Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light

by Ambyssin

Stop me if you've heard this one before. You wake up somewhere you don't recognize, only to find you've been turned into a Pokémon! Before you know it, you're off on a globe-trotting adventure. Dream come true, right? Well, for one human, that dream quickly turns into a waking nightmare. Can he fend off an otherworldly force threatening to rip the fabric of reality apart?

103. Bonus: April Fools' Day Special 2019

If you're at all confused about this, check the author's notes at the end.

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~Ultra Village Ruins~

Thick black smog choked the sky over a barren landscape. The crumbling remnants of destroyed buildings lay scattered about torn-up pavement. Wayward sparks crackled from frayed power lines. Green, radioactive embers smoldered from the fiery wreckage of the Ultra Recon Squad base that once stood in the center of the sprawling city.

It was in front of the destroyed Ultra Village Core that a lopsided, asymmetrical Ultra Wormhole opened. Two golden paws emerged, hovering inches off the bubbling sludge that used to be part of a road. Shadowy wisps swirled around black talons, then raced up armored forelegs.

Solgaleo emerged from the Ultra Wormhole. Prism armor covered his face and torso. He bowed his head, only for it to jerk back up. His blue eyes shifted to red and a third eye glowed on his forehead. It wriggled about. The black arms protruding from his back twitched.

"TheY ThOuGHt THeY cOUlD gEt RiD of ME. FoOls! I Am NeCRoZMa, DEvOUReR oF lIGhT! FuTuRE DeSTrOyER oF WoRLDs!"

Necrozma took several deep breaths. He stretched out his legs and his arms, flexing his six sets of claws and his spoked tail. With a few quick hops, Necrozma climbed to the top of the rubble pile. He hovered in front of a small pillar of green light. Necrozma looked down. Fluorescent-green smoke vented up from the rubble pile; the remnants of the Ultra Village Core.

"Sinclair has tapped into too much of my core's power. I need more light. More spirits," Necrozma hissed. He paced back and forth in front of the radioactive fissure. "I should set out for another world. Amass enough power to bring Sinclair to her knees." He licked his lips. "Then I'll have my core back. Heeheeheehee. Yes… you might've made things difficult for me, Light, but you're only delaying the inevitable. You can't stop me. No one can. I just need to think… think… think."

His third eye widened. Necrozma's arms smacked his back repeatedly. He stiffened. Necrozma scrutinized the vent in front of him. His red eyes flashed. A faint outline appeared in front of him. Tiny and orange. A wisp of fire smoldered on the silhouette's back.

"Of course. You." Necrozma leered at the silhouette. "How could I forget your sickeningly-sweet attitude. Your worthlesssense of optimism. That dopey grin. And how annoyingly determined you were." His arms lashed out at the air. Necrozma stumbled, but collected himself. "That matters little, though, because your world is brimming with spirits. They're foundational to everything! It's exactly what I need to become the unopposed power throughout all realities! Heeheeheehee! Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

Necrozma slammed his forepaws against the rubble and raised his arms high. A fissure opened in the building's wreckage. All the trapped radioactive material burst forth from the ground. Necrozma trapped it inside of a psychic bubble. His three eyes shimmered with rainbow light.

"C'mon, concentrate. If I can supercharge a wormhole with this unstable light, then maybe—"

A blinding, green flashed enveloped Necrozma. When the light faded, a jagged, zigzagging Ultra Wormhole sat in front of him. It glowed the same neon-green as the radioactive vent. But instead of the usual checkerboard pattern, this portal was littered with inverted stars. Necrozma stared into the Wormhole. A grin spread across his face.

"Heehee… heeheeheehee! Yes, it worked! A true rift between realities! Stronger than any Ultra Wormhole!" he cried. "Soon, I'll have an all-you-can-eat light buffet at my disposal!"

Necrozma walked into the portal, licking his lips eagerly.

"I said that one day I'd be back to tear your cheerful façade off like the worthless mask it is. Now it's time for me to make good on that promise. No world is safe from my wrath, least of all yours… Charmander Owen."

---

An End to All This Madness

---

~Hot Spot Outskirts~

Necrozma leaped out of the portal and skidded to a halt along a dirt path. He took a few steps back and melted into a shadowy puddle. It drifted into a patch of gray, crabby grass. There, Necrozma took stock of his surroundings. The grasslands were, for the most part, unremarkable. Crisp, green grass lay to his left, slowly fading to the light-gray he currently hid in. To his right sat a large mountain that spilled off a large amount of heat. Necrozma's new body didn't take kindly to it.

He forced himself to remain where he was, however, because buried within the giant, rocky fortress of heat lay his prize. It was tough to sense. He got the faintest impression there was some sort of distortion field meant to ward off psychics, but he didn't care. His Solgaleo victim's ESP levels far exceeded those of his previous body. With it, he could sense multiple powerful spirits.

Not only that, he sensed clusters of spirits, as bright and dense as neutron stars. From his hiding place in the shadows, a grin spread out across his face. It seemed Charmander Owen's world had soul-eaters just like him. Necrozma had to choke back a laugh at the thought. How such a dumb kid could remain so cheerful knowing such obviously-malevolent forces lurked in his home was nothing short of hilarious.

Though strongly tempted to attack the mountain, Necrozma held his ground. He was still getting used to his new body. Going up against so many powerful auras in his current state would surely end in defeat. If he had his core, victory would be a cinch. Instead, he needed to bide his time and wait for one of the presences to veer off on its own. Then, he would strike.

Necrozma tensed up. He was so preoccupied with the mountain, he hadn't even realized there was already a spirit-cluster off on its own. This one burned brighter than any of the clusters he sensed inside. And it only seemed to be in the company of a single, meek spirit, likely a mortal.

'That'll be it, then. My first target… will be you!'

He treaded cautiously. The spirit cluster emanated tremendous ghostly energy, but he couldn't grasp the full degree of what this mysterious presence was capable of. It could conceivably sense him coming from a mile away and have an attack ready for him. Necrozma decided to use a quick approach. And that approach would come from Solgaleo's power.

Necrozma concentrated, trying to pick up anything he could from the cluster. After a bit of straining, he managed to hear a gruff voice angrily shout, "Rrrgh… let go of me, you slimy oaf! For Mew's sake, this is disgusting!"

A second later, a cheerful voice declared, "Sorry, if I let go, you're going to run away! I've had one too many naughty folks run away! I don't want all my Hearts to lose morale, so it's time I stepped in and did my part!"

'Seems the presence is tied up. So, my time to strike!'

Necrozma emerged from the shadows, drawing on Solgaleo's spiritual energy. He vanished in a cloud of shadows, only to reappear a mile away from the mountain. There, he found a Goodra standing with its back to him. Its arms — far more watery than Necrozma expected — lay wrapped around a bulky Rampardos who kicked at the air with his legs.

Goodra's antennae twitched. Necrozma's third eye flashed. A black and red beam emerged. However, rather than hitting its target, a Decidueye appeared in a puff of dark smoke.

"Anam, get out of— ngack!"

Necrozma's eyes widened. His beam sucked Decidueye up like he was made of dust. Purple light streamed into mouth, filling him with a surge of ghostly energy. His arms trembled with excitement and his third eye wriggled inside his armored forehead.

"You manifested a spirit to protect you? My, what an interesting parlor trick," Necrozma said.

Anam turned around, keeping Rampardos in his grip. Rampardos stared Necrozma down and flailed his legs even harder. "Augh! Lemme go! Lemme go! I submit! I submit! I don't wanna die or nothing!" he cried.

Another red and black beam struck Rampardos' chest. Anam released his grip as black crystals encased Rampardos. He stepped back, staring up at Necrozma, wide-eyed. "Is that… S-Solgaleo? Jam-Jam, what—" Anam blinked slowly. "No, wait… something's wrong. Star explained this to me once."

Necrozma tensed up. "I don't know what you're talking ab— what the hell?!"

He teleported away right before a massive dragon-shaped blast would've swallowed him up. Necrozma reappeared behind Anam. He fired another light-purge beam from his third eye. Anam didn't turn around. Instead, he pushed his slime to the sides, forming a big hole where his belly once was. The beam safely passed through him. Necrozma stumbled backward, equal parts shocked and grossed out.

"That's impossible!" he growled. "No… deep breaths. This is another reality. The rules don't work the same here."

Anam stood facing Necrozma. His gooey arms trembled. "P-Please stop… go away," he whispered. "I can handle it. Jam-Jam... I'll get him back."

Black shadows pooled inside Anam's hands. Necrozma's eyes flickered. He licked his lips with anticipation. "My, my, you're just fullof secrets, aren't you? And, apparently, a lot of gunk. But it's the secrets I'd rather rip right out of you!"

Another serpentine energy beam threatened to swallow up Necrozma. He teleported to Anam's right. Necrozma whipped his prism arms in Anam's direction. Two heart-shaped portals materialized. Chains shot into Anam's arm with a pair of loud squelches. An eager grin spread across Necrozma's face. His chains leeched the swirling shadow's from Anam's slimy hand.

"To think… you were keeping a power like this under wraps. Heeheeheehee. It seems this world is even more out of balance than mine," Necrozma crooned as Anam stared in wide-eyes horror at the chains in his arms. "Now then, let's—"

Necrozma tensed up. His arms and tail spasmed. An unseen force tugged on his chains. His third eye narrowed.

Get out.

An overwhelming sense of dread raced down his spine. The shadows were spreading through Anam's body at an alarming rate. Necrozma yanked the chains out. He stumbled back, the tiny portals beside him disappearing. "Nnngh. That energy… it was just like the Voidlands. What's going on here?" he whispered.

"Anam!"

Necrozma's head shot up. He disappeared in a puff of smoke seconds before the ground erupted in a violent tremor. Plumes of dust shot into the air, only to be vaporized by white-hot flames and a shimmering-blue Aura Sphere. Necrozma reappeared several yards behind Anam, tensing the claws on his arms.

He stood there, watching as a Charizard, Flygon, Haxorus, Lucario, and Meganium charged into the fray. In place of legs, the lattermost member of the group had a plethora of vines woven together to resemble limbs. Like Anam, Charizard had a spirit cluster simmering inside of him. Each of the others radiated with tremendous power, though it wasn't quite on the same level as Anam, who was still grappling with the shadows spreading through his body.

Lucario ran up to Anam. "Deep breaths. Focus on your Orb. Meditate if you must," he said, crouching low in case he needed to stage a hasty retreat.

"J… Jam-Jam. He's got—" Anam blubbered, pointing an accusatory arm toward Necrozma.

It was at this point Necrozma recognized a familiar spark in Charizard's life energy. "Well, well, isn't this quite the sight? Little Owen's all grown up now," Necrozma taunted, his eyes glowing. "And he's hiding such a juicy serving of light inside of him."

The newly-identified Owen's tail flame crackled. "Hey, I'm not little!" He snorted out tufts of smoke. "Besides, I don't even know you!" Owen grabbed his head. "Err, I think, anyway?"

"What does it matter? If he's got James, then I say we thrash 'im!" Flygon shouted. In the blink of an eye, he vanished. Necrozma hopped back. A shimmering rainbow barrier appeared in front of him. Flygon raked blue, ethereal claws across the barrier, only to bounce off, hissing and wringing out his hands.

"Of course you'd take the first swipes at me. You really are a lunkhead, aren't you, Gahi?"

Necrozma reared up on his hind legs. He tapped into the deathly energy he siphoned from Anam.

Meganium's eyes widened. "Back!" she cried. Four vines wrapped around Flygon Gahi's midsection and yanked him out of the way of a purple energy blast. Instead, it struck a rock in the distance. Necrozma watched in shock as the rock decayed before his very eyes. He looked down at his right forepaw, smirking at the shadows swirling around it.

"So, that's what that power does. Heeheeheehee! What an interesting development," Necrozma said, inching back from his opponents. "Well now, I can see when I'm beat. I think I'll go tie up some loose ends in my world and be back to finish the job later."

"W-Wait, what? Own world? That doesn't make any sense!" Haxorus growled.

A rainbow sheen overtook Necrozma, leading to the creation of another jagged rift. Necrozma hopped backwards. He disappeared in a flash of light.

"No! JAM-JAM!" Anam cried, stumbling away from Lucario and dropping to his knees. Shadows coursed through his slimy body like oil through water.

"No worries! Idiot left 'is dumb portal-thingy open. We'll go after 'im!" Gahi declared, still wrapped up in Meganium's vines.

"Mm…" Meganium stared at the ominous portal. "No." She rolled her eyes.

Gahi slipped out of her vines. "You got a better idea, then?"

"I'm thinking," Meganium said, biting her lip.

"Mispy's right. We can't go charging into the portal," Owen said, scrutinizing the jagged rift. "The energy it's giving off… it's driving my Perception crazy." He grabbed his head and shook it. "It's like there are a thousand Willows scratching at my head and I can't get them off!"

"Seriously?" Haxorus glanced between Owen, Anam, and Rhys. "C'mon, there's gotta be something we can do about it. Maybe if we ring up Nevren, he'll have an idea?"

Rhys frowned. "I doubt Nevren and I can be of much help, here." He cautiously approached the portal, his paws swirling with aura. "Star discussed this with us when we were Hunters. I believe the Pokémon responsible for taking James is known as Necrozma."

"Necrozma? Feh! That's a stupid name if I ever 'eard one," Gahi scoffed, buzzing back into the air and flying circles around the portal.

Owen glanced at Rhys, brow furrowing. "Necrozma? Why does that sound… so familiar?"

Rhys crossed his arms. "Just going off of what we saw, I believe this Necrozma is not of our world. And that's quite concerning, because—"

"Because nothing can pass through the Overworld from another reality except someone's self!" Owen blurted out.

"How did you know that?" Rhys asked, eyes wide.

Owen doubled over, clutching his head in pain. "Nnrrrgh… Star, what are you doing in there?" He paused, staring at his belly while his teammates exchanged confused looks. After several seconds of silence, Owen's head snapped up. "Wait… Necrozma?!"

"You know that crazy dude?" Haxorus gasped.

"Yeah! He's a total creep! Forced his way into the Overworld and tried to wipe me and a bunch of other folks from other worlds out of existence!" Owen growled, his tail-flame turning white-hot. "But I don't get it… the last time I dealt with him, he was this big, uh, Golbat-looking thing. How did he turn into an oversized Pyroar?"

Haxorus turned to Mispy. "You don't think he's Mystic like Owen and Anam, do you?" he said, tapping a foot on the ground nervously.

Mispy caressed Haxorus' chin with one of her vines. "Mn, maybe not." She withdrew her vines and shrugged. "More like… Star. Or Barky."

"That doesn't make me feel any better!" Haxorus groaned.

"Hang on, Demitri," Owen said. He looked at his gut again. "All right, Star, you've got some explaining to do. How'd Necrozma manage to get here if it's impossible for anyone's physical form to pass through the Overworld?"

Silence followed, with Owen glaring at his belly while his teammates all raised skeptical brows. They hastily backed away from Owen when his tail-flame grew three sizes in an intense burst of heat.

"What do you mean Barky left the back door open?! How is that possible?! It doesn't even make any sense!" Owen huffed.

Rhys' shoulders sagged. He rubbed the bridge of his snout. "Wonderful." He looked at Owen. "Does Star have some sort of plan for how we handle this? You heard Necrozma. He intends to come back."

"And I ain't about ter let that happen!" Gahi said, slashing at the air with his tiny claws. "This time, I'll 'ave Demitri shatter 'is stupid barrier!"

"Hold on. Star's not done," Owen said, holding up a hand. He closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "Okay, okay. I see…"

"So, Star does have a plan?" Mispy asked.

"Uh… sorta? It's, like, twenty percent of a plan," Owen responded, scratching his head. "Basically, Barky's gonna shroud us in these protective bubbles and fling us through the portal. His shields should keep us safe from getting torn to shreds inside of Ultra Space."

"Ultra… Space? They couldn't have come up with a better name?" Demitri frowned.

"Guys, this is serious! We have to focus. Once we go into the portal… we're on our own. I won't be able to contact Star. And she says she has no idea if Anam's blessings will carry over on our items," Owen continued, looking worriedly at his teammates.

"We'll be fine. Necrozma doesn't know who he's messing wit'!" Gahi's wings buzzed eagerly. "Th' four of us working together… we'll have 'im down in no time!"

Owen hummed anxiously, a low growl escaping him. But then, he sighed. "Gahi's right," Owen said, drawing an astonished look from Mispy. Gahi puffed his chest out proudly. "We don't have time. You saw the power Necrozma took from Anam. If we can't stop him quickly, who knows what'll happen?"

"And you better not forget James," Anam said in a distorted voice, shadows coursing through his head. The inky darkness suddenly withdrew deeper into him. Anam's normal, green eyes returned. "P-please. Y-you gotta," Anam pleaded, nervously detaching and reattaching his slimy, stubby fingers.

Owen nodded. "Don't worry. We've got this. A lot's changed since I last fought Necrozma." He raised a fist. Soft, green energy flowed into it. "He doesn't know what I'm capable of."

"What we're capable of," Mispy corrected, walking up to Owen's side. "I'm leader." She jabbed Owen's gut with a vine, but flashed him a smile. "We fight together."

Demitri nodded. "And if you're going to another world, make sure your Perception is in top-shape! Ultra top shape! For the… the Ultra Wormhole thing."

"Don't do that," Gahi groaned.

Demitri and Gahi joined their teammates in front of the Ultra Rift. Owen glanced down at his stomach. "Okay, Star. Tell Barky we're ready."

There was a brief moment of uncertainty, where Owen questioned if it was really wise to put his team's fate in Barky's hooves. That moment proved fleeting, however, because golden bubbles surrounded Owen and his teammates. Then an unseen force shot them inside the Ultra Rift, where they disappeared in bright flashes of light.

---

~Destiny Tower Exterior~

Team Radiance flickered into existence in the middle of a rocky path, with Mew floating behind them. Dark gray clouds shrouded the road ahead. Silvally took a few steps forward. His brow furrowed. "Um, guys? I think we made a wrong turn somewhere." He shifted his air memories on. Wind shot out from his forelegs, but failed to dispel the clouds.

"Where are we?" Tessa wondered. She concentrated on her aura sense, yet she couldn't make anything out beyond her teammates and Mew. Her aura feelers shot up. "Wait a second. What happened to everyone else?" She looked around in concern. "We didn't just make a wrong turn… we lost the others!"

Shane turned around to face Mew, who was groaning and rubbing her head. "Hey, what gives? I thought you were going to teleport all of us close to where the Hidden Land fell."

"Yeah. I, uh…" Mew blinked slowly. "Something went wrong."

"We can see that. The question is… can you fix it?" Shane asked, tails twitching nervously.

"Um…" Mew poked his tiny index fingers together. "I, uh, can't get read on where we are. Something redirected my teleportation… somehow. Now my ESP is blunted."

"Mine too," Espy whispered, ears drooping. "If only we could get this fog out of the way." Her eyes glowed pink. She tensed up. Nothing happened. The wall of dark clouds remained as solid as ever. "Okay, now I'm worried." Espy glanced at Mew. "Hey, think you could back me up, here? Your Psychic's gotta be stronger than mine."

"Sure," Mew said, nodding. "Lemme just—"

Mew's eyes widened. He inhaled sharply, then dropped to the ground.

"What the heck? Hey! What's wrong?" Shane asked. He was about to take a step toward Mew, when Mew cried out in pain. His body turned a sickly shade of purple, then disintegrated right before Team Radiance's eyes. Shane jumped back, barking in alarm. "That's not normal! That's not normal!" he whined, tails shooting between his legs.

A small, golden ball of light fluttered away from Team Radiance, disappearing into the thick cloud wall.

Silvally stepped toward his teammates. "We've lost our teleporter. I don't know about you guys, but I don't think we can afford to stay here." He bent over. "Hop on. I'll carry you."

Tessa wrung her paws. "O-Okay. If you think that's safest."

Before she could climb on Silvally, a blinding flash of light erupted in front of them. Tessa staggered backwards, throwing an arm over her face.

Shane gasped. "H-Hey! Isn't that an Ultra Wormhole?"

Espy tilted her head. "It sure doesn't look like the ones we've seen. It's all… twisted." She grimaced.

Silvally crouched into a fighting stance. His psychic memories switched on. "Be ready for anything, you guys. It could be a Prism Virus attack!"

"Ahhh!"

Silvally's eyes widened. He lunged to his right, shoving his teammates away from the portal. Moments later, four golden bubbles shot out of it. They popped one after another, plopping each member of Team Alloy on the ground.

"Owen!" Gahi grunted, shoving Owen's thighs. "Git yer tail off my face or I'm-a—"

"Wait… Owen?" Silvally's cheek bolts whirred. "As in… Charmander Owen?" He leaned over to sniff at the Charizard lying in front of him. "Oh, hey, it is you! Hiya!" Silvally's tail wagged. He turned to his teammates. "Guys, it's okay! They're fine." He beckoned them over. "This is the guy I told you about. Remember, from that time I got pulled through an Ultra Wormhole and met a bunch of folks from other worlds?"

"Oh, yeah." Espy walked to Silvally's side, fixing a skeptical look on Mispy and her overabundance of vines she was trying to untangle from Demitri's tusks. "I seem to recall you having the hots for Owen."

Owen's tail-flame rippled like a freshly-lit match. Gahi's eyes widened. He shoved Owen's rear, then shot to his feet. "Sheesh. What were ya doin' in that Overworld game of yers, huh?" he huffed, flapping his wings to shake off bits of debris.

"We saved a bunch of worlds from Necrozma," Silvally declared, puffing out his chest. "Congrats on evolving, by the way. I know how much you wanted it to happen."

"Err… right." Owen's wings furled. He didn't dare explain the circumstances to Silvally. "It's, uh, good to see you again," Owen said, offering a shaky smile. A part of him was miffed that, despite being fully evolved, he wasn't quite eye-level with Silvally, but he stuffed his pride away.

"Silvally, eh? What the heck kind of Pokémon are yeh?" Gahi asked, buzzing over and zipping around Silvally to examine him from every angle. "Yeh look like Eon could've made yeh!"

"It's, uh, kinda complicated." Silvally laughed nervously.

"Try us! We specialize in complicated," Demitri said.

"Funny. So do we," Espy deadpanned. She then cringed. "Err, sorry. I've been trying to tone down on the snark. We're Team Radiance. I'm Espeon. The Lucario is Tessa and the ice Ninetales is Shane." Espy gestured at her teammates.

Gahi zipped over to Tessa. "Oy. What's with th' mark on yer chest?" He turned to Owen. "Rhys and Manny ain't got markings like this."

Tessa backed away from Gahi. "It's, um… I don't really want to talk about it."

"Seriously, Gahi? C'mon, be polite." Demitri sighed and shook his head. He turned back to Espy. "I'm Haxorus Demitri. You've already met Owen and that loudmouth over there is Gahi." He jerked his head in Gahi's direction.

"I'm only talkin' cause you an' Mispy ain't openin' yer traps!" Gahi huffed.

Mispy rolled her eyes. "Ignore him."

Shane cleared his throat. "Okay. Now that awkward introductions are out of the way… can we help you guys? If you can't tell, we're in the midst of a crisis." He fanned out his tails. Team Alloy took notice of the dark clouds swirling around them. "So, uh, if you're passing through en route to some other world or something, you ought to get a move on."

Mispy approached the cloud wall. Her vines tensed. She hastily backed away and shot Owen a concerned look. "Perceive?"

Owen stared up at Silvally. His eyes widened in recognition. "Silvally! Of course!" He hopped to his feet. "How could I forget? Necrozma's from your world. The 'loose ends' he mentioned must be somewhere around here."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold up. You guys are after Necrozma? That's impossible!" Shane said, icy air gathering around his paws. "We know for a fact that he was killed. His core is—"

"Well, yer facts are bogus," Gahi spat.

"Gahi, c'mon," Owen said, stretching out a wing to settle his friend. He turned to Silvally. "Necrozma showed up in our world. Only, er, he was in a different form. Some kinda Pyroar-looking thingy."

"He got Solgaleo?" Espy took a few steps back. She looked at Shane. "But I thought—"

"My guess is he found a Solgaleo from another world," Silvally said, shaking his head. "Guess he's not as dead as we thought."

"Right. So, he showed up, kidnapped one of our friends, and then stole power from another friend," Owen continued, his tone growing more frantic. "And this power, its…" He winced. "It's the power of decay. If you get hit by it, your body will rot from the inside-out!"

Tessa's aura feelers shot up. "No! Then what happened to Mew—"

Golden light burst forth from the dark clouds. They vanished in shadowy wisps, revealing a pillar of light shooting into the sky from the middle of a pile of rubble.

"Heehee… heeheeheehee! At long last… my core is back!"

Shane's tails shot into the air. "Oh no… oh shit!" He staggered backward, shaking his head. "He's… he's just like he was in the recording, again!" Shane turned to Team Alloy. "Quick. You guys gotta get back in that portal before—"

The Ultra Rift abruptly shut. Owen's tail-flame shrank. He turned toward the light pillar in the distance and narrowed his eyes. Owen faintly made out four golden wings and a long, radiant tail. Two multicolored eyes stared back at him.

"His true form… is a dragon? Come on! That is so not fair!" Owen fumed. "Ugh, that better not be the case for our Necrozma, otherwise I'm never letting Star hear the end of it."

"That's what you're focusing on?!" Demitri said.

Red lines streamed across the ground. Both teams looked around in confusion, giving way to panicked shouts as walls of glitchy red cubes erupted from the earth. Owen back-winged to avoid getting struck by one, only to watch Demitri disappear behind it. "Demitri, no!" Owen shouted. He battered the wall with an Air Slash barrage, but it absorbed every wind blade. Owen turned to his right, where he recalled Gahi hovering. "Gahi, we've got to—"

Another cube wall rose up, cutting off Gahi and Espy. Owen's tail-flame pulsated as fast as his heart was beating. He turned around, praying at least one of his friends was still with him. However, he only found Silvally standing beside him, an equally-worried look on his face. Owen followed Silvally's gaze up. His heart leaped into his throat.

A jagged, golden tear split the sky above them. But the path up to it was blocked by a ceiling of transparent cubes.

"W… what is that?" Owen said, curling up his tail and wings.

"Heeheeheehee! Not so high and mighty without your friends around, are you?"

Silvally crouched into a fighting stance. "Show yourself, Necrozma!" he bellowed, cheek-bolts revving up.

Black shadows trickled out from the wall in front of Silvally, coalescing into a sphere that then manifested as a jet-black Decidueye. Crystals covered the right half of his face. He fixed his lone eye on Owen, whose tail-flame rippled.

"That's James!" Owen clenched his fists. "James, you have to listen to me!"

James lolled his head to the side. "Wonderful. Simply wonderful. That look on your face — the fear and outrage — is so satisfying," he said, projecting Necrozma's voice.

Owen stepped toward Silvally. "What did you do to him?"

"Oh, not much. Purged his spirit of its consciousness… leaving me to use his powers as I see fit," James replied, adding in a chuckle. "You're not really one to talk, boy."

"I'm not a kid!" Owen huffed.

Silvally stuck a foreleg in front of Owen. "You've gotta keep a level head. He's doing this to get under your scales, so you won't battle at your best."

Owen bit his lip. He should've realized that was the case. His brow furrowed. There was a fuzziness in his mind. A nasty mental itch he couldn't scratch.

"What's the matter, Owen? You look upset about something." James smirked. A red light flickered in his eye. "Could it be… that you're missing your Perception?"

Owen's wings reflexively unfurled. "H-How did you—"

"Between your man-child boss, Anam, and this lousy spirit, there are so many interesting memories to sift through. However, I'm on a tight schedule, so I won't bore you with the details," James mused, pacing back and forth. Having no stomach for one of Necrozma's ridiculous rants, Silvally snarled loudly. A black, eerie shockwave closed in on James. However, he evaporated into a fine mist.

"How about the hypocrisy of it all?" James reappeared a few feet above Owen, hanging upside down from an invisible branch. "Like I said, you can't chastise me about using spirits when your Grass Orb is positively bursting with them. Heeheeheehee!"

"Y… you…" Owen draped an arm and a wing over his belly.

James materialized a tiny Owen doll made of black clouds. "Alas, poor Owen! Wanting to do nothing more than be a hero… when he was destined from the very beginning to be a plaything to his world's gods." James dropped the Owen doll. It dangled in midair by silk-like threads. James flapped his wings, making the Owen puppet dance around.

Owen rocketed skyward, flames burning in the back of his throat. James vanished in a burst of smoke, but the Owen doll remained. Owen's eyes widened. He aileron-rolled right, narrowly strafing white laser beams.

On the ground, Silvally hopped back, gawking wide-eyed as the Owen doll pulsated and expanded outward. A familiar wheel took shape around the shadowy mass. Then four crystalline hooves shot out, alongside a stubby tail, a slender neck, and a mouthless head.

"B-Barky?" Owen flew away in a panic, only to slam the figurative brakes in the face of a crystal blade barrage. He whipped up a dozen Air Slashes, shredding the blades into black powder. "Silvally! What's going on here?!" Owen cried, not wanting to look back at the apparent Barky clone Necrozma had somehow summoned.

"I don't know! He must've gotten to our world's Arceus!" Silvally glowed orange. He lunged for Arceus, whose crystalline wheel flickered an ominous purple. Silvally phased right through Arceus, squawking in surprise.

"Heeheeheehee! Charizard Owen… designed with the power to Perceive battle situations in their entirety, considering every possible outcome." James materialized in front of Owen, more crystal blades protruding from the edges of his wings. "But what happens when that Perception runs up against someone with the power to change their typing at will? Can you Perceive chaos? We won't get that answer, of course. You really think I'd be dumb enough to give you that chance? I was nice enough to give you the Barky knockoff as your battle-buddy."

James raised his wings. The crystal blades shot forward. Owen materialized a shimmering blue barrier. It just barely managed to deflect all the corrupted Spirit Shackles. Owen dove back toward the ground, hoping James would give chase. His mind was a scrambled mess, one part trying to process the new information and the other trying to think of how to deal with James when he could meld into the shadows.

Owen figured he had to keep Necrozma talking. The guy liked to run his mouth, clearly, and Owen needed to press that trait and hope Necrozma slipped up as a result. He landed on the ground, stomping his right leg back to plant Fire Traps along the ground. "What do you mean by a knockoff Barky, huh?" he asked.

"Exactly what it says on the tin, boy. You, me, and Silvally over there… we're not Pokémon, we're someone else's creations. We're freaks!" James crooned.

Silvally skidded to a halt, looking at Owen in surprise. Arceus seized the opening. He swooped in, psychic energy brimming through his face. Silvally's head crest fanned out. His ghost memories switched on. Ectoplasmic talons clashed against a Zen Headbutt. Both Pokémon staggered back from each other, Silvally looking far more disoriented.

Owen readied a Flamethrower for Arceus' backside, only to catch a ghostly glint in the corner of his eye. He spun around, raking fire through the air. The flames blew apart James' Shadow Balls. James remained in midair, wings spread wide to summon more crystal Spirit Shackle arrows.

"What's the matter? Never got to swap stories with your interdimensional pen pal?" James taunted. "Oh no, that's right, you couldn't. Your memories are a veritable toybox to your gods. Heeheeheehee. It's such a pity both of you will perish before you really get the chance to talk. You have so much in common, after all!"

Owen took off, hovering only half a foot off the ground. James pointed his wings down. Crystal arrows raced after Owen. He looped up into the air and glanced back. The arrows followed him. Owen smirked. With a burst of speed, he closed the distance on Arceus. He was too busy readying the holy light of Judgment to see Owen coming.

But James saw it. His eye flashed. The Spirit Shackles shattered. "Idiot! Keep your eyes peeled!" he snarled. Owen unleashed a Flamethrower. Arceus shifted into a water-type, his wheel glowing blue. Owen's flames barely scratched him, but he roared in fury when lightning pelted him from below.

Silvally glanced up at Owen, nodding in approval. He pivoted and shot more Thunderbolts at James, aiming toward his head.

"Useless!" James sneered, dropping to the ground. He realized his mistake a moment too late, however. Fiery plumes erupted all around him, drowning out his startled cries.

Owen dropped out of the air, placing more Fire Traps. He fluttered his wings. Air Slashes assaulted the clouds left by the earlier explosions. Silvally ran to Owen's side, keeping Arceus at bay with Air Slashes of his own. Arceus rose into the air, wheel turning brown. Silvally's Air Slashes did little more than make Arceus flinch. However, it gave Silvally the necessary time to surround himself with ethereal swords.

"Think you can keep tending to your friend?" Silvally asked, leg muscles bulging. Steam rose off his body.

"Of course!" Owen flew forward, only to turn tail and shoot into the air. James trailed after him, along with two dozen crystal arrows.

"Where do think you're going? I've got you trapped like a caged Joltik!" James taunted. His arrows darted ahead. Owen glanced back at them. He flapped his wings, climbing higher and higher. The ceiling grew closer. Just when it looked like he would crash into it, Owen tucked in his wings. He broke into a freefall. James' arrows couldn't mimic Owen's actions. They shattered against the ceiling in succession.

Undeterred, James hurled two Shadow Balls toward Owen. In response, Owen shrouded himself in his own Flamethrower, forming a makeshift fire shield that vaporized James' attack. Owen raced out of the black clouds left by the explosions. Air Slash blades whizzed through James' sides. He shrank back, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Owen beat his wings, climbing higher. He released short, concentrated Flamethrower bursts. Silvally spotted the gesture. With a flash of blue light, he summoned Waterfall plumes. Arceus' wheel turned bright-green. Two moss-filled Energy Balls split the Waterfalls apart. Then, Owen's fireballs pelted Arceus' back, driving him toward the ground. Silvally lunged. Golden light morphed into orange energy around his forelegs.

Shredding pain cut through Owen's wing membranes. They reflexively folded against his sides. He fell from the air, roaring. Silvally's eyes widened. He dodged a swipe from Arceus' hooves, dug his talons into Arceus' crystal pelt, and used him a springboard to launch toward Owen.

"What an adorable gesture. Too bad it's the last thing you'll ever do!"

Silvally reached Owen just in time to see an insurmountable wall of crystal blades rushing toward him.

---

Shane desperately fired an Ice Beam at the approaching lava wall. It froze a small patch. "There's our opening!" Shane barked, using a psychically-charged donkey-kick to knock Mispy through the ice. He lunged in after her. They rolled to a stop before the hulking, crystal-covered form of Primal Groudon. Black magma dripped from his mouth.

Mispy used the light from the blazing fireball Groudon had summoned overhead to fire off a Solar Beam. A Shedinja zipped in front of the green laser. It absorbed the entire attack, leaving nothing behind but a rainbow shimmer.

"Don't you have any other attacks you can try? That's not going to work unless we can take out that damn bug!" Shane huffed. He fanned his tails out. Orange Heat Wave winds rippled forward. Shedinja zipped behind Groudon, who stood tall through Shane's attack.

Groudon brought his fist crashing down. The Heat Wave made his crystal armor glow orange. Jagged, magma-coated rocks burst forth from the ground. Mispy and Shane hit the ground several yards away, their sides scorched. One of Mispy's vine legs lay in front of Groudon, withering away before his eyes.

"I'll… handle this," Mispy groaned. A soft pink light enveloped her body.

"I think not!"

Shedinja raised its stubby arms. Black, sickly vapors washed over Mispy and Shane. The light vanished.

Mispy looked at the sliced-off section of her vines. "Heal Block!" She looked up at Shedinja, eyes narrowed.

"Heeheeheehee! Why the long face? Oh, I know. Take away your ultimate healing technique… and you turn into a useless pile of yard trimmings!" Shedinja crooned. "Nothing you can do now but sit and watch as you and everyone else across every reality are purged!"

Shedinja looked up. Mispy followed his gaze. Her petals wilted at the sight of the golden vortex expanding.

"Just what's your endgame here, huh?" Shane snarled. More superheated air threatened to torch Shedinja, but Groudon shielded him with his gigantic hands. Shane snorted out tufts of ice. "This all seems pretty stupid of you. If you've got your original body back, why not use it to try and kill us?"

"Oh, the irony. That you of all people would be talking to me like that." Shedinja's ghostly, armored face was unable to show any expressions but the glee in Necrozma's voice was perfectly clear. "I know how this song and dance routine goes. The all-powerful being goes to attack the mortals directly… only for them to inexplicably win through some ridiculous means like — oh, I don't know — the power of friendship or some nauseatingly-similar idea."

Shedinja lashed at the air. "Well, I won't have it! I don't need to kill you right here and now. I just have to stall for time until my Cataclysmic Ultra Rift is ready. Then, I will unleash this marvelous decaying energy I stole from Anam… and every world in every reality will deteriorate into nothingness!" Shedinja flew up to Groudon's head. "Isn't it wonderful? Don't answer, that was rhetorical."

Groudon roared. Lava pooled up around his feet.

"Damn it. It's coming again!" Shane growled, crouching down and readying an Ice Beam. "Isn't there anything you can do, here?" He glanced at Mispy, who had finished rearranging her vines so she had four shorter legs.

"I'm thinking," she hissed, petals glowing. Light Screen barriers formed around her and Shane.

The Lava Plume spread across the battlefield while Shedinja hovered safely out of reach, readying a Shadow Ball. He fired it just as Shane froze a patch of the Lava Plume and lunged through it. His Light Screen absorbed most of the hit.

"Now!" Shane barked.

Mispy fired her Solar Beam toward Groudon's right foot. Despite his speed, Shedinja wasn't quick enough to get there and absorb the hit. Groudon's right leg buckled. He dropped to one knee.

"What are you doing? Get up! Attack them!" Shedinja barked.

"Hey, there's one thing you forgot to account for, buddy," Shane said. He spat a golden energy ball at Groudon's chest. Hissing, Shedinja flew away. He barely skirted the light geyser that erupted. Groudon toppled over, but he wasn't knocked out. When he hit the ground, more Precipice Blades burst forth from the earth.

"Ah, not again!" Shane cried, backpedaling as best he could. A Shadow Ball struck him from above, knocking him into a Precipice Blade. The explosion jettisoned him into Mispy. They rolled across the ground until they ended up in a collapsed heap.

"At least… you tried," Mispy scoffed, struggling to get back to her feet.

"Don't give me that sass. We're trying to fight a literal volcano god and the best you can do is pelt him with sunlight!" Shane huffed, looking at his scorched fur with a pained wince.

"I'm Grass," Mispy hissed, some of her vines unfurling.

Shane's ears stuck up. He levitated Mispy into the air and sprinted right. Slabs of volcanic rock hurtled by him, splattering against the cube barrier. Shane set Mispy down only to squeal as a Shadow Ball blew up in his face. Mispy looked up, but could do nothing to affect Shedinja.

"It's not much fun being useless, is it?"

The air in front of Mispy rippled with sound waves. Shane chomped down on some of her vines and yanked her away before Shedinja's Bug Buzz tore up the dirt. He spat a golden orb at Shedinja, who hovered backward and dodged with minimal effort.

"Honestly, for all the claims about his intelligence, Nevren really wasn't thinking with you was he, Mispy? Meganium is such a worthless species. No real way to counter such glaring weaknesses." Shedinja bobbed about, giggling madly. "Do you get it? Glaring? It's a light pun! Because I'll have every last drop of your light soon enough. Heeheeheehee!"

"Wow. Worse than Demitri," Mispy whispered.

Shane saddled up to Mispy. "Listen, we've gotta take Shedinja out of the equation. Then you can actually hit Groudon."

Mispy frowned. "How?"

Groudon's roar jolted them both to attention. Shane telekinetically plucked Mispy off the ground. He dragged her to the left side of the battlefield, barely running fast enough to dodge the Precipice Blades shooting up from the earth. More Bug Buzz waves threatened to smack Shane's rear. Mispy projected Light Screen barriers, deflecting the sound ripples away.

"I've got an idea." Shane zagged right, swerving past Groudon's Flamethrower. "You can change those vines of yours, right? Well, you need to wrap them all around me!"

Mispy looked disgusted at the prospect. "I'm taken!"

"No, no! It's to attack Shedinja," Shane said. He managed to fire another golden energy ball. Its explosion blinded Groudon and Shedinja. Shane set Mispy down, struggling to catch his breath. "I'm going… to launch us… into the air. Then you fling me at Shedinja as hard you can."

"Are you crazy?"

"Probably! But thinking crazy is the only reason my team's survived as long as we have. So, you're going to have to trust me, here," Shane said, extending a foreleg toward her.

Mispy sighed. "Fine," she hissed, uncoiling her vines and wrapping them around Shane's torso so she lay on top of him. "Tell nobody." The tighter grip around his body implied the punishment.

The light from Shane's attack faded, revealing another Lava Plume wall heading straight for them. "Now or never!" Shane barked. He tensed up. With a burst of ESP, he launched himself into the air. "Okay, this is it!"

Mispy tensed her core. She spun Shane around a single time, then whipped all of her vines at once. Shane shot through the air like a white, fluffy bullet. Shedinja frantically flung a Shadow Ball at Shane, but he already had gathered the energy he needed. Superheated air snuffed the Shadow Ball out. The lingering bits of the Heat Wave struck Shedinja.

"Ha! Nice try, lo—"

Shedinja shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, which evaporated.

"Yes! It worked! It—"

Groudon spiked Shane into the ground in the best impression of a volleyball player a hulking behemoth could manage. Mispy winced as she landed safely beside a Ninetales-shaped crater. Fortunately, the ominous black smoke from Shedinja's Heal Block had faded. Mispy stuck two of her vines into the hole and plucked Shane out, filling him with warm healing energy in the process. "Hello?" she asked.

Shane stared back at her, cross-eyed. "Hiya, Mom. Thanks for picking me up from school so late."

Mispy smacked Shane's cheek, leaving a vine-shaped imprint with a ripple of pink light. Shane blinked several times, then shook his head out. "Nrgh. That was… unpleasant. Thanks for the help." He turned around. "Now, let's strike in uni— oh, come on!"

Precipice Blades erupted all around them. Shane fired a golden energy ball forward, destroying two of the giant rock slabs. "Follow me!" he said, running into the debris cloud. Sighing, Mispy tailed him. Luck was on their side, as the remaining Precipice Blades burst up a few feet behind them.

"Quick. Attack him!" Shane said.

"I know," Mispy said, petals alit. A green laser struck Groudon right in the face. He staggered backwards, throwing his arms up to his eyes. Pink explosions shrouded his legs, cracking his prism armor. Groudon roared as he fell slowly onto his back, leaving trails of black magma behind him.

"All right, we've gotta make this count!" Shane stuck his left foreleg toward Mispy. "Grab this. I've got another idea!"

Mispy looked at Shane's grimy paw like it was a plate of rotten berries. She reluctantly extended a vine toward him. Shane tapped the gem on his Naturia Looplet to Mispy's vines. Orange light raced up her vines, then covered her entire body. Her eyes widened, the energy making her grin uncontrollably. "W-What—"

"It's Z-Power. Now, make like you're going to use your Solar Beam," Shane said, glowing with a similar orange aura.

"Mm." Mispy focused on this new, alien energy. A part of her was reluctant to let it go, but it wouldn't matter if she couldn't escape her current predicament. She funneled the Z-Power into her petals. Instead of firing giant green laser, however, light trailed off her petals and formed a patch of grass around Groudon.

Despite Groudon's flames, flowers bloomed on the grassy field. Then, they exploded in a gigantic green geyser. Mispy's jaw dropped. Shane was unfazed, however. He reared up, then slammed his forelegs on the ground. The very air around Groudon seemed to splinter. Mispy could hear glass shattering. She had to shield her eyes as pink, explosive ripples encased Groudon.

When the dust settled, there was no sign of him. Mispy sat down, digging her vines into the dirt. "Th… that was..." She looked at Shane. "What was that?"

"The same thing you did. We call 'em Z-Moves," Shane explained. "Do they not have them in your world?"

"Um… maybe?" Mispy's petals bristled. Her face scrunched up. "What we did… nobody. Nobody."

---

"Oy! Stop sittin' around and do something!"

Gahi frantically buzzed around, doing midair loops and somersaults while dragon-shaped beams whizzed past his wings. He turned around, Dragon Claws at the ready, only for a purple and black blur to hammer him from the side. Like a scaly, oversized fly, he smacked against the cube barrier and slid down it, groaning.

Espy dashed toward him, shooting a Shadow Ball above her. Mega Latias snuffed it out with a pink barrier, then retaliated with a Shadow Ball of her own. Espy nimbly leaped over it, landing by a dazed Gahi.

"There, I did something. Happy?" Espy huffed.

"No!" Gahi growled, rubbing his snout. "Yer making me look like a num'skull!"

"You're the one who said he could fly circles around these two!" Espy said, jabbing a forepaw into Gahi's shoulder.

"I can! They're cheatin'!" Gahi whined. He shot back into the air, only to suck in his gut. Mega Latios' Dragon Pulse whizzed past him. Gahi looked right, where Latios stuck his tongue out. "Grr! Why you—"

"Behind you!" Espy cried. Her desperate Psychic met Latias' Ice Beam a half-foot behind Gahi. He zipped away from the icy explosion.

"Heeheeheehee! You're looking a little winded there, Gahi," Latias giggled. "And here I thought you'd be excited at the prospect of facing someone who could match your speed. Where's that sense of thrill, huh?" She smirked. "I suppose it's hard to be enthusiastic when you can't get close enough to use your one and only attack!"

"Hey! I know more attacks! I just… ain't good at 'em yet, is all!" Gahi spat. "I just evolved!"

"It's not my fault the powers that be lacked the foresight to give you better moves… or that you're so much of a lunkhead you take ages to learn a single move." Latias shrugged. "I could go for either excuse, re—"

Gahi's attempts at slashing Latias across the face ended with him in a psychic bind inches in front of Latias. She smiled and waved daintily at Gahi before Latios slammed him into the barrier multiple times.

"Crud!" Espy hurled a Shadow Ball upwards. The Lati twins backed off. Espy turned around. Keeping track of both of them was proving far too troublesome. She shot another Shadow Ball at Latios, then leaped to her right. A blue pulse struck the ground. Espy looked up. Gahi shook the stars from his vision. "Hey, you're hurt! Get down here so I can patch you up!"

Black smoke spread across the battlefield. Espy found herself unable to pull an oran berry out from her bag. "Of course… Heal Block." She shook her head. "Okay, this is bad." Her ears and tail stuck up. She looked up. Shimmering blue light filled her vision. Espy braced herself, only for the ground to give out under her. She opened her eyes to find herself several feet in the air. Espy flailed her legs about.

"Quit movin' around! I'm gonna drop you if you don't cut it out!" Gahi growled.

"Then put me down!"

"No. Look, I can't him 'em from a distance. And you can't move fast enough to keep up with 'em," Gahi said, his wings bristling. "We've gotta stick tergether, yeh?"

No sooner did he finish saying that than a pair of Ice Beams raced toward him. Espy deflected them with a Light Screen barrier. "Okay, I think I see your point," she said, trying not to look down. "Can you at least get me up on your back?"

"Sure. Up yeh go!"

"Ah, wait… not like that! Not like tha— aat!"

Gahi tossed Espy skyward and caught her on his back while dodging two more Ice Beams. He shot forward. Espy barely managed to get herself up, but grinned when her next Shadow Ball hit Latios' wing. He spiraled down toward the ground.

"Yes! It actually worked!" She fist-pumped. Her joy was short-lived, however, because Latias swooped down and bathed her brother in pink light. The cracks in his crystalline wing mended. "Son of a— ugh, I really should've seen that one coming."

"They can heal themselves? I knew it! They're lousy cheaters!" Gahi hissed. He was about to divebomb them when Espy bit down on one of his antennae. "Yow! Oi! What was that fer?!"

"Don't go rushing in blindly. We need to come up with a plan," Espy said, opening up her satchel. She poked her head in, silently playing. "Perfect!" Espy squealed, popping up with a wand in her mouth. She levitated it to Gahi.

"Are yeh kidding me? Yeh want me to bonk 'em with some silly rod? This ain't gonna do a thing!" Gahi protested.

"Yes it will!" Espy said, fending off Ice Beams with another Light Screen. "It's a Slow Wand. All you've gotta do is swing it to shoot energy blasts at them. If you hit them, you'll slow them down and then you'll be able to fly circles around them."

Gahi's eyes sparkled. He grabbed the Slow Wand and took off, circling the battlefield's perimeter.

"You can pow-wow as much as you want. It won't make a difference to me!" Latios boasted. He signaled Latias. They darted toward Gahi, looking to intercept.

"Okay, here's our chance," Espy said. Her ectoplasmic energy ball sailed toward Latios' right. Gahi flicked the wand to Latios' left and perfectly intercepted him. Gahi sharply cut left, making a beeline for Latios.

"Hang on!" Gahi shouted, before rolling away from an Ice Beam. "Ha! And yeh were mocking me fer only using one attack!" Glowing blue claws slammed into Latios' wing. "Who's the lunkhead now, eh?"

"Why you—" Latios gnashed his gemstone teeth together.

"Go for Latias. I got this!" Espy said. She lunged off Gahi, catching him and Latios by surprise. Espy held onto a Shadow Ball and rammed it into Latios' torso. His cracked wing shattered. He and Espy fell to the ground. She fired psychic waves to gracefully land beside a dizzy Latios.

Her ears twitched. Espy leaped into the path of a pink beam. The Heal Pulse restored her vitality, giving her the strength to shatter Latios' other wing with more ghostly energy.

"Nrghgraa! No! This is impossible! I arranged this perfectly!" Latios snarled. A heavy thud sounded as Latias landed in an impact crater a yard away, twitching.

"Ha! Who's the Slowpoke now?" Gahi said, flexing his tiny arms.

"Don't celebrate yet. Get down here and help me finish these two!" Espy huffed.

"Eh? But it'll really knock 'em out if I divebomb 'em!" Gahi said, frowning.

"That's not— ugh, look, that won't work on them. We need a special move to take them out," Espy said.

Gahi brushed his cheek. "And just what can yeh do that's so special, huh?"

Rolling her eyes, Espy tossed Latios beside his sister. "Guess I'll handle the cleanup, then," she muttered. Z-Power spilled out from her Naturia Looplet. Espy arced her head up. Shadows swirled around the Lati twins. Giant purple arms burst forth from the ground.

"What in the—" Gahi sped toward Espy. "Where's all this coming from?"

The arms slammed down on Latios and Latias one after another, culminating in an eerie purple explosion. When the shadows vanished, there wasn't a trace of either of them.

"Why didn't yeh just do that from the get-go?!" Gahi fumed, hovering in front of Espy's face. "Coulda saved us a lotta trou—"

Espy shoved an oran berry into Gahi's open mouth.

"Your leader was right. You do not know when to shut up."

---

"Nrrgh! Hold! Still!"

A Klefki zipped through rock spires shooting out of the ground. "And why should I do something like that? It's much more fun watching you flail around!" she cackled, jingling her keys. "Poor Demitri. Can't punch your way through your problems without your friends around. It breaks my heart." Klefki flew behind him. "Oh, wait, I don't have a heart!" She shook her head. "Silly bizarre Pokémon anatomy. So confusing, isn't it?"

Demitri angrily stomped around. "Why you— shut up! I… I…" He gripped his head and shook it.

"Heeheeheehee! Want to know what else is confusing? Those tusks of yours. How can you detach them and not, like, get an infection or anything?" Kelfki wondered, remaining behind Demitri. "For that matter, how do they even come back to you when you throw them? The physics ain't there, doofus!"

From across the battlefield, Tessa looked over her shoulder. "What are you doing? Can't you tell when an opponent's Swaggering you?" she barked.

"Well, uh… oh." Demitri dropped to one knee and stared at his hand. It was blurry, like he'd stuck it under water. "H-Hey. Why can't you help?"

Tessa fired an Aura Sphere. It collided with a mirror image. She threw an arm up over her face. "Because I'm a bit busy at the moment!" she growled. Tessa charged a Flash Cannon, but her aura feelers tensed. She hopped back. A dragon-shaped beam hit the ground in front of her. Giratina's serpentine Origin Form loomed overhead. Tessa fired straight up, then took off running.

Two Dragon Pulses snuffed out the Flash Cannon. Blue fireballs gathered in Giratina's other four tendrils. Tessa glanced back. Her aura feelers shot up in alarm. She sprinted toward Kelfki, who had knocked Demitri to his belly with a mouth-shaped burst of pink energy. Four Aura Spheres chased after Tessa. She somersaulted underneath Klefki.

"Hmm? Eager to perish by my keys, huh? Well, I'm happy to ob—"

Tessa punched Kelfki into the oncoming Aura Spheres. Explosions drowned out her startled cries. Sighing in relief, Tessa leaned over and yanked Demitri up. He stumbled to a stop.

"Th-Thanks." Demitri rubbed the back of his head. "Think you can keep Klefki off my back? I might be able to take that big, ugly snake."

"Sounds good to me," Tessa replied, happy to have that burden off her shoulders. The relief came to an abrupt stop as Giratina charged out of a shadowy portal and hammered Tessa into the barrier.

Blue energy sheathed Demitri's tusks. He tried to slash Giratina, but electricity ran up his spine. He froze in place.

"Heeheeheehee! Forgetting someone?"

Demitri tried to move, but his legs wouldn't respond. He could do nothing but stare into Giratina's face as two Dragon Pulses blew him toward the far side of the battlefield.

Tessa scrambled toward him, clutching her right shoulder in pain. Giratina shot Aura Spheres from his tendrils. Tessa tucked her head in and stuck close to the barrier. The Aura Spheres slammed against it. She stumbled and fell to her stomach beside Demitri. They both groaned in pain.

"Gah! This is so frustrating!" Tessa threw her paws over his face. "We need a plan. Can you stand up?"

"Nrrgh… n-no. Can't feel my legs," Demitri muttered. "Oh, Mew, it's like I'm in one of those nightmares where I'm running away from a giant death beam, but no matter what I do, it keeps getting closer."

Tessa's aura feelers shot up. She rolled to her feet and swung electrified fists around to snuff out Klefki's Thunder Wave. This left Tessa vulnerable. She took a blue fireball to the back. Tessa got a mouthful of dirt for her troubles. She smacked the ground with a paw, mentally telling herself to take deep breaths.

"Heeheeheehee! Why, you work even worse with dino-breath over here than you did with Shane when you two were starting out," Klefki said. "I should've considered trying even harder to drive a wedge between you two."

Aura surged in Tessa's paws. She nearly hurled an Aura Sphere forward, but stopped at the last moment when she realized she was staring down Giratina. Tessa instead jammed a paw into her bag.

"Oh no you don't!"

Black smoke spread out from Klefki. Tessa lunged for Demitri. She managed to jam a heal seed and an oran berry into his mouth right before the Heal Block caught her and sealed off crucial items. Tessa spun around, shooting gray beams from her paws. They faltered before two Dragon Pulses.

"Come on. Get up! I need backup, here," Tessa growled, grabbing Demitri by the arm and yanking him up.

"Agh! I'm up! I'm up!" Demitri rolled his arm. "Holy Mew. And here I thought Mispy's grips were strong."

"Less talking, more attacking," Tessa said. She hurled a blast seed through the air. Thinking quickly, Demitri detached his tusks. One sliced through the blast seed before Giratina or Klefki could break it. An explosion blinded Demitri's foes.

"Get back!" Demitri said. He punched the ground. Stone spires jutted up in front of him. Pained cries sounded across the battlefield. Demitri's tail wagged.

Tessa seized her opening and tracked Klefki's aura. Reeling from the Stone Edge, Klefki had no countermeasures for her Aura Sphere. By the same token, however, Tessa lacked the means to defend herself against Giratina's Aura Spheres. Luckily, Demitri was ready. His first tusk returned to him, slicing two blue fireballs apart. Demitri downed the other two with his other tusk.

"Clever parlor trick. But that's the last time I'm letting you pull it off!" Klefki hissed.

"He's coming in overhead!" Tessa said, leaping into the air to intercept. A dragon-shaped beam sniped her first, however. Tessa hit the barrier and crashed into the ground.

Demitri readied another Stone Edge, but wasn't fast enough. Klefki's sparks peppered his scales. Paralysis set in once again. Demitri slowly came to a stop in mid-swing.

Tessa shakily lifted her head to see Demitri's arms and tail twitching, with Klefki circling around him, laughing gleefully. "No… it can't end like this. It can't."

Her field of vision turned blue.

"Come on… come on. I won't… I can't… give up here!"

A sudden surge of energy shot through Tessa's system. She zoomed across the ground, skirting Aura Spheres. Giratina dropped from the sky, mouth open wide to swallow Tessa up. However, the orange blur raced by him. Tessa banked right. She lunged for Klefki, nabbing her in an electrified fist. Tessa slammed Kelfki into the ground.

Demitri's eyes widened. "W-Wait… did you just transform?"

Tessa thrust her paws apart, dispelling the orange glow and revealing her Mega Evolution in its full splendor. She fixed her blazing red eyes on Klefki. "Chew on this, dirtbag!" She grabbed hold of Demitri's tail.

"H-Hey. Wait a second! I'm not okay with th— ahh!"

Tessa used a very literal version of Dragon Hammer. Repeatedly.

Tessa successfully smashed Klefki to bits and pieces, her fairy-typing unable to save her from blunt-force trauma. Victorious, Tessa hoisted a dizzy Demitri up. "Oogh. Is it over? I've got the worst sense of déjà vu," he groaned.

"Not yet. Ready to move faster than you've ever moved before?" Tessa said.

Demitri's eyes bugged out. "No! I'm not! Put me down!" But his paralysis hindered his movements.

Tessa stuffed another heal seed into his mouth. "Ready your Dual Chop."

"Wait, what? How are you going to—"

Tessa used Fling.

"Seriously?!" Demitri cried, speeding through the air. He managed to gather his wits, channeling energy into his tusks. Giratina was so unprepared, he couldn't ready an attack before Demitri collided with him. Demitri dug in his claws, then hacked away with his tusks. Giratina fell to the ground, roaring in pain. He shattered into hundreds of pieces that promptly evaporated, leaving Demitri stuck in the ground by his tail-axe.

"Nice work! You were perfect," Tessa cheered, fist-pumping in excitement.

"Yeah. Great. Feels great. Go team," Demitri deadpanned, yanking his tail out of the ground. He arced his back, which cricked loudly. "Oogh. That's gonna hurt in the morning." He looked up at the sky. "Say, uh… is it me or has the sky gotten brighter since we started fighting?"

Tessa followed his gaze. Her aura dreadlocks crinkled. "That's… that's not good."

---

Crystal arrows punctured Owen's wing membranes. One struck him in the right thigh. Owen roared, desperately flapping his wings to maintain altitude. Shadows swirled beneath him. James' lone red eye pierced through the darkness. Flames split the shadows apart, revealing James readying Spirit Shackle arrows. Owen's eyes widened. He braced himself for a fresh wave of pain.

But it was James who cried out instead. Owen caught a glimpse of Silvally's tail whizzing by. His relief was short-lived, however. Arceus' wheel shimmered in the distance. Rock shards careened toward him. Owen had no choice but to tuck his wings in, falling to the ground and running as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

Arceus looked down at him. He tensed up. An unsettling chill ran down Owen's spine. He instinctively whipped his wings forward. Arceus popped up inches in front of him and staggered backward, hissing in surprise. Owen shrugged off his lucky prediction of Arceus using Extreme Speed. He pushed Arceus back with a Flamethrower.

"You're not getting away from me, worm!"

Panicking, Owen tried shooting into the air, but the holes in his wings hindered his movement. Owen concentrated on the Mystic power dwelling in his core and channeled it into his wings. He hovered out of the way of an arrow barrage. Owen glanced down.

"I've got this! Keep Arceus at bay for me!" Silvally shouted, icy air swirling around his beak and talons.

James peeled himself off the barrier. "What's this? Setting your boyfriend up to take the fall, are we? That's not very nice of—"

A sheet of ice pelted James, freezing him to the ground. Silvally was ready to lunge and wail on James, when he skidded to a halt. He glanced back at Owen, who Arceus had knocked back with a nasty Zen Headbutt.

'Wait. Don't I have to finish this guy off with a Z-Move or Mega Evolution to free him from Necrozma's control?' Silvally winced. He couldn't do either of those things. Did that mean James was doomed to have his life force drained by Necrozma. Silvally scanned the battlefield. He squinted at the light beams Arceus sent toward Owen. His eyes flickered.

"Ah! That's it!" he shouted. Silvally raced forward, leaving James frozen in place, even though the ice was chipping away. Silvally bounded toward Owen, beak open wide.

Owen flew right over him, a confused look on his face. "What are you doing? What about James?"

"We can't finish him off yet. If we do, you might lose your friend forever!" Silvally explained. "You have to tend to him. I've got a plan!" He zipped away before Owen could ask him for details. Silvally collected all the dust from Arceus' latest attack in the base of his mouth.

Arceus slammed his hooves on the ground. Stone Edge spires jutted up. Silvally clamped his beak shut and held his breath, worried about inhaling all the dust. He weaved through the rocks, then turned tail and ran back through them, gathering more dust in his beak. Silvally dashed toward Owen. The latter stood in front of James, Flamethrower at the ready if he burst out of the ice.

Roaring, Arceus landed on the ground. Bright light rippled across his body. An unseen weight pressed down on Silvally's shoulders. He nearly fell to the ground, losing all the dust in the process. Silvally clamped his beak shut and shook his head about. Likewise, Owen choked on his own Flamethrower, struggling to maintain his footing.

"What's going on here?" Owen grunted.

"Gravity, of course! I'm surprised you didn't recognize it. It's a Barky specialty!"

Owen's eyes widened. Pain spread through his chest. He sailed through the air and landed in a heap near Silvally, who glanced to his right to see Arceus readying another attack. Silvally's eyes widened. He had no other choice to put his plan into action. Silvally turned left and stomped on Owen's belly. Owen gasped, mouth opening wide.

'Sorry about this.'

Silvally spat a small gem out of his mouth and into Owen's. He sat up, eyes wide, looking ready to gag. "What was that for?!" Owen huffed.

"Heeheeheehee! Aww, look, the lovebirds are having a special moment right before I take their light. How adorable," James said. "But we have to keep this T-rated, so I'm afraid I have to intervene!"

A half-dozen arrows raced toward Owen and Silvally, accompanied by dazzling light beams from Arceus. Owen stepped forward, opened his mouth wide, and spewed a massive stream of blue fire, blowing apart the arrows. Silvally leaped in front of Owen, ghost memories active, and blunted the Judgment beams with purple ectoplasm. Orange light shimmered behind him.

James' eyes widened. "No, that's impossible! He shouldn't be able to do that!"

Silvally smirked. "You should've been more careful, Necrozma. All those attacks Barky over here used gave off stardust." He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "And you know what we can do with that stardust."

"Emeras…" James eyes darted about. "Awakening emeras?!" He whirled on Arceus. "Fool! Attack them! Kill them! Rip them to pieces!"

A fiery tornado erupted behind Silvally, giving way to a pillar of orange light. Owen burst forth from the light with a mighty roar, spreading his freshly-healed, dark-blue, newly-jagged wings apart. Blue flames licked at the corners of his mouth. Owen looked at his black-scaled hands and thickened claws. "Th… this is… I feel…"

Spirit Shackle arrows whizzed toward him. Owen effortlessly blew them apart with a massive Flamethrower, as blue as his enlarged tail-flame. Below him, Silvally lunged into the air, slicing apart giant rocks with his bright orange talons.

"It's up to you, Owen! Use that surge of power to free your friend!" Silvally cried, kicking off a rock and lunging for Arceus.

Owen's gut stirred. Without even thinking, Owen sped toward James. His body heated up. That heat morphed into a surge of familiar energy. He'd seen Gahi and Demitri using it numerous times. Corkscrewing through James' desperate Shadow Ball, Owen couldn't help but shout, "DRAGON!"

He collided with James. A veritable tsunami of blue energy crashed into him. James struck the cube barrier. His prism armor shattered as he fell to the ground. Owen didn't have time to question how he had effortlessly succeeded in learning Outrage. He swooped down, caught James, then gently lowered him to the ground. James faded into a blue fireball that dissolved into Owen's belly.

"Hang tight, James. This'll all be over soon," Owen said, patting his stomach. He turned and shot off after Silvally, channeling the same energy he'd used to attack James with. Silvally spotted Owen out of the corner of his eye and shifted to his grass memories. Green energy shrouded his forelegs.

Arceus' wheel ignited. Before he could pelt Silvally with fireballs, however, Owen slammed into him from behind, leaving a giant crack in Arceus' hide. Silvally shifted over to his water memories. He lunged toward Arceus and intercepted him with a swipe of his talons. Arceus crashed into the ground with a raspy groan. Owen flew to Silvally's side. They dived toward Arceus in unison.

The resultant shockwave generated from their piercing of Arceus' body obliterated all the cube barriers. They, along with Arceus' shattered remnants, faded away into a black mist, leaving Owen and Silvally standing side by side.

"Oh, thank goodness! You're all okay!"

Tessa ran over toward Silvally. His eyes widened. "Tessa! A-Are you sure you're okay like that?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't really know how, but I'm managing," she replied.

"Oi! What's all this now? Owen… since when could yeh Mega Evolve?"

Gahi whizzed by Owen, stopping to look at his backside. He frowned as Owen turned around. "Silvally helped me do it thanks to some, um, split-second thinking," Owen said. "I was able to rescue James from Necrozma's control. He's tucked away in the Grass Orb for now. What's more… I'm finally a dragon!" Owen tilted his head up and belted out blue fire. "Isn't this great?"

"Huh. Well, consider yourself lucky. If you'd gotten the other Mega Evolution that Charizard are capable of, you'd have kept your typing," Shane said, unable to stop himself from smirking at the sight of another Pokémon fanboying over dragon-types.

Gahi, on the other hand, wasn't amused. "Wait. Owen has two Mega Evolutions?"

Shane nodded. "Isn't it great?" he said, smugly mimicking Owen's question from earlier.

"No! It's unfair is what is! Why did Star give him two Mega Evolutions while I get nothing?" Gahi huffed. "I can understand her ignoring Mispy. Mega Meganium doesn't make any sense. But the world needs Mega Flygon!"

"Funny you should mention that. I'm pretty sure the—" Shane paused en route to Gahi and Owen. "Err, I think the powers that be wanted to make a Mega Flygon, but couldn't come up with any solid ideas for what it should look like. Well, that's the case in this world anyway."

Gahi looked about ready to burst a blood vessel. Owen zipped to his side and threw an arm over Gahi's neck. "Aha ha ha. Well, I'm sure Star would be happy to listen to your complaints when we get back home."

"Um, guys?"

Everyone turned toward Espy, who was looking up at the sky. "We still haven't, y'know, actually stopped Necrozma."

As if on cue, the golden vortex above their heads stopped swirling. Its center spread apart, revealing a multicolored portal.

"Heehee… heeheeheehee! Yes! It's finally ready!"

Shane's tails shot into the air. "Damn it! If Necrozma fires his decay powers into that thing… then every world in every reality will perish! We've gotta do something!"

"Wait… that's his plan?!" Demitri shot stunned looks toward his teammates. "B-But that means—"

"We have to stop him now," Mispy said.

"But I already spent up my Z-Power," Espy said, glancing at her looplet.

"Then we have to make a run at Necrozma. He's practically built from the stuff!" Silvally said, bending down. "Get on. We've got no time to lose!"

Team Radiance climbed aboard Silvally while Mispy hopped onto Gahi and Demitri got on Owen. Silvally flipped to his dark memories. "Everyone, form behind me!"

He charged forward, passing through the ruins of Destiny Tower. Team Alloy trailed behind him, their eyes trained on Necrozma. Light tendrils trailed off his body, streaming toward the sky to stabilize the Cataclysmic Ultra Rift. Two multicolored eyes opened.

"Do you fools really think you can stop me? How utterly laughable! I will mull you down where you stand!" Necrozma shouted. Golden beams fired from his wings.

"There's our chance!" Silvally said, skidding to a halt. "You guys, scatter! My team will gather up stardust!" Silvally took off running again, trying to avoid the giant lasers.

Gahi and Owen stayed airborne, the former zipping effortlessly through a series of brightly-colored explosions, while the latter had to throw up a blue barrier to keep himself from getting vaporized. Owen shot a stream of fire toward Necrozma, but he was too far away for the attack to do much of anything.

"Obnoxious pests. Die already!"

Shadows bubbled in Necrozma's wings. This time, sickly, thorn-like globs twisted through the air. Owen's eyes widened. "Gahi, get back! You can't let those things touch you!"

"Yeh, yeh, I know, I know!" Gahi was back beside Owen in an instant. Mispy looked a bit dazed. "When are they gonna tell us what their big plan is?"

"Just focus on dodging," Owen said, flying to the right. A liquid thorn came perilously close to clipping his wing, but Mispy zapped it away with a well-timed Solar Beam. Gahi flew ahead of Owen, trying to steer his friend through the tangled mess of corrupted energy. After a few rolls and tumbles, Owen emerged out the end of Necrozma's deadly, makeshift labyrinth. They were now close enough Necrozma that Owen had to squint just to see anything.

"Down here!" Silvally cried, prompting Owen and Gahi to look down.

"Oh no you don't!" Necrozma roared. His eyes flashed pink. A psychic force took hold of all four members of Team Alloy. Owen struggled in vain while Necrozma levitated him higher into the air. "Heeheeheehee! Well, you certainly provided me with some entertainment, I'll give you that. But it's time you met your ends." More shadows bubbled in his wing membranes. "Now, perish!"

Before Necrozma could launch the killing blow, white light hammered him from below. Screeching, Necrozma lost his grip on Team Alloy.

"Your turn, Espy!" Shane cried, rushing to intercept Team Alloy with Silvally. Espy looked up, forehead gem flashing. A second Dazzling Gleam struck Necrozma between his golden legs. He coughed up a mouthful of sparkling spittle. One of the light tendrils tethering him to the Ultra Rift tore apart.

"Nrrrgh! Stop! Stop it! I am Necrozma, Devourer of Light… Destroyer of Worlds! You cannot defeat me! I am eternal!" Necrozma thundered.

"Yeah, well you should've thought about that before tethering yourself to your fancy-schmancy portal, asshole!" Espy fired back. She turned around and shook her rear at him, swishing her tail from side to side.

Red light flared up all through Necrozma's eyes and body. "Indolent little cur! I will annihilate the lot of you!" Necrozma craned his head up. Purple and black decay energy formed up into a ball over his mouth. It swelled bigger and bigger until it was even larger than Necrozma. "Heehee… heeheeheehee! This is the end for you… for all of you!"

Necrozma thrust his wings down, flinging the death sphere down toward Team Alloy and Team Radiance.

Espy shot a frantic look toward the rest of the group. "Do it now, Shane!" she cried, lifting up her looplet. It shimmered with golden light. A fresh orange aura enveloped her. Espy tensed up, one again summoning the giant ghost-arms from the ground and launching them toward Necrozma's energy ball. They pressed up against the decay energy, but only slowed its progress.

Then another orange flash erupted. A giant ice beam joined Espy's ghost arms, slowing the death ball to a complete stop.

Necrozma's multicolored eyes widened. "What? That's impossible! Nothing can stand up to that power! It's meant to be unstoppable!" he snarled. "And you burned up all your Z-Moves! How? Why?!"

"It's thanks to all that light energy you poured into your attacks!" Silvally said, grinning. "I thought you out of everyone would know what a force Z-Power is to be reckoned with!"

The death sphere slowly moved back toward Necrozma. He tried to float back, but his light tethers kept him place. "No. It won't end like this! I refuse! You will never defeat me!" Necrozma spread his wings out. Purple energy coalesced around his chest spike. He struck the death ball with a Moongeist Beam, pushing it back toward the ground.

Silvally glanced at Owen's teammates. "We're up! Get ready!"

Mispy wrapped some of her vines around Silvally's Memory Looplet, then looped others around Demitri's and Gahi's arms. Orange light spread across all three of them.

"Whoa! This feeling! It's almost like… like…" Demitri's voice trailed off. Dragonfire pooled in the back of his throat. He and Gahi looked up in unison. Both belched out gigantic dragons made of blue-purple fire. The energy-dragons corkscrewed around one another until they joined with the other attacks. This brought the death ball to a standstill once again.

"Nrrgh… nnn… h-how? This can't… be happening!" Necrozma grunted.

"It's time to put an end to all of this!" Tessa bellowed, aura charging in her paws. She glanced at Owen. "You ready?"

Owen nodded, mouth ready to burst open with flames.

"Say your prayers, Necrozma!" Tessa shouted. She thrust her paws forward, releasing a giant blue beam. At the same time, Owen unleashed an equally-massive Flamethrower. The moment they struck the death sphere, blue energy rippled across it. The collision sent it hurtling back toward Necrozma, bolstered by the combination of Z-Moves.

"No! No!" Necrozma couldn't keep his Moongeist Beam up while trying to destroy his light tendrils. "Jam… blast— arrrgh!"

His agonized screams echoed through the sky for a few seconds before a tremendous multicolor explosion drowned him out. The blast was so strong, it knocked everyone onto their backs. As the explosion faded, the faint sounds of shattering glass rang out across the island.

In flashes of orange light, Owen and Tessa returned to normal. Tessa dropped to her paws and knees, panting heavily. "O-Ow," she squeaked. "Let's not… ever do that… again."

Owen looked at his hands and sighed. "It was fun while it lasted, I guess."

"Is it over? Did we win?" Demitri asked, rubbing his head.

The dust finally settled. All traces of the Cataclysmic Ultra Rift had vanished. The sky was now a deep-purple, with scattered traces of black clouds. Mispy looked up and frowned. "Doesn't feel like it," she whispered.

"We did it!" Shane shouted, hopping about. "Thank the gods, this nightmare is finally over!"

"Yeh sure about that? Cause yer world looks pretty dang depressin'," Gahi said, flying forward and taking in the view of Destiny Tower's ruins.

Shane winced. "It… it's not supposed to look like this. But since we beat Necrozma, everything should go back to normal! Right guys?" He looked to his teammates, tails wagging. But when none of them responded, his ears and tails drooped. "Uh, guys?"

Tessa jogged away from the group, aura feelers twitching. She slowed down upon finding the source of the irritation: the shattered remnants of Necrozma's core. Black slime oozed out of the colorless glass shards. "Hey! I, uh… I found Necrozma!" she called. "Or what's left of him, anyway."

"You're kidding! He survived that?" Shane said, running to Tessa's side. He cringed when he saw what was left. "Eww. Never mind." He looked over his shoulder and barked, "Hey, watch where you're stepping, everyone!"

"How should we get rid of it?" Tessa wondered.

"I dunno," Shane said, brow furrowed. "I guess I could freeze it and then you could break it?"

Tessa shrugged. "I guess that works."

Shane sucked in a breath, only to stumble back, squeaking in surprise as an Ultra Wormhole opened up in front of him. A neon-blue hook shot out of the portal and embedded in the ground. A blue forcefield encased Necrozma's remains and levitated them up into the air.

"Finally! Yo, Vix. We've got him!"

Shane's tails shot into the air. "What's going on here? Who goes there?" he said.

"You're kidding me! After all that, we've got another problem?" Owen groaned, trudging over alongside Silvally and his teammates.

The forcefield bubble moved to the side. A Solgaleo stepped out of the portal, the modified grappling hook sticking out from a band around his right foreleg.

"W-Whoa! It's that thing Necrozma looked like," Demitri said. "What does it want with us?"

"Oh, don't worry about Aelius, here. He's fine."

Aelius turned to reveal two Vulpixes, a Zorua, and a Fennekin sitting on his left side. Each one wore a white jumpsuit and helmeted visor that looked awfully familiar to Team Radiance.

"What's wit' the crazy getups? You guys aliens?" Gahi wondered, tilting his head to the side.

"An Ultra Recon Squad?" Espy's eyes narrowed. "Wait a second… I recognize this combo! You're Team Foxtrot, aren't you? The ones Team Paradox rescued… and who inadvertently freed Necrozma from his prison!" She glared at them.

Sherbet shrank back toward Aelius. "O-Oh no. C-Captain, they know about us! W-What should we do? There's too many for us to take!"

"Hush, girl! They're probably talking crazy! This place is nothing but a glorified crater. They can't know anything about the Ultra Recon Squad," Cole scoffed.

"Actually, we're friends with Team Paradox," Tessa said, crossing her arms. "They told us all about you."

"S-See? I told you this was a bad idea!" Sherbet whimpered.

"Uh… anyone else totally lost right now?" Demitri asked. His teammates raised their hands… or, in Mispy's case, vines.

"Did you guys come for Necrozma?" Silvally growled. "Because if you think we're about to let you walk off with him after all the damage he's done—"

"Now you listen here, Beast Killer!" Vixen said, causing Silvally's fierce expression to falter. Team Alloy exchanged confused looks. "We've been trying to track Necrozma down ever since he laid waste to Ultra Village. We just had a lot of setbacks. But now that we've got him, we can see to it that he's properly disposed of."

"Not to mention get off of prob—"

"Yeh'll be taken off probation when we say you're ready."

Team Foxtrot cringed and looked behind them. A bunny, a gecko, and a monkey all stood on Aelius' specialized seats, wearing the same gear as Team Foxtrot. The bunny leaped off, landing in front of Team Foxtrot. "We're yer co-cap'ns. So, unless yeh four want to get stuck on laundry duty once we're back at base, yeh'll shape yer attitudes up!"

Vixen shuffled backward. "Yeah, yeah," she mumbled.

"Excuse me? What did yeh jus' say?" the bunny huffed.

"Err… yes, sir, Captain Striker!" Vixen shouted, standing at attention.

The bunny turned to Tessa and extended an arm. "Forgive 'em. Scorbunny Striker, interim co-cap'n of Team Foxtrot," he said. Tessa hesitantly took his arm and shook it. He turned and gestured back toward Aelius. "My fellow co-cap'ns, Sobble William and Grookey Frakes."

William slid behind Frakes, only for the latter to shove the former away with an annoyed huff. Tessa looked at them, blinking slowly. "Scor… bunny? I'm sorry… what? Are you guys Pokémon or Ultra Beasts?"

"Ultra Beasts? P'shaaw! Yeh living under a rock or somethin', lassie? We're 'mons through an' through!" Striker declared, thumping his chest.

"Um, captain, it's entirely possible your species might not exist in this world," Sherbet offered.

Striker looked around. "No kiddin'. I'm surprised anythin' exists here. This place is a total dump!"

"I'm so lost here," Owen whispered, shaking his head.

"Good. It ain't jus' me fer once," Gahi said, smirking. "I like that captain guy, though."

Owen gave his teammate an unamused look. He walked toward Striker. "Uh, hi there? Mind if I interject for a second."

"Oi. And what d'ya want, laddie?" Striker asked.

"I'm not a kid," Owen huffed. "And I just wanted to talk for a second." Owen took a deep breath, then quickly surmised the situation with his team, Team Radiance, and Necrozma.

"I see," Striker muttered, tapping his foot rapidly on the ground. "Any of you lot sendin' this info back to base?"

"Y-Yessir!" Sherbet said. "And I got a response from them!" She trotted over to Striker and handed him a cube displaying a holographic message.

"Hmm. All right. Can't argue with that, I guess," Striker said, shrugging.

"What did it say? Do your bosses know a way to fix up our world?" Silvally asked, a worried look on his face.

"Ha! Are yeh kiddin'? Look around yeh! No amount of pixie dust or wishful thinkin' could fix this up!" Striker said, stifling a laugh.

Team Radiance's jaws dropped in unison. "Wait, wait, wait! That can't be right!" Shane said. "We… we had people counting on us to help them! What about our friends?!"

"And our families?" Tessa squeaked, placing a trembling paw against her chest.

Striker clapped his hands together. "Oi! William!"

William hopped off Aelius and trudged over to Tessa. "There, there." He rubbed her leg. His visor slid up, revealing tear-filled eyes. "If you need to cry, I'll cry along with you."

"This can't be right. There's gotta be something you lot can do!" Silvally fumed, his fire memories activating.

"Sorry, bucko, we've got our orders. We're to help these folks get to a rendezvous point." Striker pointed at Team Alloy. "Yeh'll have to wait for a separate Solgaleo to come and take yeh to a refugee center, like the other folks who lost their worlds to UB attacks."

"Are you serious?! Our world's still here! We just need to… uh…" Shane's voice trailed off.

Striker shrugged. "Our base said we gotta get you off this hunk of rock. They're gonna be repurposin' it for… lesse here…" He looked at the cube Sherbet handed him. "Ah, here we are. Fer Chocobo habitation!"

"Seriously?! You're telling us to shove off so you can replace our home with Chocobos? What the hell kind of bullshit is that?!" Shane snarled.

Frakes and Team Foxtrot surrounded Shane. "Look, either you come along willingly or we'll sedate you. It's your choice," Vixen said.

"I… I don't believe this," Shane whispered. His legs grew so weary he had to sit down.

Owen walked over to Silvally. "I'm, uh, really sorry… about what happened to your home," he said, rubbing his shoulder. "I wish there was something we could do for you." He glanced at his teammates, who were climbing into the seats on Aelius' back. "I'd offer to let you come back to Kilo with us, but…" His voice trailed off and he shook his head. "I'm starting to think it's not safe over there, either."

Silvally lowered his head. "It's okay," he rasped. "We'll be fine. The team's—" He cut himself off with a sniffle. "We've always found a way to pull through in the past."

Owen put a hand on Silvally's shoulder. "There's so much I wish we could talk about. Will we ever get to see each other again?"

"Who knows? I think, for now, you should focus on keeping the peace in your world," Silvally said. "And, no matter what happens, stay positive and don't give up. That's what I like most about you."

Owen couldn't help but lean over and hug Silvally. "Take care," he whispered.

"You too," Silvally said. He rejoined his teammates while Owen flew onto Aelius backside. Team Radiance watched as Aelius jumped back into the Ultra Wormhole, taking Team Alloy with him.

"So, I guess… this is it, huh?" Tessa said. "Everything's over… only it's not the ending we really wanted." She shook her head. "I just can't believe it! After all that work… all the struggles… this is what we're left with? It's so… so…"

Silvally nudged Tessa. "We can't give up here. Even if it sucks how things turned out, we have to look forward. It's what…" He sucked in a breath. "I think that's what everyone else would want us to do if they were still here."

He looked at his teammates. They slowly nodded at him.

"Yer ride's here!" Striker announced, gesturing to a second Solgaleo that had popped up from another Ultra Wormhole.

Team Radiance silently climbed aboard. Shane turned around and took one last look at the darkened sky and rotting ground.

"Goodbye, Horizon. I wish things could've ended differently," he whispered, before everything vanished in a flash of light.

THE EN—

"Cut, cut, cut!"

A white forepaw kept the Ultra Wormhole from closing completely. Shane and his teammates walked back out, the former with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Seriously? This is what we're doing for April Fools' Day? Another stupid crossover?" Shane looked around. "Yo, Giratina! Get your pasty butt out here!"

One of Hoopa's ring portals materialized next to Shane and produced a gray tail. It wagged excitedly. Shane looked at it with disgust. "That's not what I meant!"

"You should've been more specific, then!"

The rest of Giratina waddled out of the portal, with Hoopa lounging casually on his head. He caught his ring with his free hand. "Well, what do you want?" Hoopa asked.

"To lodge a complaint! This idea stinks!" Shane snorted out frost. "It's even stupider than last year's!"

"What are you talking about? It's perfect!" Giratina chirped, his tail wagging. "It plays off subverting gambler's fallacy to catch everyone by surprise."

"Yeah. See, Hoopa knew that, after last year, people wouldn't expect you to do another crossover… because that'd be too predictable," Hoopa said. "So, Hoopa and Giratina got the director's permission to create this, catching everyone off-guard." His grin broadened. "A perfect prank!"

Shane frowned, not remotely swayed by Hoopa's "logic."

"It's a mean-spirited prank, is what it is! Tricking people into thinking this was the end? That's unnecessarily cruel!" Silvally said, narrowing his eyes at Hoopa.

"Oh, p'shaw. Hoopa had way more convincing fake endings planned that he could've used," Hoopa said, nonchalantly flipping his free hand. "If Hoopa really wanted to upset people, he would've had Necrozma slaughter the lot of you and destroy the world."

A new Ultra Wormhole opened beside Giratina. Necrozma, bound to a Solgaleo again, stuck his head out. "What?! Why didn't we go with that option, then? It would've been way more fun!"

"No. Pranks are fun when they're silly. Not if they make people sad," Giratina said, pretending to rub tears from his eyes with his wings. "This prank has silliness in spades. That's what makes it great!"

Shane rolled his eyes. "You two have a weird definition of silliness. And great, for that matter." He sighed and shook his head.

"Well, the joke's on you, because this stuff was written into your contract!" Giratina said, sticking his tongue out.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's not my fault the one in charge is such a doofus," Shane grumbled. He turned and stomped toward the original Ultra Wormhole. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my trailer."

Silvally tilted his head. "Doing what?"

"What do you think?" Shane smirked, then vanished into the portal.

Everyone looked expectantly at Silvally, who blinked slowly. After a few seconds, his head crest fanned out. "Hey, uh, I just realized I left an oven in my quiche. Gotta run!" He dashed off into the same Ultra Wormhole, ignoring his teammates' confused looks.

"Uh… am I missing something, here?" Tessa asked, looking back at the others.

"Yes you are. But if Hoopa told you, we'd have to bump up the production's rating!" Hoopa snickered. He threw open a ring portal and disappeared into it with Giratina, leaving Espy and Tessa standing there, their faces paling.

Happy April Fools' Day!

---

Yes, that's right... this was yet another silly crossover omake. The fic is not over. I marked it as being complete for the sake of the joke, so I'm sorry if I spooked anyone. This year was a follow-up of sorts to an event that took place on Serebii, in which Silvally met a bunch of characters from other fanfics... and Necrozma wound up hijacking the plot and trying to kill everyone. Hence why some of these characters know each other. So, I'd like to thank Namohysip, who gave me permission to use the cast and setting from his fic, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation and served as my beta to make sure I wrote his characters correctly. If you haven't read it and you're interested in what you saw, give it a look. It's in my favorites list

Likewise, Aelius, who showed up at the end, is a character made by sakarime, who's been a huge help with the ask blog as well as some recent character and scenery-related descriptions. She's working on a PMD comic. If you're looking for something else to read or want to see some adorable art, then this is right up your alley: deviantart dot com / sakarime / gallery /

Okay, so I know this update had plenty of jokes going around... but I do have a serious matter to bring up. As of this posting, Guiding Light will no longer be updating weekly. The short version is that I am in a bad place physically and mentally and can't maintain this update schedule. If you want to read my full reasoning, you can do so here: ask-the-guiding-light-cast dot tumblr dot com / post / 183620487223 / slowing-things-down. Updates will continue to be on Saturdays, but I recommend following the story (or the blog) so you get alerted. I realize there are plenty of people following this fic, whether you're a regular commenter or a silent reader. I'm sorry if I'm disappointing any of you, but this is the only way I can see the fic through to the end successfully. Thank you for understanding.

SuperOmegaGuest: Thanks for the kind words. And, yes, of course some folks are surviving! I don't want things getting too depressing, here.

Anon Omega: Mew's behavior is more of less what I headcanon your prototypical Mew does on a daily basis.

Dovah Bear: Well, glad to have you back. Stick around, because we're getting to the really juicy stuff!

LarimerMoon: I'm not sure if you're going to see this, but you're more than welcome to! I'd love to see it. The problem is, FFN doesn't like people posting links to anything (as you can tell from these notes, ha ha), so to send any links, you'd probably have to use the fic's tumblr blog or something.

Another guest: Dark Matter, you say? Hmm... well, we'll see about that in the coming chapters. And I managed to send something off. Hopefully it reached you.

Okay, that'll do it. Next time: Peering into the eye of the storm.