Draco: Please let me be wrong, please let me be wrong, please let me be wrong, please let me be wrong, please let me be wrong...
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Oh, thank Alpha.
Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.
Ultra Kingdom - Seat of War: Light That Fills the World
"Owwwwowowowow..."
It was the third day since Oichi and the Warriors under her command had reached the battlefields of beasts (not that there was any light in this world but that beyond the border fortress, but they'd still been making camp when they were tired). After the melee between the Ranseans, the Kartana's kendoka, and the Pheromosa's bandits, they'd had a day of marching without drawing the ire of any Warriors; but now they were just coming off a battle with five Xurkitree, whose Warriors were garbed in strange insulation and carrying electrified batons of some sort.
Most of the Ranseans had found their weapons enough to hold off the shocks - but Oichi, Ranmaru, and Kotarō weren't so lucky, and Gracia's channel bracelets had been worse than useless to even try. The Nixtormer was fighting to try and keep her composure as Oichi used her staff to try and ease the pain at the points of connection.
"You're lucky they were satisfied carrying small charges like that," the healer observed.
"I can't feel my..." Gracia bit back the last word, sucking in a breath through her teeth as a few more drops landed on the contact-point on her stomach. "If that's your idea of a small charge, what do you call a big one?"
"Our first time attacking Violight," Oichi explained, "Evia got hit by the Lightning System."
Gracia's gaze fell. "Okay, that's fair."
Once she was tended to, Oichi helped her to her feet. Kotarō and Ranmaru had tried to sit this fight out, but the beast's Warriors had had other ides, and they'd been hard-pressed to avoid their blows. Zoroark and Lucario had better managed to stay out of the Xurkitree's attack range, but mostly because Full and Krookodile had managed to keep their attention. The Ranseans were getting fairly close to the wall between them and the light by this point - but the sounds of an ongoing battle to either side told Oichi that getting past wouldn't be a simple matter.
"Am I the only one who feels like something's out of place, here?" Okuni asked as they resumed marching.
"Meaning what?" Ranmaru asked.
"Well..." Okuni turned to Oichi, who was removing Type: Full's RKS disc. "You told us Nagamasa said the Warriors of this place tried to climb that thing. But... it looks like a fortress of some kind. The kind of wall that's designed to let people through. Wouldn't there be paths at ground level?"
Ranmaru hummed, turning his attention towards the wall. "Now that you mention it, it does seem peculiar that they would try to scale something so great."
"I have reasons to doubt this 'Blinding One' is inclined to just let anyone march up to it," Kotarō pointed out.
"You've got a point, there," Oichi agreed. "If I'm right about that light, there's no way it'll let an unproven nobody waltz in."
+x+x+x+
When they finally reached the wall, it was apparent to everyone why the beasts' Warriors chose to climb - the structure of the wall made it look like it was meant to be climbed, with plenty of hand- and footholds and more than a few ledges on the way up. Furthermore, despite it looking more like a border fortress from a distance, up close it was clear there were no obvious paths; what seemed to be doors at first were on closer inspection merely carved into the walls, with no visible seams to pry open.
"Well, now what do we do," Kiyomasa muttered.
Masanori leaned back. "Do we start climbing?"
Mitsunari shook his head. "One wrong move, and we'd be done for."
"Besides which, some of us can't," Oichi pointed out, glancing at Full. "And if the Warriors are attacking each other for trying to climb, they're going to attack us for trying."
"Or for even getting close," Kotarō observed.
Everyone followed his gaze to find two different parties of Warriors approaching them. One was a group of three women in dresses, elegant but offering mobility, each brandishing a rapier; flying after them were a group of Celesteela. The other was a quartet of hulking men with metal gauntlets, trailed by Buzzwole.
"Oh, of course we'd not get a moment's reprieve," Ranmaru grumbled.
"Gothitelle, Volcarona, Haxorus, start with the Buzzwole," Oichi instructed, drawing an RKS disc. "The rest, see if we can take out the Celesteela first." Full opened his slot, and she slipped in the Fire-type disc, prompting him to close it up. "And don't let up on the Warriors, either."
"Two fights already taught us that much," Gracia argued.
Full's spikes turned red as Oichi bagged the empty case. "Better cautious than crushed."
One the Buzzwole were in range, Gothitelle loosed a pulse of psychic energy; Haxorus and Volcarona charged forward, and the moment the beasts Lunged, Volcarona leapt between the nearest two, twisting into a Fiery Dance. Haxorus blazed with dragon mist as he approached the other two, bombarding them with Outrage as Full, Bisharp, and Zoroark started towards the Celesteela. Ranmaru seized his necklace, and Lucario's stone reacted, wrapping him in prismatic light; when it shattered, an Aura Sphere was already braced before the changed Lucario, and he thrust it forward, sending it soaring past his allies.
It hit the first Celesteela dead-on, causing the beast to reel back; it collided with the other two, the chain reaction leaving them stumbling behind. That left their Warriors off-guard - and Gracia charged straight at the leader, bashing her sword arm with a psychic-charged punch at the same moment as Gothitelle's Future Sight struck the quartet of Buzzwole. The brutes found Kotarō charging straight at them; when the first one came close enough to try to punch him, the Yakshan thrust his claws forward, the blades slipping through the joints of his gauntlet and piercing his hand.
The brute screamed in pain as Oichi bashed him; Full was nearing the Celesteela that Ranmaru had struck as it prepared a Flash Cannon, and brought flaming claws down on it, forcing the angle of its cannon down so that it only struck him. The other two found Zoroark between them before they realized he was in range, and a Night Daze burst out around them as the fencing princesses approached Masanori, Mitsunari, and Kiyomasa.
The leader's rapier was thrust towards Mitsunari, who deflected it with his iron-plated folding fan; Kiyomasa caught the tip in the hook of his scythe-spear and pinned it to the ground, and before she had the chance to withdraw it, Masanori brought his kanabo down on it, shattering the blade. Bisharp brought a Night Slash across all three Celesteela, finishing off one and causing the other two to aim at him as their Flash Cannons began; Full charged one from behind as Okuni hooked her parasol on the hilt of another princess' rapier, pulling it from her grip.
The body of the parasol bashed her as a few of the brutes found himself trading blows with Ranmaru; the gauntlets only extended halfway up their forearms, giving him plenty of surface area to strike with his blows or glance with his blades. Kotarō came up behind one and slipped one of his claws down the body of either gauntlet; the brute barely recognized the Yakshan behind him before he leapt clean over, forcing the gauntlets off his arms and leaving painful cuts in the process.
Ranmaru took him out of the battle with a kick to the gut while Haxorus and Volcarona managed to finish off one of the Buzzwole; another was knocked out by a hard blow from Lucario's Aura Sphere, intended for one of the Celesteela that Full quickly struck in lieu. One of the remaining Buzzwole found itself blasted by a Flash Cannon that a Celesteela had misaimed; Bisharp exploited the miss and struck it with his Night Slash, and Zoroark promptly finished it off with a Night Burst from behind as Krookodile - who had been holding back at this point due to a type advantage against the Bugs and the discomfort of closing one's teeth on a Steel-type - dashed up to the Buzzwole that had been blasted and Crunched one arm.
One Buzzwole remaining, and one Celesteela left. Kotarō removed the gauntlets from the last brute, and Ranmaru bashed him between the legs with a knee before driving an elbow into his temple; Gracia grabbed the wrist of the princess who had been about to thrust at Oichi, sending her arm numb as the healer struck her rapier aside, and Okuni bashed her with her parasol, knocking her down. As the Warriors of this place continued to fight without Pokémon, so too did the beasts continue to fight without Warriors; Full charged at the last Buzzwole, and when the Celesteela tried to strike his retreating form from behind, Lucario bombarded it with Close Combat, finishing it off.
The Buzzwole tried to Lunge, only to be cut off in mid-motion when Full's claws raked down its form, knocking it out.
Oichi regarded the Warriors, unconscious or (in the case of a couple brutes and one of the princesses) retreating. Lucario's changes receded as she turned back to the wall with a sigh; the fight had converged within distance of getting a good view, but one way or another they wouldn't get through without getting close, and she led the Ranseans to closing the distance.
Once they were near enough, it was clear that - despite looking like a border fortress - this thing wasn't quite man-made. The door-like shapes and handholds had only been the boldest carvings; the surfaces were covered in strange, unworldly patterns.
"It's like the Tower of Infinity all over again," Oichi murmured.
"How do you mean?" Ranmaru asked.
"Huge structure, weird doors, and a light being our reason for being here," Oichi replied. "The only difference is, these ones don't want to open for us."
Masanori hefted up his kanabo, and before anyone could stop him, he wound up and slammed it against the 'door'. To the surprise of no one but himself, it recoiled off the surface violently without even a note, and Kiyomasa put the shaft of his scythe-spear in its way so it stopped short of hitting him.
"What did you think was gonna happen?" Mitsunari demanded.
"I was kinda hoping it would at least sound hollow," Masanori murmured.
Kiyomasa shook his head. "Nothing could convince me there's anything on the other side of that door that isn't the other side of this wall."
Okuni twirled her parasol idly. "Kotarō, you're a ninja, aren't-"
"I am not climbing that," Kotarō retorted.
"I was thinking more you'd have smoke bombs that might reveal a draft," Okuni insisted.
Kotarō glanced at her. "What sort of shinobi would carry something that only-"
"Wait!" Ranmaru interrupted. "Did you hear that?"
The group fell quiet, and this time they all heard the sound - a single, low, faint note.
After a moment, Gracia glanced down at the bag she was wearing. "Cosmoem?" She opened the flap and made to draw them out, and the sound was heard again - clearer, but still faint. Warily, she held them before her, one floating just above each hand. "Do you two recognize this place somehow?"
The same note emerged from each of them - and to the amazement of everyone, the Cosmoem drifted forward. Gracia stepped after them as they came to a stop at eye level, on either side of the 'door' that Masanori had struck; after a moment, they sounded the same note again, and the door started to shine.
Oichi gaped as she saw the light start to retreat - it wasn't a door, but a tunnel that had been filled, and now the fill was being withdrawn. When the light faded, there was clear passage through; the Cosmoem descended once again, stopping just above the ground. Gracia lifted them again as Oichi stepped forward, peering inside. The source of the light, that Nagamasa had called the Blinding One, was visible from this end of the tunnel, and from this range she was sure she had never seen it before.
"That's not the Alpha."
Gracia turned towards her, a Cosmoem floating over each hand. "...That doesn't mean it's not gonna be able to help us," she observed.
With a deep breath, Oichi and Full started forward; Lucario, Ranmaru, Gothitelle, and Gracia followed close behind her. Mitsunari, Bisharp, Kiyomasa, Haxorus, Masanori, and Krookodile followed behind them; Okuni, Volcarona, Kotarō, and Zoroark brought up the rear. As they entered the tunnel, the light seemed to appear again behind them - but it wasn't chasing them with any haste, only ensuring that they were the only ones to enter, that the Warriors of this place didn't attack them from behind.
The Blinding One was a terrifying thing as they got closer - a titanic dragon, its entirety seeming to be insubstantial light, save for a few portions of golden crystal from whence the light seemed to pour. Its face seemed like a mask, with unmatching eyes - one of red, one of blue - and wings emerging from the sides; its body was angular, ridged like armour. Four wings floated, disconnected from its body, sourced from thin lengths that ended in claws; its legs were massive, with sizeable protrusions extending forward and upward and three fierce claws on each.
As the Ransean Warriors emerged on its side of the border fortress, the path closed behind them as the Blinding One regarded them.
Oichi winced as they stood before the Pokémon. A little less aggressive than the Alpha, maybe, she observed. But this light... no wonder they call it the Blinding One. Does all the illumination in this world come from this thing?
Movement beside her caught her off-guard; Ranmaru was stepping forward, and he raised a hand towards it. "Ranmaru? Are you-!?"
"It doesn't... want my Link," he observed. "It just wants me to... hear it." He closed his eyes. "Necrozma... Is that your name?"
Gracia glanced at the Blinding One - Necrozma - and then turned back to Ranmaru. "What does it say?"
"It says... it can sense something on us," Ranmaru replied. "It must be talking about the gates."
Oichi turned to Necrozma. "How much do you know about the gates?"
"...Cosmoem," Ranmaru replied. "It's saying to... lay the Cosmoem before it."
With a deep breath, Gracia stepped forward, the Cosmoem still floating above her hands. As she got closer, the light got stronger, until she was forced to close her eyes; she took three steps more, and then knelt down, letting the Cosmoem rest upon the ground and then stepping back until Oichi caught her arm.
Necrozma leaned its head back and roared - a shimmering, blinding roar that seemed to shake the border fortress behind them. The Warriors raised their weapons defensively, fearing what would happen as two emblems appeared beneath the Cosmog - one that seemed to be a stylized sun, and another that looked like two crescent moons joined at the low of their arcs.
The Blinding One swept its wings forward, and from the sun emerged a surge - like a geyser of pure light had burst forth from the earth beneath the Cosmoem. Gracia cried out, trying to charge forward before Oichi held her back; within the light, she could see the Cosmoem changing - a bolder, brilliant figure.
When the light faded, a radiant figure landed where the emblem of the sun had lay; a leonine figure in white and gold. Its mane extended in eight directions around it, and gold crests surrounded its face, like the sun lay in its fur; its eyes lay in a starry void upon its brow, and ruby crystals were scattered around its mane and upon its forelegs.
Necrozma touched down upon the ridge behind them, drawing everyone's attention back to it; the crystals of its armour had gone dark, and although the light of its body still remained, it seemed to flicker. None could even try to offer it aid before it swept its wings forward once more - and another geyser emerged from the moon.
When this light faded, a different figure floated down over the emblem of the moon; a pteropus figure in shades of blue. Its body seemed traced with a skeletal form, and the edges of its wings and tail were golden arcs like crescents; it, too, had a starry void around its eyes, resting in a golden ridge, and sapphire crystals were scattered in its wings.
Oichi's grip faltered on Gracia's arm, and she stepped forward, amazed. "Cosmoem?" Her eyes widened, and she halted in mid-step. "Ah..." She raised a hand towards each of them, feeling their Link.
The sunlit Pokémon stepped forward, and set his brow against her palm.
"Solgaleo..."
The moonlit Pokémon drifted low, and did the same to her other hand.
"Lunala..."
Oichi's free hand went up to her mouth. "Of course... Nagamasa said the sun and moon roamed the space between worlds... The Cosmog evolved into Cosmoem - the cocoon of the stars was an intermediary. And the Cosmoem..."
"Evolved into the sun and moon," Ranmaru gasped. "That's why they could open the gates."
A low cry, a pained cry, emerged from the ridge; the Ranseans turned their gaze to find that Necrozma no longer looked quite deserving of the epithet of 'Blinding One'. Its body had turned a dark, empty black, rearranged into a vaguely humanoid figure. The mighty claws that had been its feet now served as its hands, the lengths that had been the source of its wings were now its arms and legs, and its face was set deep into what had once been its body, its eyes now triangular shapes upon a black surface.
"What happened?" Gracia murmured.
Ranmaru raised his hand towards Necrozma once again. "It says... a sun and moon once before had given it light together," he explained. "That let it have light of its own. To give light to two cocoons... It had to give all the light it had."
"Oh no..." Gracia lifted her hands from Solgaleo and Lunala, and they turned towards Necrozma. "Wait-"
"No!" Ranmaru warned. "It says... they'll need a while, to adapt to their light, now. If they try to give it light too soon... they'll be reduced to cocoons again. And there might not be enough light to go both ways."
Oichi closed her eyes. "Will you be alright?" she asked Necrozma. "Waiting until they've adapted to their light?"
Ranmaru shook his head. "It... says it's willing to endure."
Necrozma lifted off the ground - and in view of all the Warriors, slowly ascended heavenward.
Gracia took a deep breath before looking between the sun and moon. "You two..." Luanala and Solgaleo turned back to face her. "There's still someone we haven't found. Lady Evia's missing in one of these worlds, just like the others. Can you...?"
Lunala spread her wings and gave an echoing screech.
"They..." Gracia turned to Oichi. "They should be able to find her," she relayed. "But they need a... a connection - a lead of some kind."
After just a moment, Oichi glanced at her hand. "Matching wedding rings," she realized. "They were forged in the same fire, cast in one mold, gems taken from the same source."
Solgaleo raised his head and gave a powerful roar.
"...That's a promise not to lose the one while they find the other," Gracia told her with a slight giggle.
A smile rising on her face, Oichi pulled her ring from her finger. "Find my wife," she told them, "and I could care less."
She threw it up towards Lunala, who caught the ring in her maw - when the motion stopped, Oichi could see it peeking out. She and Solgaleo turned around, and Lunala raised her wings so that her figure would fit in a perfect circle - and her body flooded with light, such that she seemed for all the world to be a full moon.
The starry void upon her brow turned blinding white, and a third eye manifested within it.
With a rush of light, a gate appeared on the ridge where Necrozma had stood, and Ranmaru pumped his fist. "Yes! There's our path!"
Lunala tossed Oichi's ring back to her, and she caught it with a grin as Solgaleo turned to them. "We can jump through," Gracia informed everyone. "But they'll have to be in the front and back!"
"Let's go!" Oichi proclaimed.
"Yes, Lady Oichi!"
Solgaleo's mane started to shine, and his void, too, illuminated as a third eye appeared upon it; he leapt into the gate, and Oihci and Full led the charge after him. Ranmaru and Lucario followed suit, followed swiftly by Gracia and Gothitelle. Okuni and Volcarona jumped in next, and Kotarō and Zoroark followed suit. Mitsunari and Bisharp; Kiyomasa and Haxorus; and Masanori and Krookodile.
Lunala swooped in a broad loop before soaring in after them, and the gate vanished behind her.
Draco: Okay, giving you guys the battle details for the sun and moon. Necrozma is not appearing as a combatant, it's not important.
Solgaleo
-Range: 4
-Move: Sunsteel Strike
-Ability: Full Metal Body
Evolves from Cosmoem: Improve Link in May-Aug
Lunala
-Range: 4
-Move: Moongeist Beam
-Ability: Shadow Shield
Evolves from Cosmoem: Improve Link in Nov-Feb
Sunsteel Strike (Steel)
-Movement: 1 square forward
-Attack area: three tiles surrounding destination (i.e. Brave Bird)
-Effect: ignores abilities
Moongeist Beam (Ghost)
-Attack area: three tiles ahead (i.e. Dragon Pulse)
-Effect: ignores abilities
Full Metal Body
-The Pokémon's stats cannot be lowered
Shadow Shield
-Reduces damage taken when HP is full
Of course, the evolution conditions are just kind of player-induction because, like the story in Alola, these Cosmoem evolve under special condition. But, anyways, the basis for the evolution conditions is, that's when the days/nights are longer. In theory, anyways.
