Eradication
The blotch of complete darkness spread like a raging infection throughout Arceus's domain of power. The Alpha's lingering life force was the only thing that stopped it from consuming the entire area. The black abyss pulsed venomously, causing Arceus's fear to spike with it.
Out from the dark, a large stump foot with golden claws emerged, followed by a gigantic body on six identical legs. On its back were two spectral, ghostly black wings, and a thick black tail was dragged in the creature's wake. It raised its head and locked eyes with the Alpha; beyond the gold plating covering its skull were glowing eyes of a red.
Arceus planted its feet, waiting for it to attack. This was the Renegade, and it was unlikely it would take the time to exchange any sort of pleasantries. However, the god was surprised that the enemy did, in fact, not charge forward straightaway.
"Alpha." The voice boomed with controlling willpower, enough to drive any other being under a rock.
"Your form is different," Arceus noted, tilting its head. Before, the Renegade's body had been long and slender, like a snake or eel, without any legs. The six tendrils that had waved around its body had been replaced by the wings. It was quite peculiar.
"I believe this is my vessel's doing," the Renegade said.
"The boy called Adrien," Arceus said. "The bond accomplishes strange feats."
"It has given me a name. Giratina."
"Have you become attached to your vessel?" Arceus wondered. "I would not expect the god of violence and destruction to accept a name so easily from one of the same species it carelessly obliterated so long ago."
A fierce, deep hum erupted from Giratina; it was growling.
"Do not be so quick to assume. I have not become attached. I only thought I need would need a name for the humans to plead to after I destroy you."
"You claim so," Arceus said. "Yet the changes are clear. Your form, along with your personality and mannerisms, are different. The bond is merging your personalities. You are becoming more human even as we speak."
The darkness surrounding Giratina throbbed in anger. Black electricity crackled around the Renegade's wings before two lightning bolts were hurled towards the Alpha. Arceus hopped aside, easily evading the reckless attack. Where the Thunderbolts hit the ground, stains of an identical color were left behind. They did not fade.
"You see?" Arceus said, tapping the small blotches with a foot. It pulled away as the darkness stung its essence. "As I recall, electric moves were not common from you. Like it or not, that boy and his Pokemon are influencing you."
Another growl. "I will consume it soon enough," Giratina assured. "As soon as our bond reaches its optimal point, I will seize control of the human, and it will be my puppet for all eternity. My source of limitless power. I will be unstoppable after that."
"I could not help but wonder," Arceus said. "Did you choose him because of his ability to easily form a bond, or for his capacity to develop a nearly unbreakable bond?"
Giratina actually tilted his head in confusion. Adrien's traits were definitely there. "What do you mean? I chose him because he rises above the others in terms of power."
"There are plenty of Champions who have shown a similar strength in their world. You could have chosen one of them, instead." Arceus intensified its gaze. "But if you tried, you could not. That is because quite simply put, you are incapable of achieving a strong Battle Bond. Adrien, as a Champion who bonds quite easily to any disloyal Pokemon he comes across, was your only possible candidate for a vessel."
"Your point?"
"You will never achieve the power you seek, Giratina."
The black disease pulsed again. "It does not matter, as long as I can achieve enough strength to defeat you!" It punctuated its sentence by releasing a blast of pure energy from its body. A sphere of power shot towards Arceus with incredible speed. The orb, too fast to dodge, connected, knocking the Alpha backward. Its body skidded painfully along the ground before it came to a stop. It slowly righted itself.
"That may be true," it said as it gained its footing. "But will you be strong enough to defeat them?"
An eerie sound echoed everywhere as Giratina laughed. "Your vessel? Standing against my power? Ridiculous. They will fall before me like all the rest."
"We will see." Arceus changed its plates, becoming an ice-type. As it did so, the surrounding stark white domain shifted, adopting a slight light-blue tint in addition to its original pigment. Beams of icy-blue light were sent forward towards the Alpha's overpowering foe, who moved much more swiftly than one would think, given the shape of its body.
But Arceus was fast too, despite its nearly exhausted power. It darted towards Giratina, switching to a dark plate. It didn't give him any more advantage than his ice plate, but the switch might keep the Renegade on edge, which would be important if it wanted to keep it stalled for longer. It used Judgment again as its force darkened, it didn't dull nearly enough to match the color of Giratina's power.
Giratina strained under Arceus attack and let out a deep roar. An intense Dragon pulse was let loose. Arceus switched to a fairy plate, and the shockwaves passed harmlessly over its body as its gray domain turned pink.
Giratina's eyes flashed with victory. It glided over to its opponent, its infection flowing behind it like its own shadow. Its tail began to glow with a silver sheen. It swung around, striking one of Arceus's legs with Iron Tail.
The super-effective move rocked Arceus to its core. It collapsed on top of its severely injured leg as Giratina continued to circle the Alpha. The Renegade attacked again with the same move. Arceus frantically switched to a steel plate, bashing the Iron Tail aside as it jumped to its feet.
Giratina put some distance between the two gods. Arceus examined its leg. It was withering, the essence fading underneath Giratina's overwhelming strength. Arceus focused its power and used Recover. The leg of its projected body fought off the infection and relieved the pain. Still, it didn't buy itself much more time.
There wasn't a singular plate that could protect Arceus from all of Giratina's moves. Sure, it might be able to find one that none of the Renegade's moves would be super-effective against, but would it be safer to use that plate?
No. It would have to take a gamble. It needed to buy as much time as possible.
The two rushed towards each other once more, and the battle continued.
Their conflict lasted days. Maybe longer. Without being able to look at the world of humans, Arceus found it was difficult to recognize the passing of time. The time he spent fighting Giratina could only be described as hell as the Alpha barely held its own against its terrible foe.
The two colors, one darker than night, the other everchanging to adapt, danced in a spectacular fashion, colliding and repelling one another. Eventually, however, the violent dark began to wear down the lighter colors.
Arceus was approaching its limit. It sent another round of light beams towards the Renegade.
The god vanished as Judgment passed through the space it had just occupied. Arceus retreated, searching everywhere for where the Renegade would appear. It switched to a normal plate. Shadow Force would have no effect, now, but it was possible Giratina was planning something else. Arceus stayed alert.
Arceus sensed it before it materialized. Giratina's violent power was easily detectable. Arceus turned towards it and prepared to counter. But nothing was there, and the trace had disappeared. Then the Alpha detected it again and wheeled around once more. Again, it turned towards empty space.
Arceus was then met with an onslaught of sensations. It turned every which way, trying to decide where Giratina's attack would come from. The Renegade was constantly reappearing and disappearing immediately after. Soon, Arceus was completely unable to tell where Giratina was.
Giratina reappeared for the final time and struck and sent an Aura Sphere towards the back of Arceus's head. It had no time to switch plates. The super-effective attack hit it's target and threw it backward again. Once it came to a stop again, lying on its side, Arceus found it didn't have the strength to stand back up.
It tried to use Recover and found it was out of power. That was part of Giratina's nature. It drained its opponents of their strength while they fought, making them exert themselves far faster than normal. Arceus tried to use other moves to keep the Renegade at bay, and, sure enough, found it lacked the strength to do that, too. The Alpha was finished. Its last remnants of vigor had dwindled away at last.
Giratina let its guard down and approached slowly with its menacing shadow trailing behind. It stopped beside its rival and stared down. Its eyes were amused and triumphant. Its wings became covered in black sparks as it charged up a final Thunderbolt.
Most of Arceus's power had been invested in its vessel. It hoped they would become strong enough to face the foe that was now on its way. The Alpha had done all it could for them. Defeating the Renegade was their task, now.
Giratina let its Thunderbolt loose. The black disease spread over the rest of the domain, and soon, all was dark.
Kyle's vision was clouded for a moment. He placed a hand near his face as his legs lost their strength, and he toppled over. Carol was there immediately, catching him during his fall. She grunted as she tried to keep him upright. When it seemed she was about to lose her grasp, Scarf was next to him, too, and the partners managed to keep their friend upright.
The Eevee trainer's head was void, as if everything had been drained from his skull. He'd experienced a migraine or two in the past, but nothing like this before. His breathing rate sharply rose, and he lost sense of his body, unable;e to move a single limb.
"Hey, Kyle?" Carol asked. "Kyle!" She looked up and shouted to her friends. "Guys!"
They were hanging out in the basement of the Pokemon Center, training for the qualifiers coming up. Jordan and Fireball had been battling Hannah and her Blissey, Iris. Adrien was relaxing nearby on a bench, closing his eyes as if asleep, his Raichu curled up under his arm.
The Pokemon Center supervisor, who had been overseeing the match, turned his head first. His eyes widened at the sight of Kyle's sudden condition, and he signaled to the two participants that the battle was over. Jordan and Hannah paused, confused until they saw why their match had been ended prematurely. The three humans and their Pokemon rushed over. Neither Adrien nor Chu moved an inch. Maybe they really were asleep.
Kyle saw all of this through a haze. He was laid down on the ground, but he found he couldn't feel the concrete beneath his head. His eyes sluggishly moved between the faces of those standing above him.
"Hang on!" Hannah said, turning to her Pokemon. "Iris!"
The Blissey closed its eyes and seemed to focus for a moment. A warm, pinkish light pulsed from its body and washed over Kyle. At first, it's pleasant touch relieved some of the discomfort, and Kyle's sight became better. But it was only temporary, and Kyle slipped back into his dark state.
"It's not working!" Hannah cried. "What about Eve? Where's the little guy?"
"Here! Here!" Carol said. She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh god, what's happening!"
Kyle gave a faint wheeze and let his head fall to the side to catch a glimpse of his partner. Their bond would certainly mean it was experiencing something similar. Sure enough, the Eevee had fallen as well and was shivering erratically.
Iris tried to use Heal Pulse again, this time on Eve, but only achieved similar results.
"We need to get them to a hospital or something," Hannah said. "Quickly, too. I don't like the look of this."
Jordan, who had been watching helplessly this whole time, ran over to wake Adrien.
"Come on, man!" Jordan said, shaking him roughly. "We have to go! Something's wrong with Kyle!"
The slumbering boy didn't wake. Jordan froze for a second, then tried again. Still nothing. He then tried lightly smacking him across the face. But Adrien stayed asleep.
"Jordan!" Carol exclaimed when she heard him hit Adrien.
"Something's not right with Adrien, either!" Jordan said. "He's not waking up!"
The supervisor joined him and grimaced. "Let's take both of them. Come on."
"I'll call an ambulance," Hannah said, pulling out her phone.
Kyle began to slip into unconsciousness. His last view before going under was Carol's deeply concerned face hovering over his own.
Kyle woke up in a bed. Before his eyes were open, he groped to his side and found an empty space. Usually, Eve slept next to him through the night, but his Pokemon was absent from its normal position.
He sat bolt upright, not even acknowledging his surroundings. His eyes snapped open. "Eve?"
A soft voice chuckled. "Your Pokemon is fine. Sleeping soundly in another part of the building. Though, if you're awake, I suppose it's awake now, too."
Kyle blinked. He noticed for the first time he was in a hospital bed. He turned towards the familiar voice. His vision came into focus, and he saw the kind face of his mother, Emily Parker.
"Mom?" Kyle asked. She smiled warmly. "What happened?"
"Hard to say," she said, sighing. "The doctors couldn't decide for sure. It was the same for Adrien, but his case was far less serious than yours. He's already been let go."
"Adrien was brought here, too?"
Emily nodded. "Him and his Raichu. They woke up in only a day and were completely fine. The doctors are still baffled. I overheard a few say they would've thought he was simply faking the whole thing."
Kyle eyed the empty chairs next to his bed.
"Your friends and your sister wanted to stay," Emily said, reading his mind. "But I eventually convinced them to focus on other things. Carol was especially hard to deal with. Didn't leave your side for at least an hour after she was allowed to visit." She whistled. "Seriously, Kyle, I'm happy you've found such a kindhearted girl for yourself."
Kyle felt his face grow warm, and his mother laughed.
"So what now?" Kyle asked, switching the subject.
"Well, now-"
She was interrupted by frantic shouts coming from the hallway. Kyle felt something tick in his head. He could sense Eve's consciousness.
"Stop that Eevee!" Someone shouted from beyond the closed door to his room.
Understanding washed over Kyle's mother's face. She sighed and smiled slyly before standing and walking casually to the door, opening it. She barely managed to make it wide enough as a small, brown blur burst inside and leaped into the air, landing on Kyle's bed. The trainer chuckled as his Pokemon cuddled close. Kyle sensed concern from his partner's thoughts and pulsed back his thoughts of reassurance. He felt the tension drain from Eve's muscles as it became relieved.
Emily sat back down as two doctors reached the door, out of breath and panting. They stared at Kyle. Eve tried its best to look innocent. Kyle and his mother both grinned.
He was released in a short while. As soon as he let his friends know, they wanted to come to see him, but Kyle said he was still feeling a bit tired and wanted an hour or so to rest just a bit longer. This was a lie, of course, and he felt bad about it, but he needed to think.
His mother drove them home, grabbing something to eat on the way. Hospital food was downright awful. Once home, he immediately went up to his room with Eve.
What had happened to them? It hadn't been natural, that was for sure, especially since something similar had happened to Adrien at the exact same time. Come to think of it, Kyle had been feeling a little sickly ever since that time on the beach with Carol. Adrien had seemed a bit more off than usual, too. Had they both caught something?
Eve didn't think so. Kyle listened as his Pokemon relayed its thoughts to him. They had done this before a couple of times. Usually, they could only convey emotions and sensations, but they had previously become better at having actual intelligent conversations.
Eve wasn't certain that there was a connection between his and Adrien's sudden condition, but it acknowledged that it was a good possibility, though it had no idea why that may be. It also wasn't focusing so much on what had happened, but how it felt now. It felt like it had been stripped of something. There was a bridge that had been broken, or maybe the land on the other side had been completely destroyed. Yes, that was it.
They knew how it felt, but they didn't understand why. Kyle and his partner were at a loss.
Oh, well. I can worry about it later. I have to stay focused on the tournament.