Once he had stepped a bit further down the stairs, the torches once more came to life. And as he descended the staircase with Chloe and the others behind him, Goh could see the symbols that he understood to mean 'Water' appear in the text surrounding him, but he kept his gaze focused forward. The door had imagery of waves and bubbles as well as the great carving, and though the doors looked heavy, Goh threw them open with ease, causing Chloe and Ash to gasp behind him.
"Geez, Goh, calm down!" she warned.
But Goh was completely calm. The only thing that had changed was that he now knew what this place was and why its strange properties seemed to defy logic.
"It's alright," he said. "I understand this place now."
"You what…?"
Ash nodded. "I don't understand it myself, but I trust in Goh," he said, giving Chloe a smile. "You trust him too, right?"
"O-Of course I do!" she replied, pouting.
Goh cracked a grin. "Then let me handle this."
Quillon said nothing, only keeping his gaze forward, while Danika looked like she wanted to say something, but held herself back.
Goh stepped into the next chamber, and within was a pool of cool, crystal clear water. Set up along the sides of the water were large, glass lenses that seemed to have shapes cut out of them, but Goh put aside his curiosity to solve this puzzle.
"We can stop playing these games!" he shouted. "I've figured out what this place is, and more importantly, what it isn't."
The room said nothing back, but Goh could feel that an extra set of eyes were upon him, so he continued to speak.
"You tried to set up a good illusion and a series of trials that would help protect what was left to you, and you did an amazing job. In fact, if it weren't for Team Rocket showing up how they did, I might not have realized it!"
"Realized what?" Chloe asked. For someone so sharp, Goh couldn't help but laugh to himself that she hadn't realized it yet. But it was Quillon who broke the news.
"None of this is real."
Chloe balked, turning to Quillon. "What? What do you mean it isn't real?"
"You mean.. It's an illusion?" Ash asked.
There was only one Pokémon who could possibly be on this island and create such an illusion. One that Goh was very familiar with. The reason the darkness and the shadows seemed familiar and comforting to him.
"Zoroark! I know you're here! Let's stop these games and talk about this!"
For a moment, the room is entirely calm.
But then, the pool of water began to fade away, and walls, floor, and ceiling began to change shape and warp. The Water Chamber simply ceased to be, and the stairs behind them vanished as well.
Soon, the room shifted into a shape Goh was familiar with. It was as though they were transported back to Stone Town, with the mural around them. The room was circular in shape, and along the walls it told the story that Goh now understood as the instructions for using the Mewnium-Z without a Z-Ring. The swirling elements of fire, electricity, and water embodied the power of nature itself, and when transmitted to Mew, would imbue them with the power befitting one with the title of God.
Standing directly under the image of Mew was a bipedal Pokémon covered in white fur. The large, white mane was wild and frayed, with the tips of each fray dyed red as though they were dipped into blood. All over the Pokémon's body were red lesions, and from behind his wild mane, Goh could see the yellow eyes he felt staring at him through the darkness.
They were eyes he recognized, through the vision he had with Tapu Fini, though he wondered if Zoroark, too, felt the connection. Was it because he looked like Moyse? Did he ever look like Moyse to begin with? They weren't questions he could answer without somehow reaching out to the white Zoroark.
And so, he took the first step, much like Chloe did, to show Zoroark what was in his heart.
"You did all of this to protect Moyse's memory, didn't you? You couldn't build the temple for him after he passed on, and so you resolved to use your own powers to protect the crystal, the Mewnium-Z he left in your care."
Zoroark said nothing, only watching Goh with his bright yellow eyes.
"There's someone on their way here who would abuse the power of that crystal, and we're here to keep it out of his hands. It's been safe here all this time, and thank you for your work of protecting it, but it would be best if we took it from here."
The room fell silent as Zoroark watched Goh closely. Then, the fox took a single step towards Goh and raised his claw towards him. With an overconfident sneer, he gestured to Goh and back at himself.
"He's challenging you," Quillon said. "He wants to know if you've really got what it takes to protect the Mewnium-Z."
"A one-on-one battle, huh?" Ash asked.
Chloe frowned at the idea. "Are we really risking everything in a one-on-one fight?" she asked. "Shouldn't we work together on this?"
"No, I think we should let Goh handle it on his own," Danika said.
"I agree," Quillon said. "Zoroark has been doing all of this to test us, and now he wants to test Goh directly." He paused for a moment and chuckled at himself. "Besides, weren't you the one who asked me to give him a chance?"
At that, Chloe froze, but she nodded. "Right. I believe in Goh. I have faith in him, that he'll be the one to reach Zoroark."
Zoroark let out a loud roar, and the illusory temple all around them all rippled, and the Baneful Fox Pokémon took a battle stance.
Goh reached into his pocket. He knew exactly which of his partners he would rely on to reach Zoroark. If Cinderace, his most reliable friend and partner was too wounded, then the next best would be the Pokémon who's heart was a reflection of Goh's.
"Argent, go!"
He threw the ball containing his Umbreon into the air, and it snapped open, letting out a flash of light that eventually took the shape of the Moonlight Pokémon. His slate-grey fur glittered in the dim light Zoroark provided for the battle.
When Argent appeared, Chloe's Eevee wriggled out of the girl's arms and began leaping up and down on the ground, cheering for Argent with all her force.
"So he's fighting with a shield…?"
Danika glanced up at Quillon. "What are you talking about?"
Goh knew. Argent was his glittering shield, the one who shielded his dream from Kurt when he was cornered, the one who supported him in battles against Team Rocket as well as Quillon himself.
He believed. He was ready.
"Use Hyper Voice!"
With an explosive "BRE!", Argent let out the first volley in this battle, and the soundwave collided with Zoroark, snuffing the Pokémon into smoke.
Chloe gasped. "Was it just another illusion?!"
Goh recognized the feint for what it was. "Zoroark didn't take any damage from that! Stay on guard, Argent!"
"I bet this Zoroark's a Ghost-type!" Ash shouted. "Be careful, Goh!"
Argent's shadow flashed a set of glaring yellow eyes as Zoroark stepped out from and delivered a strike to the back of Goh's Dark-type. As Argent slid on his paws across the ground, Zoroark chased, claws ready.
"Coming at us with Slash, huh? Alright, then, Argent, use Dark Pulse!"
With Zoroark's glowing claws ready to strike, Argent acted without hesitation, whipping up the aura of negative energy before blasting its wicked, sharp edges out of his mouth towards Zoroark. The fox took the blow in the side, and grit his teeth as he drew closer to Argent, raking his sharp claws all across Argent's body.
Both Pokémon were snarling at each other as they came apart, with Argent ready for Goh's next command and Zoroark already looking to counter it.
"Argent, use Dig!"
Argent leapt into the ground, vanishing from view. Zoroark's yellow eyes glinted in the dim light, as if to acknowledge that even his mastery of illusions couldn't place where Argent was now.
Goh watched Argent as the fox looked to keep himself safe from Goh's attack, and he was reminded of the proud, skillful warrior who stood at Moyse's side.
"I want…"
Everyone but Zoroark turned their eyes on Goh.
He shook his head and focused more on the battle.
"Come up, now!"
To Zoroark's left and Goh's right, the ground began to buckle, but as Zoroark turned towards the spot where he thought the Umbreon would appear, the ground beneath him split open, with Argent leaping up and crashing into Zoroark, knocking the Ghost-type away, though he managed to land on his feet. Argent did the same, landing defiantly next to Goh.
"Zoroark, I understand what you've been doing here," Goh said, drawing the attention of his yellow eyes for a moment. "I know about Moyse, your old partner. And I know he's not been around for a very long time."
Zoroark watched Goh wordlessly.
"But there's so much more I want to learn about you, as well!"
He took a step forward, kneeling to pet Argent. The Umbreon practically purred under his touch.
"You're brave and loyal, but you're also alone and in pain. I want to learn more about you, and I want to learn how to help you. That's why I'll learn about you the best way I know how."
He took an empty Poké Ball from his pocket and held it up. "Zoroark, I'm going to catch you! And when I do, you and I are going to become good friends, just like you were with Moyse!"
As Goh repeated the name of Zoroark's old partner, the fox's eyes went wide.
"Are you ready?"
Zoroark answered Goh's challenge with a shout of his own, only his was imbued with negative energy.
"That's Snarl!" Quillon noted. "It'll reduce Umbreon's attack power while dealing a little damage."
"Don't worry, mine's louder! Hyper Voice!"
At Goh's command, Argent once more let out the loudest shout he could muster, completely drowning out and knocking back Zoroark's attack. But Zoroark was already slipping into the shadows to sneak attack Argent once more, so Goh responded in kind.
"Use Dig!"
Argent leapt back into the dirt as though it were a pool of water. A rush of shadows, the spectral Zoroark rushed over the gap where the Umbreon once was as his Shadow Sneak failed to find Argent. From behind Zoroark, the ground exploded, and Argent leapt forward, crashing into the Ghost-type's back, bringing dirt and debris with him that also pelted the fox.
Roaring with rage, Zoroark's claws, eyes, and the red-colored tips of his mane began to glow brightly as he brought his claws down to the ground, causing an explosion of necrotic energy from the core of his being that sucked the heat out of the air, engulfing Argent and blasting the Umbreon backwards. Argent tumbled across the ground before finding his footing and dragging himself back to standing.
Goh could feel the icy chill in the air, and he even saw the frost covering Argent's fur - a side effect of the cold brought on by Zoroark's attack. He recalled the name Moyse gave this technique.
"Bitter Malice…"
"Never heard of that move before," Ash said. "Be careful, Goh. Looks like Argent's power might have been cut."
"Definitelly getting close or letting Zoroark get close is dangerous…" he said as Argent shook the frost from his body. The Umbreon was still standing strong, but he'd been taking a few blows, so Goh thought better of pressing an attack and relied on defense a bit more. "Use Wish!"
"Umbre!"
At Goh's order, Argent howled into the air, and sparkling stars appeared over his head. Zoroark wasn't about to let Argent heal for free though, and lunged forward with his glowing claws. Zoroark swiped hard at Argent, more hitting the Dark-type away with his claws than slicing with them. As Argent skid backwards, he growled, wanting to strike back
"Argent, use Dark Pulse!"
Argent let his malice fly with a shout that carried his malevolent aura forward, aimed straight towards Zoroark. Zoroark used Snarl, barking out with his own shrill, intimidating voice, making the Dark Pulse lose some steam before both attacks ultimately connect with their targets, though clearly Zoroark was the one feeling more pressure. This was all before the stars sparkling above Argent's head dripped down upon him like cleansing water that sparkled and glowed, carrying away all his injuries.
Goh was about to order another attack when he saw Ash twitch, as though he was going to move to stop him, out of the corner of his eye. Goh looked at the trainer and saw the serious look on his face. "If you're going to catch 'em," he said, "you should try now. Zoroark seems like the Pokémon that'd fight until he can't possibly fight any more."
Goh nodded, reaching for a Poké Ball in his pocket. "Alright, Poké Ball! Go!"
He gave the ball the fastest pitch he could, and it sailed through the air, hitting Zoroark dead on. The fox was converted into energy and pulled inside, and the ball fell to the ground.
Goh heard the ball rub against the ground as it shook once. Then twice. And then a third time.
He almost exhaled his breath before the ball snapped back open.
"GRRRAAH!"
Zoroark immediately began using his Bitter Malice again, causing an explosion of necrotic energy that sucked the heat out of the room once more, destroying the Poké Ball at his feet. As he glowered back at Goh, his eyes and all the lesions on his body were glowing red. At first glance, it was a look of anger, of malice, of challenge.
But to Goh, who felt connected in that moment to both Argent and Zoroark, it was an expression that told him something else, and he felt a tear rise up in his eye.
"You're just like Argent and I, aren't you?" he said.
Chloe stepped closer to her boyfriend. "Goh…?"
"Zoroark, you're amazing," he said. "You're so loyal to Moyse, following his last wish this long since his death. You're really incredible. But ever since we came to this island, I've noticed something."
Zoroark lowered his guard somewhat, and the threatening glow he did have faded.
"You don't mean…" Chloe's voice trailed off.
She must have remembered their conversation earlier, after all.
"Nothing lives on this island. In fact, we haven't seen any Pokémon here that weren't in the temple. And if I'm right, none of them were really here, either."
Zoroark hung his head, and Goh lost sight of the fox's eyes through his thick white-and-red mane.
"You remembered Arcanine and that Electrode," Goh said. "But all you've had to accompany you all these years have been your memories. You've been all alone, Zoroark."
He stepped forward, though Argent didn't let down his guard as Goh approached the wild Pokémon.
"Argent and I, we know what that's like."
Goh stopped next to Argent, kneeling down next to him and scratching behind his ears. Argent began to let out a gentle, almost purring sound.
"Argent and I are just like you. There was a time in our lives where we felt all alone, like all we could rely on were ourselves. Neither of us wanted any friends. We thought we'd be better off without them! Except…"
Goh forced back the tears coming to his eyes.
"Except like that, there's no one who can help shoulder your burden, and you have no one to share your pain with. So you hurt. You hurt deep inside your heart, and you don't know what to do with all that pain, so you keep putting up walls to keep others out. But the more you close yourself off and keep your pain to yourself… you'll just feel even MORE pain!
"It wasn't until I met Ash that I really began to understand what friendship should be like. Even before I met him, I really only had Chloe as my friend, and I honestly didn't deserve her patience and kindness with how I acted. But watching Ash helped me learn to take that step beyond myself, and to put myself out there for others."
He took out a Poké Ball and opened it, and in a flash of light, still somewhat wounded from his prior battle with Team Rocket, was Cinderace. He stood confidently next to Goh, patting his trainer and friend on the shoulder. "Cin derace."
"Thanks to Chloe never giving up and Ash breaking through, I was able to make another friend. And this friend led to so many others."
He opened up the rest of his Poké Balls, bringing out Inteleon, Flygon, and Aerodactyl. They all stood with Goh as Grookey hopped off his shoulder, tapping his stick against the ground happily. Eevee rushed up as well, cheerfully bouncing to the beat of Grookey
"Grooki! Grooki!"
Goh mustered up the biggest smile he could manage, trying to keep the tears from falling. Chloe and Ash stepped up next to him, each taking one of his hands.
He swallowed back his tears.
"It's thanks to everyone that I'm not alone anymore. I have true friends and love in my life, Zoroark. I've been able to build connections, face challenges, and come away from all of them with a smile on my face. And I know that this is the right way to reach my dream. It's thanks to everyone here that I can hold the future in the palm of my hand. A future with my best friend Ash as my right hand, with Chloe standing next to me through everything, with my Pokémon as my friends and family.
"It's a future you can be part of, too, Zoroark."
The fox's eyes widened.
"I know how awful it can be to feel stuck behind in the past, tied to it because you don't think there's any way to move forward. But I promise you, there's always a way. You don't have to suffer alone anymore."
Zoroark watched Goh with wide eyes, and for a moment, Goh saw Argent back when he was an Eevee, looking at him with the same expression. That look of wonder mixed with understanding.
"Ark…"
Goh let go of Chloe and Ash's hands and stepped past Argent, Grookey, and Eevee to Zoroark.
"You know what? When I was seeing Tapu Fini's vision of the past, I heard Moyse's last words. And I know you heard them, too, Zoroark. 'If any human sets foot here again, let it be a kind-hearted person.' I don't think he said that because he was worried about the crystal falling into the wrong hands. I think he said that because he didn't want you to be alone.
"So what do you say, Zoroark? Would you like to become part of our family?"
He took another ball from his pocket and held it up.
Zoroark held up his claw, reaching out towards it, and Goh felt his eyes light up. Everything was going to work out. They would secure the crystal to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands and Zoroark wouldn't be alone anymore.
That's when the bolt of electricity shot through Zoroark from above.
Zoroark fell forward, practically into Goh, but rather than fall into Goh, where he could catch the Pokémon in his arms, Zoroark fell through him, disappearing into a cloud of shadowy mist.
Goh felt his blood run colder than even the Bitter Malice could have made him feel.
"ZOROAAARK!"
Everyone was completely silent as the room they were standing in dissolved, falling away as the power of Zoroark's illusion failed, and Zoroark was no more. They now found themselves standing in the clearing where the obelisk once stood, surrounded in silent trees and thick undergrowth.
Falling to the ground where Zoroark once stood was a small, pink crystal with a swirl-shape on its surface. Goh, still in shock from what happened, reached out for it, only for it to be quickly stolen away by a flying Pokémon of some sort.
Goh looked up, following the flying Pokémon up, caught a glimpse of them before they stopped dead in the air. They were a twisted looking Pokémon made completely of rounded shapes that looked to have their head on upside-down.
"Porygon-Z!" Goh gasped. "Then…!"
Next to Porygon-Z, standing from the flying chair they had last seen him in was a man Goh recognized. His hair was a pale green, and somewhat disheveled, but he had seemingly abandoned his work clothes for a fancier outfit, colored purple, with a high collar.
The man smiled. "I have to thank you for coming all this way, Goh," he said. "I'd have never understood what the obelisk was without you entering and solving these puzzles."
"Lawrence…!"
Ash's action was swift. "Pikachu!"
Pikachu leapt up quickly, cheeks already sparking. "Piiikaaachuuu!" With a loud shout from his very core, Pikachu launched a Thunderbolt at Lawrence and his Porygon-Z. Lawrence gestured forward, and from seemingly nowhere a wave of Porygon rushed out, intercepting the Thunderbolt. Though the Pokémon were shocked and fell to the ground, a veritable wall of Porygon remained between Lawrence in the air and everyone else on the ground.
"You aren't quite fast enough," Lawrence said. "A pity, but thankfully I know your tricks, Ash Ketchum of the Masters Eight."
Ash grit his teeth as Pikachu landed nearby, cheeks still sparking. "Pika…"
"You may have researched him," Danika said with a confident smirk, "but don't act like we've been resting on our laurels, either."
Quillon had an absolutely vicious look in his eyes. "Lawrence Gelardan the Third, you are under arrest for your crimes against humanity and Pokémonkind alike. Not to mention that I'll enjoy beating you to death for what you did to Zoroark!"
"So this is the so-called Project Mew," Lawrence said, completely unimpressed. "Your Professor Amaranth keeps a low profile, so I didn't expect to see you here as well. I would offer you a glimpse at some of my rarest, Mew-related artifacts, but it seems that they were all either lost or stolen from me." As he said 'stolen', his eyes found Chloe in the group. "A pity, that. But in any game you play, you may need to sacrifice a few pawns to capture the king."
"And that's how you're treating the Porygon!" Chloe shouted. "You're treating them like pawns, like they're not living beings!"
"Eievui!"
Lawrence chuckled. "That's because they aren't alive," he said. "At least, not like you or I are. Pokémon are creatures whose only value is determined by their utility and how much someone may pay for one. These Porygon are all copies I had created, and then to lead the grunts, I had some modified into their evolutions, Porygon2 and Porygon-Z. They are my obedient servants, and nothing more."
"So, what are you going to do now?" Goh asked. "It's not like you can use that Mewnium-Z without Mew!"
"I might not have Mew, but I haven't been sitting on my hands all this time. The energy let off by that move you performed with that crystal you're wearing is something that humans and technology can imitate." Lawrence flashed his own vicious grin. "So, since I have a nice target here on this island, I may as well test my weapon out on this island. It may not be as big as Pokélantis was, but it should make for an interesting demonstration to help an appraiser gauge its value."
"You're a monster!" Chloe shouted.
"A monster?" Lawrence said, chuckling. "No, my girl. I'm the Devil."
"I've heard enough. Urshifu!"
Quillon threw the ball containing his Wushu Pokémon, and without even a formal command, the Fighting- and Dark-type leapt forward. With a single blow, Urshifu smashed the wall of Porygon to pieces, creating a gap that revealed a rather shocked Lawrence.
"Go!" Danika shouted as her Urshifu appeared as well. With fluid strikes in mid-air, she knocked the Porygon away from shielding Lawrence once more, and that was an opportunity.
"Cinderace, Pyro Ball!"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Goh's rabbit kicked up a clod of dirt and spun kicking it again as it blazed into a fireball that shot straight through the gap. As he did this, Pikachu leapt into the air once more, shouting in fury as he let a bolt of lightning rip from his body. The bolt joined with the Pyro Ball and crashed into Porygon-Z, creating a cloud of smoke that sparked with electricity.
Lawrence coughed as he flew his chair out, but it seemed that he had underestimated the blast radius of the combined attack as his chair began to fall from the sky. He quickly leapt up and grabbed onto his Porygon-Z who supported his weight as he hung from their twisted arm.
As the chair crashed into the vegetation on the island, it burst into a combination of smoke and flames. And though the chair was no longer in operation, that wasn't what Goh was concerned about. As the computer systems in the chair seemingly sparked out, the sky above the island changed completely.
Floating above the island, coming into view as its strange camouflage failed, was a gigantic flying fortress, held aloft with a combination of helicopter-like propeller blades and jet engines. It was like someone had taken Professor Amaranth's flying laboratory and transformed it into a traveling military installation instead.
Lawrence gritted his teeth. "Well, if this is the fate you have chosen, then you can all perish on this island while I prepare for you a truly revelatory experience!" With that, his Porygon-Z rose into the air, carrying him away as the Porygon all shielded his escape into his fortress.
"Get back here!" Goh shouted, waving his fist into the air at him. "Coward!"
"Goh, calm down," Chloe said, grabbing his hand and pulling it down.
He grit his teeth, but he settled down regardless. "Sorry, I just…"
"I know," she said, tapping him on the forehead. "But we can't make him pay for what he did to Zoroark if we don't keep our cool."
"Chloe's right," Ash said, even as Goh could see the fury in his friend's brown eyes. "We've gotta get up there and stop him, and to do that we need a plan."
Goh looked back up at the flying fortress, a literal castle in the sky. It felt like something out of a fantasy story, but Goh supposed that if even Amaranth had his own flying fortress, then perhaps something on this larger scale was always possible.
He thanked Cinderace and Argent for their help and recalled them into their balls as Danika and Quillon did the same with their Pokémon. "Okay, well…" Goh said, turning to his friends as well as the two Chasers. "Then what should we do?"
Ash frowned for a moment, as though he was trying to wrack his mind for a memory. Pikachu leapt over and gave his head a shake. "Wait! I've got it! Back in the Orange Islands when he caught my friends and I, we were taken into the basement of his ship and he always came and exited from above! I bet he's all the way at the top!"
"Pikachu!"
Danika used one of her hands to shield herself from the sun as she looked up. "Flying up that high might be dangerous. Take a closer look."
Goh looked up at the flying fortress that hovered over the island and saw mounted on its walls and ceiling many turrets, complete with gunbarrels that seemed to swivel in place, as though they were seeking a target of some sort.
"They have guns…?" Goh asked. "That can't be legal…"
"That's true," Danika said. "Ever since the end of the last war about forty or fifty years ago, at any rate. No one should be able to even make them anymore."
"That means approaching blindly is dangerous," Quillon said. "So we should analyze the structure and find a weak spot, an entry way that's less guarded than most."
Goh stared up at it, frowning. "How are we supposed to do that?"
"You're a research fellow, aren't you?" Quillon chastised him. "So, do some research."
Goh grumbled but Chloe giggled. 'He's got you there," she said. "But that's okay. Because you and Ash are the two best research fellows in the world. So I'm sure you two can figure something out together."
Goh put a finger to his chin and thought. "Well, maybe… If we could scan it for these gun turrets, then we might be able to find the weak spot sooner. If we had some sort of camera or scanning device…"
Chloe shrugged. "I guess a Rotom Phone isn't quite there, is it?"
"Not really," he sighed.
Danika took off her backpack and began going through it. "I did bring some advanced scanning equipment. If we have a Pokémon to carry it, maybe we can use it to take the pictures we need."
Ash took out a ball. "And I have just the one! Dragonite, I choose you!"
In a flash of light, Ash's flying dragon appeared and immediately dove in to give him one of her extremely strong, crushing hugs. "Bawoo!"
Ash gasped for air. "Thanks, Dragonite. We need your help with something."
She put her trainer down and blinked in his direction. "Bawoo?"