Apologies to anyone I couldn't get review replies out to. It seems I might've come down with another stomach ulcer. This one's really bad, so I'm crawling back into bed after this goes up because I can't get to the doctor's.
Chapter 92: One Grand Spirited Defense
With her Mega Evolution active, Latias flew in a wide arc around Lugia. The last time she'd encountered him, Necrozma had made things too chaotic for her to get a good sense of what had happened to her mate. Now, Latias could see the chunks of Prism Armor bolted to his chest, fins, and wings. The green flames flickering in his red eyes left her with a nagging sense of familiarity, but she wasn't sure why.
Lugia, for his part, seemed stunned by Latias' newfound speed. Like a cat focusing in on a shiny object, he spun around, trying to track Latias' movement. Purple wings slammed together, but Latias was well out of the way of the fierce cyclone Lugia kicked up. She continued her arc, which made her attempts at aiming a Shadow Ball difficult. Luckily, Lugia made for a big target. She tossed the Shadow Ball at his left side.
Unfortunately, Lugia wasn't that slow on the uptake. He batted the Shadow Ball away with a wing, then screeched out a distorted caw.
On the ground, Haxorus grabbed hold of a squealing Raichu. "H-Haxy! What are you—"
"Latias is giving us an opening and we've gotta capitalize!" Haxorus grunted. She hurled her mate into the air. Raichu managed to collect her composure in time to shoot lightning from her cheeks. Lugia craned his neck around, only for Latias to zoom by and clip him in the neck with a glowing wing. Lugia squawked in surprise, then seized up when the lightning hit.
"Yes!" Raichu fell back to the ground, fist-pumping. Her smile disappeared when Lugia's eyes flashed and dispelled the electricity. He arced his head back. Latias saw the armored fins on is back glow like Meganium's petals when she was charging a Solar Beam. Only, instead of grass energy, purple air gathered in Lugia's gaping maw.
"Guys, get out of there!" Latias shouted. She was about to zip in and grab them when Lugia exhaled, unleashing a purple waveform beam that tore up crystal and metal shards from the ground. "No! Lugia, stop!" she screamed, concentrating until she spat out a Dragon Pulse beam twice her size.
Lugia turned, the waveform beam following. Latias' eyes bugged out. She cut her attack and flew off. But instead of relief, pain teared across her back and tears stung her eyes. Latias dropped from the air, dazed and confused as to what hit her. She managed to collect herself. Though the world was still spinning, she noticed one of the floating crystal lattices glowing with red energy. Her nostrils twitched and she recognized the familiar aroma of burnt feathers.
So, not only was Lugia a problem, but all the traps Zero had scattered around the area were reacting to their battle. Latias gnashed her teeth in frustration. It was hard enough to focus, knowing she was hurting her mate. She couldn't possibly split her attention between him and all the traps. It was all too much to juggle. What was she supposed to do?
Relax.
Latias' eyes snapped widened. She looked about, but all she saw was Lugia turning toward the teams on the ground. And yet, she'd heard his voice, just like before.
When you find yourself getting worked up and can't think straight… take a second and clear your head. It's easy for a psychic to lose themselves with so much happening in a battle. Calm Mind helps alleviate that.
Of course. How could she forget about that technique? Latias took a deep breath and imagined a raindrop striking a still pond, creating many ripples. A sudden burst of energy flooded through her system and, with it, an idea came to mind. With no time to waste, Latias focused on the nearest floating star-rock. She grabbed hold of it with her ESP.
With Lugia diving toward the ground, she hurled the sparking rock into him, catching him totally off guard. A mixture of triumph and guilt tussled in her mind when the rock exploded and brought Lugia's divebomb to a clumsy, crashing finale. He rolled across the ground, groaning.
"There's another opening!" Haxorus cried, unsheathing Dragon Claws and charging. Infernape sped ahead of her with his Flame Wheel. Raichu kept her distance, opting to zap Lugia with lightning. He thrashed about in pain, still too dazed from his impact. Raichu cut the attack off seconds before Infernape slammed into Lugia's left foot. An agonized cry didn't even have time to escape his lips before Haxorus slashed Lugia's right foot, leaving bloody gashes in his purple, scale-like feathers.
"Guys, be careful! I'm the one who has to land the finishing blow if we're going to free him!" Latias shouted, zipping past them while gathering a Mist Ball between her claws. "Lugia! Please, Lugia! I know you can hear me! It's… it's Latias! It's your mate! You've got to fight the corrupted Z-Power!"
Lugia stopped thrashing and looked up. The green flames crackling in his eyes simmered down. He titled his head. Latias eyes sparkled. He recognized her. She was sure of it. "Y-Yes, that's it! Like that! R-Remember everything we've done together? L-Like the training lessons before we started dating. You'd go behind Rayquaza's back and—"
At the mention of Rayquaza, the green flames erupted in Lugia's eyes once again. His body flashed blue. A giant wave spread out around him, sweeping up Infernape and Haxorus.
"H-Hang on, buddy! I'll save you!" Feraligatr shouted, rushing toward the wave. He failed to notice the ectoplasmic puddle that formed in his path until he stepped into it. A pillar of shadows with two piercing, green eyes engulfed Feraligatr, drowning out his cries.
"Lugia, no! Stop!" Latias begged, hurling the Mist Ball straight down. With a vindictive grin, Lugia melted into the ground, leaving only black vapors behind. The Mist Ball exploded, vaporizing the last of Lugia's dying Surf wave. It left a drenched Haxorus sitting on the ground, gripping her head. Infernape, on the other hand, was down for the count.
Latias knew she had the vantage point in the sky to see what was up, but she had the nagging itch to swoop down and help Feraligatr tend to Infernape. That need evaporated in the face of a large, shadowy puddle moving in Haxorus' direction. "Oh crud!" she squealed. Concentrating, she hoisted a startled Haxorus and Raichu into the air.
Moments later, a purple phantom head shot up from the ground, with teeth easily as big as Latias. The sight frightened her so much she nearly lost her psychic grip, but managed to yank Haxorus and Raichu out of the way of the giant maw just before it closed shut. It sank back into the ground.
"Th-that… what was that?!" Raichu asked, paw clutching her chest and staring bug-eyed at the now-clear battlefield.
"Dunno… but whatever it is, it's heading for Team Poképals!" Haxorus cried, spitting a blue-purple fireball toward the puddle. It harmlessly fizzled out against the ground. Feraligatr looked toward the oncoming shadows and tried to hoist the now-conscious Infernape to his feet.
Latias acted first, lifting them into the air. The effort strained her. Muscles and veins bulged out on the back of neck. She had no choice but to lower Team Paradise down to the ground in order to hoist Team Poképals higher. No phantom rose out of the ground this time, however. Latias stared at the shadow pool in confusion. She could clearly see it. Why wasn't it doing anything? Did it know she had lifted them up?
"Try attacking that spot!" Latias said, too focused on her levitation to form up any attacks. Fire and water rained down on the puddle from above. Haxorus and Raichu added dragonfire and lightning. The puddle bubbled like a boiling stew. Latias yanked Team Poképals over in her direction. And yet, the shadow pool still refused to budge.
Something wasn't right. Had Lugia created a decoy? Latias scrunched her face up. If only the ley lines weren't interfering so badly with her aura-reading abilities, she could tell for certain.
Latias didn't have to wait long for an answer, however. The puddle erupted into a shadow geyser. A water vortex formed up around it. On the ground, Raichu yelped. Haxorus grabbed her by the tail and pulled her close. She dug her Dragon Claws into the ground. "Nnggh. We could… use a little… help down here!" Haxorus cried.
But Latias had her own problems to tend to. The cyclone was far more ferocious than she anticipated, drawing closer despite her attempts to fly away from it. Ice Beams shot out of gaps in the water. One blindsided Latias from her right. It was colder than any ice attack she'd ever dealt with. Her psychic grip on Team Poképals slipped.
"Waah! W-Wait… this isn't good!" Feraligatr hollered, flailing in midair as the cyclone drew him and Infernape in. Their attempts at blasting through it with a Hydro Pump and a Flamethrower failed spectacularly.
Gritting her teeth through the pain, Latias fired a desperate Dragon Pulse, but ice engulfed the blue bolt and struck her right wing. Screams escaped her lips as the limb went numb. She didn't need it to fly, of course, but the chilling pain was too much to bear. Craning her neck to the point her muscles burned, Latias coughed up a small plume of dragonfire. It thankfully melted the ice away.
"Somebody help us!"
Feraligatr's cries jolted to Latias to attention. They were only a foot from the cyclone. She had to act right away. Latias scanned the air and found another star-shaped rock. Despite the cyclone pulling her in, too, Latias hurled the rock into the water vortex. It immediately exploded. The cyclone fell away and Team Poképals plummeted from the air. Latias couldn't react fast enough. They struck the ground with a pair of loud crunches.
She wanted to swoop in and heal them, but something sharp grazed her already-injured wing. Latias squealed. Bloody feathers fell away behind her. Her vision blurred. Across from her, Lugia raised his wings, then thrust them down. Arrow-like globs of ectoplasm rained down on the battle field.
One clipped Latias' left wing. Then another struck her slender left arm. She dropped toward the ground, writhing in pain. Her breath came in short gasps.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Haxorus growled. Her attempts at dodging Lugia's shadow arrows looked like some sort of awkward dance routine and Raichu wasn't faring much better. At the very least, Haxorus managed to make it over to Team Poképals and jam a pair of Reviver Seeds into their mouths. Still, they were slow to get up and Lugia was fast to act, flapping his wings and generating a mighty gust of wind that blew Haxorus and Team Poképals across the battlefield.
Latias hit the ground a few yards away from them. She struggled to breathe. All she could think about was the last time this had happened. Images of Necrozma clutching her wounded brother flashed through her mind. His pained cries echoed inside her head.
A distant spark and an annoyed grunt managed to snap her out of her trance. In the distance, Raichu backed away nervously. Lugia looked down at her. His red eyes glowed pink. Raichu rose into the air.
Latias eyes bugged out. She forced herself to steady her breathing. Calm, healing energy washed over her. The burning in her left limb died down. Latias shot into the air, turned herself upright, and drove herself right into Lugia's armored chest.
"Lugia, listen to me! I know you don't want to do this!" she shouted, pushing her metal-coated wing against his armor as hard as she could and begging it to crack or show some other sign it was weakening. Lugia cawed his protests. The air thinned around Latias, she zipped away seconds before a purple waveform beam tore through the air.
However, to Latias' horror, the Shadow Blast reflected off a floating crystal. Latias pulled up, barely skirting the blast. Lugia followed her, trying to drag her toward him with his Psychic. Latias found herself slowing down. She couldn't let Lugia catch up with her, though. In an attempt at disrupting him, she somersaulted and spat a Shadow Ball toward his face. Stunned, Lugia redirected his ESP toward snuffing out the Shadow Ball.
Latias threw caution to the wind and divebombed him. She drove a Steel Wing into his chest once again. This time, his armor cracked. Elation flooded Latias. Her Mega Evolution was pulling through. "Think, Lugia! I know you remember me. Listen to my voice! We can stop this fight… just let me knock you out and you'll be free from all of this," she said, pushing away before he could retaliate.
Luckily, lightning and dragonfire hit Lugia's foot from below. He hoisted it up in surprise, only for a fireball to strike the base of his tail. Infernape fell back to the ground, where Feraligatr caught him.
"You all right?" Feraligatr asked.
"Just… don't ever mention that to anyone back at the guild," Infernape said, shuddering.
"Well, at least you can say you literally kicked Lugia's ass," Feraligatr offered, grinning cheekily. Infernape pushed his mouth shut.
Latias sighed, relieved the two were feeling good enough to tease each other. That didn't mean she could let up, however. The green flames in Lugia's eyes told her he was still ready to fight. Even worse, she could see him gliding toward the ground. She'd seen this before. He was going to Roost and get back his strength.
"Guys! He'll use Roost if we don't get in his way!" Latias cried. She loosened herself up and took another calming breath. A fresh wave of energy spread through her. Latias shot a blue bolt toward Lugia's backside, far bigger than the ones she'd used earlier.
Raichu tugged Haxorus' arm. "Yeah, yeah, I got it," Haxorus said. She spat dragonfire toward Lugia's belly. Raichu added her electricity. Lugia stopped and shredded through their attacks with wind crescents. This left his backside completely exposed, though. Latias didn't wait for her attack to hit home before zipping away.
Her prediction Lugia would turn around came true. Having successfully flanked him, Latias fired another Dragon Pulse. Team Paradise levied dragonfire and lightning from below. Lugia again focused only on the attacks he could see. Latias' bolt slammed his back, shattering some of his crystal fins.
Lugia wobbled unsteadily in midair. His caws were softer than before. Latias didn't dare open her mouth for fear of jinxing things. This time, however, she couldn't get an attack off fast enough. One mighty flap of his wings was all Lugia needed to shoot up high above Latias. He clapped his wings together. Dozens of shadow arrows streamed down from his position.
Latias tucked her wings in and made a beeline for Team Poképals. She bucked them onto her back, ignoring their cries of protest. "Hang on tight!" she said, turning sideways to weave through Lugia's shadow arrows. It only took a few seconds to reach Team Paradise's position. "All right. Together, everyone," she said, righting herself and firing a Mist Ball straight up.
Raichu caught on first and added a Thunderbolt. Haxorus shot dragonfire into the mix. Then, a Flamethrower and Hydro Pump gush joined the expanding Mist Ball. It exploded, filling the sky with a pink cloud that wouldn't have looked out of place in a painting. The mist shielded them from any shadow arrows and gave Latias the necessary cover to shoot into the air.
She burst through the mist as if she was shooting out of a body of water. However, she had misjudged the distance she needed to reach Lugia. She had to abandon her assault and roll right, else Lugia's incoming Shadow Blast would tear through her. Latias released a Shadow Ball, but Lugia predictably batted it away. He snapped at the air with his jaw, eyes flashing between red and green.
Latias wasn't sure to make of his behavior. "C'mon, Lugia. We don't have time to keep fighting like this. Zero is poised to wipe both of us out with Dialga's power. Is that what you want? What about our life together?" She squirmed about in midair. "What about trying to start a famil— eeahh!"
An unseen force grabbed Latias' arms and yanked them in opposing directions. Her words turned to screams. She was sure Lugia's Psychic would pop her arms out of their joints in seconds. But then the pain faded away, leaving Latias floundering in midair and blinking stars from her vision.
Below her, Haxorus hit the ground, legs buckling. "O-Ow. He was… much higher up than I thought," she grunted.
"Well, you still did good," Raichu said, smiling at her mate. "Now it's my turn!" Lugia snarled down at her, his slobber descending on Team Paradise like a brief summer downpour. Raichu stood tall and zapped Lugia with lightning from a thundercloud. It startled him briefly, but he shrugged the blow off when he twisted around, forming a shadowy vortex.
"Oh, great. This again!" Haxorus growled, summoning her Dragon Claws and digging them into the ground. However, unlike last time, the vortex didn't stay in place. Lugia hurled the vortex in Team Paradise's direction. Haxorus' eyes widened. She tried to yank her Dragon Claws out of the ground, but found them stuck.
Latias flew closer to the tornado, concentrating hard to summon as much psychic energy as she could. Elation swelled inside her when she stopped the tornado in its tracks. "R-Run… you two!" she said, face scrunched up. Raichu helped Haxorus get her claws out and the two sprinted across the platform, joining Team Poképals.
The tornado twitched and distorted. Latias strained from the effort of pushing against it. The green flames in Lugia's eyes burned brighter. With a flap of his wings and a loud shriek, he buffeted the tornado with added wind currents. Latias' eyes widened. It was gaining ground on her. It was pulling her in despite her levitation. Latias was at a loss for what to do. Could she drop her Psychic and try to fly away? Or did she need to stand her ground?
"Haxorus! Latias! You've got to shoot at much Dragon Breath into the tornado as you can! And Raichu, add a Thunderbolt," Infernape said, charging toward the tornado. Haxorus looked at him in shock. "Trust me on this. Hot air rises and that's our ticket to success!" He opened his mouth wide and spewed the biggest Flamethrower he could muster. The tornado swallowed the flames up and spun them about.
"Well, you heard him," Haxorus said. With a deep breath, she shot a stream of dragonfire into the tornado. Raichu blasted lightning toward the two attacks. A crackling explosion superheated the air.
To Latias' joy and Lugia's shock, the tornado rose toward him. Latias felt safe enough to stop her Psychic and, though her spirit burned deep within her like any fatigued muscle, she managed to call up additional dragonfire. The tornado became a raging spiral of flames, lightning, and Dragon Breath. It was rising too fast for the bewildered Lugia to redirect it.
Instead, it sucked him up. Haxorus hooted and hollered at Lugia's bug-eyed expression from his own attack battering him. Latias winced, her heart aching from the sight. But this offered her the perfect chance to land the decisive blow. She downed an elixir from her bag. With her spiritual energy smoldering bright once again, she flew level with the tornado.
"Lugia, please… come back to me!" she cried. Her Dragon Pulse sailed right for the dwindling tornado, only to bounce off an invisible forcefield. Latias' jaw dropped. Lugia was still in a tailspin how could he have redirected her strike?
She got her answer when Lugia thrust his wings apart, dispelling the last of the tornado. The green flames in his eyes had inexplicably grown. In fact, Lugia had an orange aura tracing down toward his tail. Latias tilted her head. She didn't recognize that glow. What was he up to?
"Latias! Get out of there! That's a Z-Power aura!" Feraligatr said. Latias looked down at the shocked expression on his face, but Lugia's distorted cawing echoed through the sky before she could make any movements.
Seven blue orbs surrounded Lugia, taking a shape Latias could've sworn was an Unown Z with a triangle on top. Her first instinct was to try and divert the attack, so she conjured as big a Mist Ball as she could manage and threw it at Lugia. But, to her horror, it fizzled out against the glowing orbs. Even the mist evaporated before her eyes.
Latias zipped away from Lugia, but with a flap of his wings, the orbs descend upon her and the teams on the ground. She rolled away from one blue explosion, but had to nosedive away from a second. A third grazed her left wing, sending a chilling shockwave through her system. Latias lost control and crashed into the ground, surrounding by blue explosions.
Lugia shrieked and raised his right leg. All of the orange light condensed around it. He dropped from the sky. Latias blinked the stars from her vision with enough time to see an orange star drawing closer. She shot back across the ground, gritting her teeth as rough crystal scraped her sensitive feathers. Still, while she avoided direct contact with Lugia's foot, she couldn't get away from the orange explosion his dive-kick created. It hammered her left side and flung her into the air.
Latias couldn't get herself under control. Her pain magnified ten-fold when she hit the ground wing-first. It was broken. She was sure of it. Latias screamed. Her vision went white. Her head pounded so hard she couldn't hear the panicked cries of Teams Paradise and Poképals.
It was over. She had done everything within her power to try and get Lugia back… and she had failed. All because of one ridiculous move.
The pain was too familiar. It was just like what Rayquaza had done to her. She could see it in her mind. The bright, fiery V-Create… it was eerily similar to Lugia's orange dive-kick.
Why did this have to happen to her? All she wanted was to help. To do the right thing.
In the end… you couldn't save anyone. Not even yourself. You're a sorry excuse for a lesser god and an even sorrier excuse for a dragon.
Rayquaza's phantom glared down at her. His words only added to the pain in her wing.
She had no idea what was happening. Had her impromptu teammates tried to take up the brunt of the fight? How drained was Lugia after that attack? She didn't care anymore. She was so tired. Her grasp on her Mega Evolution was nothing but tiny threads unraveling by the second. All Latias wanted to do was rest. Rest and see her brother again.
Regardless of how this turns out, I'll always try to have your back.
Latias seized, arcing her back through the pain. Her vision came into focus. She saw a purple blob swaying about.
I love you. I love spending time with you. I want us to make memories together… when you're not off exploring, of course.
Concentrating through the pain, she finally managed to make out Lugia's figure. He staggered back and forth, shaking his head. The green flames in his eyes were now just tiny embers. She even saw tears.
'He remembers!'
There was still a chance. A chance for them to lead a happy life together. She couldn't surrender now. And she couldn't care less about what Rayquaza thought of her. Her mate needed her. That was all that mattered.
With a pained wail, Latias drew on her dwindling powers and sent healing energy racing into her wing. The bones snapped back into place. Latias rolled into the air, hovering unsteadily. Ignoring the looks of shock from the others, she arced her head back.
"Lugia… I'm sorry! I love you… and I want you back no matter what!"
Right before her tenuous grasp on her Mega Evolution completely snapped, Latias drew up enough power for one final attack. The recoil prevented her from seeing the first ever Draco Meteor she had managed. And the flash of light as she reverted back to normal kept her from seeing the meteors batter Lugia's chest and shatter his armor.
Lugia staggered backward, his squawks growing progressively less distorted. The purple and red colors evaporated off his feathers and belly. He turned to his right and, with the last of his strength, retched up a puddle of purple slime. It bubbled and simmered. An unconscious Marshadow materialized from the puddle seconds before Lugia collapsed onto his back, down for the count.
Teams Paradise and Poképals immediately split up, with the former heading for Latias and the latter for Lugia and Marshadow. "Who's that Pokémon, huh?" Feraligatr wondered.
"I don't know, but I get the feeling it was driving Lugia's bloodthirsty attitude adjustment," Infernape said. "It could be on Zero's side, so I think it's best we avoid healing it."
Several yards away, Raichu dashed to Latias' right. "Latias? Latias, you still with us?!" she said. "Oh, gods, look at your looplet! It's a smoldering wreck!" Raichu managed to scoop up some crystal dust and hastily dumped it onto the charred metal. Once she didn't feel any heat coming off it, she pulled it off Latias' arm. It crumbled to pieces in her paws.
"I'm… I'm here," Latias rasped.
"Cripes." Haxorus knelt down beside Latias, offering two oran berries and another elixir. "With the way things were going, I thought for sure you would turn berserk on us." She looked at the scorched remains of Latias' looplet at scratched her head. "Guess we'll have to tell Jirachi his calculations weren't as perfect as he thought," she said, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Latias ravenously downed the healing items. She had never had such burning hunger as in that very moment.
"Whoa, careful. You're gonna choke," Raichu said, squeezing a rawst berry against the burnt part of Latias' arm. She squealed, but relaxed once the juices soaked in.
"Man, I gotta say, wasn't expecting to see a Draco Meteor from you. I'd say you managed to pull that final blow right out of your ass," Haxorus said, earning an exasperated look from Raichu. "What? It was a compliment!"
"I'm… urgh… a dragon, too, Raichu. I know that's… probably the closest thing to praise I'll get," Latias croaked. A small part of her did wish Rayquaza had been there, so she could rub it in his face how a so-called "pathetic excuse of a dragon" had used the ultimate dragon attack. But she shoved those thoughts aside and shakily looked up.
Her eyes fell on Lugia. He was awake. Team Poképals had managed to help him into a seated position. Lugia met her gaze. His eyes filled with tears. Latias turned on the waterworks as well when she raced for him, ignoring Raichu's panicked shouts. She embraced her mate, burying her head in the crook of his neck and bawling her eyes out.
Lugia pressed his head against her back. "I'm so… so sorry," he whispered, shuddering. "F-For hurting you… and f-for Latios and—" He hiccupped. Lugia lifted Latias' head with his wing. Her eyes were red and puffy. "Thank you for saving me," he whispered.
Latias poked her head up and pressed her lips to Lugia's. "D-Don't scare me like that again," she blubbered, before kissing him a second time. Lugia's cheeks flush, but his initial embarrassment at the public display faded. He fell onto his back, bringing Latias with him. He cherished her soft feathers rubbing against his. Her—
"Oh bloody— somebody gag me. I'd rather still be stuck inside him than be forced to watch this nauseating display."
The reunited couple poked their heads up and looked right. Marshadow lay on his side, clutching his gut in pain. "Isn't this such a warm, happy sight?" he sneered. Latias glared daggers at him. "Look around you, luv. This world's unraveling before our eyes. You may have gotten each other back, but it won't be for much longer." He looked toward the center of the temporal storm.
"That's why we're here. To put a stop to all this nonsense," Haxorus said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, but that battle ate up a lot of time and resources," Feraligatr said, looking in dismay at his open satchel. "Not to mention our strength. We can down as many elixirs as we want, but our spirits can only take so much, right?"
"No. That jackass is absolutely right," Latias said, her crass language taking Lugia by surprise. "We have to press onward. Even if we are tired…" She looked at Lugia. "Are you in any condition to fight? I can heal you—"
"What about you? You pushed your Mega Evolution to the brink. Are you sure you can keep going?" Lugia asked.
Before Latias could reply, a huge, swirling column of fire erupted in the distance. She rose into the air. "It looks like I don't have a choice," Latias said, then flew in the direction of the flames.
"Quick, everyone get on," Lugia said, spreading his wings to let the teams climb aboard.
"But what about all the floating booby traps?" Feraligatr asked, only to look around and realize there were none in the area. "Huh. Guess we destroyed 'em all in the fight. Lucky us!"
"Well, you lot can go have fun with that," Marshadow said, waving the group off. "As for me, I'm—"
"Coming with us," Haxorus said, before beaning Marshadow across the head with a petrify wand. He hit the ground, limbs twitching.
"Um, Haxy, you're supposed to point the wand at him and fire a burst from it," Raichu said, shoulders sagging.
Haxorus tossed the wand to her partner. "Bah. That's not nearly as satisfying." She tossed Marshadow over her shoulder and climbed onto Lugia's back.
~Aeon Observatory~
Gallian lay in his bed, pawing at the stump where his horn was supposed to be. The infirmary had no windows. He had no idea how much time had passed since Tessa had left. Gallian hated to admit it, but he was definitely going stir crazy.
"You need to stop rubbing that. Otherwise, it'll only get worse."
Gallian poked his head up. Zoroark sat on the edge of his bed. His disheveled mane dangled in front of his face.
"Can't get much worse than it is now." Gallian sighed and pawed the stump again.
"You never know. I'd air on the side of the caution," Zoroark said. He slowly rose to his feet and limped over toward Gallian.
"H-Hey. What do you think you're doing?" Gallian asked. "If you're still hurt, then lay down, I—"
"Way ahead of you."
Gallian lost sight of Zoroark. Then, the bed buckled. Gallian gasped. Blood rushed into his cheeks. "Z-Zoroark. You… you…"
He had snuggled up next to Gallian. Zoroark brushed his head against Gallian's back. Gallian gasped. "St-stop it. We're… we're…"
"You're worried about Tessa, aren't you?" Zoroark said. He traced a claw through Gallian's fur until his paw reached his mate's neck. Gallian shuddered. "I don't blame you. We have no idea what they could be dealing with."
Gallian shifted about uncomfortably. "I just… just… ahh, c'mon, that t-tickles!" He brought a foreleg over his face.
Zoroark brought his face closer to Gallian's neck. "It's a good thing, though. That you're worried about her, I mean," he said.
"Well, it sure doesn't feel like a good thing," Gallian said, scowling despite the fact he knew that Zoroark couldn't see his face.
"C'mon, think about it. A few days ago, you were giving Tessa a shoulder so cold it'd make a Glaceon blush. Now, here you are, worried sick about her," Zoroark elaborated, brushing his face against Gallian's neck again. "I see this as a sign that you want to reconnect with her."
Gallian tried to roll over, but Zoroark's frame got in his way. "I, uh…" His brow furrowed. "I swear there's a better way to phrase that," Gallian mumbled.
"Oh, you know what I mean," Zoroark said, playfully tapping his mate's shoulder. Gallian tensed up. "When we met, you were so wrapped up in your disaster sense, you let it block out any thoughts of your sister. Now, she's the thing that's on the front of your mind." Zoroark awkwardly turned his neck to make eye contact with Gallian. "I'm sure that, given how worried she was about you after both times you saved me, she'd be delighted to hear you're thinking of her."
Gallian's face grew warmer by the second. "I… I guess. Doesn't make it suck any less that I'm lying here, all nice and cozy, while Tessa's diving into the fray."
"That's true," Zoroark said, slowly sliding his paw toward Gallian's belly. He smirked when Gallian squeaked and tucked his legs into his stomach. Zoroark traced a circle through Gallian's fur and continued, "But remember what we were talking about with your disaster sense? It's okay to worry, but you also have to accept that, sometimes, you're going to worry about things you can't control."
"But I can control this. I could've gone with 'em. I—"
Zoroark pressed his paw to Gallian's lip. Gallian frowned, though it had to more to do with Zoroark stopping the impromptu belly rub. "Neither of us are in a state to fight. Your mom would surely realize we're both weak links on the team and try to go after us to get to Tessa." His ear drooped. "I don't like lying here knowing our friends need help, either. But I think that, in the long run, it's safer for everyone if we stay here."
Trembling slightly, Zoroark leaned in and whispered, "Besides, we've had a few close calls, already. Do you honestly think we'd be lucky enough to survive another near-death experience?"
Gallian gulped. Zoroark had a point. "I guess… I see where you're coming from," he said. Zoroark lay his head back down against Gallian's side and resumed tracing his claws across Gallian's belly. Gallian's legs twitched. Gods, how he'd missed this feeling.
Zoroark nipped at Gallian's neck. A purr escaped his lips. Gallian's legs tensed. His eyes widened.
"Wow. I didn't think you could make a noise like that." Zoroark chuckled.
"I… I, uh…" Gallian's eyes darted around the room.
"Will you two puh-lease cut it out? My head's pounding bad enough as it is. You're only making it worse."
Gallian recognized Hakamo-o's nasally voice from their battle against Team Paradise. Zoroark propped himself up with his left arm, giving Gallian enough room to roll over. Hakamo-o lay facing away from them, legs tightly crossed and arms folded over his mid-section. Gallian raised a skeptical brow, but said nothing.
"Ah, sorry. That was my bad. Got a bit caught up with things," Zoroark said, pivoting to sit on the edge of Gallian's bed. "We're mates, see, but we were separated for a while and—"
"I get it. I just want some peace and quiet, okay? Soon as the world stops spinning and my head stops pounding, I'll go get some fresh air and you can kiss each other and hold hands all you want," Hakamo-o said, his tail stiffening against his legs.
"Hold hands?" Zoroark said, shooting Gallian a curious look.
"Don't be such a dummy. I know it's a bit awkward for you to do, Absol, but that's what two Pokémon do when they love each other a lot," Hakamo-o scoffed. "Mom told me that years ago."
Gallian had to press his face against his bed to stop himself from laughing. The mental image of a big, burly Kommo-o sitting Hakamo-o down and fumbling her way through telling him that mates "hold hands" as an expression of love was too amusing. He appreciated the levity, though he didn't dare open his mouth.
A loud thump interrupted the conversation. Gallian and Zoroark looked toward the hallway. They heard Comfey and Steenee's voices in the distance, but couldn't make out what they were saying. "What do you think's going on?" Zoroark asked.
"I don't know, but they sound startled," Gallian replied. With a groan, he sat up in his bed. Zoroark got to his feet, a look of concern on his face. "I'm still too tired for my disaster sense to work at all, but we might need to be prepared for trouble."
Hakamo-o threw one of his hands over his face. "Oi, you gotta be kidding me! I thought we had some magic barrier thingy keeping us safe."
The muffled voices steadily got louder. A new one even joined in, shouting, "Great literal gods above! I say… this was not the request I was expecting!"
Gallian tilted his head. "That's Crabrawler. He normally runs the café, so what's he doing here?"
"Yes, we've clearly got a situation here, Crabrawler. But a little less gawking and a lot more pushing would really helpful!" Comfey said, exasperated.
"Oh no. Did someone in Aeon Town get hurt?" Zoroark wondered.
In response, the curtains draped across the infirmary entrance slid open. Crabrawler and Steenee wheeled in Lycanroc's captives on a large, mobile, wooden platform with a handle set. Gallian figured Crabrawler normally used it for moving supplies.
"What the heck? When did they get back here?" Zoroark said.
"G-Get back?" Hakamo-o strained to lift his head. He caught sight of Sneasel lying at the top of the unconscious Pokémon pile. "Ah! Sneasel! Sneasel! Are you okay?" He clumsily rolled out of bed and fell to the floor. "Say something, du—"
The moment Hakamo-o managed to get to his feet, he lunged for a bucket near his bed and puked into it. "O-Oh, my aching h-head," he sputtered.
"What happened to them, Comfey? They look emaciated," Zoroark said, a wide-eyed gaze fixed on Dusk.
"I'm not sure. Steenee and I were talking and then… wham! They fell out of some kind of portal," Comfey explained. Gallian and Zoroark exchanged panicked looks. "Right now, they all look really weak. I need to get elixirs into their systems, stat."
"A-Anything we can do to help?" Zoroark asked. He started to walk forward, but his left leg buckled.
"Sorry, but you're in no condition to run around," Comfey said. "You should be in bed, anyway." She glanced at Hakamo-o. "Same goes for you, buddy. Back in bed until the medicine's finished working."
"B-But Sneasel—" Hakamo-o threw a hand up over his mouth, then swallowed hard. "Err, I understand."
Comfey pulled a set of curtains forward, blocking the trio's beds off from the rest of the infirmary. Hakamo-o climbed back into bed, moaning. "Ohh, this is terrible. Sneasel… what happened to you? W-Was it Lycanroc?" Hakamo-o put his hands against his forehead scale. "If he hurt you, I'll… I'll…"
"I didn't see Midnight there," Gallian said, laying back down. "Granted, we have no idea what happened to them. But Midnight was the one who ran off with them, right?" He also wondered what this meant for the fate of the Dawn Shards.
"I don't think the Dawn Shards are here, if that's what you're thinking about," Zoroark said, nudging Gallian's shoulder.
"Excuse me for worrying about it. Midnight waltzed off with them, remember?" Gallian said. He was too tired to run through all the possibilities. Gallian instead lay his head down on is pillow.
Zoroark, on the other hand, walked over to Hakamo-o's bed. "Hey, uh, you gonna be okay?"
"Eh?" Hakamo-o met Zoroark's scarred eye, then quickly turned over and assumed the same awkward position Zoroark had seem him in earlier.
"Okay, I'm gonna take that as a 'no.'" Zoroark scratched his right ear. "Sneasel was your friend, right?"
"We were, uh, partners… in a manner of speaking," Hakamo-o said.
"Ah. I'm, uh, sorry he's in such rough shape, then," Zoroark said. "At least he's back with us, though. That's gotta count for something, right?"
Hakamo-o quickly rubbed an arm against his face. "Yeah, I guess." His tail shifted so it dangled over the side of his bed. Zoroark stepped back. "I just want to be sure he's okay, that's all. Lycanroc…" Hakamo-o tensed up. "I should've tried to stand up to him. None of this would've happened if I had the guts to say no to him."
Zoroark rubbed his neck. "I, uh, suppose? Midnight's always been a tough guy to talk with. Seemed like no matter what you would say or do, he'd find something to get angry about," he said. "I'm not really sure what happened between you three. For now, you're going to have to trust that Comfey can heal Sneasel."
He stepped back. "Sorry I can't offer much else for you."
After a few seconds of silence, Hakamo-o said, "It's fine."
Zoroark retreated to his own bed. The three lay in their closed-off part of the infirmary. None of them had any clue how long Comfey kept the curtains closed, but when they opened up with a swish, Hakamo-o was, despite his lingering headache, the first to shoot up to a seated position.
"How's Sneasel? Is he gonna make it?"
"Make it? Of course," Comfey said, hovering back in surprise. "He was very weak, sure, but he didn't have much in the way of injuries." She looked back, but Hakamo-o couldn't follow her gaze due to the bedside curtain. "I think your friend should have his strength back, but I'm still recommending he and the others stay and rest. If they exert themselves too soon, I fear they'll collapse again."
"Oh. W-Well, can I at least say hi or something?" Hakamo-o asked.
Comfey sighed. "Even if I say no, you're going to try to, aren't you?"
Hakamo-o looked down guiltily.
"Very well. But if you're hit with vertigo again, then it's back to your bed," Comfey said, before turning and floating off. Hakamo-o waited until he was sure she was out of sight before getting off his bed. He wobbled about, nearly tearing the curtains down when he grabbed them to steady himself.
"Dude, are you sure it's a good idea to do this?" Gallian asked. He didn't see the point, since they already knew Sneasel would be okay.
"I wanna see him for myself," Hakamo-o insisted. He staggered forward, leaving the dark-types to exchange concerned looks. Hakamo-o looked at the remaining beds. He found Sneasel in the bed closest to his and lumbered over. Sneasel lay on his back, completely filthy and much thinner than Hakamo-o remembered him.
"Sneasel? Are… are you there?" Hakamo-o asked. Sneasel grimaced, then cracked one eye open.
"H-Hakamo-o?" Sneasel opened his other eye. He tried to sit up, but his belly trembled.
"Ah! Careful, careful. The flower girl said you're really weak," Hakamo-o said, resting his hands on the side of the bed.
"Y… you're not… one to talk," Sneasel said. He was too tired to gesture, but Hakamo-o could tell he was looking at his chipped and cracked scale plates. Sneasel groaned. "So, if I'm here, then I take it…"
"You're back home," Hakamo-o said. "What happened to you, anyway?"
"L-Lycanroc. He…" Sneasel sucked in a pained breath. "He took us… into some vortexy place. Summoned… a big monster. I don't… urgh." He winced. "I don't really… remember anything… besides that."
Though Hakamo-o was curious about what could have happened to Lycanroc and the Dawn Shards, he chose not to press the issue. "I'm just glad you're safe," he said.
"Kweh heh. Really? I thought… you hated my guts… 'cuz of all that mean stuff… I said about you," Sneasel rasped.
"I said I was gonna move beyond that, wasn't I?" Hakamo-o said, crossing his arms. "Besides, we promised we'd better ourselves together. And that ain't gonna happen if you bite the big one."
A lone, muddy fang poked out from Sneasel's lips as he cracked a smirk. "Didn't think… you'd actually remember that… you scatterbrain. Guess whoever… beat your scaly butt… must've smacked you upside the head… a few times."
Hakamo-o grinned back. There was a chair for bipeds next to the bed, which he happily sat down it. "Oh, you don't even know the half of it, dude! So, get this. After you two disappeared, we…"
Gallian tuned their conversation out and turned over to face Zoroark. He smiled at Gallian, who rolled his eyes. "Okay, talk. That's your 'my mind is at work' face. What's the deal?" Gallian asked. He could recognize that gleam in Zoroark's eye anywhere.
"Nothing." Zoroark crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his bed. "I think it's cute, that's all."
"What's cute?" Gallian said, in no mood to play the pronoun game.
"Your sister and her 'dorky friends' seem to have a way of repairing broken relationships," Zoroark mused. "Those two goons, Team Paradox, the Volcanic Waste tribes, us. Shall I keep going?"
Gallian pondered Zoroark's statement. He couldn't find any faults in it. "I guess so. What's your point, though?"
"Tessa's always had a bit of a self-confidence issue," Zoroark replied. Gallian begrudgingly nodded his agreement, knowing he contributed to it. "She's been so focused on the big picture, the Prism Virus, that I'm guessing she hasn't appreciated the good deeds she's done beyond fighting Ultra Beasts. I say, if we make it through this crisis, we ought to tell her about it. Maybe even get some of the people she and her team helped to write thank you notes." He locked eyes with Gallian. "Any thoughts?"
"Hmm…" Gallian tapped a claw against his mattress. A part of him — the big brother part, he assumed — didn't want to go through with it. However, the idea of being able to hopefully put a smile on his sister's face outweighed the hit he'd take to his pride. "Sounds like a plan," he said, reaching a paw toward Zoroark's bed.
Zoroark grabbed Gallian's paw and smiled at him.
~Midnight Sea~
Ninetales was glad she had sandwiched herself between her Horizon counterpart and Magearna. Or else the shock of what she'd just heard would've sent her tumbling off of Ho-Oh's back. "L-Lady Ho-Oh, is this really true?" she said. "Are you—"
Free from the gale-force winds surrounding the Invern Mountains, Ho-Oh could safely glide through the air with little effort. This let her nod at Ninetales. "It's the truth. Ephemeris is the Ho-Oh spoken of in Horizon legends. The one who was caught in the primal energy storm," she said, flapping her wings to gain altitude. "The original Solgaleo and Lunala tried to save him, but all three of them disappeared."
"That is quite a bit different from what I encountered in my research," Mawile said. "Why do you suppose there's such a discrepancy?" She glanced at Magearna. "Were records lost over time?"
Magearna shook her head. As far back as I can recollectify, we've told the same story.
"It was Arceus who explained everything," Ho-Oh continued. "See, I was born from the remnants of that primal storm. Hence, the whole superstition surrounding the fact that I appear at the end of every major storm." She sighed. "Anyway, I was transported to Destiny Tower almost immediately after my 'birth.'" Her brow furrowed. "Arceus explained everything to me… and ordered me to carry out Ephemeris' job of watching for spirits."
"But wait a second… wouldn't the other gods have known right away you weren't the same Ho-Oh?" Cresselia asked. "If that's the case, how did the Horizon legends end up the way they did?"
"Well, it wasn't hard to fool most of the gods. Many of them had never met Ephemeris. His job was stressful and if he wasn't flying about, he secluded himself on Rainbow Island for peace and quiet," Ho-Oh explained. "For the gods that did know Ephemeris, Arceus straight-up told them he had died since, well, that was what he thought was the truth. He hoped that it would get the immortals to stop fighting amongst themselves, but the results were… mixed."
"Hmm. Then does that mean the Horizon legends came about from gods that never knew the truth?" Ninetales wondered. There was a lot to unpack and she wasn't sure she'd even get all her questions answered before they reached Rainbow Island and met this Ephemeris character in person.
"I'm not entirely sure about that," Totem Ninetales said, sighing. "I've been scouring journals written by my predecessors. As some of you might know, one of them wound up joining the group that created Silvally. Some of her entries mentioned having suspicions about Ho-Oh and believing the gods were deceiving her, despite her dedicated service." She hung her head. "I fear that may have motivated her to agree to work with those unsavory folks."
Unfortuitously, I think we'd only be launching pointless speculation algorithms if we keep talking about that, Magearna said. It's all in the past and we cannot changtify it.
Totem Ninetales nodded her agreement. "Magearna, Lady Ho-Oh, and I came to know Ephemeris by…" She brushed a lock of fur out of her eyes. "Well, I'd say it was by chance, wouldn't you?"
Affirmatative, Magearna replied.
"It was a little over a century ago, if I'm not mistaken. The three of us met to talk about Magearna upgrading our spirit pools to give them stronger connections to the Tree of Life," Totem Ninetales continued, to the surprise of her fire-type counterpart. Ninetales wondered exactly how long the Totem had held her position. Clearly, her blue-white fur hid signs of aging much better than a fire Ninetales' golden pelt would.
"That's when a portal opened up overhead and Ephemeris flew out. To say we were startled was quite the understatement," Ho-Oh said, adding a nervous laugh. "The whole conversation was very, erm, awkward. Ephemeris was hesitant to divulge just how much he knew about worlds beyond ours."
"What he did explain was that, from what he could remember, both Solgaleo and Lunala tried to open portals to get him out of the storm. However, the portals absorbed primal energy from the storm, creating an unstable vortex that sucked the three of them up," Totem Ninetales continued, shuddering. "Imagine getting caught in a powerful water-type's Whirlpool while Thunderbolts rain down on your head. That's how Ephemeris described it, anyway.
"When he woke up, he found himself lying on a barren asteroid. Solgaleo and Lunala were nowhere to be found, but his pelt had turned shades of yellow and gold." Totem Ninetales pivoted to show the Horizon Continent logo on her shawl. "It reminded him of the ethereal glows that Solgaleo and Lunala had when they were channeling their powers to bring sunlight and moonlight to the planet."
Ninetales' eyes slowly widened. "Totem, do you mean to tell me that the three of them merged together or something?"
Totem Ninetales nodded. "Yes. Ephemeris said he could create portals and safely traverse what we now know as Ultra Space. On top of that, his own natural healing and restoration abilities were greatly enhanced." She paused, then, with a smile, added, "He told us to think of him as an Ultra Ho-Oh."
Ninetales rolled her eyes. All this Ultra Space nonsense was giving her an ultra-headache.
Magearna, who had slumped over during the explanation, suddenly sat up straight. Exposition mode initialized. She turned her head to face the others. After a lengthy discussion, we concluded it was best for Ephemeris not to stay in our world. Ho-Oh strongly believed his presence would incite a panic among the other gods. Especially Arceus.
So, Ephemeris departed. And we figured that would be the last we would see of him, Magearna continued, tapping her arms together.
"If that's the case, then how did the human on Team Radiance know about Ephemeris?" Ninetales asked.
I have no idea. Maybe he learned about Ephemeris' second appearance, Magearna replied. You see, Dark Matter's second defeat apparently sent shockwaves slowly rippling through Ultra Space. Ephemeris haphazardly tossed open an Ultra Wormhole to escape and landed in some ruin area in the Mist Continent. Magearna crossed her arms. It turned out that there was an exploration team investigating the area. Ephemeris panicked and attacked them, but they held their own and manage to subdue him.
"And this exploration team… was the Haxorus and Raichu we saw in Aeon Town, correct?" Ninetales said. Magearna nodded. "Wait. Then, if they knew about Ephemeris—"
They don't. Not anymore, anyway. Magearna looked down, poking her arms together guiltily. Totem Ninetales hired ghost-types to steal those memories using Dream Eater. They were happy for the extra food and cash. It was… not our best decision.
"Wait. How were you even able to respond to the situation so quickly?" Cresselia wondered.
I was getting to that. Exposition Mode is at sixty-five percent capacity, so bear with me, Magearna replied, adjusting her position on Ho-Oh's back. I happened to be in the Water Continent at the time, looking to exchange information with Jirachi in the hopes he would consider syncing his organization's Expedition Gadgets with my Gear-Coms. Magearna shook her head. We didn't get far before Hoopa burst in, claiming to have big news about Ho-Oh in the Mist Continent.
I, erm, politely requested that he send me there via a portal. We found Ephemeris, still a bit dazed from the battle. I wanted to avoid any potential issues, so I had Hoopa take everyone, Team Paradise included, to Rainbow Island, Magearna continued.
"The Totem and I were meeting at the time, so it was easy for us to head over there," Ho-Oh said. She beat her wings but, with the lack of wind, there wasn't much she could do to bolster her speed. "Once we were there, we ended up talking about the whole situation with Dark Matter."
It was then that I hatched an idea. A plan for a last-ditch effort, of sorts, if we were to ever encounter another creature with destructive powers and control over spirits, Magearna said. I asked Ephemeris to take Hoopa through an Ultra Wormhole to the nearest uninhabited world he could find. That way, Hoopa could make a ring portal to it in the future.
Eyes sparking and gears whirring, Magearna continued, The idea was that Ephemeris would reside there and, if the need arose, we could have Hoopa contact him to ask for assistance.
"Would a second Ho-Oh really make that much of a difference, though?" Cresselia wondered. Ninetales fixed a scathing look on the lesser god, but Ho-Oh waved the comment off.
"In this case, yes. As we mentioned earlier, Ephemeris' spiritual powers far exceed my own," Ho-Oh said. "See, my Sacred Ash can indeed revive a Pokémon, but there are limits on that power. The Pokémon either needs to be dying… or their spirit just left their body. Basically, their body must be intact for the Sacred Ash to work.
"If the Pokémon's body is destroyed or reabsorbed into the planet…" Ho-Oh's voice trailed off and she shook her head. "If that happens, then I'm afraid the best that I can do is convert the spirit into a ghost Pokémon."
"Something which costs them all memories of their previous life… since you're changing them on a spiritual level," Ninetales recited from memory.
"Correct. It's a tactic we've frequently applied to restless spirits to avoid disturbing those who dwell peacefully in the Tree of Life," Totem Ninetales said, the emblem on her brooch glistening along with her eyes. "But I fear we're straying a bit too far off-subject."
I concur. My exposition mode is now at forty-nine percent, Magearna said.
"Err, right. My apologies." Ho-Oh glanced back at Ninetales. "To make a long story short, Ephemeris claims that his Sacred Ash can restore any spirit to life, regardless of the state their body is in. All he needs is an image of what the spirit's body originally looked like… and he can recreate it."
"But you've never seen this for yourself," Cresselia said, brow furrowed. "Can we really trust he's telling the truth?"
"I see no reason for him to lie about it," Ho-Oh said.
"Ephemeris' aura exudes energy not of this world," Totem Ninetales said, eyes and brooch flickering purple. The bells around her paws jingled softly. "And after Dark Matter's second attack, we thought it would be a good idea to have a means to restore spirits in case something or someone came along who could do far worse than turn Pokémon to stone and cast their spirits into the planet's core."
Exactly. And, unfortunately, the Prism Virus is the very thing we feared. Most of Necrozma and Zero's victims are not in a state where Ho-Oh can restore them to life, Magearna explained. That's where Ampharos' plan comes in.
Ninetales looked at Ampharos. He was staring off into space, but snapped to attention as soon as his name was called. "O-Oh, yes. Quite right. My plan." He tapped a nubby arm against his chin. "The plan that involved… erm, doing something important!" Ampharos raised his right arm, grinning.
Ampharos' plan… was to pretend he had a plan, Magearna declared. Cresselia stiffened. Ninetales jaw dropped. It couldn't have been the wind making her hear things. There wasn't any wind. She stared blankly at Magearna. Whatever her "exposition mode" was, it made her talk crazy. Hear me out before you snap at me. When the Horizon Guild first encountered Pokémon infected by the Prism Virus, I suspected that the Virus was, in fact, a manifestation of Dark Matter.
I feared that whoever or whatever was behind the Prism Virus would know about how Ampharos managed to plan around Dark Matter's activities. So, I thought we could use that to our advantage, Magearna continued, turning to Totem Ninetales. She nodded along, adjusting her shawl to get a better look at everyone's reactions.
"Magearna and I sent a letter to Ampharos explaining what the Prism Virus was. We thought the virus would eventually spread overseas, so we asked him to claim he had a plan to counter it. However, in reality, Magearna, Ho-Oh, and I would be devising a plan," Totem Ninetales explained. "We hoped that Ampharos could attract the Prism Virus' attention and leave us free to monitor the situation and adjust our plans accordingly."
Ninetales blinked. She had questions. She was sure of it. But they were so jumbled up in her head, the only one she could ask was, "Did you adjust your plans?"
Oh my, yes. It was a lesson in flexibility, for sure, Magearna said, adding a mechanical chuckle. Once I learned that Zero wanted to kill gods, I hastily wrote up a set of individualized instructions and relayed them to Ampharos.
"Ah, yes, now that I do remember," Ampharos said, patting his belly. "I gave some Expedition Society members assignments. Many of them asked me why I was telling them to do this stuff, but I told them I couldn't remember why."
Mawile rubbed her temples. "Luckily, the chief had built up enough goodwill that nobody questioned him too hard on the matter."
The initial plan was to have Latias and Hoopa travel to the various gods' domains and convince them to hide away in the same world we'd settled Ephemeris into, Magearna continued. If they agreed, we would replace them with Dittos or Unown clusters. The hope was that we could trick Zero into thinking she had succeeded in her plans, then launch a coordinated strike to take her down.
"Needless to say, we didn't anticipate Necrozma striking out on his own." Totem Ninetales' shoulders sagged. "And we certainly didn't expect they would both go after Temporal Tower." She shook her head. "I must apologize. Magearna and I were so focused on our own plans, we neglected to offer support to you all when it came to protecting the Time Gears."
"It's quite all right," Ampharos said. "Wigglytuff and his guild were quite cooperative."
"I don't think any of us could've predicted Zero abducting Manaphy and putting his Heart Swap powers to use the way she did," Cresselia said, shivering. "If anyone's to blame there, it's me. I was with him the night he was kidnapped. I could've prevented it all from happening."
In any case, our plan hit another hurtle. Most of the gods refused our offer of safekeeping, Magearna said. At which point, I had Latias and Hoopa going to sites where Necrozma or Zero attacked and trying to see if they could recover any parts of the victims.
"Ephemeris said the revival process would go quicker if he had portions of their old bodies to work with," Totem Ninetales elaborated.
The thought of scavenging for crystalized pieces of a dead god's body sent a shiver down Ninetales' spine.
Hoopa delivered the parts to Ephemeris, while Ho-Oh tried to scour the planet for the spirits of Necrozma's victims, Magearna continued. But, well, that's when Temporal Tower was destroyed.
Totem Ninetales nodded. "It seems this was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the sense that we now have most of the lost spirits safely in our possession and a curse in the sense that the world is now in a perilous state." Her shoulders sagged. "This would've been much easier if Necrozma hadn't gotten Hoopa."
Ninetales' head hurt. A lot. She wasn't even remotely confident she had understood everything they had told her. "I… I…" Her brow furrowed. "Why go to such ridiculously convoluted lengths?"
Her ice-type counterpart winced. "It was the best we could come up with."
I'm afraid some of my former boss' paranoia must have rubbed off on me, Magearna said, her mechanical eyes dimming. She turned to Ampharos. I'm afraid I'm not quite the elegant planner that you are.
"Now, now, there's no need for comparisons," Ampharos said, waving Magearna off. "What matters is that we still have options left!" He was about to raise his right arm again, when he froze and looked at Magearna. "Erm, we do still have options, correct?"
Magearna nodded vigorously enough to make Ninetales squirm nervously in her seat. Of course. What we have to consider is that there are some gods already residing in Ephemeris' home. In addition, Ephemeris' Sacred Ash takes time to work and he's only capable of restoring one spirit at a time.
She raised her arm. So, what I'm proposing is this. We revive Hoopa first. Then, he transports us to Ephemeris' world with the rest of the spirits in tow. Next, we revive all of the spirits. Finally, we launch a surprise attack on Temporal Tower.
Ninetales bit her lip. She had yet to encounter anyone associated with the Prism Virus face to face. But given what she had heard and the ragged state she had seen the teams in when she got to Horizon, the idea of fighting Zero frazzled her.
"Then we do have a plan!" Ampharos cheered. "A perfectly fine plan that we can put into place once we're… um…" He lowered his right arm and looked at Mawile. "Where are we flying to, again?"
"Rainbow Island, chief," Mawile said.
"And we'll be there momentarily. I can see it down below," Ho-Oh announced. With a beat of her wings, she began her descent.
~Prism Wastelands~
Silvally hit a stretch of ground resembling a metal grate and skidded along it. He turned back around, then relaxed his stance. "I think we're in the clear guys. No Necrospheres or Void Shad— ow!" He stumbled forward, then glanced an imprint of Milotic's tailfins on the back of his neck. "Hey, what was that for?" he growled.
"You were about to jinx us," Milotic huffed. She hopped off his back and slithered along the path. Ley line chains cut through jagged crystal walls on either side of them. Milotic looked up. "We're much closer to the center of the vortex," she observed. "Do you think this means we're getting close."
Tessa didn't want to follow Milotic's gaze. Every look at the temporal storm turned her veins to ice. Her resolve was faltering with every passing minute. Was the loss of her aura sense to blame for this? Tessa quickly dismissed that thought. She wasn't even good at using it, yet.
No, it was Shane's continued absence. Tessa couldn't deny it. She had tried to tell herself that they would find him soon enough. However, she'd crossed dozens of platforms, sending away several Necrospheres and Void Shadows, and her teammate was still missing. Tessa even found herself wishing for one of his childish quips or dorky comments. Anything to help settle the growing sense of unease she had in her gut.
"Hey, guys, there are stairs up ahead," Espy said, pointing a forepaw forward.
Tessa's aura feelers tensed. Stairs? Here? The most they'd encountered so far was sloped pathways. Maybe Milotic was right? Maybe they really were close. But if that was true, then that meant…
'I have to face Mom. And I have to do it without my partner.'
"Are you okay, Tessa? You're shaking like a leaf," Silvally said. His posture was rigid. Light flickered from his looplet's gemstone.
Tessa wondered if Silvally was feeling all right, but didn't ask him. "I'm just a bit… nervous, that's all. Mom's probably close by," she said. "I mean, what if she launches some sort of surprise attack?"
"Then we should follow the stairs to higher ground. Down here, we're not in a good position to defend ourselves," Espy said. She was trying to put on a brave face, but her legs quivered and her tail had stayed tucked between her legs since the first Void Shadow they'd encountered.
"Right. Do you guys want me to carry you?" Silvally said.
"No. If we're getting close to the source, then we shouldn't bunch up too much. Otherwise, we'll be an easy target," Espy replied.
"True. But there's also strength in numbers," Silvally said. "Besides, the pathway's narrow. We'll have to go single-file, regardless."
Espy looked to her left and right. "Uh, yeah, I suppose you've got a point." She and her teammates climbed back on Silvally. He took the staircase several stairs at a time, aided by both his long strides and his flying memories.
Tessa's aura feelers twitched. She saw sparks trail behind Silvally's foreleg as he ran. "Um, Silvally, is your looplet okay?" She clasped her shoulders with her paws. "It's been flickering since we fought Lycanroc's Ultra Beast and—"
Espy's ears stuck up. She tried to look down at Silvally's foreleg but he ran even faster and she had to buckle down to avoid tumbling off his back and down the stairs. "I'm fine," Silvally said. "I'm perfectly fine. We have to keep moving anyway, don't we?" He looked up. "I may not know how long we've been here, but that storm's getting fiercer."
Tessa chose to take Silvally at his word and fell silent. Silvally reached the top of the stairs and slowed his pace. The team had arrived atop a large, purple, circular platform. Crystalline horns stuck up all around them, like fangs protruding from a predator's open mouth. Tessa's gaze quickly fell on a glowing rune in the center of the platform. Her brow furrowed. Though her viewing angle wasn't the best, there was something frighteningly familiar about it.
She hopped off of Silvally's back, ignoring his call of, "Hey, what are you doing?" Tessa jogged toward the sigil, only to skid to a halt, eyes wide and aura feelers trembling.
"G-Guys…" Tessa raised a forepaw. "Right there… in the middle. I recognize that symbol." She turned to her teammates. "It's from the Rainbow Stoneship!"
Espy's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!"
"I'm not! I've seen the picture dozens of times from rereading the picture book about Team Poképals' adventures!" Tessa said, fidgeting with her scarf. She wanted to be wrong. Her eyes could be playing tricks on her. However, she strongly doubted that was the case.
"But if that's the Rainbow Stoneship's symbol, then…" Milotic looked down and her voice trailed off.
"We're in what's left of the Old Ruins," Silvally said, tone dead serious. "Which means that Zero must be…" He turned around, only to rear up on his hind legs with a startled yelp. Espy and Milotic slid off his back and landed on top of one another.
"Oof! What's the big idea?" Milotic groaned as she slithered off of Espy.
"I, um…" Silvally gulped. "I found Temporal Tower."
Tessa's ears stiffened. "What do you mean you found Temporal Tower? I thought my mom destroyed—"
The moment she followed Silvally's gaze, her voice failed her. There was an open gate in front of them, with a crystal staircase on the other side. The stairs led to a large, black, crystalline tower. Two rings of black octahedrons with glowing red cores — much like the top of Zero's Bone Rush staff — revolved around the building. Spikes protruded from the walls.
Two giant, hand-like structures emerged from opposite sides of the tower and spiraled around it. They joined together at the top of the tower, holding up a circular platform with an even larger octahedron behind it. The giant index fingers curled around one another to border a large gemstone cut to look like an eye. Red light shot up from the top platform and into the center of the vortex.
Below the staircase lay a lake of purple acid. Spear-shaped crystal blades protruded from the acid alongside thorny ley line chains. Tessa figured that the toxic lake's mist kept the team from seeing the tower before.
"Th… that's… that's…" Tessa could barely stay standing. "We have to climb that?"
Silvally winced. "I'm afraid so." He lowered his head. "And I don't think scaling the outside or flying up is an option. Those giant revolving crystals look like they'll blow us to bits if we try."
Tessa squeezed her eyes shut. This dungeon was already taxing enough. She couldn't bear to think about what sort of horrors lay waiting for them inside the tower. Tessa shuffled back. "I… I think we… we have to wait for the others." She shook her head. "I can't… we…" Tessa grabbed her head.
"Except we still don't know where they are," Espy whispered, ears drooping. "I don't like it, either. Especially since we don't have Shane with us." She tensed up. "But I don't think we can afford to wait."
Tessa glanced at her teammate. Espy had a pained expression on. Tessa knew Espy was having a very rough time. And yet, she still wasn't willing to back down. Tessa saw similar glimmers of resolve in Milotic and Silvally's eyes.
"You're right. That was stupid of me to say," Tessa said, putting a paw on her chest spike. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. We're all nervous," Espy said. "I honestly wish Shane was here. I could do with one of his silly comments right now… even if it would just be false bravado."
"Agreed," Tessa said. She didn't realize how much her partner's disappearance would throw her off her game. Tessa figured it was because they'd faced so many dangers together, that heading for the final obstacle without him felt wrong.
"Aww, isn't that adorable? You all have come such a long way in such a short time!"
Silvally looked up, head crest fanning out. He crouched into a fighting stance. "What was that?!"
"I… I didn't sense anyone!" Tessa said, rubbing her aura feelers.
"Ah! The gate!" Milotic shouted.
Silvally looked down, only to squawk in surprise and sprint toward the closing gate. He wasn't fast enough, however. The gate slammed shut. Thorny chains wrapped around it, fastened together by a giant, glowing red eye. "No!" Silvally snarled. He lunged for the gate, only to bounce off a forcefield. Silvally slammed the ground with a foreleg. "You've gotta be kidding me! I can't believe we let this happen!"
"Aha ha ha ha! Believe it, jigsaw puzzle!"
"Show yourself!" Silvally roared, venting steam from his cheek-bolts.
Espy looked around in concern. "I… I've got a bad feeling about this."
"That voice…" Milotic slithered toward Silvally. "It was… it was… Ni—"
A loud crackle made Team Radiance jump. Silvally turned toward Milotic in time for her to spit a mouthful of blood into his face. He stumbled back, hissing and blinking in surprise.
Tessa's aura feelers shot up. "No… Milotic!"
Milotic looked down to see an expanding red spot on her chest. She swayed back and forth uneasily, before collapsing on her side, eyes wide and empty.
Silvally slammed a foreleg down hard, cracking the ground. "Who are you?" he shouted. "I'll tear you to pieces!"
"Not if I fry you where you stand first!"
Silvally looked up to find a giant lightning bolt heading right for him.
Extra Dimensional Anomaly, Shadow Lugia
An alchemical fusion of Lugia and Marshadow. The mixture of two spirits creates a constant struggle within his mind, leading to a panicked, adrenaline-fueled state that causes him to attack anything around it. The only way Necrozma could control it was by using ley lines. So, how did Zero reign him in? What sort of power lurks behind the device she captures other Pokémon with?
This battle, for me at least, felt a bit different from usual and it was a struggle to write. So, any comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated.
SuperOmegaGuest: you'll get an answer in the next chapter... one way or another.
Anon Omega: Ephemeris is actually from "ephemeral," which means "a very short time." It sounds ironic, but there's an explanation for it.
Neptune: you'll have to stick around until the next chapter to see what's going to happen.
Sebastian: I'm sorry, but I have a busy work schedule, so I stick to reading PMD stories or published works.
Anonymous: glad you feel that way. I worked hard on that particular plot twist.
Next time: our heroes struggle on!