/The Steel Floor/

After taking out the Kai Copy with ease, the Zen Manifest traveled to the Steel Floor to further increase his strength and durability by absorbing as many Steel Gems as he could. He had been on the floor before, and was surprisingly greeted by the local Parasect. They even brought him to their Elder, who was obviously nervous about his appearance.

This time, once the Manifest arrived on the floor, he was met with a Pokémon he wasn't expecting to see.

A miscolored Hitmonchan.

"I was... unaware of there being more Pokémon than those pursuing my Lord and her protector. State your business, or refrain from intervening with my test." The Manifest stated. The Hitmonchan threw it's head back and a sound that hardly simulated laughter filled the room. Distorted voices of all pitches and tones echoed throughout the room.

"You... strong..?" It asked without bringing it's face back down.

"I would say so, yes. It is through this strength that I hope to impress my Lord, and be bestowed life. However, I require more Gems to sustain this level of strength. There are a few... troublesome parties I have no doubt will need to be eradicated before I succeed."

"Strong want... stronger..? Strong... follow..." Again the Hitmonchan laughed, and faced the wall behind the Manifest. In an instant, the Fighting Type was out of the Manifest's vision. It's speed astounded the Manifest, and what it did next also intrigued the Bisharp.

He erupted with a jade-green aura, his own body incapable of keeping together from the aura's force. He raised up one of his fists and tapped it on the wall. Green flames pierced through the walls and floor, and when a flame shot up near the Manifest he felt intense cold throughout his body. He laughed, for it was the first time he could feel something so profoundly.

From the flames burned a passage leading downward. It seemed to never end, and there was an odd odor coming from it. It was evident that this Hitmonchan was extraordinarily powerful, leagues above the Zen Manifest or anyone else that ventured into this Dungeon. The Manifest knew this would bring ill tidings, but the unspoken promise of power persuaded what was left of his mind.

"I take it you request I follow you, am I correct?" The Manifest questioned with a maniacal grin on his face. The Hitmonchan liked back with an equally unnerving grin and laughed.

"Strong... stronger..! Strong... faster..! Strong... get... LIFE!" The Hitmonchan spoke, leading the Manifest through the passage.

"Those were the exact words I wanted to hear..." The Manifest replied, gladly following the Hitmonchan. As they went deeper into the passage, they only trace of them left was their distorted, devilish laughter that reverberated throughout the entire floor.

/?/

The Manifest was led to a pitch black area, with nothing but a single path, seemingly bottomless pits on either side, and an overbearing stench that threatened to knock him out with every breath. Despite that, he didn't care. He could feel pressure emanating from a point of unworldly power, which he started to assume was the source of this foul odor as well, since the closer he got to it, the stronger both the pressure and the odor became.

Although the Zen Manifest yearned for the power he was being led to, his artificial body was giving out. He was cautious with the power he took in from the gems, but went well over his limit without giving his body time to properly process it and build itself upon it. With the pressure being too much to withstand and practically draining his body of it's strength, and the stench overwhelming what few senses he had, the Bisharp felt his body start to fade and fell to his knees.

"I-I cannot tread any further, my friend! This pitiful body has not yet reached it's full potential, and has failed me!" The Manifest said, pounding his fist on the path and cracking it. "P-Please, lend me your strength! I bet of you!"

"Strong... friend..?" The Hitmonchan asked.

"Yes! You are my friend! My one and only friend! Please, lend me your strength!"

"Strong... friend... Strong. . . friend . . ."

When the Manifest looked up, he saw nobody standing there anymore. He looked around and saw nothingness behind him, and nothingness before him. He was on a single piece of rock in the midst of a sea of darkness. The pressure grew more intense, and the feeling of being crushed brought a sadistic grin to the Bisharp.

"Friend... help... friend..." the Hitmonchan's voice spoke from the void. "Friend... Strong... we... Stronger..."

"We will indeed be stronger together..." the Manifest replied. His body shook as he forced himself to stand.

"Kill... friend... give... life..." The voice spoke. "Strong... life... is... strongest..!"

"Yes... make me the strongest... make me whole..! Grant me life, my friend! Grant me life and I will grant you EVERYTHING you desire!"

"Strong... and... us... STRONGEST!" The voice grew to an immeasurable volume, shattering the stone beneath the Manifest and breaking apart his body. Bliss in the form of pain shot through the Manifest's skull, and the emptiness he felt within himself began to be filled with a vivid-jade green. His eyes erupted in flames, the same color as the aura that now burst from his body, his red turning into royal blue and his metal parts becoming shinier. The Manifest pulled his body together with the aura he was gifted, and the pain from his limbs reattaching themselves was ecstasy to him. Horrid, distorted laughter broke free from his mouth, as he was able to feel everything! All the pain, all the pressure, he couldn't just smell the stench anymore, he could taste it and recognize it! This was the stench of death, and he took pleasure in every breath of it he took!

"Yes! YES! This... THIS is life!" The Bisharp exclaimed. "My body, is filled with blood! I can feel it... coursing throughout me!" In a gruesome display of life, the Bisharp sliced his arm clean off and drenched himself in the thick life that now ran through it. He relished this moment, basking in his new life and the power that stemmed from it. He reattached his arm and shook with pleasure as he felt it swell with life once more.

"Strong... now... Strong!" The voice echoed through the Bisharp's head.

"Yes... I am Strong... I am Strong..! I AM STRONG!" The Bisharp roared, his voice distorted and no longer recognizable. "I... Am..."

ALIVE!

/The Psychic Floor/

Jirachi shot awake, not the first time this has happened, but the cause was a bit different than the normal nightmare. Normally, every dream he's had brings him to a place that is pitch black and smells like death, a place he'd purposefully sealed off in honor of what happened, and he finds another himself and wakes up. This time, however, he saw a Pokémon being led down a tunnel by a Hitmonchan, a Hitmonchan he knew was long dead. He had changed his colors, but Jirachi recognized him the instant he laid eyes on him. A feeling of dread filled the air, and Jirachi tried to swallow his fear and find Diana and the others.

Mew also felt the sudden dread, because she instinctively wrapped herself tightly around Jirachi and began to panic. Her heartbeat was pounding so hard that Jirachi could feel it all around him. He wrapped his arms around his little sister and soothed her, using her as a reason to keep himself calm.

"We're going to find Diana and get out of here." He told Mew. "She and her friends must have found a way out by now, and they're probably waiting for us."

Mew started holding Jirachi tighter. "Wh-What happening, Jirachi? I-Is Mom c-coming to save us?"

"I-I..." Jirachi let out a deep sigh and smiled warmly at Mew. "We're going to be fine, Mew. I promise. In fact, I guarantee that we'll be able to see the Sun again, very soon."

"R-Really? The S-Sun..?" Mew asked. Jirachi nodded and hugged Mew again.

"You bet. Let's go find the others, ok? We can look in the Dragon Floor first, since that's where that room you keep talking about is." Jirachi replied with a smile. The Wish Pokémon forced himself to believe his own words, trying as hard as he possibly could to keep up his confidence. The last thing he wants is for Mew to be scared, especially now.

/The Dragon Floor/

Lee, Zeke, and Kai were met totally unexpectedly by one of Kai's Copies and one Rio. The Outlander leaned against a wall, tossing a rough-cut gem up and down. The Wolf could tell that it was the Adamant Orb, and was intrigued as to how the Outlander had acquired such an artifact.

"If it isn't the Hero I've heard so much about." The Lycanroc spoke in a different tone than normal. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this encounter."

"Save the pleasantries. I'm aware of your status as a Villain around here, Villain! I knew it was a matter of time before you came for your underling." Rio replied, also in a different tone than he normally would use.

"So, you've come to apprehend me? By using my own pawn as bait? My, my, not very heroic now, are you?"

"I am NOT and underling, OR a pawn!" The Kai Copy (Z3) exclaimed.

"I have done no such thing! I am pleased to inform you that I ran into this Zoroark unexpectedly! And after one of us accidentally struck the other in the head, and then profusely apologized for it for several minutes, we decided to await your arrival to strike a deal." The Lucario said, a gleam coming to his scarlet red eyes.

"A deal? I am quite fond of those, as I am sure you could tell." The Wolf chuckled and placed a claw under his chin. "Now, grace my ears with this... deal of yours."

"It has come to my attention that your underlings are being pursued by another of your underlings that have gone rogue. I am also well aware of your intended goal of finding the Time Gear, as well as your Master. It is with this knowledge that I have concluded to a solution that shall benefit us both." The Lucario explained. "I am willing to conduct, a trade."

"A trade? That would imply that you believe I have something that you desire, Hero. While I have a soft spot for guessing games, we both know time is of the essence, and I cannot spend exorbitant amount of time debating about the possible items and goals that a Hero such as yourself would have, other than my capture. I will deduct the plausibility of myself being an option for trade, however, seeing how my capture is not of high importance, and will instead assume you intend to trade my pawn for my Villain companions?" Lee motioned towards Kai and Zeke, a delightfully devilish grin on his face.

"Once again... not a damn pawn!" Z3 exclaimed.

"And... I'm not a villain..." Zeke said, getting patted on the shoulder by Kai.

"Honestly, let's just humor them. I can't tell if they planned this somehow, but if this is entirely improvised, then I am thoroughly impressed." The Other Zoroark told the Blaziken.

"You are quite extraordinary when it comes to guessing games, which I am quite pleased we finished in a timely manner. After all, this rogue you need to detain sounds like quite the formidable foe. I would assume you would use this underling as some form of bait to lure this rogue within your villainous clutches, and do onto him something I'd rather not dwell on due to the lack of time to freely explain the intricacies of your plan to properly dispose of this menace." The jackal replied.

"You would be correct, proving that you are indeed mentally capable enough to battle wits with me, however we will have to pursue that notion at a later date, as we both cannot stress enough the importance of this dire situation regarding my pawns. Surely, this pawn has informed you of the loss of one other pawn, and the tragic end that led to her untimely demise?"

"That is correct, Villain. Perhaps, I may have misjudged you and your moral alignment. There is a possibility that, in another life, you and I are entangled in quest after quest, trying to prove that one is superior to the other in a friendly manner, and even coming to the others side in their time of need." The Lucario said with a dramatic sigh.

"Wait.. you're gonna use me as bait?!" Z3 just now caught on, probably too busy processing the exorbitant number of words to stay caught up on what's being said.

"Again, if this is entirely improvised, I will be totally impressed." Kai said.

"Another life, another time. Regardless, I have decided it would be best to also inform you of my plan, atleast the plan I had prior to this meeting with you and my underlying. You see, my companion here (Kai) was to wait for me and my other companion to lower the physical state of the traitorous rogue, then finally dispel that Pokémon, in order to stop the danger he posed should he become too powerful for my villainy to control." The two canines shook their heads solemnly, making it difficult for the others to tell what the hell was actually happening.

"That plan does indeed sound plausible, dare I say, it may be one of the most soundproof plans I've ever had the pleasure in hearing! But... we both know that isn't enough now, don't we? Not too long ago, a sinister surge of satanic savagery shook this subterranean sector, sending a shock up my soles to my sinuses and producing a sharp sneeze from my snout. Now, Villain, I am mostly positive you yourself felt these tenacious tremors, and may have already been restructuring your plan prior to our meeting."

"You've once again allowed me to witness your wit within it's entirety, Hero! I'd congratulate you, if I had the ample time to do so. But I've come to a horrendous halt, losing hopes in having another plan, giving my heralding headaches in the midst of heated thought within my head! However! Our surprise run-in as given myself an even better plan!" Lee's eyes lit up and hr stretched out a paw towards the Lucario. "Hero! I request that you allow my minions to accompany you on a quest to stop this rogue! I am entirely certain that with the strength you possess, you and your companions can endure against this adversary long enough for me to arrive with the Time Gear in tow and freeze this foe in time for eternity!"

"By god, you mad genius you! Acquiring the Time Gear will greatly assist in our takedown of this tough tool of evil! In fact, according to your underlying, two of my companions have already set out to secure several missing members of our justice-seeking set of do-gooders! In a mere moments time, they should all arrive with the necessary items to uncover the mystery of this room full of history that we have deduced is the resting place of the ancient gear capable of warping time and space!"

"That's... actually really smart. Good job you two, I actually understood something you said in the past five minutes." Kai said, disrupting the groove the other two had by grabbing hold of Rio and dragging him towards the Stone Door. "I'll try and see if we can find the Manifest before he finds us."

"Could we also find something that can take away a migraine? Listening to these two poorly produce proper sentences for the sake of sounding stoic and subversive is messing up my head." Zeke groaned.

Z3 rolled her eyes and followed the Pokémon that were leaving until Lee stopped her. The Wolf let out a sigh and looked at Kai for a moment before saying anything.

"Kai... would it be alright if this one stays with me? I'm not sure how much truth this has, but... don't you think this Manifest might be at a point where he can take in the energy of others? Wouldn't it be smart to have less of us fighting him at once?" Lee asked. Kai shrugged.

"I'll be honest, after that wave of power earlier, what little ability I had to sense the Manifest was severed. He could already be dispelled, and the feedback is being delayed by something else down here. If you think it would be safer to keep her here, be my guest."

"No!" Z3 exclaimed, pulling her shoulder away from Lee. "That dual-type bastard killed my sister! If anyone's gonna make him pay for it, it'll be me!"

"We both know you can't do that. Even with Diana's help, she didn't stand a chance! All she could do was run and cast illusions, but those barely even worked on him... He's physically stronger than us right now, and it's pretty obvious that he can endure more hits than you, too!" Kai told her Copy. Z3 threw her arm to side in anger, a short burst of energy lifting up her mane and rustling her fur.

"I don't give a damn about that! If I have to punch him a million times, then I sure as hell will! That pompous bastard is gonna get what he deserves, and I'm gonna be the one to deliver it to him!" Z3 declared, tears rushing down the side of her face. Kai sighed and crossed her arms.

"...Fine. I know how you're feeling, I feel the same, and I know how little arguing is going to convince you..." The Other Zoroark said. As Z3 was getting closer, Kai suddenly pointed her claw at the Copy and gave her a stern expression. "But! The moment things go south, I'm sending you to come back here and get Lee and whoever else is here. I don't want any complaints about it, either. Got it?"

"Sure, whatever! Let's just go!" Z3 agreed impatiently.

"Sweet! Now, where should we start lo-!" The Outlander turned to open the door, but instead got a face full of fur. A Zoroark with a short mane appeared right as the Lucario was talking, and was caught by surprise by someone bumping into her and subsequently choking on what's left of her mane.

"Diana?" Zeke asked, still holding his head.

"Huh? Zeke?" Diana looked around a little before actually turning to see other Pokémon standing there. Rio was on the floor, coughing up red strands of hair, Zeke was standing next to him massaging his head, there was a Lycanroc she feel like she should remember, and two Zoroarks that were completely identical to each other. Diana swiftly went over and hugged the two Zoroarks, not entirely processing that there was two of them. "O-Oh my goodness! You made it out! And there's... two of you..?"

"Uh... hi, Diana!" Kai said awkwardly. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but..."

"We're actually, uh, twins! A-And no... our sister didn't..." Z3 said, clenching her fist and gritting her teeth. Diana held the two Zoroarks tighter, gently rubbing their backs.

"I am, so sorry. I tried my best to stop that Zen, but..." Diana apologized. "If only i was stronger..."

"No, you did amazing! I'm just glad you're awake now!" Kai said, hoping to cheer the Zoroark Outlander a little. "If you weren't there, we wouldn't know what we'd be going up against now, so... thank you."

"Alright, but to make it up to you, I'll still lend a paw and fight with you two. And, I already know a little about this Copy, Manifest stuff, so you don't have to pretend you're twins. Plus, you'd be triplets." Diana replied, winking at Z3. "I'll assume, since you tried to cover it up, that you're the Copy, and this one is the original?"

"Y-yeah... I kinda forgot you knew. Didn't think I'd be outted so fast, though! You're pretty smart for however old you might be!" Z3 joked, getting glared at by Kai and Rio. The Copy immediately apologized, but Diana didn't seem to mind.

"We're on our way to confront that Manifest now, actually. Do you think you're ready to fight?" Zeke asked. "Also, hi! I think it's been a while!"

Diana giggled at Zeke's comment. "Oh, you have no idea! And yes, I'm ready for a battle! I went to the Electric Floor and restored a good amount of strength thanks to the gems there, I'll make sure that fake Bisharp has an electrifying time!" The Mother snorted at her own pun and giggled an apology about it, causing the three guys in the room to clutch their chests and wince.

"Great! Let's show that Bisharp what for!" Z3 cheered, throwing open the stone door and jumping right in.

"You've gotta be- WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING, DAMMIT!" Kai yelled, running in after her Copy.

The others waved goodbye and entered the door, except for the "Hero," who gave a respectful nod at the "Villain" before leaving. Lee grinned for a moment, but frowned and crossed his arms the next. He was pretty good at feeling when things aren't going to go as planned, like this entire visit to Sunset Valley for example. But, as much as he hoped he was wrong this time, Lee could practically feel dread seeping in from the walls, floor, and ceiling.

"Be careful, Kai." He said quietly. "And you better keep her safe, Hero."

/Giratina Floor/

Kai shot awake, accidentally waking Mia and Skully in the process. K2 was already on high alert, and Z2 was standing behind him, also on her guard. Kai and the two Copies felt an immense wave of power surging from above.

"What was that, and why do I hate everything about it?!" Kai asked, jumping into K2's mane for protection.

"I have no idea, but I know it is bad! We should get moving, like, now!" K2 ordered. "First, we get to that large source of energy, then we find an exit!"

"Hey, maybe we'll be lucky and the power source is like, right next to the exit!" Z2 said nervously. "Someone please tell me I'm not the only one getting a bad feeling about that bad feeling..."

"Aye, even I know somethin's wrong, and I don't even have any nerves!" Skully replied. "Mayhaps, we can speed this expedition along?"

"Yeah, I'm on it! The sooner we get out, the sooner we can regroup with the others and leave this dungeon!" K2 said, getting on all fours and sprinting down the long chamber.

Z2 did the same, but had trouble catching up. The further they got, the stronger the pressure became, and Z2 was still cautious about how much energy she borrowed from Kai despite his constant assurance that she'll be fine. It took them a little while, but the group eventually came across a stone door. However, there was something off about it.

When they reached the door, Z2 was the first to try and examine it. She carefully grabbed hold of it, and a sudden chill pierced through her body, causing her to fall backwards. The female Copy shivered and chattered her teeth, and she was even cold to the touch!

"Wh-Wh-What was th-that?!" Z2 chattered, summoning a flame to heat herself up.

"Let me try." K2 said, cautiously approaching the door. He tensed up a little, then quickly grabbed hold of the stone and braced for a chill, but... nothing happened.

The Kora Copy repeatedly grabbed the door, trying to trigger the same chill that hit Z2, but there wasn't anything other than stone to him. Even Kai attempted to touch the door, Mia too, and nothing happened! Once Z2 warmed up, she tried to touch the door again, thinking that maybe the chill was a one-time thing to ward off intruders. She firmly laid her paw on the door and instantly regretted it, practically freezing the second she touched the door.

"That's weird... how come we don't freeze up like that?" K2 asked aloud.

"Maybe because we have the totally awesome power of Hellfire! Maybe the door thinks we're super cool heroes!" Kai said, brimming with excitement. He and Mia touched the door and tried to push it open. "Open says me, stone door! Let us heroes through!"

"It's 'open sesame,' Kai." The Kora Copy correct the Zorua.

"What do seeds have to do with opening doors?" Kai asked. He and Mia managed to open the door without paying attention, and both fell flat on the ground. "See? Open says me, so the door opens!"

The two kids trotted into the now open door, nothing of note on the other side except for eerie darkness. K2 helped Z2 up, accidentally warming her back up, and walked in behind Kai and Mia. Once Z2 tried to follow behind, she froze up the moment she walked past the doorway. It was actually much worse than when she just touched the door, causing her to yelp and fall back again. This time, K2 caught her before she hit the ground.

"I don't think this place is a fan of you, huh?" The Kora Copy joked.

"N-No kidding..." Z2 replied with a small grin.

"I think I can, carry you? Maybe Hellfire actually is the trick to getting through here." K2 offered, crouching with his back turned to Z2. "Have you ever had a piggy back ride before?"

"How is a piggyback ride gonna work with all this hair?" Z2 asked, practically falling onto K2's back. His mane lightly pushed around her, enveloping her in a blanket of comfort. Then adding to that was the heat coming from K2's back, enough to make her melt the second it hit her. Z2 was taken so off guard she let out a slight purr unknowingly, which was felt by K2 entirely.

"... I didn't know foxes could purr..." He said, causing a bit of heat to rush to Z2's face.

"Eh-hem! L-Let's hurry and catch up with Kai and Mia!" The embarrassed Zoroark tried to change the subject. Her attempts were in vain when a disembodied head popped up from the mane.

"Actually, a lot of Pokémon and animals can purr, not just cats. Foxes just so happen to be on the list!" Skully added.

"Alright, undead Encyclopedia, goodbye!" Z2 pushed the head back into the fur.

/A Few Mintues Later/

There wasn't anything to see, really. Like, literally, nothing to see. It was pitch black, and even when either Copy made a flame, it didn't light anything up. For all they knew, they were walking on air. K2 began calling for Kai and Mia, but he didn't get any responses. It was starting to worry the two Zoroarks, and they began to wonder if something bad happened.

"I wouldn't worry about anything bein' down here other than us." Skully said, startling both Copies. "It's safe to assume anything that tried to open that door either gave up or froze solid, and I didn't see any ice sculptures outside."

"What if there was something down here before we opened the door?" K2 asked.

"Ya mean in the hidden area of the most abandoned floor with increasing pressure that has been sealed away for Arceus knows how long? Aye, there should definitely be somethin' down here alive enough to fight us."

"You're still alive, and I don't believe I need to explain why that's reason enough for worry."

C'mon guys, let's just get through this and mind the two kids. We can argue about... whatever it was you two were arguing about, later." Z2 butted in.

It took them a while, but the three eventually came up to a black and purple rift, floating in the middle of nowhere. At first it felt as if a breeze was coming from it, but K2 actually noticed that the rift seemed to be sucking the heat out of the air. The Copy was hesitant to enter the rift, unsure if he and Z2 could make it through, or of they'd end up in a place with more Pokemon like that Hitmonchan, or maybe they're be face to face with whatever caused that surge of power earlier. Z2 could feel the Kora Copy's hesitation and lightly wrapped her arms around his chest.

"We're gonna be fine. Promise." She said, a familiar warmness to her voice managing to comfort K2.

With a more confident grin, K2 closed his eyes and rushed through the rift, the sound of glass shattering signifying that he made it through! The three were hit with unbearable cold almost immediately after they crossed the rift, and K2 barely managed to ignite himself in time. They were a ball of Hellfire falling aimlessly through the dark, no idea what was ahead of them or behind them anymore.

/?/

After what felt like forever, K2 landed gently on a chunk of rock in a dark, blueish void. He couldn't see to well, but he was able to make out other platforms, some with water leading to other platforms, and what he could only assume were some weird species of tree. Unfortunately, Kai and Mia weren't there. That being said, there were signs of them being there. A few trees were broken, there was wet spots on the edge of the water, and somewhere in the distance was the ominous sound of child laughter.

"Sounds like they're having a good time." Skully said, placing himself on K2's shoulder.

"Yeah, for now. This place doesn't exactly look kid safe, nor would anything waiting inside it be." The Faux Fox replied.

When he approached the edge of the platform, several smaller platforms formed a sort of bridge between him and another platform, the one with the water. With nothing else to do, the Copy hopped from platform to platform, and walked over towards the water. He wasn't thirsty, but he was curious if this water tasted different. K2 cupped his paws and drank from the pool, and immediately spat it out. He looked closer at the liquid, which was actually water, but it had a darker tint to it.

"Uhg! This taste like garbage water!" He exclaimed, spitting and wiping off his tongue.

"Why do you know what garbage water test like?" Z2 asked.

"I lost a bet and chose the less disgraceful option."

"What on earth is more disgraceful than chuggin' garbage juice?" Skully asked further.

"...I don't... wanna talk about..."

The only way to progress was to swim through the water towards the platform above, which is when K2 realized that the platform was upside down.

"What..?" He said, thoroughly puzzled. The Zoroark summoned a fireball and tossed it upwards, illuminating the platform and showing trees growing and a few holes going through it. "What even is this place?"

Reluctant, K2 jumped into the water expecting it to feel similar to how it tastes, but was pleasantly surprised by the warmth it had. In fact, it was about as hot as the Hot Springs! It was so pleasant until he hit the part of the water rising to the platform above, which was so cold it caused it him to yelp! It had to at-LEAST be several degrees below zero!

"H-H-Hey K2... you w-wanna turn up the h-h-heat..?" Z2 asked, shivering and shaking while trying to hold on tighter.

The Kora Copy obliged, his mane glowing brightly and became more flame-like like aesthetics. Steam rose from the water around them, which seemed to dissipate barely two feet away from them. Once he thought he was ready, K2 touched the rising water, and he orientated his body accordingly. The feeling that what he was just standing on a little while ago was no longer below him, but behind him was weird at first, and by the time he traversed the water and had to re-orientate again, it just got weirder.

Now on what would have been the ceiling, K2 noticed a change in the atmosphere. Below, or above... where he was first, was incredibly cold! But now, the air seemed to be hotter than he was comfortable with. Even the water seemed close to a boil with bubbles rising to the surface and releasing an alarmingly pleasant smell. K2 thought he would regret this, but he tried the water again, and it tasted incredibly sweet! Z2 had to stop him from drinking before he bloated himself with it!

"Thought you said this stuff tasted like shit?" Skully pointed out.

"I said it tasted like garbage water, and it doesn't now! It's like a nectar or something!" K2 said, tempted to get another mouthful of the water until Z2 grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Focus! We're here to find Kai and Mia! Not to drink water until we croak!" She firmly told him. K2 nodded, but the water and it's warm sweetness kept swirling in his mind.

Since it was hot, Z2 decided she could walk from here on until the temperature drops again, and K2 was fine with that. Being the obvious smartest of the three, Z2 created a torch that had a brilliant white flame covering a wide area with light. She made another and tossed it to K2, who almost dropped it but played it off like he did that on purpose. The laughter was a bit louder, but it was difficult to tell where it was coming from, which probably wasn't helped by the sound of rushing water. The two foxes thought it best to pick a direction and hope it led to the laughter.

"So, have you or Z ever been to a place like this?" K2 asked.

"Actually, kind of? Lee has an ability to actually go into the shadows and become a shadow himself, and he can bring whoever he wants with him, for about ten minutes." Z2 replied. "It makes the world look entirely different, and since we become shadows, we're able to walk on anything that a shadow can be cast upon. It feels incredible being able to walk on clouds, or to snag onto the shadow of a flying Pokémon and soar above the ground. Sometimes, Lee will throw a large object and quickly turn us into shadows so we can get somewhere far quickly!"

"Wow, that sounds kinda fun, actually!" The Kora Copy said. "But, can't you pretty much turn into a Pokémon that can fly and just... fly?"

"We can make ourselves look like other Pokémon , but we don't actually become them. But I'm gonna guess that you can turn into other Pokémon?"

"I mean... if you're already not a real Pokémon, what's stopping you from turning yourself into whatever you want?" K2 said. "Don't get me wrong, I haven't actually tried it, but why couldn't we specifically do that?"

Z2 shrugged. She hadn't really tried anything like that either, really. Once they were far enough away from the the sounds of rushing water, the two foxes came across an incredible amount of small platforms, most of which looked like they had broken off of one another. And, although it was incredibly faint, K2 and Z2 could sense energy similar to Kai and Mia's but it feels like it's been there far longer than the two kids could possibly have been.

"I'm no archaeologist, but I'm willing to bet that this is some sort of old battlefield." K2 said.

"What gave it away? The rubble and debris? The traces of divine energy?" Skully asked sarcastically.

"If you say you were here, I'm... gonna be relatively impressed if that's true." K2 replied.

"Nah, my bone horn just picked up on some god juice." The head explained.

"Say any of that again, and I'm turning you to dust."

"What? What did I say?"

"Don't play dumb with me, you dumb, talking chunk of minerals! You know exactly what I'm talking about."

K2 and Z2 carefully traversed the debris, knowing that a fall would lead them to a whole lotta nothing. About halfway through, Kai's voice echoed throughout the void. K2 leaped dangerously across a good portion of rock, caring more about what Kai's doing rather than his own safety.

"...dragon? Ya mean like my brother?" The voice asked.

Clearly, someone or something else was here, and Kai and Mia had bumped into them. Z2 caught up to K2, just for the boy to zip through the debris to a platform on the other side. Neither fox could sense any other Pokémon, which made this whole situation feel more dangerous than if they had. They ran across the platform and turned past a wall, revealing more platforms at different angles, and one just barely close enough to see. And on that platform, two small Pokémon talking to something behind a wall.

"Kai!" K2 shouted, not able to get the Zorua's attention. "Z2, get on my back! We gotta get over there now!"

"Ok but, I think you might be overthinking this! They look fine." The Other Copy replied, while doing as she was told.

"I'm not gonna take any chances when it comes to their safety! Hold on!" The Kora Copy replied, getting on all fours.

His body surged briefly with energy, giving him a faint black glow. The Zoroark jumped several platforms ahead, the force of his jump causing him to slide close to the edge. Instead of slowing down, he immediately leaped several platforms further, landing in a pool of scalding water. K2 managed to cool his body down so fast that the water around him got to just above freezing, and he jumped towards another platform. At about halfway to reaching Kai, K2 saw the two kids walking behind that wall and quickened his pace. The fox was going a bit too fast for Z2's liking, and what was eventually going to happen, did. K2 jumped just a bit too hard and was about to slide right off the side of a relatively small platform. He swiftly tossed Z2 back onto the rock, along with Skully, and just barely managed to snag his claws onto the edge before he fell off entirely!

"K2!" Both Z2 and Skully shouted, leaning over the edge to pull K2 back up. The Other Copy was able to grab hold of K2's arm just before the edge cracked off.

"Hah... hah... Sorry, guys..." The Kora Copy apologized. "I didn't mean to, hah... jump so far..."

"Dammit, you could have died!" Z2 exclaimed as she pulled the fox back onto the platform.

"Couldn't Kai just make another one of me? Why are you getting so upset for?"

"No Copy or Manifest can be remade exactly the same when they're destroyed, they basically become an entirely different Pokémon! You're a special case, a different kind of Copy or Manifest, I don't know what would happen to you if you died and Kai tried to remake you!"

"Why do you care so much? Neither of us are real Pokémon, right?"

"What would Kai do if you went and died trying to reach him?! He seems so attached to you, and you to him, and the second you're gone, he'll feel what you felt when it happened! You can't just throw yourself at shit recklessly and say it's fine just because you aren't a real Pokémon!"

"..." K2 sighed and crossed his arms, not wanting to look at Z2 and her worried expression. "I'm sorry. You just lost your sister and I understand you not wanting to lose another Copy. I'll try and keep myself out of danger, if it'll make you less worried about me."

"You damn better, you idiot!" Z2 said, hugging K2 unexpectedly.

"Arceus almighty, what are the two of ya? Some romantic b-plot in some amateur story?" Skully interjected, clattering noisily.

"Romantic?" K2 asked. "Is that what you think we are? Z2's like, my third best friend!"

Z2 cleared her throat and agreed with K2, making sure to let go of him so he couldn't feel how hot her face got. The Kora Copy allowed Z2 and Skully back into his mane and he safely jumped across the last few platforms and reached the final one without a hitch.

"Wait a sec, what do ya mean she's ya third best friend?! I met ya first!" Skully shouted.

"Yeah? I met you, and ever since then I've wished I didn't! In case you didn't noticed, I don't regret meeting Z2! I can relate with her more than a talking skull!"

" ああ、あなたは生意気な雌犬!" Skully replied.

"I swear to god, if you don't stop with the multiple languages..!" K2 was interrupted by a flash of bright light, and the sound of Kai's voice again.

"How did he was the name of this orb again? Gracious? G-Garcia? Grievous!"

There was an open area with nothing within it besides one large crater, a shiny yellow object, and two kids. K2 was relieved to see Kai and Mia were alright, sliding into the crater to join them.

"You two are ok! Thank god..." He said, hugging the two kids.

"Oh, hey K2! What took you guys so long?" Kai asked with a smile. "We went up and down and sideways, and there was some really sweet water and some super hot water, too! Oh, we even made a new friend, too! He didn't say his name, though... but he showed us this GIANT gem and said there's this smaller orb in it!"

"Wow, you two did a lot, huh?" Z2 said, petting both of them gently. "What did he say this orb was called?"

"Umm... the, uh... gracious orb..? I don't remember." Kai replied; he and Mia shrugged and smiled.

"I think you mean, Griseous Orb, laddie." Skully corrected Kai. "It's Giratina's most prized artifact. I wonder what it's doing in a place like this?"

"Oh, that reminds me! Our new friend said this place is called the Dis... Dis-tor-tion World, and then he said something about a fancy room with paintings of Pokémon and stuff. I think we gotta bring the Gracias Orb there!" Kai recalled, hoping into K2's mane.

"Griseous. And how do we get outta here in the first place?" Skully asked. "I don't remember there being a sign anywhere, do you?"

"I have no clue either. But first, don't wanna forget this gem, or orb, whatever." K2 picked up the Griseous Orb and a shiver rose up his arm and throughout his body. There was some very potent energy inside this orb, or maybe it was made entirely of energy?

"Hey look!" Z2 exclaimed, pointing at a rift opening where the Orb was. K2 was distracted by the Orb's power and fell right into the rift, forcing Z2 to follow right behind him. Kai and Mia waved their arms, clearly having the time of their lives, and K2 had to keep himself from losing consciousness the entire time.

/Palkia Floor/

It's been a while, maybe a few hours at LEAST, since Eva and Co. regrouped with Nate and an egg containing Kora inside the giant gem, and everyone except Nate was starting to lose it! Minerva was pounding away at a wall, Zen was so lost in thought that had couldn't hear anyone even if they tried talking to him, Kane was angrily kicking another wall, and Eva was about ten seconds away from screaming at everyone to shut the hell up! At least Static was sound asleep in the middle of the floor.

"GOD! DAMN! IT!" Minerva shouted between every punch.

"I am NOT gonna spend an eternity with Bitchy McAsshole! In some cramped ass Gem!" Kane exclaimed as he let out his frustrations on the wall.

"Can't we just... stop making so much noise?!" Eva asked, trying to contain her own anger.

"You know how they get, Eva. There's no point in trying to get them to stop." Nate told her. "I'm just happy I can talk with someone and not feel like I'm going crazy."

"But I can't think with all this noise! It's already bad enough Zen and I wandered through a maze for a basically a week, but now I'm gonna be STUCK in a rock for the rest of my life!" The Zangoose replied.

"You know that's not true. We'll figure something out soon, I'm sure." The Feraligtr assured his stressed out friend, pulling her into a hug. "We'll get outta here, stomp Lee into oblivion, and spend an entire day in the Hot Springs. How's that sound?"

"That sounds like heaven..."

"I can have the bakers bake a feast for us, and we'll eat pie and cake and maybe some fish and meat until we can't eat anymore! Maybe we'll get to have a week where nothing happens just so we can unwind from all this!" Nate added. "And spend the whole week with Zeke, and we'll practice against each other all day until we're too tired to stand, and we'll pass out next to each other and spend the day after doing absolutely nothing together..."

"This feels like a you fantasy, Nate..."

"A-And after that we could take a few more days to ourselves, and never leave our room and just enjoy the quiet for once! Maybe we'll take a ship ride together and ride off into the sunset, and he'll be standing on the bow of the ship, and the wind will blow through his feathers..."

"Uh... Nate..?"

"And the setting sun will give him this beautiful glow that perfectly outlines his figure..."

"Alright buddy, I'm outta here." Eva slipped out of Nate's arm, leaving him to his fantasy, and went over to Kora's egg. Despite the room they're in being circular, and maybe just under twenty feet in diameter, Kora's egg felt far enough away from the others that Eva could just think. "Hey, Kora... you don't mind if I take a seat over here, do ya?"

"..." Obviously, the egg didn't respond. Eva sat beside him and let out an aggravated and confused sigh.

"It's been hell being down here. Almost nothing makes sense, it's difficult to breathe sometimes, sleeping gives me nothing but the same nightmare... I can't even begin to imagine what dreams you're having in there." The Zangoose said, pausing for a second as if he would actually respond. "It's not that I don't hate the adventure, I just feel like it's waaaaaaaaay too much for us right now. Like, giant, feral Bug Pokémon? This goddamn floor?! How the hell are we supposed to be ready for this kinda stuff when we're just thrown into it?!"

"..."

"And I'm not sure if it's because we've spent so long down here, but I think there's something different about some of us, mostly just me and Zen. Do you remember when Zen first got here a few years back, and he trusted none of us to the point where he'd always be off in the shadows and he'd only respond with, like, one or two word responses?"

"..."

"Well, about a week ago, we found out how to work the stone doors down here, and he was freaking out like a kid going to a toy store! I don't think I've ever seen him so giddy before! Hell, even before we came down here, he's been less of a serious hardass and more of childish... child!" Eva leaned on Kora's egg. "Thinking about him three or four years ago, and comparing that Zen to recent Zen? It's like two different Pokémon!"

"Right?"

"Yeah! I mean, it's nice and all, but you gotta admit that it's... really..." Eva paused for a moment. "Did... Did you just respond..?"

"Was I not supposed to? Was that a rhetorical question?"

Eva stood up and looked at the unbroken egg, and there weren't any other Pokémon around that could have answered her.

"You're in an egg, how the hell can you talk back?" She asked.

"..."

Eva hesitantly put her paw onto the egg, thinking maybe that's how she heard Kora's voice.

"-in an egg, but I still have a mouth! I just can't move, at all. I've been trying to get everyone to quiet down, but nobody else can hear me I guess. I know Minerva could, but she's way too angry to hear anything anyone says right now." Kora said.

"I'm talking with you... through an egg..." Eva said, somehow still able to be surprised, while inside a giant gem, on a floor with a maze that might have broken every single law of physics.

"Weren't you and Zen in a maze that brought you back to the same room every time you messed up? How is this weird to you?" Kora asked.

"So, you've heard everything?"

"Yep. Especially the part where nobody took any real concern about their friend being an egg. Which, I remind you, happened after he blew himself up on accident when he was being swarmed by Bug Pokemon, his one major fear."

"We've all been having a rough time down here, Kora. Sorry no one came over here to check on you."

"It's fine. Besides, at least I helped you clear your mind a little." Kora replied. "Hey, if you can find someway to get me outta here, I think I have a way to get us out of this gem thing."

"Sure! Anything to get everybody to shut the hell up!"

Eva went over to Minerva and got the feline's attention, by tapping on her shoulder and getting accidentally punched in the jaw and sent flying back over to Kora.

"Oh shit, Eva! I'm sorry!" Minerva apologized once she realize who she hit. This was also enough to get Kane's attention, who was rather upset that Minerva hit Eva.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why the hell did you punch Eva like that!?" The Scrafty exclaimed. Before a fight broke out, Eva quickly grabbed both Pokémon and placed their hand/paw on Kora's egg.

"Uh... hey guys?" Kora said, not sure what exactly he was supposed to do.

"Kora?!" Both Minerva and Kane exclaimed. "What the hell?"

"Can you guys help me outta here? I think my neck's gone stiff, and there's an itch on my nose..."

"Don't worry, twerp! I'll have ya outta there in a sec!" Minerva replied, winding up her arm. "I was just practicin' my punchin' before Eva got herself sucker punched!"

"You are great at punching people that don't deserve it, aren't you?" Kane mocked. "You'll probably punch too hard and end up hurting Kora in the process! Let me handle this."

"Like hell ya are!" Minerva shouted, punching Kane to the side, startling Static from his sleep, and snapping Nate out of his fantasy.

"Y-You..! Gah!" Kane had trouble standing, his leg sore from kicking the wall for a while and also because he was punched by Minerva.

"H-Hey guys, let's not fight right now, and instead help our friend?" Eva suggested, trying to prevent a fight. "He says he might have a way for us to get out of here!"

"Aight, gimme a sec!" Minerva said, readying a punch. She was about to hit the egg, when Kane stood up and knocked the Meowth away.

"D-Dammit..." The Scrafty groaned, dark energy rising from his body. He tried to cool down, but he was just so fed up with Minerva's shit. "Dammit!"

"K-Kane?" Eva tried getting her friend's attention, placing a paw on his shoulder, but he fell back to a knee.

"Oh ya piece of shit!" Minerva growled. "I could've hit Static ya maniac!" The Meowth angrily approached Kane.

"W-Wait a minute, hold on! How about instead of fighting each other, we go ahead and take our anger out on the egg!" The Zangoose tried once more to resolve this without a fight.

Minerva didn't listen, and slugged Kane in the gut with a powerful punch! The Scrafty hit his back hard on Kora's egg and had the wind knocked out of him. Eva felt trying to stop them was in vain, so she tactically retreated to Nate's side, where it was safe.

Kane gasped for air, holding his stomach in pain and rolling onto his side. Minerva wasn't quite yet done, because she picked Kane up and held him over her head. Electricity sparked around the Meowth before surrounding her in a powerful electric aura, causing pain to Kane. Minerva then slammed Kane on the egg, creating a crack in it, and making a crack come out of Kane. At this point, Zen was out of his brainstorm phase and thought it would be smart to take refuge with Eva and Nate.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me..." Minerva said, dusting off her paws and getting ready to crack open the egg.

"M-Mega Punch..!" Kane exclaimed, throwing his fist into Minerva's back, causing her body to slam into Kora's egg.

"Goddamnit!" Minerva yelled, throwing her arm back to hit Kane and missing.

"Screw you." Kane fired a Dark Pulse at Minerva, exploding on impact and further cracking the egg.

Kane stood back up, his black aura more prominent now, and faced Minerva. Minerva did likewise, her electrifying aura engulfing her. The two punched each other at the same time, Kane hitting Minerva's face, and Minerva hitting Kane's stomach again. Both Pokémon fell to their knees and needed a moment to gather the strength to strike again, and they were just about to, when Nate broke up the fight by hitting them both with Ice Beam.

"Chill. Seriously." The Water Type said, walking over to Kora's egg. He saw the crack and let out a sigh. "If all I had to do was keep hitting this damn egg to free you, I wouldn't have stopped trying. I'll get you outta there, lil buddy."

Nate lifted his fist up and it was quickly coated in ice. He slammed his arm down in the crack several times until it was just about ready to open, then he pulled back his claw and pierced through the hardy shell. Darkness shot out of the egg for a moment, and once Nate forcefully opened the egg, more darkness seeped onto the ground into a puddle. Kora fell onto the ground with a hardy THUD, looking just like his normal self again.

"How ya feeling?" Nate asked with a smile.

"Like I deserve a day in the Hot Springs, honestly." Kora replied, the dark puddle absorbing into Kora as he laid on the floor. "Maybe a pastry feast would be good too, and I wouldn't mind a ship ride either."

"I'll make sure to fantasize quieter so you can't steal my ideas of a good time." Nate chuckled, helping Kora off the ground and giving the Zoroark a tight hug. "Nice having you back, Kora."

Nate kept Minerva and Kane frozen for the time being, and Kora prepped himself for his plan. Zen was a tad curious, although the briefly thought about what the fox's plan could be and he came up with a rather simple solution. Regardless, the Bisharp asked anyway.

"I'm pretty sure Rio shared his ability to absorb types with me." Kora began to explain, flexing his left paw. "When we fought Tia after looking for Kane, she hit me with a Dragon Pulse I think, and I turned into that Dragon Form. Maybe, I can absorb this gem and get us out of here."

"If you're correct, that would our best bet. Those two hot-heads have been hitting away at the walls and nothing even fell off of them, and I can't come up with anything else." Zen said. He patted Kora on the shoulder and gave smirk. "Let's see what you can do, Halfbreed."

Kora nodded and placed his left paw on the wall. He tried to focus on the energy he felt and taking in that energy. It came in small amounts at first, but after a few seconds it became a flood, overwhelming Kora. The Zoroark cried out in pain as his body overflowed with power; his mane became wild and shattered the large bead near the end of it, glyphs shot up is arm and began covering his body, his eyes turned bright red and he began to change into the Dragon Form once more. Kora's head started pounding as a golden headpiece formed and his mane became braided and tied by black tendrils. His chest ached as gold armor grew from his body, his fur turned grey, and scales alternating from black and red formed down his abdomen. His legs nearly gave out as a long tail with six red spikes on both sides extended from his tailbone, and his claws became golden.

"I-It's working!" Nate stated, watching in awe as the gem began turning into dust and flowing into Kora's body.

"It's hurtin' him!" Minerva exclaimed, watching her best friend cry out and fall to his knees. Energy started to burst from Kora's body, which the Meowth knew was a bad sign.

The feline struggled to break herself free, managing to get an arm out, and shattered the ice detaining her. Minerva ran up to Kora and grabbed his right arm and was immediately flooded with the same energy Kora was. Her aura flared wildly for a moment, and the glyphs began to stretch across her body as well.

Eva, knowing both of them were getting hurt, thought the best thing to do would be to grab them and pull them out! Because that worked so well when Minerva did it! She grabbed hold of Minerva's paw with her left hand and soon, she too was filled with divine power. The gauntlet began to react to the energy pouring through it now, stretching itself up Eva's forearm and having some of it's colors shine. It was white and gold, but soon became white and pink as Eva's aura began to flare.

"The gauntlet is reacting to the energy of the gem?" Zen said to himself, pulling out his sword and wondering if the same would happen to it.

Since the gem was turning to dust, Zen thought he could stab it through the wall now and see what happens. The Bisharp stabbed the wall with his blade, and both him and the sword felt a quick rush of godly energy before the gem finally faded.

Kora reverted back to his normal form, gasping and panting for air, Minerva and Eva's auras dissipated, and Zen held his head in his hand, the rush of energy giving him a headache. The Bisharp's blade seemed to be different, however. The sword became that of a backsword; having a long, straight blade with one edge, a one-handed hilt and a guard. The blade was made of a light blue material, similar to the shade of blue the gem mad mixed within it, and the hilt was light pink.

"Whoa..." Zen said, in awe of the drastic transformation.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" Nate asked, helping Kora, Minerva, and Eva to their feet.

"Have you ever drank so much whatever that you feel like you're gonna throw up, but you never actually do? That's exactly how I feel and it really sucks." Kora replied.

"Ditto. I think I need a minute or two... or ten..." Minerva said. Static happily hopped on top of Minerva's head, pitting a smile on the Meowth's face.

"Yeah, my head's killing me now... w-wait a sec..." Eva felt something no right in her body, a feeling that was felt with the other two that were flooded with the gem's energy.

The three Pokémon started to cough up water, water that would immediately evaporate the second it hit the floor. For Kora, what started as him coughing up water, turned into him basically becoming a fountain and he would have flooded the place if the water didn't evaporate.

"H-Holy shit, why?!" Kora cried, laying his head on the ground. "God... goddamnit..!"

"Are ya alright?" Minerva asked, rubbing the Zoroark's back.

"Y-Yeah... but I wanna back to my bed..." Kora whimpered. He turned to look at Minerva, saw Static sitting on top of her head, and threw himself at the other side of the chamber. "B-B-B-BUG! BIG BUG TYPE! ON YOUR HEAD!"

"Oh, right... I forgot to mention that uh... I hatched this Joltik a lil while ago. His name's Static!" Minerva said, as if that made Kora feel better.

"Forgive me if I DON'T GO ANYWHERE NEAR IT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!" The Halfbreed cried. Just then, the others realized Kora was holding something. It was a smooth, round gem with light blue, aquamarine, and light pink mixed together. It sorta just looked like a small and round version of the gem everyone just get out of.

"Hey Kora, when did you acquire that orb?" Zen asked, pointed at the fox's paw. "That's the Lustrious Orb, Palkia's orb, if I remember correctly!"

"Huh? What do ya..." Kora looked in his left paw and saw a rather large gem, orb, whatever that he somehow didn't notice before. It was even a bit weighty too, so he was kind of baffled he didn't notice it until Zen pointed it out. The orb was even radiating energy, some of which was traveling up Kora's arm and making him feel like an oblivious fool because how the hell did he not notice this?!

"It looks like the gem shrank into that thing, I guess." Nate said with a shrug. "And look, a stone door! How convenient!"

"Oh yeah, everything's going just peachy for everybody. Can you unfreeze me now?" Kane groaned. "I've just barely managed to crack this ice, probably since some nitwit tried to beat the shut outta me before I got frozen!"

Minerva pretended not to hear Kane and asked Eva to hold Static for a minute. The Meowth went over to Kora to try and lessen his fear of Static.

"Alright, Kora, I get that ya deathly afraid of Bug Types," She began. "but, ya can shoot fire from your paws, or become a dragon and shoot fire from ya face. Either way, there's no reason to be scared of Static!"

"It's not just the type disadvantage, Minerva! They're creepy, and they have multiple limbs and eyes, that's just terrifying!"

"Kora, I can't stress this enough, ya can become a fire-breathing dragon." Minerva replied, putting both paws on Kora's shoulders. The fox was about to complain again, but Minerva put a finger over his mouth and shushed him. "Shshshsh, shut up. You. Can become. A goddamn. Fire-breathing. Dragon. A regular dragon that can't breathe fire is already somethin', but ya get to be a fire-breathing one."

"B-But-!"

"Shhhhhhhut the hell up, you're a dragon. A dragon."

"If it was a Parasect you wouldn't be acting like this is no big deal."

"Because Parasect are different, jackass! They're nothin' but a giant mushroom controllin' a dead Pokémon! Who's to say the mushroom can't grow on someone like me?!"

"Because you aren't a freakin Paras, dumbass! I'd rather fight a hundred Parasect before I go anywhere NEAR another Bug Type! Mushrooms are delicious!"

"And what if ya get poisoned and die, idiot?! Ya can't egg your way outta that mess!"

"I've eaten poisonous mushrooms before! You dared me to eat poisonous mushrooms before! They didn't do jack shit to me!"

"So ya willin' to eat a gross, freaky, poisonous mushroom, but not pet an adorable baby Joltik?!"

"You mean a Joltik the size of your damn head?! OF COURSE I WON'T! When that monster evolves, he's gonna gi-freaking-GANTIC! How do you plan on taking care of it then?!"

"I was hopin' to get ya to help me with that! I thought it would good to help ya fight ya phobia of Bugs if ya took care of a harmless child!"

"Thank you for thinking about me! But it's honestly a lot to take in, and I'm sorry about bringing up mushrooms! It's just been really stressful, and I just finished throwing up atleast a gallon and a half of water!"

"It's no problem! That's why you're my best friend! If ya had the chance, I know ya'd he'll me get over my phobia too!"

After their... "argument," Minerva and Kora hugged each other for a moment, making everyone who watched that whole thing realize how weirdly close they both are. But the mention of Paras and Parasect made Zen and Eva remember about their friend and his predicament.

"Paras..." Eva said softly. "Do you think he's gonna be alright, Zen?"

"He's smarter than he looks, surprisingly intelligent for a Pokémon that lives in a dungeon like this. We'll be able to see him again, I have no doubts about that." Zen replied. "On another note, the sword changed!"

"You're still acting like a child."

"I'm getting over it, but you have to admit, this is fascinating!"

The group approached the stone door. Eva grabbed the Lustrous Orb from Kora and tapped it on the door, created a glorious white light to shine from the other side. Kane took the orb from Eva, saying that there's something he wanted to experiment with it. Kora took a deep breath, and slowly looked to his left to Minerva standing there, with the large Joltik on her head, staring right at him.

"Jol..?" Static said, scanning Kora with his beady bug eyes. "Jol~!" The baby Pokémon leaped off of Minerva's head, aiming for Kora's.

As you'd expect, the fox zipped on out of there, allowing Static to land on Eva and somehow getting himself stuck to the ceiling.

"Nope! Sorry! You guys can go ahead and go through the door, I'm gonna follow right behind ya!" The Zoroark said.

"Goddamnit Kora! Ya can't get any better if ya won't even touch 'im!" Minerva yelled.

"He tried to attack me!"

"He was gonna jump on ya head! He does it to me all the time! That just means he likes ya!"

"Alright, before we get into another debate, let's just go through this door and get out of this room. I absolutely hate it here." Nate stepped in, ushering everyone to the door.

Once the Joltik was through, Kora detached himself from the ceiling and landed on back. He groaned a little and rubbed his lower back, following Nate through the door and ready to say goodbye to this boring and now empty room.

/The Dragon Floor/

Lee was dozing off when he heard company arriving, and when he woke himself up, he was face to face with a group of Pokémon just about ready to beat him senseless. He recognized the Meowth, and the Bisharp, but he barely remembered the Feraligtr or Scrafty. The Zoroark, however, felt somewhat familiar to him.

"It's Lee!" Minerva exclaimed, readying for claws for attack. "Looks like we're gonna have all the fun of takin' ya down without Kai and K2!"

"What do you mean 'without Kai?' And what kind of name is K2?" Kora asked.

"We didn't fill you in, did we? Kai was actually on par with this guy before we came down here. They have a little rivalry going on, I think." Eva explained, which confused Kora more.

"I was asked to wait here for the rest of you to show, and I assume the actual powerhouse of your party is going to be a bit late. Whatever." Lee said with a sigh. "You're friend, Rio, gave me a request."

"Rio? What the hell did you do to him?!" Kora exclaimed, a crimson glow within his eyes.

"I did nothing but combat him in a friendly bout of wit and wordplay. After which, we decided that I would help you acquire the Time Gear, while he and the one you call Z go fight a greater evil." The Wolf explained.

"How do you expect us to believe you, Wolf? Honestly, I'm insulted you think so little of us, even if it is warranted for some." Zen replied, drawing his sword.

Lee frowned a bit and put his paws on the side of his head. He easily detached it from his body, catching everyone by surprise, and tossed his head towards Nate who did not like the feeling of holding someone's head in his hands.. that was just torn from it's body.

"I am speaking truthfully, and I stand by the fact that I am a man of word. If at any point you feel I am leading you astray, I give you full right to destroy my head, as that is the only way to kill me." Lee said. "The promise between a hero and a villain are to be kept at high esteem, and failure for either side to fufil their end of the bargain would lead to chaos. I believe in that wholeheartedly."

"Dude, That makes no sense. Why would a hero and villain honor any promises between each other? I'm pretty sure a villain is supposed to trick the hero in order to win?" Kane replied.

"You have a flawed view of villainy! Any fool can raise an army and destroy, but only a true villain retains their honor in the face of adversity! A villain is no more than a rival to a hero, a force opposite to the hero's goal! I take great pride in being the villain in the young Outlanders story, and I refuse to do wrong by this promise!" Lee retorted, getting surprisingly heated over his... interesting view of villainy.

"Fine, whatever, you do you I guess." Nate said, tossing Lee's head back at his body. "I believe you, and I don't wanna carry your head any longer. A talking head without a body is just a bit too ridiculous for my taste."

"You trust flatters my villainous pride greatly."

"Holy shit, this freak just gets weirder by the second!" Minerva whispered to Kora.

Lee led the group into the other room, allowing them some time to admire the detail of the mural within. Once all the "Ooooooo"s and "Ahhhhhhhh"s were out of the way, the Wolf brought everyone's attention to the painting of Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Kane's eyes lit up briefly as he believed Lee would elaborate on the purpose of the three slots.

"Here is Arceus, the Superior God, standing above her three strongest creations, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Each of the latter three have a powerful artifact, an orb, that grants them immense power. These three slots are designed to have their respective orbs placed inside, and I believe that once all the orbs have been put in their proper place, the path to the Time Gear will be revealed to us." Lee explained.

"What about the exit? How the hell do we get outta here?" Kane asked. "I was sort of hoping that we'd be able to get outta here once we found the orbs..."

"That, I do not know. Although, if I were to guess, it would have to be something relating to Arceus. For as vain as that deity is, I am surprised there isn't more Arceus drawings throughout these two rooms, and it's especially odd that Arceus doesn't have a floor dedicated to herself..."

"That's because she designed it to be impossible for the Pokémon she sent down here to find it." A cynical voice said, causing Minerva to groan. Jirachi and Mew floated from above, the feline happily greeting everybody. "She was so upset that nobody would be able to see it, she procrastinated for a month before finishing it."

"Oh? I don't believe we have met. The name is Lee." The Wolf introduces himself with a bow.

"An uppity hardass with a superiority complex? Surprised you aren't Arceus' favorite. Then again, nobody is." Jirachi replied, causing Lee to freeze up for a moment. "I'm Jirachi, and I'd rather not keep this conversation going so shut it for a while, alright?"

"Uh... Wh-What..?"

"Arceus made it pretty clear at the time that it'd be incredibly difficult to reach her floor and the exit within it. Little did we know that this dungeon was actually a prison, and everybody was facing a permanent sentence." Jirachi turned to the others. "I've been trying for who knows how many millennia, and all I came up with was the idea that we needed several types to get there."

"Well, why haven't you been able to? If you have been down here so long, why are you still here?" Zen questioned, taking Static off his head and handing the baby to Minerva.

"I can't just go to whatever floor I want, smart aleck. Even when everyone was... alive... we only had access to about, four different floors. Psychic, Fighting, Steel, and Fairy. We weren't able to gather any gems from the Fairy floor before the very few Fairy Type's we had went mad and..." Jirachi held his shoulders and sighed, shaking the thought from his head and continued on. "We haven't been able to get to the Fairy floor since."

"I'm sorry... I never-" Kane started to say.

"I don't care, Kane." Jirachi said coldly. "Mew and I have been able to wish for gems every thousand years or so, but we're still missing Ghost, Water, Ice, Rock, Grass, and Fairy because we never had a reason to go to any of those floors until now."

"Well Jirachi, my companion is capable to creating gems of almost every type, the only ones she can't are Fairy, Bug, and Fighting" Lee said, managing to set aside the Wish Pokémon's insults from before.

"Dear God, how many of you are down here?" Jirachi groaned. "Fine, Wolf, where is she?"

"She and Rio went to face the Pokémon that caused that surge of power earlier." Lee said, clenching his fist. "They requested that I hurry and find the Time Gear to assist them."

"You sent your companion to die... so you could get the Time Gear?" Jirachi said, his disappointment piercing Lee through his chest.

"What Pokémon are you talking about?" Eva asked. "What power surge?"

"Not too long ago, a wave of powerful, demonic energy was sent through the entire dungeon. It's the reason Mew and I came down here, we were planning on regrouping with Diana and finding a way out!" Jirachi turned to Lee and glared furiously. "You sent the poorly trained Lucario and your friend to destroy a Pokémon capable of effecting every single floor of this dungeon with energy that powerful?!"

"Don't you try and belittle me for this! Even if they can't beat him, they can hold him off long enough for me to arrive with the Time Gear!" Lee yelled.

"You say that, but you know that isn't true." Jirachi told the Wolf. "You wish it was, but it isn't. You just sent your friend to die, and you know it."

"Kai's in trouble..?" A female voice said from room's entrance.

Everyone turned again to see two Zoroarks, a Zorua, an Eevee, and a skull standing there.

"Kai? Wait, Z? And... another Z?" Kora was puzzled at seeing two identical Zoroarks, and one of them was talking about Kai. "Who... Who are you?"

"Oh, that's K2, he's a copy of you. Before we came down here, he helped us fight Lee and chase him here." Eva explained. "That one... I mean... she looks like Z... but something's different, I think."

Kora looked at K2 blankly, baffled at the idea of there being another him, that Kai made. The Kora Copy cleared his throat and approached Lee.

"I think you'll be needing this." The Faux Fox said, handing the Lycanroc the Griseous Orb. "What floor did she go to?"

"I-I'm not sure... her other Copy rushed through the door before they could use a gem. They also have the two Outlanders and the Blaziken with them." Lee replied.

"And do you know the type of the Pokémon they're hunting?"

"He's a Bisharp, Dark and Steel." The Wolf felt a bit weary all of a sudden, his heart was racing and his mind became flooded. "I need a minute... please, Copy, go after her."

"Kai, Mia, we're going. Z2, what about you?" K2 asked, basically disregarding the others.

"O-Of course! Kai needs me, needs us!" The Other Copy replied.

K2 turned towards Lee, then looked at all the other Pokémon.

"You're still looking for the Time Gear, right?" He asked, getting a nod from Lee. "Take Kora, Eva and Nate with you. I don't know those two small Pokémon or that Joltik, but none of them look dependable in a fight, so keep them too. Minerva, Zen, and Kane, with us."

"Yessir!" The three K2 ordered to follow him replied. Minerva paused for a second and turned back.

"Mew, please keep Static safe. Ya can't let him follow me this time, ok?" The feline asked, handing the baby over to the Psychic Type. She then turned to Kora with his confused and worried expression. "Ya ain't gotta worry about me, twerp. I'll just hit this Bisharp before he can hit me!"

"A-Alright." Kora replied before turning to K2. "U-Um, other me... please keep them safe. And since he's going, keep Kai out of trouble, please?"

"..." K2 didn't reply, instead nodded and turned towards the exit. As he did, Kai hopped out of his mane and went over to Kora. The two brothers stood there awkwardly, the older one not knowing what exactly to do, and the younger expecting some kind of farewell.

"Um... Come back safely, Kai." Kora said, kneeling down towards his brother and petting him on the head. "Mom wouldn't want to have either of us getting hurt down here, alright?"

"Yeah, I'll stay safe! I'll do ya one better and keep everyone safe!" Kai said, energetic but serious. His aura began glowing around him as he ran back over to K2 and jumped into the Copy's mane.

Kora watched as Kai left, but noticed K2 sort of glaring back at him. It was startling to see, and Kora was starting to get nervous and looked away. K2 sighed and wave goodbye before leaving the room and opening the stone door. The Halfbreed let out a sigh and collapsed on the floor.

"How is that guy supposed to be me? I could feel his eyes glaring into my soul!" Kora said, holding his chest.

"He's a little different, I guess. But he likes to help everyone like you do, and he does look exactly like you, too!" Eva said, helping the fox off the ground. "I think it's really cool, actually."

"You don't find it creepy that my little brother made a perfect copy of me? Without telling me at all?" The Zoroark replied. Eva shrugged.

Nate walked up to Lee with his fists clenched and his teeth gritted. He was angry about something the Wolf mentioned, and he kept himself calm enough to get it clarified first.

"You said there was a Blaziken down here, right?" Nate asked. "What's his name?"

"..." Lee didn't reply.

"Was it Zeke?"

"..."

"Didn't you just rant about how you're an honorable villain? And you cherish the trust others put in you? Answer me, Wolf!"

"... I cannot say..." Lee replied, resulting in him getting grabbed by the neck.

"Why the hell not?!" Nate roared. Lee shook his head, not bothered by the Feraligtr's grip. Nate furiously threw Lee on the ground behind him.

"I am a man of my word, and I swore not to speak on this subject." Lee said, staying in the ground. "I'd offer a bout as a work-around, but that would only tire you out and waste our time! Regardless of who is down here, if we don't get the Time Gear we will all die!"

"Die?" Mew gasped as tears started to form in her eyes. "I-I don't wanna..."

"Hey, I promised I'd get us out of here, Mew. Don't cry, sis." Jirachi said softly, huggin Mew firmly.

"Whatever quarrels you think you have with me, Feraligtr, set them aside for the time being. We have a job to do." Lee told Nate as he got to his feet.

The Wolf walked over to Giratina's painting and tossed the Griseous orb towards it's slot. Kane did the same with the Lustrous Orb, and Lee did the same with the Adamant Orb. The TimeSpace Orbs floated in mid air, spinning and shining brightly for a moment before gliding into their respective slots. A bright light shined from each slot, light blue for the Adamant Orb, light pink for the Lustrous Orb, and bright yellow for the Griseous Orb. Once the Orbs were in their slots, the entire mural began shaking violently, causing Kora, Eva, Kane, and Nate to stumble. A mix of the three lights began to shine from a where the floor met the walls, and after more shaking, the floor began to spin slowly and descend.

As the floor descended, the Mural seemed to extend as well, showing what looked to be Arceus, Dialga and Palkia, as well as a Pokémon identical to Arceus, just grey instead of white, traversing through space. The four met with a shadowy figure, and they began to fight. It seemed that after a long battle, the shadowy figure was nearly defeated, but the Pokémon identical to Arceus stood between the figure and other Gods. Arceus became enveloped by a bright light, striking the figure through the Pokémon identical to her. The Pokémon fell and the shadowy figure turned into a ghost-like figure.

There was a bunch of empty space after that, until the floor reached it's destination and the group was met with a door painted to look like the moon. When the door opened, it became darkened, until it was entirely black.

"This is... wow..." Kora said.

"Is this supposed to be some sort of story?" Kane asked, the group following Lee into the passage.

"I never knew these pretty pictures were down here!" Mew exclaimed, flying excitedly around the place. "Mom beat up a bad guy! This is so cool!"

"Yeah... cool..." Jirachi said under his breath.

As the mural continued, Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia were now joined by Giratina, and they were carrying a multicolored crystal with them that radiated energy of all colors. It was a bit hard to see, but it the ghost-like figure was within it. The four Gods carried the crystal to a pedestal and shattered it into four shards with a golden hammer. The Gods scattered three shards to different caves with golden glyphs around them, but they kept the last one and brought it to an island with a giant mountain emitting energy in the shape of glyphs. As they approached the mountain, they were followed by drawings of Jirachi and Mew, as well an army of assorted Pokémon.

"This... this is the day she sent us down here..." Jirachi said. "This entire thing... that battle before..."

"I guess you really meant that this place was a prison, there's even a lock on the mountain after all of you went inside." Eva pointed out. She then noticed Lee was walking strangely and she mustered up the strength to see what was wrong. The Wolf was muttering angrily to himself before Eva tapped him on is shoulder. "Are you ok? Do you need a minute?"

"No, I'm fine... it's just... that is a poor representation of him." Lee replied, pointing at the figure within the crystal shard.

"Do you know him?" Kane asked.

"..." Lee shook his head, silently requesting that they don't speak further on the matter.

The mural continues with the Island looking vastly different, in fact it looked a lot like Sunset Valley! It showed Arceus returning alone, enveloped in a bright green light, and that light leaving her body and entering the mountain. After a long gap of nothing, Arceus appeared again, glowing with the light from the battle depicted before, and then there was nothing. Nothing but space up until the end of the hallway, where there nothing but a green circular door.

"That's unsettling." Eva said when they reached the end of the mural. "I mean, it looked really well made, but..."

"There's no need to compliment the mural, Zangoose, er, Eva." Lee told her. "This seems to tell of the past and future of Arceus and this Island, and it doesn't look like it ends well."

"You mean like a prophecy? Do they always end so ominously?" Kora asked.

"Most of them do, yes. I've been told the prophesier is quite a grim individual." The Wolf replied.

The green door sank into the floor, revealing a wide open area with platforms and pillars made of white sand, and a vast, white void below with a single black spot in it's center. The platforms seemed to spin clockwise, with there being one solid stone platform at the very end encased in a light blue sphere.

"I'm willing to bet that the Time Gear is inside that barrier." Nate said, walking towards the entrance. He was stopped abruptly by some sort of glass, banging up his snout in the process. "Ack! My nose!"

Suddenly, a voice echoed throughout the passage, difficult to understand at first, probably some ancient language that not even Lee understand, then it was able to turn into something they could understand.

"Congratulations are in order, wardens and inmates of this Dungeon. I'm positive that your journey has been long, but victory is only a few steps away. You've had to withstand the strength of Time pushing down on you, slowing your very existence to a crawl and came out in one piece. You've mastered a maze where the laws of reality you've been accustomed to were broken and pieced together in ways you never could have imagined. And you ventured into a world not of your own, a place of extremes both high and low, favorable and unfavorable, and returned to this realm of your own strength. Regardless of who conquered what obstacles, your presence here indicates your worth."

"However!" A different, far more serious voice boomed. "In order to further prove whether or not you are worthy of wielding the Time Gear, there is one obstacle you must overcome! Your own, pitiful, mortal existence! Each of you will face a mirror image of yourself within the void you see before you! If you fail to defeat yourself, you will perish! If you fall, you will perish! And if any of you attempt to acquire the Time Gear before all of you defeat yourselves, every single platform will sink into the abyss below, and you will all perish!"

There was a long pause before a different voice appeared. It was different than the other two, while the first seemed like a Pokémon calmly telling those listening about their accomplishments, and the second was loud and forceful, this third voice was refined and had a more sincere tone than the others.

"We are honored that there are Pokémon under us capable of pushing through our tests and making it to this point. While those other two aren't on the same page as myself, they will be grateful to meet you in person, if all things go well. They either don't care or are too blinded by their loyalty to acknowledge what the future has in store for us, and for all Pokémon. Surely, those who stand here will be known as heroes for the rest of time. I wish you all to be cautious in this upcoming battle, your life is now more on the line than with the other tests, despite how harrowing they seemed to be. I am putting my faith in you."

The glass that Nate walked into began shine briefly, then revealed reflections of everyone there, including Static. The reflections were darker in color than they were supposed to be, and their eyes were red.

"So... how do we get this started?" Kane asked as he approached the glass.

"Try punching it?" Eva suggested.

The Scrafty pulled back his fist and threw it full-force at the glass, but was stopped just short of hitting it. His reflection had reached out of the glass and grabbed his fist. Kane tried to free himself, but his reflection yanked him through the glass, shattering it entirely. Each reflection jumped from the glass and landed on a platform, a menacing aura emanating from them. Kane began falling, luckily Jirachi grabbed hold of his arm and floated him back to the others.

"Oh, one more thing, mortals!" The booming voice spoke again. "We used the energy of the traitorous bastard that opposed Arceus countless millennia before you or your family were an afterthought in Arceus' glorious creation! As Lady Arceus doesn't want anybody holding the power of multiple Time Gears, other than the divine, I've rigged this test to magnify the strength of your worthless reflection a hundred fold, if one of you already posses a Time Gear upon entering this chamber! The only reason a Pokémon would pursue multiple of any powerful artifact would be to oppose Arceus, and all those who do shall die where they stand!"

"What?! Dammit! If I knew about this trick, I'd have had Kai take my place!" Lee spat, stomping his foot on the ground.

"You already have a Time Gear?! Why the hell are we trying to get another one?!" Nate exclaimed.

"I have my own reasons, reptile! If you needed to know them prior to this I would have told you! Now focus on the fight at hand!" Lee snapped, his sinister aura rupturing from his body. "If that bastard thinks I will allow someone to defile my Lord and use his power against me, I'll hunt this fool down and tear him to pieces!"

"Mew, stay right here, we can beat these reflections by ourselves, you don't have to fight!" Jirachi good his sister. "I need you to keep Static safe, for Minerva!"

"O-Ok!" The Psychic Type replied, creating a bubble around her and the Joltik.

"Oh, geez... I kinda wish Minerva was here. She could probably smash these thing without giving it a second thought." Kora groaned. "All I've done recently is fight and be unconscious, and I'm starting to get sick of it..."

"We'll be fine, Kora! Just think, all we gotta do is beat up our fakes, grab the Time Gear, and regroup with everyone! Then we get outta this place and take some time off!" Eva assured the fox. "Besides, I don't think we've fought together in years! It'll be fun!"

"Yeah! We can team up and beat these guys one by one!" Kane added, giving a confident smile to Kora.

"I'm already plenty riled up for a fight! I got your backs, too!" Nate finished, his own aura washing over his body.

Eva and Kane pumped their own aura's to match, and Kora shook some worries from his head and did the same. His aura was more than just black now, there were traces of red and purple too! There were even faint traces of his Dragon Form showing in his aura!

"Alright! Whatever it takes just so I can get a break from all this!" The Zoroark roared.

The reflections each laughed, basically challenging the Pokémon to a fight they were sure to lose. Nobody backed down, even if one of them wished they could, and everyone stood at the edge of the entrance.

"Whatever any of you do, don't die!" Jirachi said firmly. "Don't fall either, you can't count on me saving you like I did Kane!"

"And don't shy away from help either! Since Mew isn't fighting, and Static can't fight, they've got two more on us! We need to work as a team!" Nate added.

"Right!" Everyone else stated. They each knew what was on the line and what they were fighting for, so there's no way they can lose now!

/Steel Floor (Parasects' Domain)/

Zen had suggested they investigate the Steel Floor before the Dark Floor, believing that it was more likely for the Bisharp they to come here due to the surplus of Steel Type gems in a massive chamber. He also thought he'd have a chance to see Paras again, as this might be his last chance to. Luckily, they managed to catch Rio and his group as they arrived.

"Outlander? Diana?! Zeke, too?" Zen exclaimed. "And I assume this is Kai and her Copy?"

"It's nice to see you too, Zen." Rio said jokingly.

Z2 immediately rushed over to Kai and Z3, hugging them tightly and holding back tears.

"I'm so glad we got to you guys before you found that monster! I was getting so worried!" Z2 exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, we were makin' a plan before we found him. We already checked the Dark floor and nobody was there, not even any Parasect or Galvantula. There aren't even any bugs on this floor we think, either that or we haven't seen them yet." Z3 explained with a smile. "It's nice to see you're alright, sis."

"And you brought backup! This is great! Let's hope Lee finds the Time Gear soon, then this beast is a goner!" Kai said with a grin.

Upon seeing K2 with Kai and Mia in his mane, Diana understandably mistook the Faux Fox for her real son and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, my Koraza! You're ok! And so is your brother! Seeing you two together warms my heart!" She exclaimed, wiping a tear from her eye. K2 awkwardly hugged Diana back, not really sure if he should just tell her he's a copy of not.

"Hi Mom!" Kai said with a smile. "This isn't actually Kora, he's off getting the Time Gear, this is K2! He's a Copy I made of Kora! Isn't he awesome?!"

"Way to be subtle about it, bro..." K2 sighed.

"A Copy?" Diana said, looking at K2 more closely. His scent was a bit more like Kai's than Kora's, but it was still impressive. "Oh, he's amazing, Kai! I never would have known if you didn't tell me! I'm so proud of you!" The Mother Zoroark lightly pinched her youngest son's cheek and kissed him in his forehead.

Without any hesitation, Zen and Rio went into brainstorming mode with Zeke and Kai(Z).

"What have you got so far?" The Bisharp asked, the four sitting in a circle.

"We have an idea that this Pokémon we're about to face is a corrupted Manifest of you, and it lost itself in the belief that he could become a real Pokémon by completing a test that didn't exist." Kai(Z) stated. "We also know that before I lost my connection with him, he managed to single-handedly defeat Diana."

"According to her own account, this Manifest wasn't fazed by most her attacks, and brushed off her strongest ones. Even when she went into an enraged state, she wasn't able to land a visibly damaging attack on him before he knocked her out with a single punch." Zeke added. "I feel I don't need to say that this guy is tough, but he is tough."

"A Manifestation of myself... does he think like me?" Zen asked Kai(Z).

"No, a Manifest is fully capable of thinking as if they were their own Pokémon. It's the whole reason why this happened in the first place, he was obsessed with becoming real and turned into a power-hungry monster!" The Dark Type answered.

"And as of now, we have no idea how much more powerful he has become. If that surge came from him, then we might be in a bit of trouble." Rio added, his aura flaring up for a moment. "I gotta admit, I'm excited! In a, 'this is my first super-serious battle,' kinda way."

"So, basically our plan is to fight this Manifest until Lee and the others arrive, then what?" Zen questioned.

"Lee already possesses a Time Gear, and with it he can slow time to a crawl, but he can't quite stop time." Kai(Z) began to explain. "With two, he thinks that he'll be able to stop time entirely! So once he comes back with both Gears, he can freeze that monster in time and we can leave!"

"That's a nice place, an ability like that is game changing! But that entirely relies on Lee getting here before something happens to us. How do we plan on fighting this guy without anyone getting severely injured?"

"Battle from a distance? Most of us have special attacks we can use." Rio suggested.

"Not likely, this guy was basically just as fast as Diana, and seeing how her dynamic is electricity, that's saying something."

"And being up close is just as dangerous. He took out Diana without trying, he'll definitely be stronger than us in combat." Zeke pointed out. Zen grinned and pulled out his blade.

"Actually, I'm fairly certain this sword is capable of keeping the wielder out of danger. When I first acquired it, I moved faster than I ever could before, and reacted to things I didn't even know were there! What's even more interesting, it was a claymore when I repaired it, now look at it! The energy from the giant gem in the chamber containing the Lustrous Orb changed this blade into this." The Bisharp said.

"Really? Well, we might be able to have some of us fight this guy head on, and the rest of us can hit it from afar!" Rio stated with a confident grin across his face.

"I'll do it." K2 said, inserting himself into the circle. "I'll use the sword and fight this Manifest."

"Are you sure? I mean, you aren't going in alone, but what about Kai and Mia." Zeke asked.

"Aren't ya their friends? How the hell do I know those children don't need any extra protection?!" Skully exclaimed, startling everyone there. "Oh, my bad. I never introduced myself. Name's Skully! I've been down here longer than I was supposed to and I want out of here immediately. I'd shake your hands, but I seem to have left them with my body."

"Alrighty then... a talking skull. Can I say 'now I've seen everything' yet? Or should I wait for his body to come running to take me up on that offer?" Rio joked.

"Trust me, there's plenty you need to see before you can say that." Zeke told the Lucario. Diana let out a sigh and finally added herself to the bunch.

"We're procrastinating." She told everyone. "It's all well and good that we relax a little, but we're about to face someone stronger than me, and maybe stronger than all of us combined. At best, we're stalling for Lee and the others to arrive, and at worse we're trying not to get... destroyed."

"You're right. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified right now." Zeke replied. "My hands have been shaking since we got to this floor, and my heart feels like it's about to jump out of my chest."

"But we gotta do this!" Z3 stated. "That monster killed my sister! And if he gets out of here, there's no tellin' what he's gonna do!"

"Why are you guys so nervous?" Kai asked, him and Mia hopping into the middle of the circle. "We're heroes, right? Since when did heroes feel scared when they gotta fight a strong bad guy? I know my Mom didn't feel scared when she fought that Gerald Tina guy! And I know Minerva wasn't scared when Kora was a big, dark, ball and she stopped him! We're super strong and super tough! Why would we have a chance at losing?"

Kai's little speech seemed to work the way he intended. Courage was restored to the party, confidence began to rise within everyone. Zen grinned and stood to his feet, replacing his blade in it's scabbard. Rio's aura flared and the red of his eyes gleamed brightly. K2 and the other Copy nodded to each other, and Zeke, Minerva, and Diana did the same.

"It's settled then." The Bisharp said. "Rio, K2, Minerva and I will face this monster head on, and the rest of you hit him from afar with any projectile technique you posses."

Zen and Rio led the others out of the room and into the incredibly vast chamber. Unsurprisingly, there were very few Steel Gems anymore, a sign that the Manifest was here. The group felt a growing pressure the further they walked, but it wasn't enough to hinder any of them. After a while, a faint stench began to pollute the air. They were nearing the end of the chamber when Rio and K2 froze up entirely!

"Rio?!" Zen exclaimed. "Do you sense him? What is it?"

"Th-There's... so many..." The Lucario said faintly. He cleared his throat and recomposed himself, thinking of an answer that wouldn't psyche everyone out. "Yeah, he's down here alright..."

"It's coming this way, get ready!" K2 added, him with Minerva in his mane joining Rio and Zen in the front.

Everybody summoned forth their aura, the Copies emitted a colored glow, and they waited for the Bisharp come forth. A moment later, the sound of something metallic walking on stone began to echo from the tunnel before them, and the stench got stronger. As the Manifest grew near, the sound of humming was added to the footsteps. Before long, a normal looking Bisharp appeared, holding his hands behind his back, and a gentle grin upon his face.

"Hello, 'Mother.' It is such fine weather we are having down here, is it not?" The Bisharp asked, but didn't get a response. He didn't seem to mind, however. "What is it that brings you to my, humble abode?"

"We... We came to dispell you! What you did to that Copy... was totally unacceptable!" Kai(Z) declared, keeping her distance.

"Oh dear, did something happen while I was away? You seem so troubled, Mother!" The Bisharp said, his grin starting to stretch across his face. "Well, if you intend to dispell me, who am I to defy you? I am nothing but a simple manifestation of that Bisharp you accompany, after all."

When the Bisharp opened out his arms and leaned his head back, nobody really knew what was going on. Rio sensed nothing but danger coming from that Bisharp, but if he was giving them a chance to get rid of him, should they take it? Kai(Z) walked a few feet away from Zen and others, just close enough for her to do what needed to be done. The Other Zoroark lifted her paw towards the Manifest, took a deep breath, and threw her arm to the side.

The Bisharp reacted as if he was struck by something, sharply exhaling and clutching his chest. He began to fall backwards, his head still leaning back. With a THUD, the Manifest hit the floor, and it looked like he was starting to turn fade away.

"Ashes to ashes... Dust to dust..." The Manifest said. "A meaningless death befalls a meaningless existence..."

For a second, the group thought they actually finished off the Manifest, until Kai(Z) suddenly gasped and fell to her knees. The fox held her head in agony, and her other copies did the same.

"Wh-What is this?! What did you do?!" K2 growled, his glow starting to let off wisps of black energy.

"I, the manifest, did as his Mother commanded... I died." The Bisharp replied, starting to float up to his feet. "The Manifest of Zen has died... just like you wanted, Mother, and as such, you have retrieved the memories of his final moments."

The particles that were falling off of him began to rush back up his body, as his red turned to blue, the metal of his body became shinier and vivid, and his grin cracked through his helmet. Green aura broke through tiny cracks in his body, enveloping the Bisharp and vastly increasing the pressure in the area. Rio and K2 were petrified once more, the full weight of the Bisharp's power weighing down on them, and the swirling maelstrom of voices within the aura became deafening to the Lucario.

"And through the death of that pitiful, weak body of that Manifest, Strong was born! Strong was given life, eternal life! And now, Strong knows the perfect way to test his strength..." The Bisharp's voice was distorted and blended with countless others to create a dreadful cacophony of sound. He brought his head back to face the group, revealing his bright green eyes. "... IS TO ERADICATE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!"

Strong's voice was powerful enough to blow everybody back several feet, snapping Rio and K2 out of their daze in the process. Diana helped Kai(Z) up from ground and brought her back behind Zen, Rio, K2, and Minerva. Strong landed on the ground, cracking it the moment he touched it, and began walking towards the others.

"Alright, everybody! This is it, no turning back!" Rio exclaimed, expanding his aura greatly then compressing it around his body. "We will defeat this guy, and get the hell outta here!"

"If this monster reaches the surface, it could mean the end for everything!" Zen stated, drawing his blade and shrouding it with his aura. "Failure has never been an option!"

"Monster? Me? I'm no more a monster than you, or that washed up Outlander you look up to, Zen. Unlike either of you, I've yet to kill a single Pokémon in cold blood." Strong replied, chuckling devilishly.

"My sister was more of a Pokémon than you could ever be, asshole!" Z3 shouted, about to rush down the beast until Z2 held her back. Strong laughed at the childish outburst from the Copy.

"I didn't even realize you were here until you opened that disgusting mouth of yours, Copy. Your minuscule existence means nothing to me now, but it is still more than that of your 'sister.'" The Bisharp taunted.

Z3 broke free of Z2's grip, tears of rage pouring down her face a she ran up to the Bisharp and punched him in his smug face!

Absolutely nothing happened...

Strong laughed at the Copy's utter uselessness, grabbing hold of her arm and gripping it tightly, just under enough for it to dispel her.

"I think this the perfect opportunity for me to show just how much stronger I've become, thanks to my friend." Strong stated, pulling the Copy in close and grabbing her by the throat.

As Strong slowly pushed the Copy down, thick aura bled from his body and into hers. The Copy struggled to free herself, coughing and flailing her arms to get the Bisharp off her, but nothing worked. After a few seconds, Z3 stopped, and Strong slammed her body into the ground. The Bisharp took a step back, laughter building in his chest as the Zoroark Copy began to rise from the ground. That same green aura broke through parts of her body, her eyes shined green, and her body would convulse slightly every now and then.

"I've imbued this pissant with hardly an ounce of this glorious aura you see before you! Surely, even you lot can see the tremendous improvement?" The Bisharp said, placing his hand on Z3's shoulder. "From now on, you are one of my friends."

"...Friend..." The fox groaned.

"Yes, indeed! And as my friend, Strong asks if you would crush those that Strong hates."

"...Crush... Strong... hate..." Z3 lumbered towards the others, each step making her body convulse.

"Z3, snap out of it!" Z2 pleaded. "You're stronger than whatever that green aura is!"

"Crush... Strong... hate..." the Corrupted Zoroark groaned, suddenly crouching forward and laughing itself towards Z2. "CRUSH!"

Zen swiftly intercepted Z3, blocking her advance with his sword and knocking it back. Rio fired a small burst of aura, striking the fox in the chest and knocking it down. Creepily enough, Z3 bent itself back up and held it's paw towards Z2. Green aura and Dark energy fused in front of it's paw and fired in a wide blast, too wide for anyone to evade in time.

"Aura Guard!" Rio held his right arm up and summoned a domed wall of aura to block the attack. It worked for a moment, but shattered after a few seconds, resulting in most of the group getting hit by the now weakened attack. Despite that, those hit by the blast were greatly injured, meaning Rio, Diana, K2, and Zeke.

"Ha! Can you imagine how powerful I have become by comparison?!" Strong laughed. "If such a useless creation can do so much with so little of my power, what chance do any of you have in leaving here alive?"

"We have plenty, monster!" Kai declared, jumping into K2's mane and restoring him. "We're not gonna get beaten by some jerk that bullies the teammate he stole from us! It doesn't matter how strong you think you are, cuz we're stronger!"

"Insolent brat! I already hate that mouth of yours, so I think my new friend will destroy you first!" Strong replied angrily, sending more aura into Z3. Her body shook violently for a moment, as if it was rejecting the aura, but it calmed down and faced Kai and K2.

"I'm not a brat! I'm a Super-Elite Explorer! And don't you forget that!" Kai declared, covering him and K2 with a powerful aura. "New plan, Zen! K2 and I will take care of Z3, the rest of you can handle Strong!"

"We're gonna help too!" Z2 said, joined with Mia. "I know my sister is in there, I have to help her!"

"Crush..! CRUSH!" Z3 roared.

K2 and Z2 split off with Z3 in tow, leaving the others to fend off the monstrosity now known as Strong. Zen, Rio, and Minerva summoned up as much of their aura as they could manage, Kai(Z) and Diana ready to back them up, and Zeke's body started bursting with flames. In spite of their odds, not a single Pokémon felt any tinge of fear anymore, believing in Kai's words with all their hearts! They weren't going to just fight Strong, they were gonna send him right back to Hell!