-Chapter XXI: Never Give Up-
-Vincent-
He narrowly dodged a water gun from a Starmie that popped out of the water to his left, leaping to the side while firing a bullet seed attack, knocking it out in one shot, much to his surprise. He kept count of how many times he'd used the attack since using it too much would disable it until he drank an ether or elixir. After that one, he had five shots left. But he had sketched an ember attack, vine whip, bite and hydro pump, so he would be fine for at least a few more floors.
He moved quickly through the cave-like environment, doing his best to stay out of sight of any of the enemies. He gasped lightly when he felt a pressure plate beneath his foot, rolling his eyes as he brushed the dust away. He cursed under his breath as soon as he saw the dull pink cloud on the cover. "Attractant… are you kidding me…?"
As soon as he lifted his foot, the pink aroma flooded the room, pouring down the entire hallway in a matter of seconds. He sprinted down the least clouded hallway, trying desperately not to get caught in between several pokémon at once as they swarmed towards the source of the attractant. He pulled a warp orb out of his bag and smashed it against the ground, instantly teleporting him to another location on the floor. He looked around, and after determining the room was safe for a minute, he took a deep breath and tried to decide which route to take. His moment of safety was short-lived as another starmie erupted from the shallow pool to his right, scoring a direct hit with a hydro pump, knocking him out instantly.
He awoke in the infirmary of Wigglytuff's guild, with everyone else standing over him. "...How long did I make it?"
"Longer than Connor," Magnus joked. "Maybe an hour. What floor did you make it to?"
"I lost count at eight… I don't know how we're gonna make it to the top."
"Okay… so who's next?" Connor asked.
"Me." Vincent, Atlas and Nocturne all turned to Jade, who floated forward slowly without any emotion in her crystal blue eyes. "Wigglytuff… Take me to Destiny Tower."
The Guildmaster nodded and vanished in a flash of turquoise light after grabbing Jade's hands. The rest of the team muttered amongst themselves, several of them just sitting down against the wall, staring into the middle distance. Connor sat up and rolled over to face Alice, who was crying into her hands while sitting against the wall. "Alice-"
"You'd better be right about this whole 'Arceus' thing," she seethed. Connor nodded slowly and tried to rest his hand on her shoulder, but she winced and pulled away before standing up and leaving the infirmary.
Connor glance at Atlas, who shrugged in confusion as well. "I'll go get her."
Connor pursed his lips as he tried to think of what to say. "Okay, team… let's just camp out in the guild for now until Jade comes back."
-Jade-
She wasted no time flying through the first floor. Her rage was matched only by her determination to bring an end to this cycle of death and bring Roy back. She remained intangible as she soared forward, flying straight through the Bellsprout and freezing it from the inside out on the way through. She floated up the stairs with a nonchalant expression as she powered through a Loudred's hyper voice due to her ghost typing, floating through the wall and using her spectral vision to navigate through the floor.
I don't see what the big deal is about this place… she thought to herself with an annoyed scowl. Then again, they said that our moves and strength would be reduced to their most primitive levels. But I can still turn intangible and freeze any opponents.
She shrugged and floated up to the third floor without much of a fight. The second she came to the third floor, that's when it got challenging. The entire floor appeared to be the inside of a Volcano. She couldn't go near the walls, let alone phase through them due to the lava pouring down the sides. She tried to cool the wall off with a blast of icy wind, but only a small puff of steam came from her hands, doing nothing but evaporating in the sweltering heat. She flew forward as swiftly as she could, turning intangible only to avoid the punches of Monferno and Combusken. With every passing second, she could feel the energy being sucked out of her. This heat was devastating, and it was almost as if the mystery dungeon adapted to whoever was challenging it. She kept blowing cold air from her mouth to stave off the heat, but her strength was running out fast as the multiple fire-types closed in.
Don't lose here!
Tears welled up in her eyes as the gems in her skin glowed in response to Roy's voice. "Roy…"
The gems released a pulse of purple energy, blasting all of the enemies away in the blink of an eye, and much to her surprise, a section of the floor crumbled away, revealing a staircase leading down. She tilted her head for a moment, but followed the urge to continue down the steps. As soon as the staircase vanished behind her, blinding lights blinked to life, revealing four shops manned by a Swalot, Lickilicky, Mime Jr. and Shedinja. The floor was composed of dirt, and there was an omnipresent music in the air that relaxed her mind. A kirlia appeared in front of her with a welcoming smile. "Welcome to the Secret Bazaar!"
Jade forced any thoughts of Dawn out of her mind before responding to the Kirlia. She had never seen any place like this before; She'd only heard about it from Vincent. "What is this place?"
"This is a wonderful place to calm your mind and spirit," the Kirlia said with a smile. "To your right, you have Swalot's grab bag shop! 100 Poké and you can choose a bag that has something wonderful inside!" she pointed to the wooden tables stacked around the poison-type, sporting dozens of identical silk bags with a poison symbol on them. "Just behind him is Lickilicky's cleansing shop! She'll clean any items that have gotten gunked up by traps and things of that sort!" That shop had several buckets of crystal clear water in a circle around the normal-type.
Jade shook her head, trying to back away. "I have a mission-"
"To reach the top of Destiny Tower, we know!" the Kirlia exclaimed. "That's why we revealed ourselves to you!"
Jade nodded slowly, "Then you know why I can't purchase anything from here."
"Oh, that's not a problem! Talk to Shedinja in the back!" Kirlia gestured to the bug-type, who was floating motionlessly above a simple stone platform. *Destiny tower is strange… it adapts to the explorer to overcome even the most powerful pokémon. Only two have ever conquered this dungeon… and I believe you know one of them as Dusknoir,* the bug-type's hollow, raspy voice filled her head, catching her slightly off guard.
"What? Dusknoir beat this place?"
*That is correct… I have knowledge of every mystery dungeon, including escape routes and shortcuts.*
"How? Mystery dungeons change every time someone enters them," Jade argued. "It's impossible to map them!"
*Not for me… would you like to possess the knowledge of the great Dusknoir?*
"What do you want in exchange?" Jade asked.
*I only require a small donation of 100 poké.*
Jade scoffed and turned away from him. "I don't have any money, Shedinja."
*I'm sure that Kirlia would give you a small donation if you simply asked…*
"If there's any way I can get to the top of this dungeon, I'll take it," she replied before turning back to the Psychic-type. "May I borrow some poké?"
"Sure! Anything to help a trialgoer of Destiny Tower!" the psychic-type handed her a small bag of poké, which she promptly gave to the Shedinja. "Show me how to reach the top."
The Shedinja hummed softly before tilting its whole body forward. *I do not do this for all… For most I merely offer a means of escape from the dungeon.*
"And I appreciate your generosity," she deadpanned. "Now show me."
The bug-type's hollow eyes showed no emotion as he rose, now floating inches from her face. *May you find what you seek…*
She expected to feel something different, but so far nothing had changed. She felt slightly more relaxed, but that was about it.
"...How do I get to the top?"
*There is a shortcut on the following floor, where two pools of water merge. Beneath the water is a dimensional breach. That is all I can reveal,* the bug-type droned.
"What will the dimensional breach do?" Jade asked.
"Dimensional breaches in Mystery dungeons usually warp you to the end of the dungeon!" Kirlia put in. "But since the Tower doesn't take kindly to that, it should put you around the fifth floor from the pinnacle, give or take a few floors!"
Jade blinked heavily in disbelief. "No… there has to be a catch."
The Kirlia shook her head and gestured to the final shop. "Before you go, have a complimentary energy boost from Mime Jr! She will curb your hunger -and for this dungeon only- boost your power level back to its original state! It only lasts for 10 floors though, so if you don't make it to that portal, then good luck!"
Jade floated over to the little pink psychic-type, who danced in a circle before casting a golden light over her. Her jaw dropped as her strength returned to her mind and body. She clenched her hand, sending a cold gust of wind across the room that froze the top of Lickilicky's water buckets. "Thank you."
"Go get 'em!" the Kirlia grinned. "And have fun!"
"I will," Jade replied half-heartedly. She was completely in awe of the luck she just had. As she hovered up the stairs, she came to a floor that looked exactly like a water dungeon. The depth of the water across the entire floor was indiscernible, and she hovered only inches above the surface. Her skin radiated such pure cold that the water immediately around her became slush as she moved through the dungeon.
Where are the two pools of water? This entire floor is covered in it!
She looked for any sign of dry land while hovering through the narrow hallways, freezing a Seadra solid without batting an eye.
She gasped lightly once she entered the next room, which had a medium-sized island of stone in the center, with a small stream running into the rest of the water on the floor. That had to be it. She quickly flew over to where the water merged, but was thrown back by a sudden explosion of water as a Gyarados erupted from the deep. It coiled up and stared her down with a sinister grin. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Through you," she replied. "Then to the top of this tower."
The Water-type laughed and fired a hydro pump at her without preamble, forcing her to use blizzard, freezing the stream of water solid before it could touch her. She shattered the icy pillar apart with psychic, then infused the ice shards with ominous wind before impaling the giant serpent in one fluid motion. It dissolved into turquoise energy, leaving no trace of blood or flesh behind. She took a deep breath and submerged herself in the water, wasting no time wondering about whether or not the Gyarados was real or not. The sensation of warping forward in a dungeon wasn't that different from shadow travelling. It left her a bit disoriented, but the next thing she knew, she phased through the wall of a completely different floor. The first pokémon that rounded the corner was a Metagross; completely superior to any other wild pokémon she'd faced before. It tucked its legs into its body and flew forward with sickening speed. Jade phased through it and tried to freeze it from the inside as it crashed into the wall, but its eyes flashed blue, forcing her to solidify. She gasped as it used gyro ball, smashing her into the ground so hard that her face mask cracked and chipped. She blasted it off with a hyper beam fired from her mouth, sending it soaring into the ceiling with a metallic grunt before falling to the ground. She got up hastily, wincing as purple blood trickled down her face. Blood…?!
She tried to fire an ice beam at the steel-type, but the aftershock of Hyper beam took effect, forcing her back to the ground for a few seconds while she regained her energy.
"Roy… I can't do it…"
"You can, and you will!"
Once the aftershock of the Hyper beam wore off, she flew down the hallway with renewed determination.
-3rd Person-
The skies of the hidden land rippled and shifted as Valerie entered the hidden land, crossing through the gap in time to reach the pinnacle of Temporal Tower.
Dialga hummed softly from atop Temporal Tower, closing his eyes as the energy from the Time Gear she possessed filled him. "SO… SHE RETURNS TO RIGHT HER WRONGS."
The Delphox materialized from flames that rose from between the tiles of the pinnacle of Temporal Tower, smiling skittishly and bowing in his presence. "Lord Dialga… it's been a while… heh."
"IT CERTAINLY HAS, MY CHILD…" Dialga rose from his resting position, now dwarfing the fallen Temporal Guardian. "HOW ARE THEY? I CANNOT SEE THEM."
"Oh, they're… they're doing good. They're trying to climb Destiny Tower to reach Arceus and hopefully revive Roy, but I don't believe they have what it takes to make it to the top."
"EVEN IF BY SOME MIRACLE THEY WERE ABLE TO REACH MY FATHER, MATTERS CONCERNING ROY ARE NOT HIS DECISION TO MAKE, BUT RATHER MY BROTHER'S."
"Doesn't Arceus have the final say?"
"HIS WORD HOLDS GREAT SWAY IN THE HALL OF ORIGIN, BUT WE HOLD ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY OVER OUR SECTIONS OF THE MULTIVERSE."
"Huh. That's interesting… You'd think I would already know that."
"YOU WERE ONLY A TEMPORAL GUARDIAN FOR TEN MILLENNIA IN THE BEGINNING," Dialga replied sarcastically. "AND YET YOU STILL HAVE NOT ASKED ME WHY."
"I know why: I had a relationship with Victor Bain, which goes against the temporal law, all that," she said, pursing her lips as Dialga's eyes gained a hint of irritation. "But… that's not what you meant."
"ENOUGH GAMES, VALERIE. I HAVE LET YOU ROAM FREE ACROSS THE TEMPORAL TREE FOR NEARLY AN EON AFTER YOUR BANISHMENT. I DEMAND MY TIME GEAR BE RETURNED TO ME."
She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply before pulling a small, turquoise gear out of the bottom of her staff. "My Lord…"
Dialga's eye flashed blue, and the time gear flew out of her hand, attaching itself to the enormous diamond in the center of his chest before being absorbed into his body. Instantly his veins glowed brighter, and the skies of the hidden land became more solid as the remainder of his power was restored. "I HOPE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND I DO THIS NOT OUT OF MALICE."
Valerie's eyes shot open as the steel sail on his back doubled in size, the glow in his veins increasing in intensity. "My lord…?"
"BY GRACE I WILL ALLOW YOU TO CONTINUE YOUR LIFE HERE IN THIS TIMELINE, FROM BUT THIS POINT FORWARD, YOU WILL NO LONGER POSSESS IMMORTALITY OR ANY FRACTION OF MY POWER."
She shook her head slowly, tears welling up in her eyes. "But my Lord-"
"I ALLOWED YOU TO KEEP YOUR GIFTS BECAUSE I SAW THE GREATNESS IN YOU," Dialga said as sternly as ever. "YOU HELD THE MOST PROMISE OF ALL TEMPORAL GUARDIANS, AND I ALLOWED MY ADMIRATION OF YOU TO CLOUD MY JUDGEMENT."
Tears soaked her face, but she nodded in acceptance, closing her eyes as Dialga blasted her back onto Immanis, stripping her of her temporal power.
When she stood up, she was in her hut, completely alone. The fire was crackling, and her rocking chair was perfectly still as though . She raised her hand experimentally in an attempt to bend the temporal fabric, but to no avail. She covered her mouth with one hand, leaning against the wall as the reality hit her: she was mortal.
Hello my wonderful readers! I apologize for the delayed upload. We are nearing the end of a five-year-long saga, and I can't thank you enough for all of your support through the years! We still have two more chapters, so don't lose hope yet! As always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! What did you think of Jade at her full power? If you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories, feel free to put them into the form of a Review or PM! Much Love!
-PL