Blizz's declaration caused the entire room to go quiet. It made some kind of sense that Absol orchestrated it— he was the only person they could think of who would have any kind of motive and the resources to carry it out.
That still didn't lessen the sting, especially for the Treecko who proposed that Absol was to blame in the first place. The only reason he could figure it out was because of everything Absol told him earlier— why would he do that?
After a minute of silence, Mira spoke up again. "...That makes sense, but there's still so much we don't know. How he made it to all the lakes, how Hydreigon fits into everything, what happened to Zar..."
"Then we can go talk to him," Kibo said. "We know where Absol is, he's..."
Kibo trailed off as all ten of them came to the same realization. All the Pokémon who managed to make it out of Nova Town were concentrated in a single small field, including Lucario and Scizor. If Absol was truly behind it, that meant they left the organizer of the apocalypse alone and with the survivors. It would be very easy to set up another conduit there, one that could wipe out any semblance of a lifeline they had.
Blizz wasted no time in sprinting out of the dining hall, the other humans following close behind. He climbed out of the guild and stood atop the hill, looking back in the direction of the encampment.
Coming from there were spirals of fire and flashes of lightning bolts.
"Let's go! We might be able to save them!" Kibo picked up the slack from Blizz's shocked stare, leading the charge down the road. Most of the other humans followed behind, but the Prince and Fanita appeared to be missing.
By the time they actually reached the encampment, it looked to be a repeat of the hell they went through yesterday; the few survivors of Nova Town were trying to kill each other in a dizzying frenzy. Beams of energy shot out from every possible angle, as some of the more melee-inclined Pokémon charged straight through the hellfire to slash away at whatever target caught their eye.
Notably, Absol was missing.
"Try to find the conduit!" Mira shouted, straining her voice to be audible over the unfolding battle. "If we break that, then they might calm down!"
"I'll scan for it!" Leaf shouted as his glasses began to light up. "Can you cover me?"
"DON'T FUCKING BOTHER!"
The eight explorers were stopped in their tracks by the shout. Blizz, Kibo, and Rune had to deal with it just yesterday.
Lucario approached the humans, accompanied by Scizor. Both had the same glint behind their eyes, just a little too focused to be natural.
Unlike last time, Lucario didn't immediately set off into attacking them. "DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO, THIS PLACE IS ALREADY GONE. JUST GO AFTER THE BASTARD!"
Ride leaned over to Angel, whispering. "Is... Lucario resisting the effect?"
"We are." Compared to Lucario, whose voice was just much louder, Scizor's tone took on a different effect. It contained more strictness and authority than any of them had heard from him before. "Your orders are to chase after Absol and bring him down. Only once that is done may you even consider coming to our aid."
Blizz decided this would be a really poor time to hit Scizor with an 'I told you so.'
"Where did he go?"
"SOUTHEAST. GUESSING HE'S HEADING FOR BREACH MOUNTAIN." Lucario twitched slightly, having to stop a paw from reaching out to Blizz.
"Are you sure we can't stop the conduit here?" Mira asked, looking around.
"I don't see anything..." Leaf commented, as the light on his glasses died off.
"Do not question your orders," Scizor stated. "The radii of the conduits' effect are expanding rapidly. Even if you found and demolished the conduit affecting Nova Town, we would inevitably be caught by that of Tenea City's."
"NOW GET THE HELL OUT BEFORE I BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!"
Blizz looked back to the other humans, not really sure what to make of this.
"One final question," the Duke said, approaching the two steel types. "Is there anything we need to know about Absol before we encounter him?"
"Similar to Lucario and Hydreigon, Absol-"
Scizor's explanation was cut off by Lucario. "TELL THAT FUCKER THIS IS WHY I BROKE UP WITH HIS MELODRAMATIC HUMAN ASS!"
The Duke glared disappointingly at Lucario, before sighing. Kibo just looked confused, not understanding what he meant.
"Get out now," Scizor stated coolly. "I am presently a few minutes away from throttling your entire team."
Blizz took a glance back at the battle raging behind the guildmasters, before nodding. The eight humans marched away from the clearing, heading southwest.
Back at the guild, the Prince and Fanita were investigating Lucario's office.
"I've been curious about this safe for so long," Fanita said, a legitimate grin on her face. "Please, put in the key."
The Prince gave Fanita an annoyed stare, then turned back to the safe they had just uncovered. True to Lucario's instructions, it was built into the floor and concealed by his desk. A quick Psychic from Fanita easily moved it out of the way, allowing the Prince to insert the key.
As he twisted the key, the safe gave a satisfying click. The Prince slowly lifted up the metal face, curious to see what contents Lucario had taken such great pains to keep hidden away.
The single most obvious point was the abundance of Empowerment Seeds. Fanita wasted no time in fitting as many as she could in her bag, letting the Prince survey the contents beneath the seeds.
There were a few different accessories, mostly the type that he would find in Leavanny's store: various types of scarves, bandannas, and glasses. While it was expensive, it wasn't anything as noteworthy as the Prince expected from such a concealed safe.
As he pulled the scarves out to the side, he could make out the shape of something at the bottom that caused him to pause.
A pair of All-Weather Goggles, the same kind that Blizz wears. Unlike Blizz's, these were scarred from what had to be years of use. The right lens was cracked and exposed, the color was faded, and the elastic on the band crunched as the Prince lifted it out.
He set it to the side. Even if anyone else would want a pair of the goggles, these were far too damaged to be of any use.
"Aww, too familiar?" Fanita teased, noticing the Prince's hesitation.
"I just question what use Lucario would have for these, or why they would be as damaged as they are."
The final object in the safe was a simple black and white photograph, much less extravagant than everything else they've pulled out. In it, Lucario had his arm draped around Hydreigon, resting his paw between the middle and far heads. Behind them was what appeared to be a sandy ocean, which the Prince thought bore a striking resemblance to the beaches of Cascia. But the most difficult to believe part of it all was the fact that they were smiling.
Not that it was abnormal on its own, they knew Lucario and Hydreigon used to be on the same team. But Absol and Scizor were nowhere to be found here.
The Prince gently set it down, showing some level of respect to what he assumed was an important memory for Lucario. "I believe that is all."
"Aww, that was boring," Fanita pouted. "Just some Empowerment Seeds and sentimental stuff."
As the two left the office to go reconvene with their teammates, the Prince gave one last glance to the pair of goggles. Why would Lucario hold onto something like that?
When the Prince and Fanita did meet up with the other humans, they were a good distance away from the encampment. After arriving and watching Lucario and Scizor duke it out, they came to the conclusion that the others probably left the campsite, and followed the very-obvious trail of footsteps.
It didn't take much walking, given that the eight were gathered in another clearing, talking about something the Prince couldn't make out from this distance.
"Hey, they're back!" Angel shouted.
"Did you find anything cool in the safe?" Kibo asked.
The Prince shook his head. "A series of generic scarves and Empowerment Seeds. Useful, but not especially significant." He decided to not mention the other things they found, a sentiment Fanita seemed to agree with.
"Well... none of us can mega evolve, right?" Angel asked.
Mira shook her head. "If you or Blizz evolved into your final form, then you could use it. But that's impossible right now, so no."
"Damn." Angel sat back down, some of her earlier excitement gone.
The group simply sat in silence for a few moments, pondering their situation. The mountain range loomed in the distance, a reminder of where they needed to go.
Blizz sat a distance away from the others, thinking about how he fit into all this. Varin was already completely lost. The never-ending cycle of bullshit disasters could finally meet an end, and all he has to do is do nothing.
But that side of him that couldn't care less about the state of the world still felt the need to press onwards. It was obvious everyone else was getting ready for the coming fight, and if he let some stupid discussion with Absol stop him, they would all leave him behind.
So Blizz rose back to his feet. He was going to hunt down Absol and figure out exactly what the hell he was thinking. However, as he looked over the clearing, the lack of his final teammate stuck out.
Zar was still missing. There was no way she helped cause this, but Blizz also had no clue what could have actually happened to her. Was she able to figure it out at the last second? Did Absol take her?
He knew there was only one way he could get those answers. "…Everyone ready to go?"
"There is no such thing as being 'ready' to engage such a foe," the Duke replied. "However, with regards to what is physically capable for us, we are as prepared as we shall ever be."
"We should start walking," Mira said. "It will still take us the rest of the day to get to the base of Breach Mountain, and we don't have a lot of time."
Blizz nodded, setting down the road. "Anyone know why he's going for Breach Mountain anyways?"
"...It's the highest point in Varin," Ride whispered, gliding along the rest of the group. "That might be important."
"Huh... Guess we'll see when we get there then."
As the mountains on the horizon drew closer and closer, a sense of familiarity struck Blizz. It felt like so long ago that they first competed at the Guilded Games. They camped out at a clearing, met Team Terrae for the first time, met Hydreigon for the first time, Blizz got hit by a lightning bolt...
Calling them good times was a bit of a stretch, but there were definitely fond memories here.
They approached the exact same campsite they stayed at the first time. Unlike then, there was no competing guild to get into petty fights with, just the same stillness that seemed to permeate every corner of Varin.
The sun started to dip as the group set to work getting dinner ready. No one bothered to set up a tent— the sky was completely clear, as if to spite the current state of the world.
As Blizz idly munched on a roasted apple away from the group, he noticed a familiar soft blue hue on the ground gradually get brighter. "What's up Prince?"
"I wanted to examine the Z-Crystal Azelf gave you," the Prince responded, stepping in front of Blizz. "It would be helpful if we could use it in the coming battle."
"Does it really need to-" Blizz caught himself before he could finish that thought. Of course it would have to come to a battle, right? "Sure, one sec."
After a moment of fishing through his bag, he brandished the Z-Crystal. While it was still perfectly transparent with no symbol in the center, there were a series of large cracks running across its length.
The Prince looked down, before giving the Treecko a stare. "...Blizz, what did you do to the crystal?"
"Didn't do anything," Blizz responded, holding it up to the remnants of sunlight to better examine the faults. "Maybe it got like this in the guild?"
"Hmm..." The Prince studied the Z-Crystal as well, before giving Blizz a doubtful expression. "Then is there something else concerning you?"
Blizz just shrugged. "Not really. This does kinda suck though."
The Prince continued to stare at Blizz, before turning away. "Please, make sure you are ready for tomorrow. Regardless of if we need to use the crystal or not, we have to be performing at our peak."
Blizz gave the Prince a quick thumbs up, eager to get out of the conversation. "You got it."
The Umbreon gave him one last doubtful glance, before walking away.
The rest of the night passed in near silence, as everyone prepared themselves for whatever tomorrow would hold for them. Under a clear night without a single star in the sky, the ten explorers went to sleep.
Fanita was the first to wake up the next morning. She wasted no time in floating away from the others, taking some much-needed alone time.
No one was doing well here. She didn't know if Leaf had fully internalized the idea that everyone was dead yet, but he'd been extremely quiet during the journey. Terrae was completely on edge— doubtless they harbored some survivor's guilt for abandoning their old guild. And to top it off Apex kept trying to act like nothing was wrong, no matter how painfully obvious it was to everyone else that every smile Blizz and Kibo gave, or every snarky comment from the Prince and Rune was forced.
Though Blizz was definitely the most discomforting. It was almost laughable; even Leaf seemed to have a more emotionally mature response to all this than Blizz. Not only was the Treecko trying to pretend that everything was fine and shrug off things the same way he always did, now he was also distancing himself from everyone else. She was unsure if he was doing it for his own sake or out of some misguided belief that it would help his teammates.
Either way, it needed to stop. She floated to the nearby river, using Psychic to lift out some water. She delicately made her way back to camp, approaching the sleeping Treecko. Thankfully he was far enough away from anyone else for Fanita to freely drench him in ice-cold river water.
She dropped the package over Blizz, causing him to gently stir awake. Not quite the effect she was hoping for, but at least he's not sleeping any more.
"...What the hell..."
"Come with me," Fanita instructed, lifting him up with another Psychic. She probably could have started with this, in retrospect.
"...I'm five feet in the air right now, right?"
"Correct."
"...So I don't really get a choice here?"
"Also correct."
"Damn."
Fanita led him beyond earshot of the campsite before setting Blizz back down.
Now that he was in control of his own movements again, Blizz sat against a nearby tree. "So uh, what's up now?"
He'd be lying if this didn't give him a similar feeling to the talk he had with Absol the other day.
"You need to stop," Fanita said bluntly. "We all know that the world is screwed right now. Don't bother acting like you're completely fine."
"But like, I am fine-"
Fanita gave Blizz a doubtful expression. "I always thought you were an extrovert. Very odd that you've been distancing yourself as of late."
"...Didn't you literally just say that it was the apocalypse? Sorry if I'm kinda off."
Fanita just smiled at that response. "Somehow I doubt that's the only issue here."
"Then I don't really know what to tell you." Blizz began walking away, prompting Fanita to tail behind him.
"We all know you were closer to Absol than the rest of us," Fanita continued. "After all, you were the only one who ever directly talked to him. It makes me wonder if you might have some reservations about fighting him."
"I'm just as ready to beat him up as the rest of you guys."
"Hmm, the problem is I don't quite see that level of enthusiasm." Fanita flew up to Blizz's side, popping her head into his field of view. "Is there the slightest chance that you may sympathize with him?"
Blizz stopped to look Fanita dead on. "Absolutely fucking not. Dude literally just killed almost everyone on this continent."
"That is very bad," Fanita agreed, the smug grin never fading from her face. "In that case, if you hypothetically did have any reservations about fighting him, wouldn't it make sense to tell this to the only person here who has a record of doing bad things?"
Blizz searched Fanita's face, trying to figure out what she was getting at here. But all the information he was given was the Misdreavus' perpetually smug grin. Did she know what Absol told him the other day? Or how he's completely dreading everything that was to come next?
…It was unlikely. Fanita wasn't the type of person to press for information that she already knows like this. And if he could hide it from Fanita, he could hide it from anyone.
After a solid minute of silence, Blizz finally spoke. "I told you, I don't have any problems with him." With that, he walked off, significantly faster than he was going earlier.
Fanita was left behind, a small frown appearing on her face. "...Concerning."
There was a small sense of irony no one wanted to point out as the ten explorers prepared their breakfasts for the day. Back when they were going after Hydreigon, they were almost excited. They knew they had the drop on him, so it felt like they could beat him and save the world.
Here, taking down Absol was just problem number one. While none of them had really seen how he does in combat, they had no delusions it would be an easy fight. If they won there, that left having to find and destroy all the conduits. Then they'd need a psychic type to start the process of reviving the husks, which none of them were. And that segued into the related but different issue of what the hell happened to Zar.
This wasn't a fight anyone was looking forward to, but it was a job that had to be done.
They reached a wordless agreement to not tear down camp. Either they win and need to spend the night back down here before they can return to Nova Town, or they lose and don't have to worry about it.
Blizz really hoped there wouldn't be a fight. In a perfect world, they could talk their differences out and convince Absol to let it rest. He gets off easy, can stay with his friends, world is saved, and he has a clean conscious.
But he knew better. It was hard to say with certainty, given that this is the first time he would deal with the "real Absol", but when has an issue like this ever been resolved without violence?
The team made their way towards the cavern entrance. A single mystery dungeon stood between them and the mountain's summit. Blizz slowly led the way, with Mira and Fanita right behind him.
The dungeon was much easier than the first time they went through— the fact that all the ferals were lifeless husks made the process a lot simpler. The only thing left was dungeon exploration, and 20 floors was nothing compared to the mega-dungeons all ten of them had to deal with before.
Though without the idle activity of beating up ferals, they could only focus on their thoughts and how daunting the task ahead was.
This silent exploration continued uninterrupted for 19 floors, only occasionally broken up by Kibo or Ride suggesting the quickest route for them to take, or having to stop to push a larger feral out of their way.
The final room of floor 20 was different.
Sitting hunched over on the stairwell, her hands supporting her head, was a shiny Treecko covered in scars.
Blizz immediately ran up to her, leaving his teammates to briefly wonder what got him fired up.
"Zar! Are you alright? What happened?"
Zar slowly turned her head to Blizz, revealing eyes utterly devoid of any feeling. "...I tried to stop him." Her voice was dull and monotone, to the point where Blizz could hardly believe it was Zar in the first place.
"What the hell did Absol do..." As Blizz examined his teammate, the others circled around, just as concerned with Zar's well-being as Blizz.
The sole exception was Fanita, who seemed to be curious more than anything else.
Zar slowly shook her head to Blizz's statement. "Not Absol. But yeah, he's up there. Knows you guys are coming too."
"If it was not Absol, then who caused this?" the Duke asked. "Are there others who escaped the Resonance we do not know of?"
"Nope, twelve people." Zar shifted her head back down, not bothering to look at anyone as she answered the question. "Everyone here plus Absol. For now, at least. That'll change soon."
"What are you talking about? Who the hell did you fight then?" Blizz leaned in closer, trying to get Zar to open up.
"Secret. But you guys better go. Turns out I'm not immune to the Resonance, if you wait too long here we'll probably have to fight. And that'll be bad for everyone."
That answer led to so many follow up questions that Blizz had to physically stop himself from just grabbing Zar.
"You left us without warning and provided us with nonsense answers to our questions," the Prince stated, struggling to keep his cool just as much as Blizz was. "How can we verify that you are not working with Absol?"
The disguised Mew just shrugged. "Why would I? Even if I was, do I look like I could do anything here?" She gestured to one of her larger scars.
"Zar what the fuck?" Blizz had finally regained enough composure to look directly at the Treecko. "If whoever this guy is did this to you, why can't you tell us?"
"Already tried." Zar's voice was still the same defeated monotone, but it sounded as if it cracked at the end. "You guys tried to fight him and lost."
"You aren't making any sense!" Kibo yelled.
"Yeah, I know..." Zar sighed, pulling back into herself. "Just go deal with Absol. If he makes me a husk I can't tell you anything else anyways."
Fanita looked to Blizz, a plan formulating in her mind. "…Well, we tried. But Zar is right, we really don't want to deal with her as a husk too." Without waiting for Blizz's approval, she began floating up the stairs.
Blizz watched as Fanita began to ascend. "Fanita... Fucking hell." He turned back to Zar, trying to get her to look up once again. "Zar, I'm not leaving you here."
"Why do you care so much?" Fanita's carefree voice came from the top of the stairwell. "Don't we have a battle to get to?"
Blizz considered his next words carefully. Once again, everyone's gaze was centered on him. Even Zar seemed to look up as well, wondering what he would say. As he thought, his hand worked its way into his bag, idly fidgeting with the Z-Crystal. It still felt just as cracked as when the Prince asked about it earlier.
After a long pause, Blizz finally spoke. "...You guys are the only things that feel real. Everything since I got here, it's just this... it's like a fucking dream. Nothing is concrete, just jumping from one bullshit to the next."
His answer echoed around the quiet room for a moment. The other explorers had mixed reactions. Vague nods of approval came from the Duke and Rune, while Kibo and Mira looked more confused.
Zar only lowered her head once again. "...I knew you'd say that."
Fanita flew down a few steps, happy she managed to get something out of Blizz. "Just making sure, you don't really care for the other Pokemon in this world, right?"
Blizz took a few nervous steps away from Fanita. "No I... I want to, just I can't see them as-"
"I understand what he is referring to," the Prince interrupted, inserting himself between Blizz and Fanita. "To be reincarnated after death into essentially a super-powered animal, and then tasked with saving their home world from disaster is an absurd notion. This is especially true when disasters occur with such alarming frequency."
Blizz opened his mouth to try to respond, but no words came out. The Prince took that as a sign he was on the right track, and continued.
"Yet somehow, this is the scenario we find ourselves in. A world entirely beyond our comprehension, made excruciatingly real. One where the stupidity of its gods lead to recurring crises that threaten to decimate entire populations."
Blizz slowly nodded, trying to figure out where the Prince planned on going with this.
"However, much like ourselves, the residents of Varin live their own complex lives, completely divorced from the whims of legendary Pokemon. We did not arrive to save Varin; to be blunt, I could care less about the status of the continent. However, this is home to thousands, if not millions of Pokémon."
Rune's eyes widened as she listened to the Prince's speech. After all of this time, was he really suggesting...
"Blizz. We have a daunting task ahead of us. We have a battle against one of the strongest mortal Pokémon in Varin. We have no idea what has happened to Zar, nor does she appear to be compelled to share it. However, what we are doing is saving others from the fate that so terrifies you. Every Pokemon will be forced to endure the loss of everyone they have ever and will ever care about if we do not act."
Blizz looked down as he continued to fidget with his Z-Crystal. "Yeah, I get it, it's the end of the world-"
"I am not referring to the end of the world," the Prince interrupted. "I am referring to the end of connections. As I said, I do not care for Varin. It is a 'continent' smaller than the dominion of New Zealand. But all of its residents have forged bonds with others, just as you have with us. To sever these bonds, the memories of others, the mutually shared dream of progress, is a sin far greater than causing an apocalypse."
As the Prince spoke, he found himself in the center of the group. Even Zar seemed to perk up, some of her earlier depressed resignation fading away.
"None of us are from this world, to expect us to 'save' it is ridiculous. However, as a result of the circumstances I have been thrust into, I have become intimately familiar with how crucial it is to live alongside others. Therefore, I came to a decision."
The Prince paused, letting the sentence hang for just a moment.
"I will not tolerate attempting to deprive anyone of this right, and I ask for full support in this endeavor."
All the eyes that were previously on the Prince slowly shifted to Blizz, wanting to see how he would react. Zar in particular was leaning in, studying Blizz's reaction with an optimistic desperation.
For his part, the Treecko was frozen. He hadn't ever seen the Prince so passionate about something before. His hand still idly fidgeted with the Z-Crystal in all of its cracked glory.
At last, Blizz found the words he was looking for.
"Everything about Varin and this shitshow feels fake… But you're right. Everyone had lives like us…"
Blizz's mind wandered through all the Pokemon he'd met since coming here. From Chimchar and Shinx helping him get his bearings, to Lucario and Scizor just being badass guildmasters, and even Hydreigon caring a little too much for his guild. The way Leavanny helped him day one despite lying to her face that he wasn't human, or Golisopod defending his home traditions and customs. Hell, even Mudsdale and Flygon, who while being complete fucking assholes also cared for each other so strongly.
So just like the Prince, Blizz also came to a decision.
"Not gonna let Absol go through with this. Let's get his ass!" With an energy he completely lacked 10 minutes ago, Blizz jumped up in the air with a fist.
His other hand, still fidgeting with the Z-Crystal, suddenly found that the cracks seemed to have smoothened out.
The other humans let out an amalgamation of cheers, agreements, and battle cries.
Zar was still distanced from the group as her eyes widened. Her voice was barely above a whisper, completely inaudible among the shouting. "That didn't happen…" She slowly looked to the Prince, too caught up in the pride of having successfully gotten through to Blizz to notice the stray pair of eyes. "Was that different…?"
Blizz, meanwhile, gathered the ten humans around in a circle. "Alright guys, here's the plan! We beat the ever-loving fuck out of Absol, figure out what's going on with Zar, book it back to the main cities, destroy the conduits, and bring everyone back. All good?"
A chorus of agreements rang out, raising the atmosphere of the room.
Blizz nodded, running up the staircase to give him some height over the other explorers. He knew exactly what they all needed right now.
"IT WAS TWELVE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN!"
Immediately, the nine humans all shouted back. "TWELVE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN!"
"LITTLE RATTATA HAD JUST TURNED OLD ENOUGH TO JOIN THE LOCAL GUILD!"
"THE LOCAL GUILD!"
Zar looked up at the guild chant going on in front of her. Sure, she participated in it a lot, but with the circumstances and the fact it was being led by Blizz, something about this chant felt… different.
"SO HE MARCHED STRAIGHT IN THERE AND DEMANDED TO FORM A TEAM!"
"AN EXPLORATION TEAM!"
"BUT THIS TIME, THE GUILDMASTER WAS NOT AN ASSHOLE!"
The improvised line threw the others off for a moment, but riding the high of the atmosphere, they rolled with it.
"NOT AN ASSHOLE!"
"THE GUILDMASTER LOOKED LITTLE RATTATA RIGHT IN THE EYES!"
"RIGHT IN THE EYES!"
"AND THE GUILDMASTER SAW LITTLE RATTATA'S KNOWLEDGE!"
"HIS KNOWLEDGE!"
"HE SAW LITTLE RATTATA'S SPIRIT!"
"HIS SPIRIT!"
"HE SAW LITTLE RATTATA'S WILLPOWER!"
"HIS WILLPOWER!"
Somewhere in that exchange, Zar found herself rising to her feet.
"AND THE GUILDMASTER HELPED LITTLE RATTATA MAKE ONLY THE BEST EXPLORATION TEAM VARIN HAD EVER SEEN!"
"ONLY THE BEST!"
"AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT LITTLE RATTATA DID?"
"WHAT DID HE DO?"
"What he did!- oh." Leaf managed to catch himself before anyone else noticed.
"LITTLE RATTATA WENT ON TO SAVE EVERY SINGLE POKÉMON IN VARIN!"
"EVERY POKEMON!"
By this point, Zar had fully joined in. Even the pain of her scars weren't stopping her, as she joined in on the "every Pokémon" with as much volume as she could muster.
"NOW ARE WE GONNA LET SOME LITTLE RATTATA DO EVERYTHING FOR US?"
"HELL NO!"
Kibo's distinctive "Heck no" was audible, even over everyone else's shouting.
"THEN LET'S FUCKING GET ABSOL'S ASS!"
"YEAHHHH!"
With Blizz leading the charge, the ten explorers ran up the stairs and to the summit of Breach Mountain.
"Let me know when you beat him!" Zar shouted. "Then we can figure everything else out!"
Ride was the only one to hear her, and gave a quick nod of acknowledgement in response before flying after her teammates.
When the room was empty once again, Zar sat back down against the stairwell. "…Something's different about this one. They can do it."
On a pleasant spring day such as this, the sun was completely visible over Breach Mountain. The cloudless sky gave everyone at the peak the ability to see all over Varin.
The snow still seemed to be fresh though, blanketing the majority of the ground. The exception was a series of footsteps leading up to the mountain's plateau. Where all those months ago once stood a large stadium, was now a single snow white Pokemon and a series of four radio antennae twice its size.
The band of humans worked their way up, Absol studying them through the entire journey.
At last, they climbed up to the plateau, where Absol let out a slow sigh.
"…I see you chose to not take my advice."
"Hell no, you're basically trying to kill everyone," Blizz shot back, as all ten of them got into a combat position. "Can't walk away from that."
"You most certainly can, simply turn around. You and your friends will be fine. You can live your lives to their fullest, and this god-forsaken cycle will at last end."
Blizz looked back to his teammates. All of them had the same determined look on their faces— they were ready to see this through.
"Nope. Everyone else's lives are important too. So uh, gonna have to ask you to reverse this."
Absol slowly shook his head. "They have pitted humans against each other. The legendary Pokemon are evil. However, if you will not see my perspective, then there is only one option."
A green light began to surround Absol as he studied the other humans.
"Come to me, Zy-"
"Lucario said that this was why he broke up with you," Mira interrupted.
That caused the green light surrounding Absol to falter for a moment. "…He broke up with me to get with Hydreigon! Hydreigon!"
Despite the tangent, the green glow resumed, taking the shape of a large serpent.
"Now I'll show him too. Take them down, Zygarde!"
A/N: Who's hyped for the showdown?
Ch 36: It's a Long Way to the Top - 10/29/22
