"So you're telling me we need to find this 'glitch' to get out of here? And how do we do that?"
"Well, there's all kinds of ways we could go about it. It could be as easy as us finding a hole to jump down or as complex as overcoming some kind of personal issue. The problem is that it seems to vary from nightmare to nightmare."
"That literally solves nothing, stalker. I-I mean Luke, damnit..."
"I know, I know… It's a vague answer, but it's all we've got for now. Got any ideas on where to start looking?"
"Hmm… Let me hear what you have to think, first."
"Well, in all honesty… I really thought it would have something to do with your sister in the woods, but I think we both agree that we don't want to go back in there." I looked back out at the forest fire, still in awe that it continued to burn at full force.
"...I think I know where we need to go." I turned back to find Eliza staring off towards the sycamore tree in the distance.
"You do? Where?" She immediately let out an annoyed sigh and began to gently stroke the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger.
"Just… Come with me, okay?" As she started walking down the hill without another word, I motioned for Sycamore and Dusty to follow; they quickly got up and stayed by our sides.
After catching back up with Eliza, we all walked down across the football field together in silence. Once the school wasn't blocking the view anymore, the ranch-style suburban neighborhoods that made up this part of Fairport came into view. In all honesty, it was extremely weird to be back, dream or not.
The houses and structures looked to be fortunately untouched and in the exact state they usually were, at least before the Ultra Beast invasion, which was a relief compared to the ravaged towns we'd seen on our way to Kinzua. It was like everyone in town was asleep… Or they all just up and left suddenly.
As we made it to the main road and continued our trek deeper into the suburbs, I caught a glimpse of the side road that led up to my mother's condominium complex; it had to be less than half a mile away from where we currently were. Secretly, I wanted to run up there and see what was left of the place, but I made sure to tell myself that Darkrai's nightmare was definitely not the place for another Hornell situation.
Suddenly snapping back to reality when I recollected on how Eliza had acted when we started walking, I decided to look over to check on how she was doing. I found her peering out her sides at Sycamore and Dusty, trying to hide her gaze from them when they would occasionally look back from scanning the landscape for trouble. Curious as to why she was quietly admiring them, I spoke up.
"Everything okay over there, Eliza?" I guess my voice was too loud because she jumped when I acknowledged her; Dusty and Sycamore looked back from scrying the area and tuned into our conversation. "You haven't said anything since we left."
"I-I'm fine, Luke." She sounded annoyed that I'd caught her 'spying' in the act, so she blushed and looked forward, still attempting to ignore my partners' gazes. But doing this only made her obvious to Dusty and Sycamore, who both realized she was uncomfortable around them; they gave each other a confused look before staring back at me.
"They don't bite, Eliza." I added, knowing I was the only one who could clear this up. She hesitated for a moment before replying,
"I know, but… I-I've never really been much of an animal person…" I knew something else must've been bothering her, as her excuse was abnormally weak for Eliza standards.
"Well, neither was I; when I was little, big dogs used to scare the crap out of me... And frankly, they still kinda do." I half expected Sycamore to take offense to that when I remembered he had no idea what a dog was. "But Pokémon are different from animals. I feel like they're much more friendly and loyal to humans than any normal house pet could be." She glared at me out of the corner of her eye before saying,
"Okay, okay… It's just... Weird, for me to be tagging along with the Pokémon that have actively deterred Darkrai and I from capturing you. I feel like they want to kick my ass or something..."
"...Well, I can't exactly speak for them, but you should know that Sycamore and Dusty are my friends, and they would never hurt you over whatever grudge they may have because they trust me. Don't you and Greninja feel the same way about each other?"
"Greninja? Well, uh… I've never really been the nicest 'friend' to him."
"What? Come on, I've seen how you two battle. There's obviously some kind of coordination going on behind the scenes." Eliza paused and looked to be thinking about something troubling after I'd finished, but as she opened her mouth to speak, she closed it again a second later, leaving behind a frown. Suddenly catching that I may have dug too deep, I was about to apologize for being so forward when she faced me and said,
"That night that Pokémon came to our world? Like the news said, apparently I was one of the rare people who didn't get one. But my little sister immediately stepped in and decided to give me her Froakie. She assured me that I would be a much better trainer to him than she ever could, so long as I agreed we could all play together from time to time…" Eliza stopped walking and balled her hand into a fist.
"...But just because your sister gave you Greninja doesn't mean you can't still become friends. I mean in a way, Greninja is your Pokémon."
"No, Luke, that's not the problem… I'm the problem." She turned back and took a long, deep breath before continuing. "There's been a lot going on in my life, and I feel like I've taken almost all of it out on Greninja. He doesn't deserve any of it, and to be honest… I'm not sure I deserve him." The sadness was causing her voice to crack and falter. "But the worst part was that maybe if he was still my sister's Pokémon… She may have been able to get away from Darkrai and those Ultra Beast goons… And you probably wouldn't be in this mess." As she trailed off, I could tell she was trying not to cry. Trying to think of things to say or do to console her, I suddenly heard Sycamore's voice in my head.
It is not your fault, Eliza. She jumped again at the sound of Sycamore's voice, so I figured she must've also heard it.
"Who's there?!" she yelped with fear in her voice, promptly glancing around for the source.
"Easy, Eliza… That was just Sycamore speaking to you through Telepathy."
"T-telepathy?" She turned and faced Sycamore, looking baffled.
We all make mistakes in the heat of the moment, no matter who we are. Pokémon, human, Ultra Beast… Releasing your emotions is natural, you just need to be careful where you direct them. Sycamore stopped for a moment to presumably let her think about what he'd said. And she did just that before replying,
"B-but I see how Luke treats you and Garbodor, and I just think… Greninja would've been better off with literally anyone else."
It does not matter what your actions were in the past. Like Luke stated previously, I have seen Greninja's drive in battle, and he is no ordinary foe. To be that talented and put up that much of a fight under pressure… Takes not only skill, but dedication. He had to have gotten it from somewhere.
"And if Greninja stayed with you for the journey down to Kinzua, that tells me that he wanted to be by your side the whole way– and still wants to be." I added right after, hoping she would perk up. But Eliza looked like she was still torn between sides, so Sycamore decided to speak up again.
Eliza… You can still make this right. When all of this is finished and we return to the bridge, you can try again; start over, if you will. Whatever is troubling you, I guarantee you can work it out and begin to create whatever relationship with Greninja that you may have imagined.
"And I know it may seem daunting, but we all have to go over some potholes to get to a smooth road, Eliza… Yet so long as you navigate yourself, the outcome will most certainly be the one you desire; and I can wholeheartedly say I know that from experience. Right guys?" I smiled at Dusty and Sycamore to which they smiled back.
Correct.
"Garbo!" Turning back, she looked to be lost in thought. Starting anew is never an easy feat to accomplish, and I could fully understand why someone wouldn't want to put in the time, especially if the outcome they wanted was difficult to achieve.
Oh, and one last thing… I am unsure what 'kicking your ass' means, but I do not wish it upon you, Eliza.
"Garbo, dor." Dusty began to nod. Hearing that finally got her out of her trance and once she noticed we were smirking at her, she giggled to herself and finally gave in before grinning as well.
"Huh… What the heck, it's certainly worth a try. You really think Greninja would forgive me, though?"
"Of course! I've always believed in giving second chances, and I think Greninja would be more than willing to finally make up. Besides, you're probably not the only one with dreams on what your relationship could be." Eliza then reached into her right jeans pocket and grasped something, which I assume was Greninja's Poké Ball. She then looked down and took a deep breath.
"Speaking of second chances, though… Why did you come back into the fire?" she suddenly asked before peering back up at me. I paused for a quick second as I was unsure what she was actually asking in her question, so I inquired,
"Why… Did I come back into the woods to save you?"
"Yeah, that's the part I don't understand…"
"...You know who I am, right?"
"Well, I certainly do, but… I just figured you'd have some kind of foresight before running headfirst back into a dangerous forest fire to rescue someone like myself when an entire planet was relying on your safe arrival." It only took me a moment of thinking to realize I'd made a grave error. Once she noticed I wasn't saying anything, she replied with,
"...Oh my lord. You didn't have a reason, did you?" I gave her a blank look, a dumb smile, and started rubbing the back of my neck.
"Ha ha… Not really." A look of bewilderment spread across her face.
"You didn't even consider it could be a trap or some kind of trick set up by Darkrai?"
"Yeah, um… Nope." She stared at me for a couple more seconds before breaking into a hysterical fit of laughter. "...I-I mean, I figured at the time that your little sister had something to do with getting out of here, so…" I tried to interject, but it was quickly lost in the 'hilarity' of the situation. Dusty and Sycamore did not look amused at her overly loud amusement, but probably because they were more concerned that trouble could still be lurking around any corner of the nightmare.
Finally, after a good thirty seconds or so, Eliza had calmed down enough to say,
"You crack me up, Luke– really! I can't believe both of us made it this far!" And with that, we continued onwards towards wherever Eliza was taking us. Besides her snickering to herself every so often, the rest of the trip was left in an awkward silence.
A couple minutes later, Eliza pulled us off the main road and took us down one of the many side roads inside the neighborhoods. As we turned off, I noticed that we were approaching the other isolated fire I'd seen before from around the middle school's hills. As far as I could tell, it was much smaller than I previously thought and looked like it could only be the size of one house at most. I could tell something was off about it right away, as I figured that the blaze should've had plenty of time to spread by now.
"If I'm right, then..." I heard Eliza say under her breath as we neared the fire enough to see the flames reaching over the tops of the surrounding houses. She sped up a tad, presumably because she had some kind of connection to this place. As we passed the final house blocking our view, Eliza came to a screeching halt. "Just as I thought!"
In front of us was a two-story ranch-style home, obviously similar to all the rest in the neighborhood. It was a good-sized house, and I could tell by the new renovations, the overly fancy landscaping, and the large two-car garage that it was at least pretty well kept. But that was the weird part; although the house was engulfed in thick, scorching flames, nothing looked to be damaged. No windows were broken, it looked structurally sound, and not even the grass lawn was burnt. The fire seemed to be just on top of the structure, burning indefinitely. And as far as I could tell, the only thing off about it besides the fire was that the front door was wide open and pure darkness extended from within.
Turning back to Eliza, I noticed that she hadn't taken her focus away from the house for a second since we'd arrived. Slightly interested in why she'd known where to take us, I spoke up.
"Eliza, is this–"
"Yep, this is my house. Or, was." She let out a tired sigh. "My parents had just kicked me out and I was supposed to move to some crappy apartment out of town later in that week, but then… All of this happened." Suddenly being reminded of Eliza's plethora of family problems, I felt like I should've apologized for not realizing sooner, but before I could she turned back to me and added, "I'm assuming that this is the 'glitch' we needed to find, right?"
"...I would guess so, Eliza." She paused for a moment and gazed back at the dancing flames.
"So, we're here… What do we do now?"
"We've got to find a way down to the next level of the nightmare… The best place to start looking though would probably be inside." There was another pause as neither of us said anything.
"You… Want us to go in there?" I thought I saw a worried look from the side of her face.
"I-I know it may seem a little crazy, but yes. I don't see another way to get out of this dream otherwise. And besides, we learned from the forest fire that we can't really get hurt here."
"...You're completely sure about this? No other caveats or anything you'd like to tell me before I run in there all willy-nilly?" From her quite sarcastic answer, I could tell what she was poking at, but luckily she did because I'd forgotten about one last thing.
"Actually, yes… I guess I did forget to mention that to get down into the next part of the nightmare we need to, uh… Fall."
"Like… A little jump? A freefall? How much are we talking?"
"Umm, I've never been skydiving before, but I'd say it's pretty equivalent to that. Just without any idea of where you're going to land… Or a parachute." She glared me directly in the eyes, her face now filled with fear.
"...Dude! That's a big caveat to leave out! You were just gonna let me plummet to the next level of this nightmare without even a word of warning?!"
"I-I'm sorry, okay? I just get caught up in things and forget stuff. I know I'm far from perfect, but didn't you drop into this nightmare Eliza? Remember when we were on that plateau with Darkrai earlier?" She turned back to the fire, looking like she was struggling to recall that moment. "Come on, you can trust me. I've done it four times safely, and I can bet you the fifth time isn't going to be the time it fails," I added with a little bit of sass. Still concentrating on the fire, she closed her eyes and said,
"Yeah, I know… I just wish you would think a little harder next time before getting into danger… And why do you trust so much in me?" Knowing I'd need more time to answer that one completely, I didn't debate with her and asserted loudly,
"Just take my hand, Eliza." Before holding my open palm out to her. I made sure to have a confident smile on my face before she opened her eyes. "Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, stalker. After you." She smiled back, grabbed my hand, and took a deep breath before facing forwards again. Briefly checking behind me to make sure Dusty and Sycamore were also okay with descending into the fire, they both nodded in agreement with me when I shot a thumbs-up at them. Surprisingly, neither of them looked frightened or weirded out by the fact we were entering a burning house; I guess at this point, doing something this strange was normal for us.
Turning back around and taking a deep breath of my own, I clutched my free hand into a fist. Once I felt like I was mentally ready enough to re-enter another inferno and take the plunge down into another part of Darkrai's nightmare, I announced,
"Alright, here we go!" and broke into a sprint.
Immediately, the heat of the fire lashed out at my skin, causing me to falter for a second, but I assured myself that the pain would stop if I kept moving forward. Eliza must've noticed too because I felt her grip tighten on my hand as we ran up the front stairs. Trying to dodge the overhead flames as I led the pack forwards proved futile because it seemed the house was completely engulfed in a boiling hot fire bubble; I could tell almost instantly that this blaze was much hotter than the Hart's Woods forest fire. And even though the wide-open door was only feet away, it felt like a whole scorching eternity had passed already.
Once my dominant foot passed over the door frame, I felt weightless as there was no solid floor beyond the porch. As part of my body began the freefall down to yet another level of Darkrai's nightmare, the difference in air temperature was night and day; it was like half my body was still inside a volcano and the other half was stuck in a cold tundra somewhere.
I was about to let go of Eliza's hand so that I wouldn't whip her forwards during the fall, but I suddenly felt her weight shift towards me, like she had lunged forth in a hurry. Turning myself a little in the air to see what had happened, I caught a quick glimpse of Sycamore and Dusty leaping out of the fire before Eliza blocked my view. Letting go of my hand, she nose-dived past me into the abyss.
"You were going too slow!" I heard her scream as she descended deeper into the darkness, her voice nearly getting lost in the all the rushing air. As my consciousness began to fade from the stimuli, I couldn't help but grin; attempting to get into a nose-dive myself, I raced after her until it all became too much to handle, and I passed out.
As I came to, the pain from my withstanding injuries suddenly peaked and I groaned. I could tell that I was in the most pain I'd been since arriving in Darkrai's nightmare, as if it was the worst here for some reason. Nonetheless sitting up and opening my eyes, I found myself at the base of a giant, snow top mountain that looked particularly jagged and rocky. But somehow, high above that was the same even-more-colossal blood moon from before; it's light lit everything up with a muted crimson hue, but the endless pitch-black that made up the horizon quickly blotted it out just beyond us.
"Luke…" I suddenly heard to my left. Peering over, I found Eliza sitting up but staring at the ground. Behind her, Dusty and Sycamore were still passed out.
"E-Eliza, you're okay, right?" I immediately asked before gritting my teeth from the pain, sincerely hoping that she hadn't gotten hurt on the way down. She didn't respond however and continued to lock her gaze on the floor. Confused, I looked down myself and suddenly realized what had gotten her attention.
The ground we were sitting on looked to be made of thick, black ice, but it wasn't slippery or cold to the touch for some reason. However, just below the surface was a stretched out, almost curved scene of the Kinzua Bridge. It was somewhat distorted and blurry, and it seemed the colors were unsaturated or missing, but it was definitely it. And as far as I could tell, it looked like some of the many hueless splotches were moving, so I figured it had to be the real place.
"That's the bridge down there!" Eliza then exclaimed, briefly shooting me a surprised look before turning back to the floor.
"But how do we get down there?" I added, wondering if we were finally at the bottom of the nightmare. Expecting her to say something witty, I was caught off guard when I heard her smack the floor with her palm, resounding a slapping sound across the space. The floor didn't seem to be affected at all, but that wasn't going to stop her.
"Help me try to break through, Luke!" Eliza shouted, beginning to strike the ground with all kinds of punches. I decided that I was already injured enough and that hitting the ground would be more of a detriment, so I stood up and started stomping as hard as I could on nearly the same spot as her, hoping that some kind of progress would be made.
All the noise from the battle with the floor must've woken up Dusty and Sycamore while we weren't paying attention because I suddenly heard,
What can we do, Luke? Turning, I found Sycamore and Dusty confidently standing behind me, ready to help.
"Help us break through the floor, guys! It looks like the bridge is just below here." They briefly looked down, made their respective realizations, and got to work. Sycamore began stomping like me, but it quickly turned into him jabbing at the ground like Eliza was. On the other hand, we would occasionally move aside so Dusty could lash his long tendrils across the floor with his hand prongs turned down for more damage, of course.
After only a minute or so, it was clear that we needed more than just normal strength to get through. Without even making a mark on the floor, all of us sat down out of breath, realizing that the injuries we'd sustained in the nightmare were bogging us down.
"Sycamore and Dusty, are you guys fit to use some attacks?" I questioned a moment later after I'd had enough time to catch my breath. They turned and nodded at each other before I heard Sycamore say in my head,
I believe so. What would you like us to do?
"Well, I'm not sure if it'll work, but… What if we had Dusty use some kind of Poison move like Acid Spray on the floor to weaken its integrity or something? Then you could come in and attempt to Force Palm or punch through." Sycamore and Dusty both looked to be thinking for a moment.
...It is at least worth a try. Do you agree, Garbodor?
"Garbo." Dusty nodded again.
"Alright, let me get out of the way and you two can get on it. If we can't get through, I'll start brainstorming some other ideas. Come on, Eliza." As I was about to offer my hand to help her get up, she struggled for a moment to pull herself off the floor and stood up.
"I don't need your help all the time, Luke." She said in a sarcastic voice before smiling. "...But I do appreciate it." Awkwardly grinning at her, we then backed up a couple feet away and watched the Pokémon get into position.
A second later, after pointing his pronged tendril down at the floor, I watched as Dusty splashed the gross green liquid all over; the goop sizzled loudly before seemingly disintegrating into the air moments later. After it had all dissipated, there seemed to be a lighter discoloration on the floor now. I could tell the attack hardly cut into the ground at all, but it was already a better outcome than our original plan.
Before I could comment on it though, Sycamore arranged himself safely around the side of the splotch and began charging his Force Palm. As the teal energy grew in size until it was a little bigger than his arm, Sycamore jumped over and shoved his paw into the ground, releasing all the energy at once. A shockwave erupted from the attack, kicking up a surprising amount of dust. I had to cover my eyes as a blast of wind came at us, but before I turned away, I saw Sycamore flip himself around mid-air.
As the draft petered out, I looked forward eagerly to see if his attack had managed to do anything. But, as I should've expected, I found everyone looking at the unmarked floor with the same unhappy expression on their face as I had.
"...Well, looks like that didn't work. But at least we know that Dusty's Acid Spray does something." At that moment, I saw Sycamore's ear twitch, as if he'd heard something, but I figured it must've been for another reason since he didn't look around afterwards. Continuing on, I added, "Dusty, why don't you hit the ground again with your Acid Spray? Then we can–"
"Shhhh! Luke, be quiet for a moment!" Eliza suddenly cried, stopping my train of thought cold. Taking her advice without hesitation, I attempted to tune into the space around us more carefully.
At first, I couldn't hear anything over the sound of our breathing, which was strange because it seemed like everyone else could hear whatever it was. All three of them were glancing around, looking for the source. As I was about to speak up, I suddenly heard something quiet but obviously foreign resonating from somewhere around me. I couldn't tell what the noise was, but it was oddly attention-getting.
Wildly whipping around, I found that no matter where I positioned myself, the sound was always somewhere else. To make matters worse, the noise started getting louder and louder… Until it sounded like it was right upon us. Feeling my heart start to pump faster, we all unanimously got ready for whatever was going to happen. Then, I finally realized what the sound was… The sound of ice breaking.
Crack! A single, vein-y fracture appeared in the middle of the discolored spot on the floor as the resounding noise echoed all around us. At the same time, a splitting pain exploded inside my head, causing me to immediately fall to the floor in agony. Tightly clutching my head, I writhed on the floor, unable to think of anything else for the moment; it was without a doubt the worst headache I'd ever experienced. However, I was not the only one who was experiencing an awful migraine. Eliza, Sycamore, and Dusty were all on the floor too, meagerly attempting to blot the pain out. Then, a ghastly, pain-filled howl reverberated through the space from high above; I knew immediately who it had come from.
Moments after the scream trailed off, the headache began to slip away, and the suffering slowly started to become more bearable. As I could finally think again, I sat up to find the Pokémon and Eliza doing the same.
"W-what was that?!" Eliza yelped angrily, still clutching her head. Before I could reply, I heard Sycamore's voice in my head.
Look up… It was one of the only times I ever heard him sound so scared. Nervously gulping and slowly peering up, my eyes caught on a black silhouette in front of the moon with a red accent around its neck and a flowing white head that looked like a sentient candle flame. I could see the pain in its only visible cyan eye.
"...You… How?" Darkrai's voice boomed from all around us, sounding much less confident than the last time we'd seen him; he also looked to be clutching his head. Struggling to get to my feet, I stood up as fast as I could, got into a battle-ready pose, and shouted back,
"It's over, Darkrai! The four of us are making it back to the bridge!" There was a pause for a moment as he eerily glared at me without saying a word. His gaze was fierce and paralyzing, but if I didn't stay confident, there was no way we'd ever be able to escape. In that moment, the Pokémon and Eliza also got to their feet and into similar stances, ready to face whatever Darkrai had up his sleeves.
"...How? How did you overcome my nightmares?" Darkrai asked again.
"I've told you before, Darkrai! I will make it to the Pokémon World, and I don't care who or what gets in my way!"
"...You are unlike the other humans chosen to save my world… You even saved your allies from their nightmares, too... Just where does your confidence and stamina come from?"
"Don't act dumb, Darkrai– you know why! You've taken everything away from me! My family, my friends, my home… I can't and will not forgive you for it! I've got a world to save and a bunch of people who need me now more than ever! If I let them down…" I shivered, the bad thoughts briefly making their way back into my head. Suddenly, Darkrai broke into a fit of laughter.
"...It seems I have underestimated you, chosen one. If only I had reached you before Uxie had… You would make for a very powerful ally." He continued to chuckle after finishing his sentence. I then felt my blood begin to boil as I told myself that there was no reality in which I would ever help him and Necrozma. "...Nonetheless, I am afraid that you cannot go back to the bridge… For both worlds will belong to the Prismatic King!"
"Will you just be quiet, you overly cocky, ghost dickhead!" Eliza suddenly shouted beside me louder than ever. All attention turned to her as she walked out in front of me. "Just give up already and stop wasting our time! It'll be much less painful if you let us leave, you know!" She sounded furious and was nearly screaming with all her might. However, Darkrai was having none of it. With a chortle, he replied,
"...My, my, such insolence… Do you know who you are talking to, oh dear Eliza?"
"Yeah… A sister-stealing, lying bastard is who I'm talking to!" He snickered again.
"...Correct! Perhaps you are not as feeble-minded as I had previously thought!"
"Why, you…" Eliza trailed off before clenching her fist as hard as she could. She looked like she was ready to explode in a fit of rage.
"...Now, Eliza… I am willing to make you one last offer…"
"An offer? Ha, like I'd ever take another one for you!"
"...Oh? Your hastiness to decline perplexes me… As I am the one who is keeping your sister captive!" Just then in his right hand, a foggy picture of a scared girl behind bars appeared, similar to the one Darkrai had flashed at me with my family outside of Hornell. I saw Eliza wince and back down a little in response.
"...The choice is yours, Eliza. I promise that if you help me keep the chosen one at bay, I will give you what you want…" She stayed silent, not moving a muscle. I could feel the tension in the air as the decision came down to her. "...Or, at the very least, give up and stay here… I can at least turn your worst nightmares into wonderous dreams so real, you will never wish to leave… All you have to do is–"
"No deal."
"...What?"
"Oh, did you not hear me, Darkrai? I said no deal!" Darkrai paused for a moment, as if he hadn't heard correctly; I was shocked by her reaction. "...Look, I may be a lost cause, but that's not the same for Luke here!" As she pointed at me, I started to put the pieces together and realized why she was doing this. Darkrai didn't say anything in response, continuing to listen to what Eliza had to say.
"Luke and his partners being stuck in your nightmare does the Pokémon World no good! I've seen how they fight… Every single battle I've been in with this kid, each of them have given their all! And his friend, Slowking? She sacrificed herself just so he could make it to the portal!" She stopped for a second to shake her head no. "He just has to save the world! And that's why I'm putting my foot down! So, no deal, Darkrai!" My eyes lit up as she finished, my heart warmed by her kindness. Dusty and Sycamore looked equally as gracious. She then quickly turned to me.
"Let's get you out of here, Luke! For the future!"
"Eliza… Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, and shut up before I change my mind!" Tears suddenly welled in her eyes, but I was ready and put my arm on her shoulder.
"Look, Eliza... I don't know if I can forgive you for the things you've done to me, or if life will ever go back to the way it was… But together, we can still change the fate of both worlds for the better!" She saw my determination and wiped away the last of her tears.
"Right!" she replied confidently with a smile. Just then, Darkrai spoke.
"...A bad choice, Eliza… What about your sister?" Eliza hesitated but burst out,
"This isn't about me or my sister anymore! I've made up my mind, and nothing is going to stop me, either!"
"...Why, you think you can just defy me? I gave you a one-in-a-million chance to actually live happily, and you think you can just say no? Who do you think you have the opportunity to speak to?!" Red lightning suddenly arced through the sky and a clap of thunder roared as Darkrai began to float down from the sky. "...If you want to make it to that bridge alive, you fools will have to get through me! Prepare to feel my full wrath!" Once he made it to the ground, he got into a battle-ready stance.
As I was about to turn back to the Pokémon to make sure they were ready for Darkrai's onslaught, I heard a faint but familiar voice in my head that wasn't Sycamore.
Hello? Can anyone hear me? This is Uxie!
Uxie? Where are you, can you hear me? I immediately replied, surprised to hear her voice.
Lukas? Oh, thank Arceus, I finally got in contact with you! Are you okay? She sounded relieved at the sound of my voice.
We're all still kicking, Uxie, and I guess that's something... But how and where…?
I am outside on the bridge overlooking Darkrai's giant energy ball that you, Lucario, Garbodor, and that girl are all inside of. For some reason though, a power wave was just released from it, and now all of the Pokémon who were previously asleep just started waking up. I figured now was the time to check and see if I could contact any of you now.
...Is everything okay back there?
No, unfortunately. The Ultra Beasts have continued to guard and aid in the closing of the portal while our numbers are still down. The Pokémon that did not get hit by Darkrai's attack and I have been trying to stop the Ultra Beasts from closing the portal, but we have ultimately failed in our attempts, as we are outnumbered.
But you're saying that the portal is still open?
Precisely! However, we are running out of time, fast. Which leads me to ask... Have you found a way out? Is there anything I can do to help?
We're working on getting out now, but we've still got to get past Darkrai… Is there any chance you could attempt to get closer to us in Darkrai's energy ball? Last time I got stuck in one of these dreams, Slowking woke me up by pinching me… There was a short pause.
Something is blocking me from entering Darkrai's energy orb, and I cannot get close enough… How curious. It is as if there is a forcefield of some kind around the exterior…
Damn… Well, there's gotta be some kind of way past that 'forcefield'. Darkrai can only have so much power left, right?
Best not to assume anything, unfortunately. However, now that our numbers have increased, I will have more time to experiment with this strange energy ball… In the meantime, I will stay in touch with updates, as well as keep an ear open in case you need assistance. Please stay strong, stay safe, and may Arceus guide you!
It went quiet as Uxie stopped communicating with me and went back to the battle on the bridge. I almost wished she could stay with me in my head throughout as a guide, but she had equally important matters to deal with.
Now having the opportunity to do so, I quickly turned to everyone else to make sure they were all prepared. Dusty and Sycamore briefly placed their arms over their chests before walking out in front of Eliza and I; I could tell they were fit to show Darkrai up. Turning to Eliza, we both clenched our fists at each other.
"Thank you again for this, Eliza. This means a lot… Ready?"
"More than ever. And don't mention it, Luke. Like seriously, don't mention it… No sappy stuff," she added with a sarcastic tone. I smiled at her before facing forwards.
"Alright Darkrai, here we come! We're not holding back!" I yelled triumphantly before Sycamore and Dusty immediately broke into a sprint, charging right at him.