And now, the invasion begins! *evil laugh* Expect references abound! Let's do this!

Oh, and if you're wondering why the main character is acting so childish and crazy lately, it's because he's technically still a kid, and as for the crazy part, any 10 year old child would be traumatized by the events of Sun and Moon.

As for his name, I was going for a Greek/Latin theme, but then I realized that it actually came from Hebrew and was subsequently converted into Greek, then Latin. I guess that cancels each other out and leaves us with a typical common Anglophone name. It ain't as thematic as Percy/Perseus or Jason, but it's as common as Charles, Luke, or Jake.

Let me sum up Matthew's character using this recipe: Five portions of Vanillite the Dragonslayer's Special Original Character Formula 3.0, 3/8 portion of Jason Nicholson, 3/8 portion of Armani Dove, Three portions of Willy Wonka (original novel, Depp, London musical), one portion of insanity, and 1/4 portion of Elder Scrolls references, topped off with one portion of references to everything else.

All of the ingredients are in place except for the 3 Wonka portions. I'm planning to add those later. If you analyze the above recipe, most of it is insanity-related, while the Son of Artemis portions are relatively minuscule because I drew inspiration from them but I'm trying not to make my version too similar to their incarnations lest the readers grab their torches and pitchforks and mob me.

Disclaimer: I donut own either franchise. Philippines needs monies. Gib monies pl0x.

Chapter II: The Invasion

"This is it! Our final battle!" A voice called out to me. I opened my eyes to see Gladion, clad in medium-weight armor that seemed to be as dark as ebony with a matching sword at his side.

"May Arceus guide us in the battle that is about to begin." Lillie said solemnly, and for some reason, she was wearing a flowing white robe not unlike the priests of the church of Arceus, clutching a golden staff that emanated glowing energy from the tip.

"Let's rock!" Hau said enthusiastically, wearing heavy armor and wielding two axes, one of which crackled with electricity.

"I hope we all survive this..." Selene prayed, this time holding a ball-and-chain sort of weapon in addition to her somewhat thin golden armor.

I moved not of my own willpower, and heard a mechanical screech.

In front of us was some weird dragon seemingly made out of crystals and light.

With a battle cry, my companions charged forward.

I woke up, breaking the immersion of the dream. Today was 27th of the last month of the year. I have a bad feeling that dream was a vision of things yet to come.

Oh wait, let me fill you all in on what happened in the time between the party and now. Well, me and my mother spent some bonding time with each other, and the Hunters are starting to warm up to me. Probably. I'm not sure.

I ate breakfast with my mother and Lunala, and to be honest, it feels a bit awkward to be at the same table as two goddesses. I'm still not used to that feeling. As soon as I finished my meal, an alarm went off. I rushed to the elevator alongside Luna. "Where are you going?" My mother asked.

"That alarm indicates the highest level of emergency." I replied as I grabbed three Pokéballs in haste, belonging to Vanilluxe, Lunala, and Nidoking. "Something really, really bad just happened." I went up the elevator and flew off on Lunala, and immediately saw that a portion of the sky had darkened in the direction of Poni Island.

"This doesn't look good..." I muttered.

"I agree." Luna confirmed. We flew towards the Seafolk Village and quite literally bumped into Selene. She looked panicked and worried.

"Selene, what's going on? Where's Solgaleo?" I asked. She replied, "We were exploring the island when all of a sudden, some black crystalline creature appeared out of a wormhole and absorbed him!"

"What?" This was definitely something disastrous. I motioned for her to continue.

"Then it started absorbing the light in the surrounding area," She added. "Shadows formed around me, in the forms of both Pokémon and humans. They tried to grab me, attack me, even, but I escaped in time."

"Thanks for the info." I turned to the people, who noticed the dark atmosphere around them. "Listen up, folks! All of you are to evacuate the island! Pack up your things and flee on your boats!"

"What about you, sir?" A man asked.

"Just leave a small boat just in case something drastic happens. You have your orders now; go, men, go!" They scurried to and fro, packing up and starting their engines, while Selene decided to wait in the small boat that was set aside. I directed Luna towards the area where I sensed emanating dark energy. We were about to go straight to the source when I remembered someone I forgot about. "Crap! I forgot to tell Hapu to evacuate!"

We flew to the old house where she lived, and I could feel the energy becoming stronger. I got off and knocked on the front door. "Hapu, are you in there?"

She opened the door and had a solemn look on her face as she spoke. "Something's really wrong..."

"You need to evacuate right now! Some weird dark creature is attacking the island!" She shook her head in reply. "Nonsense. It is my divine duty as the Kahuna of the island to aid the ruler of Alola in times of crisis."

"Fine, you may join us. Send out your Mudsdale, because we'll need all the help we can get." I relented, and she joined us in preparation of an extremely likely upcoming battle. We rode off to the Altar of the Moone, where the darkness seemed to be coming from.

Select Units:

Matthew, Spellsword, Level 11 (Exp: 75)
Hapu, Kahuna, Level 14

Allied Pokémon:

Lunala, Sorceress, Level 80 (True Level: 2000)
Vanilluxe, Cryomancer, Level 77
Nidoking, Mixed Fighter, Level 75
Mudsdale, Steed, Level 70
Flygon, Dragon, Level 70
Golurk, Automaton, Level 70

Enemies:

Shadow Creatures (several)

Bosses:

?, Level ?

Fight? -Yes -No

Confirmed. Loading...

We arrived at the Altar of the Moone and saw a bunch of shadows writhing around us. At the center of it all was Solgaleo, but instead of his normal color, he was glowing pale yellow with gold streaks and had some dark crystals fused to parts of his body, somewhat like armor.

"Brother..." Luna asked slowly, "Is that you?"

She only got a mechanical roar in reply. It was similar to Solgaleo's regular cry, but distorted into an ear-piercing sound. The shadows formed coherent shapes and started attacking. We sent out our Pokémon and began issuing commands.

"Vanilluxe, Blizzard! Nidoking, Thunderbolt!"
"Flygon, Earthquake! Golurk, Shadow Punch!"

Frosty winds and electricity shot through the air as the ground shook. Golurk went up and punched a human-looking shade, but it seemed unfazed by the attack. I launched a few spells to complement my Pokémon's attacks, earning a jaw drop from Hapu. "You have the ancient gift!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, you mean my magic?"

"Yes!" She replied, "Arcane abilities are quite rare these days, but I've picked up some tricks here and there. I'll show you!" She raised her hand and portions of the earth rose into the air. She then thrust her hand out towards the enemy, obliterating some shades in the forms of various Ghost type Pokémon. I flew around on Lunala, launching spells to keep the darkness at bay as she tried to communicate with the being that looked like Solgaleo. "Brother, what are you doing?! Snap out of it!"

The construct roared terribly once more, but this time it was accompanied by a wormhole ripping itself into reality, creating an opening to Ultra Space. A strange colorful creature came out of the portal, which I presumed was that Blacephalon thing the Aether Foundation had files on, then the wormhole dissolved. The Ultra Beast launched its head at us and the balloon-like appendage promptly exploded. While it blasted our forces backwards, the creature's head reformed on top of its body. As it prepared another launch, I quickly analyzed that the explosion caused some flames to appear, which meant that this thing was probably a Fire type.

I commanded my Pokémon to use Surf and Water Pulse while silently cursing the fact that it would've been useful to have Percy in this situation. Hapu's team continued to use their attacks, which were super effective against the alien thing.

Once it fainted, we focused our attacks on Solgaleo. Our onslaught did little damage to the enemy, and we were met by bright strikes of seemingly-solid light. An unexpected hit to Lunala caused her to cry out in pain, which made me realize that this raw energy was truly potent, enough to substantially harm a Legendary Pokémon.

"Everyone, fall back!" I commanded as we backed away from the enemy, launching our attacks from what looked to be a safe distance. Ice and earth flew all around the battlefield, with arcs of lightning and flame painting the edges of my vision. Solgaleo seemed unfazed by our assault even until now, and we were running out of PP real fast. The possessed Legendary roared once more, before hurling itself at us for a potentially lethal impact. "No!" I screamed, then in a last-minute effort I attempted to shielded Hapu from the attack, jumping off of Luna and throwing myself in front of the attack.

That's when everything went to Hades.

Although by that point my eyes were shut in preparation of death, I heard a faint humming sound in front of me and looked up. My mother was in between us and the monstrous being, holding up an energy barrier while chanting something in Ancient Greek. After a while, she ended the incantation and the enemy was swallowed up into another dimension.

"Mother!" I exclaimed, "How did you do that? I thought you weren't powerful enough in this world!"

She held me close and explained, "My son, I now have a seat of power here in Alola. Your Champion's Throne gives me power through its connection to you."

"That's great to hear!" I replied, "But what was that creature in the form of Solgaleo that attacked us?"

"Did you see those black crystal appendages? Those remind me of an ancient evil we have not faced for a thousand years." Luna gravely stated. "Necrozma, the Light-Eater, Master of Darkness, and Bringer of Doom. Did you see those shadows which attacked us? They were not mere shadows, but the very absence of light, given form. It has power over Ultra Beasts, and it is said that its true form is more powerful than Arceus's standard form, which is a big problem on its own. And, as if that wasn't enough, it seems to have absorbed my brother, which means that the sun will dim until the world will be plunged into absolute darkness."

"Then how can we defeat it?" I asked, desperate for a solution to this crisis. "There has to be a way!"

"Unfortunately, we gods and goddesses are only powerful enough by ourselves to temporarily banish it to its home dimension. Even then, if it has absorbed me or my brother, it can still open wormholes for its Ultra Beast underlings to invade this world while it recovers." She continued, "However, there was a prophecy surrounding its return, which will give us the key to defeating it."

"A prophecy, you say? I know just where to look!" I raised my hand up dramatically. "To the Malie Library!"

We all made a beeline for the boat and got on board, sailing away towards Ula'ula Island. Once we arrived, I commanded Hapu to arrange a meeting between the Island Kahunas, Trial Captains, and any other authority figures available (the Aether Foundation, Professor Kukui, et cetera) to inform them of the threat and to gather as much manpower as possible to defend the civilians from any Ultra Beasts that might make an appearance, then ordered Selene to join the their ranks to add to our forces.

Then I ran inside the Malie Library with my mother and Luna in her human form, ready to scour the entire collection for any leads on the prophecy.

And that's a wrap! Keep in mind, during this entire story, Artemis is in her adult form to appear more motherly. For the next chapter, the prophecy will be revealed!

This is Vanillite the Dragonslayer, signing off.