I'm surprised no one called me out on the fact that the last preview was a Mother 3 quote, not necessarily a "the fic's about to end," quote. Ain't I a stinker? Anyway, onto the chapter!
Chapter 83: Defying the Legends
~Lively Town~
Dragonite clumsily hobbled along the stone bridge marking Lively Town's main entrance. Scant amounts of sunlight glistened on the rocks, but it was all dwarfed by the luminescent glow of the domed, green barrier in front of her. Inside, Pokémon tried their best to go about their business. A Snubbull and Granbull flipped over a sign on the door to their bakery to signify they were open. Mail Pelippers flew inside the bright-blue post office building. Two Lillipups ran down the street with their exasperated Herdier father giving chase.
Manaphy's short, stubby legs — if Dragonite could even call them that — cramped up with each step. Her temporary body was clearly built for water. And she had quickly grown annoyed with Manaphy's antennae bonking the back of her head as she walked. Dragonite considered putting Manaphy's water powers to use to try hovering in the air, but ruled against it. She was in the body of a lesser god. Keeping a low profile was best.
Dragonite took a deep breath. She couldn't hesitate. Slowing up as she approached the barrier wasn't an option. Other people might pick up on such hesitation and scrutinize it. Then her mission would be in trouble before it had really started. Dragonite proceeded forward, steeling her resolve. The barrier's energy tickled her membranous form the closer she got. A ripple ran through her system. Dragonite held her breath, worrying the barrier would reject her.
However, the tingling faded, as did the green light. Dragonite had safely passed through the barrier, just as Zero assumed she would. She proceeded down the main street, adjusting the satchel and explorer's badge Zero had given her. They were fakes, of course, but Zero had styled them after the badges in the Grass Continent. She was confident nobody would know the difference.
Town square only had a single Kecleon tending to his caravan-style shop. Dragonite tucked her head in and picked up her pace. She moved north. A yellow-brick road led the way up to the Expedition Society's gaudy, overly-colorful building. Dragonite frowned, however, when she noticed the door was closed, with no identifiable handles to open it up.
Sighing, Dragonite approached the door and knocked on it with a flipper. She prayed whatever sad sap answered the door was someone she could talk her way around. Dragonite stepped back as the door creaked open, revealing Delphox. He looked down and his eyes widened.
"Hey. You're—" He paused, brow furrowing. "Wait, it's Manaphy, right?"
"Yup, that's me. Did I come at a bad time?" Dragonite said, trying her best to put up a cheerful façade.
Delphox frowned. "You've had all of us worried sick! Cresselia and Darkrai showed up telling us that you had vanished into thin air! What happened to you?"
Dragonite silently swore. She hadn't realized Manaphy had company. She'd need to work around this. "Oh… that." Her antennae drooped. "I'm sorry. That's my fault. I saw some ocean-dwelling Pokémon under attack and swam out to help them. It took a lot longer than I was expecting. When I returned to Sharpedo Bluff, nobody was there!" She looked down guiltily. "It was so quiet in Treasure Town and I was nervous… I just wanted to see everyone so they'd know I was okay."
"You know you could've used the communicators Jirachi gave to Chatot, right?" Delphox said, sighing.
"I wanted to see my dads," Dragonite whimpered.
"Well, the important thing is that you're safe. Come on inside," Delphox said. He opened the door wider to allow Dragonite to waddle in, then shut it behind her. Dragonite examined the main assembly area, noting the desks piled high with papers and parchment filled to the brim with furious scribbling.
"Excuse the mess. As I'm sure you know, we're all under a lot of stress," Delphox explained, beckoning Dragonite to follow him to the right. There was a hallway lined by lavender walls with bright yellow stone at their bases. They passed by a few doorways with white arches, before arriving at one with the Expedition Society's logo etched into it.
"Chief? It's Delphox. I've got Manaphy here," Delphox said, knocking against the side of the arch. A crash echoed into the hallway, making Dragonite raise a brow.
"I'll be out in just a second!" a cheerful voice called. Dragonite assumed it belonged to Ampharos. Another pair of crashes followed.
"For pity's sake, Chief! I just finished organizing those," a squeakier female voice groaned.
"Terribly sorry, Dedenne. I must've gotten turned around," Ampharos chuckled.
"Ugh, just follow me, Chief," Dedenne said, sighing loudly. Dragonite backed up behind Delphox. Ampharos and Dedenne walked out of the office. Mawile and Meganium were behind them.
"Ah. So, Manaphy has graced us with his presence. Splendid! I guess this means Latios' venture was successful," Ampharos declared, raising an arm triumphantly.
"Actually, Manaphy showed up on his own. Apparently, he rescued some drowning 'mons, but it took a while," Delphox explained.
Ampharos lowered his arm. "I see. In that case, we'd better recall Latios or else he'll be racing around the Grass Continent forever. Dedenne, would you do the honors?"
"Of course, Chief. Standby." Dedenne rubbed her cheek sacs. Electricity tickled the tips of her whiskers. Dragonite shuffled back unsteadily, not wanting to accidentally get electrocuted. "Huh, that's odd. I'm not picking up Latios' signal," Dedenne said after a minute of silence.
"Perhaps he's moving too fast for us to contact him? Despite all his testing, I don't think Jirachi figured out how to make the gadget work when Mega Latios flies at top speeds," Mawile said. "Give it a few minutes and try him again, okay?"
"All right," Dedenne said.
Meganium fixed a worried look on Delphox. "Uh, Meganium's wondering if Latios might be in trouble," Delphox announced, right paw pressed against his forehead. He held up his Expedition Gadget. "She wants to check the Pokémon Nexus and see if it shows us anything." Meganium nodded along as Delphox spoke.
Dragonite tensed up. She couldn't afford to get pulled into a situation involving Latios. Manaphy's Heart Swap was only temporary and she shuddered to think what would happen if it ran out while she was still inside Lively Town's barrier. "Um, not to interrupt or anything, but I just want to find my dads. Does anyone know where they are?"
"Why, I think they're upstairs tending to the Time Gears. Yes, don't let us hold you up. I'm sure your dads are very worried about you," Ampharos said.
"Thanks, Mr. Ampharos," Dragonite said, struggling to hide her glee at how perfectly this had worked out. As she dashed away from the group, however, her jubilant mood soured. Team Poképals was guarding the Time Gears and there could be others around, too. How was she supposed to swipe them without causing a scene? Sure, she had Manaphy's powers at her disposal, but could that hold off multiple Pokémon?
Her answer became clearer once she got upstairs. She was in a large study, with a few round tables shoved against the wall. There was a big bookcase to her left. It was overflowing, to the point where books spilled out onto the floor. To her right, Jirachi manned a telescope. In between them sat a giant ball of light and, within the ball, Dragonite faintly made out the four Time Gears.
"Manaphy? Oh, thank gods, you're okay!"
Feraligatr lumbered toward Dragonite. She yelped as he plucked her off the ground and wrapped her up in a big hug. "C-Can't… breathe," she wheezed, struggling in Feraligatr's grip.
"For pity's sake, Feraligatr, put him down before you squish him."
Infernape walked up to Feraligatr, who lowered Dragonite to the ground. She doubled over, trying to catch her breath. In the process, she caught sight of Uxie and Azelf, both hovering close to the ball of light housing the Time Gears. Dragonite frowned. Two seasoned explorers and three gods all in the same room? Not to mention the possibility of Cresselia and Darkrai lurking nearby.
Luckily, Zero had foreseen the prospect of the Time Gears being well-guarded. Dragonite simply needed to get Team Poképals to focus their attention elsewhere. Then, she could reach safely into her bag and deploy one of the orbs Zero had given her.
"Cresselia and Darkrai came here saying you had disappeared, Manaphy. What happened? I thought Feraligatr and I made it clear you had to stay in the team base," Infernape said, his expression stoic but his voice tinged with concern.
"I know. I'm sorry. But there were distressed 'mons out at sea. I saw them drowning, so I had to leap into action!" Dragonite said, hopping up and down as she spoke. "I swam out to help them, but it took much longer than I was expecting it to and left me very tired." She poked her flippers together. "I guess Cresselia and Darkrai had already left, because I went to sleep, but no one was around when I woke up. So, I rode the Lapras Liner over here as fast as I could."
Infernape raised a skeptical brow and Dragonite momentarily wondered if he had found a fault in her story. Feraligatr glanced at his partner. "You doing all right?" he asked.
"Yeah." Sighing, Infernape knelt down and put a hand on Dragonite's shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay, Manaphy. Please don't worry Feraligatr and me like that again."
"I won't! Now that I'm here, I'll do whatever you tell me too, Dad," Dragonite said, earning a wince from Infernape and a chuckle from Feraligatr.
"Well, glad that's settled. Hey, did you tell Cresselia and Darkrai you were here?" Feraligatr asked. Dragonite shook her head. "Aww, that's no problem, I'll go find 'em." Feraligatr smiled at Dragonite and walked out of the room.
Infernape stood back up and turned to face the Time Gears. Dragonite cautiously took a step back, pivoting to hide her satchel from Infernape. "So, uh, those are all the Time Gears the bad guys don't have, right?" she said.
"Correct. Uxie, Azelf, Feraligatr, and I brought them here together," Infernape explained.
"Um, does that mean that time's frozen in parts of the Grass Continent… like last time?" Dragonite asked, trying her best to make small talk while not losing her nerve. Her gut squirmed and her feet momentarily tingled. Dragonite wondered if the Heart Swap was wearing off. She silently opened the flap of her bag and reached inside. Her flipper grazed the smooth, round, glassy body of an orb.
"If what Latias said is true, then Dialga is making sure time flows correctly despite the Time Gears being here," Infernape said. "Uxie and Azelf have both been keeping constant watch on them, to be safe."
"That's good," Dragonite said, her flipper rapped around the orb. In one quick, fluid motion, she removed the orb and tossed it to the ground. It shattered. By the time Uxie and Azelf had turned around, the orb had taken effect. They both dropped to the ground, fast asleep. Jirachi slumped down onto a chair. Infernape dropped to his knees, then lay down on his belly.
The barrier holding the Time Gears faded. Dragonite figured Uxie and Azelf were responsible for maintaining it. Dragonite tiptoed forward and snagged the Time Gears before they hit the ground. She pocketed them in her satchel. Dragonite glanced at the stairs, but dismissed the notion of using them. It'd be too risky to go down the main route. Instead, she lumbered toward the telescope. Dragonite barely managed to squeeze herself through an opening between the telescope and the wall.
She dropped onto a light-blue tower at the top of the castle-like building. Dragonite knew the front of the building had windows, so she walked to the side. The drop off was steep, but she believed her squishy body could deal with the impact. To better her chances, Dragonite slowly slid herself over the edge, moistening her flippers and feet with tiny globs of water. She pressed her limbs against the building's wall and the friction slowed what would have been a rapid fall down two stories.
Unfortunately, her decision had the unintended side effect of making loud, squeaking noises as she slid. Dragonite pushed off the wall and dropped the rest of the way. She shuddered from the impact, but rolled forward and got back to her feet. Dragonite ran as fast as Manaphy's tiny feet could carry her. She stayed clear of the main roads, opting to go behind the buildings.
Dragonite whizzed past Café Connection, her small stature keeping her safe from the open windows and potential prying eyes of customers. She focused her attention ahead of her. Dragonite's breath came in rapid gasps. Her gut cramped and her flippers grew heavy. There was little doubt in her mind that Manaphy's Heart Swap was wearing off. She had to get close enough to Zero to complete the handoff.
Her antennae twitched. Dragonite juked to her right. A black, spherical void raced by her. She looked over her shoulder. Darkrai flew toward her, shadows gathering in his hands.
"I don't know what kind of trick this is, but I'll be taking back those Time Gears," Darkrai growled. He hurled Dark Voids toward Dragonite. She blasted them apart with two well-placed spurts of water. Darkrai wasn't deterred, however. He floated closer, drawing on more dark energy.
Dragonite's stomach knotted up. She had to keep moving. Dragonite whipped her antennae forward. An icy stream pelted Darkrai, freezing his arms. His levitation faltered. Dragonite turned and sprinted away. There was no sense trying to stay off the main path now. She cut in between a curio shop and a pink boutique. Dragonite stumbled onto the main road, shoving a startled Krokorok aside. She waddled forward as fast as she could.
"Stop! Get back here, thief!"
Dragonite recognized Infernape's voice. She spun around, blasting a scalding water jet in his direction. Infernape skidded to a halt, then leaped over the attack. Dragonite had nearly reached the bridge. Infernape was much faster, however. He charged Dragonite down, lightning coating his fists.
Right before Dragonite could turn to counterattack, a gleam caught the corner of her eye. She put a flipper on the ground. Dragonite cartwheeled to her left. To her utter delight, Darkrai's burst of red energy struck the lunging Infernape. He careened into the brown door of a brick house. Dragonite shot another Ice Beam from her antennae. Darkrai countered with a pitch-black Dark Pulse. They stalemated in an explosive burst of shadowy frost.
Dragonite dashed onto the bridge, but a burst of water struck her from behind. She spun forward, wincing in pain.
"Dang it, Feraligatr. We're trying to stop him, not give him a bigger lead! You're gonna knock him into the water if you keep that up," Infernape shouted. Dragonite's antennae perked up. She vaulted over the edge of the bridge.
"No, stop!" Feraligatr barked. He looked behind him, praying Darkrai would launch psychic waves to restrain Dragonite. However, Darkrai was still dazed from his earlier blow. "Infernape, head across the bridge. I'll swim after him!" Feraligatr said. He sprinted to the edge of town and dove in the direction where Dragonite had surfaced.
She hastily swam forward, making her way through the barrier the second Feraligatr splashed down. Dragonite caught a glimpse of Infernape dashing across the bridge. Luckily, she had greater maneuverability now that she was in the water. Dragonite dove down, then quickly U-turned. She launched herself skyward. Dragonite blasted scalding water toward the bridge. Infernape tried punching through it with an electrified fist, but he couldn't generate enough lightning to protect himself.
Dragonite reached a steep slope of land opposite Lively Town. Behind her, Feraligatr summoned a wave. Dragonite launched herself skyward with a high-pressured Hydro Pump. The moment she landed in a patch of grass, she seized up. Her chest constricted and her antennae knotted up. Dragonite gasped as her world went white.
The Heart Swap had faded.
Dragonite's vision recovered, offering her a view of her armored limbs. Zero and her teammates stood next to her. The former's lone eye flickered purple. "Where are the Time Gears?" she said.
"Manaphy's got them. He's on that strip of land across the water from Lively Town, but Team Poképals are in hot pursuit," Dragonite said. She lightning-dashed out of the forest.
"Nnrgh. I will not have things fall apart right at this crucial moment," Zero hissed, her fists flickering with distorted red light. With a burst of Extreme Speed, she raced after Dragonite. "Hurry up, you two!" she shouted, prompting Milotic and Serperior to slither after her as fast as they could.
Dragonite reached the spot where Manaphy had collapsed right as Feralgatr used a plume of water to shoot himself up. "Lightning Javelin!" she cried, hurling an electric spear forward. Feraligatr leaped over it. He slashed at Dragonite with glowing blue claws, but she met him with Dragon Claws of her own. Her strength prevailed. Dragonite forced Feraligatr to the ground.
"Behind you, Dragonite!" Zero called. Infernape was quicker on the draw, however, slamming a glowing fist into Dragonite's armored belly. She floated back, wings flapping rapidly.
"Try this on for size!" Dragonite said. She smacked her fists together, releasing a giant twister crackling with blue and yellow energy. Infernape's face blanched. The tornado picked him and Feraligatr up. It hurtled them into each other repeatedly. Zero nabbed the Time Gears while returning Manaphy to his Beast Ball.
"I've got the Time Gears. Now, let's get out of—"
Zero's aura dreadlocks tensed. She turned and hurled a red Aura Sphere through the air. It fizzled out against Darkrai's shadowy shield. He grabbed it and kneaded the shadows like they were blackened putty. "You must be part of this accursed Prism Virus phenomenon. Rest assured, I will do everything I can to put a stop to you," he declared. Darkrai hurtled two Dark Voids toward Zero. She twirled her staff, forming two clumps of glitchy, red cubes. The cubes exploded into red and black vortexes that effortlessly sucked the Dark Voids up.
Undeterred, Darkrai shot a black beam at Zero. She raised her staff and the vortexes expanded, blocking the attack. Zero launched a red Aura Sphere and dispelled the cubes. Darkrai lacked the time to shield himself. It exploded, knocking him toward the water.
Zero held her scepter up. It morphed into the scythe resembling Absol's horn. She slashed the air repeatedly. Green, horn-shaped energy bursts sailed toward Darkrai. He pointed his arms down. The recoil from the Psychic he unleashed propelled him safely above Zero's Megahorn barrage. Still upside-down, Darkrai gathered a large red energy ball in his hands. He hurled the Focus Blast toward Zero.
Swearing, Zero twirled the scythe in her paws. She whipped up a polar vortex, catching the Focus Blast in its place, freezing it solid, and pushing the giant ice ball back toward Darkrai.
"Nngh— impossible!" he gasped, trying to conjure up the energy to use Psychic. Unfortunately, all he could manage was a few pink sparks. Darkrai had to resort to strafing the ice ball.
"Consume!" Zero shouted, taking advantage of the opening. She fired a red and black beam from her scepter. It hit Darkrai's right arm. His colors peeled off as he looked on in horror. The last of his energy faded an instant before his hollow, gray body smacked the water. Zero took in Darkrai's life energy, her body violently distorting.
Milotic and Serperior finally caught up and exchanged glances. "Oh. Looks like you two settled everything," Serperior said, glancing to her left. Feraligatr and Infernape lay in an unconscious heap. Electrical burns peppered their bodies. Dragonite floated over them. She raised an arm to summon a lightning javelin.
"Now, for the finisher," she said.
"Halt, Dragonite," Zero said, raising her free paw. Two corrupted Beast Balls appeared from distorted ripples in the air. "I can put these two to use. I'll have Team Poképals and Team Paradise under my command." She flicked her paw. The Beast Balls hit Infernape and Feraligatr. They sucked them up, dropped to the ground, and clicked shut. Zero levitated the Beast Balls back to her.
"Excellent. And with that, we take our le—"
The ground erupted in a violent quake. Zero, Milotic, and Serperior all jumped back in alarm as a fissure split the hill apart. The part they had been standing on dislodged and slipped down into the water. Large waves rolled in Lively Town's direction.
"What's going on? Is Groudon about to pop out and attack us?" Serperior gasped, planting her tail-blade into the dirt to keep her anchored.
"No. It's something better," Dragonite whispered, grinning. The tremor abruptly stopped and a wave of white light raced up from the water. It passed harmlessly over Zero and Team Captivate, but it didn't take long for any of them realize something had gone horribly wrong.
"Look at the water. It's completely frozen!" Milotic gasped, pointing her tail forward.
"Yeah. The ground stopped sliding away, too," Serperior said, slithering back. She looked toward Dragonite and Milotic with a smirk on her face. "Everything's coming to a standstill, wouldn't you say?"
Zero's eye darted about. The world's colors evaporated all around her. Nearby trees and bushes lost their leaves. Only barren bundles of twigs remained. The slight breeze from the ocean had disappeared. Even the waves and ripples in the water were frozen in place.
"The planet's… paralysis," Zero whispered. Her eye sparked with purple aura. "No… no!" She clenched her paws into fists. They flickered about, seemingly detaching from her body. "Temporal Tower… Necky got to Temporal Tower? How?! Did Necky get an Hourglass? Did he get both?"
She turned toward Team Captivate. Before any of the girls could offer an answer, Zero summoned their Beast Balls and recalled them. She glared down at the balls as they shook in midair. "You didn't think I senses the shift in your auras, ladies?" she hissed. "I had a bad feeling when Dragonite popped up different from how I intended to her look, but you three listened to me, so I thought maybe I had messed things up. But it looks like the interference was all Necky's doing!"
Zero pressed down on the right side of her mask. "Well, if Necky's gotten to Temporal Tower, then that must mean there's no barrier around it anymore." She waved her free paw and Team Captivate's Beast Balls disappeared in clusters of black cubes. "I'll deal with you deceitful worms later. For now…" Manaphy's Beast Ball materialized in front of her. "I've got a bat to get out of my belfry."
Her body grossly distorted. A black Ultra Wormhole appeared in front of Zero. She grabbed Manaphy's Beast Ball and leaped into the portal.
~Temporal Tower~
Dialga stomped about the Temporal Pinnacle, glaring out at the thick yellow clouds covering the Hidden Land. Mewtwo hadn't returned. With all the power he claimed to have, eliminating some dungeon Pokémon should've been mere child's play. And yet, here Dialga was, standing alone atop his domain. Ordinarily, that wouldn't bother him. It's what he preferred. However, Mewtwo's absence had unsettled him and that feeling grew with each passing minute.
Had he simply left? No, that should've been impossible. Lapras can't be summoned on this side of the Sea of Time. Dialga knew he was the only way Mewtwo could leave the Hidden Land. He supposed he could try to sense Mewtwo's presence using the dungeon's ley lines. But that idea risked ruining whatever work Mewtwo had done to settle things down.
Dialga lashed his tail out at the air. "Worthless cretin! I agree to bring you to my domain and you have the nerve to mock me like this? I am the keeper of time! I—"
A ripple ran through the air in front of Dialga. He froze. His steel fins fanned out, glimmering with blue hexagons. A second ripple spread through the sky. This time, his barrier appeared. Cracks splintered through the golden energy capsule encircling Temporal Tower.
"No… that's impossible!" Dialga shouted. The blue hexagons raced up to his mouth. Dialga roared. Tachyons spread through the air, twisting the barrier and seemingly freezing the cracks in place. Dialga hunched down close to the ground and concentrated. A blue transmutation circle formed, with Dialga in its center. He traced an hourglass-like glyph and then sliced a line through it.
Dialga pressed a forehoof to the sigil. His brow furrowed, however, when the sigil didn't alight. He glanced up at his barrier. The tachyons had dissipated and cracks were spreading even further. Dialga gathered more temporal energy. However, it didn't form up fast enough. The barrier shattered like a broken piece of pottery. Dialga staggered back as primal energy dissipated into thin air.
"I've finally got you! Heeheeheehee!"
An Ultra Wormhole split the sky open. Lugia flew out of it first, releasing a purple Shadow Blast vortex. Dialga's eyes widened. He had no choice but to utter a second Roar of Time. His blue hexagons snuffed out Lugia's shadows, but left Dialga defenseless. A shadowy cloud formed into Necrozma. He took aim not at Dialga, but at one of the pillars standing near Temporal Pinnacle's altar. A silhouette of Keldeo formed over Necrozma's head, then red energy blades raced toward the pillar.
"No!" Dialga shouted, lunging into the air. The Secret Sword crescents peppered his left flank. He winced, but held his ground.
"What's the matter, Dialga? Afraid of your new houseguest messing things up?" Necrozma crooned. He glanced up at Lugia. "What are you waiting for, an invitation? Put your powers to good use! Attack him! Knock him into the altar!"
Lugia screeched. Pink flames streamed from his eyes. He smacked his wings together. A powerful psychic grip grabbed Dialga. He couldn't even get his mouth to open. Necrozma turned to the same pillar as before. Fiery-purple meteors appeared by his wings.
"That's far enough, you dreadful monstrosity!"
Necrozma's third eye flashed. He disappeared in a puff of smoke seconds before the space he occupied distorted in a twisted vortex of blue energy. Necrozma reappeared, only for a black, ethereal blur to strike him and send him reeling.
"Yeah! Nobody messes with my bestest big brother except for me!" Giratina declared, spreading his ectoplasmic wings wide as Palkia flew up beside him, shoulder gems sparkling with energy. "Oh, and Darkrai that one time, but Dia doesn't like it when I talk about that. It's kind of a sore subject."
"Quiet, Giratina. We're not here to talk, we're here to bury this unruly corrupter of space!" Palkia snarled. He whirled around. His Spacial Rend vortex ensnared Lugia and exploded. Dialga regained free movement and blasted Lugia with a metallic energy beam. Necrozma teleported behind Lugia and yanked him out of his freefall. Soft moonlight spread across both of them, healing their nicks.
"You! No, you two shouldn't be here!" Necrozma hissed, wings and arms tensing.
"I am the god of space itself! You didn't think I wouldn't sense the destruction of Temporal Tower's barrier? I could sniff out your vile portals even if I was sitting in a room full of Grimers!" Palkia declared, pointing a claw at Necrozma. "They're a blight upon the beautiful fabric of space that I weave."
"But Pal-Pal, you don't have any nostrils. Dad didn't give us any," Giratina said, grinning broadly.
"Be. Quiet. Giratina," Palkia growled. "This is not the time for your dumb jokes! You want to stop the meanie who's out to hurt your 'bestest big brother,' right?"
"Oh… yeah! Right." Giratina turned to Necrozma, clearing his throat. "I'm going to tear you to shreds and then use those shreds to make a papier mâché heart to give to Dia!"
Necrozma floated back. His eyes flashed. He folded his wings over his torso. "I did not come this far for three drooling imbeciles to ruin everything. Naganadels, get them!" He tore open an Ultra Wormhole, summoning a half dozen wasp-like creatures with large silver needles protruding from their ends. They formed into a square. Blue, dragon-shaped bolts cut through the air.
Giratina unleashed his own Dragon Pulse. Dialga shot liquid metal from his mouth. They destroyed four of the Naganadels' Dragon Pulses. Palkia then slashed at the air. A pink vortex swallowed the remaining two attacks.
Palkia's shoulder crystals glowed. His wings fanned out. Two small portals appeared behind Necrozma and Lugia. They had enough time to turn around before their allies' attacks slammed into their faces. "Nrrrgeeek!" Necrozma snarled, backing away from the godly dragons. "That's… not possible!"
"You should have thought twice before daring to challenge us! I'll turn each of your attacks back on you before you even know it!" Palkia bellowed.
Necrozma's third eye wriggled inside his prism armor. "All of you… go for the tower! I'll deal with our phallic-headed friend,"he said, black smoke trickling out of his mouth. Necrozma disappeared in a flash of light. Lugia's eyes smoldered with green energy and he vanished in a puff of smoke, too.
The Naganadels took aim at Dialga and Giratina and fired Dragon Pulses from their stingers. Liquid metal and purple Shadow Balls raced to meet them. Before Palkia could divert the attacks with more of his portals, Necrozma flew out of a black tear in the sky. Palkia coiled around, shooting a mouthful of water at Necrozma. He broke off his charge to skirt the Hydro Pump. Necrozma hurtled flaming meteors toward Palkia.
Palkia smirked, shoulder crystals glowing. Necrozma's chest sigil flashed and a black, shadowy portal swallowed the meteors. Palkia's smirk vanished. A second black portal appeared behind him. Palkia whirled around, barely catching the meteors in a jagged, blue Spacial Rend vortex. Necrozma drifted back, then threw open a third black portal. He caught the meteors Palkia threw back at him. Palkia coated his tail in water. He swatted the meteors away before they could strike Temporal Tower.
"Heeheeheehee! Something wrong, oh mighty god of space? Of course. You're upset you're not the only one who can think with portals," Necrozma crooned. Black mist swirled around his three eyes. Dark portals surrounded Palkia.
"What the—" Palkia crossed his arms together. A water bubble formed around him. Black fists shot out of the portals. They struck the bubble and popped it. Palkia raced forward. He tore open the air to his right. A second tear appeared beside Necrozma, who teleported away to dodge the blue Dragon Pulse beam.
"Aiyyyaaah!"
A startled yelp drew both Palkia's and Necrozma's attentions. Back by the tower, a pillar of shadows had swallowed up Giratina. Two hollow, bright-green eyes stared down at Dialga, who was too preoccupied hurtling glowing rocks and debris at the Dragon Pulse volley raining down on him.
"What have you done to Lugia, you twisted demon?" Palkia barked. Shadows sheathed his right hand as he ripped open a tear in space and swiped at Necrozma.
"I've made him something better," Necrozma said, propelling himself back with a psychic blast. Palkia withdrew his arm with an annoyed grunt. He glanced over his shoulder. Lugia had blasted Giratina with psychic waves, forcing Dialga into the air to stop his younger brother from crashing into Temporal Tower. The Naganadels seized their opening, tearing into Dialga with a half-dozen serpentine lasers.
"Dialga! Giratina! Get down on the tower's roof!" Palkia cried. His eyes flashed blue. Tears in space encircled Necrozma. Explosions filled with blue hexagons battered him from all sides. Palkia turned around, confident he'd sent Necrozma reeling. He tossed more Spacial Rend portals at the Naganadels like they were cosmic frisbees. Lugia dispersed into a cloud of shadows to dodge, but the Naganadels didn't realize there was any approach danger. The rends merged into one giant, buzz-saw of a portal.
"We're on the roof, Pal-Pal! What's next?" Giratina said.
"This!" Palkia roared. His eyes and gems glowed orange. An unseen force grabbed the Nagandels and hurled them into the portal. The massive rend shredded them into a cloud of pink and purple mist. Lugia materialized and plummeted from the sky with an enraged squawk. Likewise, a screeching Necrozma careened toward the yellow clouds below.
"Oh, I get it! Gravity!" Giratina said, legs trembling as he fought to stay standing. "Thi-this game's fun P-Pal-Pal! But how long do we have to, urk, keep playing it?"
"Until we've felled this demon and purged him from our world!" Palkia declared. "Dialga, strike while he's vulnerable!"
Dialga fought against the increased gravity to unleash a mighty roar. Tachyons pummeled Lugia and Necrozma from every angle. Cracks spread through both their prism armor sets. Arms spasming, Necrozma threw open an Ultra Wormhole and fell into it. He appeared directly atop Palkia. The sudden slam brought an end to Palkia's gravity manipulation. Necrozma whipped his arms around, tearing into Palkia's shoulder crystals with his shadowy claws. The gems shattered. Palkia's screams echoed through the sky.
Atop Temporal Tower's roof, Giratina stiffened. His red eyes narrowed. He leaped into a black portal, then immediately appeared beside Necrozma. "Do not…" He slammed Necrozma with his wings. "Hurt…" Giratina hammered Necrozma's face with his tail. "My brother!" He unleashed a bevy of bright-purple meteors, battering Necrozma and knocking him back through the sky. Giratina shot through the air. He caught Palkia on his back and charged back toward Temporal Tower.
A shrill cry echoed from below. Giratina screeched to a halt inches away from a purple tornado. He launched spectral tendrils from his wings to slice through the gale-force winds, but the tornado turned them aside. Lugia appeared within the whirlpool. Pink energy exploded all around Giratina. Palkia tumbled off his back. Giratina scrambled to collect his disoriented brother. Lugia summoned a giant whirlpool and hurled it toward Temporal Tower.
Dialga leaped into the air and hovered in place. "I will not let this tower fall again! Nobody disrupts the flow of time on my watch!" he snarled. His chest plate's central gem turned yellow. Glowing runes shaped like lightning bolts surrounded him. Diagla raised his forelegs. Ripples of light enveloped the whirlpool. Water transformed into blue electricity before a flabbergasted Lugia's eyes.
He frantically flapped his wings. Lugia tried to push the lightning toward Dialga, but found his control of the storm seized from him. Dialga turned the electricity on Lugia, frying him from head to tail. Wings badly singed, he plummeted once again. Lugia thrashed his limbs, his distorted squawks echoing throughout the sky.
"Thanks for the backup, Dia," Giratina said, setting Palkia down on the room.
Dialga glanced down at his brothers. "How fares Palkia?" he said, scanning the sky for any signs of Necrozma. Dialga used a Flash Cannon to keep pressure up on Lugia, who stopped his attempts at healing and turned into a cloud of shadows.
"Not good. He's really shaken. That meanie-head did something to his cores," Giratina said. He tapped one of Palkia's shoulder crystals with a wing. Palkia spasmed. A garbled cry of pain escaped his lips.
"B-Back off. I'm… fine. I can still… go on…" Palkia lumbered to his feet, only to drop to one knee, wings convulsing. "Nrrrgh… damn that accursed monstrosity. I'll make him… pay for this!"
The tower trembled. Dialga's fins fanned out in alarm. He raced over the altar to find Necrozma flinging meteors at the tower's back wall. Dialga split the sky with dragon-shaped energy. Necrozma's meteors blew. He tumbled through the air, clawing at his armored face with his wings. Dialga tensed up. Necrozma steadied himself, but continued to claw away at his prism armor.
Dialga gathered blue hexagons between his fins. He was prepared to unleash his Roar of Time when Necrozma abruptly stopped struggling. His chest sigil and third eye vanished. Necrozma's red eyes turned yellow.
"Please… make it stop."
Dialga's tachyons faltered. He took a step backward in midair, raising a brow. Necrozma had spoken, but his voice was much lighter and softer. Was this some sort of trick?
"Dialga, please. I'm begging you," Necrozma rasped, locking eyes with his opponent. "Make it stop. F-Finish me. I don't— I can't… control…"
Necrozma hunched over and screamed. Shadows swirled around his prism armor. His chest sigil and third eye returned, the latter writhing about until the red glow had returned to his other eyes. "YoU HAd yOuR ChAnCE… yOUR wIlL is MInE! YoU SuRRenDErED To tHE VoID… AcCePT yOUr DeCISioN!" Necrozma shouted. He whipped his right arm in Dialga's direction. Four glowing circles formed, bearing winged-heart sigils. They gave way to Ultra Wormholes.
Dialga hastily gathered up his temporal energy. However, small white blurs sliced into his limbs before he attacked. Dialga reared up, growling in displeasure. He caught the white blurs in the corners of his vision, but they were too fast to keep up with.
"Shred him to ribbons, my Kartanas!" Necrozma hissed. He teleported away in a puff of black smoke, leaving Dialga floating there, head darting about as he tried to keep up with the tiny, white, paper-like stars speeding all around him.
Necrozma reappeared in front of the Temporal Pinnacle, where Giratina's Dragon Pulse and Lugia's Shadow Blast had stalemated in a blue, blinding explosion. Giratina stood protectively in front of Palkia. Necrozma summoned four Shadow Balls. With a telekinetic burst, he launched them toward Giratina. Palkia lifted up an arm. A purple Spacial Rend portal blew the Shadow Balls apart.
"Nnrrgh! WhAt PEsTs YoU Are!" Necrozma snarled. He violently coughed up a black cloud and grabbed it. The cloud took the form of Hoopa and its hollow eyes flashed pink. Black portals surrounded Giratina and Plakia. Giant fists shot out from each one. Eyes widening, Palkia tried to divert the attack with portals of his own. However, he couldn't stand up to the barrage. The spectral fists pummeled him into the ground.
"No! Pal-P— augh!"
A whirlpool from Lugia silenced Giratina's cries. Necrozma followed up by teleporting next to Giratina and smashing his face into the nearest pillar repeatedly. The pillar held up, even as Necrozma's slams grew more frenzied. "ComE On! WhY! WoN'T! YoU! BreAk?!" He let go of Giratina, who slumped to the ground beside Palkia.
Lugia heard a frenzied roar from behind the tower and darted toward Dialga, leaving his master alone with the other two dragons.
Necrozma's arms trembled. Black liquid bubbled up from the cracks in his prism armor. "No! No! I'vE CoME TOO fAR tO FaIL! I wIlL nOt bE DEniED! CoNSuME!" He dropped down on Giratina, sinking his fangs in the god's spine. Necrozma sucked out Giratina's spirit, leaving a crystallized corpse behind. He wiped colorful juices from his lips, then whirled on Palkia. Necrozma lunged onto him with a primal fury, sinking his claws into Palka's neck and draining him of his spirit and colors.
Screeching, Necrozma shot into the air. Giratina's and Palkia's life energy burned brightly inside his prism armor. Necrozma's eyes and sigil sparkled with rainbow light as he drew from the last remaining bits of the Dusk Hourglass' power.
An agonized roar drew his attention. Below him, the Kartanas burst apart in tiny confetti-like explosions. A high-pressure, shadowy-purple vortex struck Dialga's chest and blew him right through Temporal Tower's altar. He rolled to a stop by his brothers' remains. Dialga caught sight of Palkia's lifeless body and bolted to his feet. Then his gaze fell upon the ruined altar and he hunched over.
"No! I can't… I can't… lose control… again," Dialga wheezed. His chest gem flickered a darker shade of red. A mix of red and orange flashed across the gray lines peppering his scales. He looked through the rubble toward Lugia. Tachyons phased in and out around his fins.
Necrozma's lips twisted into a crooked smile. "Heehee… heeheeheehee! It's time to bury this worthless hunk of rock. Kneel before the power of the void and be consumed! Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom!"
Shadows swirled around Necrozma. A purple, reptilian eye split them apart. Six glowing sigils gave rise to six purple crystals, each resembling a full moon. The crystals spawned giant purple lasers, then pivoted so the lasers coalesced into one enormous, blinding beam. Lugia flew back, squawking in terror.
Dialga paused his thrashing to look up. The dismayed expression on his face was momentary. Necrozma's laser engulfed him and the entirety of Temporal Tower. No screams rang out, but the sky filled with a thunderous cacophony of explosions as the beam tore straight through the middle of the tower. Forty successive waves of purple light and debris spilled out; one for each floor of the tower.
Necrozma continued pumping energy into the attack until the beam reached the tower's base. A chain reaction carried the explosions down across the jagged rocks floating in midair. Soon, bright-orange flashes engulfed the Hidden Lands. The ruins were obliterated in an instant. The blasts incinerated each and every tree. Fissures split the floating islands apart. They remained hovering for a half-minute before plummeting from the sky. The remnants of the once-holy realm rained down upon the ocean below, kicking up massive waves that traveled several yards before abruptly freezing in place.
"Hee… heehee… heeheeheehee! YeS! ThE ToWEr Has FAlLeN! ThE StaGE iS SeT To ReTUrN ThIS wORld to ThE VoiD!" Necrozma declared, watching as a wall of white spread out from the Hidden Land's ruins, purging all color from the ocean around it as it went. Lugia wearily flew beside Necrozma, struggling to catch his breath. "Come, Lugia. Let us go collect the spoils of our victory," Necrozma said, licking his lips as he dove down toward the surface.
Already, changes were happening. Pitch-black, thorny ley line chains wriggled about amidst the destroyed dungeons. They dug themselves into pieces of debris, stitching them into grotesque land formations. Purple acid seeped out across the frozen water, releasing black vapors that drifted into the now-darkened sky.
Necrozma identified the remnants of Temporal Tower on the edge of the crash site. Even there, ley line chains randomly lashed out at the rubble floating in midair. Free of Dialga's control, they grabbed onto any piece of debris they could find. Necrozma didn't care about what the unrestrained ley lines intended to do. He was only interested in Dialga. And he found the god's smoldering body in the middle of an impact crater.
Before Necrozma could reach him, however, Dialga's eyes shot open. The markings across his body faintly glowed with a lava-like red coloration. His blue scales and metal armor darkened, along with the gem in his chest plate. Dialga lumbered to his feet, legs trembling and metal fins either dented or torn from his back.
"Grr… rrr…" Dialga thumped his bloody tail against the ground. He tilted his head skyward. "Grrroooaah!" Dialga roared. Above Necrozma a black vortex formed in the sky, with a red eye in its center.
"Now, now, let's not got ourselves carried away here. The planet's paralysis is so last decade," Necrozma crooned, tongue drooping out of his mouth. "I was thinking… we unravel the fabric of time itself! Starting with that wretched mortal who's holding my co—"
"Grraaaah!"
Dialga's roars cut Necrozma off. He looked down, only for his third eye to widen as Dialga vanished in a flash of red light. "What the—"
"You should have been more careful, Necky."
Zero appeared in the middle of the crater, casually tossing a Beast Ball in her paw.
"YoU!" Necrozma snarled, eyes flashing. "What do you think you're doing? Give me back my Dialga! No, wait… give me my core!"
"I think not. As I said, you should've been more careful," Zero hissed.
"I will erase you!" Necrozma screeched.
Shadow Balls and shadowfire-filled meteors rained down on Zero from above. She summoned Absol's scythe. A barrage of Night Slash crescents raced up, snuffing out the Shadow Balls and slicing the meteors apart like they were pieces of fresh fruit.
"You can only do that because you're leeching from my core! Give it back!" Necrozma teleported behind Zero, wings glowing. A big laser threatened to engulf her, but she leaped into the air and safely levitated out of the way. She tried frying Necrozma with lightning, but he vanished in a puff of smoke.
Zero's aura dreadlocks lurched to her right. She dropped from the sky. Secret Sword blades collided overhead. A red explosion grazed the tips of her ears. She thrust her paws upward, but the gale-force winds she generated hit nothing. Her aura sense tingled in the back of her mind. Zero shot into the air once more. This time, she gathered a glob of black slime in her paw, much like Darkrai had done.
She swiped at the air. Dark Voids spread out around her. Necrozma was in the middle of firing a Moongeist Beam and couldn't get away. The slime hit his right wing, encased him in a black bubble, and popped. Necrozma collapsed on his stomach, wings twitching. Zero snapped her crystalline digits. A heart-shaped burst of light to hit Necrozma from above.
He awoke with a start, jolting upright with arms and wings trembling. Necrozma slowly looked left to find a hollow-eyed Manaphy dangling from a suspended piece of rubble.
Then, white-hot pain tore through him. Necrozma arced himself backward, screaming at the top of his lungs. Black shadows burst out his body, until the prism armor had completely disintegrated. The shadows evaporated into nothingness, leaving Lunala floating in midair. She had enough time to shut her dark-blue eyes before plummeting to the ground beside Zero. Her body dissolved away into nothingness.
"All this time, I imagine you fought him from the inside, but you had nothing left to give," Zero said, leaning against her scepter. She looked at the ground. "Good riddance, Necky. You didn't think I realized you had tampered with my enhancements to Team Captivate? There's a reason I ditched you at the Temple of Mind. You were a very large thorn in my side that needed to be plucked. Now, to take that core fragment and—"
Zero stiffened. She looked around the crater. "No, that can't be right," she said, her lone eye darting about. "I know Lunala had a core fragment in her… I forced it inside of her! Where is it?" Zero dropped to the ground, feeling around with her paw while her aura dreadlocks twitched. "It's not here," she whispered, after an unsuccessful minute of searching.
"Hmm. The Heart Swap must've destroyed it… somehow. No matter. That was the central part of his core. Now, I should be able to tap into his full powers without losing control," Zero said, her paws crackling with static. She walked toward the edge of the crater and surveyed the ruins.
All around her, ley line chains wrapped around pieces of rubble, binding them together. She levitated the Time Gears in front of her. "Of course, you couldn't just disappear quietly. You had to leave this mess for me to deal with. I can't repair the flow of time without a Temporal Tower. But I have the Time Gears… and the timekeeper is mine to command. Much as I hate to do this… I'll have to use a god to make this work."
She floated into the air, the Time Gears following beside her. "But first, I'll need to reign things in. After all, if I'm to hold a ritual for rewriting reality, I'll need a proper altar."
Well, that just happened. Surprised? Outraged? Bored? None of the above? Well, I can't read your minds, I'm afraid.
Anon Omega: Nope, he used a conventional Pokémon attack that quite a few people guessed correctly.
Unstoppable8000: Your guess is a very good one. As for the lack of Heat Wave, it's not a fire-type and it's a better physical attacker, so it would've been a waste of a Move Tutor slot, given it gets Flare Blitz.
SuperOmegaGuest: Poor Shane, indeed. Fox can't catch a break.
Birds: Well, if I went and spoiled everything, I'd ruin all the fun. But you might be onto something...
Anonymous: I don't know if you'll see this or not, but it's way too early for me to think about putting any Gen VIII 'mons into any fics. I might've managed to shoehorn Poipole and Zeraora in, but I've gotta draw a line somewhere. If they show up here, it'll only be in an omake.
Another guest: I'm glad you like the character development. It's a big focus of this giant fic, after all. Don't fear for the end of this story, though. It'll be a good thing, because then you can read the whole thing whenever you want! And I, uh, don't know enough about TV Tropes. I'd love a page, but the site is HTML-based, something I'm a hundred percent unfamiliar with.
Next time: utter bedlam erupts! The hundredth part of the fic will be suitably crazy, so strap yourselves in!