Sea of Hoenn
The expansive oceans of Hoenn were gentle. Almost silent, even. There was no wind and no waves with the exception of the waves left in the wake of the ships that sailed through the flat waters.
Eight gargantuan warships moved across the blue sea. On their gleaming metal sides, the insignia of an exploding star was etched. They moved in unison toward their destination, which rapidly approached.
Within these ships, Nova Corporation soldiers moved busily from place to place. Within the bridge, the sound of loud talking was accompanied by the pings of a radar as it scanned the area for their target.
That ping was Manaphy. From a sizable distance behind the Prince of the Sea, the eight warships followed. As it stood, Manaphy was said to be loosely encircling their target, the Sea Temple, with its traveling path. Once a pattern was found, it would be time to commence the mission.
"Captain," Spoke Ryder into his comms system, "What is our progress?"
Ryder stood at the front of the ship's deck, overlooking the vast ocean as he waited for the signal to begin. In his arm, he held a canister of glimmering water. Within that canister was the Soul Dew that Harper had acquired. It was finally time for the stone to play its part.
From the bridge, the captain, an old bearded man by the name of David, pulled up a small speaker by its wire. "Its trail is showing some consistency of a figure eight trail. The fleet will begin to close in on the target once Manaphy returns to the center of the figure eight."
Impatiently, Ryder tapped the shoulder of his suit as he crossed his arms. Glancing off into the distance, he wondered how his master was faring. By now, his part of the plan was already underway. His master had once told him that destroying the Tree of Beginning would be by far the most difficult stage of the plan.
"Let us not waste more time than necessary. We must act parallel to the efforts at the tree. Not behind."
A third voice replied to Ryder through his comms. "Master has always had a mind for planning. If his plans were flawed, we would be dead by now."
Grandest of the eight ships was the Proteus Crownship. It received the name from its designer, Auto, the last of Ryder's men. Despite its great size, this ship was manned only by one person in Auto himself.
From within the ship's core, Auto sat surrounded by dozens of screens that allowed him to peer out of every angle of the ship inside and out. Dozens of thick wires stretched out from his suit to the walls around him, merging his nervous system with the Crownship's controls. It was as if his body had become the ship itself.
"After all," Continued Auto with a wry grin from underneath his helmet, "They have my Air Gunship "Azathoth" lying in wait. I would say it was lucky that we stumbled upon that Ultra Beast to aid in the construction efforts of our weapons, but we both know that luck has nothing to do with our master."
A grumbling Ryder glanced back toward the ocean ahead of them. "It is not our master that I worry about, but the plan requires for our responsibilities to be dealt with swiftly."
"Is 'swift' not your forte?"
Before Ryder responded, Captain David suddenly spoke up. "It appears that Manaphy is beginning to loop back around toward the center. We're moving to intercept."
Ryder let out a weighty sigh as he pushed away thoughts of his master. Just as Auto said, there was no need to worry. Ordinarily, he would have no doubts of his master's capabilities. But they were so close! The end was in sight at last. His master's grand stories of the future for mankind were in sight.
For Ryder, he never believed he would live to see the day. His mind was oft occupied by thoughts of how he would die in his master's service, having spent the last flickers of his life to continue the flames of his master's ambition. It was only now, when the end was well and truly in sight, that the idea of living to see the future as his master would was beginning to seem like a possibility.
"Ryder?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ryder answered, "Understood, captain. I will prepare for my role."
The decks of the ships, save for one, became busy as men ran back and forth. Captain David's ship became still as the men dropped their anchor. The other seven ships split off to encircle the key point they believed to be their target, courtesy of Manaphy's trail.
Auto's ship took a spot opposite to that of David's. "Deploying the projector drone."
From the top of the Proteus Crownship, a porthole opened to unleash a spinning, spherical drone. The drone was large. It needed to be for the extent of what their holograms would need to accomplish. It floated skyward until it blocked out the sun from Auto's point of view.
Silver rods emerged from above the bridge windows of the other seven ships. A bright white light began emanating from the tips of each rod, then fired up at the drone. Upon the moment of contact, those streaks of light exploded out in all directions like a dome.
David peered up at the dome through the thick windows of the bridge. "The thousand-meter light net is in place."
Sitting contently within his Crownship, Auto smirked underneath his helmet. As the wires of the ship connected with his own bodily neurons, he sent signals up to the drone and announced, "Activating the eclipse hologram."
Light began to emanate from the drone like a second sun before dulling. As that light faded, so too did the light of the sky itself within the net. The second sun faded to a dull red moon, setting a blanket of darkness over the day as night took hold in a crimson lunar eclipse.
"Is it working?" Inquired Ryder.
Then, he saw it unfold before his very eyes. There was a glimmer in the air just ahead of him. Centered within the eight ships, something began to appear on the water. Glistening lights manifested before them, even taking shape before long.
In mere seconds, an island had manifested into existence in front of their eyes. Its presence now prevented some of the ships from seeing one another, but it did not matter. As always, their master had been right, and the mission was a go,
"That's our Samiya all right," Auto announced, a hint of admiration for the manmade island in his voice. "Ryder, you know what to do."
Stomping his metal boot down upon the base of the ship's stem, Ryder leapt to the stem's edge. From there, he held the Soul Dew skyward. The prongs that held the Soul Dew within its container sent pulses of electricity through it to stir the old souls held within into action.
The dull groans of the Soul Dew fell on deaf ears. Its power over water was forced from it against its will. Ryder took hold of that power with a cruel, cold, metal hand. And in response to his will, the water surrounding Samiya began to churn.
Manaphy came to a swift stop upon noticing the water around her reddening. It made a dash for the surface to figure out what had happened. To Manaphy's shock, what awaited her above the surface was a dark, red moon. A lunar eclipse.
Such a thing wasn't supposed to happen yet, unless it had gotten the time mixed up somehow. Furthermore, hadn't it just been daytime mere moments before? Manaphy turned its sights upon Samiya. There it was, in broad moonlight.
And it wasn't alone, evidently. To Manaphy's further surprise, she saw several ships surrounding it. That was odd. Ever since the war on Necrozma, Manaphy had barely seen any ships. In fact, it couldn't even remember seeing one.
It was a bit nostalgic. In times past that seemed so long ago now, Manaphy would often swim right up next to ships like this and peer inside their windows to see what kind of people and Pokemon were inside. Manaphy cherished those memories very much. Especially because of how it reminded Manaphy of May.
For old time's sake, Manaphy decided to pay these boats a visit. There was no telling when such an event would happen again after all. And during a lunar eclipse no less!
"Captain, Manaphy is approaching our vessel."
Captain David scowled at the dot on the radar that was encroaching on their position. "Get rid of it," He ordered as he slashed through the air with his arm. "We cannot afford any interference."
As a jolly Manaphy dashed through the water toward the gathered vessels, it stopped upon noticing several brief flashes of light from one of them. Manaphy tilted its head in confusion, an act that ultimately saved its life.
A metal shell larger than Manaphy's own body narrowly sailed past its head. The force of it passing through the water like a drill dragged Manaphy backwards. Panicked, the wildly confused Manaphy cried out as several more shells shot past it.
It twirled through the water as hails of bullets flew toward it. What was happening? The speed of whatever attacked it made it impossible to even think. One of the bullets nicked the edge Manaphy's blue skin, eliciting a cry of pain from it. That was enough for Manaphy. Using Acid Armor, it faded into the water and disappeared.
"Manaphy has ceased its approach," Announced someone on the bridge. "It appears to be retreating."
Captain David nodded with a gruff hum. "Good. That's one less interruption." Pulling a microphone cable up to his mouth, he said, "Ryder. Speed up your end of things. Manaphy was deterred, but it could bring friends at any moment."
Ryder did not need to be told twice about anything to do with speed. He gripped the vial holding the Soul Dew more intensely. The wails went quiet. Not that they could be heard regardless.
The churning water beneath Samiya slowly parted, exiting to the surrounding waters. Little by little, the water underneath Samiya drained, as did the water near Captain David's ship. The island and the ship were lowered to the dry seafloor, now bereft of the sea that once covered it. Surrounding them was a hollow cylinder of water, like the ocean itself was carved into.
Ryder lowered his arm once the boat touched ground. "That ought to get rid of the island's water traps." He turned to see the men aboard the ship rushing to their new positions. Within the container he held, a speck of black went unnoticed by Ryder as it emerged upon the Soul Dew.
The ship's metal plank fell upon the rocky seafloor with a loud clang, followed by the sounds of dozens of footsteps as men rushed off the boat to get into position. A thick metal door on the front of the ship opened, letting out two trucks full of people and equipment. Twenty soldiers and three Black Suits in total lined up to await further orders.
Ryder fell in front of them, stomping upon the rocky ground. Some of the soldiers glanced at the glimmering container he held in one arm. Ryder turned and pointed toward the colossal temple.
"Let us not waste time," He told them. "You all recall the mission briefing, I'm sure."
The soldiers saluted, all replying with a loud, "Yes, sir!"
One of them still appeared unnerved by the container held by Ryder. "Sir?"
Ryder stared at him silently, so the soldier took that as a signal to continue lest he waste more of the armored man's precious time.
Glancing up at the colossal cylinder of ocean water that surrounded them, they asked. "Will the Soul Dew's signal still hold the water back while we're in there?"
One of the Black Suits chuckled. "It doesn't exactly run on Wi-Fi," He joked, walking past the soldier. "Besides, Samiya is said to be one with the ocean either way. If anything, it would only conduct the Soul Dew's 'signal' if it had one."
"Enough semantics," Spoke an impatient Ryder. "Let's get moving."
With that, Ryder turned and dashed toward the temple. As the Black Suits hopped atop the trucks, the soldiers grabbed onto the sides and simply hung on as they were wheeled toward the sunken city.
What Ryder and his soldiers saw within the temple was an ancient city of marble and silver. They looked up and found innumerable bridges going from place to place within the city.
What was most odd was that there were trees and shrubs along the sides of some of the crossing pathways despite the fact that there was clearly no other life here at all. There looked to be large fountains as well, but with its connection to the sea severed, no water could flow.
While some of the men took at least a moment to marvel at the ancient work of mankind, Ryder scanned the pathways for a different reason. He wondered which one led where, and which path would take them to the Sea Crown the fastest.
For the ships, things were going steady. All they had to do was continue to monitor the island from above and make sure that no wild Pokemon slipped by. However, their presence, the eclipse they produced, and the disturbance of the ocean ought to have chased off any that may have been in the area.
So, Captain David sat back in his chair, allowing himself to relax. The rest of his crew merely monitored their surroundings and the status of the ship. As he reached for a mug, he became still upon hearing a beep on their radar.
"Are you seeing that?" Came the voice of Auto on the ship's comms.
Captain David, without taking his eyes off the radar, pulled the radio cable and replied, "Yeah, I see it." There was a dot on the radar approaching rapidly. And it was large. "Has HQ sent another ship?"
Auto stared at one of the screens surrounding him. Something was moving within the water, gathering waves as it passed. The flat, quiet sea suddenly became rocky wherever it touched. Dark clouds followed closely behind these waves in a colossal storm front that threatened to blot out the sky itself.
This was Kyogre, the god who created the very ocean, on his way to bring his wrath down upon those who disturbed his domain.
"…No. Every ship still on the surface, move to intercept now."
Thrusters underneath the Proteus Crownship tilted to the side and blasted outward, boiling the water near it. With no crew aboard, the colossal ship could turn much more easily. It sped ahead of the rest of the boats, moving to attempt to block Kyogre's approach.
Despite the gargantuan size of the Proteus Crownship, Auto had no delusions when it came to comparing its size to the ocean it floated upon. As Auto beheld that ocean approaching, it chilled him to the bone. With all of his technology, it was still nothing compared to the power of nature.
The other six ships steadily moved into position, turning sideways to form a blockade against the oncoming Legend. Their artillery took aim at a cone of foamy water that seemed to be at the head of the storm.
"All units, fire!"
On Auto's order, dozens of panels along the sides and undersides of the ships opened. Countless streaks of red launched out at the oncoming blue, sending the water skywards as explosions tore through the ocean.
The onslaught of the ships continued for minutes on end as red hot shellings pelted the area where Kyogre was last spotted. It seemed to work. Neither the waves nor the stormy sky seemed to make any further progress. By the time Auto finally spoke again, the fleet had lost count of how long they were firing for.
"Cease fire!" Ordered Auto.
Gradually, the last of the shells were fired into the ocean. The barrier between the silent, flat sea and the unnerving black waves sat still. While the radars of each ship still pinged, showing that the massive body was still there, there was no way to know if their barrage had worked.
"Did we get him?" Asked one of the captains aloud.
A massive jet of condensed water shot out from the sea and impacted that captain's ship with speeds that would put any bullet to shame. The ship's defensive barrier staved off most of the damage, but the sheer force of the water jet still made the ship itself rock back.
Soldiers and workers inside that ship were flung into its metal walls. Along the opposite end of the ship, those unlucky enough to be positioned on the deck's edges had to cling on to the rails for their life. They screamed in terror as they clung on to whatever they could. It was fortunate they had the foresight to have cables attached to their vests, else if they let go, they'd have fallen straight onto the ship's barrier.
Steadily, the ship rocked back into place. Its shaken captain pried himself back to his radio, shouting, "What hit us?!"
Gleaming red lights, curved in stark patterns, gave the fleet of ships a glimpse of a shadowed body beneath the waves. As this being rose above the surface, the breached water parted from its master and flowed down his body to rejoin the sea.
Kyogre glowered at the ships before him, and at the large hole they had somehow made in his domain. "Manaphy delivered some unpleasant news to me, and now I am bombarded by the likes of you. Have you fools any idea where you are?"
Hiding his trepidation with a chuckle, Auto activated the ship's loudspeaker and responded, "Shouldn't you be somewhere else by now?"
This earned a scoff from Kyogre. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"So you don't know?"
Annoyed, Kyogre hissed, "What I know is that you have disturbed the ocean and those who dwell within it. I care for nothing else."
The crimson runes along Kyogre's fins glowed, and in response, the ocean churned, and the clouds raced across the sky to blot out the sun. Immediately, the false lunar eclipse the ships had produced disappeared.
"The eclipse has disappeared!" One captain exclaimed. "Will Ryder's team be alright?"
"It's only invisible from the outside. They'll be fine." In his chamber, Auto grimaced as he looked into the eyes of the ocean god on one of his screens. "What we need to worry about is keeping this monster away from them."
A commanding flap of Kyogre's fins sent the ocean into a frenzy. Water gathered into a colossal wave meant to collapse the fleet in one fell swoop. It was easily over a hundred feet high and only growing taller as it approached, partially blocking the view of the sky itself.
"Sonic bombs, now!"
Dozens of small, round, silver objects split down the center were launched from the seven ships into the rogue wave. Each one of them made a dull clicking noise and separated at their center, resulting in a shrill, high pitched noise so strong that the wave exploded from the inside. Its remnants rained down upon the sea.
Kyogre looked up at the wave's falling remnants in disbelief. "What?!"
Noticing this, Auto sent a signal up to the drone that once produced the lunar eclipse. It made a warbled hymn, suddenly shining with intense luminosity. The light stunned Kyogre, who cried out in pain as it burned his eyes.
Auto shouted, "Ships one and three, move out to each of Kyogre's sides. Everyone else, launch two waves of shock pulsars!"
While Kyogre recoiled from the light, the two ships flanked his sides from afar. They launched several jet black torpedoes from their undersides that cut through the water as they sped toward their target. Upon drawing near Kyogre, the torpedoes split in two and fell away, revealing something inside.
In each of the torpedoes, there was a large orb that glowed a glimmering yellow within the water. On its exterior was a red web-like outer shell that the interior light peered through in beams. These shells cracked, and then, the ocean was set alight.
Kyogre instantly disappeared within an orb of pure lightning, appearing on the surface like a dome. The sky above and water below were turned yellow for a brief period of time. Booms and crackling rattled the air, momentarily drowning out the sound of the pounding storm.
When that lightning faded, those within the fleet's bridges peered at the area intently. The sea god stared back at them, adorned with only scratches for the fleet's efforts. Although his eyes seemed redder than before.
With his maw opening, water swirled through the air into a shimmering blue orb in front of Kyogre. This was a sign, clear to Auto at least, of a Hydro Pump. Yet it did not stop with just that. The ocean itself began to twist and curve around Kyogre as its water was taken in and concentrated by the forming attack.
Slowly, Kyogre's body turned toward Ship Three, his hate-filled glare aimed at one of the ships that had fired the pulsars at him. Within that ship, its terrified captain quickly grasped at the radio.
"This is Ship Three to Crownship. Permission to disengage position and evade." The captain hastily asked this, scarcely managing to audibly withhold the dread he felt watching the stormy ocean bend into Kyogre's attack.
Auto hastily replied, "Negative, Ship Three, negative! Divert all power to frontal shields. Try to divert most of the attack away from your ship. Evasion is not possible."
The captain of Ship Three cursed, barely managing to stop himself from beating his fist on the ship's control panel. "Understood, Crownship." He changed the comm's signals, then shouted, "Bridge to Engineering. Divert all reserve power to frontal shields, including omnidirectional shields."
"Y-yes, Captain."
Dropping the microphone, the captain stood up from his chair. "Turn the ship toward Kyogre and sail in reverse! We need to draw as much force away from the ship's hull as possible if we're going to survive this!"
As his men got to work, the captain of Ship Three watched on as the ocean around Kyogre continued to swirl into his impending attack. This captain had only recently been promoted, and this was the first true outing of this vessel. Yet, as the very sea that he sailed upon turned against him, he wondered if the years he had spent vying for this position were worth it.
Ship Three tilted its course to face Kyogre. The other ships, including Proteus, began bombarding the sea god in an attempt to draw his attention away. This only succeeded in angering Kyogre, who responded to their bombardments with one of his own.
With one flap of his fin, he sent up yet another colossal wave toward the nuisances at his side. But before another round of Sonic Bombs could shatter the wave, Kyogre saved them the trouble. Also from its fin, a trail of ice shot through the water, freezing even the titanic wave itself.
Auto felt his blood, and the very oil coursing through his ship, run cold. Not from the ice. But from the realization that the frozen wave was not an attack. It was a defense. A wall they had no hope of penetrating in time to save their comrade.
"Ship Three!" He shouted into his comms. "We won't make it in time. Do whatever you can to ensure survival."
The captain of Ship Three reached a trembling hand down to pick up the radio he had dropped before. As he did this, he did not take his eyes from the rapidly growing ball of concentrated water pointed at his vessel, his men, and himself.
"Aye."
That was all the response he could give before Kyogre unleashed the monstrous Hydro Pump. It split the very sea upon firing, sending two curved waves nearly up into the stormy black clouds overhead. Ship Three's concentrated barrier sprung up to defend against the attack.
Ultimately, it was to no avail. Ship Three, its shield, and every soul aboard were eradicated in an instant as the attack consumed it. In an instant, the vessel had been reduced to material unable to be seen by the naked eye and scoured across the ocean that had destroyed it.
Auto scowled in response to the sudden static coming from Ship Three's comms. He turned it off to focus on what they had left, and the new looming threat. The waves kicked up by the concentrated Hydro Pump now loomed overhead. It crashed into the ice wave and shattered it like glass.
It was clear to Auto that evasion was out of the question. "Prep the shields. We're diving in."
Each of the remaining ships readied their barriers to block the incoming water. The base of the wave began to pick up their shields. As the fleet rose up from the trough, they neared the point where the crest was about to crash on top of them.
"Dive, now!"
On Auto's order, each ship began tilting forward. Their barriers penetrated the raging waters as they prepared to cross through the wave. The sound of raging rain and crashing waves became dull as they entered the water. But they were not given the luxury of time to notice it.
The moment the fleet crossed into the water, they were met with the sight of a large shadow adorned with gleaming red lights. Its maw was open, carrying a bright orange orb in front of it. Kyogre encroached upon the nearest ship, letting loose a low, echoing howl as deep as the ocean's abyss. It shook the fleet of ships and all within even through their shields. Within the colossal wave, there was a flash of orange light for but a moment, fading as quickly as it came.
Only four of the five ships that had entered the wave breached the other end. Auto noted the sound of static coming from the signal of Ship Five. "Ship Five, come in," He ordered. When no response came, he spoke again. "Ship Five, report." Yet still, there came no reply. Within his helmet, Auto gnashed his teeth in frustration. "Ryder, you had better damn well hurry. We're the only two left."
Aboard Ship Six, its captain eyed the crest of the colossal wave above them. "Auto, sir, the wave is headed straight for the rift. Will David's team be alright?"
"It should hold steady as long as the Soul Dew is intact." Auto glanced over at the screen showing Ship Two. "David, how is your team holding up?"
There was a small fit of static for a moment as the gruff captain replied, which Auto chalked up as the wave passing over the rift. "...Things are going smoothly on my end, but what in the world is going on up there?"
Auto noted the presence of Ship One below. Evidently, its position had allowed it to stay out of the range of the Hydro Pump and the ensuing wave. "Doesn't matter," Answered Auto. "You just hold steady and focus on your part of the mission. Your end's more important than ours. The rest of you, rendezvous with Ship One down there. We'll figure out a plan to keep Kyogre's attention-"
There was a sudden trembling within the wave the fleet sat upon. Each ship was shaken, cutting Auto off. Above their heads, atop the falling crest of the titanic wave, Kyogre emerged with a thunderous crash. Below, he saw the descending ships, and one other. His eyes narrowed, recognizing it as one of the two fleas that had struck him with those electric explosions. An orange colored light swirled into existence in front of his open maw once more.
An alarm of rising energy from the enemy blared in Auto's ship. "Ship One! Shields up, now!"
Not needing to be told twice, the captain of ship one relayed the orders, and a barrier manifested around his vessel. This earned an annoyed scowl from Kyogre. "You fools believe you can survive?!" He bellowed as his attack finished preparing. "You were doomed the moment you disturbed my domain!"
"All ships, fire!"
Auto could feel his very nerves as they relayed orders throughout the Crownship. Turrets along the sides of the deck aimed up into the dark sky at their target. Automated tubes of shells rushed to their destination, and the Crownship lit up as its endless weapons led the charge. The other ships joined in as well, consuming Kyogre in an endless streak of explosions as the shells detonated upon him.
That fiery cloud was blown away when Kyogre lost his patience and fired the Hyper Beam. It crashed into Ship One, completely consuming it in an instant. When the beam was gone, Auto breathed out in relief, seeing the ship still floating amidst the raging waters that were displaced by its creator's attack. However, it was not entirely in one piece. Electric sparks ran all across its outer edges, and there was clearly at least one large fire spewing from its hull.
Its captain slammed an arm down upon the metal edge of the bridge's control panel to push himself off the floor. Taking hold of the radio, he shouted, "Report!"
Alarms blared all throughout the engineering deck. Crew members ran from machine to machine in a desperate attempt to keep the situation from worsening. The chief engineer, working away at a malfunctioning engine, hastily replied, "Main power is at eleven percent, shields and weapons are all completely offline, and the shield wiring has burst all throughout the ship!"
The captain slammed a fist down upon the panel in frustration. He pursed his lips, forcing himself to regain some composure with a deep breath. "Understood. Are we still mobile?"
"The propellers are undamaged, captain."
That was something at least. "Very well. I'll see what I can do on my end." With that, he ended the call with engineering and picked up Auto's signal. "Sir, our ship no longer has the means to combat the enemy. Permission to disengage and return to base? We'll request for reinforcements."
"Negative, Ship One." The Proteus Crownship swerved as Auto evaded Kyogre diving down into the water his ship had just been occupying. "We need you here. We are on the cusp of achieving our organization's final goal!"
"We'll die like this!" Protested the captain. "And uselessly at that. We have no weapons and no shields. There is nothing our presence can offer the objective."
Auto could only shake his head as the captain spoke, each word giving rise to more irritation.
"However, if we return to base, we may be able to get reinforcements."
"There are no reinforcements!" Auto's voice made the captain wince. "The rest of our forces are either defending Star Tower for the final phase of the plan, or driving the campaign against the Tree of Beginning! You know damn well that our comms can contact any of our bases from anywhere on the damned planet, you coward! You are merely trying to escape to save your own life when we are on the verge of our greatest and final victory!"
The captain of Ship One glanced at his crew, who still ran about the ship to get it back under control. "...Sir," Came the voice of the captain again, more softly than before, "I have a lot of good people on this ship. People who could help us in the future, once this is all over. They're not just tools."
Auto went to retort, then paused. He snickered, then suddenly barked out a dry laugh. "They're not tools? How fortunate for them."
"Sir?"
Shaking his head, Auto replied, "Fine. Get out of here if you want."
The captain did not dare to let the subject linger. "Thank you, sir," He said, and then turned off the comms signal. He turned to address his crew. "Set a course back to base! We've been given permission to retreat!"
Auto watched as the ragged vessel slowly turned, positioning its nose toward the mainland of Johto in the far distance. "Tools, he says," Grumbled Auto. "He wants to talk about tools, how about every damnable piece of machinery we ever used? I created the very blueprints with which our organization thrived, and yet they still leave, they still send me out to-"
Audio signals from the other ships were suddenly cut off, as well as the audio transmission of the outside. A new signal prevailed over the others. It sounded to Auto like a song of sorts, growing louder as if it were moving. A shadow passed underneath his vessel, carrying the song with it. It sounded like no song he had ever heard, and though he had heard few in his life, even Auto knew something was wrong with it.
A silver vortex shot up from the water like a geyser around Ship One. Savage winds engulfed the ship in a whirl of rising fury. Auto could hear its howl even over the pounding rain. Silver wings that seemed to make the rain shimmer around it dispelled the Twister attack from the inside. Chunks of metal rained down into the ocean below, around the one who had dispelled them. Lugia watched the pieces fall with narrowed eyes.
Good riddance, he thought, watching a portion of black metal with that accursed insignia fall into the sea.
Auto was utterly stunned, unable to find the words for this.
"Kyogre!" Lugia shouted as the sea god resurfaced. "I sensed the ocean's disturbance. How may I help?"
Kyogre merely glowered at him, unimpressed. "Leaving, for one."
Lugia's face fell. "Excuse me?"
"I do not require your assistance, Lugia," Rumbled Kyogre, his slim patience thinning further. "Begone from me."
In response to the sea god's coarse remarks, Lugia mentally sighed. He should have known that Kyogre would have been like this. To think he had come all the way from the Elemental Islands to help and this was the extent of the appreciation he received in kind.
"Fine," Relented Lugia, "But do not make the mistake of underestimating these ones, or expect me to come back for you should they get the upper hand."
The red lights along Kyogre's body became brighter as his irritation began to boil. "You insult me further? Pray tell, is it your aim to join these worthless human vessels at the bottom of the sea?"
Although the bottom of the sea was somewhere Lugia often occupied, he had no desire to see how it would change in response to Kyogre's wrath. Still, both of them knew it was an empty threat either way. Arceus's wrath was something neither one of them wanted to incur. Not fully, at least.
"Hmph," Scoffed Lugia, turning away. "Fine. Do what you will."
As he sped off, Kyogre also turned away to face the remaining ships. "As I always have."
Auto watched Lugia begin soaring away in even further disbelief. After all that, it was just leaving? Like that? Well, while their situation still was far from desirable, it at least did not seem impossible anymore. Lugia's aid would have certainly doomed them. Then he saw where exactly Lugia was headed, and if Auto still had any natural blood left within him, it would have ran as cold as the steel around him.
Lugia spotted something within the waves ahead that stuck out as odd to him. The waves swirled around something, but it did not look like an ordinary whirlpool. The shape was stagnant and unchanging, like there was a hole in the ocean itself somehow, carved out as if it was stone.
"What is…?"
Auto quickly activated comms. "David, prime all weapons directly up and fire the moment you see anything!"
Recognizing the urgency in his voice, David did not inquire further. "Acknowledged. Men, aim all weapons skyward!"
Lugia lowered himself toward the mysterious hole in the water. It was even more odd up close, seemingly resisting the rocky waves all around it somehow. With confusion, he peered down into the hole, and immediately retracted his head as a wave of thick, white hot shells shot up at him. He snarled, curling back his long neck. Of course they were behind this as well. His head slammed into the water as he dove down, aiming to strike in another way.
"It's diving," Relayed Auto, "Watch your-"
Something caused the Proteus Crownship to rock, severing his connection to David. Orbs of water rose up from the sea, dragging with them more of the ocean to pressurize themselves with.
"Dammit! Our ships weren't built to withstand Kyogre! He should be at the tree!"
The other vessels waited for Auto's order, but whatever had struck his ship now damaged his signal capabilities. On top of that, the drone that produced holograms was offline, likely destroyed by one of the waves. He had little in the way of contacting what remained of his fleet, so he could not even issue an order to act autonomously. This sea would become their grave if he could not change the situation. .
"Master. Please, hurry."
Lugia circled the rift in the sea, gradually lowering himself while evading the streams of shellings aimed at him. He launched a Hyper Beam to test the enemy, and to his annoyance, a barrier emerged to deflect it. The ship at the bottom of the rift focused fire on where the beam had come from, forcing Lugia to narrowly evade. His eyes lit a light cyan, and some of the bullets did as well. They stopped in their tracks and turned back to pelt the ship.
This allowed Lugia to swim down far enough to reach the seafloor, at which point he finally breached the rift behind the ship. Its turrets, as well as dozens of men on the deck, took aim at him. As his eyes lit to stop their intended attack, one of the soldiers nearest to him tore something off of his belt and hurled it in the air.
"Heads down!"
Light burst from the thing he had thrown. Lugia's vision went white, followed swiftly by severe burning. He shrieked and recoiled, giving the soldiers the opportunity they were looking for.
"Open fire!"
Streams of bullets were shot up at Lugia. He growled in annoyance as they pelted his skin, and though they were not powerful enough to cause any true damage, they were unendingly irritating. He brought up his wings to shield against them before flapping them outward, causing a gust of wind strong enough to blow some of the bullets back toward the ship's barrier. Shielded by that barrier, the turrets and soldiers did not cease fire.
Retreating back into the rift's watery wall, Lugia swam around to face the front of the ship from afar, hoping that the distance would give him time to divert their focus and attack elsewhere. From his maw, another Hyper Beam was launched. But that attack did not strike the ship's barrier. It impacted something he couldn't see, sending up a wave of smoke.
"It hit the Sea Temple!" Shouted Captain David.
An ensign on the bridge asked nervously, "D-does it know the temple is there? Is it trying to get in?"
David swiped up his radio urgently. "Ryder, come in."
The armored man in question stood before a colossal stone door. It was decorated with carvings from top to bottom. His team was working on getting it to budge, steadily carving through its center. Near it was a pedestal with some language none of them knew. It was in no Nova Corporation database, so they had little choice other than to solve the situation less methodically.
Pressing two fingers to his helmet, he replied, "This is Ryder. We believe we are near the Sea Crown. All that is left is a large door we are in the midst of breaking through."
"Lugia is approaching your position!"
Ryder knelt forward, listening in more intently to make certain he had heard David's report correctly. "Lugia? David, what is happening above?"
As David watched Lugia fire another attack into the invisible temple, he winced. Although he wished to relay the extent of how desperate the situation above was to Ryder, the Sea Crown was still the most crucial part of the mission.
"The temple is between us and Lugia," He told Ryder. "We cannot land a shot without damaging the integrity of the temple. Furthermore, it is attempting to break through its walls. It could approach your location soon. Secure the crown as quickly as possible."
Ryder turned his gaze up at the colossal door. He would be needed at the Tree of Beginning soon. Although he preferred to save the energy of his blade for then, the crown was too necessary to risk. "Understood," He replied simply, then ended the signal. Making his way closer to the door, he handed off a silver ring to the nearest Black Suit and grasped the hilt of his blade.
"Stand back."
Lugia shot a third Hyper Beam into the odd invisible wall between him and the ship. At last, he heard something break behind the smoke, and upon blowing it away, found a hole in the air itself. "First the sea, now thin air," Mused Lugia, annoyed by the sheer ridiculousness of it all. But when he saw what was inside the hole he had made, he was taken aback.
Walls, floors, and walkways of a shining silver color adorned nearly every inch of what he saw. Drained fountains and dry gardens were about everywhere else. Each walkway led down different hallways, to other areas within the temple. This place was familiar to him. He recalled visiting it centuries ago.
"The Sea Temple? What could they…?" His eyes shot wide. "The crown!" Then, he burst into the temple, swiftly shooting himself through one of the hallways like a bullet. Occasional exits to other areas came and went as he sped through this hall, but he was uninterested in that. Eventually, he came across a large stone door and opened his mouth, an orange orb forming within.
Ryder and the Black Suits' gazes shot up at the sound of an explosion overhead. Lugia emerged from one of the many doors surrounding them. He looked down, and upon seeing all too familiar looking men with large blue crystals in their arms, glowered. That glower only deepened upon seeing a man in black armor drawing his blade.
"Get your hands off of the Sea Crown!"
Orange light swirled into Lugia's maw. Ryder quickly handed off the Soul Dew to the nearest Black Suit. Lightning sparked along the edges of Ryder's blade. Upon swinging it toward Lugia, a curved concentration of electricity was hurled at him. Lugia evaded, bringing his attention solely upon that loathsome armored man.
Ryder dashed away from the crown, and with a fearsome bellow, Lugia followed. The Black Suits watched this for a moment before nodding to one another. The crystals in their arms were, one by one, loaded onto the transport truck. Others latched onto higher areas of the Sea Crown's container to begin prying out the ones beyond their reach.
Narrowly, Ryder evaded a Hyper Beam that sailed past his shoulder. He sped forward, hurling more electric slashes through the air as he closed the distance. Though, even with the elemental advantage, the slashes that were not evaded by Lugia only served to annoy him further. His eyes gleamed blue as he tried to catch Ryder in a Psychic hold. Seeing the change in his enemy's eyes, Ryder coated his blade in wreathes of swirling Dark-Type energy and began to slash the air around himself. Lugia's jaw dropped as his waves of Psychic energy were cut to ribbons by Ryder's blade.
"What?!"
Once the Psychic waves were dealt with, Ryder scoffed up at Lugia mockingly. "Shocked, are we, Failure of the Sea?"
Lugia snarled in annoyance. His eyes glowed once more, but instead of focusing upon Ryder, portions of the walls near him were torn out and flung at him from both sides. He evaded, back, flicking his blade up to send another curved blade of energy between the walls before they closed in. The dark slash cut through the air, and through Lugia's Psychic waves. It narrowly flew past Lugia's head as he moved to dodge, but when he turned back to Ryder, the armored man was speeding toward him like a bullet.
He quickly launched another Hyper Beam. At first, it seemed like he leapt over it to evade, but his blade being at arm's length suggested otherwise. Bringing that blade over his head, he spun up the beam, gathering energy upon the sword as he went. The last occasion this had happened crossed Lugia's mind. Quickly shutting off the beam, he brought back his wing as the metal coating of Steel Wing enveloped it. Without the beam to grind over, Ryder was left without leverage as Lugia's Steel Wing attack batted him away.
"Not this time!"
Ryder was sent sprawling across the floor. He dug his blade into the floor to gradually grind to a halt, but by then, Lugia had already prepared his next attack. With a fearsome bellow that rang through the halls, Lugia let loose an Aeroblast. Innumerable blades of concentrated wind cut through the floor, walls, ceiling and air on their way to their target.
Ryder pried his blade from the ground and stood to face them. Lightning raced along his sword from the hilt to the tip. He stood firm, sheathed his weapon, and when the blades of wind beset upon him, drew his own to retaliate. Lightning clashed with wind rapidly, sending sparks all along the tunnel. Yet each clash of blade against blade pushed Ryder's boots back a little more. He growled beneath his helmet, and resolved himself to continue swinging.
Auto rocked back and forth in his seat, just as his beloved Crownship rocked in the waves. Kyogre's Origin Pulse pelted the shields of the ships like bullets. There was a scream from Ship Two's signal before that signal went silent completely. Its shield failed, and one of the Origin Pulse orbs shot straight through the vessel. It crumpled underneath its own weight, but before it could even sink on its own, a wave covered it for only a brief moment, and it was gone.
That left Auto with only ships Four and Six to back up the Proteus Crownship.
Auto could feel his very nerves itching as they worked busily to deliver orders through the Crownship. "We can't go on like this. At this rate, we'll all be destroyed before the crown is secured."
A comms signal came in from Ship Four's captain. "Is it not possible that Ryder could have already secured it? Our signals do not reach the temple, so there is no way to know for sure."
"No," Replied Auto immediately. "Our signals don't reach inside the temple, but they can reach Captain David. He'd have confirmed it by now if it was secure once Ryder came back out to his ship."
Ship Four's captain protested, "But Lugia has now gotten in their way. They may have used the transport rings we made from Hoopa's data to escape by now."
"He would have reported that by now via the Azathoth Gunship near our master, were that the case."
The captain opened his mouth to reply, but stopped himself. His face wrinkled as he heard that name. "I'm sorry, the what?"
Kyogre's deafening howl sent the waters into another frenzy. Dozens of orbs of water rose up from the sea as he prepared to use Origin Pulse once more. As they fired, Auto had the Crownship's thrusters turn, setting his vessel to shield Ship Four with itself. The Origin Pulse barrage impacted Auto's barrier, to little effect. Ship Four's sparking barrier indicated to him that it would not have survived that barrage.
Auto retaliated with a barrage of his own. He let out several torpedoes from the underside of his ship. An array of missile launchers went off aboard the ship's deck, sending whistling projectiles across the sky toward their target.
Scoffing at this, Kyogre primed several more Origin Pulse orbs above and below water. "Did you honestly believe I wouldn't know these were a distraction for those electric weapons again?"
The orbs scattered across the sky and below the ocean, tearing apart anything they made contact with. All at once, the sky and sea were set alight as the missiles and torpedoes were intercepted and destroyed. Shrapnel rained down around Kyogre, sinking into the dark abyss. And yet, in response to this, Auto merely chuckled at him.
"Who said they needed to be intact to go off?"
Sparking, glittering cores floated within the debris. With no casing to contain them, the electricity began to conduct through the water. Paths of electricity began to bond, finding one another. Each charge that touched sent up more sparks as their energy built up to a greater force. And finally, that force erupted thunderously just underneath Kyogre. The ocean god had no time to react as an explosion as fast as lightning itself completely consumed him in a blinding flash of light.
The captain of Ship Six watched the explosion intently. He reached over with an arm he wished was not trembling to grab the comms radio. "Did we get him?"
A tremor shook the ocean itself to give the captain his answer, knocking everyone not strapped to their position off of their feet on the remaining ships. Following this, a massive bellow from within the explosion that instantly drowned it out. It was more akin to a shockwave than a mere sound. One that dispersed even the electric cloud. Each of the remaining ships' shields groaned in response to the force pressing against them.
"Dammit!" Cried Ship Six's Captain, watching the shield integrity drain. "Reroute all energy to shields!"
His order was belayed by another—one whose voice sent chills down the spines of all who heard it. "ENOUGH!" Bellowed a furious Kyogre, glaring death at what remained of the fleet. "I WILL SEE YOUR BOATS BECOME GRAVES!"
The ocean churned and twisted into shapes the likes never seen before by any aboard the fleet. Even Auto had no words to describe it. A fearsome vortex began to swirl around the sea god as a crystalline shell began to grow from underneath him. It encompassed him fully, becoming a jagged, deep blue orb. And upon that orb was inscribed a single symbol: Alpha.
It burst, letting loose the raging deity inside. Above, the storm surged. Not a second went by that innumerable flashes of lightning did not set the sky alight. Each raindrop that fell became akin to a bullet, pounding away at the shields of the fleet. Kyogre occupied a grand new form. Its size became massive, and the red light that had once occupied its body in patterns had now become some indescribable shade of gold and blue.
Primal Kyogre had appeared.
His presence instantly shifted the sea, causing the spinning vortex of water around him to spread. Parts of the ocean rose to the clouds in colossal pillars that dwarved the ships. The vortex had taken the ships, separating them from one another. They spiraled adrift amidst the swirling waters around Kyogre. Ship Four was swung forcefully against the water and fell in. Around their barrier the water began to bubble, followed by the sound of the groaning of their barrier.
On the ship's bridge, the captain noticed the draining energy of the barrier gauge. "Something's wrong with the water! Fire up the thrusters and get us back on the surface!"
The propellers underneath the ship's rear whirred to life. And yet the ship still continued to sink. It was as if the ocean itself had the ship and its barrier in its grasp.
Amidst a shrill whirring noise, another groan rang out from the barrier. Its generators desperately rerouted power to keep the systems online and whatever was wrong with the water out of the ship. And yet, the shield's integrity gauge only continued to fall until it met zero.
Water filled in the gap between the barrier and the ship almost instantly. Guards on the decks had less than a second to process their demise before it struck. That odd, wrong water flooded the ship, allowing it to more easily pull the ship to pieces and sink into the dark, cold abyss.
The fate of Ship Six was met with less subtlety. Kyogre spat a haphazard Water Pulse its way. That attack, meager for the sea god's primal power, instantly reduced the boat to shrapnel, splitting the waves until it crashed into the ocean surface.
"And now, you sail alone," Rumbled Kyogre, his gleaming eyes trying to peer into the Proteus Crownship. His head tilted past the giant vessel, toward the rift. "Not yet. There is one last insect to drown."
Auto immediately launched a comms signal. "David!" He screamed warningly. "Brace for impact! Get the mission done by any means necessary!"
On Captain David's end, Auto's messages came as little more than occasional nonsense between fits of static. "Auto, I can't read you. There's some heavy interference."
"S-sir!" An Ensign ran up to the captain and saluted nervously, interrupting his call. "Th-the water in the rift is growing unstable!"
David's face wrinkled, unsure if he heard that correctly. "What?"
He and the rest of the bridge crew piled near the front window to peer up at the rift of water that surrounded them. Gasps of uncertainty escaped them as they saw the rift walls no longer gently rotating as it did before, but bubbling out toward them.
This sent the crew into a fit of murmurs as they tried to guess what had happened. One of them, a senior chief officer, suggested, "Perhaps Ryder has already completed his mission, and the rift is beginning to close because he left through the ring? It would have severed the Soul Dew's connection."
"Negative. The rift would have closed by now. Something's wrong."
Sounds of clashing metal and explosions echoed throughout the chamber of the Sea Crown. It was fortunate for them that the battle was elsewhere, but that luck would soon run short.
The last of the crystals making up the Sea Crown were loaded into the transport vehicle. As the doors were slammed shut, the Black Suit responsible dusted off his gloves.
"That about covers it," He said proudly. With his thumb, he flicked a silver ring to the front of the vehicle. It grew in size until it was large enough to be driven through. Giving the truck two slaps, he gave the go-ahead to retreat. "That's mission objective complete, boys. Get moving."
Once the vehicle drove through the ring, it shrank back down to its original size and returned to the Black Suit's hand. One of the soldiers asked, "What about us?" To which the Black Suit jabbed a finger toward the source of the noise reverberating throughout the chamber.
"Our objective is that. We can't let Lugia reach the Tree."
As he and the others began to march toward the sounds of battle, one of the soldiers noticed something amiss about the Soul Dew. "Look, commander!"
The Black Suit stopped in his tracks and, noticing where the soldier pointed, looked down at the Soul Dew canister hanging from his belt. Black spots emerged all over the Soul Dew. It trembled as these spots overtook it, until it was covered completely in that hollow color. Then, it shattered like glass.
Every one of the men who beheld this stood silent, unable to find words. They were unable to look away. Finally, that Black Suit flipped the silver ring in his hand with this thumb and broke the silence.
"All right, men. New plan."
As the Soul Dew perished, the rift in the ocean no longer had any support. The bubbling water closed in on David's ship on all sides. Those within the ship had little time to know of their impending demise before it struck. When the rift closed, the water tore at the vessel's shield until it shattered.
The sound of resounding static from every ship other than his own caused Auto to hang his head. Along with that noise, warning beeps from his offline weapons systems and diminishing shields rang throughout his small control room, and just as well, his head on end.
Before him, the ocean god sat upon the waves as if they were a throne. "ARROGANT LAND DWELLER!" Bellowed the primal Legend. "YOU FOOLISHLY THOUGHT TO CHALLENGE ME IN MY OWN DOMAIN, AND FOR THAT, YOU WILL DROWN!"
Water filled every screen in Auto's control room. At first, he thought the Proteus Crownship was sinking. But as he saw how the water moved, he realized that the sea itself was rising. There was nothing he could do now. His thoughts turned to Ryder and the mission. If the rift had closed, how long would they have before water filled the temple? And what of his master? Was the effort at the tree going well?
It was unfair. Auto, who had been the backbone of the Nova Corporation's technology, was to be killed off by a Pokemon before the new world could be seen? He hadn't even gotten the luxury of seeing the main front at the tree. The weapons he toiled away at creating; he would never live to see them in action.
"Master. End this for us."
With those words, Auto closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. Death at the hands of a beast. It was a mockery of all he had lived for. Yet even as he cursed his fate, he held hope for his master. The war was not over yet. Even if the battle was lost.
There was a pulse. Something akin to a shrill, cold gasp in the air. Overhead, something in the air moved the clouds slightly. As it passed Kyogre, the sea god became very still. His Primal state vanished in an instant, leaving him like a frozen statue with wide eyes.
Just like its master, the ocean became still as well. The pillars of water in the air, and the titanic waves all simply fell onto a flat sea surface. Kyogre's wide eyes were locked onto a location over the horizon. It was as if something in the air had changed. Like the entire world had gone wrong all of a sudden.
A baffled Auto took a moment to collect himself. The fact that he continued to draw breath was something he did not expect. But as he followed Kyogre's wide gaze, the reason why became evident.
"My prayers were answered after all," He mused, failing to contain a laugh dripping with ecstasy. "Master has delivered the first strike on the Tree of Life!"
In the wake of this ecstasy, Auto's calculating mind returned him to his senses. He glanced at Kyogre's stunned, stiff form, then down to his offline weapons systems. The sea god would not be stunned forever, and when his base instincts returned, he would naturally go to defend the tree.
That, Auto simply could not allow. His nerves sent signals through the Crownship's wires all the way to the thrusters. As they fired up, Auto pointed the nose of his mighty vessel toward Kyogre like the tip of a spear. Even if his weapons were offline, there was still plenty of usable ammunition on his ship. Not to mention the fusion generator. All he had to do was deliver these things in one fell swoop.
The thrusters exploded outward, propelling the Proteus Crownship straight at its target. Its sound, and the splash of water the ship's thrusters kicked up, snapped Kyogre out of his trance. His still-wide eyes shot toward the ship, but in his state, he was not fast enough to do a thing about it.
"LONG LIVE MANKIND!"
With that cry from Auto, the ship rammed into Kyogre, earning a pained roar just before that roar was silenced by a more deafening one. He and the Proteus Crownship disappeared in a brilliant glow that shook the sea. In his final moments, Auto smirked, sending his final silent prayers to his master before fire burst through the walls of his room.
A hissing Lugia batted Ryder into the stone roof of the hallway with Steel Wing. He bounced off the cracked ceiling, allowing Lugia to backflip through the air and send Ryder straight back to the ceiling with his tail where he became embedded.
Lugia glowered up at him, drawing energy to his mouth to finish the annoyance once and for all when, all of a sudden, he gasped and staggered backwards. Something in the air changed—it felt so utterly wrong, like it was drained of life itself.
"Ryder, this is the ground team," Rasped his radio inside his helmet. "The Sea Crown is secure and on its way to HQ. The device will be built with the help of that Ultra Beast we picked up." There was an echoing ringing noise. "The Soul Dew is destroyed. I repeat: the Soul Dew is destroyed. Water is filling the Sea Temple rapidly."
That much, Ryder figured out on his own. He could hear the approaching waves dully. The Black Suit on the radio continued, "We've got the ring set to take us to the Azathoth Gunship. Just waiting on you, but we can only hold out for so long."
Ryder pried his head from the stone and looked down upon the stunned Lugia. He noticed something. Upon Lugia's back were blue flaps. But one of them was missing. Gripping his blade, he sat upright and replied, "One moment."
The roof he was embedded in exploded as he propelled himself down. His blade plunged into Lugia's exposed weakness, making him cry out. But before his senses could be returned, Ryder set his blade's element to electric.
Lightning coursed all throughout Lugia's body from the inside out, Ryder's blade acting like an injection needle. Images flashed before Lugia's eyes as the pain of his old injury flared up again. He saw the demon. That monster, Necrozma. He could feel that abomination prying off his scale all over again. That nightmare replayed before his very eyes.
Sounds of raging waters made Ryder glance up. Just in front of him, it rushed through the halls. He pulled out his blade and kicked off of Lugia's back to give him a head start as he rushed back to the Sea Crown chamber.
Unable to find words, Lugia, lost to fury, screeched with such force that the raging waters momentarily stopped just before touching him. His powerful wings slapped the ground, shattering it as he flew off the ground and rocketed toward Ryder.
"Cover me," Ordered Ryder. The moment he entered the Sea Crown chamber, he dug his heels into the ground to spin around and hurl an electric slash through the air. Lugia emerged from the hallway he came from and batted that slash away with his wing.
"Open fire!"
The Black Suit's command sent the other suits and soldiers into action. They fired round after round at Lugia to try and keep him in place, but to little avail. He brushed the bullets off and fired a potent Hyper Beam that shook the air. Taking action, the Black Suits raised their barriers against the beam. It split upon contact, sending smaller beams all across the chamber.
A rumble shook the chamber. Water began spewing into it from every hole in the walls. Though there was a considerably sized bowl in the chamber's structure to be filled before the water would make contact with them, it was filling fast.
"Dammit!" Cursed a Black Suit. "We need to pull back! All men, through the ring now! Ryder-"
"Got it."
Ryder's blade was shrouded in an ominous purple veil. He flicked another slash up at Lugia, and when Lugia tried to bat it away with Steel Wing, the ghostly projectile phased right through his wing and struck his face.
While Lugia shrieked and recoiled, the men all piled into the ring. Lugia shook off the damage and growled down at them, but only spotted a shrinking silver ring where they once were.
"No you don't!" Bellowed the Beast of the Sea. His eyes lit a cyan blue, enveloping the ring in his Psychic hold to prevent it from closing. He crashed down upon the ground in front of it. On the other end, there were cries of shock as two giant silver wings pried the ring open again.
As Lugia's terrifying visage breached the ring, water began flooding into it. He pulled at the ring's edges to force it to widen enough to compensate for his body. And with a fearsome screech, he flew through, leaving the Sea Temple with the echoing sound of his lingering song before water flooded it completely.
Author's Note
Pokextinction Fact of the Day: There were many scrapped ideas regarding Arc 1. One of which was that Necrozma would not have begun his invasion until Ash got every Gym badge and competed in the Pokemon League. In fact, there would have been a point in time where Necrozma would have decided to have a little fun and disguise himself as a random human after taking their life.
By chance, the disguised Necrozma would have encountered and "befriended" Ash before revealing himself to the world after the League, making Ash's personal relationship to him stronger than it ended up being. However, we enjoyed writing scenes with the Legends far more than Ash's scenes at the time. Ironic, given he was the main character. Given the importance the Legends would have had in the war against Necrozma, and how slow the Ash scenes were, we decided to speed things up and just had him announce himself to the world after Sabrina.
Some of you may have picked up by now that a villain pretending to be a friend to Ash was something we ended up using. Yes, this idea was reused for Nova when he used his "Mr. Star" old man persona.
Creator: As someone who is terrified of the ocean and drowning, I got very creative when coming up with ideas about how horrifying it must be to fight the god of the ocean while on a boat. Almost makes you feel bad for the villains, until you realize the Nova Corp guys aren't exactly nice people.
Hydra: Hello again everyone! This chapter was a blast to come up with. I have had this one planned out for 3 years and to finally see it come to life really was something else. It's always an amazing feeling to see your ideas come to fruition especially when you've been waiting for so long.
Guest: "I don't think Serena will die but what a cliffhanger."
Creator: Sorry to leave you hanging. Sad to say that we still have one last detail to write before we return to the Tree of Beginning and find out what happened to her.
Hydra: You'll love the next chapter so don't worry.
SilverWolf1130: "Oh my God… I am just… completely floored…
This really was the most important chapter…
This chapter was absolutely crazy…
Man that first part was brutal… RIP to those Pokémon and Alice…
And The Man has officially broadcasted the "evils" of Pokémon to the world. Oh boy, that's gonna cause some real Chaos.
I went back and read several chapters prior to this and noticed some very interesting things.
In Chapter 38, Ash tells a very interested "Mr. Star" about all of his adventures. And then eight chapters later, the Nova Branch attacked Alto Mare and stole the Soul Dew.
I also noticed "Mr. Star" bring up how those very powerful weapons used on the island were designed for something like Necrozma…. Yet the world only learnt of his existence a few days before the big war happened. So they must've had them ready for awhile…
So I was right that "Mr. Star" was a villain. But I didn't think he was THE Villain… man, this guy really toyed with Ash's mind. This kid's gonna have some serious trust issues after this…
I wanna say I'm impressed with his top tier Emmy award winning acting but I also wanna give him a smack across the face for his treachery and deception.
Welp, Serena's dead. That's gonna set Ash off.
Next chapter… the War officially begins…"
Creator: Thanks again for the awesome review. Ah, you noticed how Mr. Star acted on that night. That was probably one of the most telling details of his true nature. We left dozens of those hints scattered about the story. It's good that you picked up on those.
About those weapons…remember how the Star Foundation "utilized" the remains of Necrozma's ship? Hmm. Yes, poor Ash will never be the same after all of this. Especially after what we have planned. Muhahaha.
Hydra: Chapter 65 has been envisioned for 5 years and in my mind will always be my favorite chapter because of the reveal. Nova is the reason this fic ever became a reality. I always wanted to see what a war purely between man and Pokemon would be like without humanity using Pokemon of their own and I'd say we've accomplished that. Thanks for being so loyal and patient and I promise you these next few chapters have been years in the making.
G: "Good chapter, yet intense too. Well, looks like that the story reached the equivalent of the "Order 66", as this chapter started with other invasion to the Star corporation building. Well, was tragic to see this butchering since the perspective of Alice, as she was helpless to see how the pokemon were brutally killed by the Nova branch soldiers with their new guns, that apparently shoots elemental rounds, to be super effective with the pokemon. Adding that finds the rest of the CEOs killed, only crushed her hopes even more, and even the brief apparition of Mr Star, wasn't a harry reunion...
And as other point, regarding the elemental bullets, as the Nova branch soldiers noted, even if the bullet isn't effective against a pokemon for their types, a bullet is still a bullet, meaning that it will be still lethal for the pokemon. Being honest, perhaps this effectivity of type from the bullets, could be more notable if the Nova Branch soldiers uses them against stronger pokemon, like Tyranitar, Metagross, or pokemon with types capables to phases out physical contact, like Ghost types. But in the case of weaker and more normal pokemon, not normal type necessarily, the elemental bullets can be lethal, regardless the type.
Returning to the story, so finally we saw the continuation of the siege of the Tree of Beginning, well, apparently despite to the will of Ash to fights for the Tree, as Chrisopher Lee pointed, the situation is completely against him and Mew, as basically they are surrounded by the army of Nova Branch, with advanced weapons of the more recent technology, even capable to obstruct and block the psychic powers and aura powers of Mew and Ash, leaving clear that this is a losing battle for our heroes.
And as a notable twist plot, looks like that our suspicious about the possibility that Mr Star was the true mastermind of Nova Branch, were true, as finally the apparently "nice old man", showed his true colors, and even he revealed finally his true name; Nova. Well, this story certainly took a notable twist plot with this events, as now this looks like that will started possibly a new arc, equivalent to the "Order 66".
And this "Order 66" arc could be also related with the progaganda that Nova Corporation were transmitting to the world, that shows the ruthless actions and words of the Legendary pokemons, the brutals and "unprovoked" attacks of the pokemon in Goldenrod city, and even the cruel and indifferents assaults of Genesect, that even she was completely indifferent if some innocent bystander was injured by her attacks, meaning that maybe as result of this propaganda, could start a purge and hunting of the pokemons, just like the Jedi purge orchestrated by Darth Sidious and the Empire in Star Wars.
Also, so apparently the reason of Nova Corporation to seiges the Tree of Beginning was to get a Mew's hair, as even if the Team Rocket has a fossilized hair, Nova Branch needs a fresh DNA of Mew for their plans. Well, i guess that they plans to makes a perfected version of Mewtwo, because even if Mewtwo is a powerful pokemon, his DNA technically isn't perfect. I mean, the DNA gotten from the fossilized hair was likely incomplete, and as result, the Team Rocket need to adds it human DNA, to creates Mewtwo, like the concept of Jurassic park, that the dinosaur DNA in the amber was imcomplete, and the scientists need to adds it DNA of other animals, like repitles and amphibians, to creates the dinosaurs of Jurassic park.
To finishes, i really wonder what happened with Serena after that Nova released the trigger, she is dead, injured, or Nova pointed the weapon to other; like Paul, Riley or even Ash. I wonder, because even if looks like that Serena was killed, perhaps Nova chose to killed other person, like Paul or Riley, after all, Nova was always an enigmatic person, meaning that maybe he could considers to keeps Serena alive, as he could still uses her as bargain chip to keeps Ash under control, to forces him to cooperates or simply keeps him out from their way. And in contrast, if Nova would killed Serena, Ash will be enraged and could certainly started his personal vendetta and revenge against them, something that could implies more problems for Nova Branch. At least that this had as objective, works like a final nail for the public image of the pokemon, to leaves their chosen one like an enraged and mad person, that will showcase a broken psyche and be prone to violence, leaving the pokemon like monsters in the end. Well, we can only waits for the next chapter to learns what happened here.
PS. Was interesting to see the past of Christopher Lee, as was revealed that he is descendant of the king Marcus, well this certainly can explains many things, particulary the notable hatred and scorn of Lee toward Arceus, as since his perspective, Arceus was the root of many problems, adding that to considers that Ash and his friends were sent to the past to fixes the future, i guess that Lee also harbored a personal hatred in the chosen one, as Ash was whom stopped Marcus's plans, saved Arceus and returned the jewel of Life to the god pokemon, making that Lee only can see Ash like other stain in the legacy of his family. Well, this was a truly interesting revelation in the story.
Keep the good job, it is good to see you again."
Creator: Kind of a shame we didn't get the "Order 66" moment in chapter 66. If you think the Nova Corporation was brutal there, just wait until you see them fight with their full arsenal. And poor Alice. I bet she didn't expect this when she signed the job application for a secretary.
You make an excellent observation about the bullets. Their effectiveness is scary to think about, having some lethality regardless of their typing. A bullet wouldn't hurt, say, a Steelix. But if that bullet had the properties of a Fire Type move, who's to say? And if a Dark-Type bullet hits a Fighting-Type, well, even if the element is a bust, there's still a bullet behind it. How will the Pokémon counter this, I wonder? But then again, with Mew there, will they need to?
And speaking of Mew, I wonder if that technology can block her power completely? I mean, this is Mew we're talking about. An equal to Arceus. And Arceus squared up against Necrozma himself.
Imagine how the rest of the world must feel, wondering what in the world is going on as the news suddenly talks about Pokemon attacking people. How will the trainers feel? Will anyone believe this? The news comes from the Star Foundation, and they've never lied before, right? Heh.
There is a secondary threat to Nova's weapon. Remember what happened to Necrozma when he was shot with it? What does that mean for Serena, do you think?
Hydra: The last chapter truly was a spectacle. The culmination of all my careful planning and ideas coming to fruition, now all that's left is to see how it plays out. It's a great feeling knowing there's pretty much no more set up and now it's all about effects and consequences. This next chapter is gonna have you hyped I can promise that.
Creator: Next chapter, a family quarrel will become a bloody war. Who could possibly stop this?
Hydra: Well guys the clock had hit nine which means it's that time again. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the death of Auto. With his passing that officially puts an end to Ryders squad, he stands alone now against a plethora of creatures and people who want him dead. The question is will he be strong enough to fight them all off? Find out next time!
