Apologies for any reviews I haven't gotten to, yet. I'm very pressed for time at the moment and will get to them later! But for now, it's time for the final episode! Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated as we head toward the end.
Content Advisory: chapter has one instance of potentially charged language.
Shane had no idea how long he was out for. One thing was clear when he woke up, though. He was still in the hospital bed. There wasn't any sort of tube in his throat anymore, thankfully. However, his mouth was so dry that he didn't risk opening it. Breathing normally was hard enough. He feared anything more would cause further harm.
All he could hear were the steady beeps of the heart monitor and the whirs of whatever machine was pumping fluids into his IV. He looked right and found the same nurse as before standing by his bed. This time, however, a blonde-haired woman in green surgical scrubs and a white coat stood beside the nurse. Shane saw the nurse's nametag and tensed up.
"Sir? Sir?" The doctor leaned over. Shane saw the words "Prisma Sinclair" stitched into her white coat. Why was that name familiar? "Please, Shane, you have to stay with me, here. I can't imagine how hard this must be for you."
It felt like someone was sitting on Shane's chest, yet there was nothing there but a bunch of bandages and medical gauze. What had happened? The nurse had mentioned something about an accident, didn't he?
But that wasn't right. He was an ice Ninetales… fighting with close friends against a heinous threat. He couldn't be back in the human world… could he?
Dr. Sinclair shined a pen light in Shane's right eye, then swiveled it to his left. "Pupils are equally responsive. That's good," she said, while the nurse scribbled something on a clipboard. "Shane, blink twice if you can understand what I'm saying."
Shane blinked twice. Sinclair smiled at him. "That's good. Do you think you can speak? If not, I want you to blink twice again, okay?" she said. Shane could barely take a breath without his chest hurting. Speech was beyond him. His gaze faltering, he blinked twice.
"Okay." Sinclair put her left hand against Shane's right hand. "Can you feel my hand right now? One blink for yes, two blinks for no." Shane glanced to his right, then blinked twice. "Very good. Now, I want you to squeeze my hand. If you're in a lot of pain, squeeze as hard you can."
Shane focused on his right hand, but struggled to move his fingers enough to wrap them around Sinclair's wrist. After pressing against the palm of her hand, he relaxed. His face twisted into a grimace. Shane still didn't understand why this was happening. The nametag. His life as a Ninetales. There was clearly something wrong. But he couldn't move. And he couldn't speak. So, what was he supposed to do?
"Nurse Eisenberg is going to add morphine to your IV. It should help with all the pain you're experiencing," Sinclair said, standing up and nodding at her nurse. "In the meantime, I'll tell your parents that it's safe for them to come in and see you."
His parents. Shane stared blankly at Dr. Sinclair as she walked out of the room. His mind was racing. He didn't even notice the nurse walk across the room, holding a bag filled with purple, bubbling fluid. It wasn't until the purple liquid streamed down his IV line and entered his arm that Shane realized something was wrong.
Shane's skin crawled, as if a bunch of invisible bugs were running up and down his arms and legs. He wanted to scratch his chest so badly, but he couldn't move. "Don't worry," the nurse said, walking to the foot of the bed. "This will make you feel better. So much better."
Shane tensed up. He recognized the distortion in the nurse's voice. Shane looked up at the nurse, only to find his face replaced by a large, purple, reptilian eye. It stared back at Shane, its pupillary slit expanding. Before Shane even had a chance to process this, however, a tearing pain gripped his chest. He looked down and had to watch in horror as red, thorny chains burst out from his bandages and dressings. They wriggled about. Then, one by one, they pointed at Shane's face.
He finally managed to get his mouth open, but the chains shot into his throat before he got the chance to scream.
Episode 16: The Light That Burns the Sky
Chapter 95: Darkest Before Dawn
~Prism Wastelands~
Tessa was in shock. Her limbs finally responded. They were sore, sure, but the fact that she felt them at all was a huge surprise. Just moments ago, one of Necrozma's spirit-stealing energy beams was barreling toward her, with nothing she could do stop it. What had changed?
She looked up to see Latias hovering above her. Soft, pink energy flittered around Tessa. Slowly, she managed to get to her feet. As the pink light faded, Tessa realized Latias wasn't alone. Her jaw dropped.
She had seen them drawn in books before, so there was no mistaking it. Arceus and Mega Rayquaza hovered in front of her. Tessa even saw Mewtwo and Lugia standing off to the side, along with the various teams she had been separated from in the aftermath of the battle with Lycanroc. Lugia had his wings raised. He was levitating the platform Zero had sent the Expedition Society members away on back toward the altar.
Meanwhile, Arceus and Rayquaza had their eyes locked on the path leading to the smaller alter. Tessa looked at it blankly. Hadn't Necrozma just been standing there? What happened to him?
"Blast it! He slipped right out from under us with one of those stupid wormholes," Rayquaza growled, lashing at the air with his tail. "How are we supposed to know where he went?"
"Um, yeah… about that…" Swampert rubbed the back of his head and pointed to his right. "There's a big ol' ominous-looking black bubble of doom floating way off in the distance over there." Everyone turned in the direction Swampert was pointing. Sure enough, a black sphere filled with rippling energy hung in the middle of the air, distorting everything around it.
"Wait a second…" Arceus' eyes narrowed. "That direction… Primeval Forest is in that direction! That's where the Tree of Life is!"
That's when the full realization of everything with Necrozma sank it for Tessa. Shane was gone. Silvally was gone. Necrozma had his core back. He had what was left of the Dawn Hourglass' power. His light was fueling her aura sense. And he not only claimed that Xerneas' control over spirits was under his command, but that Shane — her partner since the very beginning, despite all the hurdles — was, in fact, the underlying root of so many of the problems she had encountered in her travels.
Tessa's aura feelers scrunched up. With Latias having turned away to tend to Espy, Tessa took everyone by surprise when she dropped to her knees and belted out a loud, "No!" She raised a glowing paw and struck the ground. Cracks splintered in the crystal floor. Pain raced up to her shoulder, but she didn't care.
"H-Hey! What's wrong? Why the waterworks?" Feraligatr asked. It was then that Latias let out a startled squeak. She floated back toward Lugia, ears drooping as Espy's sobs rang out across the altar.
"No! It's not fair! He's gone! Gone!" Espy brushed her head against her shoulder. "I… we were…" She shuddered. "Silv… why? Why did you have to go?"
"H-Hold the phone, here. Can someone explain to me exactly what's going on?" Ninetales said. "What happened to Shane and Silvally?" She looked around, only to freeze up upon seeing all the gods assembled before her. "We had come here… to help Team Radiance fight Zero. But she trapped us in some strange forcefield and used ley lines to send us away."
"It was Necrozma," Tessa said, her voice empty. Even though she was looking at the ground, she could feel everyone's eyes fall on her. Even Espy's. "He… he…" She rubbed her eyes with an arm. "He was possessing Shane… because Shane didn't have Solgaleo's spirit inside of him. He had Dark Matter's spirit!"
Horror flashed across Espy and Latias' faces. Mawile stiffened. Ampharos tilted his head to the side. The other teams exchanged concerned looks. Rayquaza coiled around so his arrow-like face hovered a few inches in front of Tessa's. "And you're really going to believe the words of a screeching lunatic?"
"You saw him here for yourself, didn't you?" Tessa snarled. Her eyes and right paw flickered with rainbow light. Rayquaza pulled his head back, eyes twitching.
"That light," he whispered, glancing at Arceus.
"Yes. It's Z-Power. From Necrozma. I used Z-Power to evolve and now his energy's stuck inside of me." Tessa threw her paws up to her shoulders. "That's why I believe what he told me about Shane. And it doesn't stop there… Necrozma said that he had taken Xerneas' power for himself!"
Ninetales' tails shot up in alarm. "Th-That can't be!" She looked out toward the black void in the distance. "If he has Xerneas under his control then… then he could attack the spirit realm! There are thousands of spirits in there!" Her eyes widened and her legs shook. "And we never recovered most of the spirits Dark Matter dragged down into the Voidlands when it controlled the Tree of Life. If Necrozma can somehow drill down to the planet's core—"
"He'll be able to absorb the spirits of countless Pokémon… going all the way back to the earliest days of this world!" Mewtwo growled, tail lashing at the air. He whirled on Arceus and Rayquaza, eyes blazing with pink energy. "This is all your fault!" he snarled, pointing an accusatory finger at Arceus.
Arceus stepped back, face scrunched up. "What do you expect me to say?" he growled. Tessa gazed up at him in shock. She was looking at the creator himself. And yet, he seemed as docile as a newly-hatch Litten. Why was he so shaken by all of this? Wasn't he monitoring this situation?
"That you had at least considered the possibility something like this could happen!" Mewtwo clenched his fists. He nearly smacked a squeaking Mew with his tail.
"T-Two-y… please stop. I don't like it when you yell," Mew whimpered.
"You knew he was Xerneas' mate! You can't float there and tell me you didn't think Necrozma might try to go for Xerneas, knowing the history they had! You were the one who gave the orders to keep them apart!" Mewtwo continued.
Rayquaza looked as though someone had blasted him in the face with an Ice Beam. "What are you talking about? Immortal gods can't take mates! It's impossible!" He glanced at Arceus, only to coil up tighter when he saw Arceus looking down at his hooves. "You're not going to refute him?"
"I can't. It's the truth," Arceus whispered.
"Oh snap. Plot twist!" Haxorus said, earning herself several sharp glares. She slowly walked backward until she could safely duck behind Lugia's leg.
"Xerneas could've quelled his rage, but instead you chose to keep them apart, then have Solgaleo and Lunala imprison him. It's the same answer you have for everything. Try to make the problem disappear, regardless of the potential future consequences," Mewtwo said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Do you really think things would've worked out that easily? How do you even know about any of this, anyway?" Arceus growled. "Necrozma got to you, didn't he? What happened to all those boasts about how you're 'the world's strongest Pokémon?' Well, what good did that do you in the end, hmm?"
Tessa was in disbelief. After everything she had told them— no, after everything she'd gone through, nobody was coming to comfort her. Instead, she was watching gods bicker with each other like… like the arguments she had with Gallian when they were little. Tessa's right eye twitched. Her heart ached. Silvally would've known exactly what to do. And Shane… well, there was a chance he'd make things worse, but at least he'd say something. She couldn't even find her voice. Necrozma's words kept echoing in her head.
Dark Matter. The Pokémon she'd grown closest to… was Dark Matter.
The other teams tried to interject and defuse Arceus and Mewtwo's argument, but they continued glaring at each other. Latias and Lugia hovered between the two, the latter holding out his wings. "None of this will do any of us any good at all," Latias said. "We've got a serious problem, here. And not one that can be solved by closing our eyes and wishing it would go away."
Mewtwo turned his back on her. "Then talk to him. He's supposed to be the 'miracle worker,' isn't he?"
Tessa hadn't felt this tiny since the day her mother gave up on her aura training. Slowly, she turned away from the bickering gods. Tessa looked at Espy. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her ears were drooping lower than Tessa had even seen them. Espy's tail was curled around her waist. She looked as broken as she did when Tessa had gone to comfort her after Umbreon's sacrifice. After a few seconds, Espy met her gaze.
"E-Espeon, what do we do?" Tessa said.
"I don't know. I just…" Espy's voice trailed off. She shuddered. "Silv," she whispered meekly.
Tessa stared at her paws. She balled them into fists. Aural flames flickered around them. She took a deep breath. Had her teammates been there, they would've told her that she needed to stay strong. That this wasn't the time to give in. Not when there were still people who needed saving.
Something bubbled up in Tessa's gut. It was just like before she had snapped at Zero. Tessa tensed up. She couldn't let herself slip so deep into her anger again. Otherwise, how would she think straight? Tessa staggered to her feet. Espy looked up at her. "What are you doing?"
With a shaky breath, Tessa replied, "I'm going to get our friends back." She then stomped toward the large argument. A rainbow aura flared up around her as she shouted, "All of you… shut up!" Everyone turned her. Espy got to her feet, tail wrapped around a hind leg. "You guys…" She pointed a paw at Arceus and Mewtwo. "You've been sitting on the sidelines this whole time. You have no idea what I— no, what we've been through!"
She grabbed her head and shook it. "I don't care what happened in the past. What matters is the present… because I want to have a future! I've been through too much to give up now and let Necrozma rip everything I care about away from me!" Aura jets shot out of her paws. Espy backed away, eyes wide, until she bumped into an equally-stunned Haxorus.
"Sheesh. Was she always like this?" Haxorus whispered.
"I don't think it's my place to say," Espy replied. In truth, she was just as furious, but was trying to keep her emotions in check. She'd already had a hysterical breakdown. That wouldn't help her get Silvally back.
She glanced right, envisioning a silhouette of her teammate beside her with a confident grin on his beak. 'You'd want me to stand tall, right?'
"Obviously, I can't walk over to whatever that thing is." Tessa gestured toward the black sphere. "So, I don't care which one of you volunteers, but someone is taking me there." She thumped her chest. "Even if nobody else wants to join us…" Tears welled up in her eyes again. "I won't surrender. He doesn't get to win. I'll shatter every piece of his prism armor if I have to!"
With a deep breath, Espy approached her. "M-Me too!" She bit her lip. "I can't be afraid. We have to move forward… together! It's what…" Her gaze fell. "It's what he wanted for us."
Tessa knew exactly what Espy met. A pang of sadness struck her gut, but she forced herself not to let it show. She looked at the other teams and found Blaziken and Swampert sorting through their satchels. "Shoot. You don't have to ask us," Swampert said. "A rescue team doesn't call it quits until the job is done. Even if the scale of the rescue is so big you can't measure it."
"Right! And I still owe Necrozma a Dragon Claw sandwich for what he did to Paradise!" Haxorus said, smacking an open palm with her fist. Raichu nodded her support.
"Thank you." Tessa gave a curt bow to the others, then turned back to the gods. "So, who's it going to be? Who's taking us over to Necrozma's sinister floating death ball?"
Heeheeheehee! What an adorably hopeless scene this is! It'd fit right in with any sappy sports movie.
Tessa's aura feelers crinkled. Necrozma's voice was coming from the sky, but she saw no signs of him anywhere. It clearly wasn't telepathy, so how was he doing this?
"Everyone on your guard!" Mewtwo said, raising his glowing hands. Mew tried to wrap his tiny arms around Mewtwo's waist.
I'm at least nice enough to make one thing clear to you. My "sinister floating death ball" is Celestial Island! I did some "renovations." After all, the place looked so lonely after your mother abandoned it, Necrozma declared. And if you honestly think I'm going to let any of you waltz in while I'm busy purging the Tree of Life of every last drop of its energy, then you're going to be sorely disappointed!
Latias' feathers bristled. "N-No!" She rubbed her head against Lugia's neck. "If he does that, the planet will go hurtling into the sun! Just like with Dark Matter!"
Arceus and Rayquaza looked right at Tessa, who figured they were now choosing to believe her claims about Shane's spirit.
Relax. Lucky for you fools, the planet's paralyzed and Dialga's dead. It can't go anywhere no matter what I do to that foolish pile of woodchips, Necrozma said.
"Wait, really?" Feraligatr cocked his head to the side.
Heeheeheehee! Of course! Ask that white-furred failure of a creator if you don't believe me, Necrozma crooned. He's the one who denied Darkrai's request to paralyze the planet in an effort to thwart Dark Matter's revival. I doubt he could've foreseen his rejection driving Darkrai into the depths of nihilism. It's not as if he'd made this mistake before or anything. Oh, wait, that's right. He did. And you all wonder why I consider your world irredeemable?
All eyes whirled on Arceus. He looked up toward the sky, his wheel sparking with energy. "I'm well aware of all my screw-ups, thank you."
Tessa's brow furrowed. This all felt eerily familiar. Not what Necrozma was saying, necessarily, but how he was saying it. Blue flames swirled in her paws. "Guys, stop talking! This is a stalling tactic!" She stomped a foot on the ground. "We have to leave now!"
Lugia got the memo quickly, bending over and spreading his wings out. However, Rayquaza snaked in front of him. "Time is of the essence here," he said. "My Dragon Ascent can get the mortals there faster than anything short of a portal or wormhole. I should be the one to go."
Were you not listening to me earlier? Nobody's getting into Celestial Island! Necrozma barked. Light flashed through the sky. You want to go out in a heroic blaze of glory? Fine! I'm happy to indulge. Feast your eyes on this!
Rayquaza turned and snatched up Espy and Tessa in his arms. "Don't worry! I'll protect you!" he shouted. "The rest of you, follow behind in case I need support." His golden ribbons straightened out, giving him the appearance of an emerald arrow. Rayquaza shot into the air before anyone could respond to him.
Tessa had never moved so fast. Well, she also hadn't flown before. So, to have this be her first experience was nothing short of frightening. She wanted to scream, but managed to keep her fears stuffed down inside her. The only problem was that the mystical emerald wind Rayquaza had summoned made it almost impossible for Tessa to see anything.
"What's going on? Are we getting close?" she shouted, amazed she could hear her voice at the speeds they were going.
"We're almost there," Rayquaza replied. Indeed, Celestial Island drew closer. With the strange void surrounding it, he had no idea where he could safely drop off Espy and Tessa.
With the island a hundred yards away, however, a ripple of light forced Rayquaza to stop. He looked to his right, eyes narrowing. "What was that?" he growled.
"What was what? Why did you stop?" Tessa said, squirming in Rayquaza's grasp. His sharp claws were jabbing her ribs. It made her uncomfortable. She caught sight of Rayquaza's tail lashing at the air and looked right. Her aura feelers shot up.
"Do you see something, Tessa?" Espy asked, unable to look right because of the way Rayquaza held her.
"I… I do," Tessa squeaked. "It's a… a giant… Ultra Wormhole."
Espy's eyes widened. "Let me see! Let me see!" she begged, squirming in Rayquaza's grip. Rayquaza hoisted Espy and Tessa up, giving them a complete view of the massive, jagged rift that tore across the sky. The bulk of the rift sat above Celestial Island. Blue and purple light flittered in through the rift.
"Oh, gods," Espy whispered.
Tessa's aura feelers spasmed. She squinted. Though the light made it hard to tell, she swore she saw silhouettes pouring out from the rift. "U-Um… Espeon? Are… are you seeing what I'm seeing? There's, um, something in that wormhole. Or, rather, a lot of somethings."
Espy's ears drooped. Her tail would've tucked between her legs, but it was pinned to her side thanks to Rayquaza. "You see it, too? Then tell me. What am I looking at, exactly?" he said.
"Ultra Beasts," Espy said, shivering. "Hundreds and hundreds of Ultra Beasts."
Everything was blurry. Blurry and muted. Shane felt as though he'd been dumped into an aquarium water tank… except he wasn't drowning. Instead, he floated in the middle of a black abyss. Every so often, he felt a ripple brush up against him. However, that did little to calm his nerves.
So, he wasn't in a hospital after all. The only conclusion Shane could draw was that Necrozma had performed some sort of trickery with his mind. It would explain why the nurse and the doctor had the names that they did.
Of course, the realization did little to quell Shane's fears. For starters, he had no idea where he was. On top of that, he had no idea whathe was. Sure, he could see, hear, and feel. However, the wiry, fluff-covered Ninetales limbs he'd grown used to were nowhere to be found. There were no tails protruding from his backside. No locks of hair falling over his eyes.
What had happened to him?
Before Shane could think on the matter any longer, a harsh current sent him tumbling through the abyss. Shane's world spun, but since there was nothing but darkness all around him, he didn't find himself getting dizzy. He just wanted this all to stop. He wanted to see his friends again. To see Tessa smile. To hug Silvally while calming energy pulsed down his body. To give Espy a nuzzle and tell her everything was okay.
Shane had no idea how long the currents spun him around for. He became numb to the swirling sensation. Eventually, however, something pierced through the endless sea of black. It took him a moment to get a good look, but once he did, his nerves flared up again.
There were two bundles of heavy, cast iron chains floating in front of him. Each bundle had numerous padlocks clinging to the chains. Shadow fire swirled around the locks. And yet, despite that, Shane could also see light poking through cracks in each set of chains. The left bundle had bits of golden light flittering around it, while the right bundle had twinkling, pink and white light spread across it. Shane swore he even saw branch-shaped silhouettes poking through the chains.
It's over.
Shane heard a voice echoing in his head. He recognized that voice… and the resignation in its tone. He wished he could properly move. That way, Shane could try to get a sense of what was going on.
There's nothing left you can do.
This time, Shane saw the left bundle of chains wriggling as the voice spoke. More bits of golden light trickled through the chains. Was there someone inside? Some sort of spirit, perhaps? Shane had to reach out to it somehow. But could he even speak in his current state? He had no idea, but he had to do something.
EnJOyInG tHE ViEW, aRE wE?
An unsettling feeling bubbled inside of… well, whatever form Shane was presently occupying. He still wasn't sure.
wEll NoW, I dON'T WaNT yOU To GET tOO bOReD. WhY Don'T I sHOw YoU SoMEtHInG tRUlY IntEResTInG?
A violet, reptilian eye formed in between the bundles of chains. Black, slimy tendrils protruded from its back and shoved each bundle of chains away.
I'm sorry!
The first voice grew more distant. Now Shane was sure someone or something was trapped inside of those bundles. Shane concentrated as hard as he could and, to his delight, managed to utter a, "Who are you?"
I AM tHe SoUrCe oF yOuR sPIrIT… AnD NecROzMA'S PoWEr. I aM tHE vOId.
Before Shane had a chance to respond, Void's tendrils seemed to grab hold of the black water Shane was floating in and pull it apart. Shane was treated to a blurry view of his teammates and Milotic standing before Zero. He saw Tessa looking more tense that he'd even seen. Espy kept stealing glances at Silvally, face brimming with worry. And Silvally had a strange, rainbow aura about him. All Shane could think about was what had happened to them after they got separated.
"Guys! Guys, it's me! I'm here! I'm—"
It'S UsELesS. ThEY cAN'T HeaR YoU.
Shane wished he could feel any sort of facial muscles so he could glare at the obnoxious floating eyeball. Instead, he had to settle for watching the battle against Zero play out. As Zero summoned crystalline copies of spirits she had consumed, Shane grew more and more anxious. And when Silvally threw himself at Dialga, Shane cried out to him in desperation. All the while, Void stared him down, eye brimming with purple light.
There was nothing Shane could do. Not when Tessa flew into a berserk rage. Not when Necrozma revealed he was masquerading as Shane, then plucked his core out of Zero. And not when he taunted Tessa and launched what should've been the killing blow. Shane's heart then soared when the cavalry came charging in to Tessa's rescue. But the joy was short lived, as Necrozma escaped through an Ultra Wormhole.
An invisible force grabbed hold of Shane. In a flash of light and a gust of wind, Shane was thrust from his dark, shadowy prison. He struck a floor made entirely from the same red, glitchy cubes Zero summoned for all her attacks. All around him, black cubes and crystals floated in random directions, sporadically bouncing off one another.
The cubes were overshadowed, however, by a large, white light to Shane's right. In the periphery of his vision, he could barely make out ethereal roots digging into the floor. Wisps of light trailed off the roots. Another chill ran through Shane. If he was staring at a glowing tree, then he had to be looking at the Tree of Life. No other tree would have such a mystical aura about it. And Necrozma had been possessing Xerneas.
A crystal floated right by Shane. With the light from the Tree of Life, he finally got a glimpse of his reflection. There was no body to speak of. Or even a face. All he saw was a small red sphere with numerous cracks spread throughout it. A sinking feeling struck Shane with the force of a Body Slamming Snorlax.
'He was right. I… I really am Dark Matter.'
"Heeheeheehee! I must say… I'm impressed with your tenacity."
A psychic force hoisted Shane into the air. He got a much better look at the Tree of Life. A huge gash had been torn through its trunk. White and sky-blue espers streamed out of the gash and into Necrozma's core. An ethereal glow surrounded his metal body. With each spirit he absorbed, Necrozma's arms twitched. Tiny runes surrounded his claws, but Shane couldn't make out what they depicted.
"After seeing what happened to your 'friends,' I expected your will to falter and your spirit to fizzle out, unlike what happened to Light's when Golem mucked up his ritual. And yet, here you are." Chuckling, Necrozma turned his head to lock eyes with Shane. "At least now you know that I was telling the truth."
"I don't… care." Shane wasn't sure how he was speaking, but he wouldn't let that stop him. "I'll… I'll find a way out of this somehow! My friends will help me!"
Necrozma's resulting sigh was as long and drawn out as it could possibly be. "Such a pity. I could've avoided a lot of headaches had I taken the time to understand exactly what sets human and Pokémon spirits apart."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shane huffed, figuring this was another mind game.
"What's that? You haven't figured it out yet, have you? Well, I suppose you've never been much of a thinker, Shane." Necrozma paced around Shane, eyes locked on him. "Math was the closest thing you had to a strong subject in school, yes?" He paused. "Don't answer. That was rhetorical." Necrozma cleared his throat. "Allow me to clear it up in a way that you can hopefully understand. See, your spirit is Dark Matter's… for the most part. But not entirely.
"I'd say, if I had to partition it out, you're about eighty-five percent Dark Matter, ten percent human, and five percent Solgaleo." Necrozma smirked. "Oh, but I know what you're thinking. 'That doesn't make any sense, Necrozma. Why do I remember so much about being human, but nothing about being Solagleo or Dark Matter?'"
Shane wished he still had a snout. That way, he could bare his fangs at Necrozma's mocking interpretation of his shrill voice.
Necrozma's smile broadened, as if he knew exactly what Shane wanted. "The answer lies in the human spirit." He stepped back from Shane. His prism turned red and he narrowed his eyes. "It's quite amazing. For such weak, frail creatures… your spirits have an enormous amount of resilience. It's almost enviable."
"That feels like a load of croc," Shane said. "Even by crazy magical Pokémon standards, you can't really tell me spirits are some sort of super tangible object."
"But that's where you're wrong. They are very, very tangible. But there's a key difference between human spirits and Pokémon spirits. Thanks to humans' indomitable wills, their spirits have far tougher than Pokémon spirits," Necrozma explained, shaking his head. "If you break a Pokémon's spirit… you will also destroy their memories and their personality. But for humans… well, thanks to willpower, as long as the smallest fraction of a human spirit remains intact, the human's full range of memories and characteristics will persevere.
"That's why everything about your human life made it into your Vulpix body. And that's why I haven't been able to get rid of the remnants of your so-called friend's spirit! He's as much a part of me as I am of him." Necrozma scowled. "So, yes, even though you got your powers from me and Dark Matter, your human will found a way to shine through in the end. Of course, it doesn't change your situation at all. I just figured you might like to know, that's all."
Shane mulled on Necrozma's claims for a minute. If he had heard Necrozma right, then perhaps his friend wasn't completely gone. He thought back to the chains he had sign when he was floating in the black abyss. "N-Nicky. I know you're in there. Even if it's just… a part of you… you can stop this! Don't let the void… do this. You're stronger than that! I know you are." He paused. "Because you were always a better person than me."
An invisible hand squeezed Shane. He cried out in pain. Necrozma's blue eyes flashed. "Heeheeheehee! It's a little late to be teaching yourself Fake Tears. Not that it would do you any good." Necrozma licked his lips. "My core is complete. What little there is of Light's spirit is now locked away forever. Your fake sob story will never reach him."
"That's not true. I heard a voice… when I was stuck inside you," Shane said. "He's still fighting. I know he is! You just said… human spirits… are resilient. He won't… let you… do this."
"Bold words from a giant fraud," Necrozma scoffed, tail flicking to the side. "You saw how your 'friends' reacted to the revelation of what you really are. They're doubting the sincerity of everything you ever did for them!" He bared his fangs at Shane. His core brimmed with energy. The Tree of Life seemed to react to his growing unrest, pulsating with white ripples. "Do you honestly think Tessa will accept you back now that she knows the truth? Ha! What an absolute farce!
"Let's say, through some divine act, you actually defeat me and reclaim your Ninetales form. What will you do then, hmm?" Necrozma leered at Shane. "Can you really go crawling back to your teammates, expecting things to return to normal? Of course not!" A grin spread across Necrozma's face. "Look at Tessa! All that Z-Power she absorbed on accident when she evolved… it's made her unstable. I was able to manipulate that energy and drive her into a berserk rage! With the power I'm gather in my core… I could rip her apart from the inside out!"
"You leave her out of this!" Shane snarled. "Tessa doesn't deserve any of this misery!"
"It's too late for that. The doubts I've planted in her will grown and fester. Either she'll lose herself to all of that unstable energy… or the doubts will get too large and she'll cast you aside." Necrozma's grin widened. "And when that rejection seeps into your system, your human will won't be strong enough to resist the pain. The Dark Matter in you will bubble to the surface and seek to return to its old ways!"
"That's not true. We'll find a way to make this work. We can help each other," Shane said. "It's not about spirits or energy or anything like that. You'll see!"
"Your words betray the uncertainty in your voice," Necrozma said, shaking his head. "But fine… I'll play along. After all, your friends intend to storm the island and put a stop to me." He rubbed his metal hands together. "It's only appropriate that I have a special surprise waiting for them if they make it here! Heeheeheehee!"
Necrozma yanked Shane toward him and turned him left. It was there that Shane saw a mass of ley line chains swirling about in the air. The chains surrounded a large, pulsating ball of light surrounded by letter-shaped silhouettes.
"N-No. Those are… Unown," Shane said.
"Heeheeheehee! Are you starting to understand what you're up against? You, Tessa, Silvally. The power of the void runs through all of you. You are all exploitable!" Necrozma said, rubbing his hands together. "I manipulated Silvally's spirits just as I did Tessa's Z-Power. He blew himself up because I hardwired him to think it was the only way to stop Zero! But, of course, I like to keep backup plans in mind."
Shane saw a rainbow sphere in the center of the ball of light. Even without a body, he still felt an unnerving sense of dread.
"I condensed all of Silvally's spirits into a core… just like what I have. After he blew himself up, I transported the core here just in case I needed to put him to use," Necrozma explained, licking his lips. "Now I'm pumping him full of added spirits and making him a new body from even more Unown. When I'm through here… he'll finally be the crazed killer the void wanted him to be! Heeheeheehee!"
The chains squeezed the Unown and the ball of light tightly. A distorted wail echoed through the room. "Stop it! Stop it, Nicky! Don't do this!" Shane cried.
"And why should I stop? Didn't you see how heartbroken your friends were over the loss of Silvally? Imagine how overjoyed they'll be when they find him here. Especially Espeon," Necrozma said. "Oh-ho, did you see what I did there? With the clever alliteration? I didn't even intend for that to happen!"
"Nicky, please! You have to fight it! Fight the void! Fight Necrozma!" Shane begged.
Necrozma rolled his eyes. "Oh, sod off. He's too far gone to hear you. Besides, I didn't get to tell you about the fun part. Yes. That'll come when your precious friends realize they can't get through to Silvally… or to you."
An invisible force shoved Shane forward. Chains burst out of the floor and surrounded him. Within seconds, they blocked his view of Necrozma and the Tree of Life.
"Their joy will turn to despair. Their wills will crumble. And once that happens… their spirits will be mine."
The chains swallowed Shane up. For a brief moment, his world went black. Then, he hit a carpeted floor hard. Shane groaned loudly, but immediately sat up when he realized he could feel his limbs again. He looked down, only to recoil in horror as they weren't fur-covered legs but pale, skinny, human arms. Shane flexed his fingers, then looked past them to see he was in another hospital gown.
"For pity's sake… this isn't funny, Nicky!" Shane shouted, only for his eyes to widen. He staggered to his feet, staring blankly at the leg of a gigantic school desk. "W-What the—"
"Prissy Nicky… funny? No. The only thing that's funny here… is your face, retard!"
Shane tensed up. His heart leaped into his throat. His pupils dilated. "G… Geoff?" Shane croaked. He looked behind him and saw a gigantic, sneakered foot careening toward him.
Screaming at the top of his lungs, Shane broke into a run.
~Celestial Island Exterior~
If Tessa hadn't been sick before, she certainly was now. Rayquaza desperately snaked through the multicolored volley of energy beams trained on his location. Tessa's world was a blur of dull grays punctuated by the occasional flash of light. Bile rose up in her throat. She forced herself to swallow.
"There's too many of them!" Rayquaza growled. He fired a Dragon Pulse into the distance, but three Dragon Pulses and multicolored sound waves snuffed out the attack. Behind him, Latias, Lugia, and Arceus weren't faring any better. Even with the various team members offering added fire power, their attacks were neither strong enough nor capable of travelling far enough to help the gods forge a path toward the island. Tessa even tried flinging an Aura Sphere toward what she thought was a Stakataka in the distance. She didn't even get to see a half-dozen Kartanas shred the attack apart before it got anywhere close to her target.
"So, what do we do here?" Mew asked, hovering beside Mewtwo. He glanced at Arceus. "Don't you have some fancy-schmancy attack that could wipe out the lot of these losers?"
"If you're referring to my Judgement, then no… it's not enough to get rid of all of them," Arceus said. "Besides, I can't safely use the attack with passengers. I'd risk vaporizing them."
Haxorus' expression blanched. "Uh, yeah, I'd very much like to live, thank you."
"Ditto!" Swampert shouted, earning a scathing look from Arceus.
"Well, what do we do then?!" Mew pivoted to deflect a couple of Flash Cannons with a barrier. "Because if we try to charge head-first toward the island, we'll get swamped with attacks!"
Tessa tensed up. "I, uh…" She squirmed in Rayquaza's grasp. "I thought you said nothing was faster than your Dragon Ascent? Why can't you just speed toward the isl— aah!"
Rayquaza did a midair figure eight to dodge a flurry of Dragon Pulses and glowing rocks. "That's why!" he harrumphed, only for a much larger Dragon Pulse to strike him in the right eye. He screeched and reflexively threw his hands up toward his eye. In the process, he dropped Espy and Tessa, who fell screaming toward the ground.
"Ah! No!" Latias shouted. She dove toward them, only to screech to a halt when a familiar purple portal opened up underneath them. "What the—"
Like a shimmering purple comet, Lunala flew out of the portal, wrapping Espy and Tessa up in a tight embrace. Though Tessa couldn't see anything, Lunala's ethereal membranes left her feeling oddly calm considering she had almost fallen to her death.
Lunala corkscrewed past the other gods. "Cover me! I've got this," she said, then spiraled toward the island.
What the— that's impossible! You're dead! I sapped every last drop of light out of your spirit!
Though muffled, Tessa heard Necrozma's snarls of protest. She had no idea what was going on outside, but whatever was happening was leading to her and Espy getting jostled around. Tessa wound up grabbing Espy by a foreleg and bringing her into a tight embrace— minding her chest spike, of course. It was the only way she could think of to stop the two from potentially colliding.
"What's going on, Tessa?" Espy cried.
"I don't know, but I think we may have been blessed with a stroke of luck," Tessa said.
"Well, not exactly," Lunala shouted, clearly focused on trying to avoid whatever attacks the Ultra Beasts were launching at her.
After several tense seconds, the sounds of battle abruptly died away. Lunala spread her wings and gently lowered Espy and Tessa to the ground with her ESP. "Oof. My aching head," Espy said, bending over and shaking herself out like she'd been drenched in water. She then froze and looked around. Her jaw dropped. "Th… this is Celestial Island?!"
Tessa's aura feelers throbbed. She stood on a floor made of black, glitchy cubes. Cubes floated by them in the air, alongside giant, crystal lattices. Beyond that, there were no walls. There wasn't even a sky. Nothing but black and red static surrounded her. Tessa placed a paw against her chest. "I guess these are the 'renovations' Necrozma was talking about."
Lunala floated in front of them. From behind, she looked like a large, crescent-shaped shield. "I fear we don't have a lot of time. Whatever this place is… we have to press on through it until we find Necrozma."
Espy and Tessa looked at each other and nodded. "We're with you," Tessa said.
"Great. We'll all go together, then."
The girls ran forward to catch up with Lunala. "One question, though. How did you survive Necrozma's possession?" Espy asked. "We thought you needed Mega Evolutions or Z-Moves to save corrupted Pokémon."
Lunala's wing-claws tensed. "The truth is I… didn't. That Lucario—" Lunala glanced at Tessa. "Your mother, I'm assuming?"
Tessa nodded.
"Right. She forced Necrozma out of my body. When she did… my spirit didn't have the strength to stay bound to my body," Lunala explained. "Hang on… duck!"
The girls did as instructed. Purple energy surrounded Lunala's chest and she blasted an oncoming wall of spiked cubes with her Moongeist Beam. They ran through the opening, only to find a second cube wall waiting for them on the other side. This one wasn't moving, but Lunala's attempts at blasting it apart fell flat.
"It's no good." Espy looked to her right, only to jump up, fur puffing out in surprise. Another wall had formed, further blocking their path. "Argh! It's like he turned this place into a constantly-shifting Mystery Dungeon."
"Actually, that's exactly what we're dealing with," Tessa said, pointing to her left. Holographic stairs flickered in the distance, surrounded by floating cubes pulsating with red light.
Espy's ears drooped. "Wonderful. How are we ever going to reach Necrozma like this?"
"Well, not by standing around. C'mon." Tessa beckoned her teammate to follow. Lunala floated above them, eyes brimming with psychic energy in case the floating cubes were a trap. "So, uh, about what I was asking earlier? If you actually, y'know, died, then how are you with us right now?"
"You should thank your friends for that one," Lunala replied, earning confused looks from the girls. "Err, sorry. Are they not you friends? Maybe they're just colleagues? They seemed to know you, anyway."
Espy's ears stuck up mid-stride. "Oh, wait! Ampharos' plan! Something about restoring the spirits lost to Necrozma. You mean to say it actually worked?"
"Well, I didn't see an Ampharos around, but I was revived," Lunala said. Three of the cubes turned spiky and shot toward Team Radiance. She blew them into other cubes with a wide pink blast, then ducked underneath the small explosions that ensued.
"Th… then… does that mean… Umbry's back?" Espy whispered, heart pounding her chest.
"Hmm. There was an Umbreon among the 'mons I saw before I raced over to you," Lunala said. "Why? Is he a friend of yours?"
A broad smile crossed Espy's face, though it didn't take long for her worried expression to return. After all, what good did having Umbry back do if the world was on the precipice of complete destruction? And, of course, even if he was back, there was still a hole in her heart. Espy glanced right, imagining her chimeric teammate bounding along beside her. She shut her eyes and shook her head.
'You can't dwell on it. You have to be at your best for this fight!'
They reached the bottom of the stairs. Tessa hesitantly put a foot on the first stair and, once she confirmed it was solid, started to climb up. "So, wait, if Necrozma's victims are getting revived, then does that mean—"
The entire area trembled. A yelping Tessa dropped to her knees and dug her paw spikes into the stairs to stop herself from tumbling off. Her aura feelers shot up when a loud, boisterous laugh clashed with an annoyed snarl. "W-What was that?!" Tessa said, aura feelers throbbing in time with her heartbeat.
Lunala looked around. "If I had to guess… that sounded like Hoopa."
Multiple ring portals opened around Arceus and Rayquaza. "What the heck?!"
"Ha ha ha ha! Fear not, fellow gods! Help has arrived! Because Hoopa is here!"
Before Arceus could even react, a loud "Daddy! Daddy!" echoed through the sky. A gray blur slammed into Arceus, nearly knocking his passengers from his back. "Oh, I missed you so much! Did you miss me? Huh? Didya? Didya?" Giratina said, tail wagging excitedly. He nuzzled Arceus' neck as veins bulged out of the creator's head.
Haxorus, who was clinging to Arceus by his white, fluffy tail, stared at Giratina's spectral wings with a lock of shock on her face. "I sodid not sign up for this!" she hollered, kicking at the air with her legs.
"Look on the bright side, luv. You'll have a hell of a story to tell when this is all over," Marshadow said, one of Giratina's wing-spikes hovering inches from his face.
"Don't make me smack you again," Haxorus grumbled, pulling herself up onto Arceus' hip.
"For pity's sake, Giratina." Arceus shoved his son back. "What have I told you about boundaries?"
"That they're only suggestions!" Giratina said, a jovial grin on his face.
"What? No! I never said anything like that!" Arceus fumed.
"Oi! This is a touching reunion and all, but can we please focus on the aliens trying to kill us?" Lugia said, levying Air Slash crescents to cancel out a bevy of Ancient Power rocks. He was ready to shoot an Aeroblast into the distance when one of the ring portals crackled. Out came golden and rainbow streams of fire. They sailed toward a Buzzwole floating in the distance. Once they struck, a chain reaction of bright, fiery explosions spread through the Ultra Beast ranks. Ephemeris and Ho-Oh flew out of the ring portal in question, spreading their wings wide as flames trailed off their tails.
Latias blinked. "Am… am I seeing double?"
"Yeah, you are! It's an amazing trick, isn't it?" Giratina said, having popped up next to Latias thanks to a Shadow Force rift.
"Gah!" Latias' feathers bristled. "Do you mind?"
"Mind what? You're the psychic-type, not me," Giratina said, sticking out his tongue. "I was just saying that it was such a bummer that Ho-Oh wouldn't tell me how she duplicated herself. Or turned her duplicate into a dude."
A loud snarl caught everyone's attention. Black shadows pooled out from a smaller rift in front of the gods. Necrozma shot toward Ephemeris and Ho-Oh like a blazing comet. Both rolled aside, then turned their flames against him. Necrozma vanished into a shadowy rift, only to reappear where he first emerged.
"I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling, here. But I won't stand for it!" he snarled.
"Um, technically, you're not standing. You're floating," Giratina pointed out.
Another vessel bulged out of Arceus' head. "Giratina? Darling son?"
"Yes, Daddy?" Giratina fluttered his eyelids.
"We're going to play the quiet game, all right? The longer you go without speaking, the bigger your prize will be when the game's over," Arceus said. Latias could swear she saw smoke rising up from his head.
"Okay!" Giratina chirped, only to throw his wings up over his mouth. "Uh-oh, I messed up! Can we start over?" His eyes bugged out. "Agh, I did it again! Sorry, Daddy!"
Haxorus facepalmed. "And here I thought Hydreigon was dense."
"Enough!" Necrozma raised his hands. His core shined brightly. "All of you… spread out! Take every continent and tear them apart until there's nothing left!"
The many Ultra Beast silhouettes behind him fanned out in every direction. "What the— no!" Rayquaza shot a Dragon Pulse, but Necrozma neutralized it with a Dragon Pulse of his own.
"Then we'll have to split up as well!" Ampharos declared, striking his signature pose for all of a few seconds before grabbing one of Lugia's spines to keep himself from tumbling off. "Phew, that was a close one!" He laughed nervously. "A-Anyway, Hoopa! I need you to open portals and send those of who aren't gods back to our home continents alongside whoever Ephemeris revived! Can you do that?"
The largest ring portal trembled. Hoopa popped out of it, still in his Unbound form. He clapped all his hands together. "Ha! Say no more, chief! For Hoopa, it is barely a probl—"
"I won't let you!" Necrozma said, firing a red and black spirit-sucking beam straight toward Hoopa. A ring portal swallowed the attack up and a second one sent it right into a flying Naganadel. It turned to crystal and plummeted from the sky.
"You won't get the better of Hoopa this time! Hoopa is strong now! Stronger than you, kitty cat!" With a hearty laugh, Hoopa raised his hands, summoning multiple ring portals.
"Excellent!" Ampharos struck his pose again. "Let's get to work, everyone! We've got a planet to sa— aah!"
Lugia flew toward one of the ring portals. Were it not for Mawile grabbing Ampharos by his bag, he would've fallen from Lugia's back.
~Post Town~
It was utter bedlam. Fireballs, lightning, and giant rocks soared through the air. "On your left, Haxy!" Raichu called, shooting off a Thunderbolt as Haxorus veered right mid-sprint. The Pheromosa lunging toward her was blown back into two identical copies. A sinkhole then opened up beneath them, swallowing them up alongside half of a Stakataka.
"Wah! It's too big to fit in my trap," Dunsparce said, stubby wings fluttering in surprise.
"Then gimme a boost!"
A Conkeldurr came charging in and hopped toward Dunsparce. With a strained grunt, Dunsparce propelled him into the air. Conkeldurr brought his massive concrete slabs down on the part of Stakataka sticking out of the sink hole. Fissures ran down its body and it dissolved away into black shadows. Conkeldurr hit the ground hard. Three Nihilegos caught sight of him and trained poisonous tendrils on his location.
"Oh no you don't!"
A wave of water crashed over the Nihilegos. Their Venoshock blasts instead struck a pair of Guzzlord in their tiny eyes. Keldeo soared past them as they evaporated like Stakataka, blasting water from his hooves. His horn brimmed with red energy and he sent crescents toward one of the Guzzlord, slicing it into ribbons that quickly dissolved away. The second Guzzlord avenged its comrade, shooting a Dragon Pulse that struck Keldo's chest and blew him back.
Fortunately, Hydreigon swooped in and snagged Keldeo before he could crash into the ground. "There was… still another one… of those big things," Keldeo grunted.
"Right. Let's just—" His six eyes widened. "Virizion, behind you!"
Preoccupied with fending off a Kartana and a Celesteela, Virizion had no way of seeing Guzzlord's bright, glowing fists crashing down toward her from above.
"I've got her!" Haxorus lunged forward, driving her Dragon Claws into Guzzlord's side. She couldn't pierce its tough hide, but she had enough force behind her blow to make Guzzlord stumble. His blows sailed wide, while Virizion managed to drive her glowing horn straight through Celesteela and spin it into the Kartana.
When she pulled back, she saw Guzzlord standing in front of her, dazed from Haxorus' blow. "Unbelievable! Trying to attack a lady while her back is turned? How undignified could you possibly be?!" she huffed, summoning her glowing horn once again. "You don't even deserve the honor of falling to my Sacred Sword. Consider yourself lucky we're in a bind, cretin!" She slashed Guzzlord's leg. It didn't even get the chance to topple over, as black and blue beams hammered it from the other side.
Hydreigon swooped down, now carrying Umbreon with his face-hands. He spat another Dragon Pulse, blowing Guzzlord apart, then dropped Umbreon off beside Virizion. "How are you holding up?" Umbreon asked, pivoting to toss a Shadow Ball at a Nihilego. It was too focused on trying to hit Emolga to see the ectoplasm coming in.
"Aside from these monsters' gunking up my hooves… I'm fine, I guess," Virizion said, lunging for the Nihilego shouting, "You get your alien behind away from him!" She sliced through Nihilego with her horn.
"Great work, Vizzy!" Emolga cheered, only to cringe when slime rained down on Virizion after she landed. "Ooh… that looks really disgusting."
Virizion held her head high, however. "Well… I suppose sacrifices must be made for the sake of preserving our world." She crouched low, training her gaze on a Celesteela chasing down Dunsparce and Raichu. "But when this all over, I'm spending a week at the nearest hot spring and nobody can tell me off for it!" Virizion lunged for Celesteela, only to screech to halt when a pink outline surrounded it and hoisted it into the air. Her jaw dropped as a dozen fireballs burned Celesteela to ashes.
"Coming through!" Victini shouted. He paused next to Virizion and looked her over. "Huh. You look different. New hairstyle?"
"Very funny," Virizion deadpanned. "Focus on the fight and not on my looks, thank you."
"Yeah! Especially when her mate's in hearing range!" Emolga huffed.
Victini raised his hands up innocently. "Say no more!" He swooped toward Keldeo. "Keldy, buddy! It's time to do that thing we were practicing!"
Keldeo blew a Buzzwole away with Hydro Pumps from his hooves. "What thing?"
"Y'know… the thing!" Victini said, pointing as his spike ears as they burst into flames.
"Oh, right. Okay, but try not to overdo it," Keldeo said. Victini grabbed hold of his horn. Keldeo used his water jets to spin around at top speeds, then flung Victini skyward toward a cluster of Naganadel.
"It's the new and improved V-Wheel!" Victini shouted as his momentum turned him into a living, flaming pinball that ricocheted off each Naganadel, leaving them dazed. Victini broke out of his attack, then had to fly up as a massive ball of lightning passed underneath him, vaporizing the Naganadel and a couple of Pheromosa for good measure.
"Ha! Did you see that? Seven in one Bolt Strike! Yes! I'm really feeling it!" Zekrom said, fist-pumping.
"Hey! Watch where you're aiming, Turbine Butt! You singed my leg!" Reshiram barked, shoving him aside.
"I can't help it if your hips are wide enough to set a full-course meal on… or that you're enamored with my backside." Zekrom laughed.
"Oh, brother. Get over yourself." Reshiram took in a deep breath while she rolled her eyes. The lingering static intensified the flames in her maw. She spat out a huge torrent of fire, burning away multiple Buzzwoles, a Stakataka, three Xurkitrees, and a half-dozen Kartanas trying to zip toward her. "Suck it, Turbine Butt! That's a dozen. I get the point. And that means you've gotta be the little spoon when this all over." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"What? No way! Best five out of nine!" Zekrom growling, tail whirring.
"Both of you be serious!"
Zekrom tensed. He looked down to find Kyurem locked in a grapple struggle with a Guzzlord. "We don't have time… to play games!" he growled.
"Talk to him. It was his asinine idea," Reshiram said, before blasting the Guzzlord from above with a Dragon Pulse. It burst into black shadows that flittered away. Kyurem stumbled back, trying to catch his breath.
"More are coming. Stay on your guard!" Zekrom said. He zipped down toward Kyurem's side.
"I know what I'm doing," Kyurem growled. "I hope the others are having better luck than we are."
~Aeon Observatory~
"G-Gallian. I'm not sure this is a good idea," Zoroark said, limping after his made. "Comfey wanted us to rest, remember?"
"I can't rest with all the commotion," Gallian said, wanting to run down the hall to the assembly area but still feeling too light-headed to manage that. In truth, he wanted to stay curled up in his bed with his mate. But when he heard a chorus of voices rising up from the assembly area punctuated by Milotic sobbing loudly, he couldn't lay still any longer.
Gallian walked into the assembly area and promptly froze. Pokémon of all shapes and sizes streamed down the stairs toward the veterans' quarters. Milotic, Serperior, and Steenee all stood by the stairway, directing traffic as best as they could. But what reallyshocked him was the sight of the other guild apprentices piling up supply crates near the stairs. He could've sworn his sister told him that Necrozma had sucked the life out of all of them. What was going on?
"That's it. Single file now, everyone. Please no pushing or shoving!" Steenee said.
"Hey! Keep your paws to yourselves, Furfrous!" Serperior barked. A Furfrou couple's faces blanched as they tried to put some separation between themselves.
"What in the—" Zoroark stopped beside Gallian. "Why are people piling into this place?" His eyes then fell on Serperior and he jumped back with a loud yap. "Y-You! What are you— how in the—"
Serperior flinched. "A-Ah. Comfey said you two were on bedrest. This is… embarrassing," Serperior slithered back, biting her lower lip. "Look, I'm really sorry about… y'know…" She tapped her head with her tail and Gallian felt the absence of his horn once again.
He scowled and looked away from her. "It's whatever. You weren't in control. I was infected, too. I just… had the right Pokémon available to help."
"R-Right." Serperior rapped her tail against the ground nervously. "Um, belated congrats on, y'know, taking a mate and stuff." The awkwardness of the situation was plain as day on her face.
"Look. We just want to know why there's so much activity here," Zoroark said, scratching at his right ear.
"What da… Gallian?!"
Gallian tensed. He turned to find Yungoos lowering a box, eyeing him suspiciously. "H-Hey. Long time no see, I guess," Gallian said.
"So, dey got youse under arrest here, huh? About time!" Yungoos said, leering at Gallian.
"A-Actually, that's—"
Zoroark stomped over to Yungoos. "My mate and I have been helping Team Radiance deal with the Prism Virus in your guys' absence. We got too roughed up to keep fighting, that's all," he said, his good eye flickering crimson.
Yungoos looked between the two of them. "Y-Youse mean da two of youse is—" He looked at the ground, blinking in surprise.
"Oh, congratulations, dahlings!" Bruxish declared, levitating a box beside Yungoos. "We simply must celebrate. You know… when we're not busy evacuating the town into the Catacombs, of course."
Gallian's eyes widened. Zoroark's fur puffed up and he crouched on all fours. "They're evacuating the town?! What for?"
Necrozma has torn open a rift and Ultra Beasts are pouring out of it.
Magearna zipped into the room using her motorized wheels, bowling an unaware Growlithe over. She skidded to a halt by Zoroark. The good news is that we were able to revive the spirits of Necrozma's victims! Several of the gods are fighting the Ultra Beasts off as we speak.
The ground shook. Gallian hopped to Zoroark's side to keep him from falling over. Magearna looked behind her. Ah, not good! The barrier—
Zoroark frowned. "Wait, I thought Necrozma was dead! Why would—" But Magearna zoomed off before he could finish his question. A few seconds later, she sped back into the room, bowling Growlithe over a second team.
"Oof. Now I know how Vulpix feels being such a punching bag," Growlithe said, blinking stars from his vision.
The forcefield's holding up. It's a good thing the generator is in this building, otherwise we'd be in a lot of trouble, Magearna said.
"Time out. If the forcefield's working, why is everyone being evacuated?" Zoroark asked.
In case the generator falters. And I fear that's a possibility if the Tapus choose to use their Z-Moves to defend the continent! Magearna said.
Gallian and Zoroark turned to each other with shocked expressions. They'd both heard the legends. The Tapus could summon giants made of divine energy to do battle with. "But… but they could tear the continent apart!" Gallian said, crouching low to the ground. His head throbbed. He was sure his disaster sense was acting up.
"I'm sorry! But, from the way it sounded, the Tapus didn't think they had a choice!" Mimikyu said, hopping into the room from the path to Magearna's workshop. Togedemaru followed in behind them. "P-Please don't get mad at us! We didn't have time to think of any plans."
Gallian raised a brow. Mimikyu froze. "O-Oh. It's… it's you." His disguise's head flopped over. "H-How have things been? With the, y'know, stealing and outlawing and stuff?"
"I'm past that," Gallian said. "Okay, what can Zoroark and I do to help out here?"
"I think Trapinch is getting overwhelmed directing people using the speaker in the sentry room," Growlithe said, pointing his snout toward the southern corridor.
"Then that's where we'll go. C'mon." Zoroark beckoned Gallian forward. They ran ahead, only to faceplant when the ground started shaking again.
"Geez! It's like an earthquake's ravaging outside," Togedemaru said, flailing her stubby limbs about as she tried to right herself. "Can't they at least be a bit gentle?"
Gallian and Zoroark exchanged concerned looks. They didn't need to exchange words. Both knew the other was praying they'd make it through all of this in one piece.
~Volcanic Wastes~
"Hold the line, all of you! We can't let them get through until everyone's safely underground!" Totem Salazzle shouted. A line of Salandits standing in front of her spat fireballs, poison globs, and dragonfire toward a rampaging Buzzwole. Crimson energy surrounded it and it broke through the attacks unscathed.
Totem Salazzle's eyes widened. "Just what manner of demon is this creature?" She spun around, opened her tail-flaps, and released pink vapor. Buzzwole slowed to a stagger, swaying uneasily from side to side.
"Excellent shot, Totem!" Heralder Salandit said. He was followed up by her applauding entourage clapping enthusiastically.
"Idiots! Don't sing my praises! Attack it while its dazed!" Totem Salazzle ordered, turning around and spewing a Flamethrower at Buzzwole. Heralder and his cohorts coughed up fireballs of their own. Buzzwole stumbled back, its bulbous muscles catching on fire.
"We've got him, Mother!"
Healer Salazzle vaulted over the Salandit line, followed by Spike-Skull Marowak. He hurled his bone club forward, knocking Buzzwole onto its back and leaving it no recourse against a point-blank Flamethrower from Healer. It dissolved away into black smoke. Healer and Spike-Skull smiled at each other, but the cute moment was interrupted by a cry of, "We need some help here!"
A Stakataka tromped across the ground, blasting Flash Cannons from several of its eyes. Cubones and Marowaks ran around in a panic, some carrying injured members of the tribe. Spike-Skull hurled his bone club at the nearest leg, but a Flash Cannon blew it into the ground. Totem Marowak weaved between two Flash Cannons and launched a fireball toward Stakataka's underside. It struck home, but Stakataka managed to kick Totem Marowak back. He hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"Everyone, fire!" Totem Salazzle cried, looking aghast at her counterpart. Rather than the familiar volley of fireballs, however, huge jets of steam swept Stakataka away. The various tribesmon all froze.
"All of you! Focus your efforts on getting to safety," Volcanion declared, landing in a burst of steam. "Leave these fiends to us!"
Totem Marowak scrambled to his feet, nearly dropping his bone club in the process. "M… Mighty Volcanion," he whispered.
"Now!" Volcanion roared.
The tribe looked up to see a giant made of green energy hovering high in the air. Tapu Bulu sat atop it, enclosed in his bell-shaped armor. Volcanion blasted two Blacephalons with high-pressure water. Tapu Bulu caught them in an outstretched hand and crushed them.
"Praise be to the Tapus! They've heard our plights!" the High Priest sang, spinning his bone club around in triumph.
"This isn't the time for celebrations!" Totem Marowak scolded.
"Agreed. Everyone, get underground! Full retreat! Grab whatever supplies you think you can carry!" Totem Salazzle ordered.
"Yes, Totem!" her Salandit squadron replied, saluting her unison and then scurrying off.
~Stormcracker Isle~
"Lucy, are you seeing this shit?!"
Seraph stood perched on barren palm tree's branch. Luxeira stood at the tree's base, staring off into the distance. She did indeed see literal giants hovering in the air. Occasionally, brightly-colored blasts lit up the sky like a fireworks display. The thing was, she wasn't sure she believed what she was seeing. With everything that had happened since Rem Canyon, she wanted to brush this off as the result of a blow to the head she had taken fighting Nihilego back in Cosmic Cavern.
"This is unbelievable," she said, stepping back from the tree. "What is going on over there?"
"The Tapus are using their Z-Moves, by the look of things," Totem Decidueye said, swooping down to land on the branch next to Seraph's.
"That's a Z-Move?!" Seraph turned to gawk at her looplet. "It looks like they could destroy the whole continent if they wanted to!" Luxeira tensed. It was hard to ignore the bevy of explosions. At this rate, she feared there wouldn't even be a Horizon Continent to return to should they survive the whole ordeal.
"I myself have never seen this before. The Z-Move's only been spoken of in tales and legends, like the story of how Voltaic Crater came into existence," Totem Decidueye said, brushing dust off his wing. "In times of crisis, the Land Spirits can summon giant guardians from the earth to command in battle. It's… a sight to behold, to say the least."
"Yeah. Good thing we got out of there when we did," Seraph said, rubbing her nose. "I'd hate to imagine what it'd be like if we were still on the mainland."
"Mayday! Mayday! Incoming Blacephalons!"
Seraph and Luxeira jerked their heads right. A multicolored Blacephalon head hurtled right toward Seraph. Luxeira coughed up a Flamethrower, blowing it away seconds before it exploded in a shower of bright lights. Seraph's legs shook. Her right leg slipped off the branch and, were it not for Totem Decidueye's quick thinking, she would've fallen to the ground.
Two Blacephalons caught sight of this and shot giant fireballs at Totem Decidueye. His eyes widened. He was too busy flapping his wings to fire off any ectoplasmic arrows. Luckily for him, Kahuna Riachu hovered up next to him and raised his paws. He caught one of the fireballs with his ESP and flung it back at the Blacephalon culprit. At the same time, a flurry of large, bright-green, leaf-shaped energy balls blew the other fireball out of the way.
Seraph saw a white and blue streak zip by her. Shaymin Esserly flew over to Kahuna Raichu, her blue hair and blue, scarf-like petals fluttered behind her. "Sorry I'm late, everyone! Evacuating the village proved more troublesome than I anticipated."
"It's quite all right, cousin. Good to see you again. Wish the circumstances were better, though," Kahuna Raichu said. The two Blacephalons grabbed their heads and threw them forward.
"Careful! Those can explode," Seraph said. Despite hanging from Totem Decidueye's talons, she launched blue lightning at a Blacephalon head, knocking it back into its body, which got swallowed up by a neon explosion.
"Good to know," Esserly said. She fired more Seed Flare energy pellets, which Kahuna Raichu electrified with his Thunderbolt. They hammered the Blacephalon head and blew it up. The remaining Blacphealon sprouted a new head, but a blast of purple poison struck its leg and sent it reeling, where Luxeira was waiting atop a nearby rock to snipe it with a black beam. It dissolved into gray shadows.
"Good work, everyone," Totem Decidueye said, gently lowering Seraph to the ground.
"I don't think we're safe, yet," Sticky said, pointing a nubby hand toward the sky. Lightning streaked toward them, but to their shock, Jolteon and Cosplay Pikachu leaped into the air and absorbed all the electricity. They landed safely on a giant water bubble formed my Primarina.
"Now, Vappy, let's let 'em have it!
We'll send them packing like they're bad habits!"
Primarina's singing sent the water bubble racing toward a trio of Xurkitrees. They prepared to vaporize his attack, but an Ice Beam struck them from below and froze them solid. The water bubble exploded, shattering the Xurkitrees. "Ah! Bravo! Wonderful! And you two were excellent," Primarina said, bowing to Jolteon and Cosplay Pikachu.
"Yeah. I, uh, wouldn't use those lyrics in the future," Vaporeon said, cringing.
"Guys, everyone focus!" Seraph said, her whiskers sparking. "If Ultra Beasts are swarming this place, then we have to make sure the people we evacuated are safe, right?" She turned to Esserly. "Where are the folks from your village?"
"There's a set of caves in the center of the island. They lead to a Mystery Dungeon," Esserly explained. "I brought them to the caves just before the dungeon. We found a bunch of Pokémon there, already."
Seraph lightning-dashed up toward a rock opposite Luxeira's. "Good work. Then, I think if we stay out here, we can draw any would-be attacker's attention and keep them from going toward the caves." She scanned the sky for any signs of any Ultra Beasts. Instead, a plume of rainbow fire erupted over the ocean. Yowling, Seraph through an arm over her face. She nearly fell off her rocky perch.
"Or Lady Ho-Oh could swoop in and burn the attackers away with her Sacred Fire," Esserly said, smiling.
Totem Decidueye blinked slowly as he tried to process what he had just seen. "I-In any case, we have to stay vigilant. Somebody could always slip past—"
A Buzzwole dropped to the ground and flexed. Luxeira didn't hesitate to blast it with a Flamethrower, but it jumped out of the way and flew toward her, glowing fist outstretched. She leaped off her rock right before Buzzwole brought his fist crashing down onto it. "It's bug and fighting-type!" Luxeira barked, turning to spit a fireball at Buzzwole's wing.
"Copy that!" Esserly said, her wing-like ears glowing. Air Slash crescents pummeled Buzzwole from above. Luxeira's fireball burned away its wing. A psychic ring from Kahuna Raichu proved the finish blow. Buzzwole dissolved away in a cloud of black smoke.
"I don't like this," Luxeira said, eyeing the spot where Buzzwole attack skeptically. "Something about these Ultra Beasts seem off."
"Yeah." Seraph crossed her arms. "They're clumsy… and fragile. Almost like…" Her eyes widened. "Almost like they're not real!"
"So, these are fakes?" Totem Decidueye said, flying up to scout from a tree branch.
"It would explain why they instantly turn into smoke when they're beaten," Seraph said.
"Ah! That sounds just like what happens to dungeon Pokémon overseas," Esserly realized. She bit her lower lip. "What does this mean?"
"It means someone's making Ultra Beast copies en masse," Seraph said, clenching her fists. "The question is… who's doing it? And why?"
~Celestial Island Interior~
Tessa wasn't sure whether or not to feel fortunate or annoyed that the floor and walls kept turning into giant shapes to attack her. If they hadn't, she would've found it hard to go on after hearing Lunala's explanation. Instead, rather than trying to process the revelations, she had to focus on leaping over a chasm of spikes and landing safely on the other side while Lunala held crystalline crushers at bay with her ESP. Once she was on firm ground, Lunala flew through and the crushers slammed shut behind her.
"So, let me get this straight. You're saying the world — our home — is nothing but a giant accident? Built off the foundations off some world where humans and Pokémon lived together?" Espy said, ears drooping and tail tucked between her legs. "And all the stuff we have to deal with — dungeons, ley lines, uncooperative gods, etcetera — is a result of the creature Arceus fought with when he destroyed the world?"
Lunala bowed her head solemnly. "I'm afraid so. That's what I ended up learning as a result of Necrozma controlling me." She frowned. "If I'm understanding things correctly, the same demon's power dwells inside Necrozma and, by association…" Her voice trailed off. She tapped her wing-claws together nervously. "That power was in your friends, too. Silvally and… um…"
"Shane," Tessa said, her voice empty. She looked down at her right paw. The sigil was flickering again. She didn't doubt what Lunala was saying. Instead, Tessa worried about what that meant for her. If her aura was built on Necrozma's energy, then couldn't that mean the void's power was inside of her, too? Is that why Necrozma offered her to let her join him?
'Wouldn't that mean he could possess me like he did Shane? Has he already possessed me?' she wondered, eyes widening when she recalled her rampage against her mother. If he did control her somehow, then how could she fight against him? He could take control of her and turn her against Espy. After her reaction to losing Silvally, Tessa feared Espy would lose her will to fight if that happened.
"On your left," Espy said, snapping Tessa out of her thoughts. Pink blasts whizzed past her face. They blew apart a few Necrospheres on her right. Lunala engulfed the rest of the them in a crimson shockwave. They slammed together and exploded. "The stairs are up ahead. You doing okay?"
"Just having trouble making heads or tails of this, that's all." Sighing, Tessa's aura feelers drooped. Even if Latias had helped heal her up, the mental exhaustion was getting to her.
"I'm sorry. I debated whether or not to tell you. But, well, you've seen what Necrozma is like." Lunala folded up her wings. "I figured if I stayed silent, Necrozma would rant about this stuff in an effort to try and get you to surrender to him." Her third eye flickered. "I can't imagine it's easy hearing anything of this. And you've both been through so much already."
"It's… it's okay," Tessa said, her voice shaky. Did it hurt to hear? Of course. But the loss of her friends hurt even more. And she would never forgive Necrozma for taking them from her. "I want to see this through to the end. For Silvally and f…" She rubbed her face. "For Shane."
Espy nodded. "Exactly. There'll be time to reflect on all of this when Necrozma's gone. For now… we have to deal with him."
"Right." Lunala glided toward the stairs. "This time, I'll be here to help you two. And I'm sure that some of the other gods will break through soon enough and lend their strength to you."
The moment she reached the stairs, however, a click echoed through the room. The stairs vanished. A tower of cubes rose up from the floor, jettisoning a hollering Lunala up toward the glitchy ceiling.
"Lunala!" Tessa cried. She took a single step forward and her eyes widened in horror. The cubes were falling away all around her. "We have to jump for it!" Tessa crouched low and sprang into the air. She caught sight of Espy beside her. Tessa shot Psychic rings behind her in the hopes it would propel her forward.
However, the spot she thought she could reach fell away. The cubes drifted into the abyss. Tessa desperately reached a paw out toward what was left of the floor, only to see it crumble. With no place to land, Tessa tumbled down into the abyss, screaming at the top of her lungs. She lost sight of Espy seconds before slamming into something hard and having her entire world flash bright-white.
And with the debut of this episode, Guiding Light is officially two years old! I know it may not seem like that to some of you, but I actually began the fic on Serebii on August 2, 2019. I didn't put it on FFN until several months later, when a reader asked me to do so. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this fic would get the support it has gotten on this sight. One thousand reviews is mind-blowing! I'd say let's shoot even higher, but that's up to you guys and anyone who reads in the future. The amount of kind words you all have had blows me away! At the same time, I'm grateful to those who had constructive feedback for me. I'd like to think the quality of the fic has improved over time thanks to you all.
To those who have stuck around for a while, thank you for being such a big part of this ride. For those who caught up with the fic recently, I hope you're having fun. And for those of you who are silent readers lurking in the background… I hope you've enjoyed the story. I'd love to hear your thoughts, even a sentence or two, but I know it can be tough to come up with stuff to say. Regardless, I really hope you all enjoy what I have to offer for the final episode. I'm working really hard on crafting a satisfying ending that does justice to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.
I could go on a ramble about all of this, but I already did that over on the "Ask the Guiding Light Cast" tumblr blog. In fact, I'm actually holding a giveaway there for the fic's anniversary. If you're interested in entering to win shiny versions of Team Radiance, head over to the blog through my profile page and search "fic anniversary." You'll find all the info there. You have until August 17th to enter. Good luck!
SuperOmegaGuest: Thanks. I imagine you're not much of a fan of Necrozma right now. You're not alone.
Unstopable8000: Glad you enjoyed everything! As you can see, we're not done with all the twists and turns yet.
Anon Omega: "This was all a trick. I deceived you." The hospital scene was me putting in one of the alternative endings I had in mind. One I never really considered. Coma tropes are overdone.
Next time: the most heartbreaking battles Espy and Tessa have ever fought!