Draco: Good Alpha, finishing a story such as this always feels amazing.

Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.

Ransei: Terror's End

It took a long moment before Evia found the strength to stand again. By the time she was able to pull herself to her feet, prying her sword out of the earth, the other Warriors had returned to the gathering around Eternatus - yet Evia knew their task was not yet done.

"Arceus..."

Do not worry.
I shall return Eternatus to the land from whence it came.
The history of Galar will be intertwined with Dynamax once more.

The Alpha turned to face her; in its gaze, Evia realized it understood her terror.

You need not accompany me.
If you wish it, let our Link be severed here and now.

Evia closed her eyes, and nodded. The jewels upon the Alpha's rings gleamed, just briefly; when Evia opened her eyes again, the golden light had faded from them, and she turned her blue gaze to her right hand and found the Alpha's mark vanishing from her palm.

Arceus turned back to Eternatus, slowly stepping forward; and as it did, a divine light enveloped its body and that of the titan, into which they both vanished.

Dialga, Reshiram, and Rekkūza approached the gathering of Warriors as Evia turned to face them. "It's done. We've done it. Thank you, all of you..."

"I would ascend Infinity to save Ransei," Nobunaga assured her. "If you were in need of my aid, it would never be in question."

"That goes for all of us," Hideyoshi added. "If we'd known it was gonna come to something like this, I would've come along with you in the first place."

Celebi gave an upset cry, soaring forward.

Nene scoffed. "That doesn't mean he wouldn't have tried to convince you anyways," she observed.

Hideyoshi rounded on her with an indignant "Hey!" as Hanbei and Kanbei laughed.

"He's not wrong," Ieyasu added. "To keep Ransei safe, there's not a Warrior who wouldn't offer their sword."

"Not a Warrior from our Ransei, perhaps," Oichi murmured.

Tadakatsu sighed, turning to face Dialga, and Time nodded in affirmation. "With the task complete," he asked, "shall we return to that Ransei?"

Evia was quiet for a long moment. "...Go on ahead."

Ranmaru started. "What do you-?"

"There's... a few loose ends I need to tie up," Evia explained. "I'll be back, don't you worry. But... There's something I have to do."

Oichi set her hand on her wife's shoulder. "We," she insisted. "I'm coming with you."

Evia smiled at her, setting her hand over Oichi's. "Of course."

"I guess there's not much we can do to convince you otherwise, huh?" Nene observed.

"No," Evia admitted. "There isn't."

Nene sighed. "Suppose that stubbornness is what got you unity in the first place."

Evia smiled briefly, though it faded as she turned to the Valorans. "Nobuyuki..."

"I'll be there," Nobuyuki assured her, and Evia realized that his hand was locked with Ina's. "I've been denied a homecoming myself for far too long."

Nobunaga stepped forward. "Promise me you will return," he commanded.

"On the Hall of Origin," Evia assured him.

"Very well."

He turned around, and everyone understood that the discussion was over; Dialga stepped forward and loosed a roar - controlled, benevolent - and the tunnel of light from whence they had come manifested before the rubble that had once been the colosseum. Slowly, the Warriors and their Pokémon all advanced through it, and once they were through, Rekkūza, Reshiram, and finally Dialga followed suit.

The light vanished once they were through, leaving only those the journey had started with; Evia, Espeon, Oichi, Wigglytuff, Naomasa, Togekiss, Naotora, Lopunny, Audino, and Celebi.

"May I ask?" Naomasa inquired.

"You can come with," Evia assured him.

+x+x+x+

It took them ten days to reach the Scar in the Earth.

The forests of the Swarming Cove were devastated, half of the trees reduced to nothing; in time, nature would reclaim the land, but for now the sight was terrible. As they approached the Scar, the destruction got worse - until they finally reached what would be the edge of Big Bridge.

An armoured figure was standing there, leaning upon a naginata.

"Benkei," Naomasa gasped. "I don't-"

He made to advance - and Evia raised a hand to bar his path. As he turned to face her, she shook her head, closing her eyes sadly. A confused Naomasa turned back to face the Warrior standing there... and he realized that Benkei's form was much too still, lacking in even the natural motion of someone at rest. A terrified gasp escaped him, and Naomasa stumbled back, shocked.

"...How?" Naotora exclaimed.

"I don't see Gardevoir anywhere," Oichi observed. "Eternatus was able to invoke Dynamax in Pokémon at will. She must have been afflicted, and... fallen." She shook her head. "And even if he survived that, somehow - the backlash of the Dark Storm, and the shock of his Link's demise - what, then, is your first reaction to being defenseless against a wild Pokémon?"

"He... would have tried to Link with it," Naotora muttered.

"A Warrior of his caliber, I've never known," Evia observed. "Not many Warriors can claim nearly a thousand battles without a single defeat. Ransei is poorer for his loss."

+x+x+x+

They made their way into the Swarming Cove - and though the trees were increasingly less damaged as they got closer to the water's edge, they did find the sōzu in pieces, and the berry garden trampled, when they arrived on the fourth day. The community of tents looked like it had mostly escaped damage, and as the travelling Warriors approached, Lady Hayakawa emerged from the largest tent, her staff bearing the rings she would wear in combat.

"Evia!" she exclaimed.

"Hayakawa," Evia greeted. "Are you alright?"

"We have all fared well," Hayakawa assured her. "But, the Dark Storms... They were happening all over, just two weeks ago, and then... nothing."

Evia nodded. "Yes," she assured. "The Dark Storms have been put to an end. You can rest easy."

Hayakawa smiled, bowing her head and leaning against her staff; but then her smile fell. "Tell me truthfully," she pleaded. "Do you know, from whence this calamity came? What brought that legendary Pokémon to Ransei?"

"...Your stolen crystal was the cradle of the Wishmaker," Evia replied. "Hisahide of the Glacier took it, and forced her to grant his wish - for chaos." She set a hand on Hayakawa's shoulder. "But promise me you will not punish yourself. Kindness is never something to be punished. You could never have foreseen this."

"...I promise you," Hayakawa whispered.

"Thank you."

Evia stepped away, leading her companions back into the forestry; once they were safely covered by the trees, Oichi raised her hands to her mouth and whistled, and in no time at all did Celebi soar out of the woods to greet them.

"So you do come when called," Naomasa observed.

Celebi gave him a look.

"Special circumstances are still circumstances that might happen," Naomasa chuckled.

Oichi nodded. "We're ready," she insisted.

"Yes," Evia agreed. Then, turning to the other two; "Naomasa..."

"Don't," he insisted. "I was... foolish to ever want to accompany you. If you will return home, then return home."

"And what of you?" Evia asked. "That battle left your home in terrible condition."

Naotora shook her head. "A cover to hide something that no longer exists to be hidden," she assured. "We can find a new home."

"...If you're sure."

Evia and Oichi locked arms; Espeon curled her tail around Oichi's staff, and Wigglytuff set her hand on the Sun Pokémon's back as the Auroran offered her hand to Celebi. The Time Traveller took the hand in both of hers, and closed her eyes; light enveloped the Warriors and Pokémon alike, and they vanished into time.

+x+x+x+

"Ohhhh! Lady Evia!"

A smile rose on Evia's face as she approached Chrysalia Castle, finding the Warlord and his Forretress on the battlefield. "Good afternoon, Yoshimoto," she greeted.

"I heard tell you had vanished again on another terrible journey!" Yoshimoto exclaimed. "Good to see you have come back alright!"

"It feels good to be back," Evia admitted. Her smile fell as she turned to why they were here. "Look... may we borrow your blimp, for a trip to Dragnor?"

"Oh, certainly!" Yoshimoto assured. "But it's awful late for a trip like that. Won't you save the flight for tomorrow, and join me for Pokémari?"

Evia and Oichi traded glances and nodded. "Yes," Oichi agreed, "I think we will."

"...Ohhhhh?!"

+x+x+x+

"So you did indeed return."

Nobunaga's greeting as Evia and Oichi disembarked from the blimp caused the Auroran to shake her head. "Did you think I would lie to you?"

"Not with an oath such as that," Nobunaga insisted. "But it is not a lie if one has every intention of fulfilling their promises - even if they are consequently prevented from so doing."

Oichi nodded. "We had no intention of doing anything that would carry such a risk," she assured.

Nobunaga hummed, turning to Evia. "You look rather as though this is no amicable visit."

"...It is not," Evia admitted. "Brother... forgive me."

The words caught Nobunaga by surprise. "Forgive you?" he echoed. "Whatever for?"

"You marched on Ransei, so long ago, because you had seen Warriors treat their Pokémon as tools," Evia forced out. "You tried to unite the region, to prove the myth of unity was nothing more than a myth - that the people were warring over a legend that should never come true, a legend they could never fulfill..." Tears were starting to gather in Evia's eyes. "But the legend had to come from somewhere. And when we discovered the source of the Dark Storms, we knew there was only one way to unmake them... and we learned that the legend did not exist."

She bowed her head. "It came from me. When I invoked the Alpha to oppose Eternatus, I sparked the legend that would drive Ransei to that terrible state. Forgive me..."

"Do you think Nobunaga so petty, to lay the blame at your feet for saving Ransei?"

The Dragnoran's words caught Evia by surprise, and she raised her gaze in shock as Nobunaga shook his head. "When Eternatus invoked the Dark Storms, to lessen our opposition, I saw firsthand the terror that such chaos can inflict. To unmake such chaos, such devastation, there is no price that I would not pay - that I would not let be paid. You told me, after that terrible battle, that your Link with the Alpha was torturous. I have no illusions that you would not have chosen another path, if you had the faintest belief that one existed."

He turned to face the empty skies where the Tower of Infinity would stand. "If that led to the terrible legend that drove me to ambition in the first place... then it could not be changed."

"...Thank you, Brother."

Oichi put an arm around Evia for comfort, and as the Auroran tried to compose herself, she turned to Nobunaga. "Where is AZ?"

"He said he would be in Aurora," Nobunaga replied, "with the hopes of greeting your return."

+x+x+x+

It was late into dusk when the blimp arrived at Aurora. Glaceon and Sylveon came bounding towards the blimp as Evia and Oichi made their way down the boarding ramp; Espeon moved to intercept them, and the three Eeveelutions moved together in relief that they were all okay. For a moment, Evia was satisfied to let the reunion stand as it was; but then she turned to the matter at hand, and Glaceon led her to the battlefield of Aurora Castle.

AZ was seated at the battlefield, with Floette floating before him; when the Warriors stepped into the battlefield, he rose to his feet, standing opposite them.

"So. You did survive."

"You were there." Evia's voice felt terribly small. "In Ransei, when the Dark Storms raged. You were there. We met. We nearly fought. I saw your wound healed."

AZ nodded. "Yes. And when I could walk again, and the calamity ceased to rage across Ransei, the Warriors tolerated my visitation when I told them I hoped to see you again... though I never did. I feared that you had given your life to put an end to the threat - and that is why I did not speak of this, when you sought my counsel."

"How long ago was that?" Evia had yet to receive an answer to the question she had wondered so often. "How many years have passed, since last you came to Ransei?"

"...It has been two thousand and fifty years," AZ replied.

Oichi stepped back. "How could you have lived so long?" she demanded. "Who are you, really?"

"I am King AZ of Kalos," the Trainer answered, "my throne lost over three thousand years ago. When a terrible war raged across Kalos - one unlike any battle fought here in Ransei - Floette here was taken from me to serve as a soldier... and returned to me deceased." He shook his head. "In my sorrow, I crafted a great machine that would harness the life energy of Pokémon, to bring her back - handing their lives to Antimatter in exchange for granting life eternal to her and I. And in my rage at having her taken from me, I turned it into a weapon that put a great and terrible end to that war."

"Life eternal?" Evia echoed. "You mean...?"

"We cannot perish," AZ confirmed. "Not by age, at least, though I have not been at risk of injury since you saved me in Dragnor." He turned to Floette. "For the longest time, she refused to meet with me - until I had put my heart at peace."

He turned to the Warriors. "Forgive my deception. But I feared that if you believed you would perish in saving Ransei, you would be loathe to try."

"Because you had suffered a loss before," Oichi realized, "and would never dare to risk your life or any other's."

"Yes," AZ confessed.

"There, you are mistaken," Evia proclaimed. "To save Ransei, there is nothing I would not do."

AZ nodded. "Proof, above all else, that I am the weaker man. I, who would not accept death, could not understand those willing to risk their lives. Ransei is better, for having a Warrior such as you willing to defend it."

He made to depart the battlefield, and Evia watched him leave. "Where are you going?"

"I have travelled to many lands," AZ reminded her, "though few since I have chosen to become a Trainer true. And a Trainer is ill suited to the land of Ransei. I lingered here, only so that I might be certain of your fate. And now that I know you have survived, allow me to depart."

Evia sighed. "Safe travels, Your Majesty."

AZ smiled. "And good fortune, Lady Evia."