Charon found himself standing next to Cyrus, Cyrus still holding his hand. They stood on slightly slippery earth that seemed to be mostly clay. A pool of water that formed a peculiar shape that seemed to be a visual representation of something lay before them. They were in a damp cave, and Charon noticed that the cave opened into a body of water, and beyond the bank was a grassy field and a patch of woods.
"Interesting. Abra's Teleport has taken us to Lake Verity," said Cyrus, disinterestedly.
Charon quickly pulled his hand away from him. It ached from having been held so tightly. "Yes, that is very interesting," he said sarcastically. "But don't just stand here gaping. You were so eager to put your plan into action."
"...We cannot leave this lake now. My Gyarados, Honchkrow, and Crobat remain unconscious—they will likely not recover before morning." Charon started to say to say something, but Cyrus interrupted him. "My Houndoom's body radiates heat, and will keep us warm overnight." He sent out Houndoom, who obediently lay down between Charon and its trainer.
"I have many more questions and complaints besides that," Charon grumbled. He sat down next to the pokémon regardless—every part of his body felt like it wanted to collapse.
Cyrus sat down across from him. "...If you were confused by my actions on the Mystri Stage—because the former Champion attempted to convince me of the importance of bonds of friendship, I knew that if I performed an action that appeared selfless, it would shock her, giving us an opportunity to flee." Cyrus was sitting in a seiza pose with his back utterly straight.
"Very logical. You're almost as intelligent as I am..." Charon said, his tone bitter and enervated. "It really did look like you were putting yourself in danger for my sake. Of course, I knew nobody, not even you, would be foolish enough to do that. Not—not for me."
Cyrus stared at Charon's face like it was a complex equation that he could not solve. "...Your recent behavior has been uncharacteristic. What is the cause?"
Charon sighed. "It doesn't ultimately matter."
Cyrus made an affirmative sound. Charon held his hands out over Houndoom, who had rolled over and was now asleep, its body slowly rising and falling with its breath. Cyrus just kept staring. Silence fell over them—the only sounds were the waves on the lake surface hitting the side of cave and a distant Starly murmuration.
"I noticed that you never asked me about my grandfather, or about my parents," said Cyrus. "Because what they did deserves to be known by all, I will tell you if you wish."
"I won't stop you..." said Charon.
"Very well. My parents abused be in many ways—they controlled me financially, insulted me constantly when no one else was present, and destroyed some of my most prized possessions. They also put me through therapy when I expressed my desire to live a non-normative life—'therapy' that involved placing red-hot objects on my skin, feeding me misinformation as a scare tactic, and threats. I was forced to lie about my wishes to escape. I went to my grandfather for help, and he always told me to endure it or to let my parents shape me to their will. He was obsessed with misplaced familial loyalty," Cyrus recounted in a dull tone. "I remember one event from my childhood most clearly. I was studying for exams... I was receiving only the highest of grades, yet that did not satisfy my parents. They found me reading a book on mythology, which I loved. They interpreted this as a frivolous distraction and set the book aflame and forced me to watch. It was at that moment I realized that had I no spirit, I would have been unaffected by all the ways in which they tormented me... free of all suffering. This is how I learned that reality is incomplete. Had I only adopted this ideology more quickly..." he trailed off.
Charon looked up at Cyrus. "So that is what the Champions were going on about. I'm sorry that you had to bear such hardship. It certainly speaks to deep systemic issues in our society."
Cyrus scrutinized Charon's expression. "Are you... pitying me?" Cyrus raised his voice broke past his usual monotone. "Pity is a contemptible product of the ugly human heart!"
"I would expect someone with a fixation on logic to be less prone to jumping to conclusions. I'm not pitying you. Empathizing, perhaps."
"Empathy is also a worthless product of the heart..." Cyrus paused. "Empathy requires a deep understanding and sharing of another's feelings. But no one has experienced my suffering! No one can understand—otherwise, others would have come to share my ideals!" Cyrus brought his hand down into the pool of water, hard. Ripples spread across the water's surface. "Do not lie to me, Charon!"
"Maybe I should be pitying you if you're getting all worked up over nothing," said Charon. "Of course I didn't experience precisely the same things that you did. When I was growing up, my parents couldn't have cared less about exam scores or what I wanted out of life. They kept me out of the Chateau for as long as possible each day and let me wander off because they thought I would just bother the homeowners. If I came back covered in scrapes and bruises, or if I'd been electrocuted and had fallen unconscious on the lawn, what did it matter? If they had done anything, they would've had to pay hospital bills. They couldn't have that! They were... detached, not controlling. Though I always suspected something more sinister was running through their minds, especially after the murders..."
"The murders? I thought that the inhabitants died due to ingesting ill-prepared food," said Cyrus.
"Of course that's how the official story goes. But my relatives were most likely embroiled in shady deals to begin with, even if I never could prove it. And considering the way they always treated me like an object, I wouldn't discount my theory. Their neglect was never accidental." Charon gazed through the cave's opening and into the distance, remembering something. He clearly did not expect Cyrus to truly listen to his story. "...If it hadn't been for Rotom and my budding genius, I would have been another fatality..."
Cyrus, however, was listening intently to every word. "If this is true... how can you still attribute value to a concept such as friendship? Why do you not view it as transient, as a cause of suffering, as inherently empty?" he asked. "You have clearly experienced pain. Why do you not share my ideals?"
"How should I know? For one thing, I wouldn't be the genius I am today had I not endured my childhood and befriended Rotom. My less-than-ideal life story makes my intelligence even more impressive! Of course, don't think that I have not seen friendship lead to suffering... but that doesn't mean I have to share your nihilism. I would not trade my memories with Rotom for anything." Charon kept watching the waves and the sky above it—the trees swaying in the wind and the Starly fighting against it, flying to an unknown place. He swallowed hard. "Even though—even though... I'm afraid. I'm afraid that some trainer caught Rotom against its will and left it to rot in a PC somewhere, or abuses it and ignores its wishes, or puts it through dangerous experiments. Every single day when I think I'm safe and I feel as if I've shaken them off, these concerns come back to haunt me. It's hypocritical, really, since I am the one who neglected it and drove it away because I wanted to be the only one to publish research on it. Now I will never learn whether it's happy or sad without me... I don't deserve to know."
By now, the sky was a deep blue, and the first handful of stars were becoming visible. Cyrus spoke, slightly more softly than usual. "...My decision to leave the Distortion World and return to this place was partly motivated by a thought that came to me... a thought that my upbringing caused me to develop bias. Even as you are describing the benefits of interpersonal relationships, you're suffering. I can see that you understand that positive emotions are fleeting... why do you not see them as ultimately pointless as I do? I want you to completely explain your position. I want to understand."
Charon turned back to Cyrus and glared at him. "If you want someone to argue that relationships have merit, talk to the Champion or the former Champion. Obviously you should not be talking to me!"
"...But... I want it to be you, Charon. I don't want to discuss this with anybody else."
"Why?!" Charon snapped. "I am not going to be a tool for you to use in order to understand everything before you end it all!"
Cyrus put one of his arms out awkwardly and reached over Houndoom partway, as if he was attempting to touch Charon on the shoulder, but he only ended up twitching like a malfunctioning robot for a few seconds before ultimately putting his arm back down. Charon began to smirk as he witnessed this behavior, but then the heavy feeling of dread seeped into his heart and he ended up scowling instead. He pushed himself off the ground and carefully removed his glasses. "Humph. Make yourself useful and ensure that I don't crush these while I'm sleeping." When he handed his glasses over, Cyrus's fingers lightly brushed his. Charon heavily suspected that this had been intentional, but he stayed silent as he walked away and night fell.
It took place in the Solaceon Ruins. When the pokémon-control device was complete, it was a much larger version of the prototype, with two crystal oscillators—one made from a Dawn Stone, and the other made from a Dusk Stone. Cyrus had his pokémon labor to transport the pieces, which he and Charon finally put together in the lowest of the chambers. It was only noon, but the dark, damp, and musty room made it feel like the middle of a humid summer night. The ground felt moist as Charon walked on it. He had expected to feel fear or at least trepidation, but he only felt weighed down by more exhaustion.
Cyrus, on the other hand, was pacing in circles—more energized than Charon had ever seen him. He seemed to sense a power in the air that Charon could not. "For many years, I have longed for this moment..." Cyrus still spoke in monotone, but there was an undercurrent to his voice. "Finally, nothing unexpected can interfere. When I harness the same power as Arceus itself, not even the Creation Trio can stop me." He quickly turned around to look Charon in the eyes. "The new world cannot be complete unless it is created for only me and no one else. However, don't feel downtrodden. You've been instrumental in setting the stage for the end of this universe. Because of this, you should be honored by the role you've played—you don't have to feel unwanted anymore, Charon." He took slow, deliberate stride toward the machine. "I will allow you to see the beginning of my new reality as a reward."
Charon collapsed against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the wet floor. He brought his knees up and rested his arms on top of them. "I am supposed to feel happy about being a passing interest and nothing more? That is the definition of cold comfort," he said, his voice muffled.
Cyrus hesitated for a moment when he heard Charon speak, but did not reply. He took out two Poké Balls and sent the two Unown that he had caught, having them levitate in on either side of the device as if they were guarding a precious treasure. "Finally..." he said quietly, as he turned on it on.
Now Charon felt a buzzing energy in the atmosphere. His body felt it as an intense tingling sensation, but he knew that it was actually a powerful radio signal that was resonating throughout the ruins. The Dawn and Dusk stones slowly began to light up in cyan and purple respectively, and a faint hum emanated from their crystalline structures. The tones that were imperceptible to humans were immediately heard by the Unown. Cyrus's two Unown opened their eyes completely, which Charon did not even know was possible for those varieties. The text carved into the wall started to glow a deep indigo, and with each letter that lit up, louder tones began to reverberated throughout the chamber, until it was like an entire bass symphony. Eyes opened in the glowing spaces, and Unown drifted into the open, appearing from another dimension. Dozens of them also started to float from the other chambers, congregating around Cyrus. They all started crying in time with the signal transmitted by the device, and Charon had to cover his ears.
"Everything is ready!" Cyrus called out as the Unown swirled around him. Charon could barely hear his voice over the din of the pokémon. "Unown, you are my enforcers. The ones who will be my arms as I craft a complete reality. Begin by erasing the Solaceon Ruins... this will be the center of my new world!" He put his arm straight out. The Unown formed clusters and begin to glow with a far more powerful version of Hidden Power. Cyrus was swallowed by a bright light that exploded outward as the pokémon flew in different directions.
Charon was finally afraid. He curled up against the wall and shut his eyes and he braced himself, waiting for the light to erase him. He felt something like a strong, cold wind pass over him, and he nearly fell backward—the pressure of the wall against him was gone. He slowly opened his eyes, which soon went wide went wide with shock. Charon shakily stood up and took in his new surroundings. Though the device still sat beside him, the ground was missing, replaced with a bright white void, a purer white than Charon thought any material could be. His body was upright, but felt no pressure against his feet. He was simply floating. The ceiling was also gone—he looked up into a dark blue sky with wisps of bright colors that occasionally danced through it like an aurora. A few tiny stars were pinpricks in the sky, but Charon noticed that they were slowly being extinguished. He turned to where the wall used to stand, and saw a horizon in the distance. A blazing sunset met the edge of the white void, so colorful that Charon thought it looked like the sun going down after a volcanic eruption had left clouds of ash in the atmosphere. Somehow, he intuited that this was the old world coming to an end, fighting a losing battle as it was being replaced by Cyrus's new reality. He was content with just watching this sunset while reminiscing about Rotom. Charon guessed that there would no longer be a spirit world, but he hoped that after being erased, they would be able to reunite in some other way.
A familiar voice screamed out and a small black portal opened up next to Charon, who jumped back. A twitching Porygon-Z pulled a terrified-looking Dawn through the hole before it disappeared. The pokémon and its trainer fell onto the void, and Dawn shrieked again when she she looked down. She scrambled to a standing position and looked relieved when she laid eyes on Charon. "I-It's so empty here... even the Distortion World wasn't anything like this. I'm so happy to see you, Charon—so he hasn't destroyed the entire ruins yet! I can still put a stop to this!" She crossed her arms and no longer looked afraid. "Hee hee, I'm so proud that I used Porygon-Z's dimension-hopping powers to get in here. Now, where's Cyrus...?"
"I am impressed that my work on Porygon-Z was successful, but you're far too late to make a difference. Not that a world where only the rich and attractive could flourish is particularly worth saving." Charon turned around and pointed straight ahead as his hair whipped around in the cold, hard wind. Cyrus was still standing in relatively the same position, but now he stood atop a shining structure made out ice that resembled a flower in full bloom. A whirlwind of Unown was spiraling around him and up into the sky, creating a giant double helix. They were all shielded by the telltale sparkles of Hidden Power.
"Watch me." Dawn picked up her pokémon, who was panicking and glitching up. "Use Tri Attack and clear away those Unown!" Porygon-Z floated a bit higher before straightening out its form. Three glowing spheres spun around it—one red, one yellow, and one blue—before they shot toward the spiraling mass.
Cyrus, still silent, merely held out his hand and the spheres halted. All of the Unown slowed down and focused their pupils on the attack. Their eyes turned blue, and in a flash the sphere were encased in opaque ice. The block of ice fell to the white surface and shattered with a loud, ringing note. The shards melted away into nothingness before Dawn's and Charon's eyes.
Dawn covered her mouth in horror. "It just went dark and now it's gone..." she said, under her breath. Her Porygon-Z was shaking again.
"You didn't see it freeze over?" asked Charon.
Cyrus spoke with the booming voice of a deity. "Your difference in perceptions demonstrates the illusory nature of reality! Unown, eliminate them!"
Dawn tried to flee, but there was nowhere to run to. A bright blue light spread beneath her feet, like an inverted shadow. In an instant, she and Porygon-Z were frozen in a giant, twisted pillar of ice that reached infinitely for the final remaining stars. The ice nearly reached Charon, but ended just as it touched his shoulder. He reeled back in horror as he noticed that while the ice was almost completely opaque, he could just barely discern Dawn's terrified face caught in a silent scream. He felt fear, like a heavy knot in his gut, as he turned back to Cyrus. Charon was not afraid of pain, injury, heartbreak, or death, but even he never wanted to suffer eternal torment.
The Unown's pupils were set on Charon, and their magical glow caused Cyrus's face to be veiled in shadow. His hand was still out in front of him, but he was silent and still, like a statue of a deity and not the deity itself. His chest was rising and falling quickly, which Charon realized meant Cyrus was breathing very heavily.
"Unown, erase..." Cyrus began, and the Unown's pupils glowed in anticipation. "...Erase the device from existence!" The device that stood next to Charon shone with a blue light, before freezing over. As it began to crackle and break into pieces, the Unown's eyes widened. They looked every which way and spun in the air, and the double helix fell apart as the pokémon scattered in different directions. Suddenly, they glared down at Cyrus and surrounded him once more.
"What is this? I command you to stop!" Cyrus tried to struggle, but the pokémon effortlessly overpowered him. Their eyes flickered blue and pink as they cried out over and over. Cyrus was jerked into the air by the Unown's amplified psychic power. The pokémon had panicked when they saw the destruction they had wrought while their minds were controlled and had become blind with rage. Their telekinetic power pulled Cyrus's limbs in opposite directions, hard. His head fell back and he screamed toward the heavens.
Charon was so shocked at being spared, that he did not initially react to the situation. When he heard Cyrus scream out, he shook his head and tried to do something. "No! Stop that!" he called out. The pokémon did not even glance at him. However, an idea was brewing in Charon's mind. Against his better judgment, he ran closer to the swarm of Unown. "No harm has been done!" he yelled. He pulled out his Lunar Wing and held it up, as it glittered a pale lavender in the light of the sunset. "This is all illusory—it's merely a bad dream! Look, wake up!"
The color of the Lunar Wing caught the Unown's attention, and they lowered Cyrus slightly. "Yes, it is only a nightmare," Charon said more softly. "It will be all right if you simply choose to wake up now." Before Charon could even register what was happening, the sunset, stars, ice—everything in Cyrus's new world—was drawn close to each other. The flickering colors of every object ran together and everything blurred into one mass, like spilled watercolor paints. Everything shone brightly as it was pulled into a singularity, but Charon felt no fear. His body became weightless, as if he was beginning to dream as he was drifting off to a rare peaceful sleep.
When he came to, he was lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling, which had returned to being stone. Everything was calm and quiet, and no Unown were levitating in the air. Even the two that had been caught were nowhere to be seen, and the writing on the wall was simple writing once again. Cyrus had apparently fallen on top of Charon when the Unown dropped him—his head was tucked next to Charon's, their bodies pressed flush together. Charon could feel Cyrus's spiky hair brushing against his cheek.
Cyrus stirred and raised his head to look Charon in the eyes. "I deeply appreciate your actions, Charon. Using the Lunar Wing was... very practical," he said. He noticed that Charon's glasses had slid partway down over his face, and so Cyrus gently moved them back up to where they belonged.
"Why, thank you," said Charon, breathlessly. He suddenly wondered how it would feel to touch Cyrus's sharp cheekbones. As Cyrus regarded him with a surprisingly soft look in his large, icy-blue eyes, Charon realized that if Cyrus were to do something sentimental and reckless at that moment, he would not have had the heart to stop him. Charon's lips trembled with anxiety and anticipation as Cyrus began lowering his head and leaned in closer.
They were interrupted by a soft groan. Dawn was curled up on the floor, her Porygon-Z resting on top of her. The two of them were shaking, about to wake up. Cyrus and Charon shared a look and simultaneously decided to flee.
They let Honchkrow and Crobat take them to a place neither of them were familiar with—a small island east of the Battle Zone and far from any route in the Sinnoh region. Fresh, dewy grass and many lush flowers—yellow, blue, pink, and lavender, completely blanketed the island, and everything appeared to be gilded in the warm glow of golden hour. The light sea breeze sent some flower petals drifting through the air as the fragrant sweet smell wafted over the island. The clouds puffy clouds above moved lazily across the sky.
Charon sat down as soon as he was able. "At last. Now, Cyrus, I have pressing questions for you. First, where is this place? Why is not on any map? What are we going to do from now on—live life on the run?" He gently played with a lavender flower as if he was going to play a game of "He love me... he loves me not" with it. "But most importantly... why did you let me live? Obviously I have my suspicions... but I deserve a clear explanation from you directly."
Cyrus awkwardly sat down beside him and took a deep, long breath. "...I do not know where we are. I never encountered this island in my many studies—however, I believe that it has some connection to the legendary Gratitude Pokémon, Shaymin. A field of similar flowers near Floraroma Town has been associated with Shaymin's power, and thus the same pokémon may have created or inhabited this area. I would guess that only those who are experiencing a strong feeling of gratitude can perceive this place..." Cyrus paused, as if he wanted to elaborate, but he changed the subject. "I cannot answer for you. As for myself, I do not know precisely what actions I will choose to take from now on... this ties into your final question." He robotically reached out and clamped down on Charon's shoulder, which caused Charon to whirl around so that he and Cyrus were gazing into each other's eyes. "I understand now that to truly become unbiased, I must experience a viewpoint that differs from my own. While I still believe your view to be overly materialistic and potentially pessimistic, you have been a grounding influence on me. You have convinced me to attempt to learn from you, as I respect your ability to present logical arguments. I also deeply respect... wait..." he trailed off. "Charon, are you... crying?"
Charon's eyes were indeed incredibly misty, and his mouth was quivering with emotion. Cyrus was stricken by confusion, but before he could fully pull his hand away, Charon leaned over and gave Cyrus a tight hug. Cyrus fell back into the flowers and took Charon with him, which sent petals flying when they landed on the grass. While Cyrus shook like a malfunctioning robot and Charon laughed softly, a faint, pastel rainbow was appearing above the Flower Paradise.
THE END