Chapter 36
The End Part 2
Team Stardust stood proudly in the midst of the ruined hall. Each one of them, even Blitz, held a determined light in their eyes. None of them, not even Blitz, appeared fearful or even hesitant as they stared up at the alpha Pokémon. In fact, they glared up at the god Pokémon, Bertha even slapping her bone repeatedly into her palm in a threatening manner.
"Guys," Katara whispered, tears begging to brim in her eyes. "You came!"
"Of course we did," Asura spoke. He, along with Grace, was already in his mega evolved form. His eyes burned with annoyance, as if insulted by the mere fact that Katara thought that they would not help. "We're a team remember. We stick together. Something you two would do well to remember."
The mega Medicham cast reproachful glances at DJ and Katara who had the decency to look chastised. "We were on a deadline," DJ argued weakly.
"I understand that, but it was still foolish of you to face Mewtwo alone, not to mention Arceus," Grace lectured, wagging her finger as if she were scolding a child.
"Sorry, Grace," DJ and Katara chorused.
"I hate to intrude, but could you perhaps scold them at a later date?" Mewtwo spoke up, floating to his feet. DJ noted that the legendary's flight was rather shakily. "We're in the middle of something."
That seemed to sober the group up as they, seemingly, remembered that there was an all powerful god Pokémon standing a few yards away from them. Said god had been too caught off guard by the group's sudden appearance and had not said anything as they all conversed with one another. However, his stupor was quick to dissipate as he now glared down at the group.
"WHO DARES INTERFERE?"
Asura stepped forward, glaring up at the massive legendary. "We're Team Stardust and we're here to stop you!" he shouted, his voice carrying through the hall.
Arceus snorted in disdain. "HMPH. BE IT TWELVE OPPONENTS OR ONE HUNDRED. ALL WILL FALL BEFORE ME!" he roared.
Asura just looked up at the legendary and grinned. "Then I guess it's a good thing we brought some back up."
Arceus tilted his head to the side in confusion. Before he could demand what the Medicham had meant by that, and orb of pink energy shot through the sky and slammed into the side of his head. Arceus stumbled, more out of surprise then actual pain, and glared up at where the attack had come from.
Following the legendary's gaze, DJ blanched upon seeing a familiar pink feline floating just where the lip of the structure met one of the spires. "MEW?!"
"Well duh," Blitz said, rolling his eyes. "How else do you think we got here?"
"But how did she know to come here?" DJ asked, still staring up at the new species Pokémon in awe.
"I told her," Mewtwo said, earning surprised looks from DJ and Katara.
"When? We were with you the entire time" Katara said.
"We are siblings," Mewtwo said as if that explained everything. When he still received confused looks he explained, "We have a connection of sorts. When she felt my own mind become free of the negative energy's control, she contacted me through our link. I told her the situation and she said that she would soon arrive with help. Though she took much longer than I anticipated..."
"I heard that!" Mew cried, flying down to Mewtwo and slapping the side of his head. "It took time to gather everyone up!"
"ENOUGH!" Arceus suddenly shouted, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "YOUR PRESENCE, MEW, CHANGES NOTHING. YOU STILL STAND NO CHANCE OF BEATING ME!"
"Oh, I know," Mew said, surprising Arceus. She then smirked mischievously. "That's why I brought some more friends."
The little psychic type put two fingers in her mouth a gave a shrill whistle that seemed to go on for miles. For a long agonizing minute, nothing happened. The group, minus Mew, began to shift anxiously, looking around for any change. As the silence stretched on, Arceus focused his attention on Mew and glared. He made to say something when a sudden large and heavy form suddenly crashed into the ground a ways behind Arceus.
Arceus whipped around and came face to face with a wickedly grinning bipedal giant. The Pokémon had primarily blue skin with a long tail with dark pink markings. It had six three fingered arms that had golden rings around their wrists and the ends of their forearms and floated several feat away from the Pokémon's body. The giant stood on two legs that were styled almost like a jester's shows with the same pink markings on them as it did its tail. Its hair was pink and styled in a large bushy ponytail with two black horns grew on the side of its head, both with a gold ring on them. Tufts of the same dark pink fur surrounded its torso, framing a black hold in the center of its chest.
"WHAHAHA!" the creature laughed, their sharp teeth glinting dangerously in the dark light of the central well. "NEVER FEAR, FOR HOOPA IS HERE!"
"Now's not the time for showboating, Hoopa," Mew said flatly.
The giant now identified as Hoopa seemed to pout. "Fine," he grunted before flinging the rings that had been on his person. The rings suddenly stopped in their flight and expanded, becoming almost as large as Hoopa himself. Said legendary smirked and clapped his hands loudly. "Alright everyone! Show time!"
The moment this was said, Pokémon, large and small, began to exist the rings, and not just any Pokémon. Legendaries.
The regis, the Weather Trio (all of whom were in their second forms), the Swords of Justice, Giratina, Darkrai, Zygarde in his one hundred percent form, even ones that DJ and Katara recognized from the tiles; Lugia, Ho-oh, Latios and Latias, the emotion trio, the mythical beasts, Dialga, Palkia, and many others. They deftly exited the portals and stood before the alpha Pokémon, the ones that could fly flew overhead, circling the central well. All of them stared down at the god Pokémon with intense glares.
"So many of them," Katara gawked having finally gotten to her feet. "Are they all legendaries?"
"Well, the ones I could find anyway," Mew said, waving her paw in a nonchalant manner. She then grew surprisingly serious and turned back towards Arceus. "You, DJ, and Mewtwo sit back. Leave the rest of this to us."
"If you really think that I'll just sit back and watch while this battle is going on, then you do not know me very well, dear sister," Mewtwo grumbled, moving to stand next to his counterpart.
"That goes for me too," DJ said, stubbornly making his way to stand next to the smaller psychic feline despite his noticeable limp. "I'm not giving up yet."
Mew regarded the Lucario critically. Before anyone could react, she lashed out with her tail, slapping DJ harshly in the gut.
DJ coughed violently, keeling over onto the ground, clutching his stomach. Katara gave a shrill cry and dropped to her friend's side. The other members of Team Stardust too looked concerned, some of them glaring at Mew thoughts of revenge.
"Wh-Why'd you do that?" DJ coughed, looking at the Pokémon that had brought him to the Pokémon world with a look of betrayal.
"You've taken too much damage, you would only be a liability," she said seriously, her eyes cold and calculating. This was not the Mew that DJ had met, this was a Pokémon who had existed for thousands of years, seeing all the wars and death that came with the passage of time. "If you were to fight as you are now," she continued, "you will die."
DJ swallowed thickly, but stubbornly glared up at the psychic type. Mew held his gaze for several more seconds before turning to Mewtwo. "If you're sure brother," she said. "I won't be responsible should something happen..."
"Since when have I needed your assistance," Mewtwo scoffed, though there was a slight hint of playfulness in his tone.
Mew nodded in ascent before turning to Katara who was helping DJ sit up. "Watch him. Make sure he doesn't get involved."
Katara nodded mutely, ignoring the mutinous look that flashed across DJ face. Mew nodded and addressed Arceus, who was silently gazing at the legendaries that surrounded him. "Arceus! As your own children, tasked with watching over this world and protecting it from harm, we will stop you!"
Arceus turned towards Mew, his expression blank. "SO, YOU SIDE AGAINST ME? SO BE IT." The alpha Pokémon began to rise into the air, his power beginning to rise in turn. "IF IT IS YOUR DESIRE TO DEFY ME, THEN YOU WILL ALL FACE JUDGEMENT!"
In response, the other legendaries roared in defiance and lunged towards the alpha Pokémon. Team Stardust too joined in the chorus of shouts and attacked the god, determined to avenge their two teammates.
For the first few minutes, it looked as if Arceus was on the defensive. The legendaries' assault was as relentless as it was ruthless. The sky flashed with the myriad of beams, blasts, and other attacks as they exploded in the air. It might as well have been daylight out with the constant bursts of multicolored light lighting up the sky. Even Team Stardust was able to add their own attacks into the storm up above.
Arceus, to the best of his ability, weaved through the attacks, but there were just too many. Blows glanced across his flank as he moved. He returned fire, adding his own blasts of energy into the fray, catching many of his opponents, but being hit twice as often. There were so many attacks at such a quick pace that he could not even switch his typing fast enough to negate or mitigate the damage he was receiving.
Arceus growled, shooting a high powered hydro pump at Groudon, knocking the behemoth onto his back. He then grunted in pain when both Rayquaza and Mew hit him with dragon pulse and psychic respectively, sending him to the ground. Arceus landed heavily on his feet, the ground cracking underneath him, but he remained standing. Unfortunately, he was not expecting the four Swords and Justice to leap on to him, their swords alight.
The alpha Pokémon could not withhold a sharp gasp of pain as the four blades streaked across his back, prompting him to use lava plume to knock them away, doing heavy damage to Cobalion and Virzion. He turned towards the quartet, intent on doing more damage to them, when he was struck from behind by a fairy wind and psyshock attack. Turning he saw Grace and Asura rushing towards him.
"MORTALS SHOULD LEARN THEIR PLACE!" Arceus shouted, beginning to charge up another attack, only to be hit from the sides by an aqua jet and volt tackle from Jet and Blitz.
Arceus stumbled, his balance threatened by the uneven ground. Before he could recover, he was then assaulted by a dark pulse, courtesy of Jackson, smashing into his right front leg. At the same moment, Bertha, Drake, and Blade attacked his other three with attacks of their own. Arceus' legs buckled under the combined attacks and he fell prone onto his side.
Seeing the god prone, the other legendaries attacked. Their attacks lit up the sky to almost blinding proportions as they rained down upon the alpha Pokémon. Said light intensified as they all came together and struck the legendary. Everything suddenly became silent as everything, even the dark energy of the central was engulfed in an endless white. A second later, the concussive blast of the combined attacks burst out, tearing up more of the already damaged ground, cracking the walls, and damaging the spires.
Team Stardust and the other ground locked legendaries were all forced to hunker down, grasping anything they could to in order to keep from being thrown back. DJ and Katara were in similar states, both hardly able to keep themselves from being lost in the explosion.
The explosion lasted for almost a whole minute, the shock wave lasting more than three times as long. Finally, the light died down, leaving an overflow of smoke to spill out of the Hall of Origins. The smoke slowly began to filter out of the large building and disperse, revealing the definitely ruined Hall. The walls were heavily cracked, whole sections falling off. Two of the spires had actually fallen during the explosion, becoming nothing but rubble before they even touched the ground. Even the hallways leading into the main room were damaged, more than half of the tile displays now unrecognizable.
The legendaries and Team Stardust waited with bated breath, staring at the spot where Arceus had been before the attack. The smoke almost purposefully began to lift at a slow pace, adding to the already mounting tension. Finally, gaps began to appear in the smoke clouds, allowing for a heart dropping green light to be seen.
"No way," DJ muttered, seeing the light. "Is that..."
The words died in his throat as his fears were confirmed. Arceus was steadily getting up to his feet, surrounded by a bright green dome. Arceus had used protect, rendering the attack completely useless.
"He took no damage from that," Katara said in horror.
Like the Greninja, the legendaries all gained horrified expressions as the alpha Pokémon got back to his feet. Arceus dropped his shield and looked at the assembled Pokémon, rage burning in his eyes.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE," he growled before shouting, "YOU WILL ALL PAY!"
A familiar orb of energy formed in front of Arceus before rocketing high into the air, well past the flying legendaries. No one was able to react in time as the orb exploded, releasing a storm of meteors down upon everyone.
Meteors came down from the sky like rain. Explosions filled the air as the meteor's made contact. Everyone tried to avoid the falling projectiles, but there were just too many. By the time the attack had ended, several of the legendaries had fallen to the ground, some of them showing not showing any sign of consciousness. Team Stardust had been able to avoid the majority of the attacks, but were all heavily damaged.
"They can't win," DJ said as he watched the rest of the legendaries regroup and begin to launch their attacks again, all of which proved to be futile. "Arceus' is just too strong! We can't win."
Katara remained silent for several seconds before she took in a deep breath and stood. DJ looked up at his friend in confusion. "Katara."
"Stay here," she said, catching DJ off guard.
"What are you about to do?" DJ asked, already fearing her answer.
"I have to help," she said, her voice devoid of emotion, but DJ could still feel them. She was terrified. She turned and gave DJ a wobbly smile. "You stay here. You're more injured than I am. You just rest up."
"But you're injured too!" DJ shouted, trying, and failing, to get up. "You'll die!"
Katara just smiled and turned back to the fight. "I know, but..." she trailed of, her gaze becoming distant. "That's what being part of an exploration guild is all about."
With that, Katara joined the fray.
DJ reached out for his friend, the words to call his friend back dying before they could reach his lips. He wanted so desperately to help, to join his friend and team in battle against Arceus, but he could not. He was too weak, like Mew said, he would just be a liability.
"Dammit!" DJ cursed, punching the ground, angry tears biting at his eyes. "Why am I so helpless? I was brought to this world to save it, but I can't do anything! Why am I so weak?!"
"YOU ARE NOT," a disembodied voice spoke out, startling DJ. "YOU SIMPLY DO NOT FULL UNDERSTAND THE POWER YOU POSSESS."
DJ looked around wildly for the source of the voice. "Who-"
A sudden wave of dizziness washed over DJ, causing his question to slur. Before he knew what was happening, DJ's world faded to black.
-Legend-
When DJ finally opened his eyes, he knew immediately that he was no longer in the Hall of Origins. He was floating in the middle of a world of multicolored light. Blues melded with greens, reds mixed with yellows. No color stayed the same for longer than five seconds. It was being trapped in a kaleidoscope.
"Where am I," DJ questioned, noting the odd distortion in his voice.
"FEAR NOT, YOUNG ONE," the same voice from before spoke. "YOU ARE SAFE HERE."
DJ frowned. The voice sounded familiar, but he could not place it. "Who are you?"
DJ's answer was a bright flash of white light that dwarfed all other colors. DJ hissed in pain as he was forced to shut his eyes and turned away from the light as it intensified. DJ hesitantly cracked an eye open as the light began to recede, revealing a large Pokémon. A Pokémon that looked scarily similar to another Pokémon.
"Arceus!" DJ yelped, trying, and failing, to move back without any solid ground underneath him.
The god Pokémon chuckled merrily at the Lucario's panic stated before saying, "PEACE, YOUNG HUMAN. I MEAN YOU NO HARM."
DJ froze. "How'd you know I was human?" he asked, his wide eyes finding Arceus' green, noting that the legendary's appearance was a stark contrast to the one that he was fighting just minutes ago. Where the Arceus from before what black and silver, this Arceus was a pristine white and gold. His eyes glowed bright green, brimming with warmth and kindness. "You...You're not like the other Arceus."
"NO, I AM NOT. YET, AT THE SAME TIME, I AM." the legendary said in a frustratingly cryptic manner.
"What's that supposed to mean?" DJ asked irritably.
"FORGIVE ME," Arceus chuckled good-naturedly. "IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I HAVE HAD PLEASANT CONVERSATION THAT I FIND MYSELF FORGETTING THAT NOT EVERYONE POSSESSES THE SAME STREAM OF THOUGHT THAT I POSSESS."
"...was that an insult?"
"OH HEAVEN'S NO!" Arceus appeared rather flustered. "AGAIN, IT HAS BEEN SOME TIME SINCE I LAST SPOKE WITH SOMEONE. MY SPEACH HAS BECOME RATHER...BLUNT. I MEANT NO OFFENCE."
"Okay then..." DJ said uncertainly. "So what did you mean by you not being that Arceus while being him?"
"WHAT I MEANT WAS, I AM THE ARCEUS THAT YOU WERE FIGHTING, OR, MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE GOOD THAT IS LEFT IN HIM," Arceus explained.
"How does that work?" DJ asked curiously.
"AS I AM SURE MY COUNTERPART EXPLAINED, I CREATED THIS WORLD. FOR CENTURIES, I HAVE WATCHED MY CHILDREN GROW AND PROSPER." Arceus' expression suddenly became closed off, a melancholy air wafting from him. "I ALSO WATCHED AS THEY FOUGHT AND HURT ONE ANOTHER FOR THEIR OWN SELFISH GAINS."
Arceus bowed his head, as if he were ashamed. "I BECAME BITTER TOWARDS THE CREATIONS I HAD ONCE BEEN SO PROUD OF. I BEGAN TO RESENT THEM, RESENT MY OWN CHILDREN FOR WHAT I HAD GIVEN THEM. I EVEN WISHED THAT I COULD JUST START OVER," DJ inhaled sharply, "BUT I COULD NOT. I COULD NOT KILL WHAT I HAD CREATED. UNFORTUNATELY, THE CENTRAL WELL PREYED ON THIS."
"Preyed on?" DJ repeated. "You talk as if the central well is alive."
"NO, THE WELL IS NOT ALIVE, BUT THE NEGATIVE ENERGY IS," Arceus said. "ALL THE YEARS OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS BUILDING UP WITHIN MY CREATIONS CREATED ITS OWN LIFE, A MASS OF LIVING HATE THAT CONTINUED TO GROW AND FEAST ON ALL THE NEGAIVE EMOTIONS THAT PLAGUED THIS WORLD." Arceus looked at DJ. "EVEN MY OWN.
"IT LATCHED ON TO MY RESENTMENT AND ALTERED ME AS I HAD MEWTWO, AND HE THE OTHER LEGENDARIES," Arceus continued. "HOWEVER, THE NEGATIVE ENERGY THAT THE ENTITY INFECTED ME WITH COULD NOT SNUFF OUT ALL OF MY LOVE FOR MY CREATIONS. I, SEALED THAT PART OF MYSELF AWAY, AWAY FROM THE INFLUENCE OF THE DARKNESS, SO THAT I COULD INSTILL KNOWLEDGE UPON YOU WHEN THE NEED ARRIVED."
"Huh?" DJ questioned, completely lost.
"YOU SEE, WHILE IT WAS MEW THAT BROUGHT YOU TO THIS WORLD, IT WAS I THAT CREATED YOUR POWER," Arceus explained.
"You?!" DJ squeaked. He quickly cleared his through and asked, "You created this power?"
"I DID," Arceus confirmed. "I KNEW IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE NEGATIVE ENERGY CONSUMED ME, SO I CREATED YOUR 'SHINING AURA', AS YOU CALL IT, WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF STOPPING ME SHOULD THE SITUATION CALL FOR IT. I THEN INTRUSTED IT TO MEW TO GIVE IT TO ONE THAT SHE DEEMS WORTHY, WHICH SHE DID, ONLY FOR HIM TO BE CORRUPTED BY HER BROTHER, THE FIRST OF THE LEGENDARIES I CORRUPTED."
"Luke," DJ whispered.
"INDEED," Arceus stated. "THANKFULLY, MEW WAS ABLE TO PULL BACK A PORTION OF THE POWER, PREVENTING IT FROM BEING LOST COMPLETELY, LEAVING ENOUGH OF IT TO BE BESTOWED A SECOND TIME, AT HALF POWER HOWEVER."
"Half power..." DJ gave a humorless chuckle. "That explains why I was worthless against you back in reality..."
"NO, YOU ARE WRONG." DJ looked up, confusion clear on his expression. "THE POWER, LIKE YOU, WAS MEANT TO GROW, TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL AS TIME WENT ON. AS IT IS NOW, YOU POWER IS WHAT IT WAS WHEN I FIRST BESTOWED IT TO MEW."
"What?!" DJ exclaimed. "But then...how did I lose so easily."
"BECAUSE YOU DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR POWER IS." Arceus drifted closer so that DJ was directly in front of his face. "TELL ME, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR POWER IS?"
"Um, some kind of ability that increases my strength?"
"CLOSE, BUT NO. IN REALITY, YOUR 'SHINING AURA' DRAWS IN THE AURA FROM THE POKÉMON AROUND YOU. NOW DO NOT WORRY, IT DOES NOT HARM THOSE IN YOUR VICINITY," Arceus added upon seeing the horrified expression cross over DJ's face. "IT SIMPLY CONNECTING YOUR AURA TO THEIRS, GIVING YOU INCREASED STRENGTH AND POWER AS WELL AS SOME OF THEIR TENDENCIES AND FIGHTING STYLES. HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT, WHEN YOU USE YOUR SHINING AURA, YOU USE BATTLE TACTICS AND MOVEMENTS THAT ARE REMINISCENT OF THOSE AROUND YOU?"
"Yeah... no that you mention it..." DJ said, thinking back to his various battles.
"THAT WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE CONNECTED TO THEIR AURA. IN A WAY, YOU WERE SHARING THEIR AURA, BECOMING MORE THAN JUST YOURSELF AS YOU FOUGHT. UNFORTUNATELY, BECAUSE I HAVE BECOME SO SEEPED WITH NEGATIVE ENERGY, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO CONNECT WITH MY OWN AURA, LIMITING YOUR POWER DUIRING YOUR FIGHT AND EVEN WITH THE OTHER LEGENDARIES PRESENT, IT WILL NOT GRANT YOU ENOUGH POWER TO DEFEAT ME."
"Then what do I do?"
"AS I STATED, YOUR POWER HAS BEEN EVOLVING SINCE IT WAS BESTOWED UPON YOU. YOUR RANGE AND CAPACITY HAVE INCREASED, MEANING YOU CAN TAKE IN MORE AURA THAN YOU COULD ORIGINALLY."
"Okay, how does that help me?" DJ asked rather impatiently.
"YOU MUST CONNECT YOURSELF TO NOT JUST THOSE AROUND YOU, BUT ALL THOSE THAT LIVE IN THIS WORLD," Arceus answered, raising himself to his full height. "YOU MUST BECOME ONE WITH THIS WORLD IF YOU WANT ANY HOPE OF WINNING AGAINST ME!"
As Arceus said this, his form began to fade. "TO SAVE THIS WORLD, YOU MUST LINK YOURSELF TO IT. IT IS THE ONLY WAY."
"Wait!" DJ cried out in desperation. "How am I supposed to connect myself with the world?!"
"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU MUST DO..." Arceus said, even his voice was beginning to fade. "ALLOW YOUR SHINING AURA TO GUIDE YOU." With those final words, Arceus' form faded, leaving DJ alone.
"Dammit," DJ cursed. "That didn't answer anything!"
Soon, DJ's anger faded. Taking a deep breath, DJ tried to relax. "Okay, I can do this. I just need to use my shining aura to connect myself with the entire world. No biggie." Several seconds passed and DJ opened his eyes. "How the hell am I supposed to do that."
Without any other ideas, DJ activated his shining aura, the blue flame-like energy igniting around him. "Okay, now what?" he asked allowed, looking at his paws as if he were expecting an answer from them.
Minutes passed and still nothing.
Frustration began to build in the aura Pokémon. "Come on!" he shouted, directing his anger at his own power. "Arceus said you were the key, so hurry up and do something."
Several more minutes passed, and still nothing.
At that point DJ was about to give up, his anger and frustration building. Then, as quickly as his anger came, DJ felt a sudden calm. He swore he could hear something speaking to him, telling him what to do. He pulled his legs up and got into a meditative position. The tension left his body, his body and his mind becoming tranquil. Even the raging blue light of his shining aura reacted to his calm, resembling more of a candle instead of a wild fire. Closing his eyes, DJ could see thousands-no, millions of blue lines branching out, interlacing with one another like a spider web. Each line led to spheres of light, all glowing as intensely any other.
"They're all connected," DJ found himself muttering. "I understand."
As these words left DJ's mouth, the glow around him increased to the point where it overtook the light around him.
-Legend-
Back in the land of consciousness, it was chaos. Casualties ran high with legendaries falling left and right. Even Team Stardust was not spared from the monster that was Arceus, several of their members having been felled as well.
"This doesn't look good," Asura grunted out, dodging another beam of energy, his movements hampered with Grace's unconscious body slung across his shoulders.
"We have to keep fighting!" Mew shouted back, her own injuries weighing her down. "If we don't stop Arceus now, all is lost!"
"It might already be too late," Mewtwo stated, pointing towards the sky. "Look!"
Everyone in hearing range of the genetic Pokémon all followed where he was pointing. The dark mass of clouds that had been building up had reached critical mass. Now, the entire night sky, stars and all, were completely shielded from view by the clouds. The dark energy flashed and crackled at a more frequent and far more violent pace. After a particularly harsh flash of purple energy, a flurry of what appeared to be black snow began to fall.
"It's already started," Mew said, fear coloring her voice. She then turned and shouted, "Don't let it touch you!"
Everyone headed the pink feline's words, doing their best to avoid the black snow. The snow touched the ground and seemed to sink into the earth as if it were liquid being absorbed by carpet, a dark stain being left in its place. The 'stains' then began to slowly grow and expand, steadily beginning to cover more and more ground.
"Crap!" Blitz yelped as a tendril of inky darkness stretched out from the stain, reaching for him. It would have grabbed him had it not been for a well timed intervention from Bertha's bone club.
"Dammit!" Bertha cursed as the tendril wrapped around her weapon, forcing her to let got.
"If that stuff touches you, you will be corrupted," Mew informed them, doing her best to avoid the falling darkness.
"Easier said that done!" Jet shouted, doing his best to drag Blade and Drake away from the growing stains and precipitation.
The larger legendaries, ones that could not be physically moved, had no way of avoiding the stains and were affected. Inky darkness began to slowly spread over their forms starting from the point where the darkness touched them.
Mew saw this and cursed under her breath, her mind moving a mile a minute. "Move who you can to the hallway!"
"It's no good!" Keldeo shouted, backing away from the exist, dark stains following him. "The hallway's compromised!"
"IT IS FUTILE," Arceus stated, calmly watching as the darkness began to spread. "YOU CANNOT STOP THE SPREAD OF DARKNESS. YOU HAVE FAILED."
"What do we do?" Katara asked, backing into a corner to escape the growing stains and grasping tendrils.
Mew's eyes surveyed the situation at a rapid pace. There was almost no open land and more than half of their allies were in the process of being covered, the rest being backed towards the rapidly shrinking pockets of clear land. After several seconds, her eyes lost some of their light.
"I don't know..."
Everything seemed to stop in that one second. Shouts of fear and outrage as Pokémon found themselves and their friends become ensnared by the darkness. Those who were free looked down at the encroaching darkness with expressions of fear, defiance, anger, or a mix of the three. Everything was hopeless.
Then, just as everything seemed lost, a miracle happened.
A sudden burst of blue light exploded from the center of the room, several yards away from the central well. The light washed over the room like water filling a pool, reaching every nook and cranny of the hall. Those touched by the light gasped as the felt a sudden feeling a warmth and security come over them. The tensions in their bodies began to ebb away, their fear replaced by calm, a sudden blossoming of hope beginning to grow.
The dark snow that had been falling seemed to evaporate into nothing. The dark stains were somehow moving to the edges of the hall, slipping past the stunned fighters as if something was physically pulling the darkness as it went. Those that had once been in the process of being covered found the darkness being pulled from them, leaving them clear and uncorrupted.
Arceus himself, seemed to experience mild discomfort as the wave of light crashed into him like a wave. The alpha Pokémon stumbled, but remained standing, his eyes burning with surprise and anger. "WHAT IS THIS?!"
Asura looked around at his now blue surroundings when a sudden movement on his shoulders caught his attention. "Ooh," Grace groaned, regaining consciousness. Asura carefully set the shiny Mawile down, keeping her steady. "What happened?" she asked once the world had stopped spinning. She then noticed that everything was blue. "What did I miss?"
"I'm not sure myself," Asura confessed.
"Whatever it is, it's healing everyone," Mew said, pointing to her fellow legendaries as they began to awaken. Even her own injuries were beginning to fade.
"But what's causing this," Jackson asked.
"Look!" Katara cried, pointing towards the center of the room.
In the epicenter of the light was a pillar of bright blue, almost white, light. The pillar was shooting straight into the dark cloud, tearing through it and widening the hole to the point where the clouds no longer covered the hall.
"What the hell is that?" Blitz asked.
"Whatever it is, it just bought us some time," Leaf commented grimly.
Katara frowned, her eyes narrowing at the light. "But that's where I left-"
All at once, the blue light began to receded as if it were being sucked back into the pillar. Even so, however, the feeling of warmth that the light had brought remained. The pillar began to decrease in size along with the receding light. As the pillar shrank, a shape could be made out from the center. A very familiar shape.
"Now way," Asura gasped. "That's..."
"DJ!" Katara exclaimed in relief.
True to the Greninja's words, as the pillar faded, the former human stood strong and proudly, with one key difference. Unlike with his shining aura, or his primal aura, a burning, flame-like aura did not surround him, instead, it looked like he was aura. The Lucario's entire form glowed bright blue, wisps of what looked like blue flames clinging to his paws, spikes, aura sensors, ears, and tail. His eyes appeared to be shut, though it was hard to tell as his entire form was a solid blue.
"WHAT IS THIS?!" Arceus growled, glaring at the glowing Lucario.
DJ's ear twitched and his eyes opened up to gaze at the alpha Pokémon. Arceus took an involuntary half-step back as he was met with intense solid white eyes that practically emanated power. Despite the Lucario having no pupils or irises, he had no doubt that the aura Pokémon was indeed looking at him.
For several heavily tense minutes, neither Arceus nor DJ spoke. They just stood their, sizing up the other. Everyone else could only gaze in wonderment at the suddenly revived Lucario who appeared to be making the alpha Pokémon, the one who they had barely even scratched, nervous.
The silence persisted before Arceus broke it. "ANSWER ME MORTAL!"
DJ still stood silent, giving no indication that he had even heard the legendary. This proved to infuriate the god to titanic proportions.
"I WILL NOT BE MOCKED!" Arceus shouted as he began to charge up a hyper beam.
The loud cries from the onlookers to get out of the way fell upon deaf ears as DJ just stood there staring at Arceus as his attack continued to amass power. Seeing the Lucario's calm demeanor in the face of such a powerful attack only served to enrage Arceus even more.
"RAAH!" Arceus roared, firing his hyper beam at the stoic Pokémon. The torrent of purple energy screamed through the air, engulfing the Lucario in its light before exploding with enough force to shake the entire mountain.
The onlooker stared in horror as DJ took such a powerful attack directly, fearing what had happened to the Lucario. Team Stardust in particular were distraught over what had just occurred, fearing the worst for their friend. Arceus had an air of satisfaction about him as he stared at the smoking crater that he was sure held the broken and defeated form of the upstart mortal that had dared to defy him. His look of satisfaction soon faded when he saw a blue light peeking out from the smoke. When the smoke fully cleared, DJ stood just as strong and proud as he had before, a bright blue shield glowing in front of him.
"Did he just use protect?" Katara questioned having never seen her friend use such a move.
"No, that's not it," Mewtwo said, taking a step closer. "That's a shield of pure aura!"
"Pure aura?" Grace asked in bewilderment. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know, but whatever that form is, it had made DJ himself aura," Mewtwo observed.
Ignorant to the conversation happening to the side, DJ continued to stare at the alpha Pokémon who was perplexed at how easily his attack was blocked. The Lucario's eyes took on a dangerous glint as his shield faded away. Half a second later, he was gone.
Arceus was visibly shocked, actually taking a step back. His head whipped around, frantically searching for the missing Lucario. His search was abruptly cut short when an intense pain erupted across his cheek. DJ had appeared right before the alpha Pokémon and punched him in the face with enough force to generate its own shock wave.
Half a second later, Arceus was suddenly jettisoned across the room, crashing into the wall and collapsing it.
"Whoa," Blitz gawked.
"He just sent Arceus flying," Bertha gaped. "With one punch!"
The legendaries were not much better at hiding their shock.
"He moved so fast," Darkrai commented, his single eye wide. "I have never seen anyone move that fast!"
Deoxys, who floated silently behind the dark type, could not help but nod their head in agreement.
"That coupled with the power that was behind that punch..." Cobalion added. "He has dwarfed all of us in terms of power."
"THE QUESTION IS, CAN HE EFFECTIVELY USE THAT POWER," Rayquaza stated.
"I'd say he he's doing quite well in that regard," Keldeo chirped as DJ, once more, seemingly disappearing and reappearing before Arceus and threw the god across the room into the opposite wall.
Arceus pulled himself out of the now ruined wall, his red eyes blazing with barely restrained fury. With a roar, the god took to the sky, wanting to get the aerial advantage. When he reached the lip of the, at that point, barely standing building, he turned to face his opponent only to find said Lucario floating several feat away from him.
DJ was flying.
"H-HOW?!" Once more, DJ did not answer the legendary. Before Arceus knew what was happening, he was sent reeling through the sky from a brutal kick from DJ.
Arceus recovered quickly, however, and resumed glaring at Lucario. He was baffled by the fact that he was losing to a mortal. It was inconceivable to him and that infuriated him. White hot anger burned through Arceus' veins, eliminating any other emotion. With a low growl, he sent a powerful fire blast at the Lucario.
As the giant burning symbol raced towards him, DJ, like before, remained calm. He watched impassively as the attack grew closer and closer until, at the last second, he lifted his arm and brought it down in a chopping motion. The burning symbol then split in half, leaving both halves to continue to the ground, away from everyone else.
"TH-THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" Arceus stuttered, anger temporarily forgotten as he watched his attack being cut in half.
DJ stared at the legendary for another second before he raised both his arms, bringing his paws together. The glow around his paws intensified to almost blinding proportions as an orb of aura began to form. The orb resembled DJ's aura sphere, yet seemed almost wilder in shape, as if the aura was fighting to be released. Without a word, DJ aimed the sphere at Arceus and, instead of firing the orb, a large cone of aura was released, heading straight for Arceus, the energy growing in size as it traveled.
Unable to react in time, Arceus was completely engulfed by the blue energy. Down below, the legendaries and Team Stardust were forced shield their eyes as the light had reached blinding levels. Shock waves resonated from the beam, cracking the damaged building, destroying what remained of the damaged walls and spires.
After several seconds of maintaining his attack, DJ cut off the flow of aura. The mass of aura faded and Arceus, no longer being held up by the forceful attack, plummeted to the ground, his entire body smoking.
The legendary landed with a loud crash, falling on his side. A single cry emanated from the heavily damaged god as pain lanced through him. With barely any strength left, the alpha Pokémon lifted his head and gazed at DJ as he floated to the ground.
"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?" Arceus wheezed, wincing even as he talked. "HOW COULD YOU BE THIS STRONG?"
DJ looked up at the larger Pokémon and, for a second, Arceus thought he would not answer. Which is why it came as a shock when the Lucario spoke.
"This is not my power," DJ said, his voice almost echoing. Arceus seemed confused by the Lucario's answer, but said nothing as DJ explained. "This power...belongs to all of us. All of the Pokémon in this world. The ones you created."
DJ stepped closer to the legendary so that he was at arms length with the alpha Pokémon's face. "You say that we are failed creations, that we are disgraces to everything you stand for, but in reality, it is the power of those that you have deemed as failures that courses through me."
DJ reached out and placed a paw on the top of Arceus' head. "And it is with this power," he continued, his eyes firmly locked onto Arceus', "that I release you from the darkness that has swallowed your heart."
The light around the paw DJ had placed upon Arceus glowed brightly and seemed to be growing larger. However, upon closer inspection, it was clear that the light itself was not glowing, but was instead beginning to cover Arceus' body.
Arceus shouted, thrashing wildly, trying to get away from the Lucario, but DJ held firm. The light continued to travel along the legendary's body until he was completely engulfed. The now blue Arceus flashed white for several seconds before he went still, the light beginning to recede. With the light was finally gone, Arceus had returned to his pristine white and gold color.
The now white Arceus weakly lifted his head, his gaze finding DJ's. "THANK...YOU..." With that, Arceus succumbed to unconsciousness.
A beat passed. Then another. Then another. Then-
"Holy crap!" Katara squealed, being the first to overcome her stupor. She began to move over to her friend when the ground started to shake.
"What's happening?!" Jackson yelped, hardly able to keep his balance.
"The darkness is coming back," Leaf hissed.
True to the Grovyle's word, the darkness that had been pushed back by DJ's presence was once again moving in. Up above, the clouds were reforming once more, negative energy crackling with vengeance.
"The dark wells are still in affect!" Mew cried. "We need to stop them now!"
"But how?" Asura asked.
"There is only one way." The group turned to see DJ at the lip of the central well, well passed the shield that was supposed to protect the well.
"DJ?" Katara questioned, a slight twinge of fear in her voice. "What are you doing?"
The former human turned, his white eyes, while intimidating, held only warmth and love. "The central well is connected to each and every dark well in the world, meaning, it is the source of all the negative energy of the world. If it is stopped, then all the other wells will close off."
Katara looked confused for a second. She understood what DJ was saying, but she did not comprehend how this information would help. Half a second later, Katara's eyes widened as she remembered certain other former human and how they met their end. "No...DJ, don't!"
The group behind her gained confused looks, unsure of what could have set Katara off. Mew and Mewtwo both looked solemn.
Katara moved towards her friend, but was stopped by the shield. "Please, don't do this!" Katara cried, desperately beating against the shield, trying desperately to reach her friend. "Don't leave me!"
DJ gave his friend one final smile. "I'm sorry, Katara, but his has to be done," he said, a glistening tear sliding down his cheek. He then turned to the well and placed both paws upon it.
At once, DJ's body began to glow brighter than ever before. Like with Arceus, the glow began to slowly spread over the well, seeping deep inside and to the bubbling negative energy that resided beneath. A strained look came over the Lucario's face as he felt the negative energy fight back against him.
"For far too long you have bubbled beneath this world, exerting your influence on the innocent Pokémon that live here," DJ spoke aloud, addressing the negative energy itself. "No more. I will seal you away so that you can never harm anyone ever again!"
DJ then turned his head once more to Katara. Tears were streaming down her face as she continued to attack the shield that separated them. DJ smiled.
"Thank you, Katara," DJ whispered, his voice just loud enough to reach the former human's first friend. "Thank you for everything."
With his final words spoken, DJ turned back to the well and pushed everything he had into the well. DJ light became blinding forcing everyone to avert their gaze. Katara continued to scream her friend's name as everything went white.
All over the world, the dark wells stopped spewing dark energy and was replaced by a glowing blue light. The new light covered the world, extinguishing all traces of the corrupting darkness from the earth and its inhabitants. Soon the blue light receded, sinking into the wells, forming a layer around the stone structures, permanently sealing the negative energy below.
Back in what used to be the Hall of Origins, the blinding light had finally faded and a new light began to spread over the ruins. Across the horizon, the sun was beginning to rise on a new dawn.
"He did it," Jackson said in complete awe. "He really did it!"
At once, loud cheers broke out from the legendaries and Team Stardust. Arceus had been stopped and the dark wells had been sealed forever. All was right with the world and everyone was happy.
Everybody but one Pokémon.
Away from the celebrating crowd, a Greninja continued to cry out for her friend who she would never see again.