The Hall of Origin wasn't much different compared to the last time Blizz and Absol had set foot in it. It still had the same pristine white walls, pillars with details too intricate to make out with the naked eye, and slate colored tiling below them.
What was different, however, was the amount of activity. When Blizz managed to enter last time, the vast majority of the Hall's residents had already succumbed to the Resonance. Now it felt far busier, with the dozens of legendary Pokémon going about their business.
The way Pokémon were walking around with purpose, carrying documents or other folders, it sort of reminded Blizz of an office.
However, all this activity came to a stop once the flash of light from the warp tile illuminated the room. All the minor legendaries stopped whatever they were doing and suddenly froze to see who the newcomers were.
Blizz gave the nearby Latias an awkward wave before a Mist Ball was sent flying towards his head.
In response, the Grovyle used Double Team– trying to distract all the Pokémon while Absol prepared the conduit.
It didn't take the dark type much time to flick the switch, though it would take the conduit a moment to warm up. As it whirred to life, Absol turned to face Zar. "It will be active soon, are you certain you will be fine?"
The Mew just gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry about me!"
"…Right." The concern on his face was obvious, but it was too late to change course now.
The two could barely hear a dull hum, indicating that the conduit was now active. For Blizz and Fanita, the sound of moves exploding against the surface of the hall was drowning out everything else, so they had to rely on other clues.
For Blizz, that was the faint headache he got whenever he was being affected by the Resonance. He had to admit the adrenaline did make him fight slightly better though.
As he slid underneath an Aeroblast courtesy of an actual Lugia, he heard the first thud— Lugia fell to the ground, now a husk.
Other legendaries began following suit. Thankfully, the stronger ones proved to be more vulnerable, meaning that the number of massive attacks that would probably kill Blizz if they managed to connect started to dwindle.
"How's everyone doing?" Blizz shouted as soon as he got a down moment.
"I'm doing great!" Zar shouted back, firing off powerful attacks at the onslaught of legendary Pokémon. "Feel like I could take everyone on!"
"That is… quite bad," Fanita commented. "Absol, how much longer do we need to keep it up?"
"Not much more… Well, maybe if Jirachi is awake, he might be more-"
"We can deal with Jirachi or whoever, just shut it off as soon as possible!" Blizz interrupted. "Can't lose Zar!"
"R-Right."
Thankfully, the fight didn't go on much longer. Just like last time when Absol's intentions were moderately more genocidal, legendary Pokémon kept collapsing to the ground. The hordes continued to thin out until their final opponent, a Victini, succumbed to the Resonance.
It was a small comfort to Blizz that Mewtwo wasn't among the unconscious legendaries lining the hall.
The moment Victini hit the ground, Absol switched off the conduit. Blizz could feel the headache ease immediately as his vision became slightly less hazy.
"I think that was the last of them," Fanita noted as she flew over the battlefield. "Well, minus the one we're looking for."
"Shut the fuck up and go to the end, I'm tired of this bullshit."
The sudden voice caught all four of them off-guard. It echoed throughout the Hall as if someone had managed to set up a loudspeaker system. And, while it was difficult to make out the voice through the echo and reverb, Blizz couldn't help but notice it sounded almost like himself.
"Well, you heard him," Fanita said, turning to face the others with a smirk. "I, for one, appreciate his courtesy."
"That was almost certainly Celebi," Absol confirmed. "I assume he wishes to fight in the same location where Blizz and I did?"
"I mean, it is a pretty cool spot for a big showdown," Blizz agreed. "…Uh, will Zygarde still be able to do his thing though? With the whole glass floor thing?"
"I… am not quite certain. Allow me to ask-"
"Yes. He will. Just hurry the fuck up."
Absol looked at the roof and the invisible source of the noise. "Zygarde is a being consisting of 50 to 100 individual cells, thus it would be more accurate to refer to them using they-"
"Holy shit, you're terrible."
"…Zygarde, come to me."
Absol's summon was more subdued than normal, and Blizz couldn't figure out whether it was because they weren't in any immediate danger, or if he was just annoyed about Celebi using the wrong pronouns. Regardless of the reason, Zygarde appeared once again.
Fanita leaned in closer to the serpent, smiling. "It would make my day if you told me they were going to use the other form."
"That is right." Absol turned back to the now fully materialized Zygarde. "Please, assume your 100% form."
Zygarde nodded, and dozens of small green streams of energy flew from all over the Hall of Origin into the legendary Pokémon. They slowly grew as their shape changed, until Zygarde resembled the titan that Blizz and Fanita remembered fighting.
"We are prepared," Absol announced.
Blizz nodded, walking forward. "Then let's fucking get it!"
The trek to the end of the Hall was slightly longer than Blizz remembered. The first time he had to rush, knowing he was on a time limit to stop everything. Here, they could go at their leisure, and honestly something about all five of them marching together made him feel a lot more confident about what was to come.
The walk did come to an end though, as they reached the final chamber. It had the same pulsating walls full of constantly shifting colors, and glass floor that overlooked all of Varin.
This time, there was a Celebi sitting in the center of the room, his back to the newcomers.
"Jesus fucking Christ, could you walk any slower? I was like, five seconds away from just jumping to when you assholes actually get here."
"Revert Varin to the state it should be," Absol dictated, ignoring Celebi's comment. He was glaring hard at him, despite facing the legendary's back.
"Oh yeah, sure, coming right up. Just because you asked."
Blizz turned back to Zar. "Was he this much of an asshole when you were working with him?"
"Not really. He did still swear a lot though."
"I don't suppose we have the time to ask why you did this?" Fanita asked, floating forwards.
Finally, Celebi turned around, staring back at Fanita. "You're one of the smart ones, you should have figured it out by now."
"Well, I have an idea, but it would be nice to hear it from the source. And, if that idea is right, you should understand very well why you'd need to spell it out."
"Fucking hell, I almost forgot how much of a bitch you were." Celebi floated upwards, his body encased in a blue energy. The same energy wrapped around Blizz's goggles, lifting them up off his head despite the Grovyle's attempts at holding on.
"What happens when you completely fuck up, when despite your best god damned effort everything goes to hell? When the random human you picked can't magically solve all of your world's issues?"
Celebi let the question hang as the pair of goggles slowly floated towards him.
"Absolutely nothing. Arceus or whoever the fuck it is fixes everything, and it's like nothing we did even matters." He paused, taking a few seconds to breathe in and out. Now, let me ask another question. You come here, you meet all of these cool amazing people and also Fanita. They're friends or whatever. Then, you fail to save the world, and you get sent back to the human world. Everyone you got close to is suddenly torn away."
Celebi grabbed onto the goggles, adjusting the sizing on the straps.
"Then, because everyone in this stupid fucking hall has the planning skill of a god damn toddler, they bring you back to solve another completely unrelated crisis because the crisis you had the misfortune of dealing with was a couple hundred years in the future."
"After the fire, when the original Mew and Celebi died…" Zar whispered.
"Fucking exactly. At least that time they had the decency to bring me back with my sister, then haha nope. Do everything right because hey, maybe I can see those cool friends, but Sierra gets to stay behind while I have to go back to the human world again because my bonds weren't meaningful enough. Least I managed to pull a fast one on Dialga, made all of them forget I was ever summoned in the first place."
He stretched out the goggles and lowered them over his face. They appeared to fit comfortably over his head.
"Now I have no goddamn clue how you did it-" Celebi stuck out an accusatory finger towards the now goggle-less Blizz. "But you managed to win, which a) has never happened before, and b) means if things keep going as normal, I no longer exist."
Blizz blinked a few times, struggling to comprehend everything Celebi was saying. "Wait so…"
"Fucking hell you're dense. I'm you, Zar is Sierra, she's your sister. Happy?"
"My real name is Sierra?" Zar whispered to herself.
"Why the hell would I do any of this?" Blizz argued, stepping forward. "Kill everyone, make all my friends forget each other?"
"Did you not pay any attention to what I was just saying?" Celebi flew forward, meeting Blizz's intense gaze. "You remember how close you were to thinking Absol was the good guy. Back when he was actually the good guy and you didn't sell him on all this friends and redemption bullshit. Now if I let things play out as normal, everything that led me to exist doesn't happen, which means I stop existing."
"Isn't it better to have a version of you… me? Whatever. A version that's actually happy living with their friends?"
"I'd rather be alive. And now I have to go through all this effort to make sure things play out correctly."
"What's the next step then?" Zar asked, taking on a determined look. "If you want to make things right and your time travel powers aren't helping, how do you 'fix' it?"
"Honestly? No fucking clue." Celebi fired a Magical Leaf at Blizz, cutting into the Grovyle and knocking him back. "But putting the fake me in his place isn't a bad start."
Zar responded by lobbing a Life Dew at Blizz, patching up some of the damage he took. Despite not being very effective, Celebi had more than enough raw power to make up for it.
"I think you'll find that's a bit harder than you imagine," Fanita commented with a grin.
"You think I don't fucking know that?" Celebi's eyes lit up pink, though nothing appeared to happen. Fanita could easily recognize the Future Sight though, and gave a signal to Absol. He seemed to pick up on the cue as well.
Absol lunged forward with a Night Slash, forcing Celebi to back off. The distraction was perfect for Zygarde though, who proceeded to rain down a Thousand Arrows over their opponent.
Celebi had no opportunity to dodge, taking the full force of every green diamond. Blizz followed up right afterwards with an X-Scissor, the super effective attack doing massive damage.
Celebi tried to retaliate with a Psychic, but was interrupted by a Shadow Ball throwing off his concentration. Fanita laughed as she watched Zar soar forward, finishing off Team Rewind's barrage with a Shadow Claw.
"You kinda suck at being a legendary," Blizz taunted. "Hydreigon was way tougher."
"Fuck off." In a flash of blue light, Celebi vanished. For a brief moment, the hall was completely quiet, before Celebi returned, hovering in the middle of the room with no visible marks from the recent attacks.
"This is why you can't beat me." He used Psychic to toss Zygarde further down the hall, while the Future Sight attack finally arrived.
Fanita was expecting it to descend on herself, so she flew alongside Absol who could absorb the Psychic type attack with ease. Instead, it landed on Blizz, who was immediately knocked unconscious.
"We're just gonna keep doing this until I figure you out," Celebi taunted, with a smirk not too dissimilar to Fanita's. "I can try again as many times as I want, you guys will eventually fuck up."
"It is still a five versus one," Absol pointed out as he fired a Dark Pulse at the legendary. "This cannot be particularly sustainable for you."
Celebi's first thought was to dodge the Dark Pulse, any snarky comments would have to come afterwards. "It abso-fucking-lutely is. However, if you want to speed things along, I don't mind. Hmm…"
While Celebi was in deliberation, he readied another Future Sight. This time Blizz was able to notice it, despite the haze of having just been brought back from unconsciousness.
"Let's see. Perhaps the royal wedding will actually happen on Breach Mountain…" Celebi continued talking to himself as he easily flew over a Confuse Ray. "Could make sure Hydreigon's guild is in the security detail."
While Zygarde was still lumbering their way back to the end chamber, they weren't quite out of the battle just yet. A crack in the ground caused a bolt of green energy to fly towards Celebi. However everyone could see the Core Enforcer coming, and Celebi invoked an expert evasion strategy by simply flying slightly higher off the ground.
"Gonna say Kibo's got a meeting about coordinating outlaw strategies between Nova Town and Tenea City," Celebi continued. "Oh, and be sure to congratulate him, that means he's gonna get a promotion."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Blizz flew forward with Quick Attack, managing to jump high enough to slam into Celebi.
"You wanted to see your friends again, right? Just granting that wish. Now how do you think I could convince Leaf to come here…"
Zar flew forward with an Aerial Ace, managing to follow up on Blizz's attack and score a clean hit. Despite the super effective damage, Celebi didn't seem too phased. He was once again enveloped by a glow of blue energy, and all his injuries faded as if they were never there.
"Tech exchange, great idea." While it healed his injuries, the time travel did nothing to stop his pondering.
The Future Sight landed once again, but this time Blizz was more prepared for it. While a part of the attack managed to hit him, Absol managed to absorb the rest, meaning Blizz was fine with just popping an Oran berry.
"Alright, thank you for the help, I'll be right back." With that, Celebi vanished in another flash of blue, causing Team Rewind to gather closer together in preparation for what was to come.
"What's he doing?" Blizz asked. "I have no idea what he was talking about."
"Were I to guess, I think he intends on using-"
Absol didn't have the time to finish his thought, as a much brighter flash of blue temporarily blinded all of them. Blizz was particularly annoyed by it— now that Celebi stole his goggles he had to wait for the light to subside like everyone else.
When they could see again, the room was much more crowded than it was a minute ago. Aside from Celebi, there was an Umbreon, Southern Vulpix, Jangmo-o, Zorua, Flareon, Taillow, Bagon, and Piplup.
"There they are!" Celebi cried with fake fear in his voice, as he pointed at Team Rewind. "Can you guys help me stop them?"
"You bet!" Kibo shouted, his tail lighting up with Dragon type energy. "I'm not gonna let you guys break Varin! This place is my home!"
"Naturally, as the soon-to-be monarch, matters of public safety are a concern to me," the Prince stated, charging up a Shadow Ball. "The five of you are to cease at once, or we will enlist all possible countermeasures to stop you."
Blizz just looked at Celebi. "Holy fuck, you're terrible."
Celebi gave his counterpart a smug smirk, before shifting back into the fake fear he used earlier. "Come on, let's stop them here!"
All eight of the former humans rushed forwards, trying to take down Team Rewind. Blizz dodged underneath a Flamethrower, before suddenly bringing himself to a stop right as Ride whizzed by with a Wing Attack.
"What do we do?" Zar cried, dodging all of her former teammates' attacks. "I don't want to hurt them."
"I don't think Celebi has thought this through," Fanita giggled, juggling Leaf and Kibo in the air with Psychic. "He brought all of our allies to one place, even if they are somewhat misinformed at the moment."
Blizz looked on as the Prince used Foul Play on Zygarde, causing the titan to double over. Slowly, gears began to turn in his head. "I got a plan, keep Celebi busy!"
"I wouldn't listen, my plans were always terrible," Celebi commented, shooting a Magical Leaf at Zygarde to help out the Prince.
"Understood!" Absol shouted back, leaping over Angel and Mira's attempts to hit him. On the descent he lashed out at Celebi with Night Slash, and while the legendary was able to dodge, it did graze his skin.
Blizz had a reasonable amount of faith in Absol, which would be enough for him to focus on his own idea. He dug through his bag until he reached the Z-Crystal. Setting it up like this probably wouldn't be easy, but if a failed attempt at using it could take down Zygarde, a successful one might be able to take down Celebi in one hit, before he can activate his time bullshit again.
He gripped the crystal in his right hand and ran forward. He had to get through everyone eventually, so he figured he might as well start with the closest former teammate he could find- Rune. The Vulpix attempted to slow him down with an Icy Wind, but a quick Double Team caused the attack to miss. As soon as he was close enough, he placed his arm on the Vulpix, standing right in front of her with a smile.
"Get away from me!" The sudden proximity of someone she was pretty sure is a hostile stranger triggered her fight or flight, prompting Rune to ram into Blizz with an Icicle Shard.
The attack hit him square on, causing Blizz to step back, but it also managed to charge up the crystal.
"Thanks!"
As Blizz jumped away, Rune found herself feeling odd. There was an energy coming from the weird crystal that Grovyle was carrying, and it felt like it was tugging at her, trying to get her to do… something. She sat down, trying to figure out what was happening.
The next target was the Duke. He was currently preoccupied with trying to land a Flamethrower on Fanita, though her habit of phasing into the ground whenever the flames came out made the process very frustrating for the Flareon.
It wasn't particularly difficult for Blizz to creep up behind him in the chaos of the battlefield, and gently tap the crystal on his fur right before his next failed attempt. As the crystal took on an orange glow, the Duke found himself plagued by similar feelings as Rune.
Why was he doubting things now, hours before his wedding was to take place?
He looked over to the Southern Vulpix sitting off in the corner, and the two locked eyes. They didn't know why they felt connected to each other, but it was clear something was happening.
Blizz didn't have quite as much time to gather himself. Right after he broke away from the Duke, he found himself as the target of a series of Fury Swipes coming from seemingly nowhere.
He had enough intuition left to figure out it was Mira, but that did very little to solve the problem of him not being able to see her. Instead, he slashed out a Leaf Blade in a circle around him, eventually managing to run into something solid.
The attack forced Mira to drop her illusion, and also doubled as Blizz's own contribution to the crystal. Wasting no time, the Grovyle sprung forward, placing his arm on Mira as she bombarded him with a Night Daze.
While the crystal was charged further, the point blank attack stunned Blizz, causing him to drop it to the ground. Thankfully Mira didn't go for a follow up, distracted by a golden glow enveloping her. When she emerged as a Zoroark, she was hit with the same feeling of doubt that Rune and the Duke had.
Fanita decided it was up to her to pick up the slack until Blizz downed enough berries to be useful again. She floated the crystal over to her, trying to figure out who would be the hardest. She got her answer in the form of an Air Slash coming in above her. She shifted focus to Ride who was circling over the room.
Suddenly, Ride froze midair, caught in a Psychic. She desperately struggled against Fanita's hold, before launching another Air Slash in the Mismagius' direction in an attempt to break out. She didn't exactly realize the Z-Crystal pinned to her side until after the attack was done, and a strange energy began to course through her.
"…Is that Fani-" Ride couldn't finish her sentence before a golden glow enveloped her, just as it did with Mira. Considering that a success, Fanita passed the crystal back to Blizz who no longer looked like he was suffering from a concussion.
"What the fuck are you guys doing!?" Celebi shouted, some of his bitterness managing to break through the facade he tried to construct. "They're gonna destroy Varin if we let them win!"
"They most certainly will not," Absol countered, lunging back at Celebi with another Night Slash. "The two of us, possibly. But not them."
"After all the shit I pulled for your sake!" As much as he wanted to stop whatever Blizz was doing; Zar, Absol, and Zygarde were a powerful combination. He could regenerate as much as he wanted, but he simply lacked the firepower his opponents had, and was forced to stay on the back foot.
"Hey Kibo! Remember how you would use Dragon Tail to launch me around?" Blizz asked, closing in on the Jangmo-o.
"What the heck are you talking about? How do you know my name?" Despite the questioning, he still prepared a Dragon Tail.
"I think you'll find out." Blizz managed to lunge for Kibo's side moments before the Dragon Tail landed, launching him across the Hall.
Still, the yellow tint of the crystal meant he did his job. And seeing the Jangmo-o evolve made tanking the attack worth it.
Blizz wasn't given the chance to recover though, as a blur of blue and gray flew towards him. He rolled out of the way of Angel's Headbutt, now staring down the dragon type.
"Don't worry, I got this!" The newly re-evolved Hakamo-o ran to Angel, picking her up and holding her in place.
"What the fuck's going on?" Angel yelled.
"You'll get it in a moment," Kibo smiled. "Go ahead Blizz!"
Blizz wasn't quite sure how it was possible, but seeing Kibo help him out and actually remember his name made him that much more determined. He tapped Angel with the crystal, then immediately ducked underneath a Dragon Breath.
When the golden glow started, Kibo took that as the sign he could release the fellow dragon type.
"I got no hecking clue what's going on, but I got your back!" Kibo gave Blizz a thumbs up.
"Think you can help them out with Celebi?" Blizz asked. "Still gotta get through Prince and Leaf before the crystal's ready."
"You got it- wait, is Absol on our side?"
"Long story, but yeah!"
Kibo suddenly looked a bit more conflicted, but nodded. "Alrighty then. I'll trust ya!"
Blizz turned his focus to the last two members left, Leaf and the Prince. Leaf probably wouldn't be too difficult, but the Prince's whole thing of being really fast and staying just out of his opponent's range would be a pain.
"Yo Duke, you with us?" Blizz shouted as he jumped over a Shadow Ball.
"I… suppose, yes," the Flareon replied, still somewhat dazed.
"Flirt with your boyfriend or something, I need to slow him down." While he spoke, Blizz met a Quick Attack from the Prince with a Quick attack of his own. The two clashed for a moment, before breaking off.
"I'll have you know that whatever compelled me and the Prince to-"
"Not the time, fucking do it!"
"Fine… Umbreon, consider that after this battle, our… honeymoon will begin."
The Prince suddenly skidded to a stop, pivoting to look at the Duke. "Wh-why are you bringing this up now-"
That was all the opening Blizz needed. He flew towards the Umbreon with another Quick Attack, tackling him to the ground. The Prince tried to force Blizz off with Bite, which managed to further charge up the crystal.
"…Blizz?" The Prince's tone was filled with confusion, but it at least sounded like he was starting to remember things.
"Still have to get Leaf," Blizz shouted, running down the Piplup. Through the entire fight, he was kinda off on the sidelines, not having quite as much power as the rest of the former humans. Combined with the fact that now the only ongoing battle was against Celebi, things had calmed down enough to where even missing his memories, Leaf realized something was off.
"What's going on?" The Piplup asked, cocking his head as Blizz drew closer.
"Think you can use Bubble Beam when I tell you? Doesn't have to be against anyone, just like, use the move."
Leaf shrugged, before nodding.
Once the crystal was touching the water type, Blizz made a motion with his other arm. Leaf took that as the sign, firing off a stream of bubbles towards the roof.
That looked to be the last thing Blizz needed. All ten of them had used the crystal, and it was practically buzzing with energy. But once again, he also felt it wasn't quite there yet— it needed something else to be complete.
Thankfully, he had others he could rely on here.
"Zar, catch!" He tossed the Z-Crystal towards Zar, who barely managed to grab onto it with her stubby hands.
"What do I do with it?"
"Just use an attack on Celebi!"
Celebi snarled as one of Absol's Dark Pulses made contact, forcing him to heal himself again. "Don't you fucking dare use that stupid fucking crystal on me!"
"Using an attack!" Zar shouted, as a Psystrike flew off from her tail and detonated on the other psychic type.
The Z-Crystal continued to shift color to a bright pink, and all of them could feel the energy lingering in the air. Zar tossed the crystal back to Blizz, who looked it over. It was brimming with energy, and unlike last time it felt complete… but, he also knew he could do better.
He turned to look at the final human, fighting Celebi like his life depended on it.
"Absol, you're up!" Using Quick Attack, Blizz closed the distance between himself and Absol, tapping the crystal against him as another Dark Pulse flew towards Celebi.
"What are you… oh." Now Absol felt the connection too, the room radiating with energy coming from all twelve of them.
Even Celebi could feel it, and despite the goggles covering up his eyes, the fear on his face was quite apparent.
Blizz smiled as a white sphere started to form in front of him, drawing on power from the Z-Crystal. The last time he tried this, the energy ran dry before he was ready to fire it off. Now, there was nothing stopping it.
Something seemed to click as the sphere stopped growing. It was ready.
In a desperate attempt to stop it, Celebi fired an Ancient Power at Blizz. The barrage of rocks succeeded in knocking him away, but did nothing to stop the rainbow colored beams forming and circling above their head.
Just like last time, it coalesced into a fast-spinning multi-colored halo, though there were no transparencies. It kept rotating faster and faster, until it began pulsing. Three shockwaves were sent out, each harmlessly passing by the explorers but seeming to cripple Celebi.
"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN DOING THIS? DON'T KNOW IF YOU NOTICED, I GAVE YOU GUYS PRETTY FUCKING GOOD LIVES!"
"Personally, I just like having others around," Fanita replied, smiling. "Being alone is so boring."
After the third shockwave hit, Celebi was writhing on the ground. He tried to summon that same blue flash that would regenerate him, just in time for the halo to explode.
There was a blinding mess of color and light that seemed to crack the roof of the Hall of Origin itself. Despite the volume of the blast, and the debris falling down around them, all of the explorers were unhurt. For Celebi, however, the blue light surrounding him seemed to shatter to pieces.
Everyone could feel the atmosphere shift. Something had changed, as if the blast had altered reality itself. That wasn't their immediate concern though, as all twelve former humans and Zygarde gathered in a circle around Celebi.
He was unconscious.
For a moment, all they could do was stare at each other in disbelief. Even though only a fraction of them had any idea what was going on, all of them knew that something big just ended.
"Let's FUCKING GO!" Blizz shouted, breaking through the silence of the hall.
"…What did we do though?" Mira asked, observing the unconscious legendary Pokémon beneath them.
"The reason everyone had lost their memories of each other is right in front of us," Fanita explained, laughing as she went. "Celebi has been defeated."
"…And Celebi is also Blizz?" Angel asked.
"It is… complicated," Absol answered. "I am more than happy to explain the details later, but for now, we need to resurrect the other legendaries from their husk state such that they can take care of Celebi-"
"There is no need."
Blizz knew he shouldn't be surprised by giant grandiose voices resonating throughout the Hall of Origin, but it still caught him off guard. There was a flash of dark blue light, much more intense than anything Celebi had done. When he turned around to see the source, a giant blue and white Pokémon that even he could recognize stood before them: Dialga.
"Celebi's existence is a paradox, brought on by an unexpected change of events during the battle against a certain someone attempting to end all life."
Blizz couldn't imagine what was running through Absol's head when an actual deity was passive-aggressively calling him out, though his face didn't betray any emotions.
"So are you gonna… kill him?" Kibo asked.
Dialga shook his head. "He never existed in the first place. The 'correct' timeline he rattled on and on about was one of thousands, he simply decided that the only way he could survive is if he tried to ensure that timeline happened."
"Then would he have been fine if he just… didn't do anything?" Mira asked.
"When we first summoned Celebi, he proved to be… quite insufficient at grasping the nuances of time travel. He had no understanding of multiverse theory, and… that is aside the point. His actions were based on a wildly incorrect assumption that this was the only path to self-preservation, and now it falls upon me to return him to the timeline in which he belongs."
A series of yellow orbs started to fly out around Celebi, reminding everyone a little too much of what happened after the fight with Absol. Just like then, Celebi's body became more and more transparent, until it vanished entirely, only leaving behind the pair of All-Weather Goggles.
"…What happens to us then?" Ride whispered. "We were supposed to go back home, before Celebi changed things…"
Dialga nodded, much slower this time. "Indeed. I will give you time to say your farewells, however-"
Dialga was cut off mid-explanation by a very powerful looking Aura Sphere exploding on the back of his head. When he turned towards the source, he was face to face with Mewtwo, who had another one at the ready.
"Dialga, I should not have to explain that forcing these humans to return to the human world without their consent is an absurdly terrible idea."
Absol's eyes widened as he watched his old friend.
"The tradition dictates that they need to form powerful bonds with other Pokémon, not-"
The second Aura Sphere exploded on Dialga's side.
"The tradition is what pushed Celebi over the edge, and indirectly caused Absol to go berserk. We summoned 10 humans to this world, it is natural they would form bonds with each other over the local Pokémon."
"Enough! I will hear no more of this. Your duty is to summon them, my duty is to return them to Earth. If you intrude further, I will take this up with Arceus."
"It is kinda a bitch move," Blizz reasoned, walking back to his pair of goggles lying on the ground. "Like, we saved this place, right? Haven't we earned the right to stay here?"
Dialga turned back to Blizz, a slightly more sorrowful expression on his face."I… apologize, but I am in no position to challenge the traditions."
"Then who is?" Absol asked, an eye twitching as he listened.
"That would be…" Dialga looked up in contemplation. "Calyrex?"
"You do not know," Mewtwo stated, seeing straight through Dialga. "These traditions are absurd, and the sources are barely even known."
For a deity whose existence is intrinsically tied to the concept of time, Dialga looked pretty uncomfortable.
"…Very well, I shall test these bonds you profess. If every single one of you agrees, I shall overlook your continued presence in Varin. Otherwise, you will all be returned to-"
"I'm staying," Blizz announced, with no hesitation.
"Right, same here!" Kibo yelled.
"No way you're separating me and dragon dude!" Angel agreed.
"I… don't want to go," Rune said. "Even after everything with Celebi."
"Same…" Ride's voice was even softer than Rune's.
"I did my job back home," Mira explained. "I'd rather stay with everyone here."
"You know, I think Varin is much more fun than Brazil," Fanita mused.
"…I think something really bad happened to Earth right after I came here," Leaf said, his voice lacking its normal enthusiasm. "I don't really want to go back…"
Blizz didn't have many doubts about everyone who spoke so far. It was the last two he was more worried about, as all of their gazes fell upon the Prince and the Duke.
"…When I perished, it was such that I may give my life for a cause greater than myself or my royal lineage," the Prince explained. "To be returned to Earth alive would be compromising my honor and the cause to which I sacrificed for."
"I… am in a similar situation," the Duke seconded. "So while this land does not particularly suit the environment I deserve, I shall opt to remain."
The Prince nodded in agreement.
Dialga took a deep breath, not quite expecting all of them to agree this quickly. "…I see. Very well then, please leave before anything causes me to change my mind."
A white and gold portal opened up in the ground in front of the explorers, leading back to the summit of Breach Mountain.
Blizz gave the Prince a grin, before taking one last look at the Hall of Origin. "…Thanks. Let's go home guys!" He jumped through the portal, landing onto the snow covering the mountain top.
The other explorers moved to follow him, but Dialga held up a leg in front of Absol and Zar. "The two of you still have work to do. Until the husk effect has been reverted from all legendaries, you are not to leave."
Absol gave a short nod. "I understand, I will set to work at once."
"Wait, but if everyone is husked, how did you and Mewtwo get here?" Zar asked, cocking her head.
"…I am the Dialga of 40 minutes in the future when you proceed to explain all of this to me. I do not understand why Mewtwo is here though…"
"So I have to stay here for 40 minutes? That's gonna take forever…" Zar's eyes wandered to Kibo, helping get Angel through the portal.
"You have been neglecting your duties as a Mew for the past several months. Would you prefer I provide a list of every one of your shortcomings to Arceus?"
That seemed to spook Zar slightly "…Mewtwo, can you help me?"
The other psychic type gave a slow nod. "Of course."
Zar turned back to the explorers still remaining in the hall. "You guys go back to Nova Town, Absol and I will catch up!"
"…You never elaborated as to how Absol became an ally." Despite his murmuring, the Prince continued on, joining Blizz on Breach Mountain.
Once the last of them left, Dialga closed the portal and turned back to Zar and Absol. "…Your kind is moderately more tolerable than I first thought."
A/N: The showdown is done! Final set of twists and big reveals here— let me know what you thought of them. And now we only have one more chapter to go.
Ch 44: Heroes - 12/24/22
