As April faded into May, the news reports became more and more common. At first, it was thought to be a freak meteorological event. Soon enough, it became apparent that it was something more.
It had started with a strange sandstorm far south of Orre. Green in color, most thought it was an odd colony of Cottonee or strangely colored Jumpluff. That didn't explain how it seemed to grow over time, nor the blobs that seeped out of the earth to join it.
It had only affected a few backwater towns, so deep in the desert they hadn't known of the existence of others, and as such it wasn't known.
The storm approached the Gulf Stream, and as it did, the Anomaly became more apparent.
It started with the footsteps of a giant it left behind. Then it became the nearby towns managing to take photographs of both the storm and the strange cells it continuously absorbed.
Swellowtail City was wiped off the face of the Earth. Evacuation notices had been sent long prior, of course, but when the people and Pokémon that lived there returned, their city was a flat plane, the buildings seemingly shredded by the wind itself. The footsteps now traced their way across hundreds of miles, in a perfectly focused path.
(In an ironic turn of events, some of the people that lived there would eventually relocate to Lumiose-3, citing that it was much less likely for the UR to let some… thing destroy such a vital location. Blanche was not made aware of this, but Ariel did end up seeing some old friends.)
And the storm continued onwards through the Atlantic Ocean, not caring of the damage it left behind. The footsteps faded, with no one to track them and few willing to try. A mass of green cell-like blobs with a light at its center. In some photos, it shone red. In some reports, it shone blue. In some videos, it shined with both, and much more than that, a light to compete with the sun itself.
The world at large was apathetic, viewing it as a strange storm, which, on its current course, would be dealt with by FLARE. They had destroyed a meteor, hadn't they? They could handle a strange storm, so the reasoning went. Kalosians hesitated to buy in, as those with exceptionally good memories or plain old good luck knew better.
They had seen such a storm the first time the Heavens Shattered.
"The storm's getting closer, Lysandre," Augustine said, hands in his pocket as he stood in the dark office. The lights far beneath the window continued to revolve. "It's going to reach the city sooner rather than later.
"So it is," Lysandre replied, leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped beneath his nose.
"I don't like it," he continued, a dead-eyed stare penetrating through Lysandre. "It's… necessary, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"I don't like this either, Augustine," Lysandre said. "I do not enjoy making these choices, you know that very well."
"You know," Augustine said, lifting his gaze a bit to look at the mural of Yveltal carved in the ceiling, "You tell me a lot about those things I don't remember, that I can't, and that you can."
"Do you not believe me anymore?" Lysandre asked coolly.
"Not that." Augustine shook his head, almost mechanically. "I remember, back during our journey… what was it, three years ago? No, more than that. Huh. We did start rather late, didn't we? We were on a research period at Pokémon Tech, Diantha was running the Gym Challenge and getting into her bigger roles, I hadn't found Aveline yet…"
"Your point?" Lysandre prodded.
"I'm just wondering if you're the same person I knew back then," Augustine said, tracing the red outline with his eyes.
"I don't enjoy what I've become," Lysandre said coldly.
"I know, I know," Augustine said, holding up his hands in surrender. "But… if none of this was ever necessary, would you have changed so little?"
Lysandre was silent.
"Don't hurt them," Augustine said.
"I don't wish to. There is a certain beauty in youth. It's a shame we can't preserve that inner beauty, but to reverse the… tarnishing of this world's beauty-"
"It must be done," Augustine said, interrupting. "I know. Dahlia and Tencent?"
"Have them report to the pipeline. Give them individual instructions and order them to stay put. With the beacon the core serves as, the effects of the Tree and the Cocoon, and the drive to achieve a complete form, it is certain that our control of Zygarde will be established," Lysandre said. "You will explain none of this to the other Rangers. As far as they are concerned, this is another assignment with unfortunate timing."
"Right," Augustine said, before sighing and finally looking down from the ceiling. "This is it?"
"I believe we have had this conversation before," Lysandre said. "If all goes well, then yes. If it does not, have the Rangers on standby. Finish training of the new Ranger. Do not allow them to evacuate with the rest of the citizens." The order hadn't yet been made from the regional weather service, but most knew it was coming soon enough. "It will likely do nothing, but we will not be remembered as cowards."
Augustine's head tilted to the side, accompanied by an odd look in his eye. "From what you've told me… will they remember us at all?"
A storm continued brewing in the skies above Lumiose-3. Hundreds of thousands of tiny specs of green rotated like a hurricane, the eye nearly directly above the tip of Prism Tower. The little light of the afternoon sun that broke through glared at them as if reflected by rubies and sapphires. A shadow was cast upon the city, and though it was not total darkness, the shade was oppressive enough.
The sirens for evacuation and sheltering kept blaring, though they sounded far away as they drummed into Blanche's ears. The city around them was still. Entire apartment blocks were pitch black, boutiques were closed, café windows were shuttered and boarded up.
Around him, six of the other FLARE Rangers were gathered. Serena and Shauna stood together with Ariel close nearby. Gin, Ash, and Salem (Meowstic in tow) stood in their own trio, though they worriedly watched the sky like Blanche, who stood between all of them.
Chespin's presence gave him little, but more than zero comfort. Somewhere behind him, he knew Plusle and Minun were, but the lack of the near constant dialogue between the two (Or, more accurately, Plusle squeaking at Minun) was disconcerting.
A pit hollowed itself out in his stomach, and he felt it wouldn't be going away any time soon. He didn't like the color of the cells, though he couldn't explain why they had such a sickly pallor. He didn't like how Rosa and Tencent were spirited away for a special mission without so much as a word of mention beforehand. And he certainly didn't like the taste of the air. It was like ozone was pouring into his lungs with every breath, and though the adage states that lightning never strikes twice…
"Mobilize Prism Tower," said the voice of someone he had only met once. Lysandre had never actively aided a field operation before, why was he suddenly starting? "Prepare for reception."
Like the city itself had been built on gears, the paved pathway beneath him began clicking and churning. A section of the plaza around the tower sunk downwards, then out of sight entirely. So did another, and then another, until the foundation beneath Prism Tower became clear to see.
"What the hell?" Blanche breathed.
"Do not interfere, Amaranth. This city was built for this purpose." Lysandre didn't bother with pleasantries, simply stating such and leaving no room for questioning. "None of you will move."
Rods shot out of the tower's joints, each of its four corners hissing with air. With a massive screech of metal, from its top to its base, the tower split. Each of the four corners descended sideways, grinding slowly along until their interiors opened to the sky. Shadows fell across them and the surrounding apartment blocks.
The storm in the sky seemingly sharpened, the eye descending and the cyclone of cells stretching downwards along with it.
"This is it?" Augustine asked. "Zygarde?"
"It is." On Blanche's interface, the orange-haired man took a deep breath. "Aveline, if you would not mind playing Beethoven's Ode an die Freude. I believe it is… appropriate."
"Um, alright, sir," she said, showing her confusion before rapidly typing on the keyboard. A deep bass note struck like a gong through the interface, reverberating through Blanche's ears.
As the storm descended, more and more of the light shone through, reflecting and refracting across the city, illuminating Blanche with a thousand spotlights. He took a step back.
As rapid notes began shimmering in his mind, the light seemed to crack. Cells exploded into light, reflecting more and more of what was inside.
It wasn't the sunlight, Blanche realized, but a bright core at the eye of the storm. Like a sun or something unknowable, unseeable, it burned with a nearly white light. Through that light, a core within the core became visible, if just barely. A speck that was either red or blue, changing every time he blinked.
It continued moving downwards as the music faded into some sort of chanting, almost divine in and of itself.
Blanche felt as if he was viewing the hand of God.
The core tapped against the foundation of Prism Tower.
"Yes. Yes!" Lysandre said, his eyes burning as he focused further.
A spark ignited around it, popping from a circular band at its base, sticking out above. Arcs of electricity began flowing, the lighting a deep red, linking into itself like it were a chain.
"Yes! That power!" Lysandre reared back like a Pyroar. "Give it to us! We are your successors! We will bring them all back!"
The arcs of lightning continued hopping between each other, beginning to strike higher and high into the cells of the storm. The core began condensing, the light seemingly bound by the machine the tower contained.
The crackling of electricity suddenly stopped. The core withdrew, floating back into the air.
"What?" Lysandre said, his brow furrowing.
The storm withdrew as if pulled by a muscle. It was fast, almost faster than he could process. It condensed, all of it, the cells, the air, the sky, everything. A sphere of green and white formed, and black lashes began snapping off of it.
"That… that's not Zygarde. The bait, did it not…" Lysandre trailed off.
The core exploded in a flash of light, the lashes flying free and back into the air.
Blanche faced up, his body tensing automatically. Chespin jumped from his shoulder and moved behind him. A pressure seeped into his helmet, flooding his ears.
Facing down at them was a golem. A scaled monstrosity of sickly green armor, black tendrils, and a crowned head with no face.
"A fake? No… an imperfect clone!" Lysandre said. "Destroy it! Destroy it at any cost! It must not be allowed to breach the pipeline!"
The music in his ears reached its peak as the chanting became rapid and high-pitched.
The false Zygarde dropped towards the tower and the earth quaked.
The metal paneling shook around them, from the floor beneath their feet to the highest reaches of the hole they were trapped in. The revolving blue and red lights shuddered and seemed to lose their balance, if only for a moment.
Tencent whimpered. The deep pipeline beneath Lumiose-3, beneath FLARE; it was unnerving and dark.
Rosa wrapped her arms around the dog-like Zygarde's neck, kneeling next to it in the center of the deep pit.
"It's gonna be okay," she whispered, rubbing his scales, "We're all gonna be just fine."
The air around Blanche exploded, buffeting him with tiny particles and scraps of metal. The sky above them was blotted out even further and choked by dust. Almost immediately after, a cone split around them.
Serena's arms were raised as the earth solidified in the air around them, forming a sort of dirt wall. Protective bubbles sprung up around them as Meowstic's eyes glowed, its arms moving in sync with Salem's.
The cross-sections of Prism Tower crashed to the ground, breaking apart into plumes of concrete. Cracks ran along the paved plaza beneath their feet, and Blanche fell to his knees as the tremors grew stronger.
The false Zygarde towered above them, standing at the peak of the wreckage. Wire and rubbles were beneath its feet. The dust settled from the air around it, revealing a cyclone of clouds that remained in the sky, thinly blocking out the fading daylight. It was taller than all of them combined, and the pressure it emitted was monstrous.
Blanche managed to stop kneeling and pushed himself to his feet. He quickly wiped his visor free of dust, before holding his hands aloft. His mind ran with possibilities.
Zygarde? Tencent? No, Tencent's with Rosa. Where are they? Isn't this the one hundred percent form?
His mind shifted gears almost instantaneously.
Zygarde is a Dragon and Ground-type, meaning the BURST was ineffective, unless… a Railgun. Deploy that, definitely. BOOST is out, speeding up won't help. The STAB is channeled electricity, so no. The STRIKE will save my ass for sure. The SLASH? Will that do much?
Black tendrils began flowing out of Zygarde's body, the hexagons stretching out into sharp, cone-like tentacles.
"STRIKE!"
He dove to the side, holding up his arm as it was engulfed with light. Scales bounced off of fading-in metal as the tentacle struck right where his chest had been moments ago.
He didn't have to call for them to move, for they had already scattered. Gin appeared in front of him moments later, his limbs steeped in hazy dark aura, before he punched the tentacle away. Aural Shells bounced off of its main body as a Stone Edge shot towards it. Rubble levitated into the air and was thrown, and the crackling of electricity echoed behind him.
The tentacle snapped to the side, before slamming back and striking Gin across the chest, throwing him from his feet and across the concrete.
A wall of flame erupted in front of them, obscuring Blanche's vision though he heard the hissing reaction along with the roar.
Blanche pushed himself up and ran over the Gin. The Dark-type Esper rolled onto his arms, coughing.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about- Back!"
Blanche stumbled away as another tendril shot towards him from his left, narrowly missing him. He slammed the STRIKE down on it, and the thrusters burned. The tentacle was pinned beneath it as the shield continued accelerating. With a sickening squelch, the scales cracked, and the length that had gone past him broke down into black and yellow cells, floating into the air before they dissolved.
"The hell?" Blanche swore, looking back at the main body. Shauna dodged in the air around it as electricity coiled around her and she shot off another piece of metal. It sank into Zygarde's scales as if it were putty, before it was absorbed entirely and the hole closed over.
More tendrils came from down low, but the fires began roaring around its body, pushing them back before they could make contact. Ariel's fingers were tented in front of her face, and she was clearly struggling to stay focused.
It sounded as if a cannon had shot off as a rocket sped across the destroyed plaza. The shape was odd, almost like that off a fist, but it was swatted away by an further-reaching tendril like it was nothing.
"Unfortunate," a new voice called, not coming through the headset.
Blanche looked back, and rather than letting his jaw drop, he smiled almost manically.
A robot covered in silver and white metal, skirted and bulky like a Golurk, though it was built more of sharp processed metal than semi-organic stone. The lights across its body flashed as the pilot continued, "I had assumed that would have more effect."
"Hey, babe!" Gin called.
"Gin," Whitley responded. "I hope it is not too late to help. This machine is… the best I can do."
"It's more than enough!" Gin yelled back, nearly whooping.
He hopped up, running off to strike down another tendril as it shot towards the metal Golurk, nearly in sync with Ash, who had drawn a second Doublade, one which gleamed bright red.
"It's not just her," someone else, someone more masculine, called. There was a flash of karate robes as something crashed from a building's roof onto another tendril, slamming it down into the concrete and severing it instantly. Multiple things, in fact.
"I told you we should have come here earlier," Lenore sighed as she appeared in a wispy smoke from thin air. "We wouldn't need to be so dramatic." She turned towards Blanche, flicking her face-covering shawl over her shoulder. "Hope we didn't miss too much of the fighting."
LaRusso reoriented himself, wiping his brow as Sawk and Throh set to punching and grappling with Zygarde's tendrils. "I think we could have done worse."
A smile broke onto Blanche's face, though it was a thin one. "No, you're just in time."
Serena raised a cover of rocks around Ariel, creating a shield from the sides as she moved forward. Another Stone Edge shot off towards Zygarde, picking up speed before it was torn to gravel by a flurry of tendrils.
Blanche lowered his shield and shifted his stance. With another call, a cylindrical canon appeared loosely in his hands.
"Geranium, I need ammo. Six-inch diameter, ferromagnetic metals," he demanded, before adding, "Need to fuel the big freakin' gun."
"Right." From so far of a distance, he couldn't tell if she had nodded for sure, as she was running along the wall of the building at that moment, but seconds later a dinky, rounded clump of metal bounced towards him. The sounds were inaudible as the tower's wreckage raised into the air before being crumpled downwards by an invisible force and onto the Zygarde.
Every bit of the wreckage, from wiring to paneling to flooring, was torn to shreds as it fell too close.
Plusle and Minun rushed behind Salem as she bounded forward, her and her Meowstic raising an I-beam and throwing it towards Zygarde.
Slowly, but as if put through a wood chipper, that was destroyed as well, metal filaments and shaving flying into the air around it like steam.
"Rue! Gun!"
Shauna dodged back in the air, away from one more tendril. The trail of electricity she had gathered from the city around her followed, some dissipating as it flowed through Zygarde's tentacles.
She stumbled to a stop beside him as she touched down.
"Hey," he said, vaguely gesturing with the BURST. His voice was digitized even in his own hearing, meaning that LADY wasn't transmitting it.
"Hey," she sighed, taking a few rapid breaths. "How much electricity?"
Blanche held up the metal clump, rolled it with his wrist, before sticking it in the business end of the cannon.
"What's the quote… no amount of electricity will ever be enough, but let's start with "Yes.""
She snorted and shook her head. "You're so stupid…"
Regardless, electricity began flowing into the receptacle on his shoulder. In the corner of his vision, the meter quickly began charging for it.
"Hey, that just means you have poor taste," he said, smiling beneath his visor and hefting up the BURST further. "We'll shoot it through the heart, if it has one. It's… not a normal Zygarde."
"As opposed to?" she asked, lining her own vision up with the Gear's sights and wrapping an arm around the cylinder.
"I know a lot of things I have no business knowing." He sounded a bit smug when he said that, so he added, "Don't worry about it."
She sighed. "Idiot."
He smiled and clicked the trigger. The approaching sunset turned into the brightest daybreak.
In unison, they called, "BURST!"
Like a line drive, the heap of scrap metal exploded forward, pushed by and leading a pillar of electricity towards Zygarde. The air dissolved around the beam, piercing straight through the deafening pressure.
Zygarde held out one of its arms, and like a meteor had struck it, a wave radiated from its claws. The crack echoed throughout the city as the electricity diffused entirely and the shot was stopped in its tracks.
Tiny green scales shimmered in the air around it, flowing around it like air currents.
Everyone froze as they were struck by a Thousand Waves.
BaLaNcE.
And the earth shook once again, as the rubble was torn from the ground around it and a wave of sheer aura pounded across the battlefield at the center of Lumiose-3. Hexagons constructed of aura flowed up in a radial blast.
Serena's latest Stone Edge was broken into gravel as she was pushed back. Ash was held up by his Doublade through the buffeting. Gin was thrown from his feet entirely along with Russ and his Pokémon. Lenore crouched low, her shawl wildly whipping around her face. Ariel's earthen shield was destroyed entirely, though a sphere of fire appeared around her and shielded her from the wind.
Blanche was nearly thrown from his feet, before the STRIKE's thrusters burned like they never had before and it pushed itself in front of him and stayed there. He grabbed Shauna's arm to keep her from flying off and she kept a tight grip.
Beneath Zygarde's hooked feet, the world began crumpling downwards as the rubble was blown further and further away from it.
Blnche's eyes widened, and despite all the wind, despite the pressure, despite what would likely happen to him, he took a step forward.
Through the muffling winds, Shauna had to yell, "What are you doing?"
"Lysandre, what will happen if "breaches the pipeline?"" he shouted into helmet, his own words vibrating through his skull.
"It isn't your job to know-"
"Just-" Blanche's swears were blistered by the wind, "Tell me, old man, I don't have time for this!"
"The world as we know it will come to an end," Lysandre said slowly, as if each syllable was acid down his throat.
"Of course it will," Blanche spat, taking another step forward. "It's never anything in-between anymore, it's always petty bullshit or the end of the," his profanity was lost on the wind again, "World."
The ground cracked again ahead of him.
"It'll be straight down into the abyss, naturally, because I haven't seen enough of it," he snarked to himself, his glare intensifying.
A rock struck him across the forehead, shattering the protective outer visor but not breaking the helmet. The waves grew more intense, ripping up the ground around him.
A pressure tightened around his chest, like a rope pulling him back, before he felt something impact his back.
"What?"
"Ches, chespin!" it cried, trying to climb up his back as he forced his way forward.
"Well, I'm glad to have you," he struggled out as he pushed through the wind. The thrusters burned so bright that he felt the spandex around his neck slowly begin to melt.
As rocks began scraping across his limbs, tearing open scars long since closed, he smiled. Not from the pain, but in spite of it, to make it clear to himself that he wouldn't accept the pain as a reason to stop.
A tendril lanced out against him, striking straight through the shield's edge like it was paper. It struck at his chest, but no further as it met another tendril, one that glowed white. Almost as if it were a whip.
A shape as wide as it was tall swung out from behind him, nearly making him lose his balance. It stood on the shield, stood against the wind, and lashed out with a Vine Whip against the next tendril, forcing it back as it maintained its glow of evolution.
"Quilladin?" Blanche asked, still pushing forward.
"Quil," it responded as the glow faded. As the next tendril came and tore its Vine Whip in half, it quickly created another despite its sharp cry of pain.
"I owe you one, then," he grunted. "MissingNo, if you can hear me, if you're around, I might need some help."
The air rushing through his helmet didn't answer.
"Fine, then."
In the same motion, he threw the STRIKE away and tightly wrapped an arm around Quilladin.
"BOOST!"
His vision faded for a moment, and his hand shot to his helmet to turn the dial before it appeared.
A tendril cut across the side of his torso, between his ribs and his pelvis. Metal, spandex, even some flesh was torn away by the black tentacle.
Through the nausea and the sudden imbalance, it was a miracle he stayed on his feet.
The world slowed down around him as the foundations of Prism Tower finally shattered, and Zygarde began falling down into a dark abyss.
And Blanche, not a second after replacing his foot, shot forward with the hiss of sparks beneath him. Quilladin's vines wrapped around his arm, practically tying the spiny Pokémon around his arm.
He leapt out over the chasm and over the falling rocks towards Zygarde and whipped out with Quillladin, swinging over his head.
They fell further as Quilladin's spines dug into Zygarde's back, and melded into the black scales. Blanche pulled himself along the vine, shooting past Zygarde's body and into the rubble broken beneath its feet.
The pit beneath was dark. At its center, oh so far away, there were two specks, but revolving blue and red lights seemed to bound up the walls.
Faster. I need to be faster. Faster!
He kicked off of another rush of rocks and pushed through another wave of scales. Heat cascaded against his body as his dove further in, past the debris. One foot of lead seemed like so much, then nothing as he saw Zygarde continuing to descend.
I need to be faster!
He whipped around with Quilladin, checking that it was in one piece before swinging it back up like a mace. Air hardened around it like glass, it dug into Zygarde's torso and hardened, latching in.
Blanche pulled himself in, overshooting before pulling himself tight against its chest. He looked into the red and blue scales deep in its chest, then at its empty face. Tendrils began seeping out of its scales. Blanche's glare tightened and a grim smile forced itself onto his face.
"Could really use that help right now!" he yelled at the air.
Once again, it didn't answer.
Tendrils tried to wrap around Quilladin and absorb it, pulling it further into the scaly mass.
Blanche planted his feet and kicked off, the blood rushing to his head before he reoriented himself.
The air became a hazy purple as Draco Meteors struck the debris and Zygarde's body, pounding against it and pushing it back, ever so slightly.
But they continued falling, and Tencent's efforts became token ones.
The lights below him grew closer, that much he could see in his periphery. His battery flickered with sparks as it sputtered.
"No, no!"
The white glow died out entirely, slowly fading to a sparkling gray tone.
Time stopped slowing down and the tendrils accelerated towards him. In the corners of his vision, green cells floated up from below him with a slow, agonized scream.
Blanche shut his eyes tight, bracing for his last few moments.
"Please…"
Static roared in his ears.
For a split second, it seemed as if the world around him froze entirely. Rocks stopped falling, the cells stopped absorbing into Zygarde's body, he felt entirely weightless.
It was like a surge of ice water as his blood turned to lava, overpowering and burning through his nerves.
The air whispered the words in his ears, nearly silent as if they were lost on the winds of a midsummer night.
"I… am the drill of their souls. Gilded metal is my body, faded aura is my blood. I've gone through hell to preserve the path that leads towards tomorrow. I might never be safe, but I'll ensure the safety of others. And so… I pray."
AIAM FIELD PATTERN: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.
Designation: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.
FLARE Designation: ERROR. MISSING NUMBER.
Clemont's hand was already on the button, frozen and immobile as everything else. A blur of static wrapped around it and pushed it down.
One day, he'd swear that he'd seen a skull with beady red eyes looming over his shoulder.
Ten wings of energy exploded from his back, clawing their way into the crackling air around him, before they folded in front of him and spiraled together, forming a cone around his outstretched arm.
Blanche heard the final words through the static, and in sync with a symphony of unknown voices, he finished the aria of the soul.
"Unlimited Drill Works."
The world unfroze, and just as fast as he'd fallen, even faster, he'd exploded upwards. Nitrogen and oxygen became a myth in the space behind him as the drill pierced Zygarde's torso and threw it skyward. Wind screamed in his ears as he ascended with the false god, pouring everything he had into the drill. He knew it wouldn't affect anything. He didn't have aura, he didn't have the natural power, but somehow he couldn't force himself to care. It was power, and he could use it, therefore he would.
Lumiose-3 was left beneath them as he ripped through the skyline, going further and passing even the clouds.
To Blanche's left, there was the sun, setting and turning the horizon orange around it. To his right, there was the moon, full in shape and bringing with it the cool, blue night.
His helmet broke down around him and his eyes met the blank face of the false Legendary.
"If you can understand me… I really am sorry that it had to be this way."
A tendril slashed across his face and chest, drawing blood and a cry from him. It threw him back down as it descended back to earth, it's body swelling back into the hole that he had created.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Blanche murmured, falling back with not even his Battery to protect him.
He didn't need it. He fell back towards the Earth, Zygarde not far above him, and something pushed him to the side, a flash of yellow. The pit beneath them swelled up with earth like a spiral.
Half into unconsciousness, the blood from his cheek dripping into his mouth, he barely made out the words that followed.
"You will not hurt them," Serena said, stepping up to the Legendary as its tendrils re-emerged. Blanche's vision was hazy, but he could have sworn that rocks and rubbles were flowing around her like a sandstorm. "You are not one of our gods. You do not balance Earth and Heaven. Nothing else will. I've learned… that the Heavens are what you make of them." Serena's hands shot forward, along with a Stone Edge. "Because, when you push yourself, they become…" The pillar sharpened and shot straight through the regenerating scales, moving through the torso entirely. "A place on EARTH!"
Zygarde began dissolving into clumps of cells. The sickly black base, whatever it was, dissolved into heaps of mush, while the hundreds of green cells scattered to the wind.
Not a single one of them attempted to move down into the rubble.
Blanche looked up at Shauna and didn't bother trying to logic out how she was carrying him. He slurred out his words, bubbles appearing at his lips, and he asked, "Did we win?"
"Yeah." She laid him down on the ground, shifting his head sideways so he wouldn't choke. "We won, Blondie."
He fought to look back up at the sky, though he suddenly felt so… weak. Like he was feeling hundreds of years of age that weren't his.
"I don't think we've won like this before… Tencent…"
In a deep, dark pit, between two revolving lights, Rosa pulled Quilladin, the closest thing that resembled a companion, close to herself, and she cried.
Storm clouds rolled back in as the disturbance dissipated. For forty days and forty nights, there would be rain.
The sun set on Lumiose-3.
AN:
I'm tired as shit, guys, I'll be honest. I'm a bit behind on the next chapter (I like to keep a buffer) but I should be able to catch up and get it out on time. I think I did pretty well on my ACT, but I don't get my scores back for a while.
In terms of the story… I mean, I'm good technically, right? I appreciate all the reviews, but shit, they're emotionally draining to read. I'm not going to delete them, because that wouldn't fix the story's problems.
The major thing I'm compelled to address is the fandom choice. This could have been a Magical Index fic, but aside from the interesting baseline of the series, I don't like it all that much. The lore is cool, but I can't really get into light novels or their adaptations. This fic could not have come to be without Pokémon, and it wouldn't be the same without it. Pokémon is all about friendship, and its world, though violent, does have the potential for some incredible compassion.
Not to get on my soapbox, but I think apathy is one of the worst afflictions a person can suffer. I can't elaborate on that idea's relevance to the story because of spoilers, but I'm trying to make the story about accepting all the good that comes in life, even if it comes with a hell of a lot of pain. It's better than feeling nothing, and it's better than running away. That's why I call it an Evangelion knock-off, even as a joke; because I want to carry some of the themes over, but with a lot more friendship talk. Pokémon happens to be a very good vehicle for friendship talk, considering it's a metaphysical force. I believe (even naively so) that even if living hurts, the people that care about you will continue to care about you, no matter what, and that's what makes it worth it.
But hey, I'm just some schlock on the internet. Have a good week, everyone.
