Chapter 56: Thousand Fates
Disclaimer: I've got about a snowball's chance in Dark Souls of owning the Pokémon franchise.
~o~
Cheers like the roar of the distant sea hit his sweat-matted fur as he danced along the ruined battlefield, energy thrumming through his meridians and singing in the air, the living aura coursing from his thundering heart, the vast silver cauldron of the ecstatic crowd, and the determined fire emanating from every competitor in the Pokémon League Tournament.
Indigo leapt and twisted with perfect muscular control between clear spots in the Spikes-addled dirt, twisting his spine in midair to weave between hissing shuriken made of liquid blue steel. They passed harmlessly beneath him as he turned his twist into a horizontal midair roll, brilliant platinum light searing from his palms in a glinting laser beam mid-spin. But the Greninja was crafty, striking a hand sign and vanishing into a plume of smoke, instants before the vaporizing Flash Cannon sang past.
Sweat pattered from his forehead to the dirt as he skidded backwards on landing, blood roaring in his swiveling ears. But the fire of Indigo's scarlet eyes remained undimmed as he glared up beneath the black mask of his fur.
A dark shadow passed over him. Indigo leapt backwards just as the Greninja struck the earth in a double-footed aerial kick from above, his Protean aura shifting with flying-type energy. "I don't think so!" Indigo snarled, a howling Dragon Pulse vortex slamming the blue amphibian across the field—their first direct hit against their opponent's final Pokémon.
Of course, Indigo was exhausted, injured, and Violet's final Pokémon as well. He wasn't worried in the slightest. "Are we ready?" he asked telepathically, splitting his attention between the battle and her.
"He'll be waiting for us," Violet warned, the white-sapphire aura necklace flickering with light as she thought in his direction. "Indigo, range him out with Flash Cannon!" she shouted out loud, switching back to telepathic speech to say, "You'll need to buy five seconds. Can you manage?"
A plan formed between their shared minds, and Indigo grinned savagely.
Their poor opponents! It was terribly unlucky to face a combo like theirs. Really, it was almost too easy.
Greninja's aura flowed with water-type power once more as shuriken flew from his webbed fingertips. "Indigo, finish this!" Violet declared out loud, her voice amplified by her jaw mic. "While he's a water type, Aura Sphere!"
Her opponent didn't miss a beat, his honey-smooth voice instructing, "Bounce, mon cher!" The Greninja leapt into the sky like a released spring, flying energy gusting over his aura again, granting him a degree of resistance as Indigo gathered power to his palms…
…and dropped his arms, the sudden light gleaming from his mega stone matching the gleaming of his vicious scarlet eyes as Violet raised her fist with a gleaming keystone set in silver. Crystal-pink power encased him in a thrumming sphere, and the crowd roared as they realized what they'd done.
Inside the sphere, burning metallic aura whirled and boiled faster and faster, primal energy shuddering up his cracking bones as his limbs lengthened and his aura sensors grew. Spikes erupted from the red fur of his feet and paws, as black markings streaked across his body like jagged lightning, where aura and mega energy collided and fought. The crystalline sphere shattered into shards as Indigo howled, tangible power exploding out from him in a shockwave.
The world narrowed to power, instinct, and his opponent's aura – nothing else mattered, not the crowd, pain, or his own heartbeat. Mega-Indigo bared his teeth in a vicious snarl, leaping upwards with such power a shockwave distorted the dust, gathering singing aura that was savage, breathtaking, and alive, his very soul thrilling with the battle. In midair, they exchanged blows, Greninja halting his Bounce to defend himself.
"—Mega Lucario!" one of the professional commentators said from above, somewhere past the battle haze, the shockwave blowing back her burgundy ponytail. Lorelei's sharp ruby eyes practically glowed behind her glasses as she leaned forward, tapping her chin with a black pen. "This unique mega evolution grows more powerful the more exhausted Lucario is before activating the transformation, since aura grows in power as the body weakens. This late in the match, Miss Violet has quite the ace up her sleeve!"
"Water Shuriken, Greninja, knock him to the ground!" Andre Chase shouted, his warm coppery eyes flashing with horror as platinum-bright energy condensed in front of Indigo's bared fangs. But Flash Cannon seared against the peppery spray of blades, leaving nothing behind but the sharp taste of metal hanging in the air, just missing the Greninja's head.
The breathless energy of the crowd rose to a tangible thrum just as the two battlers hit the spike-littered ground, skidding back from each other, and Violet shouted, "Indigo, Aura Blade!"
Power screamed in his right paw, coursing along his aura pathways from every meridian to one, concentrated point. A blade of pure silver-white fire erupted from his palm like the sword he'd wielded so long ago, longer than he was tall and shining like a molten silver sun. Black shadows streaked behind him and his foe. And terrible fear skittered through Greninja's aura. Mega energy bypassed his emotions and mercy, leaving Indigo with none as he bounded towards his terrified foe, trails of aura fire whispering in his wake.
"Greninja, you must Bounce—!"
But faced with an avenging warrior-god with burning eyes wreathed in silver fire, the cowering Greninja faltered for a fatal second.
Silver flashed, aura-steel sang…and then thundering sound boomed from the collision, blowing a concussive wind across the stadium.
When the dust cleared, Indigo whirled away from his fallen foe, flicking excess power off his Aura Blade with a contemptuous slash.
"—they've done it! Using a move she created, Violet Hikari takes the match!" The main announcer had to fight to be heard over the wildfire roar of the crowd, the giant monitors flickering to Violet's face as she blinked, vaguely surprised to find the battle over. "She's entered the top sixteen of this year's Indigo Plateau Conference!"
~o~
It seemed like everyone she'd ever met wanted a handshake, when all was said and done.
Violet tucked her hair behind one ear, laughing as she shook hands with a young boy she'd battled a year prior, her pokétch buzzing with staccato text messages in her pocket every few seconds. A colorful sea of trainers milled around the vast marble foyer of the Indigo League Stadium, many of the faces vaguely familiar, people she'd never met but knew by reputation.
The best of the best were gathered here today. And somehow, she was here too.
A camera shutter snicked as a bright flash faded. Allison Demont tilted her head to the side of her camera, her honey-blonde pigtails framing her leaf-green eyes. "Still feel like an imposter?" she guessed by the look on her face, arching an eyebrow. "Here I thought your Ditto was the one with that ability."
"Allison!" Violet gasped, already hugging her before the word was out of her mouth, nearly knocking them both over. They broke apart with starry eyes, still holding each other's arms, talking over each other animatedly. "It's been so long—!"
"—I know, right? Not since Cinnabar Island! Eighteen months?"
"You look great! What've you been up to?"
"Oh, the usual," Allison dismissed, waving her hand. "But you! I've been following your journey since that insane Johto challenge you took on! Battling every gym without a level cap or a loss…the last person to do that was Daniel Knight, wasn't it? Oh, did you hear about Katerina's—"
"Yes!" Violet breathed, hardly able to believe it. "Engaged to Jaz! They'll be great, I just know it! Didn't you discover a new species of dragon in Alola? You have to show me sometime—"
Indigo coughed into his paw, his scarlet eyes bemused as the two girls turned to look at him and remembered his presence. Allison smiled. "And we can't forget the other star of the show!" she sang, bounding forward to hug him tight, careful of the iron spike on his chest. "You've got a fan club, by the way, so I'm going to need some signed photos. And some fur. How do you feel about pictures of you sleeping, because those are in demand, let me tell you..."
"Easy," Indigo warned in a half growl, though he smiled as he pushed the cardigan-clad stalker away. "I've missed your particular brand of insanity. It is good to see you again."
Violet's face hurt from smiling so much, but she didn't care. Being here, surrounded by friends and rivals, after travelling with her Pokémon for years…
Her life was perfect. Everything she'd wanted as a child, and more.
In just two and a half years since starting her journey, Violet Hikari had gone from a nameless rookie to an internationally acclaimed professional trainer.
For the past eighteen months, she and Indigo had travelled the world, challenging gym circuits and investigating mysteries, all the while hunting for information about breaking his curse in far-off lands. Star Labs sponsored her journey, collecting information from her travels and sending her valuable Pokémon to train, spearheaded by Daniel's mother, Julie Knight. Violet's word on Pokémon training had become well respected across the web, and trainers paid for the privilege of having their partners train with her. She and Indigo had done well for themselves, all things considered. They both enjoyed meeting and training so many new Pokémon. She was even turning her trainer tips blog into a book!
Twenty-seven badges, and four regions later, it was time to return to Kanto for the Indigo Plateau Conference held once every three years. The very stage Danny had stood on, so many years ago. Only the winner had the right to challenge the Elite Four, and take the Championship.
Her heart warmed, even as her eyes tightened on painful memories.
Finally, she could fulfill their promise. And become a master, like Danny had always believed she could.
She tuned back into Allison and Indigo's conversation. "—Mr. Fin's fan club is even bigger than yours! His Magikarp photos are more popular than some celebrities, haha! Oh, Violet, how is Avery doing? Still improving?"
"Yeah!" Violet said, forcing a bright smile. "She's almost cured of her corrupt psychic power…the color is different, but for some reason she still doesn't pass the purity tests. We're…not too sure why."
Of course, she had her own suspicions that Avery was faking the tests, and had found a way to alter the color of her power…but she kept that to herself. She was doing better, dark power or no.
Time would tell.
"Pity," Allison said. "She'd be one of your strongest if she evolved, with that insane level of hers. It's too bad you can't bring her or that Froslass into the League, but you've got plenty of others to choose from at this point, right?"
Yukino's snowy premier ball chilled at her waist, reminding her of their promise. Froslass couldn't battle on a competitive stage, but she wanted to be human—able to fight with her own team, someday. They'd also been hunting for legends on how to make that happen the last year, lest the icy ghost kill all the trainers she'd once imprisoned in her icy domain using the power she'd embedded in their hearts.
"Fifteen trained battlers," Violet confirmed. "That I'm keeping, anyways. I switch them out for the situation, though I keep Mr. Fin, Jasper, Indigo and Ditto on my battle teams at all times."
"I'll bet," Allison snorted, rolling her eyes. "Your Ditto is straight out broken, by the way. Especially after you lent it to Amara for the summer—can it really turn into all of her strategy-set monsters whenever it wants? There's a petition to ban it from tournaments, if you haven't heard—citing 'unfairness'," she finished with sarcastic air quotes.
Violet sighed heavily, kneading the bridge of her nose as she remembered the incident. "Even Ditto thinks Amara is evil. That being said, they got along like a house on fire. If I hadn't taken it back when I did, the world may have been in serious danger from their combined personalities."
They all pondered the combo for a moment, and shuddered as one.
"Enough trivialities," Indigo growled, crossing his arms. A group of kids caught sight of the savage Lucario, giggling and whispering with awe, but he paid them no mind. "Who will our next opponent be? Another of the Frozen?"
Allison's eyes positively glowed behind her glasses. "Most likely," she confirmed, her smile stretching wide. "The final ranking battles ended an hour ago—thirteen of this year's top sixteen are the Frozen. Best of all, they're split about fifty-fifty on whether they feel indebted to Violet for helping save their lives, or hold a grudge against the trainer of the Froslass who imprisoned them for decades."
In every generation, there were a handful of era-defining geniuses who shook the world with their power. Violet's Froslass had been capturing these geniuses for a hundred and eighty years, keeping them forever young, forever talented—frozen in time.
Until Violet had set them all free at once. Leaving Kanto with over a hundred world-shattering geniuses, and their Pokémon, who had spent the last eighteen months revolutionizing the art of battle across the entire region.
Peerless and fearless, they'd taken the Pokémon League Tournament by storm. The Frozen may have been born across decades, but their bond was unmistakable, and their skills undeniable. Many thought one of the timeless children would take the Championship this year.
But Indigo and Violet exchanged a look. "Roy is our biggest problem," they said in unison. Indigo gritted his sharp canines, touching his left shoulder in remembrance of his last battle against the boy genius…one they'd thoroughly lost.
But Allison blinked, her face wiping clean of all emotion. "You…haven't heard? Oh boy," she breathed, standing up straighter. She spoke again at their odd looks, gathering her thoughts. "Ok, here goes. So remember that hooded girl from the previous ranking bracket, the one who narrowly beat Nathan Slade?"
"What about her?" Violet asked warily.
Hundreds of battles had been held the past four days—she hadn't watched them all, though she remembered seeing the cloak-and-dagger girl from a distance.
Allison took a deep breath, as tense and unsure as a doctor giving a terminal diagnosis. "Tara Knight qualified for the top sixteen. I only found out an hour ago. And Violet? She's using Daniel's team. You'll have to beat them to win this."
~o~
Indigo leaned forward, as serious as she'd ever seen him as he said, "Hear me out. Jetpack Lucario."
"No."
"We could use a dramatic speech to guilt him into surrendering."
"Try again," she suggested.
Indigo sat back on his paws, narrowing his eyes. "My held item could be a snowball. Against a Salamence, it would surely inflict massive damage…"
Violet laughed at that. "Maybe ten or twelve snowballs. Fury is no joke—he was Daniel's strongest Pokémon. Even if Tara isn't as good as he was, we're in trouble. He's got twenty levels on you."
"And nine on that obnoxious Ditto. You may have to use that infuriating thing, though it works best as a team support…"
But if Tara takes out my support before I can set up entry hazards and dual screens, the battle will be heavily skewed in her favor," Violet finished the thought.
Together, they sighed.
"Perhaps one of the Frozen will defeat her beforehand," Indigo said, without much hope. "We could always use rare candies to match my level to his…"
Predictably, Violet frowned, her forehead pinching. "Artificially inflating experience levels with candies or Blissey farming only works on the surface—it's bad for developing and honing true battle instincts and reflexes. Even if we boosted your level with steroids, Fury would destroy you through sheer skill. No true professional would use such methods. If you want levels, earn them."
Little surprise there. Violet had only given him rare candies once before, years ago in Cerulean Cave. Some nonsense about life and death hanging on the slightest difference in power.
Still, she knew what she was talking about. And now, Indigo thought, tilting his head back in the humid air as the dull rush of the waterfall hissed through the misty basin, other people were starting to realize it, too.
Magikarp flew in arcs from the deep blue water in flashes of orange scales, soaring through the faint mist hissing from the frothy base of the Dragon's Ascent waterfall, far too regularly apart to be natural. The Magikarp gaped and flopped as a chorus of alarmed 'karp karps' came from the artificial rainbow of flying fish as they arced and fell one by one in sequence.
Violet stood at once, her bare feet wet on the flat grey steppingstones lining the basin. Red tentacles darted beneath the waves, and muffled giggles reached them. She put her hands on her hips, and called, "No juggling the Magikarp, Ditto! Be nice, these are Mr. Fin's extended family!"
A dark shadow fell over the basin as Mr. Fin reared his head to block the sun, an ominous growling in his cavernous throat, and the stream of Magikarp stopped being thrown. The remaining Magikarp crashed to the surface in a daze, only to vanish in the cobalt blue waters with a flick of their papery fins. The red tentacles vanished, and a sleek-winged Pidgeot burst from the basin to spiral up into the sky with a keening shriek. Jasper and Avery were nowhere to be seen, playing elaborate games in the cave system behind the falls.
Violet sat back down with a sigh, slipping her feet back beneath the cold water, her blue jeans rolled up past her knees. "We'll have to figure it out soon. The next segment of the tournament is in four days, and Tara might be using mega evolution. I'm surprised Daniel's Pokémon are listening to her at all, so it's a possibility she's gotten that far as well."
"If anything, Fury should be obeying you," he said, exasperated. "You and Daniel raised his team together. Fury was with you for what, 90 levels? Tara's only raised him a little, according to the Human Pokédex." Eustace really was invaluable for scoping out their opponent's abilities. But he frowned sharply, and then bared his fangs in a grin. "Then again. It's fitting to face his team here, at the summit of your long journey. In a way you'll be fighting Daniel's ghost—when you finally surpass him, you'll have fulfilled your promise at long last. He would be proud."
She smiled faintly, staring at her distorted reflection. Her words were sure, when she spoke next. "We'll win. Somehow, we'll beat her. I believe in you all."
The pounding crash of the falls beat against the towering grey cliffs of the basin, filled with flitting Magikarp. High above, an old red torii gate stretched over the peak of the waterfall—legend said, that Magikarp who leapt up to the gate could evolve into Gyarados. But though there had been two Gyarados the last time they'd been here, now there was no lord of the depths to guard the hidden ruins and cave systems deep beneath the water's surface.
Violet watched as Mr. Fin stretched his crowned head high, nearly brushing the top of the sunkissed falls, water cascading over his blue-black scales until they shone like wet sapphires, warmth softening her features. Faint crisscrossing scratch scars marked the backs of her arms, just visible in the sunlight, from her thorny escape from Karo's murderous Kabutops, so very long ago.
How strange it was, to be back at the beginning when so much had changed—the same mountains he'd walked when he'd first been cursed, the same black horizon above the cold stars at night, every crisp scent and murmuring sound familiar to his ears. Even this basin, with the hidden cave behind the falls, had been the first place he'd spoken to Violet Hikari.
He'd spent every day here tortured by a memory, burning alive, isolated and utterly alone. Now, that pain was just a hazy memory. Indigo Nightwalker had found peace, in trusting his companions and travelling the world as a hero again. His terrible guilt hadn't vanished, but he'd grown stronger around it, day by day, with the help of his wonderful trainer.
Still. Being a good person during such peaceful days was nothing, compared to retaining his sanity on Tero Akkarin's bloody chessboard. Sometimes, he could almost feel Nivalis behind him like a chill ghost, grinning with needle-white fangs as her eyes burned like devouring scarlet suns.
He jumped when he noticed Violet staring at him. "You can do this," she reminded him, reading his mind from the ease of long practice. "Your curse will break any day now, and when it does, you'll be prepared. Remember the plan."
He took a deep breath, centering himself.
Three times in the past five months, he'd woken glowing silver. And yet his curse remained unbroken, on the brink of the realization that would send him back in time once again, that last vital clue from his past that would unlock everything. Soon…
"Yes. When I return, I'll collect the pillars. With their power, with a positive curse like Layla's, I can stop Tero's plans, once and for all! And if Riza and I join forces, nothing will stand in our path. Not even the King of Fire."
"He's almost certainly trying to pit the three legendary beasts against each other," Violet continued grimly. "Because when they go to war, Ho-Oh will appear. He must need the deity of reincarnation. It's the only thing that makes sense. But his plans will be ruined without Primal Entei, who he spent so long awakening. Use my final master ball, and capture it. If you're holding it when you return, it should go back with you."
A thin band encircled his left wrist, with a glowing Silph emblem. Violet's final master ball was within, ready to be used against world-ending threats like her father had wanted. They would have tried to use it against the Dread Wraith after Sabrina's plan to seal it failed, had they not found a way to kill the beast.
Remembering that day, Indigo's fist tightened, a shudder rocking through him.
He hadn't been strong enough then. Or in the past. Would this time be any different?
He spoke at last, giving voice to his darkest worry. "Violet. Can I do this? Am I…strong enough? Good enough?"
She blinked with surprise, and then her reminiscent violet eyes softened. "You can do this. You have a good heart. I can tell."
And when she said it, he could almost believe.
The hard knot of tension in his heart vanished, and Indigo sat back on his paws, tilting his angled vulpine head towards the sun, as he said, "Then I won't worry about it just yet. For now, we focus on making you the Champion. I can think about my curse after that!"
Violet gaped, shock bleaching her aura nearly white. "I do not want to be the Champion! I would suck at that! I'm just going to win this tournament so I can try the Elite Four challenge, that's all."
He grinned in response, making his own plans, and she blanched.
"What's that look for? I won't do it, you know. Don't joke. Indigo!"
And he could only laugh, his spirits soaring high.
Because he'd found a new world and a new life, after losing everything.
~o~
Four days later, Violet stood alone in the darkened contestant's tunnel as the amplified announcer's voice boomed over the fading roar of applause, her eyes closed as she turned Indigo's master ball over in her nervous hands. She half whispered a prayer, as tense as a drawn bow, trying to calm her pit-pattering heart.
She could do this. She could do this.
Her hands tightened around her trim waist, her long black hair brushing the hem of her stylish midnight-grey jeans. Shorter sideswept bangs framed her lightly tanned face, whispering in the breeze of her exhale, before she raised her head and straightened her spine.
They could do this.
Her long cobalt-blue leather jacket had become something of an icon of hers since their travels in Unova. It was buttoned just once over her form-fitting white shirt, the hem hanging nearly down to the tops of her black thigh-high boots which made even her feel tall. It whispered around her as she strode forward, each forever-long step echoing with finality in the concrete tunnel.
All their work, all their preparation, had brought them here.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and now for our next match…"
No time for regrets.
Indigo's master ball shook in her hands as if in agreement, no doubt wishing he were allowed to walk onto the battlefield with her.
Violet's vivid amethyst eyes snapped open as she stepped into the line of sun beyond the tunnel, breaking out into a roaring stadium. She didn't look at the scores of people filling every seat, as the Moltres-flame pyre burned with gold and red flames behind the line of chairs for the Elite Four and the Champion himself. The freshly brushed dirt hid some of the scars from the previous match, though the smell of ozone and plasma smoke still hung thick in the air.
Part of her tension vanished as her opponent took his place across from her.
Not Tara, then. Not yet, anyways.
Good. She wanted to talk to her before they met in battle. Violet bit her lip.
She was sure Tara had her reasons for keeping her entry a secret until now. Truthfully, Violet wasn't upset, or worried about their inevitable encounter. Kylie had been keeping her updated, and claimed Tara was doing much better, with fewer angry outbursts and more positive opinions.
Maybe she'd even forgiven Violet, for her role in Daniel's death.
Oh, what she would give to make that desperate wish come true!
But to get to that battle, they needed to win today. Violet pushed aside her thoughts, letting cold clarity wash over her mind, a small smile breaking over her lips as lightning crackled up and down her arms. The crowd hushed as the referee raised both flags, their anticipation reaching a fever pitch, and then—
"Battle, begin!"
"Go, Metagross!"
"Fight, Indigo!" Violet drew back her arm, pitching her spinning master ball into the air, the cool metal glinting in the light of Moltres's flames. Brilliant golden light burst from the sphere like a miniature nova.
The living roar of the crowd faded with shock, as Violet's eyes widened with stunned horror.
And Indigo's empty master ball clattered to the dust, half open and smoking.
~o~
Raucous bird calls cut through the dappled sunlight as it played against his closed eyelids, the faint loamy scent of plants and earth wrapping around his prone form like a warm blanket. Indigo stirred, letting out a groan as he twitched on the edge of a fitful dream. He awoke all at once, sitting up in a flash, his wide eyes flickering wildly around him.
Where was he?
An unfamiliar forest stretched as far as the eye could see, all thin maples and trembling silver aspens, a strange russet ivy blanketing the uneven swells and hills of the earth between glossy-leaved bushes laden with waxy pink berries. He was utterly alone.
A thought struck him, and Indigo looked down at himself so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash—but spikes still burst from his black-and-blue fur, his muscles still lean over steel bones. Warily, he got to his feet.
If his curse wasn't broken…how on earth had he gotten here?
A whirling wind spun leaves between the tree trunks, faint green burbles of light shining within, and he spun to follow it. "Finally awake?" a breathless childish voice said, seeming to emanate from the forest itself. Wooden windchimes clacked against each other in the lowest branches, near a mottled stone shrine like a little granite house, complete with three stairs and a swooping roof. Moss and splotchy lichen crept silently up the stone, and somehow the little shrine would look empty and wrong without it.
Carefully, he kept his reactions in check. "Who are you?" Indigo Nightwalker said warily, his ears swiveling to follow the wind even as he stayed still.
"I'm so glad you came! I have a task for you. Oh, you'll get a reward, so don't worry!" The wind sighed, and whirled faster and faster in a wide circle around him, russet leaves and bits of dirt soaring in the sudden gale.
"Answer the question!" Indigo barked, trying and failing to find the source of the voice. His aura vision activated with a crack, bursting around his feet in a blue-silver whirl, and he caught a glimpse of green and gold light whirling through the winds, though he couldn't quite make out a form…
"That won't do, you will say no when I asked like that," the voice pouted…and then paused. "You said no if I asked like this? Are saying no, right now? All these tenses…how do you keep track of them all?"
A sigh echoed in the mistral winds. "No matter. Better to show you!"
At once, a brass bell tolled mournfully over the forest, seeming to echo against his very soul. The winds increased, dancing with motes of green and gold as the windchimes clacked and clattered. "Wait!" Indigo shouted, as gravity lightened around his paws. "Who are you? What are you?"
Again, the bell tolled, sonorous and heartbroken.
"I said wait!" Indigo snarled, diving towards the laughing green-gold aura amidst the shining lights, and then darkness slammed over him. The world was black, and Indigo was falling, falling through a tunnel of whirling stars and bubbles reflecting moving images of forests and cities within, the void beyond yawning out into infinity.
A needlepoint of light flashed far below—it exploded outwards as he fell into the blinding yellow glow until it was all he could see.
Indigo hit soft dirt, his stomach somersaulting rebelliously as he laboriously pushed himself up to his hands and knees, breathing hard and shaking from head to toe.
His pupils dilated to pinpricks.
Before him lay a vast rolling plains, falling away to the left into towering cliffs, beyond which he could hear the gentle hiss of the tides. The familiarities ended there.
A terrible bugling roar cut across the plains, as a rust-red Tyrantrum streaked after a fleeing herd of darting electric raptors that squawked with alarm, each of his crushing steps leaving deep scarred imprints in the grass. Indigo flinched as an Aerodactyl screeched long and high, but it paid him no mind, soaring above his head on leathery wings to prowl the skies, covered in a fine layer of purple scales rather than a rocky hide.
This wasn't possible.
Omanyte clustered on the lower cliffs, visible courtesy of his still-active aura vision, their normally stony shells sleek and gleaming with pastel overtones like pearls. Tirtouga napped on the shores, but they were all wrong too, their shells blue steel, shining in the strangely hazy sun in the endlessly clear sky. Enormous auras swelled in the ocean, all thick fangs and slashing fins, each larger than a battle stadium, swallowing glowing motes of algae with tons of salt water, and filtering just the water out through a second layer of baleen-strand teeth which retracted into their skulls.
Prehistoric fossil Pokémon lived and breathed in the world that could not be the future era, far before humans had ever been!
"You see?" the childish voice said, over the mournful toll of the brass bell, and the world fell away again.
Icy mountains beneath an inky sky glittering with unfamiliar constellations met his gaze, Amaura and Aurorus peering up at the northern lights while colors danced over their sail fins in cold blues, pale yellows, and starlight pinks—
Gong!
Filthy humans cowered and bowed before an enormous black Gengar, a jagged cross oozing down his face, while cold red eyes watched from a ripped dimensional hole behind him—
Gong!
A terrible laser beam shifting with all the colors of the rainbow pierced the very sky, blowing apart the clouds in its wake, while the air shuddered with shimmering power like condensed life and death itself—
Gong!
"Stop," Indigo ground out, vertigo rocking through him, as his paws hit cold graveyard dirt.
His eyes flew open as the bell tolled again. "No, wait!" Indigo shouted, as the cold tangle of the Whispermist Forest faded from view, the yellow gaze of a surprised ghost the last thing he saw.
And Indigo tumbled head over tail on russet ivy, the clacking of wooden wind chimes greeting him through the filtered sunlight. Sweat soaked his fur as he breathed hard, his aura vision long broken.
"You will understand?" the voice said, pausing. "No, do you understand? I can send you back. And I will…if you can stop this next catastrophe. It can only be you. But be warned, I cannot break your curse—you would return to the past as a Lucario, and only become human once you satisfied the white pillar."
Green and gold light condensed into a fae leafy creature, all pale-green head and baby-blue eyes, twin antenna curling from its forehead like delicate shoots of grass. Little glassy wings fluttered behind the legendary guardian of time, and Celebi spoke again, as if forgetting something. "Oh! And I can't tell you what your mission is until you agree! I'm leaving for tomorrow—see you in ten seconds! I know you'll say yes!"
And for once, Indigo was truly speechless.
He didn't even protest as singing lights whirled around him again, teleporting him away with a pop.
~o~
The mechanical purr of his master ball surrounded him, along with the sharp scent of metal. In moments, he burst free in an electric song, reforming on a grey-tiled floor on his knees and one fist, shuddering and cold to the bone.
Erratic blue sorrow crackled through the haze of aura clouding the room, but all conversation ceased when he appeared.
He looked up, meeting Violet's teary eyes with bone-deep weariness. She sucked in a deep breath. "Indigo!" He tried not to fall as she all but tackled him, her warmth leeching some of the icy chill from his stunned heart. She broke away, beating at him with harmless fists, more distraught than he'd ever seen her before as she cried, "Where were you? We thought…we thought—!"
"I'm fine," he replied automatically, his voice subdued. "Really, I'm—" Dizziness struck him in a wave, and he half collapsed, struggling to control his breathing.
Instantly, Violet snapped into efficiency, her orders cool and calm. "Allison, Piper, go get a nurse from downstairs. Roy, help me move him to the couch?"
"I'm fine," Indigo snapped, but couldn't seem to summon energy to his useless muscles even as he tried. Their hands braced beneath his arms, supporting his heavy steel body until he collapsed on plush cotton in the next room. It was all he could do to breathe, weakness oozing from every muscle until he could almost drown in it—even opening his eyes seemed a monumental task.
"I guess he didn't return to his time after all," Roy said grimly…and not entirely accurately. "So what happened?"
"Let him rest," Violet said, insistent.
"Yeah, right! After he almost cost you the match, vanishing like that? And your Gyarados is—"
"Enough! It's fine. Does this look like his fault?"
Roy silenced at that.
Allison and Piper burst into the competitor's apartment moments later, pulling a yawning nurse behind them. "He's over here!"
Indigo tried to rouse, and insist he just needed rest, but the calming pink power of a Blissey silenced his complaints and washed away his frozen stress in a balmy dream. The sudden lack of exhaustion and cold was so intensely beautiful, tears welled beneath his eyelids.
He lost track of the conversations after that, besides snippets.
"…severe shock, coupled with residual power I've never seen. He can sleep here, but bring him to the Center downstairs if there's any trouble…"
"Are you sure you've got this, Vie?"
"We'll check in tomorrow morning. Get some rest, you need it…"
He slept, though he didn't know how long.
And awoke brimming with crackling energy, his scarlet eyes snapping open like a fiery blaze. "Violet!" he barked, rising to a seat so fast pillows flew. Hazy silhouettes of furniture in the dark met his eyes, pale starlight filtering from the window. The new moon. Less than a day had passed, then.
She was probably asleep. He regretted yelling, biting back his words as he stood, stretching his arms and legs. Satisfied he was back to normal, he turned, just as the door creaked open, revealing his yawning trainer. "Indigo?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep, eyes only half open. Her hair had grown to nearly the length of Riza's, though it was a straight sheet of silken black rather than wavy gold. It was braided behind her, to keep it neat while she slept. "You're awake. How do you feel?"
He stalked over to the lights in the lavish apartments for competitors, flicking them on and gesturing to the couch. "Sit. I have much to tell you." He didn't even consider keeping the shocking events a secret, trusting her judgement to guide his path.
He told her everything.
By the time he was finished, no trace of sleep remained in her bright gaze, emotions he could barely recognize flitting over her face and aura like bursting sparks. He could practically feel her energy tingling against his fur like lightning. "I understand this is a lot to take in," Indigo said, clenching a fist in his lap. "But Celebi certainly has the power to return me to my fight, with or without Nivalis. I…may not be ready, since I haven't yet broken my curse, but still this opportunity—!"
"Let's go together," Violet said unexpectedly, the very first words she'd spoken during his explanations. She leaned forward, no trace of hesitation on her face or in her voice. "Celebi can bring more than one. Let's go together."
Indigo jerked back as if he'd been slapped, his muscles stiffening as his eyes flew wide. "What?" he demanded, his voice rising as he abruptly stood. Adrenaline hit him as his body reacted to his volatile mood, his heart racing as if a fight were at hand, because she couldn't be serious! "You can't. Your life is here."
Violet's expression didn't change, meeting his burning gaze with even calm. "No," she disagreed. "Because if you fail, this future, my world, will be destroyed too. This isn't just about me, or you. Everything is at stake. Of course I'll do whatever it takes to help you."
He shook his head while he paced in tight circuits, squeezing his eyes shut, and she continued. "Indigo, if we went, everything would be better! Last time around, you lost because you were alone. But with me...with Jasper, Avery, Ditto, Mr. Fin, even Yukino, we could make a difference! Tero Akkarin is too powerful to take lightly, you know that!"
He did. What she was saying made a lot of sense.
To face the King of Fire with Violet was a terrifying, exhilarating thought! Both were brilliant, but which more so than the other? It would be a dangerous game, one which would push their intellectual and physical capabilities to their limits—and the losers would pay with their lives.
He took a ragged breath, his steps finally stilling. He tilted his head back, not facing her, and said, "You would do that for me?"
"I've been hunting for a way to go with you for over a year," Violet said matter-of-factly. "That's why we went to Unova instead of Hoenn. Chasing rumors."
He struggled to process that, overcome and silent.
Fabric rustled as she stood behind him. "I'd probably find a way back, eventually. And if not? Living in the past is an acceptable price for saving the world." She stepped around to face him, holding his paw between her warm hands.
"You can't pass up this chance. Accept Celebi's wager. Whatever it is, we'll handle it together."
Touched beyond rationality, beyond description, all he could do was agree in a silent whisper, his expectations and fears for the future changing abruptly to allow for this new possibility.
Changing everything.
~o~
Author's Note: What up, everyone! Welcome to the new arc. Brief hiatus is over, and the next two chapters will be up soon, finishing off this segment. Just popping in for a second to explain the new move, which didn't really fit organically into the story itself.
Aura Blade (Awesome, I know, lol)
Upon Mega Evolving, Aura Sphere undergoes a transformation into Aura Blade, a powerful Special Attack move that uses condensed aura to attack. Formed of internal power and 'justice', this blade locks onto its enemy in the same ways as Aura Sphere, and can either be wielded for three nonconsecutive hits or thrown for one, guaranteed to hit. Base power increases to 100, which further increases to 200 when used against black auras. (Pure evil, very rare.) This move was created by Violet and Indigo.
Also, Mega Lucario being more powerful the more exhausted Lucario is before evolving is a mechanic borrowed from Super Smash Bros, where Lucario is far more powerful at high percents. Works great in a fanfic setting, let me tell you.