Author's note: PLEASE READ THIS FIRST don't skim it thanks lol

YES. I know. I'm late. Very, Very late. But to be fair, this is the LONGEST chapter I've ever written for a fanfiction.

Ever.

Actually, now that I think of it, this is the longest fanfiction I've ever written, too. I've written a lot in my hay-day (I say 'hay-day as though I'm old, but I'm not THAT old. I will say I am a young adult. I've started writing fanfictions back when I was a young teenager. Maaan- those were the days.)

But this... 40 chapters? Dang, that's a lot.

But anyway- I digress. i've put warnings before but I'll put the warning here:

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER IS OVER 7000 WORDS LONG (yes, i know, that's only like 14 pages, but that can be a lot for some!)

Please remember to take breaks and have fun reading!

Chapter 40: God's fight to the finish!

Aldrich saw Zennon rapidly approaching like a rocket, fist first and screaming. The transformed God raised his hand and simply flicked his finger before the berserk man drew nea.. A rainbow-colored blast of wind that contained the power of every type in existence came out and blew Zennon away as he crossed his arms to protect himself.

Lucia, who stood on the ground along with Beatrice, gritted her teeth and flew into the sky along with her Salamence, leaving Ninetales and Beatrice alone on the ground.

"I'm glad you have more fight in you, old man..!" Beatrice said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out Slowpoke's Pokéball. "I'll take my time tearing you apart, and when, and only when you beg for mercy, that's when I'll finish you off!" Beatrice shot the hand that held Slowpoke's Pokéball beside her, and out of it came Slowpoke, lying on his back and kicking his feet as though he were swimming.

"Poke... Poke... Poke.." The Slowpoke said.

"Protect us while we cover Lucia!" Beatrice commanded as she and Ninetales took aim with their attacks. Slowpoke's stubby feet stood up on end as his eyes glowed red.

Lucia and Salamence were moving like arrows toward the Almighty God who floated above them. Aldrich slowly raised his hand into the air. An orb no bigger than his fist formed above his open palm- and he clenched it. A massive sword erected itself into Aldrich's hand- rainbows followed in the blade's wake as he flourished and swung it about to prepare himself for Lucia's attack. Their blades met, and so did their eyes as they went into a deadlock. Lucia could see Aldrich through his helmet's visor, albeit barely. Salamence watched as their swords clashed again and again- and prepared to release his Draco Meteor attack. The Pokémon bellowed a roar as portals appeared beside it, meteors came flying out of each one and after the two.

Aldrich's hand reached and grabbed Lucia by the face before he threw her at the oncoming meteors. Lucia's body spiraled uncontrollably before she crashed back-first onto a meteor that was still flying after Aldrich.

Aldrich raised his empty fist and pulled it, ready to destroy Lucia and the meteor with a single punch.

Suddenly, Zennon's roars reached the god's ears again- and before he knew it, Zennon landed a tackle right on Aldrich's side and carried him out of sight. Lucia gritted her teeth as she detached herself from the still falling Meteor.

"Let's go after them!" Lucia cried. Both Pokémon and Trainer shared a nod as they flew onward.

"Slowpoke, let's follow them!" Beatrice cried. Slowpoke's eyes shone even redder than before.

Meanwhile, Zennon continued to hold onto the old man with all of his might as they both flew through the sky like rockets. Aldrich raised his elbow and smashed it onto his assailant's back again and again, but to no avail. Finally, Aldrich raised his rainbow sword, only for a flying flaming arrow to come and strike it out of his hands. Aldrich's eyes widened as he looked ahead.

Slowpoke had summoned a disk-like platform for Ninetales and Beatrice to stand on, and it flew to keep up with Aldrich as they darted onward.

"JUDGEMENT!" Aldrich cried. He flicked his hand at the girl and multiple white thunderbolts flew at Beatrice's team. The disk spun and whirled as it dodged the oncoming bolts of lightning with relative ease- but as it dodged, it lost speed. Zennon and Aldrich zipped by them.

They were quickly approaching Veilstone city.

The townspeople of Veilstone city walked around minding their own business. Some were chatting, others were enjoying their time around the Veilstone city mall, which was the size of a skyscraper.

Aldrich and Zennon crashed into that very building, and everyone went into a panic. Zennon and Aldrich came tumbling into the mall, and the ones shopping there fled from the scene in panic. Soon, the momentum stopped, and the two were down on the mall's floor, and staring at the ceiling. Aldrich was the first to stand up. He crouched and quickly grabbed Zennon by the throat and lifted him in the air. A rainbow aura came to Aldrich's free hand.

Zennon glared- and Aldrich thrust his free hand at the man.

"PIIICHUU!"

Pichu's thunderbolt came and struck Zennon, sending him flying from Aldrich's grasp. The god turned to see Marie, clad in invoker armor, and Pichu- both standing behind the large, gaping hole the two men left behind upon entering the mall.

Both Marie and Pichu shot lighting blasts at Aldrich, which deflected off his body as he walked toward them slowly.

"Volt tackle, Pichu!" Pichu roared as he launched himself at Aldrich, who deflected him away with a swing of his arm. Pichu flew onto the ceiling with a splat before plummeting to the ground. Aldrich then swooped in toward the trainer, grabbing the blonde by the neck and raising her high into the air.

"You pathetic insect. You've annoyed me for the last time…." Aldrich said.

Marie chuckled weakly.

"I'm not the one you should be worrying about..."

"What?" Aldrich said.

"ROAR OF TIME!" Lucian cried.

The sound of a clock's ticking blared like an alarm as it along with time itself slowed to a halt. Aldrich, who was unaffected, released Marie, and Marie remained in the air as though an invisible arm held her in place. He turned around to see the shirtless Lucian without invoker armor.

Lucian's hair was now shining blue, and, and his skin was now black as obsidian, and he shined with a blue, diamond-like color. His left eye color was now red, and the white of his eyes were replaced with a deep black, just like Dialga's.

"You've merged with Dialga..?" Aldrich asked.

"Yes. And because it isn't an artificial merge but rather, one of trust, I can do more than what Quinton could ever do… for example: I can do this," Lucian clapped both of his hands. "TIME REVERSE!"

"WHAT!?" Aldrich's eyes widened as reality became like a video playing in reverse.

Marie's body was slowly pulled to stand in place and have her finger pointed out. Aldrich then turned his head to see the Pichu he previously swatted away fly right back over to Marie's shoulder like invisible strings were pulling him.

"What..!?" Aldrich cried. "No!" He raised his fist to punch Marie, only for Zennon to grab him from behind and put him into a full nelson hold. "NO! You- You were knocked away earlier..!" Aldrich cried as he fought against his attacker.

"Volt tackle, Pichu!" Marie cried out. Pichu roared as he launched himself at Aldrich- landing directly on his stomach. Aldrich cried out in pain as Pichu carried him and Zennon toward the mall's walls that stood behind them and tore right through it.

Marie sighed in relief as Rebecca's hand landed on her shoulder. A Spatial portal of Rebecca's own creation closed behind the two women. Marie turned and saw that Rebecca had transformed into the form she used against Lucia back on the Moon. She harbored Palkia's power within her from trust-borne fusion.

The trio all shared a nod as a portal appeared below Marie and Rebecca's feet. The women fell into it as A diamond shaped portal appeared behind Lucian. The temporal man walked backwards into it.

North of Velistone city was an ocean that was far and wide- and inside it spawned many Water type Pokemon. Amid the deep ocean, a spatial portal opened, and out of it came Lucia's partially healed Swampert. Quickly, the Water type swam to the surface, and the moment she popped her head out- she saw heard Aldrich's screams as he and Zennon were being carried onward by Pichu. Swampert could see the waves slightly parting because of how fast they were going- and quickly ducked her head down to dodge them as they flew by.

"GET…. OFF ME..!" Aldrich cried out as his body began to shine in a yellow light. "BEGONE… IN THE NAME OF SACRED LIGHT! JUDGEMENT!"

The brilliant light exploded and blew Zennon and Pichu away- and almost instantly...

Their bodies turned into dust.

"ROAR OF TIME, TIME REVERSE!" Lucian's voice cried out. Suddenly, time began to reverse- and Pichu and Zennon's bodies were restored. They both fell like rocks into the ocean, unconscious, but no longer eradicated.

"NO..!" Meanwhile, momentum still carried Aldrich's body. He like a thrown pebble, bouncing on the ocean before finally being dragged across it as though it were earth. Soon, the momentum pulling him faded, and his body stopped moving. His arms and legs hung low as his body remained on the water. "Why..?" He said.

A diamond shaped portal appeared in front of Aldrich, and out of it came Lucian, who was floating and looking down at him.

"I'm not powerful enough to stop you, but what I can do is reverse time for up to five seconds." Lucian said. "I can undo anything you do to my friends and family. As long as I'm alive, nothing you do will matter."

"That just means I have to kill you first."

"You'd have to fight me to do that- and I'm not here to fight you, I'm here to play support. The ones who will fight you are up there." Lucian shot a thumb over his shoulder, and just then, Lucia and Beatrice, flying side by side along with their Pokémon, came zooming in. Aldrich's eyes widened- and in that instant, Lucian summoned a portal behind him and walked backwards into it, disappearing from sight.

Beatrice aimed her bow and Ninetales opened his mouth- the two of them released a salvo of flame blasts that flew like a flock of birds after Aldrich, who looked up at it like it was an annoyance. Aldrich changed his type to Ice, and Ice spread below his back like a disease. He used the ice platform to flip back onto his feet.

Just then, a portal appeared above Aldrich, and both Marie and Rebecca came diving down foot-first. The god crossed his arms and blocked the attack- but momentum pushed them onward. Aldrich was riding on the ice platform he created like a surfboard as Marie and Rebecca's dive kick pushed him back. The flame blasts that Beatrice and Ninetales fired followed suit.

"INSIGNIFICANT.. INSECTS..!" The deity cried.

Rebecca flicked her wrist, and a portal appeared behind Aldrich. Rebecca backflipped away as Both Marie and Aldrich were carried into the open portal that closed once they entered it. She spun around and opened another spatial portal to swallow the oncoming flame arrows fired by Ninetales and Beatrice. After this was done- she too, went into a portal.

Outer space. Nothing but stars and eerie silence. A spatial portal appeared out of nowhere, and out of it came Aldrich, still being pushed by Marie's kick.

"DIE ALREADY!" The omnipotent man cried as he forcefully uncrossed his arms and sent the blonde flying. "JUDGMENT!" Aldrich shot his arm and fired a white lightning blast that flew straight for Marie. The blonde's eyes shot wide open as she was unable to dodge the attack- But suddenly, a spatial portal appeared behind her. Rebecca's arm grabbed Marie and pulled her in just before the lightning blast hit her.

"NO!" Aldrich roared.

"DUUUSKNOOOIR!"

Aldrich spun around, and saw Quinton's Dusknoir, whom he had left behind in space, fly toward him like a bullet.

Suddenly, a portal appeared behind the God. Lucian's Lucario flew out like a rocket fist-first onto Aldrich's back- hitting him and carrying him toward the raging Dusknoir.

Lucario and Dusknoir collide with each other with Aldrich in the middle. Their fists plow their way onto the god's back and stomach. Then- the two of them started punching rapidly like machines.

"DUUUSK-NOIR-NOIR-NOIR-NOIR-NOIR-NOIR!"

"LUCAR-CAR-CAR-CAR-CAR-CAR-CAR-CAR-CAR!"

Lucario and Dusknoir roared their battle cries as they plowed onto the man from both sides- their target's body bounced about as though bullets were riddling through him.

"DUSKNOIR!"

"LUCAR-!"

Both Pokémon slammed their fist downward onto Aldrich's face for a final attack. The force of their punch was so strong that a piece of the deity's visor broke- revealing his bloodshot eyes.

Then, as Aldrich downward flew like a rocket, both Pokémon brought their arms close to their waist. Lucario charged an Aura Sphere as Dusknoir charged a Shadow ball. A portal appeared in front of the two Pokémon as they charged their attacks, and Rebecca came flying out of it, darting after Aldrich.

The god recovered midair as he saw Rebecca flying his way- and shot a shadow ball at her with a single arm. Rebecca flipped backward to dodge it, and just as she did, a portal appeared behind her- and Beatrice and Ninetales' salvo of flame arrows flew onward. Aldrich's eyes widened as he crossed his arms to defend against the oncoming salvo. Aldrich quickly roared as he uncrossed his arms and started punching and kicking the arrows that came his way, deflecting them with every blow.

A portal appeared below the god's feet, and a sandstorm flew out of it. Aldrich cried out in pain as sand went into his now unshielded eyes. Out from the portal that blew a sandstorm was Lucian's Flygon, who was blasting the sand from its mouth. Two portals appeared behind Aldrich, and out of them came Lucian's Sneasel and Lucia's Swampert, who, while shoulder-to-shoulder, began charging their attacks.

All four Pokémon that charged their attacks let out a battle cry before sending it. Swampert released her Hydro cannon, and Sneasel, her blizzard- which fused together to create an icy cannon.

Dusknoir and Lucario's Shadow ball and Aura sphere flew out of their hands, and the orbs combined and fused together, creating a shadowy Aura Sphere.

Both fused attacks flew onto Aldrich and exploded in a mighty blue and purple explosion which started out as a small orb before expanding outward like an exploding star. Everyone in the space that wasn't Aldrich shielded themselves from the explosion. Soon, they saw Aldrich with his head hung low and his legs and arms hanging. Steam emanated from his body

One of the god's eyes shone with a red, murderous light before he cried out at the top of his lungs.

"ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!" He roared. He teleported and disappeared in a flash of light. He re-appeared in front of Lucario and Dusknoir first with his arm extended at them.

"JUDGMENT!" Aldrich cried.

They couldn't react.

They were completely eradicated by the white lightning blast that shot out of his hands and flew away into outer space.

Flygon watched in sheer horror- and blinked before seeing Aldrich in front of him.

"JUDGMENT!" Aldrich roared.

Flygon was completely eradicated by the lightning blast that flew out of the god's hands.

Both Swampert and Sneasel cried out in shock. Suddenly, from behind the two female Pokémon was Aldrich with his arm extended.

"JUDGEMENT!" Aldrich shouted.

The two of them were completely eradicated.

Aldrich then teleported in front of Rebecca. Her eyes widened in horror- and just then, seemingly out of nowhere- Gardevoir teleported in front of her trainer and extended her arms outward to protect her.

Aldrich smiled as he raised his arm. "Judgment."

The two of them were reduced to dust as the lighting blasted onto their bodies.

They were gone.

"Hehehehe…" Aldrich began chuckling. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! ALL OF YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!" "AHAHAHAHA-"

"Hey, so," The moment Lucian's voice came to Aldrich's ears from behind, his laughter stopped. "You know what would really suck for you?" Lucian continued, raising his fingers to snap them.

"NO!" Aldrich cried.

"ROAR OF TIME! TIME REVERSE!" Lucian snapped his fingers.

Aldrich could do nothing but watch as all of the work he did became undone- all of the people who were destroyed were regenerated and restored. The lightning that destroyed them flew all the way back like boomerangs and appeared in front of their victims, threatening to destroy them all over again. Lucian appeared in the middle of everything. "ROAR OF TIME! BRING TIME TO A HALT!"

With a clap of Lucian's hands an explosion of temporal energy blasted outward, capturing everyone who was previously erased and the lightning bolts and encapsulating them in frozen time.

Lucian flashed a cocky grin at Aldrich.

"NO, NO, NO!" Aldrich cried. "I WON'T LET YOU!" Aldrich rushed toward the grinning Lucian.

"Roar of time.." Lucian said. "Time will fast forward for me alone!"

Just before Aldrich's fists reached him, Lucian disappeared. Aldrich then turned to see his previous victims disappear from sight one by one. Lucian was moving so fast that Aldrich could no longer see him and brought his victims to safety.

"NO!" Aldrich cried. "THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DESTROYED! WHERE DID THEY GO!? WHERE DID YOU PUT THEM?"

"I put them back on earth with my daughter and Beatrice,." Aldrich's eyes widened as he heard Lucian's voice from behind him again. "Oh, right. Time will move normally again." The lightning bolts that were frozen in time flew outward, but without hitting their targets. Aldrich watched in complete shock as suddenly, he felt Lucian's back lean onto his. "How many times have you used Judgment?" Lucian crossed his arms as though he were deep in thought as Aldrich bared his teeth and seethed in rage. "Five? Maybe ten times? I lost cou-"

"JUDGEMEEEEEEENT!"

Aldrich spun around and shot a white blast of lightning with an intense roar. Once the lightning faded away, an excited grin came to his face once he saw nothing was in front of him anymore.

Lucian's finger tapped the old man's shoulder from behind.

"WHY YOU..!" Aldrich cried.

"Now where were we?" Lucian said. "Oh right."

Aldrich glared and gritted his teeth in fury.

"Every time you use Judgment," Lucian continued, "Your mind erodes. You stopped thinking properly- you're not even changing your type to defend against our attacks anymore. You and I both know that no human being was meant to have that much power. It's only a matter of time until you-"

"SIIIIIIIIIILENCE!" An intense rainbow aura blasted outward from Aldrich's body. "I know that omnipotence comes at a price… MY body will disintegrate at any moment. BUT BEFORE THAT HAPPENS, I WILL LAY WASTE TO THE ENTIRE PLANET. THIS, I SWEAR!"

Lucian glared as he flew back.

"Anything that exists… I can harness as my own power… Any type that exists, I can use. Any move that exists, I can use… so naturally- things that exist- like Dynamaxing… I can use!"

Lucian's eyes widened.

"I will grant you one more wish before the planet is destroyed… Go on and go to your family- go to your friends! Watch from above the skies, as I descend as the true god of this world- and destroy the world…! I will use the power of Dynamax to grow to the size of an overwhelming TITAN… AND THEN..! HEHEHEH… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"...Tch...!" Lucian said. "He's gone even further into insanity- as if he wasn't already insane enough-"

The sound of a heartbeat rang in Lucian's ears as his eyes widened in sudden pain. He clutched his chest and grit his teeth as he fell back into a portal of his own creation.

Lucia and Salamence remained in the air side by side with Beatrice, Ninetales, and Slowpoke. Slowpoke was using his psychic powers to its fullest to keep his trainer along with Ninetales above the ocean below.

Suddenly, the group that went after Aldrich all plopped onto Salemence's back in a blink of an eye- much to the Dragon's surprise. Salamence nearly fell to the ocean with the sudden immense weight that went onto him- but managed to stay afloat.

"Wh-What the..?" Lucia said, turning around and seeing Salamence recover. "Where did-"

A call came to Lucia's phone. She dug onto her pocket and pulled it out.

"Lucia?" The voice said..

"Dad?" Lucia replied.

"Lucia… GCH..!" Lucian cried out in pain. "I-uh- I-.."

"Dad!?" Lucia cried.

"Listen to me!" Lucian cried. "I need you to go to Veilstone City. Where the mall is. Can you do that for me?"

"I-...Yeah- Are you okay?"

"I- I'm all right- I've just used too much temporal energy…" Lucian spoke as though he were severely wounded. "J-Just come over here quickly...!"

Lucia turned to Beatrice.

"We've gotta go to Veilstone city."

Beatrice nodded- and just then, everyone flew toward Veilstone City.

Lucian was on his hands and knees. Lightning made of blue, temporal energy spiraled and surged around him. Onlookers stared at him.

"Ar- Are you okay..?" One person asked.

"Should we call-"

"Get out of here!" Lucian cried. "You guys need to… Go..!" Lucian fell on his stomach. "Darn it..! I didn't realize I used so much temporal power, reversing time so much..!"

Salamence's shadow loomed over Lucian, which brought a weak smile to his face as he looked up to see everyone descending to him.

"Dad!" Lucia cried.

"Lucian!" Rebecca leapt off of Salemence's back. Both daughter and mother ran to Lucian, who coughed loudly.

"Stopping time is something Dialga can do without any effort… But reversing it… I can't do that too many times... I can't keep saving you guys… Not anymore…" Lucian said. "Anyway- You- You need to listen- Aldrich's going to-"

An intense wind started blowing- strong enough to send everyone's hair blasting in the opposite direction. The clouds above began to turn dark.

The sound of Aldrich's laughter was loud enough for the entire city to hear- it was like thunder. Soon, the dark clouds parted to reveal Aldrich-whose body had become so big that he loomed over the world like a cloud himself. He was so big that he was able to hold the earth with both of his hands like a baseball. The only thing that everyone could see was the almighty god'' upper body, and his eyes, which were still visible because of his broken helm visor. The sound of Aldrich's laughter, mixed with the panicking crowd, mixed with the howling winds pounded in everyone's ears.

"It's time!" Aldrich said. He pulled one arm back while aiming his other open hand at the earth. "Begone!" Aldrich thrust his fist- which moved rather slowly- but once it reached earth's atmosphere, it lit up into flames. From the group against Aldrich's point of view, it looked like a massive, fist-shaped meteorite was coming for them- one the size of a planet.

"You guys…" Lucian said. "Have only one shot to win… I can't undo the damage he'd do to the earth if he-"

Lucia wordlessly spun around to the looming threat. "Salamence, let's go!"" Lucia cried. Both her and Salamence unfurled their wings before flying into the air.

"Ugh- I'm not letting that idiot outstage me!" Beatrice cried. "Let's g-"

Someone pulled Beatrice's arm before she started moving. The redhead saw Rebecca was the one who had pulled her, who stood beside her Gardevoir.

"Come with me, bring your Pokémon!" Rebecca cried. Beatrice nodded as Marie stepped forward along with Lucian's Pokémon.

Sneasel leapt on Flygon's back and the two of them flew away- Lucario crossed his arms before opening them- releasing a sapphire aura from his body and leapt into action.

"Pichu, Pichu..!" Pichu's voice cried out to her, and Marie spun around to see Pichu, whose body was wet from swimming over to Veilstone city. Pichu crawled its way onto Marie's leg then all the way to her shoulder. Marie clenched her fists as electricity raged out from her body before she and Pichu flew into the fray.

Dusknoir and Swampert roared a large roar- Dusknoir's mouth on his stomach opened as he bellowed. A ghostly black aura exploded around the ghost type's body before he took flight. Swampert began dashing ahead.

Lucia was first to fly high enough to see the oncoming fist that was threatening to destroy the earth. She raised her dragon-flame sword into the air as Salamence shot dragon flames at the fist.

"DRAGON SWOOOOOOOORD!" Lucia's sword doubled, then tripled in size before she swung it downward, the flames acted like a laser of sorts as it flew at Aldrich's fist.

As she did this, Machoke's Pokeball fell from Lucia's pocket and toward the ground.

Swampert, who was still on the move, saw the Pokéball flying down toward her. She leapt into the air and grabbed it with her mouth before landing. She then tossed it onto the floor, releasing Machoke from his ball. Machoke was still visibly wounded but was still able to stand. Swampert pointed at the massive doomsday-sized fist coming their way, and Machoke's eyes widened in sheer 's war cry echoed in the fighting type's ears as he saw Zennon flying over them.

The berserk man flew over to Lucia. His eyes were locked onto the fist that was coming, and he shot his hands at it.

"ORIGIN.. PULSE!" He cried- a blast that rivaled the size of a skyscraper flew at Aldrich's fist.

Just then, Sneasel and Flygon joined in. Sneasel shot out a massive Blizzard from her hands while Flygon released a Hyper beam from his mouth to join in the struggle. Then- Marie and Pichu joined in- firing thunder from their bodies.

Then finally, Dusknoir and Lucario came flying in, firing a Shadow ball and Aura sphere respectively- the balls combined before joining the flying attacks that were coming for Aldrich's fist.

All of the attacks combined with each other- forming a white beam with electricity surging out of it- and finally collided with Aldrich's fist- the shockwave that came was loud enough to rival a sonic boom.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Swampert fired an ice beam at Aldrich's fist- and Machoke leapt into the air, landing on the ice beam that became a platform for him to run on before a red aura burst around him- and the top part of his monk's robe tore apart. He ducked before leaping high into the air, the ice beam that he ran on followed and spiraled around him as he shot his fist forward- and the ice beam turned into a massive drill that flew along with Machoke. Machoke shot both of his fist forwards, and the ice-beam drill that flowed like a rushing river divided, and turned into two drills, one for each of Machoke's fists. The fighting type started punching rapidly at Aldrich's fist.

"You've got the guts to punch a god's fist? I like that."

Machoke stopped, and then spun his head behind him. The Pokemon gasped.

The one floating behind him with psychic power levitating him was Brawly and his Mega Medicham. Brawly crossed his arms as his invoker armor came to him with a flash of light- and he uncrossed it- golden arms erupted from behind his back.

"You're really doing this without me!? Don't forget who invented that technique, Brawly!" From behind Brawly was the Veilstone City Gym leader, Maylene, clad in invoker armor and afloat because of her own Mega Medicham. She clenched her fists as golden arms erected from behind her back as well.

"LET'S GO!" Brawly and Maylene cried. Brawly flew in first, and Maylene followed as Machoke began punching rapidly all over again.

"AAAAAAAA-TATATATATATATATATAATATATATATA!" Brawly's voice became high pitched as he yelled again and again with every punch.

"HORA-HORA-HORA-HORA-HORA-HORA-HORA-HORA!" Maylene cried rapidly at the top of her lungs as she joined the others. Both Mega Medicham punched with all of their might as well- every punch they landed created a shockwave.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Aiden hid behind the Pokecenter, the only building still standing in Veilstone city- and grit his teeth in jealousy. He gasped and hid again as he saw Wattson and Roxanne walking by and staring at the carnage.

"We should do something about that, shouldn't we?" Wattson said.

"It would be a problem if the earth were to be destroyed. How would I be able to see Lucia and Beatrice grow?" Roxanne said.

Both Gym leaders threw their Pokéballs. Onix came out of Roxanne's, and out of Wattson's was Ampharos.

"Dynamax time, Onix!" Roxanne cried.

"Mega evolve, Ampharos!" Wattson roared.

Ampharos and Onix both underwent their transformations- Onix became big enough to tower over the Veilstone city mall, were it still standing. Roxanne leapt onto the mighty rock type's head. She shot her finger- and Onix released a hyper beam onto the oncoming fist.

After Ampharos transformed. Wattson pulled his hand back as a thunder-javelin formed above his hand. He tossed it with all of his might.

As the struggle continued, Lucia grit her teeth as everyone around her grunted and struggled to hold their attack against the fist that was moving closer and closer.

"We.. need more power..!" Lucia cried.

"Well, it's a good thing we're here."

It was Champion Cynthia's voice who reached Lucia's ears.

Lucia spun around, and on the ground, she saw Every single Sinnoh Gym leader except Maylene standing behind the champion. All of them had their strongest Pokémon out, and their invoker armor on.

Cynthia shot her arm out, and she, along with everyone else, shot out their strongest attack which collided with each other mid-flight and turned into another white beam with electricity shooting out.

Once the reinforcements' attacks flew into Aldrich's fist- the god felt his fist stop moving forward. It was as though a wall were pushing against his knuckles.

"HOW..!?" Aldrich cried. "How can your powers RIVAL A GOD'S!?"

Aldrich, from all the way from space, gritted his teeth as he pushed against the massive force that was beginning to push him back. He roared at the top of his lungs as he put everything he had into his punch- and yet- it wasn't enough.

"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE..!" He roared.

Aldrich could feel his fist beginning to pull back. "NO!" Aldrich cried. "NOOOOOO!"

"ALDRIIIIIIIICH!" Beatrice's voice hammered Aldrich's ears- and he turned his head to see her beside him. She was standing on a platform of Slowpoke's creation- and standing beside Rebecca and Gardevoir as a spatial portal closed behind them. Beatrice and Ninetales aimed their attacks at the colossal man.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Aldrich roared. Lasers shot out of the god's eyes. Gardevoir and Slowpoke stepped up. Using the move reflect, they formed a mirror-shaped shield in front of their allies. Ninetales and Beatrice leapt into the air.

"NO!" Aldrich cried. Beatrice could see the fear in Aldrich's eyes. "PLEASE- DON'T-"

"This is FOR MY FATHER!" Beatrice and Ninetales shot blasts of flame that combined mid-air and flew right into Aldrich's eye. The god screamed in immense pain.

Lucia, along with everyone who was still struggling against Aldrich's attack- felt a twinge of weakness from the deity.

A smile came across Lucia's face before she glared furiously.

"NOW!" She roared.

Everyone else in the vicinity shouted as loud as they possibly could as their attacks became even stronger- the two white beams formed by the separate groups combined into a larger beam. "AAAAAAATAAAAAAH!"

"HOOOOOORA!" The punching fighting types and trainers shot out their final punches.

Aldrich's fist began to disintegrate and exploded like glass as the beam flew onward and crawled across the mighty god's fist and toward his body.

"NO! NOOOOOOOOOO! CURSE YOU! CURSE ALL OF YOOOOOU!" Aldrich's upper body was completely swallowed by the oncoming beam that flew his way. He cried 'No' even as his entire body began to disintegrate and turn into ash. His volume of his cries slowly dwindled like a dying flame, until it became nothing more than a whisper.

Aldrich was no more. A smile came to Beatrice's face. Rebecca placed a hand on Beatrice's shoulder and smiled proudly.

Meanwhile, back on earth, everyone that was in the air smiled brightly.

"We did it..!" Lucia said.

A smile came to Zennon's face as his eyes closed- and he began to pass out. Marie spun around and saw this- and moved as quick as lightning itself to catch him. The two descended as Marie held the unconscious Zennon like a bride. Marie looked at him.

"Sleep soundly, my prince," She said.

Everyone that was in the air all descended from the sky until their feet touched the ground.

Then, that group all saw the entirety of the Sinnoh gym leader team approach them. Cynthia was the first to reach Lucia, giving her a smile of approval as she placed one hand on her hip. Lucia grinned.

"It's a good thing Lucian was able to get us here…" Brawly said as he approached the group from behind.

"Yeah," Roxanne said as she and Wattson approached from the front. "Although, he may not be in good shape.."

"Ugh..!"

Everyone in the group spun around to see Lucian lying on the floor. Sparkles of blue light, that shone like stars flew off of his body, as though he were beginning to fade out of existence.

"Dad?!" Lucia cried. She ran over to Lucian's side.

"Heh.." Lucian said. "I had a little bit more temporal power left… so I used it to fast forward myself only. With my super speed- I was able to bring every Sinnoh gym leader. I was working on bringing all the other Hoenn leaders- but my power was running out by the time I grabbed Wattson... heh..." Lucian coughed loudly.

"D-Dad! NO! NOOO!"

A spatial portal appeared behind the crowd that circled Lucia and her father. Out of it came Beatrice and her Pokémon, along with Rebecca and Gardevoir.

"We did it!" Rebecca said. Everyone in the group just stared. Rebecca, who couldn't see past the massive crowd to see what was in the middle of it tilted her head. "Why isn't anyone celebrating? We beat him! Aldrich is-"

"R-Rebecca…?" Lucian said. "Is-Is that you..?" Rebecca's eyes widened in horror once she heard her husband's voice cry out to her weakly. She ran over to the crowd and pushed people aside until she reached Lucian.

She paused- her eyes and body shook as shock overtook her. Her legs gave out as she slowly fell to her knees.

"NO…!" Rebecca said. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"DAD!" Lucia cried out at the top of her lungs. "DAD- PLEASE DON'T GO!"

"S'not like I can control it.." Lucian said. He smiled weakly.

"C-Can't Dialga restore you back to normal..!?" Marie cried. "He-He can-"

"Dialga's as exhausted as I am…" Lucian said. "He needs time to recover- and by the time he does… it'll already be too late. He can only rewind time by about five seconds..,"

"WHY!?" Marie cried. "NO! COME ON, PLEASE!"

"It's okay..." Lucian said. He raised his hand over to Lucia's cheek. "I'm leaving behind a legacy… that I can be proud of."

"No- No- no. NO- NO!" Rebecca cried. "NO!"

Lucian raised a hand at Rebecca. Rebecca shot toward him and grabbed his hand.

"It's okay sweetheart…" He said. "I know you'll be able to take care of Lucia while I'm gone."

"I can't go on without you- You know that!" Rebecca cried. "Please- Please- you can't go!"

Lucian smiled weakly as his hand began to slowly turn into glass- and shatter.

"Take care of yourselves." He said. "Rebecca. Lucia. Marie… And-." Lucian looked up at Beatrice, who was watching with tears in her eyes. "Beatrice. Make your father proud."

"...I will.." Beatrice said.

The rest of Lucian's body turned into glass as he shattered. His shards flew high into the sky.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rebecca cried at the top of her lungs as she sobbed loudly. Lucia began to tear up and cry herself as Marie sobbed.

Everyone who stood and watched lowered their heads in respect.

It was over.

No words could be said- nothing to soothe the grief that struck the ones that knew Lucian. Silence reigned in tyrannic glory, forcing everyone's mouth closed.

What could one say in this moment? Nothing.

All they could do was just watch, watch as though they were hearing the cries of a newborn come from Lucian's loved ones. Only one thought loomed over everyone's mind: They had won, but at what cost?

A week had passed.

Anastasia and Professor Birch sat among everyone else who had fought in the battle with Aldrich- they were at Lucian's and Quinton's funeral. Pictures of both men were on the separate sides of a stage that stood in the middle of Littleroot town. Even Beatrice's butler, Harold, was attending. Everyone was wearing black, and their heads hung low as both Lucia and Beatrice stood side by side to walk to the podium that stood on the stage. Marie was standing on the podium with Zennon- and Zennon held Marie close as she cried. Rebecca was on the stage as well, standing behind the girls. Even Samantha- who was let out of prison for just a day with Beatrice's help(and money), stood on stage. She had a black dress on instead of prison clothing and was crying like a baby.

Lucia went to the stand first.

"..My father.." Lucia said. "He-"

That's when it happened- a golden light shined from behind the entire group- everyone in the area spun around in shock.

"Is that-... Arceus!?" Cynthia cried. Everyone watched in shock as the clouds above parted, and a heavenly light loomed over them. There- the body of Arceus was descending onto the world. Once its four legs touched ground, Arceus looked down at everyone who was watching.

"I thank all of you…" Arceus's mighty voice cried out for all to hear. "For fighting to bring my shard of my being out of captivity. I believed in every single one of you. And as thanks- I shall grant you all…two wishes. It may be for anything- anything at all."

Lucia's eyes widened. "A-Anything!?" Lucia cried.

"Yes."

"E-Even bringing people back from the dead!?" Rebecca cried.

Arceus nodded.

Lucia and Rebecca both exchanged a look, and with intense joy, they screamed in unison: "Bring Lucian back from the dead- Please!"

"Your wish…" Arceus's red eyes shone. "Shall be granted."

Shards of glass flew into the wind past Arceus's shoulder and flew toward the stage. The shards of glass merged together and formed Lucian's body from top to bottom, and then, the glass color disappeared. Lucian blinked once his body's color was restored.

"Huh..?" Lucian said.

"DAD..!"

"LUCIAN!"

Daughter and Wife both hugged Lucian, who nearly fell back from them plopping onto him. He just stood there, completely amazed.

"Uh- I'm not in heaven or anything, am I?" Lucian said.

"No..! This is real life...!" Lucia said.

Tears of joy welled up from the man's eyes.

"Oh god...!" Lucian said. He held his family close to him as the three of them collectively cried out.

"That is one wish granted…" Arceus said. "Does anyone else have a wish to be granted..?"

"I do." Beatrice said, stepping off the stage and toward Arceus.

The god looked down at her.

"What is your wish, young one?" Arceus said.

Everyone's eyes were on Beatrice.

"My wish…" Beatrice said. "Is to bring Quinton back.. For two minutes."

"What?!" Marie came to Beatrice from behind. "Wh-Why not revive him completely?"

A smile came to Beatrice's face.

"You'll see in a moment," She said. "If he's going to say what I think he's going to say…"

Arceus was silent for a moment.

"I shall do just that." The god said.

Shards of glass flew over Arceus's shoulder, and slowly formed to create Quinton's body in front of the girl. Once his body completely was restored, Quinton blinked once his body's color was restored. A halo was above the former champion's head.

Both Daughter and Father's eyes met then and there. They both smiled.

"If you had chosen to revive me completely," Quinton said, "I would have asked Arceus to eradicate me."

Beatrice smiled. "I knew it. By the way- If you say that our meeting was pre-planned, I'm calling you out on your bullcrap."

Quinton chuckled.

"You're speaking to me as though you're my equal?" Quinton asked.

"I'm far above you, Quinton." Beatrice said.

A proud smile came to Quinton's face.

"You've grown so much in such a short time. I'm so proud of you."

"QUINTOOOON!" Samantha ran over to Quinton and tackled him into an embrace. Quinton rubbed her back as she did this.

"I never told you..." Quinton said. "How much I love and appreciate you for existing, Samantha. Thank you so much." Samantha bawled and cried into Quinton's chest. He frowned, and then looked down at Beatrice.

"So," Quinton said, "I want to make sure of something. Tell me, why did you decide to revive me for only two minutes?"

"Because," Beatrice said, stepping closer. "Knowing the size of your ego, you'd try to become stronger than me. So, I decided to have you stay dead so that won't happen. Anything to win, right?"

The biggest and proudest smile came to Quinton's face- the biggest anyone had ever seen. With his other hand, he reached over to pat Beatrice's head, and she smiled.

"Anything to win," Quinton said.

"Can't you just take me with you..!?" Samantha cried. "I understand why you're leaving… so why not take me with you..?"

"And have you annoy me while I'm in heaven? I'd like to wait until you live out your entire life first." Quinton said. "Then you can annoy me all you'd like."

"Oh, Quinton..!" Samantha cried.

"Your time is up.." Arceus said. Slowly, Quinton's body began to disintegrate- orbs of yellow light flew out from his body and toward the sky. Quinton pulled away Samantha by her head, then pulled her close to kiss her. Samantha closed her eyes as the kiss came and went. Quinton then gave a final, genuinely happy smile at Beatrice, who nodded and waved as she smiled back. Soon, Quinton faded away, and Samantha fell to her knees with her hands on her face as she sobbed. Beatrice crouched and rubbed her biological mother's shoulder as she smiled.

Harold, who watched all of this unfold, smiled to himself as he pulled out a phone.

"Don't worry, sir," Harold said, speaking to Beatrice's stepfather. "She's grown, just like you said."

Beatrice sighed and stood up. She stared at the sky.

Lucia pulled away from her father and stared up at the sky.

"Now all that's left…" Both Lucia and Beatrice said at the same time. "Is to become champion."

(Fun fact, this chapter's name is a reference to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon's Explorers of the Sky's final boss track: "Dialga's fight to the finish!")

What was your favorite moment in this fight?

I don't know why, but I have the feeling I forgot someone. (Not Aiden, I didn't forget him.) If I forgot anyone, let me know- there were just SO MANY people that rose up to fight against Aldrich, so I may have lost track. Forgive me!

You may be asking, "Neo, when will the next one come?"
Honestly, I don't know. Next week? Maybe the week after that? Tomorrow? (PFFT- HA. It'd be funny if i just said "oh yeah it could come tomorrow" as a teaser, and then ACTUALLY post it tomorrow. That'd be funny)
Who knows.

Anyway- Thanks for reading as always!