactly the most helpful. And they were on a time crunch. "Let's get going. I think we should keep our distance and see what we're up against."

"Then Grishi warp group part of way." The reuniclus held his hand up, pausing to glance at Vince. "Except Seerseer."

Yuna braced herself for the world to spin once again. What she wasn't counting on, however, was Leo suddenly buzzing off to the left. She tried to call out to him, but Grishi activated the teleport. After a few dizzying seconds, she found herself up against a rock face. Grishi had put them in a patch of dirt surrounded by large rocks.

"Leo? Leo, where'd you go?" The dragapult looked around. He hadn't flown far, so surely the teleport must've—

"Leo run out of Grishi's range." He floated up toward the top of one of the rocks and stopped. "What Leo thinking? If Leo saw something, should've told others."

"What do we do, then?" Nikki looked around for anything she could use a footstool to get closer to where Grishi was floating. "Go back for him, right?"

However, Yuna's core rapidly flashed. "I... I don't think we can," she whispered.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

The core's flickering only got faster. Yuna's ectoplasm quivered. It had to be her powers reacting to something nearby.

"The Whisper." Yuna tensed up, like she was waiting for a surprise attack. "It's getting close. We have to be ready for—"

Except, instead of any ghost or dark attacks, the ground beneath Nikki's feet trembled. "An Earthquake?! Since when the hell do ceruledge get that?!"

Yuna grabbed the toxtricity and flew toward Grishi. "It no ceruledge," the fake reuniclus declared. A faint pink glow surrounded his body.

"Then what—"

Grishi silenced Nikki with his telekinesis. His gelatinous form rippled.

"Different Tera energy nearby. Ground-type." His words were grim. "Grishi think... there third plate here, in different Whisper."

XxX​

GL Exploration Log: Castelia City, Unova (Dimension POV-4940)
Hustle and bustle. Just like the Big Apple when I'd go to visit it way back in my human life. The people are generally more polite than New Yorkers. Though I wonder if that's because I'm a fluffy ice fox and not some guy meandering around while people are trying to speed walk to their jobs.

There was a lot of hubbub around the harbor, though. Apparently, there's an aquatic construction project beginning. Something about building a school on the water? With some kind of underwater biodome that can withstand the ocean's crushing pressure? Not sure, but I'm going to have to revisit this place to check on the progress.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 93: Terra Firma​

I have another finding to report on the space core. In addition to Dreamweaver, the vast reservoir of energy within it, I've found something else. Something that almost feels... alive?

I'm not sure if that's the right phrase to describe this. What it is is some sort of... nigh encyclopedic array of knowledge. Of this world. Of seemingly countless worlds beyond ours. Information on every pokémon, even those consigned to myths and legends. Details about realms where pokémon don't exist. Worlds where pokémon are instead creatures beyond comprehension dubbed Ultra Beasts. There are even records of pokémon forming civilizations similar to our own.

The rational side of me wants to dismiss this as some sort of fantasy wrought by the space core's power. But the knowledge can be relayed to me as if I was conversing with another human. If I ask the space core questions, this encyclopedic entity provides me with logical, factual answers.

Is there truly a living soul within the space core? Or is this... some sort of artificial construct beyond even my wildest comprehension?

UPDATE: I asked the construct if I could name it and it said I could! It just gets stranger. I've gone with "Zodiark" for now, in reference to the zodiac. It fits well against Dreamweaver, in my opinion.

XxX​

Still holding Nikki, Yuna flew to Grishi's side. The toxtricity managed to swing herself out of Yuna's grasp and grab hold of the edge of the large rock. She pulled herself up but stayed on her stomach.

"I don't see anything," Nikki whispered. "Where's this ground-type beast, huh?"

The rock trembled, as did the ground beneath. Grishi's gelatinous body flickered blue. "There!" He pointed to the right. Then he levitated Nikki beside him.

"Gah! Hey!" Nikki's hands and feet twitched. "Why's everyone yanking me around? I'm not a ragdoll, damn it!"

"Quiet!" Grishi hissed. His gaze stayed focused to the right, where a herd of bouffalant ran away from... something vaguely sawsbuck-esque. If the sawsbuck looked like it was made of pottery and had a giant bowl on its head. A bowl filled with brown crystals that looked like a clump of dirt covered in grass.

"That's gotta be it," Yuna mumbled. "But I've never seen a pokémon like that before." Her tail crinkled. "What is it?"

"Ting-Lu," Grishi replied. "Strange pokémon. Brought to life from bowl on head." He shook his head. "Colors not right, though. That because Whisper?"

"Yeah." Some of the other Whispers had strange color schemes. Not that Yuna had a normal frame of reference here. She'd have to take Grishi's word for it. Ting-Lu continued to stomp across the ground a few hundred meters away. Cracks and fissures ran through the dirt. A couple of small trees splintered and fell to their sides.

"It's not paying us any attention," Nikki whispered. "Let's try and take a shot at it from afar."

"Ground-type," Yuna whispered. She glanced at Nikki, recalling the whole kerfuffle with fighting Chernabog. "Nikki, do you think you should let us take the lead here?"

The toxtricity frowned. "I said shoot from afar," she muttered.

"Right. But as long as we're together..." Yuna flinched when the ground rumbled yet again. Unfezant and tranquil flew away from Ting-Lu, squawking their alarm.

She didn't want to keep Nikki out of things, but it wasn't safe. Yuna fidgeted nervously. She was being polite, unlike Gene.

"Maybe have her search for Leo?" Reshiram offered. But Yuna knew that would just upset her.

"Okay." Nikki scooched back across the rock. "I'll wait. See if I can find an opening to Boomburst him."

Yuna stayed silent. Did Nikki really have the range to pull that off? Maybe if she or Grishi could knock Ting-Lu into the air. But did Yuna even have anything to strike the Whisper effectively?

"Think that's my cue." Shaymin hopped off Reshiram's head in the back of Yuna's mind. "Time for a mini adventure. Shoot me out of a horn like I'm a dreepy."

What? Did he have any idea how fast dragpult horns could fire?

"Relax." Shaymin hopped in place. His mossy fur fluttered with excitement "Rayquaza's taken me skydiving before. I know fast."

The mental image was too much for Yuna to bother verifying with Rayquaza if it was true. "Okay," Yuna said to the others. "I'm going to shoot Shaymin. When you see some grass move, uhh I guess we attack?"

Grishi said nothing. Yuna assumed he had no objections. Her core sent green light up her right shoulder into one of her right horns. The sudden weight change told Yuna Shaymin was in position.

Ting-Lu had its back toward them, spreading cracks through the dirt with every step. It was time to act. Yuna concentrated on her right horns. After tensing a moment, a green streak soared forward.

"Go!" Yuna raced after Shaymin. Green rings encircled the miniature green comet careening toward Ting-Lu. The rings descended on Ting-Lu, showering it in green light that quickly faded to mist. The smell of grass clippings quickly filled the air. Now in sky form, Shaymin flew out of the mist, brimming with green light.

"Keep striking from a distance!" Rayquaza said. "Seed Flare doth lower the fiend's defenses to your ranged strikes, Princess!"

That was simple enough now that Yuna had Dragon Darts. She prepared to fire when a sudden heaviness dragged her down from the air. She hit the grass with a startled squeak. And a grunt further ahead suggested the same thing happened to Shaymin.

"Is this, nrrrgh, Gravity?" Shaymin's voice was strained. Yuna struggled to pick her head up out of the grass... which tickled her ectoplasm while the ground shook.

Up! Up! She had to get back into the air somehow.

A sudden spark of inspiration led to two spectral wings emerging and pushing against the ground. It launched Yuna just high enough to dodge the Earthquake before she landed in a dirt patch. Shaymin, on the other hand, grunted in pain several meters away.

Ting-Lu fixed its attention on Yuna. Purple static fanned out of the crystal dirt mound on its head and formed Zodiark's masked face.

"So, you finally pulled back the curtain." Their voice was as distorted as ever. "Even in a dragapult shell, I know it's you, Yaldabaoth. Back to your usual pattern of hostility."

Ting-Lu reared up again, but green Seed Flare rings flew in from behind and struck it. It stumbled. Zodiark's facial projection flickered. Ting-Lu spun around. Yuna decided to follow Shaymin's lead. Even stuck in the grass, she could still attack. If she angled her head right...

"You are the one bringing chaos and suffering to this world," Zodiark continued. "Just as your past interference led to a world filled with suffering."

Yuna fired dreepy-shaped blue energy spears. Ting-Lu stomped a fore and hind hoof against the ground. Mounds of dirt sprouted up in front and behind it, stopping both Yuna's Dragon Darts and another Seed Flare that Shaymin had fired from the opposite side of the field.

"How predictable." The silhouette of Zodiark's head phased through a dirt wall. "Like refusing to acknowledge your own failures."

Suddenly the dirt mound was flying forward. It was going to crush Yuna! The dragapult tried to go airborne but couldn't. She did the next best thing and rolled right. Despite her triangular head slowing her movement, Yuna got out of the way. And when the dirt mound passed her by, the world crystalized and everything slowed to a crawl.

Just like before. The pressing weight wasn't there. Yuna quickly shot Dragon Darts from her horns. When the time stop wore off, Yuna was forced to the ground once again. But the Darts caught Ting-Lu by surprise. Then Seed Flares struck it from behind.

"Why press this attack? What do you think you'll accomplish?" Zodiark's face flickered in and out from around Ting-Lu. "The more you force this Whisper to strain, the greater the risk you place on this facility."

"I don't, nnrrgh, believe you." Yuna pushed against the ground. Why was this infernal Gravity lasting so long? And where the hell was Grishi?!

"You should." Zodiark's wheel-shaped mask turned into a hexagonal panel. "The core helps with the dome's integrity."

Ting-Lu turned... and ran away from Yuna.

"He's bailing!" Shaymin cried. Grass shuffled several meters ahead of Yuna as Shaymin came to regroup.

"What do you think will happen to all the people here if a part of the dome breaks, Yaldabaoth?" Zodiark asked. "It seems this Whisper wants to break it. What will you do? If you keep fighting it, you may be the one to break the dome instead."

The silhouette faded away. Gravity's intense weight subsided. But Ting-Lu was already bounding south, kicking up grass and dirt. There was a rock wall stretching out along what had to be the edge of the Terarium. And Ting-Lu had its head lowered like it was going to try and ram it.

"Shaymin!" Yuna called. A stream of green light shot into her core. Then Shaymin reappeared on Yuna's head while she flew after him.

XxX​

Leo flew as fast as his scyther wings could carry him. Which was pretty quick, all things considered. Fast enough to zip past grass, shrubbery, and trees toward a downward slope that led to weird stations made of glowing white cubes.

He dropped to the ground the moment his suspicions were confirmed: Onion Hair had come down here. The scyther's eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

But how did he spot Onion Hair so easily? The sky plate, maybe? A literal bird's eye view...

Leo walked forward. Onion Hair had put six poké balls into a red and white cylinder. Soft light bathed them.

A healing machine. Like what Pokémon Centers used.

The scyther blinked. Those terms had popped into his head. It was almost instinctual.

Must have heard it from Alder.

Leo kept moving forward. Something about the way Onion Hair watched the healing machine didn't sit right with him.

"... Change tactics." Onion Hair was talking to himself. "Ceruledge's aggressive. Lot of offense. Need to find a way to slow him down. Incineroar's Intimidate. Then pivot with Parting Shot out to Grimmsnarl. If I can Trick a Ring Target onto him..."

Ceruledge? Leo's eyes widened. Onion Hair was going to go after Gilgamesh again? He lost last time! And this guy had no idea Gilgamesh was a Whisper. That was too dangerous!

The healing machine turned off. "Finally!" Onion Hair gathered up the poké balls.

Leo had to act fast. But what could he do? If he tried actually talking to Onion Hair, he might freak the kid out.

... Except Onion Hair already heard Gilgamesh talking.

"Ah, screw it." The scyther sped down the slope. He jumped into the air.

"WAIT!" Leo cried, flying over a metal arch and landing beside Onion Hair on the edge of the white cube platform. "You can't go after Ceruledge again! He'll hand you a giant L for sure!" He held up his scythe arms.

Onion Hair jumped, dropping the two poké balls he held. As he bent down to pick them up, he kept his eyes trained on Leo. The scyther noticed the heavy bags under his eyes... and an increasingly empty look the longer Onion Hair made eye contact.

"Talking... pokémon..." Onion Hair stood up. He was practically looking past Leo. An indifferent expression settled across his face. "This doesn't involve you. Stand aside. I'm the strongest trainer in this place. That means you've gotta listen to me."

Seriously? Leo raised a brow. This guy had to be at least a little bit younger than him.

... Or younger than he felt with four of his plates, anyway.

"Can't do that." Leo widened his stance. "Ceruledge has something that belongs to me. I'm gonna take it back."

"Then you can have it when I'm finished beating him." Onion Hair started forward. "I don't care if you can talk. I'm in charge here."

Leo sidestepped right, holding up his arms. "You can't battle him."

"I can and I will." The empty look in Onion Hair's eyes turned to scorn. "What are you going to do? You're one scyther. Do you even have a trainer?"

"I don't." Leo's wings buzzed nervously. "But I'm totes strong. And I think... sending your pokémon at Ceruledge again so quickly after losing to him is a major fail."

"Don't you dare speak for my pokémon!" Onion Hair snarled. There was a hint of... frenzy in his eyes. "I understand them plenty! Just like I understood the ogre!"

He tapped a clenched fist against his thigh repeatedly. "Strong trainers make strong pokémon. My pokémon are strong. Because I'm strong."

He wasn't looking at Leo, though. It was almost like Onion Hair was talking to someone else. But who?

"I'm the strongest person here." Onion Hair's fist tapped against his thigh faster and faster. "I'm beating Ceruledge. You can't stop me. Ninetales can't stop me..."

Leo frowned. Ninetales?

He sidestepped Leo and ran onto the grassy field. "I know what I'm doing!"

The kid was surprisingly nimble. But Leo was faster. He flew past Onion Hair and hovered in his path. "Then use me as your pokémon instead!" the scyther begged.

Onion Hair skidded to a halt. "You can't be serious." He tapped his heel against the ground repeatedly, kicking up a small divot in the grass. "Even Terastalized, Ceruledge still has fire-type attacks. You'll get torched."

"Nah, I'd win!" Leo insisted. Sure, he hadn't directly fought a Whisper before. But he had four plates. His powers were growing. Why else could he change into other pokémon?

"Typing's still important." Onion Hair shook his head. "You don't have a trainer. So, you haven't had real training. You're not strong enough."

"I've trained plenty." This was going nowhere. And every second wasted talking was time for Gilgamesh to do... something. Or the other Whisper that he left Yuna and Nikki to deal with. "I'll prove it to you! One-vee-one me!"

There was a flicker of that earlier madness in Onion Hair's eyes. Then an eerie smile crept onto his face. "Okay, yeah." He was tapping his fist against his leg again. "Fine. I'll show you how out of your depth you are by knocking you out. Then you can't get in my way."

Onion Hair had already pulled a poké ball out of his hoodie pocket and tossed it to the side. A dragonite emerged, stretching his arms out. He looked at Onion Hair, then Leo.

"Battle time," Onion Hair said. He hunched over, resting his right arm on his right knee. "Get set."

Dragonite nodded. His expression sharpened. The beating of his wings intensified.

"Strike first! Extreme Speed to the chest!"

Leo's eyes widened. He has—

A scaly shoulder slammed into the scyther's torso. Leo barely had the time to fold in his wings before hitting the grass and rolling to a stop, bracing himself with his arms.

"Follow up. Breaking Swipes. Down, then side."

With a roar, blue energy shrouded Dragonite's arms. A few flaps of his wings closed the gap with Leo. He rolled right, dodging a downward swipe of Dragonite's right arm. But Dragonite followed up swinging his left arm sideways.

Leo pooled energy into his arms and raised them up. His X-scissor clashed with the Breaking Swipe.

"Regroup," Onion Hair said, still hunched over. The order came with a flash of that frenzy in his eyes.

(Right! Back!) Dragonite broke away, flying back to Kieran's side.

Sighing in relief, Leo righted himself. His arms felt... weaker than earlier. It must have been the Breaking Swipe. Gah, there were so many moves to keep track of! And only ones with types matching his plates were clear in his mind.

"Give up." Onion Hair had his eyes locked on Leo. "You're already looking shaky."

Leo held his arms at his sides. "I'm just getting started."

Much as Leo dreaded showing any of his serious power, he was at a disadvantage as a scyther. He had to change tactics.

"Extreme Speed! Grab him!"

Not again! Leo shot higher into the air. Dragonite passed underneath.

"Thunder straight above!"

He has Thunder?!

(Okay! Up!) Lightning crackled in Dragonite's arms. He hurled a large bolt skyward. Leo barely managed to spin out of the way.

Finally, an opening! Leo rained Air Slash blades down from the air, just like he'd seen Noctum do time after time.

"Take it! Then retaliate with Thunder!"

Wait, what?!

Dragonite crossed his arms over his face. The Air Slash blades forced him to land, but he stood tough and hurled another lightning bolt. Leo couldn't end his own attack in time. The scyther plummeted from the air in a burst of sparks, crashing into the ground.

Nothing had hurt Leo like this before. He shakily propped himself up.

"See? I told you." Onion Hair hadn't broken his stance the entire time. That frenzy returned to his eyes. "You're not strong enough. Stand aside."

"N... no..." Leo couldn't give in here. He finally had enough power to do something. He couldn't stumble at the first hurdle like this!

His wings buzzed slowly. A soft, sky-blue light surrounded him. The lingering pain from Dragonite's Thunder faded.

"He's Roosting!" Onion Hair cried. "Extreme Speed now!"

Leo was a bit further from Dragonite compared to the start of the battle. Which gave him enough time to run left and dodge Dragonite's shoulder.

"Follow up! Breaking Swipes, double right!"

(No move!) Dragonite growled, blue energy returning to his arms. Leo kept running across the grass, however. This wasn't the time to stand around. He had to stay on the move— no, Leo had to change forms.

Stop thinking about types. Leo's scyther feet swished through the grass. Dragonite was gaining on him in the air.

"Redirect! Extreme Speed when you're close enough!" Onion Hair shouted.

If Dragonite was expecting him to keep running, then Leo had to act now. He skidded to a halt, focusing on the plates swirling around inside him.

Water... water... WATER!

Thin wings and bladed arms gave way to a shell and shoulder-mounted cannons. Cannons that Leo aimed at a startled Dragonite.

They fired dual water bursts large enough for the recoil to send Leo onto his back. A startled holler told him the Water Spout hit its mark. Leo rocked himself back and forth to get to his feet. He found Dragonite lying in a rapidly muddying puddle closer to Onion Hair than earlier.

The boy's stance had broken. That frenzy had given way to shock, followed by a panic. "Get up!" Onion Hair shouted, pointing at Leo. "Getupgetupgetup! Thunder! Blastoise are way slower!"

Leo couldn't let that attack get off. He bent over slightly to account for the recoil, then Water Spouts gushed from his cannons. Dragonite was too busy gathering lightning and could only widen his eyes before getting drenched. He slid across damp, muddy grass, flailing his arms and legs around. His roar of protest grew steadily weaker until his arms and legs flopped by his sides.

The blastoise shambled forward a bit, keeping his cannons trained on Dragonite. He only relaxed when, after several seconds, Onion Hair dropped to his knees.

"No..." Onion Hair stared down at the grass. There was a vacant look in his eyes. The same one Leo thought he saw when Gilgamesh was gloating after his win outside the school.

"Not fair," the kid mumbled. "It's not fair... not fair... not fair!" Onion Hair smacked the grass with his fist repeatedly. "Why? Why do you keep getting in my way like this?!"

Leo frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"It's you..." Still on all fours, Onion Hair looked up. His eyes were still empty. "That ninetales who humiliated back home. You're doing all this to me!" Onion Hair's right eye twitched. "I bet you're the one controlling Ceruledge, too!"

Dragonite managed to stumble his way back to Onion Hair's side. (Kieran?) Wincing, he leaned over to try and pick his trainer back up.

"Huh?" Kieran blinked at Dragonite. "Oh, right. You should rest for now." He took out Dragonite's poké ball and returned him. "Guess I've got to heal him again." Kieran's grip on the ball tightened.

"I don't know any ninetales," Leo insisted. How much did he really want to tell Kieran? The kid wasn't in a good frame of mind.

"I don't believe you." Kieran got back to his feet. "You can talk. Ninetales and Ceruledge can talk. You're all related."

The blastoise looked down. "Well, Ceruledge is someone I'm trying to stop. Because he has things that belong to me. And they're powering him up." He shuffled back from Kieran and turned to look out over the grassy fields. "I'm from a different world. Ceruledge has helped make a mystery dungeon linking my world to your school. And I have to seal it off before it's too late."

Kieran looked confused. But Leo would take that over the earlier emptiness. "I don't want you fighting Ceruledge because you could get seriously hurt. Same for your pokémon."

"But he didn't do that when we battled outside of school." Kieran fiddled with the lock of hair dangling from his forehead. "All he said was he wanted someone to give him a real challenge. And kept talking about weapons to collect..."

Now that was strange. A Whisper who only wanted to have a good battle? Weren't they all vicious daemons who went on rampages?

... But the only person Leo had seen Gilgamesh attack was that Paradigm Lieutenant back in his world's Iron Island. And even then, he left the victini that emerged alone and went into the rift.

Leo lazily kicked his leg back and forth along the grass. "Okay, maybe Ceruledge isn't harmful. It's still not your fight. I won our battle."

"Yeah. Yeah, you did."

The blastoise winced. Kieran was trying to guilt-trip him. Why else would that have sounded so depressing?

Then again, Leo's performance against Kieran was far from flawless. And Gilgamesh had both dark and ghost-type, on top of the fire-type stuff that a ceruledge could usually do. Leo didn't have fairy-type at his disposal. He'd have to rely on water and flying. And it was a lot to keep track of.

Maybe a trainer could help me out here?

Sighing, Leo turned around. "I guess... we could work together?"

Kieran started fiddling with that dangling lock of hair again. "Like, you want to be my pokémon?"

"Well, you can't catch me." Leo shook his head. "And... you'd have to keep this a secret."

"I can do that." Kieran kicked his heel against the dirt repeatedly. He looked over Leo's shoulder, toward the middle of the Terarium. "What kind of secret?"

Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. But screw it. Leo was already taking big risks separating from the others. What was one more?

He shifted back into his cosmic arceus form. "This is what I really look like. I can use pretty much any move that's bug, fighting, flying, or water-type. But against that ceruledge, only two types make sense. And that's where I need you to help me out."

"Any move?" Kieran's eyes widened. He looked down, rapping his fist against his thigh. "Wowzers..."

"I don't know what happened to you with Ninetales," Leo continued. "You don't seem like a bad guy. Maybe a little crazy with all that strength stuff." But hopefully this could snap Kieran out of that. "I'll look past it. So, you in?"

He extended a foreleg to Kieran, who blinked at it.

"Are you... asking me to shake on it?"

"Was thinking more fist bump, but if you want the boring option—"

Kieran tapped Leo's raised hoof with an open palm. "C'mon. I think Ceruledge is hanging out in the center of the Terarium. We'd better hurry."

Leo bucked a startled Kieran onto his back. "Four legs are faster than two," he said, then galloped off across the field.

XxX​

It wasn't hard for Igneous and Scarlett to find Gene and Widget. The shadowy mewtwo and miraivally were floating over streets full of people fleeing away from the mall. Widget kept shooting Thunderbolts that would suddenly come to a stop against open air, then Gene would punch through Shadow Balls.

"What about the people down there?" Scarlett flapped her wings. "Shouldn't we be helping them?"

"Dunno. Don't you guys think it's weird that the pirates aren't actually attacking anyone?" Starlene countered.

Igneous was at a loss. It was too much happening at one time and every time he tried turning on his X-transceiver he was met with Gene bickering with Gilbert.

"We'll get answers the direct way," the grovlazzle said. With several flaps of his volcarona wings he sped through the air to catch up.

Just like Starlene said, however, no one was firing on him. Even the initial volley he and Scarlett weaved through to distract the pirates had died down. Just what was going on?

He reluctantly turned the X-transceiver back on.

"... Still be here!" Gilbert scoffed. "You could whisk zese stupid so-and-sos away in seconds."

"And incite a mass panic in the process!" Gene growled, tail lashing at the air. "Just tell me what you're up to and I won't blow up your command ship."

"Ah, mon petit kitty cat." Gilbert tsked through the radio. "Always lacking in ze genteelmonly ways. Perhaps you should try asking nicely. Or sending ze flowers."

Another Thunderbolt crackled through the air. Igneous finally saw a hint of a barrier, which parted long enough for Gene to sling a Shadow Ball through. But it quickly vanished. If it had hit anyone, Igneous couldn't tell. And there were no screams, either.

"Hey!" Igneous stopped a couple of meters behind Gene. "What are we doing just floating around here for?"

"Trying to get through these obnoxious barriers," Gene said. "Your timing's impeccable. Summon that crazy sword of yours. Maybe your freako powers can get rid of the shield."

"Okay, but why?" Igneous said.

Sighing, Gene pinched a brow. "Because cloaking and disrupting our comms wasn't part of the deal."

Widget sputtered. His thrusters stalled for a moment and he dropped from the air with a squawk before hastily recovering. "I'm sorry, what?

Embers crackled around Igneous' leafy tails. "The hell do you mean? You're saying you planned this?!"

"Oh, this wasn't my idea. It was Boy Wonder's." Gene flicked his right arm dismissively.

"Who?" Scarlett fluttered in place. Though her nervous tone of voice told Igneous she already had a hunch.

"Shimmer." Gene's tail lazily swished back and forth. "To make his mom look bad, he wanted the pirates cause some property damage without actually attacking anyone." He rubbed his snout. "Except us. Which is what I negotiated." His expression soured. "Where'd the dweeb run off to, anyway?"

There were so many things wrong with Gene's claims that the grovlazzle didn't know where to begin. "We came here to investigate spreading distortion! You were going to put us in the line of fire for... for..."

"It was you who fired ze first shots at us!" Gilbert countered through their disrupted comm line. "We were all set for ze simple smash et grab but zen you made with ze shooting of our faces. Plus, ze anomaly wasn't part of ze deal."

"But you had the cloaks up first!" Widget said, still glaring at Gene. Igneous was miffed with the shadowy mewtwo, but also found Shimmer's convenient disappearing act incredibly suspicious.

"Oui, because mon capitaine detected ze anomaly before we set out for ze raid!" Gilbert replied.

Igneous wings buzzed in surprise. Blackskull had known about the anomaly the whole time? Before Team Bastion found it? Just what the hell were these pirates?!

"As soon as mon mateys have ze last of ze electronics mon capitaine needs, we make with ze leaving!"

"Then we stop fighting!" Scarlett said, fluttering her small wings nervously. "If we shoot ships out of the sky, they could crash down on the city and anyone who's below us!" The dragonair pointed her tail down. There was a park with assorted corviknight, pidgeot, braviary, staraptor, and groups of squawkabilly carrying large flying carriages. People were shoving their ways into them.

"And besides, the anomaly's back in the middle of the mall." Igneous looked over his shoulder. The static wasn't visible, so it thankfully hadn't gone past the destroyed roof. "Looked to be growing quickly. We ought to find the others and figure out how to deal with it."

"Oui! Zat is a vonderful idea!" Gilbert exclaimed. "In fact, ze last of ze crew has reported back. So, allow me to make with ze sweetening of ze pot!"

"The hell does that mean?!" Igneous said, but the connection to Gilbert went dead. Before the grovlazzle could ask Gene what the next steps were, bright blue flashes lit up the midday sky. Four large space pirate ships appeared, each surrounded by a glistening blue barrier.

"Gene, what did you do?" Widget said, eyes darting around.

A large projection appeared above the ship closest to the quartet. A black-scaled tyrantrum head gazed down at them. The gemstone in place of their right eye glistened.

"A fair morrow, Herbrides scallywags!" Tyrantrum's projection bellowed. "This be Cap'n Blackskull, scourge of the galaxy! And five-time reigning runner-up in Hoenn Digest's semi-annual homemade butterscotch pudding competition!"

At first, there was silence. Then, one or two screams from down on the ground turned to ten. Then twenty. Then hundreds. People redoubled their efforts to get into the flying taxis, or sprinted through the park to get as far away from the mall and the nearby town square as possible.

"On behalf of me crew, I'd like to personally thank ye fer contributing yer machines to the Blackskull Buccaneers!" Blackskull continued, his gemstone eye crackling with amber energy. "We'll be sure to take good care of 'em, won't we lads?"

Raucous cheers filled the air from the flying ships.

Igneous hovered closer to Gene. "Was this part of your plan?" He leveled his claws at the shadowy mewtwo.

Gene held up an index finger. "Give it a sec."

"I'd say to take the losses up with yer insurance, but I don't think ye landlubbers cover space pirate raids!" Blackskull said, before his holographic head roared with laughter. "If I were ye, I'd go banging on the palace doors of yer lackadaisical queen and useless Radiant Guard! Where even are they, hmm?"

Okay, that certainly sounded like something they'd script to make Isola sound bad. Maybe the pirates had gone back to the original deal?

... Igneous was still going to ream Shimmer a new asshole when he got hold of the ponytales.

"Now then, as fer ye resistance blokes." Blackskull gazed down at Igneous and the others. "I think ye oughta be hustling yer bustles. That there rift be looking a touch unstable, if ye catch me drift."

As if on cue, a circular wall of purple light raced out from the mall. Igneous scales burned against his back when the light rushed past him.

Smaller purple rifts burst open between the ships and the ground. Fresh screams rose up as rows of trees in the park suddenly sprouted berries large enough to snap said trees at their trunks and send them crashing into the ground.

Blackskull looked around at the other ships "Fall back, me hearties! We be late fer our monthly team-building yoga class at Sandygast Saul's Meditation Station!"

"You're leaving?" Gene's shoulder crystal sparked. "What about no hurt civilians?"

"Bah, fine!" Blackskull's crystal eye glowed. "Ye want some help? I'll give ye ol' Iron Beak Barbarossa!"

As the flying ships vanished one by one, a blue, circular portal opened over a street where a crowd of pokémon were attempting to flee from the rifts opening in the sky. A large, robotic cramorant flew out, beak wide open, and swallowed everyone up.

Scarlett flew in front of the others and was about to protest, when she saw Barbarossa flying away from the rifts. Her bauble flashed pink. "Starlene says they're okay." She paused. "I think."

"Great." Widget's voice cracked. He nervously rubbed his forelegs together. "But what do we do? Go after Yuna?"

"No." Gene held his hand up. "Find Cyril and the others. I can get a bunch of these folks evacuated." He cracked his knuckles. "It'll be a piece of cake."

Igneous was still mad at Gene. But that could wait for later. And with the pirates gone, their communications should have been back online.

"Cyril, you there?" the grovlazzle asked. "Where are you?"

"... out... but... thing..."

Static garbled the cosmic zoroark's response. Igneous' breath caught in his throat.

"No..."

"What's wrong?" Widget's cheek bolts turned slowly in their sockets. "You don't think it's the anomaly messing with our X-transceivers, do you?"

Igneous shook his head. They were supposed to be on the periphery of the city. If they were far from the anomaly portal, then...

"The last time my line went dead, it was because Xeromus showed up! And that means they're in trouble!"

The grovlazzle's wings ignited. "We have to try and find them now!"

"Iggy, wait!" Scarlett called, but Igneous shot off to the west, leaving a trail of embers behind him.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 94: Battle on the Big Bridge​

Yuna's 'pot-shots from a distance' strategy wasn't working. Ting-Lu wasn't exactly speeding toward the giant rock wall surrounding the Terarium, but it was raising dirt mounds out of the ground and leaping between them to dodge Shaymin's Seed Flares. Every leap served to launch Ting-Lu's platforms at Yuna. The dragapult struggled to balance dodging them while giving Shaymin good aim and keeping enough distance to avoid falling victim to Ting-Lu's Gravity.

And that weird crystalline time stop — she was calling it "reverse time" since it had to come from her giratina side — was hurting, not helping.

Ting-Lu was about two-thirds of the way to the edge of the Terarium. It raised a clay mound from the ground, uprooting trees and shredding bushes apart so nothing but twigs and crumpled leaves remained.

"There!" Shaymin fired a Seed Flare. Ting-Lu leaped from the mound, kicking clay chunks at Yuna and landing on a lower dirt platform. The green rings harmlessly flew past while Yuna rolled left to avoid the clay.

"Such a feeble demonstration." Zodiark's voice carried from where Ting-Lu was. A staticky projection of their face swirled around the large dirt crystal in Ting-Lu's head bowl. "It's nothing if not emblematic of your one-sided, futile struggle."

"Shut up!" Yuna focused on her core. It rippled with distortion. Heat pooled in her horns, drawing a yelp from Shaymin. To her surprise, sun-shaped white arrows streaked through the air and exploded around Ting-Lu. The Whisper tumbled from its platform. Zodiark's silhouette vanished.

The dragapult blinked. "Um... that wasn't a normal Dragon Darts."

"Who cares?" Shaymin scooted forward on her triangular head. Seed Flare rings streamed down toward Ting-Lu. However, a giant dirt hand emerged behind Ting-Lu. It grabbed the Seed Flare and squeezed. Dirt exploded outward, forcing Yuna and Shaymin back.

"Harsh." Shaymin whistled. "It's molding the ground as it sees fit. Not grateful at all!"

Yuna tried shooting the sun arrows through the lingering dusty cloud. Ting-Lu emerged from the cloud atop another clay platform. A dark, dreadful aura gathered around it. Whatever that attack was, Yuna didn't intend to take it.

She expected a beam or blast. So, the dragapult was caught off guard when a black and red dome emerged around Ting-Lu, spreading out rapidly.

"Ah!" Yuna opened a rift to flee when a white flash blinded her.

"Sorry Grishi late! Had to make pitstop!"

Yuna opened her eyes to find the zorotwo floating there, holding up a black barrier with one hand and some sort of metal ring with another.

"Where have you— ugh, never mind!" Yuna's tail undulated rapidly. "Did you stop that attack?"

He shook his head. "Grishi shield Yuna from Ruination. Bad time if hit."

Ruination? Grishi knew what that attack was?

It didn't matter. Ting-Lu was charging it again while leaping toward a taller clay platform. "Well, you're here now. So start helping!" Yuna flew around the zorotwo.

"Y'know, you could show him some gratitude," Shaymin mused. "Since he came back."

Yuna's response was to tilt her head, sending Shaymin tumbling into one of her horns. She fired him straight toward Ting-Lu.

"It was a joooooooooooooooooooooooke!" Tiny limbs flailing, Shaymin unleashed a close-ranged Seed Flare. Ting-Lu was too busy readying its Ruination to dodge. The green rings peppered its right flank. Its clay platform crumbled, sending it straight to the ground.

"Yuna stay back!" Grishi ordered before the dragapult could go pick up Shaymin. Instead, he shifted to his sky form and flew back. Girshi teleported over Ting-Lu. He held up the metal ring, then it vanished inside an illusory plastic cup. Just like the type she saw stacked on some of the water coolers in the outpost hanger.

The cup appeared by Ting-Lu's side in a flash. As soon as it righted itself, the metal ring was stuck around its ankle. Ting-Lu noticed this. The ominous Ruination aura crackled around its body once again.

Grishi vanished once again, only to reappear seconds later—

"Hey Ting-LOSER! Look up!"

Yuna's jaw dropped as a freefalling Nikki swung her lightning guitar around. It struck Ting-Lu's vaguely equine face. Cracks spiderwebbed their way along its body. When it tried to retaliate, its limbs locked up and it fell over on its side. Grishi yanked the toxtricity away with his ESP.

"Oh-ho, ****, it actually worked!" Nikki laughed nervously.

"What just happened?" Yuna wanted to glare at Nikki and Grishi, but the bigger focus was on taking out this Whisper. She ordered Shaymin to fire more Seed Flares.

"Ring Target." The zorotwo traced a claw in a circle. "Grishi steal from school store. It remove Ting-Lu electric immunity. So Nikki can paralyze."

Another dirt hand erupted from the ground to deflect Shaymin's Seed Flares. Ting-Lu's garbled roar filled the air. A furious chorus of wing flaps behind Yuna suggested more birds were fleeing north.

"Hey, bastard's getting away!" Nikki said, pointing east. Ting-Lu surfed a wave of dirt across the grassy plains, uprooting trees and knocking boulders over. "Where the hell's this thing going? The dome's that way?"

"Who cares! After it!" Yuna flew ahead. Though Ting-Lu's limbs twitched with paralysis, the dirt wave carried it much faster than it was going before.

"With all the cracks along its body, it must be on its last legs!" Rayquaza said. "Tally ho!"

Yuna was catching up, but she wasn't expecting the dirt wave to fling Ting-Lu through the air. The Whisper sailed over the remaining plains and some wall made of brightly glowing cubes. It landed in the middle of a sandy beach.

"What's it doing? It's a ground-type, isn't it?"

"Sand's kinda ground," Shaymin said. "Think palossand."

Ting-Lu roared again. The sand around it swirled and rippled. A giant sandcastle erupted from the beach. Sandy cannons aimed at the approaching dragapult and fired Mud Bombs at her.

"Gah!" Yuna retaliated with a Dragon Darts volley, destroying one Mud Bomb. Shaymin's Seed Flare took care of the other.

"Princess! There art more cannons firing on the dome! The fiend is trying to destroy it from a distance!"

Massive Mud Bombs sailed over the sparkling water beneath them. Yuna couldn't stop those, even if she did open a rift!

"On your left!" Shaymin cried. Seed Flare rings lit up the sky. Then wet sand showered Yuna from above.

Hissing, she threw her arms over her head. "I need some help here!"

"What do you think we're doing?!" Nikki growled from somewhere to the dragapult's left. "We're taking too much fire!"

A loud ding reverberated through the Terarium. Yuna saw mud splattered against a hexagonal tile. It was a gap in the dome's artificial sky. And more Mud Bombs were heading toward that spot!

Yuna flew toward them, shooting sun-shaped arrows alongside Shaymin's Seed Flares.

"Behind Yuna!" Grishi shouted. She turned to see the black dome of Ruination energy racing toward her.

"Eep!" Yuna flew away from it as fast as she could manage. The attack fizzled out without reaching her, but now she was too far from the giant sandcastle to get an attack on Ting-Lu.

How were they supposed to topple this thing under a constant Mud Bomb barrage?

... Wait.

She remembered Gene dealing with something like this before. What was it that Noctum called it?

No, that's not important! Yuna shook her head. "Shaymin! Go to Grishi and Nikki. Shoot a Seed Flare at Grishi and have Nikki shoot a Boomburst your attack. Tell Grishi to catch it!"

"Huh?"

"No questions! Go!" She jerked her head, transferring Shaymin into a horn, then blasted him back toward Ting-Lu and the giant sandcastle.

"Nooooot cooooooooooooooool!" Shaymin hollered. Fortunately, he shifted to sky form and weaved between Mud Bombs from the sandcastle's cannons.

Yuna focused on shooting down Mud Bombs heading for the dome with Dragon Darts. It filled the air with brown clouds. Clumps of wet sand splattered against her triangular head. They stung a bit, but she'd bear with the pain if it meant taking out Ting-Lu.

She shot down two more Mud Bombs. The cannons in the distance fired another three. Her horns were hurting. Yuna couldn't give up, though. Shaymin was flying quickly around Grishi and Nikki. That was a good thing, right?

Three Dragon Darts blew apart the Mud Bombs, filling the air with a sandy cloud once again. It quickly vanished, however, as a large green explosion swept the cloud away. A rush of wind smelling of freshly-trimmed grass almost swept Yuna up, but she maintained her position in midair.

When the green light faded, the giant sandcastle was collapsing upon itself. Ting-Lu desperately pawed at the air to try not to get sucked into the mound of sand, but it was a losing effort. Yuna sped forward and added insult to injury with a couple more sun-shaped arrows.

Ting-Lu's wedge-shaped earth crystal shattered seconds before the sinking mount of sand swallowed it up.

"Good idea."

Yuna's tail crinkled at Grishi blipping over to her side. "Hmm?"

The zorotwo sheathed and unsheathed his claws repeatedly. "Trapping exploding Seed Flares in psychic bubble to build pressure for bigger explosion. Good idea." He nodded approvingly. "Not bad for novice reverser. Grishi impressed."

"Um, thanks?" Yuna was sorely tempted to ask what "novice reverser" meant. But before she could, static burst out of the sand. It streamed toward the Terarium's core dangling from that tiny metal panel that looked like it floated in midair.

Just like back in Wyndon, Zodiark's masked face appeared in the lines of static.

"This changes nothing, Yaldabaoth," they said. "You will not drag these worlds into stagnation. Your pointless resistance will meet its inevitable end. That is your fate."

Yuna refused to give Zodiark the pleasure of a rebuttal, watching silently as the projection dissolved away with the remaining static.

Sighing in relief, she recalled Shaymin back into her core. Things had gotten hairy for a bit, but they managed. And she held her own for once.

"Heeeeeey!"

Down on the beach, Nikki hopped up and down and waved her arms around. "Not to kill the mood, but don't we still have Gilgamesh to deal with? And you need to find your kid!"

Yuna winced. Right, Leo had run off on them.

"Dost thou think he wouldst challenge Gilgamesh on his own?"

Well now the possibility certainly occurred to her! Swallowing hard, the dragapult turned to Grishi. "I think we're still gonna need a bit of help. I've gotta find my son... and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!"

XxX​

The center of the Terarium was a raised platform made from the same glowing cubes fanning out in the cardinal directions. Gilgamesh paced across the middle of it. The ghost and dark crystals atop his head glistened under the dome's artificial light.

Leo galloped through the air. A tiny voice told him this was beyond boneheaded, but he didn't care. He'd already broken off from the group and gotten involved with Kieran. It was full Luxray Jenkins or bust!

So what if that never worked out for Igneous? Leo was an arceus!

"—not believe how ridiculous this is!" The ceruledge raised his arms. "My arms are fire swords! How can this world not have a warrior to give me a proper challenge?" He looked up, toward the corrupted core dangling from the top of the dome. "Stupid interdimensional rift! Why spit me out here? It's a waste, I tell you!"

Gilgamesh spotted what appeared to be a cylindrical recycling bin. "Yes, this kind of waste!" He raised his arms to slice the bin into ribbons.

Well, if he was rambling about a challenge, it was as good a time as any for Leo to make his presence known. "You ready?" he asked Kieran.

"I was ready before," Kieran said. Then hastily added, "I mean, uh, sure."

"I've got your challenge right here!" Leo cried, leaping through the air and landing atop a set of pristine white stairs. He stuck his right foreleg and left hind leg out. That was a cool enough pose, right?

Gilgamesh looked past Leo at first. "The boy from before!" He pointed a fiery sword arm at Kieran. "You've summoned another to battle with?"

"Yeah." Kieran slid off Leo's back. "And we're going to beat you this time."

Static energy rippled around Gilgamesh's head crystals. Leo glanced upward. Was the dungeon core trying to contact him?

If it was, Gilgamesh didn't seem to care. "Only one summon this time?" He scrutinized Leo. "What makes you think you're a worthy challenger? You cannot even free yourself from the confines of that fence you're stuck in!"

Of course this guy had to bring up Leo's wheel. Absolute cringe right there. It was part of the cosmic arceus. "It's a conduit for my power, dumba—"

He cut himself off the moment he met Kieran's gaze. Right, schoolkid. Leo had to watch his language.

"A source of power?" Gilgamesh's eyes surprisingly lit up with interest. "Oh ho ho! In that case... I accept your challenge! Perhaps your fence shall prove itself a weapon worthy of the rift's mightiest warrior, Gilgamesh!" The ceruledge raised his sword arms over his head. "Who is me!"

Okay, yep. This guy was absolute cringe. It was like someone took Rayquaza and dialed the ham meter up past eleven. At least that meant Gilgamesh wasn't under Zodiark's control. No Whisper would treat this like some RP session.

... And Leo could take advantage of that.

"One request." He held up a foreleg. "We take this fight outside. To that big, empty bridge."

"Huh?" Kieran tensed. "Why there?"

"There are too many wild pokémon down here," Leo said. "I don't want any of them getting hurt if things get crazy."

"Fine!" The ceruledge shrugged. "But there will be no other accommodations or delays!"

He pivoted and slashed at the air with his bladed arms. Sunshine— real sunshine spilled in through a jagged rift.

"Oh, wowzers..." Kieran shifted closer to Leo. "This really is a big deal, huh?"

Leo hoisted Kieran onto his back and followed Gilgamesh through the rift. They emerged on a long, white bridge. Wide enough for vehicles to pass, but there was no one in sight. And they were far enough from the school building that Leo could barely make it out.

"Now then, the time for pleasantries and-slash-or banter is behind us!" Gilgamesh declared. The crystals on his head twinkled. "Now is the time where we fight like honorable men!"

He stopped and looked at his fiery sword arms. "Or an honorable man with swords for hands and a possibly honorable steed-stuck-in-fence thing! Mwahahaha!" Gilgamesh brought his arms by his sides. "Engarde!"

Leo scarcely had time to let Kieran slide off him when Gilgamesh charged right at him. The cosmic arceus leaped over swipes from the ceruledge's fiery blades.

"Stick to the air!" Kieran said. The initial shock must have worn off because his earlier stoic expression was back. "You've got greater mobility!"

Leo galloped away from Gilgamesh's attempts at swatting him from the sky. "Why you!" He stomped the ground angrily. "How dare you use gravity against me like that! Here's what the Bladesman of Legend thinks of your aerodynamics!"

His head crystals brimmed with energy. Gilgamesh furiously slashed at the air. Purple and black crescents soared toward Leo. The cosmic arceus galloped through the air along the bridge, but the crescents gave chase.

"They're homing in," Kieran called. "Try blasting them apart with something big!"

Oh. Duh. Leo turned around. Something big could be another Water Spout, so Leo pointed his head at the oncoming energy crescents. Water gushed from a blue gleam over his forehead. The crescents melted away like dirt carried down to sewers in a rainstorm.

"He's charging you down!" Kieran cried. "Below you!"

"Huh?"

Gilgamesh was right underneath him! How'd he close the gap that quickly?!

The ceruledge spun around into a fiery tornado. Leo only had time to cross his legs over his sensitive underbelly before Gilgamesh knocked him further in the air. Leo shook out his legs. They stung from lingering embers.

"Mwahahaha!" Gilgamesh landed on the ground and pointed his right sword arm upward. "Only a truly mighty warrior can defy your defiance of gravity! Are you not astonished? Do your knees not quake with fear?!"

"Strike now!" Kieran had his hands cupped over his mouth. "Hydro Pump!"

Leo drew on the splash plate. Another blue shimmer rippled in front of his head. But instead of a scattershot of water, he sent one high-pressure stream toward Gilgamesh. The ceruledge stood his ground, swiping at the air as if he was rapidly throwing punches. His furious slashes protected him from the Hydro Pump, until Leo was forced to break it off.

"Is that the best you've got? Ha!" Gilgamesh's head crystals glowed. "No, I shall laugh a second time! Ha ha!" Black energy gathered in his blades, making them big enough to reach Leo!

"Run left!" Kieran said. Leo galloped through the air toward him, narrowly dodging Gilgamesh's giant sword arms. He saw a bit of panic in Kieran's eyes.

"Now counter like before!"

Leo shot another Hydro Pump from his forehead. Enlarging his blades made Gilgamesh's movements slower, so the water struck his right side. He tumbled along the white ground, sword arms shrinking back to their normal size.

The cosmic arceus' wheel shimmered. Okay, he got a proper hit in. This wasn't so bad! Yeah, he totally had this!

But why did Kieran look so concerned?

"What's wrong?" Leo said, keeping his eyes on Gilgamesh. He slung small water globules toward the ceruledge to keep him away.

"He wasn't doing this stuff when he battled my team." Kieran rapped his right fist against his right thigh. "Was he really holding back the whole time?"

Leo couldn't say. But something must've told him to take Leo seriously. Was Zodiark actually talking to Gilgamesh?

"Well, I still need your help," Leo insisted. Gilgamesh was back on his feet, weaving past the small water globs. The cosmic arceus galloped left, crossing along the bridge. He swapped to Air Slash crescents. The faster wind spears caught Gilgamesh off guard, with one striking his leg. He buckled dropping to one knee.

"I know! I'm trying! I just—" Kieran squeezed the dangling lock of his hair. "C'mon... c'mon... be strong! Be strong!" He tapped his head repeatedly with his fist.

"Don't think you can keep me away forever!" Gilgamesh stood back up, then ran toward the opposite end of the bridge as Leo. He jumped toward the glass wall and kicked off it. Purple energy sheathed his sword arms. Gilgamesh slashed the air, sending purple bursts shaped like his ghost crystal toward Leo.

Leo froze, unsure which direction to go.

"Dr... drop down!"

"But I'm high up!"

"Just trust me!"

The cosmic arceus obliged Leo, plummeting from the air while Gilgamesh's miniature ghosts flew overhead.

"Wide open!" The ceruledge dropped to the ground after Leo and slammed his swords down. Fiery shockwaves rushed toward Leo.

He tried to jump over, but the first one proved taller than Leo expected. It scorched his hooves enough to where it was too painful to gallop higher in the air. Leo fell into the second shockwave, which sent him tumbling toward the glass wall behind him.

The flames hurt. And the embers lingered on his body. Tiny spurs of burning pain peppered his pelt at random every second.

How could this be happening? He had four plates... and was much bigger. Leo should've been holding his own. The monks told him arceus were so powerful.

What was Leo thinking? Training with Yuna and Alder wasn't nearly the same thing as charging into battle like this. He was screwing the pooch big time! The universe was depending on him and he was totally failing!

"Gah! Sorry!" Kieran was thumping the side of his head again. "Should've told you to blast through that. Stupid, stupid!"

"Mwahahaha!" Flames gathered around Gilgamesh's blades. "You can't expect some impromptu partnership to stand up to me! And here I thought you'd give me a challenge!"

The ceruledge charged Leo down. Eyes wide, the cosmic arceus pointed his forehooves at Gilgamesh and shot dual Hydro Pump streams at him. Gilgamesh ducked one, but couldn't avoid the other.

"Agh!" He tumbled back, giving Leo the time he needed to scramble back to Kieran's side.

A lightbulb went off. Leo' shook himself out, flinging embers off his starry purple pelt. "He's right. We don't know each other well. And I've never had a trainer." His expression sharpened. "But isn't battling like this supposed to be about having fun?"

Kieran looked like Leo had slapped him across the face.

"I'm making the same mistake too." Leo stood protectively in front of Kieran while Gilgamesh rolled to his feet. "We gotta stop thinking this is about showing how strong we are. And have fun with this instead."

Because Gilgamesh wasn't going for the kill or anything. He was showboating like there was an audience here.

"Have... fun?" Kieran looked at his sneakers.

"I said no pleasantries!" Gilgamesh bellowed, sending more dark crescents toward Leo.

"It wasn't pleasantries!" Leo said. Though his legs still burned, he managed to jump up and gallop over the strikes. "We were just talking about how funny it is you're getting hit by water." Another blue shimmer rippled in front of his head. "I guess you could say... you're all washed up!"

The Hydro Pump streamed toward Gilgamesh while he was trying to grow the size of his sword arms again. It swept the ceruledge up. He slid along the bridge, coming to a stop in a puddle.

"Y-You..." Gilgamesh's eye twitched. "Using me, the mighty Gilgamesh, for a cheesy one-liner and striking successfully?!" He held his sword arms at his side. "Ha ha... mwahahahaha! Yes, yes! This is precisely what I wanted! A worthy challenger at last! My blood is pumping!"

Leo didn't like his excitement, but he had to play along, right? That was how the cosmic arceus made it fun. "And I'll do it again!" He shot another Hydro Pump from his forehead, but Gilgamesh was far enough away to dodge, moving to Leo's right.

"It's time! The ultimate technique of the ultimate swordsman!" Gilgamesh raised his bladed arms up. The crystals funneled energy into them. "Behold my power! And my beautiful collection!"

"Attack him while he's charging!" Kieran called.

Nodding, Leo closed the gap a bit to shoot Air Slash blades. But a wall of dark and ghost energy swallowed up his Air Slashes. The energy coalesced over Gilgamesh into four ectoplasmic hands, each one clutching a different sword forged of pitch black energy. One was absurdly blocky and rectangular. Another was a thin blade longer than Leo and Kieran put together. The third was a crystal scimitar and the last was a sword with a sun-shaped hilt.

"What the..." Kieran stepped back. "What sort of attack is that?"

Leo had no idea. And the blades looked terrifying. But moments like these were when he had to trust in the "heart of the cards" or whatever. Gilgamesh wasn't trying to kill him. Just knock him out with a really flashy attack.

"Now, taste the might of Gilgamesh!" The ceruledge's head crystals flashed. And the swords pointed at Leo.

"I'm, uh, all full, thanks!" Leo said, his starcloud tail drooping between his legs.

"Go!" Gilgamesh pointed his right sword arm forward. The blocky sword headed for Leo, slashing furiously at the air in a wild, zigzagging pattern.

"Don't give up! Move back toward me!"

Leo acknowledged Kieran's words with a quick nod, then galloped away. He sounded a bit more enthusiastic than before. Was he taking Leo's suggestion to heart?

"There's no escape from me!"

"The long sword's shooting something at you!" Kieran said, pointing up. Leo looked over his shoulder and saw what looked like black Draco Meteors streaming toward him. The blocky sword was still advancing, too.

"I can't deflect those!" Leo galloped higher into the air. To the point where was struggling to make out Kieran on the ground.

"A fool's errand!" Gilgamesh declared. The scimitar careened toward Leo like a bone club hurled by a marowak. Leo tried blasting it out of the air with a Hydro Pump, but the blade cleaved right through it.

"Eep!" Leo dropped from the air, only for his eyes to widen as the sword with the sun hilt went straight for him.

There was no time to dodge! He had to brace himself and—

The sword struck his head. A squeak reverberated through the open air. Leo stared blankly at the sword. The other three abruptly stopped attacking.

"What?" Gilgamesh was in disbelief. "He shrugged off an attack from the legendary Excalibur?!"

"Wait, like the sword from the Galarian fairy tale about the Darkest Day?" Kieran sounded confused.

Leo looked at the blade's sun hilt and squinted. "Um, this says Excalipoor. Are you sure you're talking about the right sword?"

After several seconds of silence, the ghostly sword vanished in a plume of shadowfire.

"Curses, curses, curses!" Gilgamesh stomped around angrily. "I won't let anyone make a fool out of me! Including myself! Tis no matter! Three swords is still enough to slice you into fence-based confetti!"

The ceruledge pointed at Leo. Gilgamesh's remaining dark swords prepared to go on the offensive again. Leo shot a Hydro Pump at Gilgamesh, who jumped back to dodge it. Then the air around Leo filled up with dark meteors once again.

"There's too many of them!" Leo cried. He galloped right, barely leaping over the scimitar, and stopped over the ocean. He glanced at Kieran, who looked deep in thought.

Then he saw the cosmic arceus over the water and his eyes lit up. "That's it! The answer's been in front of us the whole time! Surf! Flood the bridge!"

Leo's eyes widened, but Kieran was already running back toward the school. The message was clear. He trusted Leo to make this happen.

The cosmic arceus ducked the scimitar, then leaped over the blocky sword. He sprinted through the air over the bridge. When he reached the ocean on the bridge's other side, he drew on the splash plate's energy.

Ocean water that lapped against the pillars suspending the bridge rose higher and higher. The swords had turned around and were shooting across the bridge. But Leo had to hold. Just a bit longer. A biiiiit longer...

"NOW!" Kieran shouted from a distance.

Leo sent the giant wall of water crashing over the bridge's glass wall.

"What the— gaaaaaaaaaaah!"

His improvised Surf swept Gilgamesh up in a wave, flinging the ceruledge around between the two glass walls like a pinball in a machine. The dark swords and their ghostly hands disappeared in bursts of purple and black fire. Leo held his ground, swirling water around between the sides of the bridge until he saw flurries of sparkles and a playing card evaporate into thin air. Then two static streams shot toward the school like arrows.

Leo sent the water racing up the glass walls and crashing back down into the ocean. Gilgamesh spun to a stop in the middle of the ground. Even from his position in the air, Leo could tell Gilgamesh was out cold.

The cosmic arceus drifted back toward the bridge before his flight gave out. He hit the ground hard and staggered forward. "Haah... haaah... certified gameeeeeeer."

"Leo!"

He tensed. That wasn't Kieran's voice. It was Yuna's! And by the time he was able to turn around, the dragapult was right in front of him.

"What did you—" Yuna stopped herself, looking past Leo. "Did you fight that Whisper on your own? What were you thinking?! You could've gotten seriously hurt!" She wrinkled her snout. "You look exhausted and your fur's—"

"Re-hee-lax." Leo took several deep breaths. "I was cooking." He tilted his head right. Kieran was cautiously approaching, gaze mostly focused on Yuna. Leo pointed at him with a forehoof.

"Besides, I wasn't on my own. I had some help."

Kieran stopped his approach. He looked like a deerling in the headlights when Yuna turned to stare him down.

"Me?" Kieran fiddled with his dangling lock of hair. "Well, uh—"

"We were... having fun," Leo said. "That goes for the Whisper, too. He just wanted... a fun battle. And we gave it to him." He glanced at Kieran again. "Right?"

That blank look returned to Kieran's face. "Right. Fun..."

"Oooooogh."

Leo's starry pelt flickered. Gilgamesh was awake already? He turned around to find the ceruledge staggering back to his feet.

"Unbelievable." He approached the glass wall on Leo's right and leaned against it. "To think you bested me, the bladesman of legend!" This time his laugh was much weaker. "Such fiery passion. It's been far too long... since I've had a truly spirited fight." Gilgamesh raised a shaky sword arm. "You must... let me fight you again."

Yuna flew in front of Leo protectively. "No can do. We have important work to do. To stop the dimensions from collapsing on themselves."

"W-What?" Kieran recoiled. "Wowzers, I really am out of my depth, aren't I?"

Gilgamesh stared intently at Yuna. "Enkidu, is that you?"

Leo looked between his mother and Gilgamesh. The dragapult was ready to light him up with Dragon Darts.

"I don't have time to entertain whatever fantasies are floating around your head," Yuna scoffed. She turned to Leo. "We have to seal the dungeon core now. The rifts were unstable on our side, remember?"

Leo winced. Right, he'd nearly forgotten.

"So, let's get a move on. We'll leave that weirdo to Grishi." Yuna opened a rift behind her. She looked at Kieran. "Sorry we can't stick around. But we're on a tight time crunch." She flew into the rift, beckoning Leo along.

He slowly walked toward it, then paused to look at Kieran again. "Thanks." Leo bobbed his head. "For what it's worth, I think you're a good trainer. I hope you can have fun battles again after we leave."

Kieran was mostly focused on the rift. "Right." He nodded slowly. "Fun battles."

Leo wasn't sure he'd get much more out of the kid. He stepped through the rift. As he did, though, he heard one last thing from Kieran.

"Good luck with... whatever your quest is. I'm sure you can succeed!"

XxX

~Vessel of Ruin: Ting-Lu~
The Affirmer sought to recreate the Red Chain. Its power would let Him wield the Original One as an extension of His being. However, such a legend is only strongest within its domain. The Affirmer recognized this. So, He tried to capture legends across different worlds. And when the Renegade interfered, He aimed to forge a Red Chain spanning multiple universes, then bind legends from an unrelated world. For this clash of energies would shatter the domains, unlocking the power over fate itself: Phenomenal Affirmation.

XxX

~Il Paradigma, No. X: Gilgamesh, the Wheel of Fortune~
A mysterious weapons collector and self-proclaimed bladesman of legend. He was drawn to the dungeon core from an interdimensional rift. His fiery passion helped him seize parts of the core's power for himself, which he used to travel through the anomaly into Eternatus and take the Wheel of Fortune from its previous holder.

It seems he's not truly malevolent. Instead, he seeks a worthy challenger to satisfy his thirst for battle.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
The Wheel of Fortune is the tenth tarot card in the major arcana, symbolizing destiny, fortune, success, and luck in its upright position.

Gilgamesh is a recurring joke character and superboss in the Final Fantasy series. In his debut game, he falls into an interdimensional rift toward the end of the story. He has since proceeded to show up in multiple games in the franchise, usually referencing the interdimensional rift.

A frequent technique of his involves wielding weapons from other Final Fantasy games. For this chapter, he summons Cloud's Buster Sword, Sephiroth's Masamune, Odin's Zantetsuken, and Excalipoor. The latter is a running gag weapon associated with Gilgamesh. As a forgery of Excalibur, it deals one damage.

This is the most blatant of this fic's unashamed references. I promise nothing else will be as bad as this one.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 95: Samay Khatam​

Something's wrong.

I've been detecting this... increasing resonance between Dreamweaver and Zodiark. I thought at first it was merely the interplay between the former's power and the latter's knowledge. But a more recent analysis suggests this resonance is far more... antagonistic. My previous hypothesis was that Dreamweaver was simply a well of power. However, it seems like Dreamweaver might actually be some sort of entity like Zodiark.

These two entities feel like they're trying to undermine one another. It's producing... concerning readouts. I must find a way to counter this resonance. Otherwise, I fear the Space Globe may begin to destabilize.

Fortunately, I have an idea. If I can tap into aspects of both Dreamweaver and Zodiark, I may be able to devise a program that can counter their virtual quarreling.

XxX​

Noctum sat on a steel beam, lazily swinging his dangling legs. He looked across the rocky crags and interwoven machinery of Iron Island. Much of the equipment warped and contorted as the anomaly inched forward. It had already grown to encompass half of the island.

And yet, no Eternatus Troopers had shown up. Valkyrie and Jade even found the unconscious victini from the video feed, taken them back to the outpost, and returned to join him without any issue.

Naturally, that meant the garchomp was on guard, pacing back and forth along a rock face and gazing out at the ocean. "Tell me you're at least a bit on edge," Valkyrie growled.

"I am." The cosmic charizard rubbed the back of his head. "Because of the rift. Leo just... dove into it. And our communications are still down, too." Noctum leaned forward slightly. "At least the ocean breeze is nice, though. We don't have that back home."

"Why are we sticking around here, anyway?" Jade sat on the opposite side of the metal beam. She dangled a hard hat from the tip of her tail. "If Leo seals the mystery dungeon, he'll go back to the outpost. Maybe we ought to try and go to Herbrides? That's where the others were supposed to be, right?"

Noctum sat up straight. It wasn't a bad idea...

"Someone has to keep an eye on this this place," Valkyrie huffed. "You're just worried because Yuna's there and she's got your mate in her chest crystal."

She looked down, squinting. "Which is a sentence of all time."

Jade sighed. "Why couldn't he be in my chest instead?"

Noctum tilted his head. "Wouldn't you rather he not be stuck as a spirit?"

Valkyrie rolled her eyes. "She was joking, you dork."

"Yeah." Jade brushed a wing along her belly. "This scale-feather mix isn't comfy, anyway. But Cece's floofy chest is soooo dreamyyyyyyy~"

The cosmic charziard looked over his shoulder, hoping for any excuse to stop the conversation before it went further. And he immediately found one when he realized all the metal scaffolding and equipment was back to normal.

"Wait." Noctum's starry tail flame rippled. He flapped his wings once to rise off the steel beam. "The rift is gone!"

Noctum flew forward, scanning the area. There was no static or anything. "Did Leo seal it?"

Valkyrie ran across the steel beam. "Cid, you read us?"

"Ah, I do! Thank goodness!" The orbeetle laughed nervously. "And I'm picking you up with my Dynascan. What happened?"

"Rift disappeared," Valkyrie said, tapping her right foot against the beam. "What's happening in Herbrides? Is your signal back there?"

"I'm afraid not." Cid tittered. "There are plenty of folks here on standby who could go there. I think."

The garchomp frowned. "Have any of them actually been to Herbrides? As far as I know, Leo's the only one who's made rifts to places he doesn't know!"

Noctum's tail flame grew. "I've gone to the Herbrides Lines!" He spun around in midair. "It's not exactly in the city itself, though."

"Good enough!" Valkyrie clapped her claws together. "Let's get some reinforcements at the outpost then head over ASAP."

"Can we get some snacks, too?" Jade flew over to them. "I'm hungry."

Valkyrie glared at her.

"N-Never mind. Quick outpost stop it is."

XxX​

Perhaps Yuna should've expected the dungeon core to take the form of an ethereal graveyard. What else could mix ground, ghost, and dark-types together so effectively? The dragapult floated past rows of black tombstones shaped to resemble everything from gengar to absol to sandaconda.

However, she was too focused on the cosmic arceus trotting ahead of her to care what form the core took. "I asked you a question, Leo. Why did you run off without telling anyone?"

"You were already heading through the rift." Leo shook his head and kept walking. "I thought I sensed that kid in the Terarium. Got a bad vibe." He swished his cosmic mane. "That was right, B-T-dubs."

There was that slang again. Had Leo acted like that the entire time he fought Gilgamesh? "You still could've said you'd catch up with us," Yuna said. "I was worried sick!"

Liar. She'd gotten so preoccupied with Ting-Lu that Leo had practically sipped her mind while fighting it. But he didn't need to hear that.

"Well, like I said. I gamed." Leo's hooves crunched against brown soil. Brown and dark gray glows shimmered a few hundred meters ahead of the cosmic arceus. There was a black void between them. Yuna sure hoped that was the dark-type plate.

"Whisper was friendly, anyway," Leo continued. "Friendly enough, at least. Never in any real danger."

"And you think that excuses it?" Yuna's tail rippled. "Maybe nothing bad happened this time. But what about the next time you pull a stunt like that? We both know how much is at stake he—"

Leo whirled on her, his starry fur flickering. "That's exactly why I had to do this!"

Yuna froze beside a morgrem-shaped tombstone. "What?"

"I'm Arceus." Leo's wheel dimmed. "At the end of the day, I have to fix our world. How can I possibly think I'm capable of doing that if I'm always sitting on the sidelines while you guys do all the fighting?"

"Well, that's—" Yuna stopped. Could she even call Leo a child anymore?

Certainly not based on the way he acted. And what Alder had told her he'd read in his archives, to boot.

"Okay." The dragapult held her hands up. "You've got a point. I guess I hadn't stopped to consider your, uh, changes because of how fast this anomaly popped up and how quickly it was growing. And I treated you like you were still a kid as a result."

Leo stood a bit taller. He had no mouth, but Yuna felt like he was somehow smirking. She sternly crossed her arms.

"With that said, though, you still shouldn't dive into the fray on your own." Yuna floated up to the cosmic arceus and put a hand on his shoulder. "We're a team. Maybe you're the one who has to fix our world. But this," she gestured toward the plates floating ahead of them, "is something you have backup for. You've got to use it."

She straightened up. Was there a comparison that could help Yuna get the message across?

Well, given some of his new behavior...

"Even Gene can't do this stuff on his own. He at least had Cyril before the rest of us came into the picture."

Leo shifted his weight uneasily. "But I had Kieran acting as my trainer..."

He looked down silently. Slowly but surely, guilt bubbled up in the cosmic arceus' eyes. His starry pelt and golden wheel dimmed.

"Aww, man. I almost threw big time, huh?"

Yuna didn't want to ask Leo what that meant. "Let's just agree to learn from this mistake, okay?"

He nodded. "Can I get my plates now?"

"Yeah."

They continued down the graveyard. The pokémon-shaped tombstones shifted to mixtures of dark gray and black. After another minute, they found the three plates floating in midair. A triangle of brown light, dark gray light, and black shadows swirled around them.

"Let's see what they say."

Yuna leaned forward. Her core burned in her chest, as usual. She resisted in order to read the engravings on the three plates.

When the universe was created, its shards became this Plate.

The other side of this world was given by the Original One to its raging third.

Two make matter, and three make spirit, shaping the world.

Yuna backed away. She gave Leo a go-ahead signal with her tail. Leo walked up toward them. The plates' glow reflected off his golden wheel.

One of the engravings was quite clear. And it lined up with Yaldabaoth's claims about being the reverse world's guardian. Of course a giratina would guard a realm that was created for it.

Yuna drew blanks on the other two, though. The shards of what became the ground-type plate? Arceus? Was that why Leo grew with every plate he absorbed?

And that last one... her memories of that Temporal Tower place showed five pokémon wrapped in the Red Chain besides Arceus. What were the odds those were the five that plate referred to?

She threw her up to block flashes of brown and gray light. When Yuna lowered her arm, Leo was now taller than her. Black vapor and gray ectoplasm swirled around his legs while his mane was now made of sand.

"Neat, huh?" Will-O-Wisps spun around Leo's neck.

"Yeah." Yuna tilted her head. "I think you should seal the core, though. It's growing fast, remember?"

"Right." Leo turned around. He traced that familiar pattern of circles, squares, and triangles in the air. "Oh, uh, Mom? About before..."

"Something wrong?"

"I'm staying back this time," Leo said.

Yuna's tail crinkled. "Excuse me?"

"It won't be for long!" Leo said. "I just... I need to try something. It involves that purple koraidon."

"Leo..."

"I'll be quick, I promise." Leo's wheel lit up.

Yuna felt an invisible force grabbing hold of her. "Wait! At least tell me what you're planning!"

"I'm trying to find the guy Vince works for," Leo said as Yuna grew further away from him. "If it doesn't work, I'll bring Vince back with me."

"But how do you know you can get back?"

It was too late, though. Leo became a tiny speck in a matter of seconds, then white light swallowed Yuna up.

XxX​

Seifer's heart pounded in his chest as he passed by familiar buildings, warped and distorted by purple cracks and fissures in the air. To his right, purple light spilled over one of his favorite bakeries, draining the green and white awning over the entrance of its color. The windows shattered and black berries tumbled out onto the street.

"You guys are seeing this too, right?" Artemis used a small plume of water to carry himself past Seifer. "Everything's turning into fruit!"

Static engulfed a cafe a block ahead of the keldeo. The outdoor furniture morphed into asparagus that fell apart while dark gray nanab berries replaced the door handles.

"Yeah." Cyril was ahead of them, his starcloud mane even wilder than usual. "I don't think this is the distortion we were tracking. It's gotta be an anomaly."

Then there must have been a portal somewhere, right? Seifer galloped after Cyril, wincing from berry juice staining his hooves. Screams and footsteps echoed around him. People who were no doubt trying to flee.

"We have to try and direct these people out of the city!" Seifer insisted. Another small rift opened overhead. "Look out!" He slung an Aura Sphere from his horn, blowing apart... more berries.

"Augh!" Juice rained on Cyril. The zoroark's starry mane deflated. "Okay, it's annoying, but not deadly." He tried to shake himself dry, but the juice was too sticky. "I don't know this place well and Cid's not an option."

Artemis dropped to the ground by the fruit and juice-covered cafe. "Isn't there an exit a few blocks north of here?" He gestured forward with a ribbon.

Seifer nodded. "Yes. There's a large road that connects to the byway leading to Tulpise." He galloped past the cafe, scanning the surrounding buildings. Seifer needed higher ground... and a way to project his voice. "I don't suppose you brought any, like, megaphones in your gear, did you?"

Cyril lifted his sticky mane to show his dumbfounded expression. "No? Who brings a megaphone to a scouting mission?"

Fair. Seifer would have to improvise, then. He headed left for a two-story square building relatively untouched save for giant lettuce leaves in place of its windows. Hydro Pumps from Seifer's hooves carried him onto the roof. It was still sturdy.

Most people were moving north already. But there was a lot of confusion. A tauros bucked a marshtomp and quilladin couple out of his way and was about to trample over a family of dedenne. People kept shoving a mandibuzz, stopping her from taking off with her vullaby chick in tow.

This was bad. Even if the rifts were just making fruit, people were getting hurt.

Seifer took a deep breath.

"EVERYONE NEEDS TO REMAIN CALM!"

The shout's intensity surprised Seifer. For a moment, he found himself looking not at the crowded street but at a black void that lit up blue with energy from a furious roar.

"It's Commander Seifer!"

"Is the Radiant Guard here?"​

"I thought he got sacked!"​

"Ow, you're stepping on my tail, you *****!"

"Then don't shove it in my face!"​

Seifer snapped to attention. Focus.

"I need everyone to head north in an orderly fashion!" The keldeo pointed his right forehoof down the street. "Those of you closest to me, move to Granger Street." He jerked his head back. "Those furthest from me, cross to Bartlett Street." Seifer moved his right forehoof so it pointed at the street behind the buildings opposite him.

"Keep your pace uniform!" Seifer continued. "Larger 'mon have to carry smaller 'mon!" He stomped his forehoof on the street. "Let's go, let's go! No chit chat or dawdling!"

People began to fan out from the street by the office building. Another wall of purple light raced across the area. Seifer suppressed a wince. "Remain calm! We have this under control!" He looked over his shoulder. Cyril and Artemis had managed to climb up a nearby three-story brick building's emergency stairwell. They were on the roof, scanning the sky for signs of trouble.

Seifer nodded to them, then jetted over to the next building north of him with Hydro Pumps. "Keep it up!" he said. The keldeo narrowed his eyes at a skittish ursaring about to barrel into a quagsire. "Hey, Ursaring! No shoving! Carry Quagsire if you have to!"

Another purple wall rippled through the air. This time a rift opened behind Seifer. He saw a large orange roll out onto the street. It would bowl the civilians over if Seifer didn't do something!

The keldeo leaped from the building roof, using Hydro Pumps from his hooves to safely land behind the group of people. He stared down the giant orange. Oh, if only he could still use Secret Sword!

Aura Sphere will have to do! Seifer shot the blue energy ball from his horn. It hit dead center, dimpling the peel and slowing the orange. Seifer shot another one, leaving another dimple.

It was getting closer. Seifer backed away. He shot a third Aura Sphere.

That one did the trick! The peel tore open and large orange slices toppled over.

The Spacial Rend crescents broke apart, warping the void around him.

"Pathetic!" Seifer sneered. "But I'm not surprised. You can't match up to me!"

Loud crashes jolted Seifer. Two orange slices struck the side of the house on Seifer's right, breaking the outer walls and window. The house's foundations surprisingly held, but Seifer didn't want to stick around.

Hydro Pump jets carried him back to the top of the same building he'd jumped off of. Things were quiet. The streets were totally empty! Where were the people?

Cyril was waving him down from the same building as before.

"What happened?" Seifer asked.

"The lot of 'em got levitated away." The cosmic zoroark pointed skyward. "I think Boss Kitty's aware of the situation."

Seifer looked around but saw no signs of a shadowy mewtwo in the area. "He grabbed them from... somewhere else in the city entirely?" That was an impressive and concerning amount of range.

Maybe Starlene is here and powered him up?

Raspy laughter filled the air before Seifer could suggest they head back into the city to find Gene. His blood ran cold. And judging from the flash of panic in Artemis' eyes, the milotic must've realized the same thing.

"We have to go!" Artemis' eyes darted around, trying to find the source.

"Agreed." Seifer galloped toward the edge of the building roof, only to skid to a halt before a small dome of black shadows.

"Seif!" Cyril shouted from the other roof. He and Artemis scrambled for the emergency stairwell.

Chained, chitinous forelegs emerged from the shadows, followed by the rest of Xeromus' cloaked body. His beady gray eyes were unreadable beneath his stone mask.

"The veil is lifting," the helmeted silvally said. He let out a few raucous coughs. "Your shoulders are heavy with the burden of truth. Keh heh." Xeromus sucked in a sharp breath. "An incomplete truth, perhaps. But enough for you to realize just how special you all are. The great potential dwelling within!"

Seifer remained tense. Ready to blast this freak with Hydro Pumps at a moment's notice. Yet Xeromus sounded different this time. He wasn't spouting his usual nonsense about futility.

"We got some folks out of here, but there's trouble!" Cyril shouted, but it didn't sound like he was talking to Seifer. Were the X-transceivers back up? "Something's really wrong here!"

"You clawed your way out toward rebirth to right an egregious wrong," Xeromus continued, eyeing Seifer with interest. Chains scraped the brick rooftop as he slowly paced to the keldeo's right. "You can condemn chaos. You can walk a path of valor toward a bright, eternal future! Guided by the Affirmer!"

That sounded a bit more like his earlier crazy talk. Which was more than enough for Seifer. He shot water jets from his forehooves. Xeromus' cloak bristled and some sort of shadowy canine emerged to swallow the attacks up like they were nothing.

Seifer tensed. Igneous had mentioned a spectral beast. Now that Seifer saw it for himself, though, it looked... a bit similar to Queen Calliope. Except for the almost shield-shaped head.

"Ha ha..." Xeromus shook his head. "I get it. Why trust the word of a lowly omen acting as a stepping stone for everyone to become part of something greater?"

"I don't think you get anything," Seifer countered. "If you did, you'd be fighting whatever forces are doing this to you!" He stomped a forehoof down. "It's Zodiark, isn't it? Just like how they control Whispers! But you're better than that! I know you're capable of doing good, Nova."

"̷̢̳͐Ḭ̸͑̒ ̶̛̺͂a̴̗̔ͅm̸̖̏͝ ̷̹̦̉̄d̷̜͈͝ỏ̷͙̝͌i̶̘̒͘n̴̫͂g̸͙͂ ̶̩͑́g̴͇̋͑ơ̵̝͑ŏ̵̼d̵͎̓.̶̨̄ ̵͋̑͜Y̴̛̦̬o̸̖̓ù̵̖̟r̴͈̮͒ ̸̡̱͗o̴̟̓͐l̴̹̬͋d̵͚͍̈́̈ ̴̨͋̒ș̴̓͑o̸̜̲͝u̸̙̟͒l̶̥͊̄ ̶͓̀̋s̶̛̭i̸͕͐m̸̞͂p̷̦͙̅l̵̢̢̈́͝ỷ̶͉̔ ̵͈̌̈́s̸͇͆i̴̭̒̒ṃ̶̒́p̷̌̍͜l̶͍̾y̶̼̮̎̀ ̴̠̈́ṟ̴̢̓̚ȇ̴̢f̴̙̪͒́u̴̳̬͘ş̷̀e̵̠͔̔̃ş̸̆̕ ̸̲͒t̴̡̍ȯ̸͍̔ ̵͍͎̌ċ̵̫h̴̻̺̒̓ḁ̶̟̀n̸͛ͅg̸͕͘͠e̵̞̍͌͜.̷̰͇̆͆"̶̻͇̿̌

"You're supposed to be better than this!"

Seifer reared up his hind legs. His blue-gray body rippled with a metallic sheen. "Yet time and time again you cause nothing but problems and headaches? Why can you not be still in your pocket and focus on your duty?"

Across from him, Space's pink shoulder gems bristled with energy. "I didn't do anything wrong! You always assume! Rush to conclusions! You're the embodiment of time! Where's your patience?!"

"Seifer, look out!"

Cyril's scream brought the keldeo to attention. Yellow crystals emerged from a larger specter behind Xeromus. Seifer dove to his right. The crystals struck the brick roof and shattered. Seifer scrambled to the edge of the roof, barely dodging yellow sparks.

Electricity? He looked at Xeromus, who had stepped to the side to reveal the familiar four-legged cloud monster from Tulpise. Its legs were now completely covered in those strange crystals. Were they responsible for the lightning?

[hovertext="Hindi: You haven't really changed."]"Tum sachmuch badle nahi ho."[/hovertext]

The cloud daemon's body rippled. A larger version of Leo briefly appeared in its place, with pristine white fur instead of Leo's starry, blue-purple pelt. Then it melted away, revealing the cloud daemon now had a crystal wheel around its torso. Just like Leo's.

The Creator stared down at Seifer in disapproval. Golden light poured down from the heavens.

"It's not my fault!" Seifer cried. "It's Palkia! It's always Palkia!"

Seifer caught a yellow flash out of the corner of his eye. He fired Hydro Pumps and blasted the yellow crystals away.

"Get away from him!" Cyril growled. He and Artemis had gotten up on the same roof. The cosmic zoroark tossed a Shadow Ball toward the cloud daemon. Xeromus' cloak bristled, however. The spectral wolf reappeared and swallowed the shadow ball in its wispy maw.

"Your mind is struggling," Xeromus said. His gaze was firmly fixed on Seifer. As was the cloud daemon. "But there is not as much to reconcile between past and present as you think. Your vanity. Your arrogance. Your sins. They are the same now as they were before."

"Don't listen to him," Cyril scoffed. Ghostly energy swirled around his mane. "They're just trying to distract us. Because it's all they can do."

"Right!" Seifer reared up, pointing one foreleg toward Xeromus and the other toward the cloud daemon. No way Xeromus could block both the Hydro Pumps that followed at once, right?

Sure enough, the wolf appeared to protect the cloud daemon, leaving Xeromus to get doused. He stood tall, however, shaking his helmeted head.

A colorless crystal sprouted from the rooftop, stopping scalding hot water from hitting the cloud daemon's left side. Artemis shrank back, curling up his ribbons.

"Damn it," he muttered.

"It's so tragic." Xeromus took ragged breaths. "All this time apart. You'd think you'd recognize your creator. The rightful arceus of this world."

The gems on the cloud daemon's legs turned yellow. Stormy clouds formed over the roof.

"Move!" Seifer barked, waiting until he saw yellow flashes overhead to dash left. He barely skirted the lightning bolts that followed. Cyril had managed to yank Artemis out of the way, too.

Seifer stepped out of the rift, eyeing the small contingent of humans standing in their temple dedicated to the Creator.

He eyed the small sphere in the black-haired girl's hand. Palkia was inside the thing. He was sure of it.

Foolishness. Utter foolishness. Palkia let a human capture them?

Then Seifer was right. He was the better of the two. And now he would prove it!

He roared. Multicolored light poured out in a dome around the temple.

"Down, Seif!"

The keldeo dropped to his belly. Yellow gemstones whizzed over him. Static ran down the tip of his horn. His mane puffed out a bit.

"The truth is right in front of you!" Xeromus spat. "And yet you're happy to blindly follow the status quo! To let chaos reign and follow Giratina's lead!" There was a flicker of... something in Xeromus' beady gray eyes, but Seifer wasn't sure what.

"Why else would you feed Arceus' power to some pretender?"

Seifer fired an Aura Sphere from his horn. Cyril and Artemis followed his lead, adding a Shadow Ball and Scald stream.

Another large colorless crystal emerged from the ground to deflect the attacks, then quickly disappeared.

"Tumhara ghamandh tumhara ant hoga."

Palkia emerged from the ball and guarded the humans against Seifer's Roar of Time. The roof and pillars of the temple exploded. Marble debris tumbled down the mountain.

The humans looked to Palkia with admiration. Even the one with blue hair — who had offered Seifer prayers so many times before — looked aghast at his actions.

He wouldn't stand for this! Seifer absorbed the lingering energy around him. His body morphed and twisted, gradually resembling the Creator's form.

Seifer was better. He would show these humans that Time was superior to Space!

"It's tragic." Xeromus' raspy laughter carried across the rooftop. "In the end, you still haven't learned to swallow your pride and put others before yourself. Time truly is a flat circle."

The cloud da— no, Arceus' leg crystals were turning yellow again.

"You're wrong, Nova!"

Seifer's neck prickled at Cyril's harsh interjection. The zoroark's starcloud mane rippled.

"He's not selfish! Far from it!" Cyril had a Shadow Ball in each hand. He tossed one toward Arceus and the other toward Xeromus. "He's here, isn't he? Putting his life on the line to try and save this world!"

Crystals and the spectral wolf easily stopped Cyril's attacks before they could hurt their targets.

"Hell, he was working to get the people here to safety!" Cyril continued. "And that's after this kingdom treated him like dirt and his shitty dad and uncle all but disowned him! If that's not selfless, I don't know what is!"

While Cyril spoke, Seifer saw Artemis slithering along the side of the roof. The milotic managed to sneak in a small Scald that splashed against Arceus' left foreleg crystal. It staggered back. A distorted hiss filled the air.

Seifer winced. Artemis flickered in and out with the silhouette of a blue-haired human.

The keldeo's breath caught in his throat.

"Akari's right." The blue-haired man looked at Seifer, arms crossed. "You have to bury the hatchet with Palkia." He scratched the back of his head. "Much like we ought to do with the Pearl Clan."

"You can lead them by example," the black-haired girl said, patting Seifer's metallic foreleg.

Arceus roared once again. A harsh wind whipped up across the rooftop. Seifer dug his hooves in to stay rooted to the ground as best he could, but he was unprepared for Xeromus' chains unraveling from his legs and slashing at him repeatedly.

"Aggggh!" Seifer's legs buckled. The winds pushed him back. He tried to call out to Cyril and Artemis. The cosmic zoroark was on all fours, digging his claws into the brick and gritting his teeth.

"Heeeelp! Heeeeeeeeelp!"

Artemis was pinned against the far corner of the roof. Arceus had turned to the milotic, lightning crackling around its crystals.

"Arte— nngh!"

Xeromus chains sliced at Seifer's torso. Blue fur dropped to the ground, followed by red splotches.

"Seif!"

The wind was howling. Cyril's mane muffled his cries. Thunderclouds gathered over Arceus and Artemis. The milotic's eyes were full of dread.

Full of dread... like the day he failed to stand up for Artemis. The day Vortex kicked him out of Horizon Academy. The day Artemis lost his future.

The blue-haired man looked at his transformation with eyes full of dread.

Seifer galloped forward. Through the pain and the wind. He saw the yellow light forming overhead.

"Tum kismat se ladh nahi sakte!"

"SEIFER, NO!"

The keldeo summoned a Protect shield and leaped into the air. At first, it held against the massive lightning surge. Artemis had managed to slip out from underneath Seifer.

Then the shield shattered.

(Art by Raph)

Yellow flooded Seifer's vision. His prosthetic horn was a veritable lightning rod funneling the electricity through him. Pure agony drew the briefest of screams.

Giratina's Earth Power toppled Seifer, taking the last of his strength with him. As his vision blurred, he saw the other human — the one whose hair resembled the Creator's — smirking at him. Practically laughing at his failure.

Purple shadows spread across him. A mask of the creator's wheel covered his face.

"Defeated again, Dialga. Because that is your fate."

The horrifying pain stopped. Seifer managed one final, ragged breath, before the last of his consciousness was plunged into an endless black abyss.

XxX

~Resurgent Creator: Dreamweaver Risen~
Red Chain in hand, the Affirmer believed a world without humans would provide refuge from the Renegade. Yet still, they tailed Him. He remained in hiding, biding His time until the Renegade took pity on a dying riolu. While they were preoccupied, He unleashed the Red Chain on that world's creators.

Salvation was within reach, only to be denied at the last second when the Renegade lashed out.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
"Samay khatam" is Hindi for "out of time."
"Tum sachmuch badle nahi ho" is Hindi for "you haven't really changed."
"Tumhara ghamandh tumhara ant hoga" is Hindi for "your pride will be your end."
"Tum kismat se ladh nahi sakte" is Hindi for "you cannot fight fate."

Thanks to ExplosiveTurkey for his help with the Hindi translations. And lastly, a handy chart to show those of you who made it this far where things stand.

 

[Ambyssin]

Chapter 96: Red Lupus​

Simple code alone isn't going to be enough to mediate Dreamweaver and Zodiark. I thought a program could work against them, but they both seemed to adapt to my first few builds. What manner of construct are they? Could they be artificial intelligences?

AI is mostly speculative right now. But given how much power the Space Globe has, I think the solution is to effectively counterbalance their ever-evolving states with one of my own. An AI that will mediate these two.

Trying to make something of that magnitude from scratch would prove difficult, however. And I don't believe I have the luxury of taking my time with it. So, I'll use myself as the basis for this AI. It should be doable with the Space Globe's power.

This time I'll succeed. I have to succeed.

XxX​

For once, Igneous listened to someone else's cries not to rush ahead. He stayed with Gene and the others rather than flying off in desperate search of Cyril, Seifer, and Artemis. True to his word from earlier, Gene went about levitating large swathes of people outside the city. At least, the ones that hadn't already been taken by the robot cramorant the pirates left behind to help.

Some wattrel and kilowattrel Whispers emerged from rifts toward the northern side of the city, which Igneous and Widget focused on. They used dual Flamethrowers to shatter the birds before they could pepper Gene with lightning. Even Scarlett helped. Starlene put Light Screens up and deflected stray Thunderbolts from a couple of extra kilowattrel that spawned higher in the sky, leaving Widget to snipe them down with Flamethrowers.

"I think that's the brunt of it," Gene declared between shaky breaths. Pink mist evaporated off his hands and glowing eyes.

Igneous glanced down. A rainbow of fruit juice was splattered across buildings. And oversized berries littered some of the streets. There wasn't anyone in sight, though. Barbarossa was flying along Herbrides' outskirts south of the group. It had that part of the city handled, in Igneous' opinion.

"We should get going." The grovlazzle's wings buzzed. "They were covering the north, right?"

Before Gene could answer, yellow flashes erupted in the distance.

"Northwest!" Widget's head crest crackled with static. "Are those thunderclouds? They're so concentrated."

"That's gotta be them," Igneous said. "Come on!"

"On it." Gene shot toward the sparking clouds. Igneous flew after the shadowy mewtwo, ducking and weaving around a couple of rifts that opened and shot glowing iapapa berries to his left and right.

More lightning erupted in the same spot as before. This time, though, Igneous heard screams.

"****!" Gene's tail lashed at the air. "Cyril? Cyril!" He shot forward in a blaze of blue and pink energy.

"H-Hey, wait up!" Widget's thrusters erupted in flames, carrying him after Gene. Igneous followed behind them.

Gene suddenly dove out of the air.

"What did you do, Nova? What did you do?!"

A deafening crack filled the air, followed by an intense burst of wind. Igneous struggled to stay upright. A yelp behind him suggested Scarlett fared similarly.

Igneous steadied himself and continued forward, only for his eyes to widen.

Gene floated upside down over Xeromus, spoon stalemated against a black barrier. And the cloud daemon — it had a crystal wheel just like Leo's now — loomed over a scorched, smoldering body.

... A body with the broken remnants of a metal horn next to it.

"Me? A worthless omen like me only has one role to play in your lives," Xeromus said. His cloaked shoulders tensed and Gene was forced to back off. "He's the one who martyred himself! He let his past swallow him up, just as the Affirmer predicted!"

Electricity crackled in the cloud daemon's leg gems. Cyril was running toward the body. He was going to get shocked if Igneous didn't do something.

"Get back!" the grovlazzle shouted. Though he couldn't tear his eyes from the burnt body, he thrust his right arm forward. Igneous' honedge husk flew toward the cloud daemon's right hind leg. It turned its head. Lightning vaporized Honedge, but Igneous rolled right and spewed flames from his mouth at the daemon. And a Thunderbolt came flying in from his left, courtesy of Widget.

"Seifer! Seifer, hang on!" Cyril practically draped himself over the scorched keldeo. Tears blurred his yellow eyes.

There was no way Seifer was still alive, right? There wasn't a single patch of untouched fur on his pelt.

The grovlazzle landed beside them while Widget headed for the cloud daemon. What could Igneous do here? What was the team player move?

It was getting Cyril and Seifer away from here, right?

But Igneous couldn't carry them both. And what about Artemis? The milotic was coiled up on the opposite corner of the roof, staring at Seifer in abject horror.

"Damn it, Nova! It's not supposed to be like this!" Gene snarled. Psystrike orbs surrounded the helmeted silvally. But Xeromus' chains unfurled and slashed away at the orbs before they could strike him.

Igneous winced. Considering how aggressive he'd been toward Xeromus in the past, he could scarcely imagine what was going through Gene's head.

But this wasn't the time for offense. For once... they had to hold back.

"Gene! Gene!" Igneous waved the shadowy mewtwo down. The cloud daemon tried to shoot lightning at him, but Widget barreled into it. Somehow, despite the gaseous form, Widget forced the cloud daemon off the roof and across the street onto the wrecked house a block north of him.

"You're dealing with me!" Widget declared. In a flash of white light, miraivally turned to reshivally. Blue flames erupted on that house rooftop.

"What?" Gene snapped at Igneous, slashing furiously against another black shield Xeromus conjured.

"We have to go!" Igneous gestured at the sobbing zoroark. "Seifer needs medical attention! You're the only one who can levitate them and open rifts!"

"He's dead!"

Gene's Malice Crystal sparked with purple energy. What was up with his voice just then?!

"Look at him! No one survives an injury like that!" He summoned his spoon once again. "I have to do this! I made a promise!"

The shadowy mewtwo dove down. Xeromus' gray eyes flickered with interest.

"Gene, please!" Igneous charged forward. Xeromus couldn't stop two strikes from opposing sides, right? Another black shield formed to deflect a swing of Gene's blackened spoon. Igneous readied his Leaf Blades, only to yelp when the red wolf emerged behind Xeromus. He barely had enough time to conjure Honedge and deflect swipes of the wolf's spectral claws.

"No. I can't— I won't—" Gene tried to force the spoon forward, but Xeromus' barrier held firm. Igneous' wings carried him back to Cyril's side. The wolf didn't give chase.

Something was clearly wrong here. Gene's attacks looked like that weird beam Nikki mentioned seeing Gene fire in Wyndon. But why were Xeromus' barriers giving off the same dark smoke?

"Then let me stay back!" Igneous said. He glanced right and saw Scarlett was still hovering a couple of blocks away. "Widget and I can hold the line with a little help. At least until you get them somewhere safe!"

Fire and lightning swirled around the house on Igneous' left. The reshivally was racing around, dodging yellow crystals that burst into explosive lightning.

"What will you do, Gene?" Xeromus' raspy laughter filled the air. "Tend to that old failure... or keep your promise?" He raked his claws across the brick roof. "Come on! Let me drive you to even greater heights! You and the rest of this tragic world!"

"Don't listen to him!" Igneous said. He darted forward again, knees crouched as he expected the wolf to pop up again. When he saw the red flashes, the grovlazzle sprang up and spewed flames from his mouth. They washed across the top of the wolf's head and its growls filled the air. Igneous hovered higher to keep his distance.

"Nova's still in there! I'm sure he's fighting!" Igneous looked between Gene and Cyril. The cosmic zoroark hadn't budged from lying over Seifer's burnt body. "But every second we waste here won't help Seifer! Cyril's your friend, too! Don't you know what he's feeling right now?"

Gene Phantom Warped right past Xeromus and Igneous. "Fine! You better keep them both here!"

"Wh— hey!"

ESP yanked a startled Artemis into the air. Gene dragged him away along with Cyril and Seifer.

Igneous summoned Honedge again. "Starlene, we need your singing!"

"You got it!" the latias chirped from several meters behind the grovlazzle.

Starlene's music filled the air for all of a second, before a playing card materialized over Xeromus' helmeted head. Igneous saw an "XV" on it for a moment before the red wolf completely engulfed Xeromus. A distorted howl filled the air.

"Agggggh!" Igneous' wings fizzled out, sending him falling toward the roof.

His fur and chitin burst apart. Igneous' volcarona body fell from the air. What had happened to him? Why did he feel so weightless?

"Go now." Zodiark walked beside his fallen body. "You know exactly what to do: find a strong soul. And have the battles you so desperately want."

Igneous hit the corner of the roof. He sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. Igneous fell to the ground with a heavy thud and rolled across the dirt.

"Nnngh. Oww..." The grovlazzle grabbed his right shoulder in pain.

"Ha ha ha... haaahaaahaaahaaa!"

(Art by Raph)

The dusty ground trembled. Xeromus landed on the opposite side of the street. The red wolf still surrounded him. Xeromus' gray eyes shimmered from within the silhouette.

"He... lp. Scar... let..." Igneous tried to get to his feet but God his arm and legs hurt.

"Something's wrong!" The dragonair was flying panicked circles overhead. "I... I can't summon Starlene!"

Igneous' eyes widened.

"I won't let you perpetuate this world's stagnation!" Xeromus' voice was much deeper than before. And the wolf's spectral mouth moved in time with his words. The wolf slammed its forepaws into the ground. Shards of stained glass erupted like Stone Edge spires.

Move, move, MOVE! Igneous told himself. The grovlazzle fought through the pain and managed to scramble left, even avoiding the wolf charging through the stained glass spires with a red, shield-shaped aura.

Igneous' breath caught in his throat. A shield-shaped canine. He'd heard about that from one of the others, hadn't he? Think, Igneous, think!

It wasn't coming to him in the heat of battle, though. If he could just get Xeromus talking. The guy never shut up anyway.

"That card... so you are with the empire!" Igneous accused. He spewed a Flamethrower at Xeromus, but it was swallowed up by the same black shield as Gene's previous attacks.

For a moment, Xeromus froze. "No, I—"

That softer voice was cut off. Xeromus jerked his head right. "Of course you'd make that conclusion," he said.

Igneous tensed. That brief hesitation... and the loss of that strange, guttural backing to his voice. Then Nova really was in there. And something had a hold of him. A power similar to what Gene had just used. But the mewtwo could control it, while the opposite was true for Nova. Still, there had to be a way to free him. If Gene could do it, why couldn't Nova?

Xeromus' chains rattled on his forelegs. The red wolf returned to cover him. Xeromus slowly walked into the middle of the street. Igneous matched his movements, keeping a dozen meters between them. Sparks and flames crackled in the air northeast of him as Widget flew circles around the cloud daemon.

"Anything to fit that stale narrative. Justify repeating your past mistakes." Xeromus' gray eyes flickered. The spectral wolf lunged for Igneous, slashing with shadowy claws. Igneous jumped back to avoid the first swipes, then parried the next two with Honedge. He drove the blade into the red wolf's wispy chest as it readied for a third strike.

It broke into red mist that swirled back toward Xeromus. Igneous glanced up. Scarlett wasn't flying around anymore. She must've landed on a roof. "Keep trying to get Starlene back!" Igneous begged.

He kept Honedge at his side. "I don't know what mistakes you're talking about, Nova."

"You can lie to yourself all you want. We both know the truth!" Xeromus said. He and Igneous continued to circle around one another in the intersection. "That emperor is a nobody. A bit player. His choices are meaningless. Unlike yours."

"What are you talking about?" Igneous spewed Bullet Seeds at Xeromus' mask. Then he dove right and switched to a Flamethrower. Xeromus opted to block the second strike. Bullet Seeds peppered his mask. Tiny thunks rang out in the air.

"How disappointing." Xeromus shook his head. "To be one of the privileged few blessed with a second life... only to waste it defending this backwards world."

"The past is the past!" Igneous shot a single fireball. He dashed left and shot a second, then banked right and went for a full Flamethrower.

"Guardian!" Xeromus hunched over and the red wolf emerged before with another guttural snarl. Stained glass Stone Edges erupted all around Xeromus to deflect Igneous' flames. Then the wolf smashed the glass shards, filling the air with them.

"****!" Igneous charged forward, slashing wildly with Honedge. Plinks and dings littered the air. His head leaf burned. Red, spectral paws were swinging at him. Rather than parrying, however, Igneous slid along the dusty ground. The swipes went over his head. Igneous swung Honedge wildly. It collided against one of Xeromus' chained forelegs. He toppled onto his side.

"Please help..."

The grovlazzle heard the voice for all of a second before the spectral wolf howled. It lunged for the grovlazzle from behind, slamming into him and knocking him down a side street. By the time Igneous managed to get back to his feet, so had Xeromus.

"You've let the past deceive you into thinking you're doing the right thing when you're only continuing this cycle of stagnation!" Xeromus declared. "You know better. The universe is fundamentally flawed. The reverse and normal worlds twisted and broken."

Xeromus jerked his head left. "Don't... listen..."

He jerked his head right again. Igneous' eyes widened. Was this fight making a difference? Did Igneous need to keep pressuring Xeromus' corrupted state in order to free Nova?

"You can't save this world!" Xeromus hissed. "To 'save' it is to damn it to a protracted demise!"

"That's not true!" Igneous glanced up. Still no signs of Starlene, but plenty of fire and lightning from far to his left. At least that meant Widget was still standing. "We're going to fix everything!"

"By feeding the Creator's power to a false idol?" Xeromus descended into hysterical, wheezing laughter. "The true Creator is with me! Arceus Dreamweaver defends themselves from that toy you call your friend."

He thrust his helmeted head upward. His guardian mirrored the gesture. The cloud daemon raced overhead, outrunning a Blue Flare that exploded behind it. Widget emerged from the smoke, then turned left to trail after the thing that Xeromus was calling Dreamweaver.

Igneous seized his opening, charging forward with a burst of speed from his fiery wings. He closed the gap in seconds and struck Xeromus' right side with his Leaf Blades.

"Liar! You're the one screwing everything up!" the grovlazzle growled. He jumped away from the spectral wolf's retaliatory swipes, landing on a corner of the intersection. "Keep fighting, Nova! I can hear you!"

"Dreamweaver exists for the Affirmer to wield!" Xeromus said. "To forge the Eternaverse!"

He locked eyes with Igneous. "Giratina drives you to repeat the past. Continue an endless cycle of chaos that ensnares all worlds in suffering and uncertainty. Dangles the sword of oblivion over their heads. So that no matter how good life may seem now, there is a guarantee of future agony!"

Stained glass Stone Edges again erupted from the ground. With his wings back, Igneous could safely fly over them. The red wolf leaped skyward this time. Igneous barely managed to roll left of the shield-shaped red blur as it streaked past.

His head leaf and tails caught fire. A lightbulb went off in his head. And maybe it could reach Nova...

"Zamazenta!" Igneous blurted out. "Your guardian... is your old resistance teammate!"

Xeromus' gray eyes brightened a bit. The red wolf returned to surround him in an instant. Igneous hastily landed back on the ground, fearing that distorted howl that took away his wings earlier.

"This is... all because of Zodiark, isn't it?" Igneous said. He summoned Honedge again to be on the safe side. "But you don't really believe them, do you? Why else would you leave Gene that recording telling him to take up your mantle?"

There was a brief flicker of sadness— no, longing in Xeromus' eyes. But he quickly jerked his head left, then right.

"That was when I was still in denial!" Xeromus countered. Zamazenta's specter lunged for Igneous once again, but the grovlazzle rolled forward to dodge. He threw Honedge, then scrambled left toward the opposite corner of the intersection.

A crunch filled his ear frills. Igneous skidded to a halt just as his honedge husk hit the ground and dissolved away. Xeromus continued staring at the intersection corner where Igneous had been.

"I'm sorry." The softer voice was louder than before. "I can't... control it. You have to... stop me..."

Then he slowly turned toward the grovlazzle... revealing a crack in the center of his mask.

"Nova! Listen to me, please!" Igneous begged. Some of the mask was broken. He was hearing Nova. He was getting through whatever Zodiark did to him. Maybe Nova didn't need to control this corruption like Gene could. Not if Igneous could free him! With just a little bit more effort—

Xeromus' cloak rippled and shadows swarmed his body.

"Keh heh... haaah..." Xeromus hunched over. Zamazenta reemerged again with another distorted howl. Igneous dropped to his knees and threw his hands over his ear frills.

Nova and Zamazenta roared in pain as the Red Chain dragged them together. Brown stone grew over the former's face while the latter dissolved into red mist. The mist draped itself over Nova's cape, shredding apart the fabric and darkening it from turquoise to a deep blue.

"I don't care who you are!" an unfamiliar female voice shouted. "Such beautiful power... belongs to me!"

"Ahaahaa!" Xeromus sucked in a sharp breath. "Haahaahaahaahaaa!" He smacked the ground with a foreleg. "There's nobody for you to 'save!' Just like there's nothing in this world to save! The only salvation lies with the Affirmer!"

Before Igneous could get back to his feet, however, a black and purple blur rushed in from above and slammed into Xeromus. A burst of wind and dust blew Igneous down the road. When the dust settled, a shadowy mega mewtwo stood with his back to the grovlazzle. Black sparks danced around the crystals in each of his shoulders.

"So that's what happened," Gene said, fists raised. "Zodiark made you a shadow pokémon, didn't he?!"

Shadow pokémon? Igneous struggled to get back up. It sounded like Gene knew exactly what the problem was. But that was good! That meant he was bound to know a solution, right?

A red blur leaped onto the roof of a building to Gene's left. Xeromus emerged from the blur, staggering across the roof and coughing loudly.

"We can fix it, Nova!" Gene shot into the air. "Please, you have to let me—"

Zamazenta's specter lunged for Gene, knocking him out of the air. Gene landed upright on the ground, skidding back toward Igneous.

"There are... no loopholes here..." Xeromus sucked in sharp breaths. Igneous lost sight of him, so he sprinted to Gene's side. "There's only one end for someone like me."

The helmeted silvally looked around, thrashing his head back and forth. "Nnnnnnrrgghhh. But it's not time. It can't happen yet."

Eyes widening, Igneous took to the skies. "He's gonna flee!"

Gene rocketed past the grovlazzle, but he was too late. His psychic waves grabbed nothing but black wisps. Xeromus was gone.

A squawk rang out behind Igneous. He turned to see Widget stumble on a slanted brick roof two blocks north. The reshivally took to the air before he would have tumbled off the building. He looked around in confusion.

"Where'd it go?!" Widget caught Igneous' gaze. "Don't tell me..."

Igneous bowed his head. "They got away."

"And what about the others?" Widget looked past Igneous.

Gene stared silently at the spot on the roof where Xeromus had been. "Ran into Zardy and Chompy and passed them off. They should be back at the outpost." He slowly landed on that building roof. Gene's mega evolution vanished in swirls of black and purple.

"What were you talking about at the end, there?" Igneous asked, swooping down to land next to Gene. "Shadow pokémon? The hell's that mean?"

"Not now."

"Excuse me?"

Gene held up his glowing right hand. "Not. Now."

He walked a few paces away from Igneous and tapped the side of his head. "Can anyone read me? Are comms back?"

Igneous tapped the side of his head in time to hear Cid say, "... Got your signal! And not a moment too soon!"

"What?" Widget landed to Igneous' left. He shifted back to his cosmic form, panting heavily. "What's that supposed to mean, more trouble?"

"Unfortunately." Cid tittered. "Something's happened in Dazzels. Vegna was able to help us open a rift there, but I have no idea what we're looking at. Some sort of giant charizard with wings of fire!"

"We can't..."

That was Scarlett. Good, she sounded okay. Igneous looked right to find the dragonair gliding down to the roof. She folded up her wings and landed between him and Gene.

"My head hurts." Scarlett coiled up, tiny wings folding over her neck bauble. "I'm—"

"These guys with me aren't in any state to keep fighting," Gene said. "We'll regroup with you back at the outpost first." He looked at the others. "That sound good?"

Igneous nodded. His head was positively spinning from all of this. There was no way he'd be able to help.

But if it was Dazzels, did that mean this had something to do with Shimmer? Was this why the ponyta had ditched them back in the mall?

The different thoughts swirled around in Igneous' head as he stumbled toward the rift that Gene had opened in the middle of the roof.

XxX​

Leo reappeared by the Terarium's core. With the static gone, he got a full course of brilliant gold and silver light. The cosmic arceus galloped through the air, blinking stars out of his vision. He wondered how anyone could perform maintenance on the core with it shining so bright.

Eh, not important.

He was totes winging this. Which meant he'd have to tread carefully here, especially after he told Yuna to trust him.

Leo's gut check was good, though. This was going to work.

... Okay, it had a fifty-fifty shot of working. But Leo was still going to try and do everything he could to bolster those odds.

First step was locating Vince. Leo stayed close to the Terarium dome. The artificial sky was actually no brighter up close than it was on the ground. Some sort of weird human trickery, no doubt.

Now, where had that purple koraidon gotten off to? The team had left him somewhere in the savannah biome, if Leo recalled. Had he stayed there?

Leo trotted toward the southern part of the dome, only to stop when a familiar zoroark-mewtwo mishmash popped in front of him in a blue flash.

"What Leo still doing here?" Grishi rested his right cheek against his right wrist. He sheathed and unsheathed his glowing orange claws. "Leo think Grishi blind? Core is gone. Leo should be gone."

Crud! Leo wasn't counting on Grishi actually sticking around. He figured Grishi had better things to do with his time.

"I, uh—" The cosmic arceus brushed his forelegs together nervously. He had to think of something before this opportunity slipped through his hooves. And Vince along with it.

Wait, didn't Grishi know Vince was an Overseer?

At least, some of his early comments sounded that way. Then that was Leo's way in.

"Okay, look." Leo walked through the air to Grishi's side. "That koraidon Overseer guy? I think he's hiding stuff that we need to know to help our world." He looked down. A flock of vullaby and mandibuzz were flying below the duo. "And my vibe check says since we pulled him into this world, his boss is going to come and find him. Then we can really get some answers."

Grishi raised a brow. Did he not believe Leo, even though he was telling the truth?

"So, seerseer fish you want to use to catch bigger fish." Grishi nodded slowly. His fuzzy tail lazily swished back and forth. "Fine."

"Fine?" Leo tilted his head.

"Grishi will help."

Leo's starcloud mane and tail sparkled. "Really?"

"Yes. Because Leo has precious little time."

"E-Excuse me?" The hell was that supposed to mean? Leo wasn't dying. And his plates were keeping him anchored to this world for now.

Grishi put his right paw on Leo's right shoulder. "Bigger fish here already. With human from before. Come."

And before Leo could get another word in, his world twisted around. The spiral of colors was... actually not as disorienting as last time. Maybe it was the extra power from more plates? Or perhaps Grishi was just better at teleporting others when there were fewer people involved?

Either way, Leo's golden hooves landed on freshly cut green grass.

"... As I don't want to admit it, I get it."

That was Kieran! Leo looked up to find the kid a few dozen meters away, twirling his dangling lock of black and purple hair and repeatedly tapping his foot.

"I guess... I thought loving Ogerpon meant I was entitled to have her as a partner." Kieran's shoulders sagged. "But that's not how it works. A good trainer's... gotta consider their pokémon's feelings."

He fixed his gaze on ninetales with snowy, blue-white fur. Gilgamesh was there, too, but appeared to be fast asleep.

And the ice ninetales... stood beside Vince! That had to be Vince's boss, then!

Leo turned to Grishi, but the zorotwo was nowhere to be found. Instead, Vince met his gaze and the purple koraidon's eyes widened. He tugged on Ninetales' leftmost tails.

Suddenly a heavy pressure weighed Leo down. He couldn't even manage to cry out, because Leo fell right over on his face.

"Huh? Wait, I thought you hated me!" Kieran continued. Leo tried to pull himself upright, but the pressure was too intense. Was it ESP?

Oh, he had the dread plate now! He just had to focus on its power and... nothing. Leo still couldn't get up. What the hell kind of power was this? No way that was just a simple ice ninetales!

"A Z-Crystal?" Kieran sounded confused, but Leo couldn't see what was happening. "I've read about them, but— hmm?"

Leo squirmed on the ground. It did no good. Damn it, Grishi! I thought you wanted to help!

"Just press it to my head when the time's right?" Kieran asked. "Uhh, I guess I can manage that. But how will I know when that time is?"

The cosmic arceus reached out to as many of his plates as he could and he still couldn't fight against the intense force pinning him down. His legs were locked. Leo kept tasting dirt with every attempt at moving.

"Okay. Then I'll—"

Kieran was suddenly cut off. The pressure on Leo faded in an instant. He scrambled to his feet to find Grishi floating where Kieran had once stood.

"Long time no see, seerseer," the zorotwo said. His tail curled and uncurled. "Think you have something that belongs to Grishi and friend." He jerked his head at Vince, then at Leo.

Ninetales' tails puffed out. His eyes shimmered gold for a brief instant, only for a purple aura to crackle around Grishi.

"Ah, ah." Grishi wagged his left index digit at Ninetales. "This Grishi's domain, too. Seerseer helped with that, remember? No using borrowed power to run."

Leo's wheel flickered. Was Grishi implying he was a god for this world? That'd certainly explain why he knew about Overseers.

He didn't care about the previous history, though. It was time to act. Even if that action was just blurting stuff out.

"Who are you?!" Leo galloped toward Ninetales and Vince. "What are you and Vince doing to my world? Why won't he tell us what's really going on?!"

Ninetales finally acknowledged Leo with a bewildered look. His tails frazzled even after he managed to put on a straight face.

"It's not something you need to know," Ninetales said.

"Then why did you give Kieran something?" Leo countered. He took another step toward them. If Grishi was keeping them in place somehow, Leo could definitely get answers.

"It's a contingency," Ninetales responded. He spoke concerningly fast. Had he said that without thinking? "You're doing a good job, so I don't think we'll even need it. You just have to keep sealing up the mystery dungeons."

Leo's eyes narrowed. "Why would you have come here if you knew I was sealing this dungeon?" He made his wheel glow with orange fighting energy.

"Grishi thinks seerseer should answer," the zorotwo mused. A wry grin crept across his face.

"Look, I can't, okay?" Ninetales barked, huffing out frosty air.

Vince stepped away, biting his lower lip. "Boss..."

"Don't." Ninetales held two tails up in Vince's direction. The purple koraidon shrank down. Ninetales shook his head. His tails kept twitching. Some sort of nervous tick? "I'd love to tell you what's going on. Really. But I just... can't. Because if I do, it could screw up all the hard work you're doing."

Leo's mane and tail dimmed. What was that supposed to mean? The truth could help the resistance, right?

"Please," Ninetales whispered. "You have to trust me."

"That tall order for complete stranger," Grishi scoffed. He clapped his hands together. "Grishi propose deal instead. Seerseer leave sad, sorry korkor with Leo. Then can go back to being troublemaker like before."

"What?!" Vince's antennae unfurled into feathery wings, then wrapped themselves back up. "No deal! You can't possibly—"

Ninetales hung his head. "Okay."

"Seriously, dude?!" Vince whirled on Ninetales, looking like someone had stolen his lunch. "You can't leave me with them. I'm not in battle mode. I'm useless like this!"

Sighing, Ninetales put a foreleg on Vince's right shoulder. "If you were strong enough to go poking around in Ginnungagap behind my back, then you're strong enough to get your battle mode working again."

Vince shrank back, whimpering.

"Seerseer shake on deal?" Grishi said.

Ninetales turned and extended a foreleg to Grishi, who shook his head. "Shake with Leo." He pointed at the cosmic arceus.

Leo stiffened. This wasn't some sort of trap, was it? Ninetales' aura... was something Leo couldn't even get a solid read on. It was practically blinding!

"Uh... okay." He hesitantly shuffled across the grass. Leo extended his forehoof so that its tip just barely touched Ninetales' forepaw. They awkwardly shook forelegs for all of a second before they simultaneously pulled their forelegs back. Leo's golden hoof was practically on fire. He wanted to sprint over to the beach biome and plunge it into the water.

"Then deal is deal." Grishi dusted off his hands. "We'll be on way to Leo's world. Seerseer stay so no funny business, then take Ceruledge and leave."

Leo's tail shot up. "Hang on. 'We?'"

Smirking, Grishi jerked his head in Vince's direction. "Someone has to make sure this dumb-dumb doesn't run off."

Vince shrank down to his belly, whimpering.

"I guess... that's okay?" Leo doubted he could stop Grishi if he tried. He glanced between the zorotwo and the Overseers.

Leo opened a rift back into Ginnungagap. This wasn't exactly the result he was hoping for, but at the very least he wasn't coming back empty handed. Leo had info and a bargaining chip of sorts in the form of a purple koraidon. Surely the resistance would be able to do something with this.

XxX

~Il Paradigma, No. XV: Xeromus, the Devil~
The Matriarch's enforcer turned against her. He laid the seeds for her eventual destruction, throwing the Qliphoth into a tumultuous period that would only stabilize when another of her creations seized power for himself. Most records of him were expunged from the public. The brunt of the treasonous allegations shifted to the most recent wielder of the Moon.

But as the years passed, people whispered rumors of a mad beast wandering the realm, declaring an impending end to the Qliphoth. That it would mark the beginning of salvation for everyone.

XxX​

Path of Valor Almanac
The Devil is the fifteenth Major Arcana. In the upright position it symbolizes ravage, violence, extraordinary efforts, force, and things that are predestined but not necessarily evil. In the reversed state it represents evil fatality, weakness, and pettiness.

This chapter is named for the music track that serves as the main boss theme for Strider, a recurring fae wolf beast enemy, in Bayonetta 3.