"No, I only need one person here running the machine," Pierre said from somewhere. "The fewer watching, the better." He paused, and Ray heard a door hiss shut. "So, Raymond, what's your favorite Pokémon?"
But Ray was more focused on escape than small talk. When Pierre repeated the question, Ray said, "I have a bunch."
Pierre went silent. Ray struggled to turn his head—he was strapped down everywhere—and glanced at Latias. She gazed back.
"Only about twenty-seven minutes left," said a scientist from somewhere behind Ray.
"Only twenty-seven?" Pierre huffed.
"Ray," Gabe called out from the corner of the room. "I didn't mean to—I was just—I didn't even know—"
"It's okay," Ray said, even though it really wasn't. He couldn't see Gabe, but he could guess he was tied up or something.
"How much time left?" Pierre asked.
"Twenty-six," the scientist said.
Ray had only a little while to find a way to escape. But it seemed impossible—everyone was tied up or strapped down, and nobody would be coming to help. Ray cursed himself for walking straight to Pierre right when he needed him. He should've known—right? Was it really all his fault?
But then a voice inside his head told him not to panic. It definitely wasn't Ray's own mind.
"Latias?" Ray thought loudly.
"No," said the voice. But the word came with a feeling of desperate longing.
Ray heard a ball opening somewhere behind him—where the scientist was.
"Free those two," the scientist told someone. Ray wasn't sure, but the voice was similar to the one that had been in his head.
Pierre didn't respond; instead, a Gabite walked into view. It was about to start cutting Ray free, but suddenly stopped to stare. And Ray stared back. He had never seen a Gabite except on TV, yet he felt like he knew this one.
"Hurry," the scientist urged, pacing into view. He watched as the Gabite blinked and cut Ray free from the huge, whirring machine. It then freed Latias and cut away her harness with a hesitative slash. Its eyes brightened when the harness fell away, apparently surprised by its own strength.
Ray lowered himself to the floor and immediately turned to Pierre. He was frozen in place, almost like a statue, but still breathing and blinking. Gabe was sitting in the nearby corner, tied up like Ray had guessed. The rope—not normal rope, but synthetic or something—had a lock on it that kept Ray from freeing Gabe. It reminded him of a bike lock.
"Finally!" cried the scientist. Ray turned around to see him hugging the Latias around the neck, and then nuzzling her face. Ray wasn't into romance at all, but he was still struck by how in love they were. Never mind that they were different species. In any other situation, Ray would have looked away to spare the lovers—and himself—any embarrassment, but his current situation was so bizarre that he couldn't help but back away a few steps and then gawk.
Until a deafening shot rang out and a bullet flew past his head.
Ray saw it do its damage before he could react. The scientist clutched his side in agony, while the Latias cried out in shock.
Ray immediately turned around, to see Pierre clutching a revolver—he'd seemed to have tired of using tranquilizers.
"I should have guessed your mate would come to rescue you," he said to the Latias. Ray had the urge to try and knock him to the ground, or hit him with something, but the gun stopped all his ideas short. Pierre knew it, too—he paid no attention to Ray and Gabe. But what was that about her mate?
Ray turned his back to Pierre, hoping the gun-wielding boss would continue ignoring him. What he saw amazed him.
There was the Latias and a Latios, both looking very much in pain. Whatever gun Pierre was using, it was on the big side—the blood spreading on the floor shouldn't have come from one bullet. The injured Latios was lying on the ground, now, and the Latias was getting more and agitated.
"Grab on to me!" she said suddenly through telepathy.
Ray and the Gabite both reached out to touch the Latias, and once she held her mate's arm, everyone disappeared. Except Ray.
"What was that?" Gabe cried.
"No matter," Pierre said to nobody in particular. "We're so close now, I don't even think I need the Latias anymore." He aimed his gun at Ray. "I probably don't even need you. Regardless, sit back on the device. Those Eon Pokémon have deserted you."
Ray found it hard to resist with that gun pointed at him.
He sat back on the machine, letting it whirr away. He idly wondered what Pokémon he'd end up being, then worried about his own Pokémon. And finally, he asserted to himself that he could either be teleported away or the machine could be destroyed.
Wait. That was Latias speaking to him.
"Sorry," she said, as a voice in his head. The thoughts flooded in, much faster than speech would have allowed. "I just—I don't know what to do. You know I'm from another world. The Latios is, too, and the Gabite you saw. We can't get home without some sort of powerful energy helping us. The only way I know that'll work is to blow up that machine you were strapped to. But I sense so much energy—it's practically bursting with it. I... I can't let you die. I don't even think I can let that man who almost killed us die, either—"
"Just blow it up," Ray said in his head. "You'll go home and save the world here."
"But—but you don't want to die," Latias said. "And—and I don't think I can save you if I blow it up—and if I don't blow it up, then we're stuck here! I won't let people die just so I—"
"Maybe not," Ray interrupted. "These guys are trying to put everyone in this world into your world. Or something. We'll all turn into Pok—"
"I won't let that happen!" Latias cried mentally. "I'd get back, but this entire world would be ruined! The people—"
"Then blow up the machine!" Ray urged. He glanced around—barely a few seconds had passed. Gabe was crying, and Pierre was peering at the computer.
"I'm sorry," Latias said after a moment, "if you get hurt. If you—"
"Just do it before you change your mind or it's too late!" Ray urged. He actually wanted it to happen before he changed his mind. Before he begged to be saved.
But he didn't have to beg: All of a sudden, with a quick rush of air and a flash of light, he was standing on grass in the shadow of the Horizon skyscraper. He was both relieved to be away from Pierre's gun and annoyed that Latias hadn't listened to him.
She was on the grass next to him, wings flat, taking care of the violently-shaking Latios as much as she could. The Gabite from before was there, too. He looked about as anxious as Ray did—neither of them knew whether to help or leave it to Latias.
"I saved you," the Latias said mentally, her thoughts labored and laced with exhaustion. "And I called your friend."
"You shouldn't have saved me!" Ray said. "Now they'll—they'll . . . "
Ray stopped himself. It was just too hard to yell at her like that, when she was struggling to keep her soul mate alive. She was just trying to save somebody. But Gabe was still in there, and so was the convergence machine. Maybe he would do it without Latias. He could try to get some help on the streets—but who would believe him? He didn't even—
"Ray!" Stanley called as he approached at a run. "I got the message from Latias!"
"Uh," Ray said. "What was it?"
"She just said you were in trouble. But I guess they got you out." Stanley turned to Latias. "I know you're . . . legendary and all, but I think you should go find a hospital. Or I can call for an ambulance."
Latias didn't respond.
"Ray, let's give them all the medicine we've got," Stanley said. "They work on top of each other, right?"
So they dug in their bags and produced a handful of small, spray-on medicines. Latias allowed Ray to spray the Latios's bullet wound; afterwards, the Latios's shaking calmed down, and Latias rested a little.
"I can't take you back," Latias said after a moment. "I know that's what you want."
"We have to destroy the machine they're using," Ray explained to Stanley. "Or else the world ends."
Stanley stared at Ray like he had told a terrible joke. "You're kidding, right?"
"No."
"Well, how are we gonna get back in there?"
Ray peered upwards. There weren't any windows near ground level, but they shined about a dozen floors up. "Use your Fearow," he said.
Stanley thought about it, then said, "Alright. But he can only hold, like, two people at once."
Once Stanley had departed on Tretters, his Fearow, Ray looked again at the three Pokémon before him. Latios and Latias were looking in better shape than before—Latias was begging Ray to stay, with her eyes—and the Gabite was sitting in the grass, depressed.
"Uh," Ray murmured to the Gabite, uncertain. "Want to come with me? I don't have any Pokémon with me."
The Gabite eyed him and nodded.
Glistening, jagged shards of glass fell to the ground over by the side of the building. Tretters returned, dislodging fragments from his body as he landed on the ground.
"He asks if you're ready," Latias translated.
Everyone got off Tretters as soon as they entered through the broken window.
"Okay, Tretters," Stanley said, letting his Pokémon take the lead in the hallway. "If anyone tries to stop us, blow them away!" They had to find an elevator and reach the underground part of the building before it was too late.
Nobody challenged them on the floor they broke into. When everyone filed into the elevator, Ray hit one of the lowermost buttons. As they descended, the Gabite stared at the glowing button, and then at Tretters. The two Pokémon exchanged a few looks, and then the Gabite glanced at Ray again before turning to watch the elevator door.
When the door opened, several guards immediately aimed guns at the intruders. Various dog Pokémon bared their teeth. But Tretters conjured up a whirlwind in the blink of an eye, knocking out humans and Pokémon alike. Brown wings with tan edges smacked Ray in the face a few times, but he didn't mind since they were protecting him.
He followed Stanley and Tretters out of the elevator, with the Gabite behind him. Groans sounded from every corner of the underground hallway—Ray guessed that Tretters was really strong for a Fearow.
"Which room is it?" Stanley asked.
"I can hear the machine thing from here," Ray said quietly. He led them to the right room, then pushed the heavy door open.
"Ray! Stanley!" Gabe cried. The Gabite walked over to him and cut him free. As he stood up and began to say something, Ray interrupted him.
"Don't worry about it, right? We can think about that later," he said sternly.
"I—okay," Gabe sniffed.
Everyone stared at the hulking machine towards the center of the laboratory room. It whirred menacingly, like a bomb disguised as a fan.
"How're we gonna stop it?" Stanley said. "This thing is gonna cause the end of the world?"
"Try the computer!" Gabe suggested.
But the terminal was password-protected. "It's locked up," Stanley said. "I think we have to just break that thing."
"But what if it blows up?" Gabe asked. "I overheard them talking about how much energy it has stored here."
Nobody moved. The shiny, angular machine seemed to challenge them with its louder and louder humming.
"We don't have a lot of time," Ray said. Even though he was disconnected from it, the machine would slowly get its job done anyway.
After a few tense minutes, the Gabite barked and pried open a panel that was barely distinguishable from the side of the machine. Inside were gently beeping, glowing knots of wires, and several yellow lightning bolt symbols.
"I think we can break it here," Ray said as soon as he saw the space behind the panel. But should one person do it while the others make a run for it? The Gabite could cut all the wires, probably. But Ray wanted to be the one to risk life and limb—he owed it to everyone else, who were only there because of him.
And while cutting the wires was the easiest way to stop it, it probably wouldn't trigger the explosion Latias needed. She wouldn't be able to go home.
Forget about Latias, Ray told himself. Getting her and Latios home could be solved later, but the convergence had to be stopped right now, or else everyone's lives would be ruined.
The machine's humming began resonating through the floor, and then the walls.
"Hurry!" Ray said, turning to the Gabite. "Can you cut those wires in there?"
Some of them were thicker than Ray's waist, but the Gabite—lying halfway inside the compartment—had no problem slicing them up. A distressed chorus of beeps sounded from inside the machine, while the computer deployed a barrage of error sounds.
After the Gabite crawled back out, the floor began to stop vibrating and half the beeps jumped to a higher pitch. Tretters anxiously backed away towards the door, squawking loudly.
"Uh," Gabe said, "I guess none of those wires was the power—"
"Let's go!" Stanley interrupted, raising his voice over the shrill beeps. Everyone fled into the hallway, with Tretters in the lead.
As they turned a corner, though, they stopped in their tracks. Pierre was waiting at the elevator, aiming his gun at them.
Stanley yelled, "The thing's gonna blow up! It's too late for you now!"
Pierre smirked, lowering his pistol slightly. "If it does, the huge release of energy will just finish the job. I'd say it's too late for you now."
"We've gotta get outta here, though!" Stanley argued. "Either way the blast will probably kill us!"
Pierre said nothing. He reached behind him and pressed the elevator button, keeping the gun aimed down the hallway.
"Then you should probably stay down here," he said, stepping into the elevator. Ray took a step forward, but Tretters wouldn't let him pass.
Pierre gave a pompous wave with his hand as he escaped on the elevator.
"Now what are we gonna do?" Gabe cried, stabbing the elevator button desperately.
"Help me get this open," Ray said. He was trying to pry the two elevator doors apart.
Stanley moved to lend a hand, but the Gabite stepped up first and lent a fin, putting it between the doors and using it as leverage. Once they got the doors open, everyone stared into the shaft. Tretters immediately walked to the edge and turned around, lowering his head.
"I guess we'll try to fly as high as we can," Stanley said, climbing onto Tretters. "Someone else climb on already!" he urged.
The Gabite was the first to get a move on, stumbling forward and mounting Tretters right behind Stanley.
"I'll come back as fast as I can!" Stanley said, taking off. The wingbeats echoed deeply up and down the elevator shaft.
The silver elevator doors repeatedly tried to close, to no avail. Ray and Gabe were standing between them, waiting anxiously for either Stanley or the elevator to return.
"I'm really sorry," Gabe said, looking down at his feet.
Ray thought of something to say, to try and settle the matter like an award-winning movie character would. "It's not your fault," was all he could come up with.
"Yeah, it is," Gabe whimpered. "I should just stay down here, I'm so stupid."
The floor beneath them rumbled violently, as if to give its own opinion of the matter. Ray grabbed the side of the elevator door to keep his balance; Gabe slumped to the floor.
"People lied to us. You didn't know. It's not your fault," Ray repeated. "Hey, the elevator's coming."
It descended from above, inviting them inside with a ping. Stepping inside, Ray hit the button for the lobby, while Gabe stood motionless on the other side.
"You're only stupid if you stay here," Ray insisted. Another tremor from below seemed to force his point.
Gabe shuffled inside, defeated, letting the doors close. As the elevator began to rise, he said, "Sorry."
Ray turned to Gabe, who was fully prepared to break down in tears. "Nothing is ever just your fault," he said, looking at Gabe even though his back was turned. "There are always other people with their parts in it, too. It's sort of my fault, too. But it's mostly—"
The elevator stopped between floors. The lights shut off. The ringing silence and complete darkness was almost unreal—Ray shuddered, wondering if it was the end.
"W-what now?" Gabe whimpered, just before the screech of ripping metal and rush of wind traveled up the shaft and consumed the elevator. A bright, glowing inferno enveloped Ray, but he felt no pain. Soon the light was too much to bear, and he closed his eyes. Something seemed to be pulling him—Ray was sure it was death. He fought as hard as he could, yelling and thrashing around even though nothing was left but his mind. Or was it his soul?
Either way, Ray rested, full of relief. Whatever had been pulling him had given up. Feeling safe, he slept as the blinding light faded to blackness.