Chapter Thirty-Four: The Blizzard
"Max? Do you have any time to chat?"
Max turned and saw Vulpix standing in the doorway of the little room that he and the rest of his team had been given during their stay at the Northern Guild. Quickly dismissing the pensive mood he'd been in, he smiled and gestured to the window of smooth, thin ice he'd been looking out. "This blizzard's been going on for two days now, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up soon. I'm not exactly going anywhere, so I'd say I've got some time."
Vulpix came the rest of the way in the room before sitting down next to him, tucking her now less-than-elegant tails around her to help keep herself warm in this guild made entirely of ice. "Isn't this room a bit small for you and the rest of your team? Aiden would fill up about half the room, wouldn't he?"
"Yeah, but he certainly keeps the room nice and toasty!" Max said cheerily. "Besides, you know as well as I do that the guild is a bit cramped, what with pokémon from all four guilds stuck here until the blizzard goes away."
"I suppose that's true," Vulpix said before lapsing into a brief silence.
Even though we're both humans, I really barely know her… Max thought to himself, trying to figure out what to say next. We were teamed up at the Solstice Games, but she didn't talk much. And when she did, it was only to Bulbasaur, and sometimes to that doduo, Isola. From what I've seen of her since then, she's changed quite a bit… Wish I could say the same of myself.
"So, um… What's up, Vulpix?" Max eventually prompted. "And where's Bulbasaur? I hardly ever see you without him."
Vulpix shrugged a bit. "I had some treatment for my burns earlier, so Bulbasaur went to explore the guild while I was busy with that. I'm meeting up with him later," she said, glancing down at her body. The multiple burns that had covered her since Reshiram's awakening, though still visible, did indeed look much better than they had just a couple days ago, with fur finally starting to grow back in over them. "What about you? Where's the rest of Team Courage? I was kind of hoping to talk to all of you."
"Oh, I just woke up a bit ago – I think they must have gone elsewhere without me so that I could sleep," Max said, rubbing his head feathers embarrassedly. "We can go find them, if you needed to talk to all of us…?"
Vulpix shook her head. "Actually, I think it's better this way, maybe. I just… I wanted to say thanks. You let Bulbasaur and I go after Reshiram, you covered for us… And even more than that, you stood up for me after the whole battle here was over, when Cobalion and Virizion were condemning me. I just wanted to say that I really appreciated it. You know, it's weird – I'd heard from some pokémon that you aren't very brave, but I've seen you be nothing but brave ever since the Solstice Games."
"Who, me? I'm flattered, but really, I'm not brave at all!" Max said, his voice rising into a bit of a squawk in his insistence. "I'm trying to be braver, but… You know, when fighting Abomasnow, I would've been toast if you hadn't come when you did. And I even had a chance to really get him – everyone else had given their all just to make a hole in all that ice around him – and then I just froze. I had the perfect chance and I couldn't attack, I just stood there. I'm really not brave at all. Nothing like you. I mean, you stood up to Reshiram himself without backing down."
"And you think that really matters? Me standing up to him?" Vulpix asked, her voice suddenly quieter. I… I wish it could've been you that Reshiram woke up for. Any other human, really, someone who hadn't already screwed up as much as I have, someone…
"Of course it matters!" Max said. "Do you think it doesn't?"
She looked away from Max, instead turning her attention to the constant whirl of snow and shadows just outside the window. "No, not really. Because I shouldn't have had to stand up to him in the first place. I was just so selfish as a human… I thought only about myself, and that's what made me make a deal with Kyurem, and it was that deal with Kyurem that made Reshiram mistrust me in the first place. I'm putting everyone at risk just by existing in this world. You, on the other hand – you care about others so much that you want to be brave for them. And even more important than that, others care about you enough that they want to be brave for you. That's what your team's all about, right? Team Courage. Four pokémon who just want to be there to support you, because you think first about helping pokémon, and after that about being scared. I think some pokémon call you petty because you care so much about others' opinions of you, but I think it's admirable."
Vulpix looked back to him, met his eyes for a moment, then promptly looked at the ground and mumbled, "Sorry. I shouldn't be prying in your personal matters like that."
Watching her go quite suddenly from inspirational speaker to this shy, muttering demeanor was enough to make a laugh force itself out of Max's beak. He quickly cut it off, not wanting to offend her, and explained, "I'm sorry, but it's so strange to see how different you are from moment to moment. Half the time you don't even seem like the Vulpix I met back at the Solstice games. Anyway, I think you're being too hard on yourself. At the very least, you've got Bulbasaur, and I'm pretty sure he'd go to the ends of the earth and fight anyone who got in his way, if it was for your sake. You've gotta be pretty incredible for him to care about you like that."
Neither of them said anything for a while as Vulpix took in the words and Max chose to let the truth of them hang in the air. Eventually, though, Vulpix took up the conversation again.
"Max, you were at the entire battle here against Kyurem's forces, right?"
Max nodded. "Up through the very end, when you came."
"Then… I heard that there were some pokémon there who had been taken over by Kyurem. And you and Cecil and Alexa fought them, and… What exactly happened to them?" She sounded worried, as if this question carried a great weight beyond simple curiosity.
"Well, they devolved and died," Max said. Then, all of a sudden realizing why Vulpix was probably asking, he said, "But that won't happen to you! You've fought Kyurem's control more successfully than anyone else, and you're linked to Reshiram now. You're definitely going to be fine, even if Kyurem gets control of you sometime before the rest of us manage to finish him off."
"I suppose that's true," Vulpix said, smiling a bit; Max got the feeling the smile was just to make him feel like she'd been cheered, though, empty of any real hope as it was. "Still… You know, even despite what you said, I wonder if I've really changed that much from how I was as a human. If not for Bulbasaur's sake and the possibility of the both of us going back to our regular team life, I don't think I'd even be willing to fight Kyurem at all, even with this entire land at stake and a lot relying on me. I'm just as selfish as ever."
"Do you really believe that?"
Vulpix met his eyes, but didn't respond. Do I? she wondered. I honestly don't know… I like to think that I want to help everyone, not just myself and Bulbasaur, but I really don't know.
Max held her gaze. You know, I thought we were really different at first, what with her being so brave, he thought, but really we're not that different at all. We both have doubts in ourselves, and I think that's what's holding the both of us back.
"You know, how about we make a deal?" Max suggested.
Vulpix tilted her head slightly to the side. "A deal?"
"Yeah," Max replied. "I'll believe that I'm really brave like you say, if you believe that you're as selfless as all your actions up until now have proven. How about it?"
Vulpix seemed perplexed at first, but then her smile grew and she nodded. "All right," she said with a bit of a chuckle. "Deal."
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"What do you want?" Cecil asked, not even turning around as he sharpened his scythes against one another.
Cody was surprised Cecil even knew he was near; he'd approached quietly enough, the room was packed with other pokémon, and Cecil had his back to everyone. Though admittedly, no one was as close to Cecil as Cody was now. No one quite knew what to make of the once-criminal, so they were keeping their distance.
"Just want talk, sheesh," Cody replied, even though Cecil's question, though not welcoming, had been far from antagonistic. "You mind? Or you too busy?"
Still not bothering to look at Cody, Cecil simply continued to sharpen his scythes. Eventually, he shrugged. "Guess not."
Try to be a bit more friendly or no one here is ever going to trust you, Cody thought critically as he sat down next to the scyther. "So, um… How's it going?"
Cecil didn't respond.
Cody's fur bristled. "All right, fine, don't answer me. Just trying to be friendly, since we're both humans and all. You know, make small talk and all that stuff. Unless humans from your world are naturally rude?"
"Sorry," he said unrepentantly. "But did you come to talk about something in particular, or just talk? Because I don't just talk. That's not me."
"Oh, all right, fine, excuse me for trying to be polite and not getting right to the point," Cody grumbled. "You clearly have better things to do."
Once again, Cecil didn't deign to answer.
"All right, here's the thing. We've been cooped up in here a couple days, word gets around. If we get the chance, you 'n Alexa are planning on going back to your world, right?"
"Yeah," Cecil admitted. "What about it?"
"So, what, you don't have any doubts or anything about going back?" Cody said. "'Cuz you know, Alexa likes to talk, and she mentioned how much you love battling as a pokémon… And I have a teammate like that, and with a pokémon like her, I can't imagine her ever giving that up for anything. And you seem a lot like you, just not as loud and obnoxious. So why are you still wanting to go back to being human?"
Cecil paused the sharpening of his blades briefly. "My business, not yours."
For once, Cody didn't take offense. "The thing is, I don't know if I want to go home or if I want to stay here," he said. "I mean, I've been here so long that I don't, like, really think about it anymore, or at least not as often… but the fact is, I do really miss my family. My parents, my little siblings, all of them. And if there's only one chance to go back or not – because you know, that's how it always is in movies and stuff, and I don't see why this should be any different, since it's not like you can just have your own personal gateway to go back and forth between worlds – anyway, if there's only one chance, I don't know what I should do. Because if I did go back, I know that I'd really miss my team, too. Because they've become a sort of family, too, and unlike my real family, they put up with me 'cuz they wanted to, not because they had to. They're absolutely infuriating at times, but I don't want to leave them. Especially not Isola… I'd really miss her. I mean, a lot. She stood by my side the entire time I was captured and still not in my right mind, and she helped bring me out of it."
Cody heard the soft scratching of talons on the floor just behind him, and he turned to see Alexa approaching.
"Well, your choice seems pretty obvious to me," she said.
"And how long have you been listening in?" Cody asked.
Finally smiling a bit, Cecil responded for her. "The entire time. Essentially."
"Yeah, well, forgive a girl for a bit of eavesdropping, eh?" Alexa said, nudging Cody a bit with her wing as she sat down right in between the two boys. "Anyway, I think you ought to stay. I mean, someone like Isola – well, finding one pers-, er, pokémon like that only happens once in a lifetime. You're pushing it if you think you can go back to your world and still find someone like her. Besides, everyone's gotta leave the nest some day, if you'll forgive my bird puns."
"Maybe we won't even get a choice," Cody said. "Maybe we'll be forced back. Or maybe there'll be no way to get back."
"Yeah, well, you're just dodging the question now," Alexa said. "Because what if the time comes and you still don't know which you'd choose, but you have to make the choice and you end up making the wrong decision because you didn't decide sooner? Then you'll regret it for the rest of your life. So figure it out."
Cody slunk against the ground a bit. "Okay, so help me out here if you're so smart, then. How are you so certain you want to go back to your world?"
"Easy," Alexa said. "Cecil and I finally got-"
"Alexa," Cecil said in a tone of mixed warning and embarrassment.
"What? You embarrassed that we're a couple or something?" Alexa said and, without waiting for his response, continued to Cody, "Anyway, we finally got together as humans, and then Kyurem got us. And then we lost each other here and he forgot that we got together, and then we got together again anyway. But we want to be, like, for real together, not just like friendship-together or rescue team together or anything like that, so we want to go back to both being humans."
"So what if it's not meant to be?" Cody challenged, not particularly surprised that they were a couple; rumors had already gotten around about that. "You act like it's so simple, but it's not. If you guys go back to being human and then it doesn't work out between you, then Cecil loses his awesome battling abilities and you lost your flying for nothing."
"Not for nothing," Alexa said. "For a chance. And I think a chance is worth it, especially for something like that. You agree, right, Cecil?"
Cecil nodded, though his face was flushing a bit with embarrassment.
"And there you have it," Alexa said. "And that's why I think you ought to stay with Isola and the rest of your team. Even if you can't be, like, you know, 'together' together, I'd still hate to be you if you and that Isola wound up in other worlds. Heck, I'd hate to be her, too, for that matter. I mean, everyone's different so maybe you think differently, but if I were you, the choice'd be pretty darn obvious."
That's what my heart is telling me to do… That's what I want to do, Cody admitted to himself. But it's still not that simple. How can I just give up my family? Forever? Will they always think that I died there in that blizzard, among the cattle? That's not something anyone can just get over. Can I just pretend like I don't care how distraught they'll be?
"Well, it's your call in the end, if we do get a choice," Alexa said. "Anyway, I was talking to Reshiram just a bit ago-"
"What, just chatting with him?" Cecil asked incredulously.
"Sure. Why not?" Alexa replied, using her wing to wave the matter off in her best imitation of a much more human gesture. "Anyway, he was wanting to talk to all of us humans. Just us. I found Vulpix and Max already, so they'll just be waiting on us now. So shall we go?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead opening her wings and flapping towards the main gathering hall where Reshiram still resided.
Cody and Cecil exchanged a glance, then followed after her without exchanging a word.
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"I have called you all here – without the presence of either the guildmasters or your teams – because I wish to sort out the last of the details with you all before I am ready to come to a definite conclusion about the events that have transpired," Reshiram said once all five of the humans had gathered, his voice somehow quiet and calm-sounding even in the large, echoing chamber. "Moreover, you all have the greatest right to know how you came to be here. The Guildmasters will hear all in time, but you five deserve to know the truth first.
"As I said, though, there are still some loose ends that I have yet to put together," Reshiram continued. "Zekrom and I learned much while we slept this past decade, but only directly what pertained to this world and this land. So, firstly, I must ask… I understand some of your memories are incomplete, but if you are at all able, tell me the last things you remember of your world, what sort of world yours was, and what events led up to you being here."
The humans looked around at each other and, before long, Alexa spoke up. "Well, that's pretty easy for me and Cecil. I mean, I dunno about how many worlds might be being represented here, but we come from a town called Lacunosa in a country called Unova in a world where pokémon a humans live together – though we humans could never understand them or anything. And the last thing that happened to the two of us is that we were attacked by the legendary monster of our town. It found us while we were out at night, and it killed us. And yet here we are."
"And that monster? What did it look like?"
Alexa turned to Cecil. "You stayed alive longer, and you faced it down. You probably remember it better."
Cecil shook his head. "I barely remember that night at all, or at least I didn't until you reminded me. The best I remember… I don't know. It was a monster, kind of… draconic? Long neck, smooth skin, small arms… And ice. That's more of what I remember. It was cold, and parts of its body were covered with ice, or something ice-like."
Reshiram nodded, and turned to Cody, who was next in the circle of human-pokemon. "You?"
"Oh, I died, too, that's for sure," Cody said. Then, with a shiver, he looked to the passage that led to the outside of the guild and added, "Actually, it was in a blizzard just like this. I was outside, and I something spooked the cattle – erm, you could call them tauros if you like, except not the same at all except generally speaking – and I got hurt when they ran, and then… well, I froze to death, I guess."
"And your world?" Reshiram asked.
"Not the same as theirs. Where I live, pokémon were made up. Not real," he said. "We had animals, which were like pokémon, but not smart or as powerful. Oh, and I'm not sure if this helps, but Emma – you know, the human who is under Kyurem's control now – she was from my world, too, but from years after I remember dying. And she said she didn't remember dying, but she was really sick last she remembered, so she might've."
Going one more space around the circle, everyone's heads turned to Vulpix. She looked at Reshiram and said, "You already know what happened to me."
"Yes, but I believe the others have a right to know as well."
She sighed and, looking around to them, said, "From what I've gathered, I come from Cody and Emma's world. I… I heard a voice in my head, promising me what I wanted if I gave myself over to it. I wanted something to happen in my life, for me to be important, and so I took the deal. And then, on the voice's command – on Kyurem's command, that is – I took my own life."
The reactions among those in the circle were varied at this news, ranging from a look of almost horror on Max's face to a sad yet cynical look of surprise on Cecil's.
"Yet even though I promised myself to Kyurem, I still have control of myself now, even if I didn't remember anything at all about myself until just recently," Vulpix said. "I don't know why that is, but I'll keep on fighting him, and I'll die rather than let him take control of me."
Reshiram, satisfied, turned to Max. "And you?"
"I come from Alexa and Cecil's world, almost for sure," Max said. "I recognize the places they named, and I think I might be from Unova myself… though a lot is still fuzzy. I couldn't remember much at first, except for my worst memory in life, so I thought I was here to do penance for that. But now… I don't think that's it." He closed his eyes tightly, trying to think. "I started having dreams a while ago, though they stopped now. Like Vulpix's dreams of Kyurem. And there were memories in them. There was something I was talking to. It wasn't human. It reminded me of a pokémon, but it wasn't like anything I'd seen. Sort of mid-sized, looked sort of dragonish like a gabite or something, but almost for sure an ice-type. I just called it an animal, though, because it definitely wasn't a regular pokémon, and it didn't feel… natural. I mean, it could talk, and pokémon can't talk. Not in my world.
"Anyway, it would only show up when I was alone, and it tried to offer me a deal? I think… No, I don't remember."
Reshiram let out a puff of breath. "I suspect that you do remember, and you'd rather not, because the offer was appealing. The thing you felt so guilty about – what was it that you wanted most that might've changed it? What did you always want most?"
Max thought for a moment and then, seemingly giving in, admitted, "He offered me the power to be strong. Strong enough to be brave. I don't think I ever accepted it, though, even if I admitted I wanted it. But I don't remember anything more than that. If I'm like the rest of you, I must've died, but…"
"Try to remember," Reshiram insisted. "I wish to have all of my facts straight. More than likely, if you did indeed die, that creature had something to do with it. It might've attacked you, or led you somewhere dangerous."
Max shook his head. "No, no, those aren't right. But… No, you're right. I… what was it?" Max pounded on his beak with his wings as he tried to think, as if the drumbeat of feather on beak would somehow jog his memory.
Suddenly, he stood up straight and, with a mixed look of fear and triumph on his face, he said, "That's it! I was driving a car – you wouldn't know what that is, Reshiram, but – anyway, he jumped out in front of me! That stupid animal jumped out in front of me, and it was bigger than ever, and I couldn't stop, and the impact… Well, I don't remember anything after that, but I suspect that that's how I died. I definitely could've died that way."
"That is all I need to know," Reshiram said once he was sure Max was finished speaking. "Between what you all have said, I think I have enough evidence to understand what has brought us all to this point. Zekrom and I learned much while our corporeal bodies slept, so much of what I know now comes from that time. Much of what has happened is beyond even my understanding, though, so please bear with me as I start from the beginning and explain as much as I can."
He paused for the briefest of moments as he apparently gathered his thoughts, then began.
"At the beginning of this land, Zekrom and I existed as a single entity known as Rem, a pokémon that, just like us, embodied the very Spirit of the land. For ages, we remained as that single entity, hovering eternally far above the center of the land.
"At one point, however, something changed. I cannot say exactly what happened, but the thing that once helped to moderate and balance the Spirit of the land as it was embodied in Rem suddenly disappeared. Unable to control its own power, Rem was forced to split into myself and Zekrom. Since we were two opposite aspects of that same original spirit, we were able to reestablish the balance and continue to embody the Spirit of the land as we always had as Rem.
"Unbeknownst to us at the time, though, the shell of what once was our original body plummeted to the ground in the center of the land, taking on a life of its own, sustained by the massive amount of power Zekrom and myself had been forced to shed in order to maintain balance. Yet this thing, Kyurem, lacked any Spirit of its own, and thus was eternally doomed to be exactly what it was: a shell, empty. And because it is forever empty, it is also forever hungry. It wishes most of all to consume Zekrom and I, in a sense swallowing up this entire land and plunging it into its control. Even this would not be enough to satisfy it, though; it has and always will consume whatever comes into its path.
"Zekrom and I did not realize that Kyurem lived; we were too busy regaining the balance and, after that, it hid itself too well for us to notice. We are beings who exist due to Spirit, and were practically blind to the existence of something entirely spiritless. Kyurem stalked the land unhindered until Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus tracked him to his original crater, intending to put an end to him. They would have stood no chance, yet… This is where my understanding fails, and I must wander into conjecture. Because Kyurem itself should have easily been able to defeat and consume them, yet it was forced to use its most desperate tactic in order to preserve itself. It froze both itself and its enemies, knowing that when it unfroze, the Spirits of the three would be completely suppressed by their long encasement in its ice. In pulling off this massive attack, Kyurem also filled in much of the crater with ice, creating the base for the places known today as Chilled Bog and the Battle Grounds.
"Now, as for why Kyurem could not defeat the three pokémon of weather, I cannot speak with certainty. Yet, based on what you all have told me, and based upon Kyurem's apparent goals, I can make a guess.
"Even once we split, Zekrom and I were less stable than before and, as such, less complete. We needed something outside ourselves to help balance our power. As Rem, we knew of other worlds and we knew of the truth of humans, though they were just myths to the pokémon below. When we split, we automatically understood that, though we could stay in balance in our new forms, an outside moderating force would make us truly complete again, still separate from each other but yet again equal to Rem in wholeness. That force, the natural once that had kept us as Rem, was lost; the only thing left to us were humans, creatures not of our world. So different from pokémon, but that was what we needed: some creature that could accommodate for the sudden strangeness of Zekrom's and my situation. By chance or by design, we understood that the Spirit of a true human hero could fill that gap, one for each of us. We understood this, yet were in control of ourselves well enough that we saw no reason to upset the balance of this world by somehow seeking out this link and trying to bring humans into this world.
"Kyurem, it seems, staked its hopes on this understanding. I believe that it realized that the two heroes could not only moderate and complete our powers, but control us as well. I believe Kyurem fragmented its own power and sent the fragments like meteors through time and space, throwing them at random towards other worlds. It had already done this when the three pokémon of weather attacked it, which is why it was too weak to battle. Once its fragments of power landed on other worlds, their natural hunger sought out humans, and especially those humans who had the potential to be the heroes it needed. They killed those whom they locked onto. Stronger fragments of its power took physical shape mirroring Kyurem's actual form, such as the one that killed you two, Cecil and Alexa, or such as the one that led to your death, Max. Others, perhaps weaker fragments, took less solid forms: sickness, a blizzard, a voice.
"These fragments might have killed just the six humans we know of here, but I suspect they killed more – yet you were the only ones whose Spirits did not immediately cease to exist as we know them, instead surviving long enough to be dragged or guided or to this world. That alone makes you five, as well as the other human, exceptional. I suspect that perhaps, had Vulpix and Emma not come, two of you remaining four might have instead filled the need of Zekrom and I for heroes. Your Spirits… it is a bit of a difficult concept to describe, for the aspect that designates one as heroic lies solely within the Spirit itself, but… Best put, it is dedication, commitment to that which you truly deem important, regardless of risk. Dedication so strong that a deerling might risk her life to save a valley who did nothing but scorn her efforts for them, or so strong that a girl terrified of death would take her own life to achieve her goals."
Here, Reshiram paused meaningfully, looking to his own hero; ashamed though she was of her actions, Vulpix boldly met his gaze.
Then, Reshiram continued, "You all share that quality, that dedication, albeit in different ways. However, I lose track of myself – back to Kyurem's actions. After Kyurem froze itself, it lay dormant for many years as Zekrom and I continued to fly in continual balance around the land, oblivious to the threat that slept at the very heart of our circuit. Over this time, Kyurem's fragmented power began to return to it, slowly melting away the ice that encased it. I suspect that roughly ten years ago – when evolutions in the land stopped, and when Zekrom and I were forced into slumber – is when Kyurem, though still frozen and not yet returned to its full power, finally awoke. What I do know for certain is that the Spirits of you humans began their trip into our world at that time, regardless of the time you died in your own worlds. It was the arrival of Emma and you, Vulpix, that caused Zekrom and I to fall into slumber; for with the two of you nearing this world, neither of us could be considered complete until awoken by and linked to you. As you already know, we contacted the Four Warriors before we were forced into sleep, so that they could protect us.
"Now, how exactly you humans got here remains a mystery to me – the fragments of Kyurem's power might have guided you back here, or your Spirits might have naturally come to the place from which your destruction originally emanated. The process was by its nature traumatic. Unable to have a human form in a world where humans do not naturally exist, you appeared here as pokémon, and some of you lost sections of memory in the process. If Kyurem had been at full power – that is to say, if the pokémon of weather had never confronted it, and it had been able to consciously wait this whole time for your arrival, instead of being frozen – then I have no doubt that its force of will would have dragged your Spirits to it, and everything would have been over before it had even begun. I still do not understand how you managed to avoid that fate, Vulpix; the fragment of Kyurem's power that latched onto you when you gave yourself to Kyurem as a human should have brought you straight to it. Yet it is good that you did indeed manage to avoid that fate. Otherwise, I would already be lost, subdued or absorbed by Kyurem through you."
Reshiram stopped now, apparently letting all that soak in for a few moments; none of the humans said a word. Eventually, Reshiram once again continued his explanation. "That is the majority of what you did not know up until now. The rest is the situation as you have experienced it since coming here – Kyurem loosed the pokémon of weather upon the land in its search for you humans, regardless of who was and was not a hero. Either Kyurem could not tell the difference, or it simply hungered for all of you, since you are the only human Spirits in this world. He succeeded in two cases – Emma, who went on to aid in Zekrom's capture, as well as with you, Cody. Emma remains under his control, yet you somehow wormed your way out of his dominion, Cody. I suspect this is because in part due to Max's efforts to bring you to yourself, and in part because Kyurem is unbalanced right now while he tries to master Zekrom.
"Yet even though it is true that Kyurem can take control of you all even though you are humans, you all have proven that, for the same reason that only a human Spirit could complete Zekrom and I, a human Spirit is also the only thing that can combat Kyurem's influence. I cannot force any of you to fight Kyurem with Vulpix and myself, but each and every one of you will increase our chances. Any single one of you should be capable of bringing Emma to her senses; and if we can free Zekrom, then we might have a chance of defeating Kyurem. This will be not a battle of power, but one of Spirit; not even the Four Warriors or the Guildmasters will be able to do as much as the five of you. So I ask all of you: will you fight?"
The humans looked to one another, doubts showing in the eyes of all but Vulpix.
Taking a deep breath, Max suddenly stood up and said, "I'm not sure how much help I'll be, and I can't guarantee I won't freeze up again like I did against Abomasnow. But even so, I'll come."
"I'll fight," Cecil said. "That's what I've enjoyed about being a pokémon."
"And he wouldn't feel manly if he didn't fight now that he's actually needed," Alexa said with a bit of a giggle, her mood completely out of place considering the seriousness of the situation. "Anyway, if he's going, I am, too." And as if to emphasize her commitment, she glared down Cecil before he could say even a word of protest.
Everyone turned to Cody, and he squirmed a bit under their gazes. "Oh, fine, I'll do it. I'd feel like a jerk if I was the only one who didn't."
Reshiram dipped his head gratefully. "I thank you all for that, and I truly believe we might succeed with all of you there. Now, do you have any questions – anything at all that concerns you? Considering what all you five are doing to help this world, the least I can do is clear up any confusion as best I can."
"Actually, I do have a question," Max said, speaking up quickly, as if the question had been waiting at the front of his mind for a while now. "Why is it that I can make other pokémon evolve? Or at least it seems that way – it's happened with four pokémon now, and only when they were right around me."
"I heard about this," Reshiram said. "And the truth of the matter is that it is not fully through your own power. Vulpix is not the only one to whom a fragment of Kyurem attached; I sense a faint piece of its power within you, as well."
Max's feathers bristled in surprise. "Wait, what? But that can't be true! I didn't make a deal with him like Vulpix did! No offense, Vulpix."
Vulpix smiled forgivingly, though deep down the comment stung somewhat.
"You said yourself that you briefly dreamed of Kyurem, and Vulpix is the only other human who ever dreamt of its voice," Reshiram said. "I do believe that you didn't make a deal with Kyurem, though. The fragment is much too faint, and unlike with Vulpix, it is simply present – it has no physical form, nor does it have power over you. You said that, as a human, the creature you spoke to promised to give you the power to be brave if you gave yourself to it? And you admit that the offer was tempting?"
"Well, yeah," Max said. "It sounded nice, and I told it that, but I never agreed to it!"
"Then I suspect that the same thing that happened to Abomasnow happened to you, albeit under slightly different circumstances," Reshiram said. "Even if you never agreed, you were open to the suggestion, and the fragment managed to worm its way into you. Perhaps it even gave you some of the strength you desired, regardless of whether or not you were conscious of it. Yet once you came here, you somehow mastered the fragment, rather than let it master you. I don't know enough about you to judge, but I suspect some aspect of your Spirit managed to bend it to your own use. Yet rather than using it to empower yourself, as you originally wished, you used it to empower others."
Max looked away, his feathers drooping sadly. "It's just because I'm a coward. I just rely on others to do the fighting."
"I doubt that," Vulpix suddenly spoke up. "That can't be how it happened with Aiden and Kuro, at the very least. You were braver than ever then. I bet it's because you care more about others than about yourself, when it comes down to it. And so you orient the power to others, rather than hoarding it for yourself." Then, under her voice, she muttered, "Didn't we have a deal? Believe that you're as brave as I know you are."
Max couldn't help himself; he smiled. "Well, maybe that really is it."
"Reshiram, I've got a question, too," Cody spoke up. "Actually, I'm kinda surprised no one else asked it yet. So here it is: are we going to be able to get back? You know, to our own worlds?"
Reshiram shook his head. "I don't know. There is a chance that Zekrom and I will be able to open a temporary gate if Kyurem is destroyed, but before we begin to restore the balance of ourselves and the land. But if we are indeed able to manage it, I must emphasize that it will be open only a short while; once balance is restored, there can be no travel between the worlds. I understand that some of you have come to care about this land and the pokémon in it, so the decision of whether to stay or go remains up to you."
"Told ya!" Alexa said to Cody, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Oh, shut it," Cody said sulkily. "I… I still don't know."
"Well, whatever you choose, we've got your back," a new voice said.
Everyone in the room turned to see Ryan entering the room, followed by Isola and Lisa. But they weren't the only ones coming in. Following just behind them was the Max's Team Courage; and last but not least was Bulbasaur bringing up the rear.
"I thought I told the guards to keep this room off-limits for the time being?" Reshiram said, though his voice was more amused than accusatory.
"Yeah, well, they are our teammates," Kara said snarkily from her usual perch on Zeke's back. "I think we had as much of a right to hear what you had to say as they did, after all we've done for 'em."
"Especially if you're trying to talk a member of Team Misfits into leaving!" Lisa said as she and the rest of the teams joined their respective members. "We aren't letting you go that easily."
"Of course, it's your decision in the end, Cody," Isola said, her voice quiet but sure of herself. "We'd all miss you, but we'd understand."
Cody didn't seem at all comforted by her statement; if anything, he just looked guilty that she was so understanding while he couldn't say whether or not he'd sacrifice his old life to keep this new one.
"Same goes for us, Max," Zeke said with a grin. "It's your call, and I know you'll make the right choice, whatever it is."
In a voice too low for the other pokémon to hear, Bulbasaur muttered to Vulpix, "If it's all the same to you, I do care whether or not you leave," he said. "You're not planning on it, right?"
She dipped her head momentarily, their foreheads meeting. "Wouldn't dream of it."
"Well, I suppose it's just as well that all of you came," Reshiram said, silencing the rising conversations in the room. "Am I right in assuming you were eavesdropping on the entire discussion?"
"Pretty much," Lisa said unapologetically.
"Then you already know that your human friends must face Kyurem," Reshiram said. "And I tell you now that it has to be soon. We cannot wait for this blizzard to end. It has gone on for long enough for me to guess that it is sustained not by natural phenomena, but by Kyurem's power. And the further we get from the summer solstice, the more my power decreases. Ideally, we would wait for the equinox, when my power and Zekrom's would be perfectly balance, putting our combined power at its peak. However, I fear by then, Zekrom will be too far gone to be saved, if indeed she is not too far gone already.
"Though some of you are large, I believe I can carry all of you on my back; I'll be the only one able to get anyone through this blizzard, after all. All of you who are willing to fight alongside your human friends are welcome to come along. We will fly to where Kyurem waits, and we shall settle the matter one way or another, once and for all."
"We're definitely in!" Aiden barked excitedly. "Right, Kuro?"
"Right," Kuro said.
"And so is the rest of Team Courage!" Zeke said, speaking for both him and Kara.
Lisa slapped her tail against the ground. "And I'd die before I'd miss out on this battle! And where I go, my team goes."
Ryan and Isola exchanged an amused look, but neither objected.
"And you already know that I'm not abandoning Vulpix," Bulbasaur said.
Reshiram nodded. "So be it. We leave first thing tomorrow morning. Do what you must, but be ready to leave then."
Next chapter. This battle's finally going to happen, guys. We are getting so close to being done.
As for this chapter, I really liked it - got to tie up all the loose ends in the second part of the chapter (at least, I think I hit pretty much all of 'em that I wanted to), and in the first part, I got to have some nice little heart-to-hearts between the humans.
Anyway, since we're so close to the end, I've got a new poll up on my profile page, if you've got a chance to answer it. While reviews are, of course, the best way for me to see what you're all thinking of the story, the poll's pretty much just generally speaking a "how much do you like this story?" sort of poll. So if you've got a moment to spare, check it out, I'd appreciate it. ^_^
Anyway, yeah. Get pumped, guys, because some serious stuff's about to go down.