~ Chapter 89 ~
Dialga and Palkia
"I thought being shot would be the weirdest thing that happened to me atop the Spear Pillar. What followed after wouldn't even begin to compare. I learned much atop the Spear Pillar—to this day I don't even understand why. There are no words I have for it all, and there may never be."
Everyone saw Sam collapse, and something inside Jeremy snapped.
With a roar of anger, he and his Pikachu connected, letting loose an explosion of electricity that knocked back and incapacitated the Galactic Admins.
Pikachu bristled, near growling as electricity bounced off its body and the ground, some charges even connecting with Cyrus's ritual.
Cyrus ignored the explosion and his collapsed opponent.
The three Lucario, Jeremy, Pikachu, Niya and Alyssandra ran to Sam's bleeding, unconscious body.
They ignored the roaring dragon gods above them and Cyrus laughing madly before them.
"Can we heal him here?" asked Jeremy, tears near flowing from his eyes, worry clear on his face.
Alyssandra was putting pressure on his wound, trying to stop the bleeding with clothes she was pulling out of their travelling bags.
Alyssandra's Lucario responded. "The bullet seems to be made of Spiritum Steel," she stated with relief, "We can manipulate it, my siblings and I, and remove the bullet. From there, it would be best to heal or cauterize the wound."
"I've got a Blissey and an Audino," declared Nilama, coming from nowhere, "Or more spiritual methods, if you'd prefer?"
Niya looked up at Nilama. "Use the Pokémon. We'll cauterize the wound first, then use the Pokémon to heal the remaining damage."
Nilama nodded.
Rowan came running to Sam's side and released his Moltres.
"I've got a metal rod I keep with me," noted Anthony, "For cases just like this where we need to cauterize a wound. It should work."
Niya nodded and instructed Rowan to heat up the rod with his Moltres.
Nilama released her Blissey and Audino.
Alyssandra's Lucario slowly used its powers to manipulate and remove the bullet from Sam's wound.
Once the bullet was out, Niya had Alexander and Anthony jab the rod into the wound.
Sam twitched a bit in his sleep, but otherwise didn't respond to what would otherwise be incredibly painful.
After a few moments, they removed the rod, leaving behind burnt and seared flesh, but the bleeding had stopped.
Finally, Nilama's two Pokémon went to work.
Blissey and Audino used their respective healing powers to seal the wound and try and patch up the burned skin, both inside and outside.
Niya looked at Alyssandra who sat there shaking, sobbing, her hands covered in Sam's blood as she wrung tightly the shirt she had been using to compress the wound.
It was one of Sam's.
Jeremy looked lost, scared, as if everything he knew had been shattered.
It wasn't hard to see why everyone was so hurt—even Niya, deep down beneath her sense of responsibility, felt an uncontroable ache she knew was loss.
Sam was their family, like a brother.
If he didn't make it through this…
"How did you come to be here?" asked a deep and powerful voice.
It echoed through Sam's head like it was some massive, empty room.
"Huh?" asked Sam.
He opened his eyes…and saw nothing but white.
White in all directions but no depth, no shapes, not even a room.
Just endless white.
He looked down at himself.
He couldn't see himself…was he even looking around there?
Where was he?
What happened?
How did he get here?
Sam had so many questions.
"How did you come to be here?" the voice asked again, gentler, more kindly than before.
"I…don't know," was all Sam could reply.
He gathered his thoughts for a moment, a tougher struggle than it should have been.
"I…was fighting Cyrus," explained Sam, "I fought him. I won…then he…he shot me. I don't remember much after that. I guess I…collapsed…did I die?"
"Perhaps," was all the voice responded after a brief pause, "But it is not forever. Even now it seems my connection to you weakens. You may soon choose to go back…if you'd want to."
"So I can choose to go back and live? Am I not done? Do I have more to do?" asked Sam.
The voice did not respond.
Sam didn't either.
Finally the voice spoke again. "Do you?"
Sam thought for a moment. It was getting easier to think, to remember. "I have to go back. Cyrus is trying to bind the Red Chain around the Dragon Gods. If he gains control of Time and Space…he'll unmake everything and bring about the end of the universe as we know it."
"Why would a human want such a thing?" asked the voice, genuinely confused, "Greed? Power? Does he wish to rule?"
Sam shook what he thought was his head, but as there was no real direction or shapes about him, it might not have been. "He thinks the human spirit is flawed. He things the human spirit is why we have so much trouble. He wants to make a world without human spirit, so that it can be perfect and undisturbed."
"Humans are a reckless, violent people," noted the voice, "He is not entirely wrong. Human spirit causes much trouble."
Sam was confused.
The voice continued.
"But it has saved your kind as much as it has damned them," admitted the voice, "To remove it…would be a world of nothing; a world of decay and apathy…a world without choice. It would be a boring life."
Sam nodded in agreement.
"Long ago, the being Giratina was banished for desiring and trying to create a world of pure chaos and destruction. It relished in a world as chaotic as the worst parts of the human spirit," explained the voice, "So it was placed within a world where it could live in chaos always."
"What do you mean?" asked Sam, confused, "What does that have to do with me?"
"Chaos has a time and place," noted the voice, "The world needs chaos, without chaos there can be no change, no order. There can be no one to rise above it and set things right. Without chaos there would be no heroes, just as without peace there would be no strife. It is a constant flux and balance."
Sam seemed to understand. "Why tell me this?" he asked.
"Why indeed?" asked the voice, as if it was talking to itself, "I have no idea; but it seemed the correct thing to do. Tell me, child, why do you desire to go back and fight this Cyrus?"
"Someone has to stand up and do something," said Sam confidently, "You said it yourself. Our world is flawed, but flaws make us human. If someone doesn't stop Cyrus, we won't be human anymore."
"But why you?" asked the voice.
"Because it's the right thing to do," declared Sam, "It doesn't have to be me. It didn't have to be me. But I chose to do what's right. Me and everyone else atop that mountain who came with me. We made our choice, and I can't let them down."
Sam paused for a moment.
"Besides," he stated, "There's someone back there…someone I care about deeply. I can't leave them yet."
The voice chuckled then paused.
"I will take what you have said into consideration," stated the voice warmly, "We shall meet again soon, I believe. Know when you return you will not be alone atop that mountain…help shall come soon. I promise. Chaos has reigned too long…balance is now needed."
Sam didn't even have time to question anything before he opened his eyes, shooting upright as he found himself surrounded by his weeping friends.
Everyone cheered out as he looked about.
He ignored them, and the fact he no longer had a shirt, or that he had a small scar where the bullet hole had been.
Sam's only focus had been to look for Cyrus.
Sam was horrified by what he saw.
Cyrus had raised the Red Chain above his head, chanting the ancient words of the incantation from the Solaceon Tribe's ritual.
The Red Chain rattled and the end split at its end as the two dragons floated above Cyrus, roaring obstinantly.
The Red Chain shot towards the dragons, wrapping them tightly, binding them as it glowed with red energy and crackled with lightning as it slowly started to constrict around Palkia and Dialga.
The Pokémon roared out in a combination of rage and pain. They were incredulous at having been summoned simply to be subjugated by a lowly, wicked human.
Sam looked back at his friends. "We need to stop this," he declared.
"You need to slow down," demanded Niya.
"You just got shot…how the hell are you running around like this," demanded Jeremy.
"I don't know, lots of adrenaline I guessed," stated Sam not really paying attention. He looked around and noticed his grandfather had disappeared during the ordeal.
Sam gritted his teeth. "We need to stop him now!"
Sam rushed up to Cyrus, up the steps where Cyrus stood above the altar, but an invisible force knocked Sam back.
There was some kind of barrier protecting Cyrus and the Legendary Pokémon.
Dialga and Palkia stopped roaring, and with a jolt of static, their eyes chaged to a glowing, ominous amber.
The Red Chain had successfully subdued them.
Nilama cried out in horror.
She had never seen the Legendary Pokémon controlled so violently against their will, she claimed she could feel their pain and nearly collapsed as she spoke.
Cynthia grabbed her grandmother as the wind picked up heavy.
Cyrus laughed wickedly atop his podium.
"Everything is ready for the creation of the new world. Now, all will end!" he cried over the sound of the holwing wind, "With this, the Red Chain made from the crystals of the Lake Guardians, and these Legendary Pokémon, I shall pry open the very fabric of reality, and remake it in my image. I command you unlease your power for me!"
Lightning, red as blood, crackled and slammed itself into the massive pointed pillar, rattling the mountain with its might.
Dialga and Palkia roared and the small black, one-eyed creatures began to shoot forth from their bodies and spread themselves out across the sky, out towards the far edges of Sinnoh where they disappeared.
Everything was being unmade.
Sam could feel it.
"Dialga, the mythical Pokémon, and Master of Time! And Palkia, the Master of Space and Dimensions!" Cyrus shivered with anticipation, "I have waited so long for this momen. Shaping this world is a double spiral of time and space, held together by the two of you. The very things that you have control over—your abilities—shall now be mine! With the power I wield, I will create an entirely new world! The incomplete and ugly world we have now can disappear. I am resetting everything to zero! Nothing can remain. It is all for making the ultimate world; a world of complete perfection. Nothing so vague and incomplete as spirit can remain!"
Sam slammed his fists against the barrier, trying his best to break through, but it was futile.
Jeremy and Alyssandra looked at each other, and nodded. Something in them felt that it was time.
They reached into their bags, and removed the jagged diamond, and the perfectly smooth pearl.
The Lustrous and Adamant Orbs.
Nilama smiled, realizing what was to come.
Cynthia exclaimed in shock, as did the Hiker Brothers.
Professor Rowan stood there, dumbfounded with his jaw hanging agape like the mouth of the cave they had exited to reach here.
He couldn't believe something as mythical as these artefacts were truly real, and moreover, were in the hands of his young wards.
The two teens walked up beside Sam, Niya joining them, and together they raised these orbs high above their heads.
The orbs shined, giving off the radiant light of life, which shattered the barrier before Sam.
Sam didn't waste a moment, while Jeremy and Alyssandra continued to hold up their respective orbs.
Jeremy holding the jagged diamond, the Adamant Orb; he was as resolute as the name of his orb, Jeremy stood there with complete confidence in his friends and himself, Pikachu on his shoulder giving him support.
Alyssandra held up the spherical pearl, the Lustrous Orb; its light made Alyssandra appear to glow as well, as if she was some heavenly being. She was as brave as Jeremy.
Together the two of them were able to freeze and disperse the small black creatures that burst forth from the Creator Gods.
In fact, their interference with the orbs caused the dragons' eyes to go from crimson to normal and back again. The Red Chain crackled and struggled, and Cyrus's hold on the Pokémon was weakning.
"How?!" he cried as he realized what the teens held in their hands, "How could a child find the artefacts and I not?! Nilama!"
Cyrus was incredulous.
Sam ran up the steps, roaring as he charged at Cyrus, but froze as a three mournful, beautiful cries rang out across the mountain top.
Three lights appeared from the north, southeast and southwest.
The light from the north shone vivid yellow.
The light from the southeast shone a sombre blue.
The light from the southwest shone with a vibrant pink.
Cyrus smirked. His composure returned.
"…I should have expected this. Uxie, the Begin of Knowledge, Azelf, the Being of Willpower, and Mesprit, the Being of Emotion…these Pokémon have come to protect Sinnoh? Pathetic and worthless, in my opinion. No…my Red Chain is flawless, I shall not give in!"
Cyrus yanked on the Red Chain, subjecting the Legendary Pokémon to more pain, but stabilizing his control over there a touch more.
The Lake Guardians arrived and began to circle above the Spear Pillar, swooping down to stand near Sam and his friends.
Azelf directed itself to Jeremy, swooping about over his head, seemingly adding its power to Jeremy's Adamant Orb as the orb began to glow brighter.
Mesprit went towards Alyssandra, floating like a pixie above Alyssandra's head like a sprite as the Lustrous Orb's power grew like Jeremy's had when Azelf arrive.
Finally, Uxie, with its closed eyes and pensive look, floated close to Niya's shoulders, sticking close to the girl who had yet to pull out her orb—that moment would come soon enough, however.
"Emotion, Willpower, and Knowledge," stated Nilama, kneeling down in reverence, "I never imagined in my life time…in any life times…would we ever see these Pokémon gathered here together again."
"Amazing," whispered Rowan as he watched the events unfold.
"Foolish!" roared Cyrus as he hoisted the Red Chain above his head, "It takes all three Pokémon to quell a single of these entities before you—a single one! But they can't maintain balance alone when it's the two of them. They come in vain! So much meaningless drama…"
Cyrus turned his attention to the still bewildered Sam. "Now, Sam. You've constantly interfered with my plans, but you will be forgiven. After all…soon there will remain no spirit for all time when I am done. All spirit will disappear. It will be ripped away…from you! From your Pokémon! From those precious to you…from everyone!"
Sam cried out, running towards Cyrus once more, hoping to tackle the man from his podium and wrestle the Red Chain from his hands.
"It is time! My dream shall become a reality! Finallly, I shall—"
Everything stopped.
Niya cried out in surprise as she reached into her bag to find the Griseous Orb aglow.
Cyrus looked shocked, worried, surprised.
A massive pressure filled the air, and the feeling of rage filled everyone.
Not that they were enraged…but something else was, and it was pouring out into the world around it.
Then, Nilama pointed it out, a small black circle like an ink drop on a white sheet of paper. It appeared and grew between Palkia and Dialga, in the centre of the seal.
Then another.
Then another.
Another.
They bled together to create a giant swirling circle of shadow.
Then…from the centre of the circle, eyes.
Red, glowing eyes.
Malice.
Evil.
No…not evil, not wickedness…chaos.
Chaos had come to the Spear Pillar.
