When Violet came to, she found herself on the cold, hard ground, her dress torn in several places and with scrapes and smudges all over her. It was dark out, and the temperature was falling fast. She knew she had to find her way back home soon.
Home.
Her home was destroyed, and her family killed.
Violet broke down in tears, sobbing and cursing the attackers who razed her home and murdered her parents. She was lost in the woods, and didn't know what to do. Should she just try and find a cave somewhere? But what if dangerous Pokemon or enemy soldiers found her? How would she feed herself? Make sure she had water to drink? And more importantly, where was Maribel?
She looked around, trying to get her bearings, when she found a little purple puff ball at her side. Her first thought was that this was a Pokemon, but it didn't look like any Pokemon she had ever seen.
She reached out to touch it, when it jolted around in surprise. "Pew!" It shook its pom-poms about, and Violet jumped back. Once the shock was over with, Violet reached out again, and the puffball touched her hand. It was wispy but soft, and looked like a little nebula with a black face with yellow eyes.
"Hello, my name is Violet," she said softly. "Can you understand me? What is your name?" The little puffball responded with an incoherent chirp. Violet decided to name it "Starlight," due to the white specks on it resembling stars in the night sky.
Taking Starlight into her arms, Violet started to wander around. They had landed in a bare patch surrounded by thick forest, their only light the bright moon above. Violet was hesitant to wander into the woods, which looked nothing like the trees she recalled running into when she passed out. Had she been taken somewhere by someone or something else, she wondered?
She walked around some more, and began to think about just settling right here for now, when she heard a rustling in the nearby bush. Jolted by the sudden noise, she hid behind a tree, where she and Starlight peered around it toward where the sound was coming from. For a minute, the rustling grew and grew, and Violet feared an animal had sensed her presence and was looking for an easy snack. Violet felt for sure this was where she was going to die.
Thankfully, to her surprise and relief, what emerged was not an animal, but a group of men dressed in tribal clothes carrying spears. These men were out hunting, in order to gather extra food to make it through the coming winter. They spoke a language she did not understand. Violet's next thought was, who were these people? Why were they dressed like barbarians? And why were there no Pokemon at their side?
It didn't take long for one of the men to notice her hiding behind the tree, and to call attention to it. At first, she squeaked and hid, but the men came over wishing to see a girl seemingly out here in the dangerous woods all on her own. They spoke to one another, then approached her softly to let her know they were not going to hurt her. Regardless, her appearance was strange to them, being a fair-skinned girl with shining blonde hair and an elegant dress as opposed to their own browner skin, dark hair and cloth. At her side was a strange puffball creature, which had the curiosity of a child. At first, they were concerned that this girl might be a witch or a demon of some sort, attempting to lure them into a trap. But the lead hunter could tell that she was scared, confused, and injured, based on her appearance. After some debating, they offered to lead her back to their village so that she could heal up. They let Starlight come with her too.
The village was located close to a river bank, and when they came back with Violet the villagers took an interest in her. Certainly the elder did, seeing as the girl dressed strangely and didn't speak their language. Violet was able to act out her predicament, and after some consideration, she was allowed to remain in the village. A family with a son two years her senior elected to take her and Starlight in.
It didn't take very long for Violet to establish she was no longer in Kalos. Instead, she had been transported to late Jōmon Japan, some three-thousand years before our present day. Rather than attempt to find a way back home, given that she did not know how she even got here in the first place, and realizing that her old life had been destroyed anyway, she simply resigned herself to living out the rest of her life here with these people, adopting their lifestyle, their mode of dress, and their language. Over time, her skills proved to be something extraordinary, introducing writing to the tribe as well as crafting impressive clay figurines typical of the era, both in their style and based on designs reminiscent of her old home. As she learned their language and their legends, she ultimately told the story of how she got to where she was, and how she survived a war in a distant land. She still wasn't able to account for how Starlight came about, but she assumed it was a "gift from the heavens" given to her after she survived the attack on her home. Over time, she and the boy she lived with took over the household and became husband and wife. On their wedding night, Starlight absorbed energy from the bright full moon above, becoming a Cosmoem in the process; the event was considered a commemoration of their union and immortalized in murals. Violet eventually bore the man a daughter.
However, the trauma of losing her family and her home had affected Violet greatly, to the point where she feared death. Growing older, she saw the aging village elders succumbing to disease; she did not wish to face that fate. Fortunately, at least in her view, death was not set in stone, for she could manipulate the boundary of life and death and keep herself from aging, from dying. So that's what she did, starting in her mid-twenties. Each year, she would turn the clock on her body's aging back another year, resetting her age and maintaining her enviable beauty.
But this facade could not be hidden forever. At first, the villagers, her husband and daughter included, just assumed her differing features meant she aged more gracefully than they did. But it soon became clear that she was not aging at all. Theories abounded as to why: was it Starlight? Was she a goddess of some sort? But then, her own husband caught sight of her one night, the night of her fiftieth birthday, bending the boundary of life and death to maintain her eternal youth, and it was then he came to the conclusion: she was a witch, a being with unnatural power who had charmed her way into their tribe. She tried to explain it, but the villagers were having none of it. They chased her out, her and Starlight both, and threatened to kill her if she dared to come back. However, the man insisted that his daughter be spared, a wish the rest of the village granted.
Scorned by their old friends and family, and with nowhere to go, Violet and Starlight wandered off into the dark woods, Violet cursing the villagers and even her own husband for turning on her, due to their fear of her powers that she was born with. A monster, a witch, even a demon… they called her all these things as they threw rocks at her while chasing her out. Violet understood that even if she went to another settlement, the people there would just label her the same and chase her out. Anywhere there was normal humans, she could not go now.
She eventually came to a rocky bluff overlooking a clear lake, the reflection of the full moon reflecting off its gently rippling waters. Standing atop it, she looked out, and up at the moon. She had always been associated with the full moon, she thought. She and Maribel were born on a full moon, she came here on a full moon, she got married on a full moon. Now, the full moon saw her get forced out of the human village. Violet looked up and could imagine asking it for guidance. She felt it a little silly to do so, but the full moon was always there for important moments in her life, and right now, she had nothing else to turn to, except Starlight, who had been unresponsive since the day it transformed.
Meanwhile, up on the moon, the Lunarians looked down upon the impure, dirty Earth which they had freshly vacated.
"Savages," lord Tsukuyomi expressed, "the lot of them. Wallowing in their filth and ignorance, their primitive way of life, and most importantly, their impurity. That is why we have come here, to the Lunar Capital, our new home, to establish a place away from impurity."
"I will admit it was a clever plan," Eirin Yagokoro said, "but the humans are a skillful and crafty bunch. They already have civilization - primitive civilization, but civilization nonetheless. It won't be that long before they figure out how to get up here to the moon and discover us, even with the boundary we have set up to separate fantasy from reality."
Tsukuyomi's helmet obscured the look of seething contempt on his face as his fist shook. "That is what I fear," he answered. "Your insight, as always, is infallible. But I have created a plan to set the humans back for as long as possible."
"What is that?" Eirin asked him.
Tsukuyomi looked out his window down toward the Earth. "Their fears. Their fears of the unknown, how they create gods to look up to and to guide them. In the light of day, they fear little, but in the dark of night, the unknown can hide and prey on their emotions. The light of the moon can be used to render these fears into flesh. And that is what I intend to do. Observe."
He led Eirin out from his quarters and toward the vast gardens outside his palace, which had a direct view of Japan. Lifting his staff, he chanted a spell and the tip lit up, indicating that the magic was doing its work. From the surface of the moon, nothing seemed to be happening. But it was a different story on the Earth.
Violet looked at the moon more, and the more she did, the more it seemed to get brighter. And brighter. And brighter still, until she was not able to look at it. What was going on, she wondered?
A gust of wind blew under her clothes as the light intensified. Meanwhile, Starlight flew up into the air, gathering the moon's light and converting it into massive amounts of energy. Violet herself seemed to be reacting to it as well; she felt a strong aura build up both in and around her body. This power lifted her up off of the ground, causing her hair to float freely. Violet decided not to fight it and just let whatever was happening, happen. She felt an intense pressure build up within her for many moments, before finally bursting into light.
Once it was done, she gracefully fell back down to the ground onto her feet… wearing shoes. She had not been wearing shoes. She looked down, and found herself dressed in a white dress with puffy long sleeves and a purple tabard with various symbols emblazoned onto it, a parasol in her hand, and her head capped by a white mob cap with a red string tie on the front.
After checking out her appearance, her attention turned to Starlight, who was overflowing with energy from the moon. Suddenly, it burst into light, forcing Violet to avert her eyes. When she looked back, she could not believe what she saw: a very large, regal, and elegant bat-like creature with wings like the starry night sky and a head with a collar behind it like a crescent moon. It screeched a piercing shriek, before swooping down to an awestruck Violet, amazed to see what Starlight had become.
"Starlight…" she said, running up to it and hugging it. "I never thought… you would become so powerful." Starlight looked at her, proud that it made its mother happy with what it had become.
The tender moment was cut short, though. All of a sudden, the water beneath her rippled, and the bushes around her rustled. Frightened, she lifted her parasol in defense, while Starlight stood ready to shield her. Then, it happened: the first kappa crawled out of the water, the first kitsune and tanuki out of the trees, the first tengu dived out of the air toward her. All around her, youkai born from human fears and superstition surrounded her, and Violet, unsure of what these all were and what was going on, felt certain that this was the end. As she tensed up and braced herself for what would happen next, something unexpected happened.
They stopped.
And one by one, they bowed. All of them, the night sparrows, the yamibikos, the tengu, even the kappa, causing the water on their heads to spill onto the ground.
"Master," they said, first one at a time, then in unison.
And then she understood: these creatures, born from superstition and with a thirst for human blood, were led by her, and her alone. And she was one of them, despite her human form. The first of them. The first youkai.
Violet smiled, and chuckled. "Welcome, my children," she said. "Welcome to a new age. An age, where the humans whose fear created and rejected us, shall be preyed upon for all eternity. Where legends and myths shall reign supreme." Her noble laughter was joined by a chorus of giggles, chortles and haunting cries, with the screech of Starlight piercing above all of them. No longer was she the human Violet Cloud. From then on, she came to be known and feared throughout the valley as the leader of the youkai… the demon queen, Yukari Yakumo.
Incidentally, her boundary manipulation and related powers were retained by her daughter, and were never quite bred out of subsequent generations, a factor which Yukari would later consider when she selected one such descendent to be the first Hakurei Shrine Maiden.
The wormhole emerged onto a dim, grassy patch. Reimu was the first one out, and everyone else soon came after.
As they all collected themselves and Alice parked the Arwing in place, Reimu took a moment to size up the location in which they now found themselves. What she found filled her with foreboding.
"What's it lookin' like?" Marisa asked her. But that question soon answered itself as she and everyone else took a look around.
"My god…" Reimu muttered. "A recreation of Gensokyo…"
She was right: they were inside the Hakurei Border, but instead of the Gensokyo she knew, a dark, somehow incomplete copy occupied the space. Above them, the starry night sky, which was sometimes broken by wisps of Ultra Radiation which now coursed through the border.
"This is insane," Hau remarked. "I just wanted to go on my Island Challenge. I never thought it'd take me someplace like THIS."
"I could say the same," Reimu responded. "I don't think there's anyone here right now who could look at this scene and still claim sanity." She stepped forward. "Somehow, Necrozma managed to create a replica of Gensokyo, and has now filled the space within the border with it." She crossed her arms. "Just when I think this whole incident can't possibly get any more messed up, Necrozma comes by and throws yet another curveball, another problem to have to get sorted out."
Alice looked around and shook her head. "But this… this will not be reversed easily. Necrozma has overstepped its bounds. If and when it is cornered and defeated, it must be destroyed for its crimes."
"You don't think I already know that?" Reimu retorted.
Lillie came up to Reimu. "So… what happens now?"
Reimu looked around, and caught sight of it. On the opposite side of the valley from where they were, a shrine between two mountains, with a long set of stairs leading up to it.
"There," she said pointing with her gohei. "The shrine. I'm almost certain my doppelganger is there. If there's any sure way to bring this incident to an end, it'll probably involve fighting her and pumping her for answers. I hope you're all ready to fight as well."
They checked their Pokemon, healed if necessary, and looked up. "Seems like it," Elio said.
"Excellent." She motioned them to follow her. "Stay close to me."
The Ultra Wormhole had dropped them off on a grassy knoll near the Garden of the Sun. Reimu had decided not to fly to the shrine, since she didn't want to attract the attention of anyone living here, assuming anyone was here. Combined with the fact that their Ride Pagers didn't work here, that meant they had to walk the entire distance to the shrine. To get there, they had to cross the river, which was wide and deep. The real Gensokyo had a bridge that crossed the river near the Human Village, which was along the route to the shrine, so Reimu figured that would be the best place to cross if this replica Gensokyo had a similar bridge across the river.
The landscape was dreary and desolate. Everything was tinged a shade of blue, purple or black, with the occasional white stripes and spots here and there. In some places, trees were rendered as sharp, crystal spires with jagged spikes in place of branches. There wasn't even any wind, creating an eerie stillness which was broken only by the faint humming of the radiation streaming throughout the barrier, as well as their own footsteps, causing the hairs on everyone's skin to stand up and send shivers down their spine.
"This place gives me the creeps," Hau said. "It's dark, it looks like I'm on another planet…"
"You're not the only one who's scared," Reimu assured him. "I've just gotten very good at hiding it. Everyone here is scared. Scared of where we are, scared of what might happen. But we just have to put on a brave face. As long as we have each other, we'll make it through this." Hearing those words made Hau feel a little better, helping him regather his resolve to see this through. All they could do now was just move forward.
So far, the group didn't encounter any sign of life. On one hand, this meant there were no threats so far. On the other hand, it caused the place to be even more hollow and empty than it already was. Walking along the shore of the replica Misty Lake, the replica Scarlet Devil Mansion loomed large over the east shore like a supervillain fortress. The Youkai Mountain towered high above like a dark citadel, and the Myouren Temple stood above the valley like an ominous temple. Coursing through the middle was a slow but large and winding river, which the group walked alongside while they made their way to the bridge crossing. It was here that they encountered their first denizen.
Reimu halted the group and pointed it out. "Don't move," she cautioned. In the river, a head popped out. It looked like Nitori's, but pale and with dark black hair. The figure eyed them for a few seconds before sinking beneath the water and swimming upstream. Once she was sure the threat had passed, they continued toward their quarry.
After a while, they caught sight of the bridge. Next to it, two brightly colored figures stood out against the darkness, one with long blonde hair, and the other with short red hair.
"Hold it," Reimu said. "I think I recognize those two."
"Hey, aren't those Junko and Hecatia from recently?" Marisa asked.
"I think so," Reimu answered. The names rang a bell for Lillie and Hau, since those two names featured in one of Reimu's stories. From what Lillie could recall, one was a purity spirit, the other the ruler of Hell. And now, they were going to face them, face-to-face. The group continued, ready for whatever these two had up their sleeves.
"I gotta admit," Hecatia said, "I wasn't expecting Necrozma to do this ."
"Indeed," Junko affirmed. "We did say it could do anything with Chang'e's power once it killed her. But to replace Gensokyo with one of its own creation… just what all is it capable of? What kind of power does it wield?"
"That's what we'd like to know," Reimu cut in, her posse standing close behind. "So… you two again. You know, ever since this whole mess started, I had a feeling you were somehow involved."
"...ah," Hecatia said. "The shrine maiden. You're quite talented to make your way to this place."
Reimu held up her gohei threateningly. "You can dispense with the pleasantries. The only thing that matters right now is that you were conspiring with Necrozma, who has disrupted Gensokyo's order. I should terminate you for that crime, but before I do, I want you to tell me everything. What kind of deal did you make with Necrozma? Why were you conspiring with it?"
"Now now, we can settle this without violence," Junko said. "At least, violence between people."
"What do you mean?" Reimu asked. Then, Junko and Hecatia pulled out objects resembling Pokeballs, before tossing them to reveal a Solrock from Junko's, and a Lunatone from Hecatia's.
"This is a custom they perform in that world," Junko remarked. "Could you show us that experience? We can explain everything if you do."
Now this was unexpected, Reimu thought. Where did they get Pokemon from? Did Necrozma grant them?
"...so be it," Reimu grunted. "Lillie, care to back me up?"
"Oh, uh, sure," Lillie said, stepping up and sending out Adele to handle the two Rock-types. Reimu directed Stardust up to the plate and had it use Sunsteel Strike against Solrock, while Lillie directed Adele to use Sparkling Aria against Lunatone. Despite being a pair of powerful goddesses, Junko and Hecatia were still novice trainers, and the two Pokemon went down easily with barely any fuss.
"...sorry," Junko apologized. "We are still new at this."
"No pressure," Reimu said sarcastically. "Feel free to do whatever you need."
"As you wish," Junko answered, sending out another Pokemon, this time an Espeon, while Hecatia sent out a Torterra, a seemingly odd choice for her, but Reimu wasn't exactly complaining. Lillie switched Adele with Snowy, who froze Torterra up with Ice Beam while Sasha shrugged off Espeon's Psychic blasts to smash it into the ground and belly-slam it.
After this, the two goddesses sent out their respective trump cards: a Volcorona from Junko, and a Dusknoir from Hecatia. Analyzing them, now it made sense to Reimu: Junko was associated with the sun and each of her Pokemon had to do with the sun somehow, while Hecatia's represented the terrestrial, moon and spirit worlds respectively. It figured into their spell cards, it was only natural that their taste in Pokemon would match this tendency. In any case, these two Pokemon were actually competent: Dusknoir made use of Bulk Up, Shadow Punch, and even Brick Break to cover its Dark weakness, while Volcorona had the dreaded Quiver Dance, along with Fiery Dance, Bug Buzz and Psychic, meaning it could hit anything it wished at least neutrally. Adele at least could handle Volcorona by attempting to dowse it. For Reimu, she felt the best strategy would be to skirt Dusknoir by directing Sanae to fly out of punching range and pelt it with Air Slashes. All was well and good, until Volcorona went down. At that point, Dusknoir revealed its last trick, creating a weird gridded cube which surrounded the combatants. Immediately, both Adele and Sanae slowed down like molasses, while Dusknoir zipped around like a bug.
"What the…" Reimu said in disbelief.
"Trick Room," Lillie explained. "It twists the dimensions around the user. Pokemon that go slowly move fast, while fast Pokemon slow down."
"Great, fantastic," Reimu sarcastically said. She decided to recall Sanae and then think about the slowest Pokemon she had, which was a problem since up until now she had made sure to train all of her Pokemon to be quick on their toes to overwhelm the opponent and, most importantly, react fast. She shrugged and sent out Sasha, who at least had a type advantage over Dusknoir. Lillie, for her part, decided to keep Adele in, hoping her sheer crushing strength could be used against it, while Sasha attempted to cover her.
Dusknoir lunged at the two, with Sasha tanking a Shadow Punch meant for Adele. It responded by winding up a Brick Break. Reimu commanded Sasha to block the attack, which he did with a kick, before rising up and engaging Dusknoir to a Jotaro-style rapid-fire fistfight while Adele charged up Moonblast. At this point, Dusknoir reeled back, then launched forward with a powerful punch. Sasha bent himself backwards as far as he could to dodge the attack in bullet-time, before Dusknoir's face was met with Adele's Moonblast, strong enough to send it careening through the sky, only stopped by Hecatia recalling it, thus ending the fight with the Trick Room dissipating soon after.
"Impressive," Hecatia said leaning back. "That was pretty good."
"Hmph," Reimu grunted. "You were honestly expecting me to be to be a pushover? You should know I can easily translate my spell card experience to other kinds of battling."
"But to become so experienced in such a short time…" Junko shifted around. "Everything Reisen said about you was true."
Lillie stepped in. "Excuse me," she asked, "but are you two those goddesses from that story she told us where she went to the moon because you were trying to get revenge on someone?"
"That would be us," Hecatia boasted. "I am Hecatia Lapislazui, goddess of the three Hells." She split into three, with one blonde copy with a moon on her hat to her left, and a blue-haired copy with an Earth hat to her right. "Earth, Spirit World, and Moon," each one said, before recombining into one.
"And I am Junko."
"Wow…" Hau said, looking at Hecatia. Hecatia saw the boy seemingly staring at her generous and loosely-bound chest.
Hecatia coyly smiled. "My my, I never thought such a young boy could be so-"
"What a weird shirt," Hau remarked. And he wasn't exactly wrong, since she was wearing a shirt that said "WELCOME 3 HELL" on it.
Hecatia went stone-faced.
"Oh, don't mind him," Lillie said taking Hau aside. "Sometimes his mind just wanders, especially if he's in a new place." Hau pouted and tried to push her off of him.
"Are you… his sister, maybe?" Junko asked.
"Oh, no no," Lillie answered waving her hands. "We're just friends."
"Oh." Junko thought for a moment. "Then he is your boy-friend?"
"MEEP!" Both Lillie and Hau blushed and looked away again. "D-d-don't say that! We're not-"
"She doesn't see humans a lot," Hecatia explained. "So she's not good at talking to them."
Marisa whispered something to Reimu while this was going on. "Were these two knuckleheads really responsible for that incident?"
"Everyone I've ever dealt with is a knucklehead, including you," Reimu snarked.
Marisa shrugged. "Well, I guess it's just as Sanae said: there's no common sense here. Just didn't think it'd apply to people from somewhere else."
"Might have to do with not living in a 'normal' realm," Reimu suggested.
Elio stepped up to Junko and Hecatia. "So, I guess we're here because Necrozma is here somewhere. And you two have something to do with it?"
"Oh yeah, about that," Hecatia answered. "But before we get there, I guess some context would be important. I'm sure Reimu already told you all, but I'm sure you want to hear our side of the story first."
"Just make it brief," Reimu sighed. "We're kind of in a rush here."
Hecatia cleared her throat, then started, "alright, so a long, long time ago, there was this guy named Houyi and his wife, Chang'e, the Chinese moon goddess. There used to be a bunch of suns burning everything up, so he shot down all but one. But one of those suns fell on Junko's son, killing him. He also killed Apollo and made it so there were no shadows in Hell."
Junko added to this, "that bastard and his bastard wife…" she clenched her fist and teared up. "I killed him, and have been seeking to kill Chang'e ever since."
"She… used to have issues," Hecatia explained. "She made herself a being of pure rage in her quest to kill Chang'e. She's a bit more mellow now that we've actually done it, but-"
"Wait," Reimu cut in. "Isn't Chang'e a Hourai Immortal? Can't she not be killed?"
"Well, yeah," Hecatia said, "that and she was locked up on the moon for drinking the Hourai Elixir. We came up with this plan to smoke out the Lunar Capital with life-force filled Hell fairies so we could reach her, but didn't expect them to try and retreat into Gensokyo, prompting you guys to come up and beat us up." She paused and continued, "after that, we were kinda mulling around, trying to come up with other ideas on how to get her, and more specifically how to make her killable, when this big, ugly crystalline monster comes out of nowhere and hears our problem."
"Necrozma, I'm assuming," Reimu said with crossed arms.
"Yeah, Necrozma." Hecatia continued, "so, Necrozma says it can neutralize Chang'e and take her power, effectively killing her. All it needs is her location and to be allowed to use her power as it wants. Junko, just wanting to kill her, quickly agreed, but I wasn't so sure. After all, I rule Hell, so I know a faustian bargain when I see one, and this seemed just a little too convenient. But Junko wouldn't shut up about it, so I caved and accepted its deal. Few days later, it comes back to us, this time with its claws glowing blue, as proof it killed Chang'e."
"I see," Reimu said. "So it converted Chang'e plus the Hourai Elixir into some kind of energy in order to power itself up, in essence imbuing itself with her power. The power of a moon goddess."
"Yeah," Hecatia told her. "So, obviously, Junko's thrilled that it's finally done, and asks Necrozma what's next. It took us through a wormhole to this place, where we're at right now, this replica Gensokyo, except it was somewhere in 'Ultra Space.' It told us it made this place with its bare hands, and wanted it to be an exact copy of Gensokyo. I asked it why it did this, and it explained that for whatever reason, this Gensokyo had to replace the old one in order to stabilize the Hakurei Border. The old Gensokyo would be sent off to a 'safe place,' the place it sent you to presumably. After that, the two of us basically had front-row seats to when it transported the old Gensokyo out of the Hakurei Border, then it instantly popped this new one into the border. And all it needs now, according to Necrozma, is for something to come in and give it light, and that's why it's been waiting for you guys."
Reimu looked around, then noticed Sunshine. She then looked back, and realized something: everywhere Sunshine had stepped, she left small tracks of green, healthy grass and flowers, and the bottom of her feet were constantly glowing.
"Sunshine," Reimu realized. "It wanted us to bring Sunshine here so she could give this place light. The natural light of the sun in this realm won't cut it: it needs special light only she can create, like how the sun in Alola caused that other me to gain color and personality."
Alice tensed up. "And if we're right about it making Sunshine… does that mean we've been playing into its hands the whole time?"
"Possibly," Reimu surmised. "There may be limits to what it can do, so it's been using us to fill in the pieces. Just because it can overpower the sages and the Great Dragon doesn't mean it's as powerful as it wishes to be." A chill went up everyone's spines at that moment. A being strong enough to soundly defeat the almighty Great Dragon, who wasn't even at its full potential at the time. Just what kind of opponent was Necrozma? And if Sunshine really was another of its kind, and they had Solgaleo to match the Lunala Necrozma had possessed, then what kind of power did they have at their disposal?
Reimu shook her head. "Regardless, we're here now, and we will make Necrozma answer for its actions." She turned to Hecatia and Junko. "Perhaps you two could lead us to where it is? I may let you off the hook if you're fully cooperative."
Hecatia nodded. "Alright then. Follow us." She showed them across the bridge, but before crossing Junko addressed Lillie.
"What an interesting dress you're wearing," she remarked.
Lillie looked over her shoulder awkwardly toward the dancers. "They… forced me to wear it."
"Ah, yes, Okina's dancers really are eccentric, aren't they?" Junko slyly said. "Her dress sense is as odd as ever."
"You know her?" Reimu asked.
"Let's just say we go back a ways," she noted. "In any case, I can see you're quite embarrassed by it."
"That's putting it lightly," Lillie said.
"Then I have an idea," Hecatia said with bright eyes. "I keep some extra dresses around. How would you like if I put you into one of them?"
"Sure," Lillie wryly smiled. "Anything that isn't this gaudy dress."
Welcome 3 Alola
"..." Lillie was not amused. Now she was wearing a similar weird T-shirt and plaid skirt as Hecatia.
Hau opened his mouth, before Lillie shot him a red-eyed death glare with a dark aura. "Say anything and I will smack you."
"Eeep!" Hau jumped behind Reimu once again, who couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, you two," she joked. "Even in other dimensions, you can't get along." Lillie pouted and turned away, prompting laughs from everyone except a rightfully frightened Hau.
Once they were all done, Hecatia led them across the bridge to the Human Village. Passing through, there were a number of villagers lining the streets, each eyeballing the group, some curiously, some cautiously. They were just as unnerved by the group as the group was by them. Reimu recognized many of the faces in the crowd, such as the fortune teller before he turned himself into a youkai, Kosuzu's family, some farmers, and the owner of the cafe where she had tried to go to on the day the wormhole sucked her up. Necrozma was even diligent enough to include mostly accurate animals, such as cats, chickens and rabbits.
Reimu and everyone else made sure to keep their wits about them, ready to send out their Pokemon swiftly at the first sign of aggression. At the same time, Reimu made sure they did not appear threatening. It felt ironic, Reimu thought, for her to feel like she was an intruder in the village, a mysterious threat that was as unwelcome and standout as a blatant youkai in the real Human Village. Of course, maybe that was also because of the posse she had brought along with her, including Sunshine, who seemed to be drawing the most attention out of anyone, with her footsteps of light and changing the appearance of the world around her as she walked along.
After a few minutes, they emerged into the forest trail leading up to the shrine, which was similarly quiet as the walk to the village. The trail was dark, but Sunshine led the way, conjuring a light ball and giving it to Ichigo to balance on the tip of her "wand" like a torch. As if to parallel the day where this all started, their path crossed by two fairies, same as the ones fighting over food on that day, but instead of fighting, they just stood there, observing them from the trees and slowly turning their heads to face them as they passed by.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, they made it to the foot of the shrine steps. Waiting for them at the bottom were Ultra Marisa and Ultra Alice, whom Reimu was quick to go up to and accost.
"I'm assuming you two are the Alice and Marisa Necrozma created?" she asked harshly.
"Eh?" Ultra Alice said in surprise. "What did we do? You're scarier than usual!"
"...huh?" Reimu asked tilting her head.
"It's okay," Marisa said stepping in. "Let's just say we, er, ran into them the other day. They're like, super confused right now, you'll prolly make it worse."
"Like you're one to talk," Reimu balked.
"But she's right," Alice responded. "These two… Sunshine gave them light. They're… almost like children at this point. They couldn't see color before, they don't understand the world around them fully… most importantly, they think they're actually us. They might think you're that other Reimu and she doesn't treat them as harshly."
Reimu put her arms to her arms to her sides. "I see…" She eyed them, and succinctly said, "but man, I thought it got me wrong. Since when did Marisa have red hair?"
"Hey, what's wrong with red hair?" said Ultra Marisa, with a notably more refined voice than her counterpart. "I think it looks cute!" She raised her arms up to stretch, which caused her to puff out her chest a bit… making it clear she was a little more "endowed" there as well. Marisa couldn't help but stare down and grumble, while Reimu chuckled at her displeasure.
"I think it looks nice," Hau said stepping in. "It's like you're her shiny color!"
Ultra Marisa looked at him, confused. "Shiny? I'm not shiny."
"I don't mean literally shiny," Hau smiled. "That's just what we call Pokemon that are different colors from the usual. Like her red Gyarados!" he said pointing to Reimu.
"I thought mine was also a different subspecies," Reimu said.
"...Ah," said Ultra Alice. "You must be the original Reimu." She crossed her arms and pouted. "You're quite abrasive! Our Reimu is much nicer to us!"
"Sorry," Reimu clicked twirling her gohei about. "But I'm the real deal. If you think I'm a bitch, too bad. That's just how I am." She looked up the steps to the torii. "She's up there, isn't she?"
"Er, yeah," Ultra Alice said nervously.
Reimu stared up at the torii far up the steps, her fist clenched, her heart beating a million miles a minute and sweat slowly beading on the back of her neck as her breathing tensed. This is it, she thought to herself. Everything has been leading up to this fateful moment. The future of two worlds hinged on her victory here, no matter the steep odds against her. This sort of thing was what she had been training her entire life to face, but she still could not help but feel nervous knowing that she was about to face something which had forced the Great Dragon onto the ground and stomped on its head with its metaphorical heel. Even with the aid of the legendary Solgaleo and Sunshine at her side, she wondered what she, a human, could bring different to the battle.
She turned around, looking at everyone with her. All of them, friend and foe alike, gave her that look and nod, letting her know that she had to do this and they were ready to back her up in any way they could. And then, she felt something grasp her shoulder. It was Sasha. The fully-trained and evolved Incineroar looked at his trainer, seemingly trying to remind her of the day they first met, just recently, when it was but a mere Litten. To have grown so strong and fast since then illustrated how strong their bond was, how capable of a trainer Reimu was, how skilled Sasha was and the trials and battles they had been through together since that day. To be here right now was a testament to the strength of that friendship, and those of the rest of her team. Not only that, but the fact that Hau, Lillie, Elio, Marisa, Alice, the dancers, all of them were out here with her showed her how good she was at forming strong bonds with others, that people she had met only recently were actually out here with her on this crazy mission, about to become part of history.
She smiled. It was the most beautiful smile she had given in a long time.
"My friends," she said. "Thank you." Her resolve renewed, she began the march up, and slowly, everyone filed behind her.
Emerging at the top of the steps, the first thing Reimu laid eyes on was her counterpart, whose eyes met hers. She had been waiting for her and everyone else. Which was just as well, as Reimu had business to settle with her.
"Looks like I've finally found your hideout," Reimu quipped. "Now then, do you plan on settling this like a proper lady, or do I need to play rough?"
Ultra Reimu stared back, intimidatingly, clutching her gohei as the others looked on. "I…" she started, then paused, before reaching and getting out a piece of paper and reading it, like it was her script. Reimu put her hand in her face at this embarrassing sight that took all the tension out of the air at once. After a moment, she put the script away and looked at them once more.
"Greetings," Ultra Reimu said in an overly dramatic tone. "My master has been expecting you and-" She caught sight of Ultra Marisa/Alice. "Oh, you two! They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"No," Ultra Marisa said, "but you didn't tell me she was super rude!"
" Ahem ," Reimu coughed crossing her arms and tapping her feet. "We had kind of a moment going on here, could you please check your gripes someplace else?"
"See what I mean?" Ultra Marisa whispered as she and Ultra Alice walked to the side.
"Now then, just cut straight to the point," Reimu snapped. "Where is Necrozma?"
"I don't know," Ultra Reimu answered. "He said He was going someplace else for a little while and he'd be right back! He told me to test you once you came here?"
Reimu scrunched her eyebrows. "' Once I came here?' Was He expecting our arrival? Please, tell me the truth if you don't want me to break my foot off in your-"
"Alright, alright! I get it!" Ultra Reimu said shaking her hands. "Geez… did they not teach you manners?" She reached down to pick back up an ofuda that she had dropped when she jumped… making it clear Ultra Marisa wasn't the only one Necrozma had "enhanced." Reimu struggled to remain stoic while Marisa was behind her snickering at the irony.
"I have to say, when I was holding off against the Great Dragon, I thought I was grass," she remarked.
"Rightfully so," Reimu sneered. "Blasting Yukari with Photon Geyser isn't something I can let slip. Just because she's irritating and double-sided doesn't mean I don't care about her. I'm sure the Great Dragon felt the same way. And if you don't want me to finish what the Great Dragon attempted, you will politely tell me what is going on and what your master's plans are."
"Haaah," Ultra Reimu sighed letting her arms down. "Well, as you can see and I'm sure you've already figured out, this is what He meant by replacing Gensokyo. He created an entirely new one within Ultra Space and put it here so that the border could be compatible with Ultra Radiation. As a result, the Border shall now last for all eternity."
Reimu crossed her arms again. "I find it a little hard to believe that's it's being totally sincere. For all I know, it just wants to take over the Barrier and twist it to suit its own alien needs for god knows why. And besides, the Border can always sustain itself on sufficient faith. That's my whole job, after all, to make sure it gets what it needs in order to stay up."
"That's exactly the problem, though," Ultra Reimu said. "I've never actually seen the Outside, but He explained to me that the rampant loss of faith and belief in the fantastic and gradual loss of hope on the Outside was causing the Barrier to irreversibly corrode, taking all the youkai and everything else with it once it inevitably collapses. That's why it's doing this, in order to safeguard the fantastic for millennia to come."
Reimu pointed her gohei at her double and said, "look, I came here because I want to make Necrozma speak for its actions with its own mouth, not let some lackey that it may or may not have lied to yak words at me. Now you summon your master here right this second, or else I'm going to have to make you, one way or another."
"Eh…" Ultra Reimu grunted. "Alright. Yes, Necrozma was expecting your arrival, just as you suggested. He's been monitoring you since your birth, keeping you out of harm's way, and looking over your entire journey up to this point. All this time, He's been trying to bring you up to be strong. And He gave me one more request before He showed himself to you."
"And what is that? A battle of some sort?" Reimu asked her, tapping her foot.
At that moment, Ultra Reimu swiftly sent out a Pokeball, out of which came… and Incineroar, just like Sasha, except it had an evil look and both a Totem aura and a strange shadowy sub-aura.
"He told me the best way to assess your strength was to have you battle yourself," Ultra Reimu explained. "Do you know your own team well enough that you can defeat it? This will be a one-on-one battle with no allies."
Reimu was a bit shocked: she had a perfect copy of her team, down to the skills and moves they used, and now she had to overcome her team, with her team, in order to win, and not only that but presumably all of them were permanently powered up as well.
"Ghch," Reimu grunted. "If her whole team has a Totem Aura… sure I can get past one Totem, but a bunch all in sequence and on my own?"
She felt a tug on her shirt, and when she turned around it was Sunshine.
"I… want to try something. With Stardust." She walked over to Stardust, who was getting ready to fight. She met it face-to-face, looked down, and closed her eyes. After a while, Stardust nodded.
"What is it?" Alice asked Sunshine.
"I was asking for Stardust's blessing to do what I'm about to do," Sunshine explained. "If we combine our powers, we can take down the other Reimu."
Sunshine stepped back from Stardust, held out her arms, and concentrated. The others stood back as she did this. Within moments, beams of light emanating from her, and she began to float in the air. Then, a hole burned its way through her dress, revealing a multicolored crystal, the same as the one in Rumia's head, erupting from her chest. The crystal floated over Stardust, before Sunshine disintegrated into several balls of light which shot toward and engulfed Stardust. Finally, the crystal slammed down onto the light, causing a brilliant flash which forced everyone to avert their eyes.
When they looked back, they couldn't believe what they all saw.
"What the…" Marisa flatly said. Everyone else was too stunned to say anything.
Emerging from the light was a figure resembling Stardust, but glowing and covered in various black crystalline parts, including two arms jutting out from its back, fierce-looking black claws, and a visored face with two antennas sticking out from it. It drew back before letting loose a deafening, distorted roar. True to Sunshine's word, the two had combined their strength, with Stardust lending its power to Sunshine and the little girl assuming control. As a final touch, a spectacular aura flared up, boosting its considerable strength to astronomical levels.
The Mane of Dusk, Sunshine.
Sunshine's first act was to slam the ground, causing numerous stones to erupt from the ground and rush toward Incineroar - Stone Edge - hitting the target before it could react and causing it to disintegrate into darkness.
"Huh," Reimu observed, "so they're just illusions, copied from my Pokemon."
Ultra Reimu then sent out Gyarados. Being the Water/Dragon variant instead of Water/Flying, it was the only member of her team not weak to something Stardust possessed… except Sunshine had Dragon Pulse, which she used by opening the lion's mouth and firing it at Gyarados, knocking it out and having it too dissipate into shadows.
"Nice!" Reimu cheered on. "Keep it up!" She didn't even have to issue commands; Sunshine seemed to know what she was doing.
"Good job, squirt!" Marisa similarly cheered.
It was mostly the same deal for the next three Pokemon Ultra Reimu sent out: both Magnezone and Lucario had Ground weaknesses which were capitalized upon with Earthquake, while Aerileon was taken down with a well-placed Stone Edge. The group all cheered and rooted on for Sunshine as she and Stardust tore through the opposing team.
"I see," Ultra Reimu expressed. "Sunshine possesses considerable power… just as would be expected from Master's equal."
"You mean creation," Reimu said back. "C'mon, we know already. It created Sunshine. The big question is why. Surely it wouldn't want to have something around that could stop it."
"I'm sure the answer is evident if you look at her tracks," Ultra Reimu smiled. And she was right: the battlefield was being painted with bits of lively turf against the dull dreariness of the landscape as Sunshine danced around the battlefield. "He can't give this place the light it needs. But she can. She wields the power of the Alolan Sun not found anywhere else, even in the Pokemon World. And now that power is combined with Solgaleo's. So her name is very apt."
"And Necrozma represents the moon and dark of night," Reimu responded. "More like a black hole, with how it sucks light right up." She stamped her foot. "But we'll burn away the night, and baptize it with the light of day!"
"Let's see you try," Ultra Reimu playfully taunted, finally picking up some of the original's personality. Tossing out her last Pokeball, it revealed none other than her signature Naganadel.
"Let me tell you something about Naganadel," she went on. "The realm it comes from was one which has no sunlight whatsoever. When Necrozma arrived there long ago, it drained away what little light there was everywhere it went. Of course the people living there feared and worshipped it as a god, even building a tower to appease it and grant it light so it could leave them alone. Poipole is a popular first companion in that realm, so they sometimes offered those as well. Naganadel here was one such offering."
Reimu tilted her head. "So, a starter Pokemon, same as Rowlet, Litten and Popplio?"
"Correct," Ultra Reimu said. "It's been at my side for as long as I can remember. We train together, eat together, sleep together and yes, fight together. One could say it's my familiar, my 'stand,' but I prefer to consider it my partner. In battling you, we came to hone our strategy more and more." She then held up a Z-Ring, one with a Firium-Z on it. "And now, my best strategy ever will be put to the test."
Sensing danger, Sunshine used her power to bring forth a blank Z-Crystal. She then headbutted it, causing power to pour into it until it transmuted into an all-new Z-Crystal… the Solgalium-Z. Reimu snatched it up, placed it on her Z-Ring, and flashed her new tool to the crowd.
"Very well," she dared. "The test has started. Put away your phones, take off your earbuds, no chewing gum or eating food." She started doing the Steel-type dance. "You have 30 seconds to live." Completing the pose, energy flushed into Sunshine, prompting a roar and a jump up high into the air, whereupon she began a mighty charge straight toward Naganadel.
"Not if I have any say in it," Ultra Reimu shot back, performing the fire-type dance and similarly powering up Naganadel. "Now, INFERNO OVERDRIVE!"
Naganadel charged up, then shot a column of searing flames which looked like lava at Sunshine. Meanwhile, mid-charge, Sunshine began to somersault, before spinning so fast she looked like a fast-moving metal ball with two sticks jutting out of the side, surrounded by a powerful corona capable of resisting any attack. The two forces collided, creating a loud bash and sending sparks everywhere. The flames were resisted by the corona, but a few sparks still managed to sneak in, fizzling out against the hard, crystalline armor.
The beam of fire started to push Sunshine back, but neither her nor Reimu were about to let Naganadel win out. Reimu pointed and shouted at Sunshine, "c'mon, you can do it! Plow right through it!" Along with the encouragement came another short burst of energy from her Z-Ring, enough to give Sunshine just the push she needed to slowly charge through the fire. Naganadel's attack weakened as the Z-Power wore off, further easing the force against Sunshine until, finally, she collided with it, creating a massive fiery explosion with metallic lights shooting out in all directions from it, Searing Sunraze Smash.
As the dust settled, Sunshine crashed onto the ground behind Reimu, while Ultra Reimu shot Naganadel a Full Restore before recalling it.
"Having equal capability means nothing without the same level of skill backing it up," said Reimu. "Which is not to say you're not a strong opponent; you did, after all, defeat the Sages, and are the only person in history to have directly faced off against the Great Dragon and not die. But my skills in battling Pokemon outclass yours, and without the blessings of your god your power is much less, like me. Thing is, I'm much better at fighting without them. You have much to learn if you want to be my equal."
Ultra Reimu looked up. "Outstanding. Your capability is as Master expected."
Reimu tapped her foot. "Now then… about what I was saying about you coughing up everything about this incident." She came forward, and pressed her gohei up against Ultra Reimu's forehead. "Now, spill it!"
"I don't need to spill anything," said Ultra Reimu.
"And why not?" Reimu sneered.
A distorted screech came from the sky, and everyone looked up.
"You said you wanted to hear it from Him personally, right?" Ultra Reimu asked. "Well, your wish is granted."
Soon after, an Ultra Wormhole tore open above them, and descending down from it, a creature with wings like dawn and covered in crystalline spikes and armor. Unfurling its arms, it faced off against Sunshine. The scene was silent but tense, and everyone just stood there in awe.
Rotom dutifully took down these two figures, knowing this would likely be its only opportunity to do so. On the left, Dusk Mane Necrozma. On the right, Dawn Wings Necrozma. Sun and Moon. Day and Night. Dusk and Dawn.
But more unclear… good and evil… or grey and grey?
