Location: Tree of Life...where it used to be, anyway.
We had one little hiccup in our plan, but otherwise everything went perfectly! Kind of.
We embedded two Blast Seeds in each boulder, and Jirachi used a little bit of his psychic power to roll them into the clearing. I wasn't there to see this, but from what Eris told me, Nuzleaf sent Yemer over to investigate the boulders. The way the blast seeds were rigged up was they'd detonate once Jirachi fired a quick psychic blast at them, and since we wanted to weaken Nuzleaf and Yveltal, he sat and waited.
Eventually, Yemer went back over and said he couldn't see anything suspicious about them. Nuzleaf was irate and went over to investigate along with the other two Beheeyem. Since we had no way of knowing if Yveltal was gonna bother investigating, Jirachi deemed it good enough and shot the boulders, detonating the seeds.
He successfully knocked 25% of each victim's health off and caused enough of a confusion for Eris to send out a team of illusion Pokémon making a break for the tree from off to the left side. Yveltal spotted them first and took off for them, followed shortly by the other two disoriented Beheeyem. However, Eris, positioned on the far right side of the clearing, made sure she was in Nuzleaf's line of sight and took off into Primeval Forest once he recovered enough to react to her presence. He was still coughing and cussing up a storm by the time he grabbed Yemer and raced after her.
Once Nuzleaf gave chase, Lyra watched as Yveltal and the Beheeyem swiftly defeated the illusion team. She grabbed their attention afterwards to lure them into the Road to Primeval Forest from the opposite side Eris fled into. What Yveltal didn't realize was he was being lured into a Mystery Dungeon where Ampharos, Jirachi, Celebi, Espurr, and a freaking legion of pissed-off wild Pokémon were waiting. And with Lyra over there and both of us within range of the Tree of Life, our harmony scarves resonated with the great tree and evolved us again. Aaaaaand somehow provided a white barrier thing that prevented all Pokémon within range of the tree from getting turned into stone.
At first, our plan involved Lyra joining Eris and I against Nuzleaf and Yemer, but we weren't sure how far the others had to be from us or the tree to still be protected so Lyra went to help them just to be safe.
Yemer was surprised to see me fully evolved, but didn't get a chance to say anything about it since Nuzleaf started yelling the moment he made it to the clearing. One might've expected the same tone Nuzleaf spoke to me and Lyra in from the Prehistoric Ruins (the ruthlessly delighted about our unfortunate circumstances tone, that is), but instead he looked corrupted by some sorta shadowy magic stuff. It engulfed nearly his whole head and made him sway, but enough of his face was uncovered to determine facial expressions and hear his voice.
"You stupid Zoroark! You've been a thorn in my side since the day your egg dropped from your Hells-pawn of a birthparent!"
Woah. Dark Matter wasn't even speaking in Nuzleaf's southern drawl anymore, and his voice was dripping with malice. Eris rose an eyebrow.
"Sounds like someone's just salty I didn't take them up on their deal. Y'know, Kelvin made a lotta folks miserable with his egg-stealing scheme, yet you went for one of the folks trying to make things better. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you did that as a personal slight against me."
So, Eris was offered its deal too? I guess that makes sense. She and Nuzleaf went through similar things. But unlike him, she said no? There's bound to be a story there, but now wasn't the time to focus on that.
"I don't discriminate. I offer my deal to all with enough darkness to accept it. The others must've been smart enough to realize what my true motives were. Guess you were unfortunate enough to befriend the dumb one of your bunch."
Then, he glared at me and...my Arceus...if his face twisted into any more of a disgusted grimace, it'd probably tear Nuzleaf's skin apart. Eugh, I hated that expression. It looked so unnatural and so...so un-Nuzleaf, even post betrayal. If Dark Matter made every being it possessed pull that face around me, there'd be no need for words. I'd perfectly understand the extent of its hatred.
I flinched from the hideousness of the scowl, but after a bit I simply rose an eyebrow at him. Was he gonna say anything, or...?
Hm. I think my lack of mutual scowl-sharing enraged him further because he started insulting me, saying that I could just go fuck myself right off the tallest skyscraper in existence and plummet into a pit of spikes, hopefully hitting every possible platform on the way down.
Yeesh. Alright. So, he hated me enough to make Nuzleaf cuss and add a little extra nastiness to it. I get it, dude. You're no fan of mine.
I told him that if he was angry with my lack of mutual hatred or familiarity typically shared by nemeses, take it out on his little traitor friend next to him. He'd been the one who erased my memories, after all.
As the possessed Nuzleaf spoke, his pupils grew bigger and bigger until his eyes were just black empty voids.
"You have taken on many forms and accepted many names, but you are the same unrelenting force you were centuries ago. You will not win this time. You and I are not meant to clash on this battlefield but make no mistake – we will clash again. You've no doubt noticed the pattern of these things, so you know my words are true. When we meet again, I will pulverize you. I will obliterate you so thoroughly and completely that you will never return."
...
Somehow, I had a hard time believing that. I mean, it clearly didn't "pulverize" me before, so...well, that battle is something to look forward to once we deal with its minions, I guess.
It stopped talking through Nuzleaf, but all that did was make him resort to making pained groans and growling noises as the corruption stuff got stronger. Yemer tried to intervene, saying he couldn't take it anymore and this was far scarier than the Voidlands. He tried to make him stop, but Nuzleaf launched an attack at Yemer and turned him to stone!
What!? Fuck's sake, NO! I knew we were enemies, but still! That was the only reason he turned against us – he didn't wanna go to the Voidlands!
Frustrated and angry, I teamed up with Eris against the possessed Nuzleaf. Finally! The epic clash I've been waiting for ever since his betrayal! It was time to throw down! It was time to show him what I'm made of! It was time to unleash my unbridled fury! It was time to...easily take him out...since it was two fully-evolved Pokémon versus one possessed second evolution Pokémon.
...
Y'know, I expected that fight to be much harder. I mean, granted it was made simple by my plan forcing Dark Matter's forces to separate, but I thought Dark Matter would've powered him up to compensate the lack of backup. But no...no.
When I asked Eris if that battle was as disappointingly easy for her as it was for me, she said we should count ourselves lucky. If Nuzleaf had been in his right mind, his speed and ruthlessness would've floored me. It's a shame we never got into serious battles during our explorations together. Calm and laid-back Nuzleaf going all out in a serious one-on-one fight? Somehow, I can't envision that.
Anyway, after Nuzleaf was defeated, the dark corruption stuff swirled around him like a dark cloud before it snapped like a belt and little yellow sparkles hovered near him. He wasn't swaying or groaning in pain anymore. If anything, he seemed completely...normal.
He looked around and asked where in the world he was and how he got there. For a moment, it seemed as if he recovered himself. Before either of us could say anything, he vanished!
Woah...I suddenly had flashbacks to what Yemer said in the Submerged Cave. "I don't really want to remember the things I did when I was being controlled..."
So, that meant that Nuzleaf, Yveltal, and the other Beheeyem...
I couldn't think about much else because Eris and I suddenly heard...something. Laughing. It didn't sound like any one Pokémon, but rather...multiple Pokémon speaking as one. It was incredibly bizarre.
"All oF cRetIon wilL Be MINE!"
Almost as soon as that message echoed in our heads, the ground started shaking something fierce, and I reverted back into my Chikorita form. Eris said she had a seriously bad feeling about this, scooped me up in her arms, and raced off through the trees and back to the Tree of Life. As soon as we got there, we were horrified by what we saw!
The...the Tree of Life was being…pulled out from the earth and into the sky!
I...no! That...what...what were we supposed to do!?
Lyra and the others appeared on the other side. Lyra said things couldn't end like this, not after we worked so hard to get here! She ran towards the falling rubble and started leaping from rock to rock! Celebi tried teleporting, but the distortions Dark Matter put up were too strong, so instead he and Jirachi flew ahead to boost Lyra up. Naturally, I wasn't about to let her go on her own! I ran after her and used my vines to fling me from rubble to rubble, and eventually from Celebi and Jirachi.
I remember thinking, "Ha! Bunnelby would be so proud if he could see me now!"
Unfortunately, I knew I was too heavy to make it if Lyra was having difficulty, so I used every one of my vines to fling her up as hard as I possibly could. Celebi and Jirachi caught me as I fell back down, but Lyra didn't make it up to the tree! She fell and they couldn't catch her because they caught me, but then! Then!
Eris!
Eris was elegantly leaping from rubble to rubble and caught Lyra! As the two of them started to fall, I caught Eris with one of my vines. Luckily at that point, we weren't far from the ground and not-so-gracefully crashed into Ampharos.
Ah...well, at least nobody was hurt. We picked ourselves back up in time for Dark Matter to make a worldwide declaration, apparently not unlike the one Yveltal made before turning almost everyone to stone.
...
Bruh.
There's no need to go worldwide with your declaration. There's only a handful of Pokémon you haven't targeted yet...probably all on this continent. Just make a continent-wide declaration. Why did it need to be so extravagant?
Ugh. Well anyway, it's uh...message was merely to announce its existence and blame everyone else for what was about to happen. Literally everything that could be negative made up this thing, and it made sure to list off all the things that made it up.
Hm...I won't lie, things were looking rather hopeless. What could we do? Simply watch the end approach? The tree was too far away for any of us to reach...
Then there was a loud-ass roar that surprised us all! We looked up at the tree and saw that the space around it was being distorted! It wasn't flying higher! Apparently, some giant space Pokémon were pushing the tree back with giant energy beams!
Hell yeah! Fuck you, Dark Matter, we got Pokémon literally everywhere! Even in space!
Then! Then there was this voice! It was talking to us from nowhere! It was...it was...
MotherFUCKING ARCEUS!
Holy...I mean...FUCK MAN, it was SO HYPE!
I mean, when does your God talk to you during a horrible crisis!? Don't answer that, I'm sure it happens a lot and I don't want a religious fight to break out anywhere ever. My point is, that's the first time it ever happened to me and OHMYARCEUS IT'S ARCEUS!
Hoo. Okay. Deep breaths. Fangirling time over. Time to focus on what He said. Luckily, I left plenty of space above His message to fill in the rest because you better believe I started writing down His words as soon as He spoke them!
"Bringing together the power of all the Pokémon in this world, we will slow the ascent of the Tree of Life. We will prevent it from reaching the sun. We are using the psychic powers of a certain Pokémon to its fullest. And those who can attack from the sky are doing everything in their power to help. Yet if we get too close...we will all be turned to stone. Ampharos, the same is true for you all. Dark Matter's power is too strong from atop the Tree of Life. Your scarves may have protected you all from your recent battle against Yveltal, but that will not be the case where you are about to go next. Only those in direct contact with the scarves will be protected from Dark Matter's ever-growing power. Irau. And Lyra. As soon as you two are ready, I will transport you to the Tree of Life. You are our final hope. We must depend on you. While we hold the Tree of Life back defeat Dark Matter."
Then Lyra...Ahaha! Her response was so Lyra-like. So pure and simple. She merely said, "We will! Thank you, Arceus!" as if she were talking to...someone besides freaking Arceus!
Ahhh...never change, my Lyra Star.
I was still a little giddy from having gotten a direct freaking message from my literal God, so I only half-heard what the others were saying. Something about Jirachi and Celebi traveled far and wide preparing for battle and getting certain Pokémon to help us while we were in the Voidlands – dude, you don't need to explain who heeded your calls or whatever. Freaking Arceus is gonna teleport Lyra and me to the Tree of Life! ARCEUS! Spell it with me now! A to the R to the C to the E to the U to the S! What's that spell!? Motherfuckin' ARCEUS!
...
Ahem. Okay. I swear it's all out of my system now. Maybe.
Ohhh, wait! Maybe Pokémon like Arceus and the flying-types are why Dark Matter made its broadcast planet-wide. In case any somehow escaped its wrath. Ah, okaaaay. That made sense.
I tuned back in in time for Lyra to declare this our final battle. She admitted she doesn't know yet how we can possibly beat Dark Matter, but this is the chance that everyone worked so hard to give us!
Hell yeah, sister! We can't let it go to waste! We owe them that much!
Eris interrupted our little bonding moment by kneeling next to us. She...her expression was odd. A mix of worry and sad that was trying to disguise itself as happy. Almost like she wanted to see us off with a smile, but...
She can't hide it. She's deathly afraid of sending us up there alone, but she doesn't have a choice. Nobody but Lyra and I can enter that tree without getting turned to stone.
I simply set a vine on her shoulder and gave her a shaky smile of my own. She uttered a sigh and pat both of our heads.
"You two had better come back to us, alright? Alive. I've lost a lotta little family members growing up...I won't tolerate losing two more."
Heh...I wanted to tell her it was kind of beyond our control whether we would survive this or not but being truthful sucks sometimes. I told her that if Lyra doesn't make it back, I'll slap her corpse for her. Lyra shoved me playfully and said she'd slap my corpse twice! With each stubby wing!
Ahaha...no, but seriously, we'll try our best not to die up there. Also, I'll need to stop writing soon so Arceus can teleport us up there. Celebi, Jirachi, and Ampharos started prattling on about their theories and amazement and all that, so I decided to get this squared away while they were distracted. Knowing Lyra, we won't go up until after they've all wished us luck.
Lyra reiterated what Celebi said before. That this would be Lyra's battle to fight. Celebi admitted that he did indeed say that.
"I just...well...I don't know what it is, but...I think you were right."
...
Knowing my Lyra Star like I do? Yeah, I think so too.