Chapter 37

"I won't accept this!" Cyrus called out.

"Can it!" Giratina growled. "I'm gonna give you a time-out back at my place. You need one."

Cyrus glared at the Legendary, then looked at Maria. "What is truly ultimate to you? What do you consider perfection?"

"My bond with my friends is the most powerful thing that I could ever ask for." Maria inclined her head. "And, if anything, I consider that which you thought weak to be the most perfect. It's what makes us human."

Cyrus snorted. "Telling you is meaningless, but I will become a deity one day."

"No, you won't," Dialga stated from where he stood. "You aren't qualified for it."

"I've seen what you have done in other worlds," Palkia added, "and it's not what I would call a perfect world. Giratina, take him away."

"With pleasure," Giratina replied. He opened up a hole in space behind Cyrus and pushed the man in with the tip of his tail. "I won't be reporting in for a while, Pika."

"That's fine," the Pikachu replied. "So long as you get him to actually settle down."

Giratina then went through the hole and vanished, the portal closing behind him.

Maria looked at Mars and Jupiter, who seemed shaken by the whole ordeal. "And what are you going to do? Fight back? You're outnumbered and your Pokemon are down for the count."

Mars glared at Maria, muttering something under her breath about revenge when Beryl, now back to his normal fur color, came up from behind and handcuffed her, a pink Crobat with gold wing membranes flying behind him. Jupiter was also caught by surprise when Rouge did the same.

"We'll take these two into custody," Rouge stated calmly. "Looker's going to want to ask them a lot of questions."

"Unhand me!" Jupiter snapped.

"No way, toots. You had this one coming."

Charon started to chuckle nervously as the Mobians and their Pokemon crowded around him.

"Now, now, I used to be Mobian, remember?" he asked nervously.

"You were in no way a friend of ours," Knuckles growled. "Sonic, do you have Eggman?"

"We got him," Sonic replied from where he and Sally were sitting on the egg-shaped genius. Paul and Nicole were standing nearby.

"Get off!" Eggman barked.

"Not until you explain where you've been, Eggy."

"I sent him to a place that would help to teach him a lesson at Silver's request," Palkia explained. He looked down at Charon. "Obviously, he managed to get in touch with someone on the outside."

Charon looked away nervously.

"Maria, how have you been?" Dialga asked.

"Well enough," Maria replied calmly. "I think I've recovered everything."

"Really? That is good news. I suppose that means you want a bit of an explanation for what has taken place, then?"

Most of the group looked confused.

"What do you mean by that, Dialga?" Tails asked.

"You remember when I told you guys that I'd lost a good chunk of my memory?" Maria asked. "The part concerning the bad future?"

Sonic and Knuckles exchanged glances while the others (except Shadow, Magenta, and Black) nodded.

Black looked confused. "Bad future? What do you mean?"

Maria glanced at him. "Before I was a Trainer, I was a Pokemon - a Vulpix, to be precise. Pika was the first Pokemon that I remembered meeting originally, and the two of us set up a group called Team PokeExplore. In reality, I was originally human, and so we all thought, I had grown up in a bad future with a Grovyle."

"And you have the memories from the bad future back, then," Brendan guessed.

"And from even before that," Maria added. Seeing the increased confusion on all of their faces, she explained, "Those are the memories that I've managed to regain. Unbeknownst to most of you, I have been having dreams consisting of my memories from before. Sonic and Knuckles, thanks to Aurora, a Mew, did a joint dream thing with me for two nights and helped me recover most of my memory. The rest came up today." She held out her right hand, and a blast of flame appeared, forming into a staff, on which sat the head of a flaming bird that looked somewhat like Moltres, but wasn't quite one.

Maria smiled. "It's been awhile since I've seen this," she remarked. She looked over at Dialga and Palkia as the staff vanished. "Now for that explanation. Did you really have to combine Mobius and this planet?"

Everyone stared at her in shock as Palkia nodded.

"It had to be done," the Legendary Pokemon confirmed.

"Wait a Sonic Second," Sonic said quickly. "Did you just say that Mobius and another planet were bonded together?"

Maria nodded. "It's the only thing that can explain the spacial earthquake, much less how you're here in the first place. I should have regained memories when I was going through the ruins all over the regions - they said a lot about your adventures."

"And I can attest to that," Scarlet added. "In Celestic Town, the ruins there had carvings on the walls that showed you guys."

"And don't forget the caves in the Lakes," Tails remarked.

"I guess that explains why we're here and not back in New Mobotropolis," Sally stated. "However, how did my computer become a Pokemon, and a psychopath echidna become a human?"

Charon looked around nervously. "Luke, protect me," he whimpered.

The battered Lucario glared at him. "Not on your life!" he snapped, teeth bared.

Maria stiffened, staring at the cyan Lucario in shock. "Luke?"

The Lucario looked in her direction, and his hardened look softened into one of relief. "Maria," he managed. He took a couple steps toward her, but then collapsed.

"Take it easy," Maria told him, leaning him back and lying him down on his back. She dug through her backpack and pulled out what looked like a small satchel. "I'm lucky I still carry this from my days as a Pokemon Explorer." She opened it up and gave Luke what looked like a seed, and then a yellow, peach-shaped berry with orange spots. "Eat these; we'll carry you down the mountain and to the nearest Pokemon Center."

The Lucario sighed with relief, swallowing the items. "I'm very lucky you managed to find me. If I had been forced to work for him for much longer..." He lifted his paws, which were chained together.

Vent came over. "Let me," he said, his paws glowing with Chaos Energy. "Chaos Palm!"

He broke the chains easily.

Luke looked at Vent as he crossed his arms over his chest and around his chest spike. "What is your name?"

"Vent," Vent replied.

"The next question I ask, I want you to project using your mind to everyone present. What are your mother's and Trainer's names?"

"My mother is Lucia and my Trainer is Knuckles the Echidna, Guardian of the Master Emerald." Vent looked around. "Did you guys hear me?"

Luke looked very happy, even though he was still in pain. "Loud and clear...my son. Do you realize how much I've worried about you ever since I was taken from our home? It is good to see you alive and well, as well as all grown up."

"Dad," Vent murmured, tears coming out of his eyes. He knelt down next to him. "What did they do to you?"

"Charon - or, as you know him, Finitivus - tortured me to see if I knew anything that he did not. He seemed to relish my pain." The Lucario shuddered. "He learned about the Exploration Teams on the other side of the world, but - thank the Aura - I had the strength to resist any further questioning. When I'd heard that Lucia had managed to escape, that strengthened me further. Where is she now?"

"Training with a Pokemon Ranger named Kate," Maria replied. "I have no idea specifically where they are, but I think that they're still in the Sinnoh Region."

"There!" someone called from above. Everyone looked up to see two Staraptor circling above, which started to come in for a landing.

"Speaking of Pokemon Rangers," Brendan muttered.

"Hey, guys!" Kellyn called out as he jumped off the Staraptor he had been riding. "The snowstorm only just cleared up around the mountain, and Kate and I decided to check in and see what was going on."

"Lucia also mentioned that there was a sudden raise in Aura, too," Kate added as she and the mentioned Lucario hopped off their Staraptor.

"It felt like there was a battle going on," Lucia added.

"There kind of was," Sonic admitted. "All of us were almost taken over by Charon's Red Chain thing. Plus..." He pointed over to where Vent was kneeling next to Luke.

Lucia let out a gasp. "Luke!" she exclaimed. She ran over to the weak Pokemon. "What happened to you?"

"Charon," Vent replied. He pointed over to where the old man was surrounded by the Mobians. "We have him contained, Mom. Don't worry."

Lucia looked Vent over. "Vent? You evolved?"

"Not too long after you left, Knuckles and he had a bit of a bonding moment," Paul explained from where he stood next to Sonic. "Maria, Sonic, little Luke, and I kinda orchestrated the whole thing."

Luke looked at Maria. "You named another Pokemon Luke?"

"After you," Maria replied, releasing the Pokemon from his PokeBall. "Luke, meet your namesake, Luke."

Luke waved nervously at the older, Shiny Lucario.

Luke smiled. "Greetings, Luke. It is an honor to have someone named after me."

The younger Lucario nodded. "It's an honor to meet the Lucario I've been named after." Taking note of the looks of surprise, he explained, "PokeBalls aren't exactly soundproof. Or telepathic-proof."

Lucia nodded. She then looked at her husband. "I've been so worried about you."

"And I you," the other replied. He looked over at Kellyn, who was still standing next to Kate, looking a little like a third wheel. "You are a Pokemon Ranger without a Pokemon Partner, correct?"

Kellyn looked startled to be asked this, then nodded. "That's me."

"You and Kate work together on missions often, correct?"

Kellyn nodded again.

Luke got up slightly, smiling a little. "I would like to become your Pokemon Partner, if you will permit it."

Kellyn became incredibly surprised. "Me? Are you serious?"

"He asked you, didn't he?" Paul asked with a cheeky smirk.

Kellyn grinned hugely. "It would be an honor to have you as my Pokemon Partner, Luke! Capture On!"

The disk came out of his Styler and looped around the Shiny Pokemon, getting closer and closer until it seemed to bond with the Lucario's body.

::Capture Complete:: the Styler beeped. ::Luke is now your Partner Pokemon::

"But you're still an honorary member of the PokeExplore Guild," Pika added from his perch on Maria's shoulder.

Luke smiled. "Once I'm fully healed, I'll be back in action!"

"And I can show you what I've learned," Vent added. "Knuckles is a great teacher when it comes to Chaos Abilities."

"Can you use Chaos Blast?" asked a certain, magenta-furred Mobian.

Vent frowned, then shook his head, while Scarlet stared in shock.

"Magenta?" she asked.

This caught the other Mobian's attention. The two moved a little closer to each other to give the other a better look.

"Scarlet!" Magenta exclaimed, hugging the other human-turned Mobian.

Scarlet looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Magenta," she murmured, hugging her little sister back.

Somewhere in the crowd of Mobians, a midnight-furred Mobian let out a moan and got up slowly. The Pokemon surrounding him - Gear, Zap, and Drake - watched him warily.

A large weasel that looked like it could be a raft approached the Mobian, sniffing him carefully.

"Keith? Are you all right?" the Pokemon asked.

The Mobian looked over at the Pokemon. "Zel? You've evolved!"

Zel nodded. "I wanted to free you from the control of the Red Chain, so I upped my game."

Keith hugged the Pokemon fiercely. "It was all so horrible! Being forced to do things I wouldn't do otherwise..." He shuddered vigorously.

Kate and Kellyn looked at Keith in shock.

"Keith?" Kate asked. "What happened to you?"

"He happened," Keith replied, pointing an accusing finger at Charon. "Decided to turn me into this after Scarlet and Magenta ran out on him. His Skuntank of a grandson-"

"Adoptive!" Charon interrupted.

"-stuck a piece of the Red Chain in when he wasn't looking. It was about as bad as Hypnosis, only I actually knew what was going on."

"The closest I get to understanding how you feel is when I got Robotosized the first time," Sonic remarked with a shudder. "Not a good experience."

Eggman also shuddered, which caused Maria to look at him in surprise.

"What makes you so nervous about his mentioning of Mecha Sonic?" she asked. "After all, you were the one who turned him into it in the first place!"

"What I saw in that other place...made me rethink some things."

Sonic looked down at the mechanical maniac in surprise. "You must be kidding. Eggman? Rethinking his evil plans of destruction?"

Maria looked at Palkia. "Where did you send him?"

"A place where he actually did manage to take over," Palkia replied, "only for him to be forced to wage war against those who didn't like his ideals. Now, the entire planet is a robotic jungle, and the only rule that exists is obey, or die. The other Eggman has no intention in helping anyone else take over their world...unless it means that he gets it himself. You see, this other Eggman...is mind-controlled by one of Black Doom's generals." The Legendary looked in Shadow's direction, who glared back.

"I'll never become like that," the black hedgehog growled.

"Because Sonic found and revived your true memories before Black Doom could completely destroy it and take away your freedom," Dialga pointed out. "Compared to how you could turn out, you should consider yourself lucky."

"So, why did you guys think the planets had to be bonded?" Maria asked. "You didn't just decide to make it happen."

Dialga shook his head. "It was a decision made by a higher power. Since Sonic had participated in a competition - whether by accident or on purpose, even I am unsure - we had to do something in order to make him an honorary member in the Smash Brothers competition. So, his home and our home planet were bonded together, in order to make that happen."

"We did it in the past, so that they would blend in with the culture a little easier," Palkia continued. "However, we weren't exactly expecting a large amount of the Mobians to die out. So, with Merlin's guidance, we pulled a small number from the past and into the present. Guardian, you will find your Master Emerald protected by a Pokemon named Landerous at the Abundant Shrine in Unova. Shadow, Magenta, Black, and Brendan already know of its location."

Knuckles looked at Shadow in surprise. "You've been there?"

"It was one of the safest places to train Magenta to use Chaos Energy," Shadow explained calmly.

Magenta grinned nervously as Scarlet looked at her in surprise.

"You can use Chaos Energy?" Scarlet asked her sister.

Magenta nodded. "Yup! That's 'cause I've got Shadow's DNA in me!"

"And it looks like Keith might need some training, too," Maria added, pointing to the white chest fur. "That gives it away completely. As for the fur color, I think he's got some of Sonic in him, too."

Keith looked down at the chest fur. "So, what does that mean for me?"

"You probably have Sonic's speed, plus access to the Chaos Force," Maria explained. "You'll have to experiment a little in order to really figure out all of your abilities."

Scarlet looked like she was suddenly hit with an idea. "Hey, Palkia!" she called. "Is it possible to change us back into what we we before? You did turn Maria from a Vulpix and back into a human."

Palkia looked down at Scarlet, then at Magenta and Keith, considering. "I probably could," he replied after a moment. "However, you have to be truly certain that you wish to be human again. Maria, unless she went through another attack in the Time Tunnel, cannot turn back into a Vulpix. However, she can use her Fire Abilities without the need to rely on the form of a Pokemon, because of pre-present experiences. I cannot guarantee whether or not you will have the abilities you have in this form. Consider your choices wisely."

"Well, I'm going to stay like this!" Magenta stated boldly. "I find it pretty cool that I can use moves like a Pokemon, and fight alongside Drake. I think I've gotten used to my new form, too. Why waste a few days and feel like I'm missing something for the rest of my life?"

Scarlet looked at her sister in surprise, then frowned as she thought of her own choices. Maria watched her face expressions, and could tell that the Mobian was feeling indecisive.

"If opinion matters, I suggest you stay as you are, so that your sister isn't the only one," the Trainer suggested. "Besides - whoever heard of a Pokemon Ranger or Trainer who has a closer bond with her Pokemon because she also is one herself?"

Scarlet looked at Maria. "You really seem to think I'd be more comfortable in this form," she noted, fox tails twitching.

Maria nodded. "You've been using the abilities this form has for the past few days; what makes you think you'll ever be able to fly without a Staraptor's aid again, or destroy rocks without asking a Machoke for assistance? I'm lucky that I've got my fire abilities, even in my human form."

Scarlet took in what Maria had said, only to see a different path. She looked at her sister. "I like your idea of fighting alongside Pokemon Partners. If you stay a Mobian, I'm staying a Mobian."

Palkia looked at Keith. "And you?"

Keith looked up at the Legendary Pokemon without batting an eye. "I've been forced to do things that I wouldn't do otherwise in this form, and of that happened to someone else when I was a human and completely defenseless were it not for Zel, I wouldn't be able to do anything to help. I'm going to take this form, and turn the tables on the remaining Galactic idiots, and anyone else who wants to try anything like this."

Palkia nodded. "Very well. All three of you are going to remain in this form. If any of you wish to change your mind, find Maria or come back to Spear Pillar and talk to me. I can change you back and forth, but I don't want to do it too much."

The three Mobians nodded.

"Hey!" someone called. Everyone turned to see Looker and Tox running over.

"Hey, Looker," Maria greeted. "Are you here to arrest Team Galactic?"

The IP Agent nodded.

"Right over here, kid," Rouge called from behind Mars. "You can take these two in."

"And this one," Knuckles added, pushing Charon forward.

Looker found a pair of handcuffs in one of his coat pockets and cuffed Charon. "Where's Cyrus?"

"Giratina took him into the Distortion World to let him think things over alone," Palkia explained calmly. "He will be returned to this world eventually."

Looker nodded, not at all nervous to be standing in the presence of two Legendary Pokemon.

"Let's take these three back to Headquarters," Looker told Rouge and Beryl.

Beryl nodded, but Rouge looked a bit bored.

"Swoon, honey, could you take this girl and meet us at whatever transportation that Looker arranged?"

The bat nodded, grabbed Mars, and flew off.

"Crow, I'd ask you to do the same thing, but you don't have feet, so I'm going to walk her back down," Beryl stated calmly.

"Exactly why I'm going to take her," Rouge replied as she grabbed Jupiter's arms. "Meet you at the helicopter!" The Mobian bat flew off.

Beryl chuckled. "That's Rouge for ya. Let's get going, Crow."

"Aye," the shiny Crobat stated.

Looker, Charon, Beryl, Tox, and the bat Pokemon then left.

"We should get going, too," Kate remarked. "Nurse Joy has to get a look at Luke as soon as possible."

Brendan nodded. "I'll take him down." He grabbed a PokeBall and released a Flygon. Climbing up onto the Pokemon, he said, "Transfer him up here. Rangers, if you want to come down with me, I do have a Salamence as well."

Kate, Kellyn, and Lucia looked at each other, then nodded. The group then rode out on Brendan's Flygon and Salamence, Luke riding on the former.

As those remaining watched them go, Maria remembered something.

"You know, guys, at this point Professor Rowan and Lucas come up here and say something about capturing a Legendary in order to help him get his power back under control," Maria told the others. "I don't see them here, but I think it might be a good idea if at least one of you came along, just because. I would ask Giratina, but he's going to be a bit busy babysitting Cyrus. So, it's gotta be one of you two."

Dialga and Palkia looked at each other.

"Well, I'm not quite sure that the planets have completely fused yet," Palkia admitted, "and I've already been 'caught' by a Trainer a few years back, when some kid decided that he ought to have an ultra-strong Pokemon. Kid had my Lusterous Orb, too."

"I remember him," Dialga recalled. "He released you only after he'd defeated the Elite Four, correct?"

Palkia nodded. "Sorry, Maria, but I'm going to have to turn your offer down."

"However, I myself am curious," Dialga admitted. "It would be an honor to journey with you."