Chapter 56 – Arc 4 (Poni Island) Splinter Squad
Elio's Lunala was still down, at the trough of that pit Selene had found him in, and she winced at the sight. The beast was still heaving for breath in shallow pulls and her failure to make any effort to get out on her own told Selene she maybe didn't have the strength to do so in the first place… Skidding down beside her, Selene panted, out of breath from the exertion of the day, and grabbed the beast by her harness. "Come on, we need you out there," Selene huffed. Apologetically, she added, "I'm sorry, I can tell you're tired, but—"
She was silenced with a slap to her head. Yelping, she let go and winced, rubbing the sore spot at the top of her skull. Lunala withdrew the wing she had apparently struck Selene with and glowered at her with tired, narrow eyes. Shaking her head, Selene pleaded, "Please… We need all the help we can get… Are you hurt, or just tired, or…?" Daring to creep forward, Selene dropped to her knees next to the beast, and reached a trembling hand to touch her bony shoulder. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I hope the others are fine while I do this… "Tell me what's wrong… Help me understand…"
The distant roar of battle died off as something else entirely took up her vision, a scene of abyssal blackness over what appeared to be an oceanic floor—and there, she saw it all. From Lunala's viewpoint, she watched a cruel, inhuman Lusamine and her Nihilego followers assail Elio, Lunala herself, Zossie, and Dulse. She felt Lunala's pain as those rocks lashed her sides and as she slammed into the otherworldly ground. Most chillingly of all, she saw Elio flattened to the ground, paralyzed in shock, as a nasty cut curled across his throat, the rock responsible splintered in the black, craggy earth beside him. If Lunala's own trepidation hadn't been dominating her senses in that vision, Selene was sure she would have screamed, watching him raise a trembling hand and touch it to himself, then lay back, eyes glazed over and struggling to tell Dulse and Zossie to just… go, but no sound was coming out.
She had seen it from his perspective just before, but this… Nothing could have prepared her for such a sight. The grim sight answered whatever lingering questions she had. What followed fastforwarded to Lusamine's hostile attack on Ultra Megalopolis and how she had outpaced the Ultrarians—again, something she had already seen through Elio's eyes—but this time, she felt Lunala's exhaustion and understood just how much effort it had taken for the beast to fight on as long as she had. She was no heavenly body as Alola painted her to be; she was simply herself, a beast that loved the people that had cared for and raised her, and was giving it all she had to return the favor.
Selene had put the story together at last and when the vision faded, she cupped her hands around Lunala's tired face, stroking her gently. "You come from a world away, but it still feels the same," Selene laughed brokenly. "Here, people and pokémon give each other their all… In your world, it seems Ultrarians and the beasts don't work very closely… But you're an example of how it can work. You love Elio, and Zossie, and Dulse. I could tell… But even you have your limits." Heaving a deep breath, Selene felt a tear escape her. Sniffling and wiping her face, she whispered, "If you need to rest… Then, you need to rest. I'm sorry."
"I believe I can help, though…"
Jolting in surprise, both Selene and Lunala jerked their heads to see the source of the voice. Mallow, grinning shyly, waved at them both. Her green eyes were stretched wide in obvious fear of the unfamiliar Moon Beast in front of her, but she bravely smiled on, as if wanting to be undaunted. Behind her, a Lurantis peeked, and waved curious claws. "Mallow!" Selene breathed. "I—I almost forgot, you can—!"
"Yes," Mallow laughed nervously, creeping closer. "Um, I just need to…"
"But she's just tired, not…" Selene trailed off as she shuffled out the way, giving Lunala a reassuring nod when the beast narrowed her red eyes to slits at Mallow.
"What do you think tired is?" Mallow snorted as she pressed her palms to Lunala's shoulder. The second her hands met the beast's body, all the fearful tension seemed to melt away, as she started performing the task she practically seemed born to do. Closing her eyes and letting a gentle green glow flow down her arms, she sighed, relaxing as she further explained, "When you're tired, that just means you need to rest so you can heal… so you can fight again." Her lips turned into a calm, knowing smile, as Lunala's expression brightened in what Selene could only imagine was amazement. Looking over Mallow as if inspecting a painting, Lunala tilted her head and even nudged her on the forehead.
Soon panting from sapping Lunala's wounds, however invisible they might have been, Mallow withdrew her hands. "There you… go," she breathed, wobbling and then collapsing to her rear. "Geez, I see why you weren't about to… to get back up there now…" Pressing a palm to her forehead, Mallow's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she completely toppled over, caught only by her Lurantis.
"Mallow!" Selene yelped, going to shake her shoulders. But she was cut short by Lunala shaking the ground as she flared her wings against the earth and began to hover slightly above the ground. Her size blotted what little light came from the noise and battle upon the Altar, though her golden ringlets and starshine wings blazed against the darkness of the night. In a moment, Lunala dove at her, forcing Selene onto her back, making her dig her fingers into Lunala's harness to keep from rolling off her smooth back, as the beast flew to where everyone else was.
Of course, she had no idea just how long that little excursion with Lunala had taken her, if she was too late…
If only he had more time to enjoy this reunion with Macho. The Incineroar had popped free of his Poké Ball looking sulky and annoyed, but the second he saw Elio, his face had lit up in shock, and he had wrapped Elio up in a hug that threatened to crush bones. It was only when Elio started to push on him that the Incineroar let go. Lillie had tried to give him back others, too, like his Vulpix—now a Ninetales, he had noticed—but he had insisted she keep it. It had taken a few attempts to get his point across by simply mouthing words, but eventually, she understood that he wanted her to battle with the Ninetales.
After all, that Ninetales was more her pokémon than his, anyway… He didn't mind that so much. In fact, if the scene were less chaotic, he would have been privately, almost guiltily thrilled she had changed her mind on training pokémon. While at first Elio had changed his mind due to feeling forced, thanks to the way Alola worked, his stint in Ultra Megalopolis had made him truly come to an understanding, to an agreement with himself, on the role of pokémon and humanity. Perhaps it wasn't perfect, humanity's tendency to use pokémon to defend themselves and battle one another, but certainly, many pokémon enjoyed it, and beyond that? He had realized in Ultra Megalopolis that they had it easy here on Earth. The alternatives to using pokémon and beasts in self-defense and as companions were far bleaker, he had to say… He had seen how pathetic their weaponry was against some beasts, even though the weapons were hewn from the inexplicable Z-Crystals and parts of slain Ultra Beasts.
Necrozma, still using Nebby's body, stood patiently in the center of the Altar. He was heaving for breath, saliva frothing around its beastly jaws, and he lashed a tail again and again. Far from the elegance one might have imagined from a god, as Necrozma had proclaimed itself, this dusky-maned creature gave the implication of being sick, deranged, and violent. Like a crazed animal fighting for survival. "SO," Necrozma roared, "HOW SHOULD WE BEGIN THIS?"
With that, Elio gave Macho the Firium-Z Lillie had been careful to hold onto for them and pointed at Necrozma. Although confused at first, and it took Elio a second to get it right, Elio performed the specific pose required to flood that Z-Crystal with energy, and in that moment, Macho understood. He looked up at Elio with concern etched in his face fleetingly, clearly wondering why he wasn't being issued a verbal command, but then whirled around, that crystal clutched in his jaws, running on all fours at Necrozma. Panting for breath after feeling that all-too familiar blazing energy course through his veins, Elio silently willed this to work, as he saw the Captains and Kahunas nearby sending their own pokémon in. He even heard the warning caterwauls of an Absol as one dove at Necrozma, whipping its head forcefully in an attempt to Slash him with the blade atop its head.
Yet, a Z-powered Flare Blitz seemed hardly to bother the beast. Neither did the Absol's Slash, nor the attacks of any of the other pokémon. Roaring, Necrozma tossed many of the attackers away with a simple swipe of its powerful, dark claws, and more rips and tears in reality started to burst in the sky above them. Grimacing and cowering at the force of the bass of the sound, Elio wondered when it would stop, as the sound carried on for more than a few seconds. Finally, when Necrozma finished, he jumped up, and landed with a powerful thud that broke more of the Altar of the Sunne's intricate flooring.
"SENSELESS!" Necrozma bellowed, Nebby's lifeless, possessed eyes glowing bright, piercing red. "NONE OF YOU KNOW HOW TO WIELD MY CRYSTALS PROPERLY! WASTEFUL! DISGRACEFUL!" The Absol rushed him again, and he grabbed the pokémon with one of his paws, clutching massive, dark claws around its throat. Slamming the Absol to the ground, Necrozma dribbled foamy saliva over the pokémon's face as he growled, "AND YOU. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH? YOU'RE AS FALSE OF A GOD AS YOU WERE BACK THEN!"
To everyone's shock—Elio's included—the Absol warped and changed body shape, until it was too large to fit beneath Necrozma's claws. It stretched and distorted to the form of a Gyarados, and roared back in Necrozma's face, slapping him away with a powerful strike of its tail. "You've got the wrong Absol," the… Gyarados chuckled?
Two more Absol lunged from the sidelines, joining the Gyarados on either side, and then, the beastly Water-type shrunk. A huffing Nanu was left in its place, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Been a while since I was made to do that," Nanu dryly laughed at a furious Necrozma, who had been bowled onto his back, and was taking his time flipping back over. "Bulu might be an asshole, but at least he gives good gifts." The Absol to his left swatted at him and he glared at it. "What? I dunno what kinda gifts you give. You gotta give gifts in the first place for me to know that, y'know, Tapu Fini."
Did he just turn into a fucking pokémon? Also, Tapu Fini? What? Elio was floored as Macho returned to his side, still clutching that Firium-Z in his jaws. The two of them exchanged looks that more than spoke their respective shock without either of them uttering a word.
"Well, fucking hell, I guess we figured out Nanu's power!" Lillie puffed from beside him. Shaking her head, she almost hysterically laughed, "I thought that Absol was Tapu Fini… She stays in an Absol form most of the time… I guess the one on the left is her and the one on the right is Nanu's actual Absol… Anyway, Ninetales, Blizzard! Let's give it our best shot!"
With that, Ninetales started running toward Necrozma, billowing clouds of powdery snow gathering around his tails.
Still shaking his head in amazement, Elio pointed back at Necrozma, and Macho only nodded. Of course, there was no way for Macho to know exactly what attack Elio would have wanted him to perform, but at that point, Elio didn't know what to think. Was there any strategy to fighting this beast? He knew it aligned with what his world had typically known as Psychic-type, but in this form? There was no telling. Just hit it, was all he could think, morbidly snorting in amusement to himself. A Darkest Lariat would probably be good, but, agh, I can't tell him that and that one's not as easy to convey…
Sneaking alongside Macho, Elio watched as Bowtie, Selene's Decidueye, joined the fight. After sharing a brief reunion with Macho, the pokémon took up a post just outside of Necrozma's striking range and started firing arrows from beneath the cloak of his silky wings. Elio wondered if that meant Selene had returned, but with a frantic once-over of his surroundings, he didn't see her…
As Necrozma finally stood on trembling, shaky legs again, glaring down at Nanu with all the hate he could muster, the beast was assailed on all sides. Clubs from Alolan Marowak, a Hyper Fang from a Gumshoos, an Air Slash from a Crobot, a Double-Edge from a Lycanroc, a Hariyama's Force Palm, a Salazzle's Sludge Bomb—even Lana jumped close enough to ice the crumbled rocks of the Altar around Necrozma's feet, and Kiawe heated the air around the beast until it was warping from the temperature. Hau ordered an Umbreon to throw up protective barriers, such as Light Screen and Reflect, around the attackers, but his hands and eyes blazed with golden and blue arcs of electricity. As Necrozma roared and melted the ice anchoring it to the ground with a blast of fire from his muzzle, Hau flooded the freshly melted substance with electricity, the volts coursing through Necrozma's body. Nanu himself turned into a Dragon-type with clanging scales that Elio didn't recognize, banging those noisy ornaments all over his body together to disorient the beast.
"ENOUGH!" Necrozma roared again. More wormholes warped and ripped in the sky, and Elio, momentarily distracted by them, noticed they had a few more extraterrestrial visitors. Buzzwole, Pheromosa, hell, he even saw a few he didn't know the names of yet escape—but before he had the chance to even panic about that and wonder if Selene had made any progress with his exhausted and beaten Lunala, his attention was drawn back to Necrozma. As the beast shook off the attacking pokémon, he staggered over to where Hala, Professor Kukui, and former Captain Ilima were standing. The prior two tried to grab Ilima's arms and start to pull him away, but before Ilima knew what was happening, Necrozma latched those sickeningly large claws around him and hoisted him into the air.
"Stop!" Lillie shrieked above the commotion. Elio winced at the sheer terror in her voice, as it seemed not everyone there had seen Necrozma pick him up. "Stop attacking, it's got Ilima!"
Frozen by Lillie's terror and his own, wondering if he was about to watch Necrozma murder that man in front of him, Elio could only watch with bated breath.
"Let me go!" Ilima hissed at the beast. Elio found himself almost envying Ilima's blindness, the fact he didn't know what exactly was holding him likely being the only thing allowing him to hold himself together right about then. "Right now!"
"VILE CREATURES," Necrozma snarled, but rather than do anything to harm Ilima, he seemed to carefully pluck something from off one of his wrists. Once that was done, he simply dropped him, and a gray crystal began to hover in the air above Necrozma's head. A collective gasp of fear escaped everyone, but someone's Toucannon intercepted Ilima's fall, bringing him back to where Hala and Professor Kukui were standing. The Toucannon then retreated to someone Elio didn't recognize, a woman with pale, azure hair and periwinkle eyes. She twirled a golf club in one hand and beamed back at him when she caught him staring.
"You just enjoy picking on the weak!" Elio's attention snapped back as he heard Lillie scream. She had marched out, further onto the broken Altar, and was jabbing a finger up at Necrozma. "You absorbed Nebby because he was weak after just evolving! You picked on Ilima because he was blind! Not to mention, look at you! You're right when you say you aren't a god! You're sick!" she furiously spat. Elio, feeling a flare of panic, rushed out after her and grabbed her arms, clamping them to her side and pulling her back. He wanted to yell at her to stop it, but even though his jaws flexed instinctively, no sound came out, as usual. Just a small jolt of pain in the pit of his throat. Fighting against his hold some, Lillie snarled again, "Sick!"
You're right, Lillie, he is sick—but if we piss him off too much and he goes back to Ultra Megalopolis, we've really lost this, Elio internally despaired, frustratedly gritting his teeth at his inability to just tell her as much. Gladion even darted up beside him and he and Lillie's brother shared a fleeting look, Elio momentarily wondering if Gladion would pick a fight with him right then and there. To his surprise, Gladion only dipped his chin, as if to tell him he understood. A Crobat flew back to him and he looked back up at Necrozma, surveying the situation with analytical, emerald eyes. Focusing on holding Lillie, Elio desperately wished he could explain… If he goes back there, the URS will do everything in their power to kill him… and I saw us in there, we couldn't touch him. The Blinding One will destroy Ultra Megalopolis once and for all… and every bit of progress they've made toward helping him will be lost… He'll ravage Alola next, and probably many worlds beyond that… We can't kill him, we have to save or stop him, somehow… We need him to stay here so we can take our time and catch him…
"WHO PICKS ON THE WEAK?" Necrozma bellowed, lumbering toward Lillie, that gray Z-Crystal still hovering above his head. "YOU KNOW NOTHING OF PICKING ON THE WEAK!" Macho attempted to intercept Necrozma, but the beast lunged at him in a way that looked like a Flare Blitz. The Firium-Z in Macho's jaws was knocked free and Necrozma snatched that, too, adding it to his stolen Normalium-Z. "I WAS LEFT AS A SKELETON, BECAUSE THOSE ULTRARIANS DID NOT RECOGNIZE ME AS A LIVING THING, AS THEY DID ONE ANOTHER! THE WEAKER I GOT, THE MORE RAVENOUS THEY BECAME FOR MY CRYSTALS—MY FLESH!"
The gathered pokémon around Necrozma started to move away from him. Hau's Umbreon tucked its tail between its legs; one of the Absol revealed itself as what Elio could only assume to be Tapu Fini, and she too, backed away; the other Absol gave a mournful, warning caterwaul, but kept itself sunk low to the ground in a submissive gesture; Bowtie lowered his bow and crept away in the shadows; Macho limped back to Elio's side; Lillie's Ninetales soon joined them; Nanu got off the Altar before returning to his usual state, limping and panting; Ilima's Gumshoos cowered against the Altar, only running off after it was called by a panicky Kukui.
"I WAS LEFT WITH MY BONES AND NOTHING MORE!" Necrozma howled. "THOSE CRYSTALS ARE HOW I STORE LIGHT AND THE ESSENCE OF EVERY PLACE I HAVE TRAVELED! THEY HUNTED ME WHEN I WAS WEAK, AND THEY CARVED THEM FREE OF MY BODY, UNTIL THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT! WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE HEARTLESS MONSTERS YOU DEFEND, AND THAT YOU NOW EMULATE?"
"A'ole!" Hau shouted, still willing to get semi-close to the raging beast. His brown eyes were glowing yellow with sheer energy, his chest heaving with rapid, rapid breaths. "No! Don't get to… no! They—not us! Not just hurt all 'cause you hurt!"
"OH, BUT I CAN," Necrozma cruelly growled back at Hau, the frothing lips of its muzzle turning up in a vindictive grin. A long strand of saliva dribbled to the crumbled stones beneath his feet as he flexed his claws and said in a dreadfully calm tone, "I CAN DO ANYTHING. WHAT CAN YOU DO?"
Clenching his jaw, Hau raised his chin at the beast. "Make you listen," Hau replied dutifully. "Ikehu!" With that, his Raichu, apparently having been hiding behind his back, surfed the air in front of him on her tail, and Hau performed the Electrium-Z pose. Electricity flooded from his hands in a fantastical golden blast that enveloped the Raichu—who then slammed into Necrozma's corrupted muzzle with full force. The explosion actually managed to throw Necrozma a sizable distance, and onto the beast's side, even if the devastating attack left Hau sinking to his knees in exhaustion and his Raichu weakly and wobbily hovering back to his side.
When the smoke cleared, Necrozma was struggling to stand upright, volts still occasionally flecking over his body. "YOU ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN THEY ARE WITH THEIR WEAPONS… THEY UNDERSTAND THE CRYSTALS BETTER, BUT YOU UNDERSTAND RELATIONSHIPS WITH CREATURES BETTER THAN THE ULTRARIANS EVER WILL…" Necrozma panted, "BUT YOU WILL NEVER CATCH ME. NEVER. NOT ALIVE." With that, he hauled himself weakly to his feet. "BUT THANK YOU FOR THE PSYCHO-ELECTRIC CRYSTAL…" A Z-Crystal made of a meld of pink and yellow hovered above his head to join his Normalium- and Firium-Z. Elio's heart sank as he realized Hau's Raichu must have been holding it and Necrozma, like the Normalium- and Firium-Z, had stolen it.
Then a blinding flash of white light made Elio yelp and shut his eyes—forcing everyone to look away as everyone else's Z-Crystals were levitated out of their pockets, wristbands, necklaces, and other storages. When everyone dared look again, Necrozma had a significant collection of them hovering above his head, and with another small flash of light, the crystals condensed into one multicolored prism. Swallowing hard in rising panic, already knowing where this was going, Elio's blood ran cold as Necrozma… snickered. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE RETURNED TO ME, YOUNG ONE WITH THE GIFTS OF ELECTRICITY… NOT THAT YOU HAVE THAT ANYMORE, OF COURSE. YOU SHOULD THANK ME. GET TOO MUCH MORE WORKED UP, AND THAT CRYSTAL WOULD HAVE DESTROYED YOUR MORTAL FRAME. YOUR HEART WAS ALREADY BEATING FAR TOO FAST."
Sure enough, Hau looked like a Magikarp out of water, frantically breathing and patting his sides like he didn't understand what was wrong with his body. Elio noticed Hau's hands were shaking violently but there were no longer the signature sparks of electricity, not a trace of it.
"FOLLOW ME IF YOU WISH, BUT GOOD LUCK KEEPING UP," Necrozma growled, turning around, and running at one of the myriad tears in reality around them. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
NO! Elio wanted to yell. His hands flew off of Lillie in an instant and he ran after the beast, even though Necrozma was already gone. The wormholes in the sky were still there, but… but while Elio knew where Necrozma was headed, how would he get there? What would he do once there alone? Question after question rallied in his frayed mind, but he just sank to his knees once he found himself just in front of the wormhole Necrozma had left through. He heard Lillie shout for Nebby as she ran up beside him, and he felt a flicker of guilt for not feeling more for her in such a moment, but the fact of the matter was, somewhere out there, the lives of a frail, dying race were hanging in the balance—people he had gotten to know and care about over the course of a handful of months. Suddenly, he felt like he hadn't gotten long enough with them… Guiltily, he even felt a twinge of regret for his disdain for Dr. Colress and Rosa. Although he had heard whispers of the evil they had wrought on Earth, in Ultra Megalopolis, they were a reckoning force behind research into ways to help Necrozma and even himself, what with Dr. Colress vowing to have Elio speaking again in time through a helmet. The genocide Necrozma had promised… it just… it just couldn't happen, could it? Then Guzma… A field duo from the URS had found Guzma later and brought him to the city, where they had even managed to reverse the initial effects of Nihilego toxins on him, which Lusamine had apparently been inflicting on him with the intent of turning him into an abomination like herself (of course, he knew that was simply her new Nihilego instincts forcing such a behavior). Guzma, like Elio, had been held in Ultra Megalopolis due to fears of leading Mother Beast Lusamine or a freed Blinding One to Alola…
"Elio…"
Shakily turning around, Elio slowly looked up, taking in the sight of Lunala. She looked practically reinvented, as bright and powerful as ever, with Selene quivering but clinging to her harness. "I… got her up…" Selene swallowed. "But I see I… I was a little late…"
Just like that, Lunala practically bucked Selene off, who squeaked as she landed harshly next to Lillie. Awkwardly lunging to help pick her up, Lillie glared up at Lunala. "What was that for?" she snapped.
Not wasting a second, Elio swung a leg of Lunala's back, slipping into the harness like a well-fit glove. Well, that was because it kind of was—his suit and her harness were designed to fit snugly, as perfectly as possible, to optimize their compatibility. Giving Lillie an apologetic glance, Elio shook his head. No, you can't come this time, he tried to say, again frustrated without his voice. Annoyed, he gritted his teeth. Even without his helmet in Ultra Megalopolis, he had learned a way to communicate with their own sign language, and almost everyone there knew it! Sure, it didn't help in the heat of battle, which was why he and the rest of the URS had lost contact during the fight there, but at least there, he had SOME kind of a voice! Why was it so hard to just communicate here?
Selene, Lillie, Gladion, and even a frazzled Hau, limping over to them with a tired Raichu and Umbreon at his side, looked up at Elio in confusion. "Where do you think you're going?" Selene demanded, clearly wanting to sound shrill, but her voice faltering partway through.
Huffing in frustration, Elio looked away and tugged on Lunala's reins, encouraging her to hover higher. I'm sorry, Elio thought, gnawing his lower lip, unable to look down at them as they started shouting after him. I… I can't leave Ultra Megalopolis like that… I have to know what's happening in there…
To his shock, however, a flash of light strobed from within the wormhole just in front of him, and a Solgaleo lunged free, knocking him and Lunala to the ground. Part of him hoped against all hoped that Nebby had, by some miracle, managed to fend off Necrozma, but when he took a closer look, he was a mix of disappointed and glad to see the Solgaleo in question was Zossie and Dulse's. Outfitted with a harness similar to his Lunala's, Dulse straddled the front of the beast, with Zossie clinging to his back. "The Blinding One has returned to Ultra Megalopolis!" Dulse barked. "We must return there at once!"
Glowering at them, Elio signed at them that that was what he had been planning, until they knocked him and Lunala down. Zossie laughed a little and apologized. Yet, just as he intended to hop back on his Lunala, he felt something tug on his pants. Looking down, the Ninetales he had entrusted to Lillie was biting onto the thick fabric, his brown eyes angry and resentful. Pulling Elio toward Lillie and the others, Elio could practically feel the betrayal wafting off the pokémon. That was only second to Lillie, who grabbed his arms and, green eyes glassy, demanded, "Were you really just going to leave us? On purpose?"
"I've got to go help them!" Elio 'yelled,' silent although his lips moved, wrenching his leg free of Ninetales' grasp and stamping his foot in frustration. Lillie, please!
"We do not have time for this!" Dulse annoyedly snapped. "Here!" With that, he threw bundles of white and black at Lillie, Selene, Hau, and Gladion. The latter two, however, jumped away from the offering, while the prior two caught them. Lillie immediately shook hers out and Elio realized they had been given emergency exosuits, the smooth, one-size-fits-all kind that were only suitable for a few travels in Ultra Space. Turning a look of dismay on Dulse and Zossie, Elio frantically signed that he didn't want them going, but Dulse shot him a seething glare that shut him down instantly. "You ran off and started this fight with Lusamine without waiting for a word from the rest of us. We will have to turn on Phyco and Soliera once we return, because they wish to kill The Blinding One, and you and I both know we cannot let them try that. You still have much to learn. Now, we need all the help we can get. The Blinding One was tired. Whatever your friends here were doing, they forced it to retreat to Ultra Megalopolis—they were able to give it some competition. If they want to come with, then they are welcome to come with."
"Elio… Let us help," Selene encouragingly said, wrenching him free from his spiraling guilty stupor at Dulse's stern reprimand.
"Go!" someone else shouted. Whipping around, Elio saw that the Captains and Kahunas had gathered closer. A tired, but kindly man approached him and grinned, ruffling his own gray hair as he spoke. "My name's Molayne. You don't know me but know that the rest o' us will take care of back here. You go help your friends… Help stop that beast. I don't need no fancy metal-wieldy powers to take care of a few big bugs here, but you guys clearly know more about this than the rest of us do… So, we need your help taking care of The Beast Who…" He shook his head. "Necrozma." He playfully winked.
"I—what about Mom?" Gladion pitched in, frantically looking between Elio, Dulse, Zossie, and finally Lillie. Starting to shake his head before anyone even responded, he stepped back, throwing his rolled-up exosuit back at Dulse. "No, I have to—I have to go check on her… Maybe Mallow can help her!"
"Ae, Gladion… think all lost powers," Hau reminded him in a small voice. But he, too, handed the suit back to Dulse, albeit sheepishly. "A'ole, I stay, help here," Hau insisted. Smiling at Selene's concerned look, he nodded at her reassuringly. "Ae, all good. Promise."
"Then, it's settled," Lillie pointedly said, already squirming into that suit, forcing it over her existing clothes. The fabric stretched across her, fitting tightly, a mix of gray, silver, black, and white mesh. "We're going."
Once they were all properly suited and astride Lunala's back, Elio swallowed hard, feeling his heart pound in his chest. Shooting Dulse a look, he slowly signed at him, "If anything happens to them, it's on your hands."
"You're not the only one with people to protect," Dulse replied just as silently, defiantly. "Megalopolis isn't that big. It's the only city left for my entire race. I know everyone in it. Make of that what you will." With that, he grabbed the reins of his Solgaleo tightly, and Zossie clung to his back. "Follow us! Miss Lillie, Selene, hold onto Elio and one another tightly, and close your eyes!"
Like I don't know where we're going, Elio mutinously thought to himself, wanting to be annoyed with him even though he was grateful he was telling his passengers how to brace themselves for this sensation. Here goes nothing… to our final stand.
Panic was not a sensation Rosa was used to.
No, she was used to lofty carelessness, the thrill of sewing mischief, the high of getting a rise out of Dr. Colress. It had been a long, long time since she had felt legitimate panic, and this situation was dredging up all sorts of uncomfortable memories. Memories of a boy, some six years or so lost, and the hopelessness she had felt as the events surrounding him spiraled into something uncontrollable and wild—she had tamed that wildness, ridden that high, made it her own. But this? How was she supposed to handle this?
Standing along a cold, dreary pathway—somehow, everywhere in Ultra Megalopolis felt that way despite how futuristic and exciting it should have been—she watched as the glowing beast sat atop the flickering, broken Megalo Tower. He had returned in a blazing Ultra Wormhole, landing atop the tower like a shooting star, making it wobble and shake dangerously. Ultrarians that had dared show their faces outside their fortified buildings had retreated immediately upon his reentry and those of the URS still in the city had thrown together a meeting along the path leading up to the Tower. Technically, she and Dr. Colress were part of it, but Dr. Colress had gripped her wrist tightly and led her away.
Wrenching against his grip but unable to tear herself out of it, Rosa spat at him, "Let me go!"
"For what?" he quietly pressed, the light of the Tower reflecting off his glasses in such a way that made them look white.
"We can help," Rosa insisted at him, pulling again.
"For what?" he repeated coldly. She swore his grasp tightened.
Digging her nails into his skin, Rosa bared her teeth, "Why not? What will there be left of us if that monster up there gets what it wants? Colress, it—"
"Why do you suddenly care so much?" he cruelly cut her off, turning an icy stare on her that froze her like magic. "This is so unlike you. What are you afraid of it doing? Who are you afraid of it hurting?"
Starting to feel a ball of emotion rise in her throat, a panicky, possessive, obsessive kind of emotion, Rosa tugged weakly at his grasp again, and whined, "You, you genius idiot! It wants to kill everyone here! In case you haven't realized, we're here!" And of everything to lose, I can't lose you… I can't lose you. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't—
"I want to test out my N-Lunarizers and N-Solarizers, and I have to stay until Necrozma is calmed enough to do that," Dr. Colress replied with a shrug, looking away from her. "Miss Rosa, do calm down. I am sure I will get the opportunity to and no matter what happens, we will be safe. That is how it always is. You should know. That is why I am confused by your reaction. I'm always fine."
"Then let me go help 'calm it down' so we can leave sooner," Rosa huffed in annoyance. In the end, she gave up trying to get out of his hold.
"No," he matter-of-factly told her without even a second thought. "Absolutely not."
"We're always fine, aren't we?" Rosa mocked him, curling a lip. "So, let me go! I have Genesect—"
"I said no," he snarled, his collected, cool calmness gone in an instant. Panting for a second as he stared at her with those golden, gleaming eyes, he took a deep breath, the fleeting, wild look gone. "I mean, no. I will not let you do that."
A tiny voice told her that he was worried for her, just as she was worried for him, and yet, despite how that might have made some grateful for their partners, or perhaps made them feel more endeared to them, Dr. Colress' worry felt more like smothering, and her desire to protect him felt more like an obsessive need than a selfless want. Still held there by his iron grasp, she missed her suit, which could have let her break free of this easily (Ultra Megalopolis was too cold for her to wear it constantly, though), all she could do was look up at the top of the weakened Megalo Tower and hope that whatever solution the URS came up with, it worked…
She hated feeling so powerless. Feeling a surge of anger at Dr. Colress for forcing her into such a helpless position, she frustratedly took a shot at him, "Fucking asshole."
At that, she saw his jaws tighten, as if he were grinding his teeth, but he said nothing. Ultimately, the muscles in his face relaxed and he sighed, almost… defeatedly.
But he still didn't let go.
Yes, I know this chapter raises a lot of questions, particularly about Nanu, but also other stuff - I promise it's intentional and they are answered later ;p
Though I'll go ahead and clarify that the Z-Crystal Hau used was the Alolan Raichu one, the one that allows it to perform Stoked Sparksurfer. Since Alolan Raichu is a dual Electric-/Psychic-type, I figured it'd make sense that these pokemon specific crystals probably are just dual-type crystals that people haven't figured out technically apply to any dual-type of the specified types. So, Necrozma after snatching this crystal was allowed to make those bright flashes of light at will rather than just when fighting and stuff, and levitated everyone's stuff with newfound Psychic-type powers.